Monday, February 2, 2009

Vegas--where America goes to Show Bikes and Bits

[ This article originally appeared in the Nov 2008 North Carolina Bicycle Club newsletter and is reproduced here with permission of the author in exchange for covering his losses and release from Clark County Corrections. — Ed. ]


Las Vegas NV
Back from Vegas. My second trip served to reinforce my initial impressions: Though the nearby canyons are spectacular, Vegas itself is a stink-hole. Even if you hope to put your sensibilities on hold to appreciate the famous "decadence and depravity", its just not there. Rather than luxuriously elegant opulence or exotic frontier edginess, the casinos feel more like dingy rundown malls filled with stale smoke, empty gambling machines, overpriced gas station food and a handful of American obesity epidemic poster-grandparents. If you get a chance, go, it'll make you appreciate home, and everywhere else.

So, why'd I go? Interbike, North America's largest bicycle trade event and show. It's a business-to-business event, so I attended in my official capacity as the Supreme Commander of the Ministry of Information Technology Services at North Road Bicycle Imports' Yanceyville-upon-Dan Operations Centre. This was my first Interbike, and I'm not a gadget geek (all my bikes are steel and I haven't even used a bike computer in years) so I am NOT well positioned to identify trends, spot "new for 2009" offerings, or differentiate bike-show biases from the true Zeitgeist. But that won't stop me.


White is the New Black
For example, the color white is everywhere—tires, saddles, handlebar wraps, brake pads(!), etc.. Even ol' Brooks is in on the white thing! Gilbert says, "Looks like 'white' is the new 'black'," so I guess it's a trend, though I have my doubts: bike clothes and parts are traditionally black for a reason—black hides grease, oil, dirt and sweat. I once wore a pair of blue jeans on top my bike shorts for Big Dog Bruner's bitterly cold winter century in north Durham and confirmed that a leather saddle will indeed impart an unsightly black stain upon one's derrière. Perhaps white will be sold as the best "salt hiding" color?

Lights


Down Low Glow (Berkeley)
On the other hand, black is terrible for safety as it works toward invisibility at night. As you'd expect there were plenty of lights on display, including Rock the Bike (Berkeley)'s long neon tubes—the "down low glow". There was a deafening air horn, powered by an air bottle you inflate with a bike pump. The rep said he inflated his in the Fall and it still had plenty pressure in the Spring. I'm sure plenty vendors refuse to locate next to that stall—this is a horn that should NEVER be used on a group ride.


Monkey 'Lectric (Berkeley)
Monkey 'Lectric (Berkeley) had a nice animated graphic spoke light system, like the old “Hokey Spoke” system. I never saw the Hokeys in person, but I'm told the Monkey system is a vast improvement. I asked the rep if they paid royalties to HS, but he scowled and protested that this is entirely different technology. I was disappointed that there's no way to customize and upload your own images, but otherwise it looked nice. Retails about $70.


Save the Wells--Just Ride
Blackburn has some new, tiny, rechargeable lights called "fleas". Weighing only 17g including the built-in battery, you could even mount them on your helmet comfortably. They come with these little wires that have magnets on the end so that you can recharge your flea off a 1.5V flashlight battery.

I sought out Cat Eye to try to get an answer on their TL-LD1000s which, in my experience, are seriously plagued by a dangerous propensity to turn themselves off in use—a very bad thing for a taillight. The rep denied any knowledge of a problem. The 1000 is superseded by the 1100, which looks the same, and the always reliable skinny TL-LD600 has been superseded by the 610, which now has those lens bulges over each LED (like the 1000/1100). Cat Eye is a good company with great customer service, so I suspect the problem is fixed.

Tyres


Pashley Guv'Nor
Back home, we'd been discussing the white goop on most new tires and how it's been known to cause crashes if not scrubbed off the tire before mounting. The conventional wisdom is that the nefarious substance is "mold release compound" —applied at the factory to the steel tire mold to prevent the rubber from sticking to the mold, kind of like spraying pam on a waffle iron—and is also reported as a problem on motorcycle tires. The Schwalbe rep. denied the existence of mold release compound. The Michelin rep. called it “silicone”, and the Panaracer rep called it “talc”. The rep. said he did not know what it was, but they wash it off and then Armor-All the tires on display; he showed me a "knobby" which had white residue in the corners, and offered to contact the factory to investigate the issue.

Frames

I saw more steel frames than I expected, which made me happy—I still love steel. Again, being a show newbie, I cannot judge whether this is par for the course, a sign of a resurgence, or if Interbike is biased toward l'Acciaio? So, why steel? Aesthetically, carbon fiber looks like plastic. Aluminium tubes look bloated, and I still don't understand why they don't clean up the welds on aluminium bikes. Even oilfield welders pass the grinder over a completed weld to pretty it up, and expose voids.


Waterford
Steel bikes are not welded. Steel tubes are assembled with lugs and brass brazing or silver solder. Lugs offer another opportunity for the builder and painter to create beauty and style. More pragmatically, I'm the kinda guy who sticks with a bike for life, so I appreciate that steel is forgiving, steel can bend and remain strong under stresses that would cause any of the other material to develop hairline fractures—fatal fractures. My old eyes are not good enough to spot those cracks.

