Pro Road Team Racing on Steel

Everything old is new again

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/photos/rapha-condor-jlt-steel-and-carbon-racing-bikes-gallery/

Thin steel, fat rubber

• I am a hard-core cyclocross elitist type. Is the Fisticuff for me?
  No.
• I am a homeless guy with pigeons in my beard and crazy eyes, is the Fisticuff for me?
  Yes.
  http://www.vassagocycles.com/fisticuff/

Lugged Cyclocross Frame Creation

It's nice to see a craftsman at work, even if just via digital photos:

http://www.kirkframeworks.com/jk_cross.htm

Heavy Metal

I love the Competitive Cyclist web site for its enthusiasm, weatlh of knowledge and slick design. Today, however, I found something I question. Shopping for a new chain for my Campy 10 speed bike, I checked out the Wipperman ConneX 10 Speed Stainless model. It's got a quick link which Campy branded chains don't have, and the stainless should last longer and be easier to clean. They claim, however, that:

"One final bonus is that stainless is light"

Not true. Most stainless grades have a density of 8 g/cc while mild steel comes in at 7.85 g/ cc. This stainless chain might be lighter however if they're using a heat treatable grade that could be stamped then hardened, allowing for thinner wall thicknesses, lightening the assembly.

I went to the Wipperman site to see if they publish what grade of steel the chains are made of. Not that I can tell. Sprechen sie Deutsch?

Ross-check

Friend of nippleworks, Ross-i-tron, just finished his Surly Cross Check touring / Colorado winter commuter. Hell, given how it rains many afternoons there, the full fenders make it a good year round commuter. Gonna put studs on that thing? I've asked him what's up with the rack stays that go down to his canti brake bosses, since it looks like he has seat stay rack bosses. I'll post his explanation when I get it.

Update: according to Rossitron, the rack is an Old Man Mountain model that was originally meant for his mountain bike (which didn't have seat stay bosses) and it got a new lease on life as part of the Surly.

More raw steel cyclocross bikes

Found this bike on +1 lap:

http://plusonelap.blogspot.com/2009/01/handmade-cyclocross-bike-adams-miles.html

Unpainted steel frame, carbon fork, Campy components, top tube cable routing.  Very familiar.  Although, I'd never leave a frame unprotected like that, I like to keep my bikes a long time and failure due to rust is totally avoidable.  

Pegoretti Cicli

Above Category Racing (sponsored by Above Category Cycling of Mill Valley, CA) came out to race the Sea Otter circuit race on their steel Pegoretti Marcelo's. How many other steel frames where in the bunch that day? None. They're even using metal bottle cages. Unheard of!

No crying allowed

We here at nippleworks love April Fools as much as the next guy. A solid April Fools post would have been awesome, but this year, we just didn't have it in us. Instead, we offer you this:


On a totally unrelated note, there was a little anti-rust activity lately. Taking Jobst Brandt's advice (which, it should be pointed out is copious and sometimes eyebrow raising), I plugged up the weep holes on my steel commuter bike. Hence, no more crying allowed.

All I did was mix up a thimble-full of Devcon epoxy and dab it in the holes. Totally reversible with a small drill bit, but also pretty easy and bomb proof. The theory here is that these holes are only necessary for gases to escape during the welding or brazing process. Without an escape route for heated air or gas, bubbles will form in the weld or brazing compound, weakening the joint. Jobst's theory goes on to state that once the frame is welded and as long as the inside of the tube is dry, these holes can be plugged. In fact, to plug them is to prevent water incursion increasing the corrosion resistance of the frame. Other people claim that they allow the frame to dry out, but honestly, if they're plugged, how's water going to get in in the first place? Oh, and he's also got some advice about greasing up your seat post slit.

What'd I tell you, eyebrow raising.

