Wheelgirl

Finish That Excel Spreadsheet Later, Play with Serotta Bike Frame Paint Program Now

Serotta has a web-based bike frame paint program that will greatly decrease your workplace productivity by allowing you to sit in your cube all day long and preview a zillion possible bike frame paint jobs and decal placements of your choosing. I like the details and differences certain choices create in the total look of the frame set. How does the style of the frame set change when you paint the carbon fork versus leave it unpainted? Do certain color schemes look awesome or more like they belong on a dated t-shirt in the close-out section of Ross Dress For Less? What happens when you change the decal from white to red on the down tube?

Anyone can use the Serotta paint program to get an idea of how creative paint schemes and decal placements might look like on a new custom frame or how a simple new paint scheme might kick fresh life into your your tried and true current ride.

Paint program designs by Wheelgirl (lifted from the Serotta site's paint program) frames painted for the landscape designer, investment banker, Bob Marley fan?

Linen Shorts and Johan Museeuw Flax and Carbon Bike Frames

I just got out my linen shorts for the after-cycling spring weekend BBQ season, so when I chanced upon the flax /carbon bike frame tube cross-section on the BicycleDesign website, I was happy to see I was in good company. I clicked around on the post, and checked out the links on BicycleDesign to CozyBeehive BioComposite Race Bike Part 1 and Part 2 . If you want to see how Johan Museeuw makes bicycle frames using carbon and flax, check out the YouTube video on the Museeuw site. He uses different carbon-flax ratios for different frame tubes to tune the ride qualities. The Museeuw bike photos below give a breakdown of ratios.

If you are not familiar with flax, it is a plant from which, historically, people made linen thread, linseed oil, fiber-based products, and snacks (from the seeds.) Cyclingnews gives a review of how the Museeuw flax and carbon bike frame rides. The name, "MF-1" is taken from the "M" in Museeuw and the "F" in flax. (Quiet your minds, cats familar with curse word abbreviations.) I have not tried one of these frames, but if you have had the chance to ride one of these frames, put up a post.

 

(Photos lifted from the YouTube,except the cross section photo lifted from BicycleDesign site, and the two complete bikes with flax to carbon breakdown lifted from the Museeuw Bike site.)

LightCap200 Bike Water Bottle Night Light, Soma Crystal PolyPro, Klean Kanteen, Specialized, and Bisphenol A

If you prefer to ride your bike with a hard plastic water bottle, you can replace the current cap on a Nalgene, Camelback, or GSI water bottle with this solar-powered Sol Light 200 water bottle cap, and turn your clear or translucent water bottle turns into a bike night light. The solar light charges during the day in the sunshine while you are riding around, and the 4 bright-white LEDs at sunset shine into your empty or full water bottle turning it into a lantern. Sol Light makes the $20.00 LightCap 200 solar-light water bottle cap to fit any standard 2.25-inch diameter water bottle. The LightCap 200 has a NiMH rechargeable battery, a sensor that turns it off when it senses sunlight, and a waterproof on-and-off switch, so you can use it as a flashlight if you get a flat tire.

But of course, the questions associated with hard plastic water bottles is not about the viability of a solar light built into the cap but about the leaching of Bisphenol A (BPA) from these re-usable polycarbonate bottles. If you want to learn more about leaching plastic, you can read this. We carry in the shop the Soma Crystal PolyPro water bottles, which do not contain Bisphenol A, but the bottle is of a harder plastic, and I could never get it to deliver a really good slug of water at the top of a hill. Soma has improved the bite spout this year. So, I will try it again. I had the same type of experience trying to gulp water at the top of a hill from the non- BPA stainless steel Klean Kanteen. When climbing like a happy boat anchor in the California sun, I need to be able to deliver a stream of water to my sweaty self faster than the inflexible water bottles allow.