Lastly, Fausto and Velocio both rode steel.

Speaking of steel, Mr Bayliss (San Diego) had an unassuming stall exhibiting his beautiful work. Though there were many outstanding steel frames from factories large and small, Bruce Gordon (California) and Brian were the only indie artesian custom frame builders exhibiting handicrafts at the show. Bayliss is often regarded as a painter, but I'm told he bristles at the suggestion. You see, he is a reluctant virtuoso—the problem is that he does such remarkable work with paint that other master framebuilders seek him out to paint frames that they build. One grows accustomed to hearing, "frame by so-and-so, painted by Brian Bayliss," and forgets to acknowledge Bayliss as a top frame builder in his own right. Take a look at Dale Brown's Interbike photos and note that he generally did not take more than one photo of the best bikes at the show—yet for Brian's bike he's posted TEN photos to capture the glorious detail.

Did I mention Bruce Gordon? Yeah. He is now partnering with an outfit in Taiwan to build some less expensive frames to his specs. Bruce will build the racks and offer the "BLT" frame with fork and racks for about $1000.


Lugged Steel
+
Sublimated Powder Coat
Sillgey frames (Irvine/Taiwan) builds nice lugged steel frames (NOT complete bikes) and does them up in spectacular graphics. I'm told its not paint, but a special sublimated powder coat process, like Velocity (Australia) uses on their outlandishly graphic deep-V rims (checkerboard, eyeballs, skull and crossbones, argyle, camo, etc.). Also, Synergy is now available in good ol' 27". How 'bout a Smith & Wesson bike with Camo Synergies?


Et tu, Brooks?
Another traditional manufacturer at Interbike whose name evokes sentimental nostalgia is Brooks, who have been handcrafting premium leather saddles in England since 1866—cyclists have been riding Brooks since before we had chains, tubes or bearings! Brooks are a favourite with randonneurs—on many brevets, everybody is riding Brooks. Today Brooks offers thirty leather saddle models, plus six super supple “aged leather” models, leather bags, leather hand grips, leather bar wrap, leather mud flaps and other bits. I'm told they're going to offer one with leather so fresh that its still furry (my grandma had chairs like that) but I didn't see it.

Torelli also had nice Italian leather goods.


QBP's Loring, with Bamboo
Naturally QBP was there. Even if you've never heard of "Quality Bicycle Products," I promise you that you've bought from them indirectly—they wholesale materials to all the bike shops. Ever wonder why Bill's Bikes uses the same part numbering system as Cindy's Cycles? Last year QBP rolled out the Civia brand of commuter bikes. This year they added the "Loring" model with really cool looking real bamboo fenders and racks. Available in any color you like (as long as it's apple green).

Hubs, Drivetrains & shifting

Speaking of 800lb gorillas, Shimano (Japan) demoed their Dura Ace Di2 electronic shifting—faster, lighter and more reliable than mechanical Dura Ace. This is NOT the old Mavic system, for one thing the Di2 shifts front and rear and uses conventional style integrated brifters. There's also options for other shift button locations. How much? Who knows! Campy has not produced theirs yet, so I guess Shimano can charge whatever they want for these jewels.

Speaking of shifting, have you seen the NuVinci continuously variable hubs? "Continuously variable" means there's no 1-2-3…, its analog, like a tractor or a Honda Insight transmission. Or like the volume control knob on your radio—there's min, max, and all points in between. Want gear # 2.539, you got it! This also keeps your chainline always straight, no dropped chains, no missed shifts, only one cable and no finicky derraileurs! At $600, they're about half the cost of a Rohloff. If you shop around you might get one for $400.

Want a cableless shift for the chainrings that's hands-free and maintains that clean fixie/ss look? Schlumpf (Switzerland) has the SpeedDrive—a two speed bottom bracket that you shift by pushing a mechanical button with your foot. Several bikes at the show where SpeedDrive equipped.


Moulton New Series
Years ago Sachs (Germany) made a coaster brake hub with a twist—by giving the pedals a quick backwards kick the cyclist could shift the internal gearing between low and high. If only Sachs still offered these, you could combine with the SpeedDrive for a four-speed, cable-free, derailleurless system with the clean look and perfect chainline of a singlespeed. But Sachs hasn't made the kickback in many years, so…dream on.

Dream come true—Moulton (England) has found a stash of NOS kickbacks tucked away in a European warehouse just waiting to be paired with the SpeedDrive! Moulton is offering a limited edition of their spaceframe bike with this novel configuration.

Sturmey Archer's (England) newest hub is three speeds, fixed-gear, with bar-end shifting.


Gates Carbon Drive
Gates, the company that makes belts for your car, introduced their "Carbon Drive" polyurethane belt drive system at last years Interbike emphasizing MTB applications. This clean, quiet and smooth running toothed-belt drive system showed up on a lot of commuter bikes, folders and even a fixed-gear from Fixies Inc (Germany). They say this belt will also last twice as long as a chain, needs no lube and is much lighter than a chain.

