We're Back...

After a long hiatus from the blog I am back in the saddle, so to speak. Last year just did not seem to have enough hours in the day but I feel refreshed and ready to go.

There have been many projects and restorations over the past few months and I have documented some of the more interesting ones in pictures. Also, as visitors to the store will know, some bamboo has been experimented with and quite successfully I might add. So there is plenty to share plus, of course, some of the usual repair and upgrades that we get in I will share with you as I know from the hits I receive on previous posts, these are quite popular with those of you that are working on similar projects at home.

Mark

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Pantour Suspension Hubs

           It is time for a clean out here at the store, an early Spring clean if you will. First up is a set of wheels with a matching front and rear Pantour suspension hub. These hubs were originally built, by me, as a set of demo wheels for the road recumbents we sold at the time. They have been hanging up and need to find a new home. They are built around a Velocity Aerohead rear offset rim and a Alex road 20inch front. The front could easily be laced to a matching 700c Aerohead if required for the ultimate road setup.

          If you have never seen these hubs before take a look at them at www.pantourhub.com they are very impressive. We can get new ones of course but take a look at the ebay listing for these ones and if they fit the bill you could save a few bucks.

Pantour website at www.pantourhub.com
Ebay listing at  http://www.ebay.com/itm/Custom-Bicycle-Wheels-with-Pantour-Suspension-Hubs-/321079451536?pt=Cycling_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4ac1d39f90

How Not to Treat Carbon

             I have written many times on the subject of carbon fiber and rarely does a week go by without someone thrusting a scratched or damaged carbon doodad under my nose and asking is it OK.  Well last week we had a bike come in for a full overhaul and prep ready for the new race season with a couple of good examples of carbon fiber that is definitely NOT OK.

             The parts in question are a carbon drop bar and a full carbon seat post. These two components are the most common to suffer abuse and these examples are the most common way to kill them. Over tightening the clamping pressure. The handlebars have been squashed in the stem to the point of cracking through all the layers on both sides of the face plate. The seat post has suffered a similar fate by being  over torqued at the seat clamp. Both these components are dead and will fail in a spectacular fashion if used further.
             If you only buy one tool in your life let it be a torque wrench.

Again, probably twice the specified torque on the stem face plate to cause this.

Carbon has been squashed so hard it has made a peg in the carbon.

Raleigh Competition Renovation

Recently we had a renovation project come through the doors, a 1973 Raleigh "Competition". This bike had been owned since new by the present owner and he had decided that it was time for a makeover.

Before the new paint and decal job.

What started as a simple pull apart, service and rebuild turned into a pull apart and update everything to a modern Campagnolo group and a custom wheelset.

First the frame was treated to a blast and full repaint including a new original spec decal set and three coats of clear-coat. The frame then had the lugs highlighted with gold pin striping. A new custom wheel set hand-built by myself and sporting a set of Eldon rims and a matched set of high flange polished Velo-Orange hubs.

Back from paint.

The customer wanted the build rounded off with a 10 speed compact group from Campy.

The conversion was not without its headaches and a lot of small shims and add-ons had to be handmade to get the new technology to work. However the end result was definitely worth it.

Complete and ready to go.

High gloss and gold pinstripe, classic 70s...

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