Team Sky Christmas Card Factory

          With lots to celebrate this year Team Sky got into the Christmas spirit by making their own cards. Not sure if this is going to catch on or if they plan to do print jobs on the side but they are sure offering a quick turnaround. Hopefully Staples will soon adopt this method in their printing shop...              

Neat little video showing how Team Sky prepared their Christmas cards this year.

Global Cycling Network

            Coming to the screens in January is a new cycling channel. Due to hit 'You Tube' on January 1st 2013 is the 'Global Cycling Network' a free original content channel for all things cycling. The initial feedback seems good and it promises to have all kinds of content covering the gamut of cycling. Take a look at the preview and add it to your favorites.

Q-Factor

            The previous post on crank-sets made reference to a dimension called the "Q-Factor" This raised a few questions along the lines of 'What the hell is a q factor???' So, here is the definition and why it is important.
            The Q-Factor is the distance from the point of pedal contact on one crank arm to the other, measured parallel to the bottom bracket. The little illustration below shows the measurement.

             Some people of a certain vintage refer to this dimension as the crank-set  tread, but nowadays it is universally called q-factor.
             In most cases we want the smallest q factor that is possible. The more this dimension increases the less clearance we have when cornering and for most body types the further out the pedal is the more the angle of attack under pedaling force. Think of this when you are running say, your legs prefer to function by being directly under your hips. If you widen your stance greatly you start to rock and loose some power. Also it puts pressure and strain on knees and hip joints.
             Why then don't we just make skinny crank-sets? Well we have clearance issues when building frames. We have to widen chain-stays on mountain bikes to get clearance for big tires, the chain rings have to be allowed for. All these things dictate the minimum q factor. With the compact double road bikes with minimum tire clearance we can get crank-sets with the narrowest tread.

New Crankset From Sugino

The Road OX801D

          Sugino, the Japanese company famed for making some of the best crank sets to grace bikes through the decades have come up with yet another innovative design that is both stylish and addresses a common problem when choosing a gear combination. Lack of choice.

The MTB ZX801D

           The new OX801D for road and the ZX801D for MTB features a 110 and a smaller 74mm bolt circle diameter that enables the use of rings only usually obtainable on a triple. This new design and the selection of rings available gives you 13 possible combinations. Perfect for those looking for the ultimate touring setup or a cross racer looking for a tweak to the standard configurations. Mtb  options for running a wide gap for a low climbing gear on a tough or muddy course. The choice is yours.

Close-up Showing the 74mm. BCD for mounting  the smaller rings

           The build quality is superb, typical Sugino, and the outboard bearing bottom bracket configuration is very stiff. The setup also gives you the lowest Q factor available when using the lower 74mm mount rings at 145mm for the road and 156mm for the mtb. Let us know what your gear requirements are and we can put together the best combination for you.

Bicycle Measurement

              You would think that the task of measuring a bike would be a very simple one but alas, as with most things in life, we have made it complex and ultimately very confusing. Over the years a few different ways of measuring frames, seat tube length specifically, have evolved. Sadly they have all become commonly used among the many frame manufactures out there, I have even dealt with manufacturers that have utilized 2 different methods of sizing within their range of bicycles. Needless to say this can get very confusing and needs to be kept in mind when purchasing a bike, especially when using an existing bikes measurement as the foundation for a new one. In my opinion buying a new bike in a size based solely on the fact that it is the size of the previous one is a bad way to go about things anyway but can be disastrous if the frames have been measured to different points.

 Today’s modern frames are designed very differently from the older, horizontal top tube, bikes of yesterday. The new geometry of compact frames with sloping top tubes are designed to have lots more visible seat post and can vary a lot from design to design so, again, sticking with the size of a previous one for the new and expecting it to fit like the old probably is not going to happen. Always get a new bike fit done on the bicycle style and design you are contemplating.

             The drawing below shows the various points that are used when quoting seat tube frame sizes. All have a starting point at the center of the bottom bracket but from there can be measured to the top of the top tube, the top of the seat tube itself or even to an imaginary line which represents the center of the top tube if it were a horizontal design

Click Image for full size.

There is actually another one that is only used by frame-builders when building custom frames and that is; to the center line of top tube where it will actually be. This is because we are building a bike to an individual’s body measurements and the tube dimensions are already factored in. We also work from center line dimensions when setting the frame jigs.

With all these methods you can see how varied the results can be. Looking at the frame in the picture you can see that there is quite a difference from   the shortest measurement to the longest on the same frame. I have always thought that the most important measurement on a production frame nowadays is the effective top tube length. When comparing a favorite frame to a possible new addition this is a good comparison measurement to start with, but again a proper fit is the way to go.

Hoy Bikes

          6 x  Olympic Champion and 11 x World Champion, Sir Chris Hoy, officially launched the Hoy Bike brand last week,finally. Rumours have been flying for weeks that a bicycle venture was in the offing and now we know. Through a partnership with the Evans Cycle Shops Sir Chris will be releasing a range of bikes due to be released in March of 2013.
          Initially the range will consist of three road bikes and four city bikes however, the range will eventually be expanded so expect to see mountain as well. Even though it was denied that the range was to compete with the successful range of fellow Olympian Chris Boardman, there is already a planned release of a limited edition track bike. Should be fun to watch...
www.chrishoy.com

Alfine 11 Shifters.

                The recent post on the new Shimano 11 speed internal hub created quite a stir and I have had many questions regarding it. One of the main queries has been whether you can run it with a drop bar STI lever. Answer; yes you can. There has been a drop bar brake shifter around for a while as an option for the older 8 speed Alfine hubs and that manufacturer, 'Versa', produces a lever for the new 11 speed unit.

The Versa 11 speed cable actuated shift brake lever.

                However that is not the only choice, for those of you into the whole Di2 electronic shifting experience Simano produce a dedicated 'Alfine' specific electronic shifter.

The Shimano electronic Alfine 11 speed shifter and cable brake.

            Both of these options come with a matching left brake unit which is obviously just a brake.