Do you pump your tires up before each ride? Not me…I know I should. Ever wish somebody would make a self inflating wheel? Defined Design (San Francisco) has done that with their "Pump-Hub"—and it's really cool! The pump-hub is a machined aluminum tire pump that installs inside a special wheel hub and pumps when the wheel turns. You use normal tires and tubes, the hub connects to the valve using a thin black polyurethane air line. You push a little silver mechanical 'button' to turn it on, and ride the bike a mile or two to pump up the tire to the pressure you've set (adjusting screw). It goes "clack-clack-clack" as it pumps, then when the tire is fully inflated, the pump disengages, shutting itself off. The pump cartridge module adds four ounces to the wheel weight.


Phil Wood
If you're looking for a hub that is just a hub, but you want the smoothest and most durable hub that money can buy, Phil Wood (San Jose) has been designing and making them in California since he pioneered sealed bike hubs almost 40 years ago. Not light, nor cheap, these hubs and bottom brackets will outlast your frame. You can consider them a family heirloom. A very conservative manufacturer, Phil Wood only makes changes in response to bona-fide new technology, so it is exciting news that this year Phil Wood bearings got even smoother with the introduction of "Carbonyte" bearings with a new compound that fills in microscopic cracks in bearing surfaces.

Gilbert pointed to a hand-cranked spoke threader at the edge of the booth and whispered, "four thousand dollars." Hunh? "You know how with a regular threading machine you turn and turn the crank? Not with a Phil Wood: One pull and the spoke is cut to length and a full set of threads are, not cut, but cold forged onto the spoke—it does not cut away material, and makes a stronger spoke."

Velo Bizarre


Go One
I saw more fixies and single-speeds than I expected. Being a newbie, I can't say if that is in keeping with past shows. They could be catering to the youthful fashions, or maybe builders have always sought to highlight their frame construction by building up without messy cables, levers and derailleurs to distract the viewer's attention? I still like building a fixie up from a vintage steel frame—buying an expensive factory-made fixie just seems a little…bourgeois-bohemian, but some of them some look so nice that I'd definitely like to take them out for a spin, so call me a bo-bo. C'est la vie.

Rans had some long wheelbase recumbents with massive rear racks and pannier. I like that both wheels conveniently had the same tire size, but the saddles where like regular bike saddles—no back rest!


HP Velotechnik (Germany) folder
I had a great time talking to the guy at HP Velotechnik (Germany), he hates Vegas more than I do! If I may generalize, my experience with German salesmen is that they are the least pushy salesmen ever—in fact, if you want to buy something you need to be ready to push them. I was interested in his “Grasshopper FX” folding recumbent, but he said that the one he had was only a prototype and could not actually fold. Still, I wish I had pushed him for a test ride—I'd love to have a traveling 'bent.

"Stepper" indoor exercise machines are turning into outdoor vehicles. No seat, and two big platforms for your feet.


Orient Bicycle Company (Massachusetts) 1896 Oriten

Santana (California) lined their booth by assembling ten of their “Cabrio” S&S-coupled sections into a ten seater tandem! You'd think that has to be a record, but the Orient Bicycle Company (Massachusetts) built and rode a ten seater way back in the 1890s! (Google "Oriten")


Kool Stop's Měsíček highwheelers
Over at the Kool Stop booth, there were two Josef Měsíček (Czech Republic) hand crafted highwheelers (penny farthings) on display. Highwheeling looks like fun, but these looked almost too nice to ride.

Topeak has a cool bike called the Jango with clever fittings for all the stuff you need to attach: fenders, lights, rack, trailer, etc… The idea is that all this stuff installs and removes quickly and easily without tools, and of course its all well integrated, so no more duct tape, nylon wire ties and leather bootlaces holding your stuff together. I keep an eye on Topeak since they introduced a cycling specific camping tent a few years ago—I figure any company that does that, understands how I like to bike. This year Kamp-Rite (Nevada) had their tent-cot mounted on a bike trailer.


Flying Pigeon
There were several vendors displaying electric assist bikes, including "Flying Pigeon" who are one of the top manufacturers for China's domestic market, dating back to pre-Communist days. Under Chairman Mao, FP supplied a working man with a great bike for $15, in any color he wanted (as long as it was black). But Mao is dead, color options are available, and those $15 models go for $150 today. The "Flying Pigeon" name evokes sentimental nostalgia in China, where most of the commuter bikes on the street are FPs or Giants. The electric motorized hub bikes are also very popular in China, perhaps partly because motorcycles are limited to 50cc (mopeds) in China.


BuddyBike
In the U.S. these hub motors are limited to about 20mph and operate only as "assist"—you still have to pedal. BionX (Quebec) has some surprisingly lightweight models with regenerative braking that are said to get up to 80 miles on a three-hour charge, but that's assuming you set it on the lowest assist level. 20 or 30 miles is probably more realistic. Cost is about $1500. My buddy Tom Ed tried a few brands, but gave up on them after finding that its too easy to fry the controller unit. Cycle 9 in Carrboro sells the BionX and one of the guys there charges his with solar power.


Madsen Bikes (Utah)
Need to haul heavy stuff? Madsen Bikes (Utah) has a dump truck of a bike—a rear loader available as a rack or bucket model, either rated to haul 600lbs. Yuba had models set up to haul a quarter ton too.