Vintage Moots

Serial number 300 or so according to the owner. He was in Steamboat Springs, CO about the time Moots started up and had the proprietor braze him up a mountain bike frame. The craftsmanship then, as now, was fantastic and no part of the frame has failed despite some 25 years of off road use. The bike has been repainted, got a new fork (not easy with a 1" steerer tube) and also had the shoulder pad replaced. That's right, shoulder pad. The frame maker put two bosses in the top tube and mounted an ergonomic piece of aluminum to that. Around the aluminum was originally a leather shoulder pad, which has since been replaced by a foam/nylon bit. Great for adventure cycling, creek crossing and boulder hopping (before front suspension). On the day this photo was taken, the owner raced it in an XC race, proving that it's not the arrow, it's the Indian...

Steel Reserve

First, let me say, thanks for all the tips on the folding bike. Selling the old one on Craigslist and replacing it with a modern model may be the way to go.

on an unrelated note, I once worked with a crusty, violent SOB who, when faced with a DUI drivers license suspension, reverted to commuting to the lab on his Schwinn Paramount. It was probably the vintage of this one, and a good looking bike. It was the only thing about him I could respect. I was surprised to see that Cyclingnews posted a review of a newly built Paramount. James Huang wrote the article (and it looks like he rode the bike for the photos). He's my new favorite journalist. He gave it a really positive writeup, raving about the comfort and beauty of the steel frame and pointing out that when built up with high zoot components, it came in at under 17 lbs. Then he dropped the bomb. This thing was being made by Waterford and being sold by Schwinn for $7000. I guess no one is set up to mass produce frames with polished lugs and high performance steel tubing, although the technology did at one time exist. We can only hope, that by the miracle of marketing trickle-down, the rave reviews this frame receives will bring about more traditional, repairable, recyclable steel frames. Schwinn has at least one lower end model with lugs, the Madison, on the market.

The steel bike re-revolution is here!

High tensile = low budget

Witness the 2009 Mongoose Maurice HiTen.  As in, high tensile steel.  It used to be that bikes made of 'high tensile' steel or 'HiTen' were sold at KMart or had streamers on the handlebars.  High tensile steel has a lower strength to weight ratio than Chrome-Moly steel, making it a nice intermediate material between sewer pipe and the stuff grown-up bikes should be made of.  Performance Bike has apparently got into the department store bike game with this offering.  BikeSnobNYC should be gratified that it is an urban style fixie and that its low asking price ($289.99) and upgradeability make it a harbinger of the coming"Fixed Gear Apocalypse".  They are offering a Chrome-moly version for about $200 more.  However, given today's economic situation, I'm sure they're selling plenty of lower end bikes as basic transportation.

Photo swiped from PerformanceBike.com

A frame has been commisioned

Due to my monkey like proportions, I find I have a hard time fitting off the peg bike frames.  My cross bike, for example, is a 57cm with a tall headset stack.  I had a road frame built for me with a tall seat tube and short top tube, and it fits great.  I've been thinking for some time now that I should have the same done with a cyclocross/touring frame.  Well, the opportunity has recently presented itself.  Sanner and Ratliff Bicycles is a startup frame building outfit with several frames under their belts.  They need to make some showroom models though, and needed the capital.  I fronted that capital (they gave me a price break) and should have a frame in a couple of weeks.  Lugged, steel Deda tubing, custom geometry, cyclocross style.  They're going to deliver it unpainted but otherwise finished.  I'll keep you posted on progress.

For now, I'm thinking that I'll just keep it clearcoated.  Ugly bare metal cyclocross thumpin' stick.

Image swiped from http://www.littlefishbicycles.com/

All hail the Fargo

Cyclingnews.com and their coverage of Eurobike 2008 have brought to my attention the Salsa Fargo. It's not particularly light or fast, it doesn't have 6 inches of suspension travel, and none of the materials it is made from have ever been launched into space. It is so boring it's exciting.

-29er wheels (so it might not be for everybody)
-tons of braze-ons
-disc brake tabs
-huge fender/tire clearance

Ride it on trails, ride it to work, ride it from the Pacific to the Atlantic, put a trailer on it and ride your kids to preschool. Have a set of road and a set of off road wheels and you could make do with just this one bike for everything.

Fan-fargo-tastic.

picture from salsacycles.com

Seen at the velodrome...

From Gunnar