Oh, and there was a guy doing insane twenty foot backflips on an extreme pogo stick. I hope he stays out of pacelines.

Bags


Indoor Bike Parking!
I've always been very pleased with Ortlieb (Germany) bags—durable, very waterproof (they look like kayaking gear), well designed and made. The panniers have a great attachment mechanism—they're very secure, yet detaching when you want to couldn't be easier.

Big front bags were popular this year. Rickshaw bags (San Francisco) was started by the founder of Timbuk2 and makes "zero waste" bags—i.e. designed and cut from nylon in such a way as to not leave any scraps. Detours bags (Oregon) makes bags entirely from recycled plastic soda bottles.

Looking forward

I think I heard that Interbike will open to consumers too in 2009. The really big shows in Germany open to insiders during the week, then to the public on weekends. Vegas isn't my kind of town, but if one is in to mountain biking the outdoor dirt demos might be a lot of fun—there is some spectacular outdoors nearby, and very much a change of scenery from the east coast.

—Adrian "la Paralysie" Hands

Never explore the final frontier blanket-less!

Charles Lindbergh rejoiced flying alone at night above a forgotten cloud bank, feeling as though lost "in the solitude of interstellar space," yet confessed to

"know that down below, beneath that heavenly blanket is the earth, factual and hard."
Flying closer to our factual and hard earth, the cycletourist seeks a more literal blanket at night. Spaceblankets are great! Waterproof, windproof and light, they pack small; I put them in thick zip-lock bags and squeeze the air to an interstellar thinness before sealing.

While I never go on an overnight ride without a space blanket (small, weightless, waterproof, effective) they do make a space bag that would be drier (from the outside) and much warmer. My buddy uses a breathable one that has two layers and is perforated with some quilted insulation for almost all his camping year-round. He is tough, but we are in the south and he wears a lot of clothes in the winter.

On a long brevet, you might try a time honored ultra-light backup to a space blanket by doing what 90% of the Randonneurs do: Travel light, ride briskly and sleep indoors at the checkpoints that the organizers provide.

There are actually four distinct styles of space blanket products, though all do not use the same name or trademark:

  1. NASA Style: Silver with red or gold back, with or without corner grommets. Solid, stiff and built like your life depended on it. Stiff enough to serve as an emergency sleeping bag, does not cling, and works as a tarp, etc., for years.
  2. Foil Type: Silver with gold or silver back. Mylar ultra thin and ultra light film. Fits in your pocket but is delicate. Maybe 1/20th the weight and a 1/8 the size of the NASA style.
  3. Plastic Coated Mylar Style: 1/2 to 1/3 the Weight of the NASA style. This is a mylar blanket coated on both sides with clear plastic. Fairly durable. These are hard to find.
  4. Space Blanket and Space Sleeping bag Style: These are perforated for ventilation and has a very thin synthetic loft—insulation layer in a mylar or foil sandwich. Both styles are very light and easy to find in our area. The compacted size is 4 x 8-9 inches or so and very light for a sleeping bag, but I like a little more softness.

Some clever bike-packing rugged individualists get dual-use from good space blankets by pressing them into service as pannier covers, also making good use of their high light reflective property—Ingenious! But we recommend using aluminized coated nylon for pannier covers—this material weighs similar (heavier 1.1 - 1.4 oz per yard) and will pack smaller as it will not puff up like the space blanket. Four pannier covers could wad into your fist. Stephenson's Warmlight and my neighbor (Treklite) who used to work for Stephenson used this fabric in tents that start in the sub two pound range for real three-person tents. At the Warmlite website this material was recommended to resist sun damage. It has a high tech Lost in Space/NASA look. Stephensons sells the fabric too.

Combining the water protection of plastic with the lightweightedness of Tyvek, the space blanket also sees use as a ground cloth or tent floor protector. While they can puncture more easily than Tyvek, they can be easily patched. Really if you are worried about punctures of a floor protector, you are pitching in the wrong place as far as your tent is concerned.

I have also used the space blanket as a space blanket.

Yours in Cycling,
Gilbert Anderson

North Road Bicycle Imports
P.O. Box 840
166 Courthouse Square
Yanceyville, NC 27379
USA
toll free: 800-321-5511
local: 919-828-8999
e-mail: cyclestore@aol.com

Sometimes, you just can't Beat the Drum!


Not THAT kind of drum!

Paul "Butch Cassidy" Newman, who performs his own bicycle stunts, advises that it is too late to put on the brakes once you're upside-down, but a set of Sturmey-Archer drum brakes will stop your bike, and easily toss you over the bars if used haphazardly! I was so impressed that I bought a pair (drum brake hubs) front and rear for an old Raleigh Gran Sport. No maintenance, clean rims, weather-proof, large strong flanges—Cool!

The standard supplied brake levers for the hubs are JUNK, however. They are nylon, are flexible and have limited travel. As far as I'm concerned, they're unsafe and non-functional. We have sold hundreds of the old Pashley Roadsters with these brakes, front and rear, coupled with mountain bike levers with Zero complaints. My personal bike had Campagnolo Record road levers and, again, you can easily lock-up both wheels, but they have better modularity than linear-pull brakes. Linear-pull and disk brakes require less hand pressure to lock-up the wheel than the SA drum brake, but you have to wonder if being able to easily lock-up a wheel is a good thing.

Braking at the hub will make for a bit more spoke stress than rim braking, but since drum brakes have better modularity than disks they will stress the spokes less. Rim brakes are less stressful to the spokes than drums or discs. I suppose it is a proportional game (or caper if you are a KiWi or Oz resident).


A drum that's hard to beat!
Eight internal gears to boot!

While it worked, I found that, for me, the Aria Drum Brake lost it's effectiveness quickly with use. I preferred the Canti's, with good pads on mine. While not designed for a tandem, I have never had any problem with the newer (since about 2000) Sturmey-Archer drum brakes. They have primarily had alloy 90mm hub shells but as I recall the steel ones worked fine.

Set-up with the Sturmey-Archer is a non issue, really: Adjust the bearing, clamp the brake-reaction arm down, use decent brake levers, quality cables, take slack out of cable, apply pressure to handle, stop. I feel like they are as simple as you can get.

Good, well placed cable-stops will help any brake. Santana Tandems going back over twenty-five years have some of the best, and had big cables in the old days.

Yours in Cycling,
Gilbert Anderson

North Road Bicycle Imports
P.O. Box 840
166 Courthouse Square
Yanceyville, NC 27379
USA
toll free: 800-321-5511
local: 919-828-8999
e-mail: cyclestore@aol.com

Just how Loaded is "Fully"?


Camping on the Castle grounds
at the 2006 Moulton Rally,
Bradford-on-Avon, Somerset, England

J. P. Sartre says that words are loaded pistols, but his were usually fully loaded. The great visionary Bucky Fuller, who mesmerized students at Black Mountain in North Carolina, complained that the educational process tended to overload people until they lost their innate capabilities. Retaining what innate capabilities I still posses, I load up and go to a rally for Alex Moulton bicycles in southwest Angleterre every year or two. Lots of rides in the country-side and along the lovely English canal paths. Many people ride some distance self-supported to the long weekend rally and camp at Dr. Moulton's lovely home (we Americans often describe it as a castle).

The English as a whole, whether by accident or design, seem to travel with much less weight and bulk than the riders from most other countries. We were cycling in a popular tourist area and loaded vacationing cyclists were common. You could always pick out the Americans—with enough gear to make any outfitter proud. I think 80-100 lbs would be a common American load—without the bike—on overseas trips. The British that I observed often camped with 20-30 lbs of gear for a week, plus food and any carry-along liquids.


F-Frames at the 2006 Moulton Rally,
Bradford-on-Avon, Somerset, England

Now the heaviest loaded tourists that I have seen are from Japan. Though small in stature they often transport their own body-weight in luggage and gear. The Japanese often carried extensive electronic gear and scores of music collections. This can certainly be reduced from the old cassette tapes to CD, then DVD and now MP3 players but I assume these cyclists would now drag along full satellite communications and televisions, laptops, video cameras so their loads may have gone up! In Japan I feel getting back to nature may often include headphones.

While I consider myself one that carries few extras when camping, I carry plenty to be self-contained and comfortable. While some people would consider my camping load ultra-light, my summer travel companions often travel great distances camping with only one small partially-filled pannier, and one plans two weeks in Europe without even that. These fellows are very quick to pack-up in the morning.

Yours in Cycling,
Gilbert Anderson

North Road Bicycle Imports
P.O. Box 840
166 Courthouse Square
Yanceyville, NC 27379
USA
toll free: 800-321-5511
local: 919-828-8999
e-mail: cyclestore@aol.com

You can't argue with Radar

"Amazing attention to detail, exquisite craftsmanship and wonderful ride. A performance machine and a real head-turner all in one go."--that's the verdict on the Moulton Twin Pylon over at bikeRadar.com.

"Beauty cannot be questioned.

It has its divine right of Sovereignty," wrote Oscar Wilde, before he ever rode the Pashley Princess Sovereign
Pashley 33
A tough bike parking day in front of our Yanceyville shop
Over one's mind and over one's body the individual is Sovereign. —John Stuart Mill

Pictured above, three Pashley Princess Sovereigns, designed to please the mind and body:

  • Rich Burgundy, fitted with the optional rear picnic basket with closing top,
  • Buckingham Black, sporting the standard front-mount wicker basket, and
  • Regency Green, endowed with the extra-large wicker basket, as seen in most Pashley Factory photos.

The Princess was selected by the Independent for Miss Marple wannabes pedaling the mean streets of Shepton Mallet, basket loaded with ginger beer and jars of home-made jam. This hand-built regal steed also caught the eye of TreeHugger, where they prefer to load the basket with flowers & bread.

Peruse the factory specs over tea, then ring us up to discuss customizations.


Yours in Cycling,
Gilbert Anderson
North Road Bicycle Imports
P.O. Box 840
166 Courthouse Square
Yanceyville, NC 27379
USA
toll free: 800-321-5511
local: 919-828-8999
e-mail: cyclestore@aol.com

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Bobbie Martin can't let a Good Bike Die

An MK3 rebuilt from ashes
by Bobbie Martin

The Raleigh-manufactured Moulton Mark Three predated the space frame in the early 1970's. Though non-separable, these bikes were noted for their smooth and solid riding characteristics. The rear suspension rubber "Squash Ball" and lower pivot resemble the modern Moultons produced today.


I bought this bike a while back after it had been in a fire. With the help of my friend John Greenwood, we were able to restore it using mostly modern components.


As it was so bad to start with, I never considered restoring to original, and we decided to upgrade it using modern components.


The fire had melted all the plastic & nylon parts.


The fire had melted all the rubber parts as well, including the squashball!


The rear swing-arm was widened to 135mm and a new wheel with a Nexus 8-speed hub installed.


The Raleigh 26tpi bottom-bracket was rethread to standard BSC threading and cut down to the normal width. We used a Shimano UN72 BB, but still had to cut the rings slightly.

The new crank is a Campagnolo Triomphe—one I had on hand. I have always liked the look of these. This one has been modified for a single outer chainring (53 tooth).


The front wheel was built-up with a narrow flange Sansin hub spaced to 88mm to fit the MK3 front forks. Velocity USA supplied a pair of hard to find 36 spoke 16" Aeroheat rims. Tires are Schwalbe Marathons.


It was ready to ride by New Year's.


A local vinyl sign company duplicated the original decals. John Greenwood, a friend of mine, has done most of the work you see…


…including cutting down the front axle and skewer, giving us a nice quick-release front wheel that works like a champ.
New Squashball provided by Moulton Preservation.


He also machined new rear swing-arm bushings from Delrin.


We also added a few braze-ons for a water bottle and fender stays.


Here is the finished product. Powder-coated red frame & rack, with silver-vein mudguards and a black swingarm. Campy Triomphe crank with 53 T chainring, and Brooks saddle.


Finished out with a Nitto stem, handlebars, upper headset from an APB FX8 and an Avocet 30 cyclocomputer.

The bike rides great with the Nexus hub. All it needs now is the proper rack bag!

Thanks,
—Bobbie Martin


Yours in Cycling,
Gilbert Anderson
North Road Bicycle Imports
P.O. Box 840
166 Courthouse Square
Yanceyville, NC 27379
USA
toll free: 800-321-5511
local: 919-828-8999
e-mail: cyclestore@aol.com

Scandium Schmandium

Element 21 on the periodic chart, Scandium, is a very rare metal, produced as a by-product of uranium processing, with little commercial applications—outside of marketing!

That said, the scandium-aluminum alloy frames that I have seen are impressively light by very-light standards and seem to hold up well. The tubing is however, in my humble opinion, no good for loaded touring. It is one of the stings of the miracle disposable racing tube sets that seem to be everywhere. Loaded touring, I feel, puts more stress on a bike than racing. Having broken my share of racing and touring frames, I feel that almost any will fail given enough miles, but super-light tubing is just that, and will have a shorter road life.

On a sad note, we have a friend of the shop that had a Scandium bike built by a major manufacturer. After less than 2000 trouble-free miles, he brought it into the shop for an annual look-over and what was found was that the right-rear chainstay was cracking in two! After telling the fellow the bad news, it got worse: the other chainstay was broken half way around too!

This unnamed manufacturer probably has many thousands of these bikes on the road and most of them probably are fine, if used as intended. I hope this is an anomaly, but it makes you wonder. It's hard to beat steel for reliability. But aluminum, in the same weight range, is probably just as reliable. However no one makes heavier aluminum frames anymore, except for sale at Wal-Mart—and those are are much heavier than steel frames and, from our experience, much less reliable.

Yours in Cycling,
Gilbert Anderson

North Road Bicycle Imports
P.O. Box 840
166 Courthouse Square
Yanceyville, NC 27379
USA
toll free: 800-321-5511
local: 919-828-8999
e-mail: cyclestore@aol.com

Have stove mounts, WTB: One hub sniffing Afghan Hound.

The Lost Hub

Primus Stamp
A Swedish postal stamp
celebrating the Primus Stove

Many British touring bikes famously included a braze-on designed to stow a Primus stove. Colin Martin's 4-speed 'round the world Moulton Marathon was equipped with a carrier sporting a mess kit braze-on underneath. The stove was nested behind the head-tube between the panniers. This is a true retro ride—canvas bags, steel carriers and Corol bottles all around.

As a side note I was told by one of my Moulton customers that the Moulton Day Bag was designed to carry a "Primus" and whole tea set for a roadside cuppa on chilly (or not so) mornings. The Weekend Bag is very similar and will hold three Primus stoves (without stacking them) for a real Brew Up!

Long before becoming a popular destination for British and American soldiers, Afghanistan was a wild place, where W.C. Fields claims to have lost his corkscrew and survived for weeks on nothing but food and water. Colin, unsure that his two-speed kick-back Sachs hub would last the journey, carried a spare hub. Over time, many cyclists tend to shed gear, for simplicity. Likewise, in 1970, Colin buried his spare hub somewhere along the road to Kabul. At a recent Moulton gathering, Dr. Moulton speculated that the US Marines might have discovered this artifact while searching for landmines. In better times a casual search for the wayward hub and corkscrew might be a good excuse for a bike ride.

Colin incidentally was sidelined on his 'round the world journey when his bike was stolen in Australia. He was diligent and did manage to complete his circumnavigation in 2002. Thirty-two years is a long trip!

P.S.: The truly stove-obsessed will be interested in perusing Classic Camp Stoves at SpiritBurner.com, an online venue for collectors & users of vintage camp stoves such as those made by Primus, Optimus, Radius, Svea & many others. I've got half a dozen stoves I'll bet, and that website makes me want to buy 10 more!

Yours in Cycling,
Gilbert Anderson

North Road Bicycle Imports
P.O. Box 840
166 Courthouse Square
Yanceyville, NC 27379
USA
toll free: 800-321-5511
local: 919-828-8999
e-mail: cyclestore@aol.com

Sitting downtown at a railway station, one spoke over the line…

More Spokes→Stronger Wheel

There are designs with just 1, 2, 3, 4 and even, believe it or not, zero spokes out there. As I recall, only the 3- and 4-spoke carbon wheels gained any commercial viability.

Punching spoke holes into a rim
Punching spoke holes into a rim
It's not the spoke count that matters; it is the spoke count and everything else. Gauge, wheel size, style, material, rim, dish flange design, and of course construction details and tension make a strong wheel. If you find the need to true a 36-holer less often than a otherwise equal 32-spoke wheel a fair man might conclude a 36-hole wheel is stronger. Taking away structural material does not necessarily make a wheel stronger (e.g. double-butted spokes). Rather it can improve certain characteristics, but can also adversely effect other characteristics (e.g. stiffness). This is important for some, less important for others.

The modern aero deep dish rims that use 20 spokes (or less) are plenty strong with a low spoke count. But look at those massive (and heavy) rims. The rims are incredible for brute strength and stiffness and simply require less spokes. Now, resistance to rim cracking and longevity seem to be a problem in my shop compared to traditional wheels; so there is a trade-off there.

As for breaking spokes: Properly selected components for intended use and properly built wheels don't break spokes in normal use. They can, with advancing years, but the rims usually wear out first, from my experience. For racing and fun you can always cheat the odds and go a little lighter, but durability suffers.

Yours in Cycling,
Gilbert Anderson

North Road Bicycle Imports
P.O. Box 840
166 Courthouse Square
Yanceyville, NC 27379
USA
toll free: 800-321-5511
local: 919-828-8999
e-mail: cyclestore@aol.com

Don't be gram-wise, and gear foolish!

While we at NRBC are all for rationally lightening the load to better one's bike-packing enjoyment, we do feel this can be carried too far.

Signs that you may have carried the lightening to excessive extremes include rationalizations along the lines of:

  • "I'll carry a cell phone, instead of tools and repair parts." (No!)
  • "I'll stay in hotels, and not need to carry a tent and sleeping bag." (No!)
  • "I'll eat in restaurants, and not bring cooking gear." (No!)
  • "I won't ride in the rain, so I can leave my rain gear at home." (No!)
  • "I won't ride in the cold, so I won't need cold weather gear." (No!)
  • "My wife will follow me in the car, so I don't need to carry anything except our TDF two-way radios." (No!)
The above examples are not self-supported touring efforts.

The chaps in England who wrote about "ultralight bicycle camping" way back in 1906 used 12 LB Kits, as noted in Horace Kephart's book Camping and Woodcraft. These keen cyclists were masters of the Utralight Touring, carrying a minimalist tent, sleeping and cooking gear in a small lightweight bundle that was easily packed and carried across great distances with reasonable comfort.

Now, Credit card touring is nothing new. It was done before credit cards were invented, by Thomas Stevens. But proper ultra-light touring, to our minds, is exemplified by leaving the salad fork at home, and packing the tube tent.

Pieter Maris, world's fastest folder
Igor finds bike parking beside a Yurt in Mongolia.
One of many outstanding photos on Igor's site.

Our international cycle-touring, and ultra-light extremist, friend Igor, in the Republic of Slovenia advocates no stove and no cooking/eating utensils. He freely admits the weight savings decreases off-bike comfort and have no proven benefits, but his obsession is interesting. We rather like our way of doing things, and we try to make up for carrying less utensils by packing an extra fifth of brandy, a jar of olive tapenade and an assortment of fine cheeses.

Yet, Igor's slides & photos are awesome!

Yours in Cycling,
Gilbert Anderson

North Road Bicycle Imports
P.O. Box 840
166 Courthouse Square
Yanceyville, NC 27379
USA
Our newest direct local Yanceyville Area phone is 336-421-4054
Toll Free Research Triangle Area, NC area 919-828-8999
Toll free Nationwide 800-321-5511
e-mail: cyclestore@aol.com

Blue Bike Transporter

The Blue bike transporter with the sturdy wrap around kickstand is a delightful bike. It is a very common commuting and shopping bike, made by Bridgestone in Japan. Not light, but very practical, with three sealed internal gears, rear hub brake and oil-less belt drive to keep your paints clean. The front lamp is powered by a Sanyo® brand generator front hub coupled to a photo-sensitive lamp that turns on and and off automatically as needed. The front basket is a tight weave, such that coins won't even fall out. The rear basket converts from basket to baby seat, and then to old Rudge bike carrier (one of our long term employees actually tours the countryside on that Rudge.)
Blue Bike Transporter
Bridgestone delivering the Rudge!

The remarkable Bridgestone bike has rims made from Stainless Steel, not chrome like the poser's use. Sorry folks, they are both spoken for.

Yours in Cycling,
Gilbert Anderson

North Road Bicycle Imports
P.O. Box 840
166 Courthouse Square
Yanceyville, NC 27379
USA
Our newest direct local Yanceyville Area phone is 336-421-4054
Toll Free Research Triangle Area, NC area 919-828-8999
Toll free Nationwide 800-321-5511
e-mail: cyclestore@aol.com

Grab some gatorade & popcorn! We're watchin' Movies!

Table of Contents

[ Top ]

New Series Movie: The Innovative Engineer—Alex Moulton

A video documentary interview for Bath University Engineering Department Training. Fascinating; really, Free Movie.

Download: [ GVP ] [ AVI / MP4 ]

I had this as a video but now it is in the public domain. It is better with a high-speed connection.

Please understand that this is a late 1990's film with older bikes featured, as they have changed a bit since then, but the movie is fascinating none the less. Please feel free to email or call with questions (calling is better as somethings are hard to explain without real-time interaction!).

The video is 20 minutes long and a high-speed connection is recommended for the optimal experience. Audio is okay with slow-speed but some might wish to go to Google Videos and download the whole movie for best playback.

Our Nickname: "Our Friend the Steel"

This is an early film of the design and development of the revolutionary Alex Moulton New Series bicycle. Although the bicycle has been updated considerably since it's introduction the design and engineering fundamentals are insist-rated here. Interview with Dr. Alex Moulton himself and lots of Moulton history and shots of his lovely home and grounds near Bath in England. North Road Bicycle proudly imports all forms of Moulton Bicycles for USA sales and distribution.

Best Quote: "Nobody Owns the Laws of Nature."

Best Observation: Alex's Ink-Method of idea incubation & illustration

[ Top ]

Old "F-Frame" Movie: The Original Moulton

A British Pathe video documentary on the original F-Frame Moulton—the world's first full-suspension bicycle.

The "F-frame" was Dr. Moultons original production (1962-1974), preceding the sale to Raleigh and the modern "space-frame" AMs. The name comes from the shape of the frame without the front fork. The "F" shape is seen as the frame lies on the side and generally refers to the 1960's models. (The "Bridgestone Moulton" is a new aluminum "F" Frame.)

As the film notes, this dream bike was designed to replace not just traditional bicycles, but automobiles.

The video is 2 minutes long and a high-speed connection is recommended for the optimal experience. Audio is okay with slow-speed but some might wish to go to Google Videos and download the whole movie for best playback. Much of the footage was shot on location at "The Hall" the Moulton estate in Bradford-on-Avon, where research, design and production is carried on daily. The Hall also serves as a meeting and demonstration ground for the annual "Moulton Bicycle Club Bradford on Avon Weekend".

"The first real change in cycle design since the penny-farthing became outmoded."

[ Top ]

Go Go Yasu!—Moulton Life

( Choose a movie at the right. → )

yoshi-colle Visit Yasu's Moulton Life site (Japanese)

[ Top ]

Pashley


Pashley bicycles are the "genuine article"—quality bicycles hand-built in England. This video discusses how the Pashley fights the tide pulling toward modern mediocrity and thrives delivering the kinds of bikes that people really want while keeping highly-skilled manufacturing traditions and jobs alive and at home and the resulting social impact on the surrounding community. Includes brief interviews with Adrian Williams, Dave Cook, Clive Morton and Dave Moldstock.

[ Full Screen ]

[ Top ]

Recumbent Sail Bike


29 sec - Aug 15, 2006
Average rating: star star star star star (3 ratings)

Description: 7.5 sq. ft. clear vinyl sail with bamboo mast and bamboo tomato stake boom held together with duct tape. Surprisingly stable, even in gusts. More efficient rigid Coroplast wingsail planned. See also "homemade moped", "powered trailer pushes bike", "kite as flag lifter" and "monkey bars pixilation". denbecr@hughes.net

[ Top ]

Brooks film fest


Support the Bicycle Film Festival with Brooks England and the Green Swallow 100 BFF Limited. A favorite of Cyclosportifs world-wide, Brooks Saddles are handbuilt in Britain and equipped on Pashley and many Moulton Cycles because Leather is Healthy!

[ Top ]

Fietswoman!


Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It's OV Fietswoman! (She's FAST—Don't mess with her!)

[ Top ]

Cassidy rides!


Paul "Butch Cassidy" Newman, who performs his own bicycle stunts, advises that it is too late to put on the brakes once you're upside-down. One reason we like the trusty, unbeatable drum!

Yours in Cycling,
Gilbert Anderson
North Road Bicycle Imports
P.O. Box 840
166 Courthouse Square
Yanceyville, NC 27379
USA
toll free: 800-321-5511
local: 919-828-8999
e-mail: cyclestore@aol.com