If you are bike racing or training, you probably ride with the soft, squeezable Specialized water bottles many road and mountain cyclists prefer, since it is harder to drink on the bike from a container you can't squeeze. (Look on the bottom of your favorite waterbottle, and see if it is stamped with the Specialized "S".) I don't have any leaching info on Specialized bottles. If you do, post a link. Feel free to post links and experiences you have had with good water bottles for endurance cycling that don't leach toxins. And if you use the Sol LightCap200, put up a post and let us know what you think.

 

Photos lifted from the Sol Light website.

Like Cool to OhGizmo to Giz

Mavic R-Sys Carbon Spoke Replacement and The Red Retention Ring

Today I talked with Bill of the Mavic Technical Service and Repair department, and I asked him to review the spoke replacement instructions for the Mavic R-Sys carbon-spoked road race wheel set. The reason I called Bill at Mavic was to address some questions by Wheelgirl.com visitor, David, who emailed the shop to order a new Mavic R-Sys spoke kit.

David wrote that he had replaced an R-Sys carbon spoke, replaced the red ring, and then tensioned and trued his wheel. According to David, the force that the spoke collets exerted on the red retention ring during the truing process, however, irreparably damaged the red ring.

Bill of Mavic stressed that you replace the spoke, true the wheel, then replace the red ring. Replacing the red ring is one of the last things that you do in the spoke replacement process. (The instructions on the site reflect Bill's latest comments.) However, Bill didn't know why the red ring on David's wheel set had suffered damage. In Bill's experience, improperly replacing the red ring and then truing the wheel had led to cracked and damaged spokes, not red retention ring damage.

Bill did say when the R-Sys wheels first came out, it was part of his job to try to simulate bike mechanic service and repair errors in order to educate those who would be working on the new product. Bill said he managed to break spokes and strip a spoke wrench through improper procedures, but he was only able to damage a red ring by applying a heavy and direct (think shocking) blow to the rim but not by improperly truing the wheel with the ring in place.

This is the first year for the Mavic R-Sys wheel set and its particularly new TraComp technology. So, if you have any questions, Wheelgirl bike shop is a Mavic bicycle wheel dealer, and we are happy to help answer any questions you may have about purchasing, repairing, or servicing Mavic R-Sys wheels.

(If you have a Mavic R-Sys tip, make sure to post it.)

Photos by Wheelgirl at the 2007 Interbike in Vegas

Phil Woods Too Nice for Beater Fixie? Formula Sealed Bearing Track Hubs Now In Colors

If you lock your fixed gear in a place where some wicked cat might cut through your frame to steal a set of sweet Phil Wood track hubs, the Wheelgirl Online store now has 32-hole Formula sealed-bearing cartridge flip /flop track hubs in powder-coated colors. Formula hubs are not Phils, but they do have sealed bearings, and a set of of the high-flange flip/flop track hubs with 15mm track nuts costs $100 including shipping. They come in red, white, blue, or yellow. The advantages are that you won't be forced to eat ramen noodle soup for a month to pay off your wheelset, and you won't have to keep saying to your friends, "One minute. I'll catch up to you, I just want to make sure nobody has cut my Phil Woods off my bike."  They are not Phils, but sometimes in the city, you need to have a wheel set and a bike that is not thief candy.

In my experience, Formula track hubs get the job done at a very reasonable price. You can use the same wheel set to run a fixed cog or a single-speed freewheel. So, you have some flexibility. The powder-coated finish looks pretty nice, and if they get crunchy, you can change pop in new bearing cartridges. If you are interested in a buttery smooth, strong, hand-built wheel set, email us and let us know your riding wants and needs. Decent fixed gear wheel sets range from about $260 to get you where you need to go all the way up to about $800 for a supremely strong and high-performing long-lasting set of hoops that laugh aloud at the punishment dished out by the urban landscape.

Photos by Wheelgirl. (The red looks great in the sunlight.)

Special Edition Oury Grips in Soft Green, Soft Blue, and Khaki Brown

Oury Grips are crazy soft, not that expensive, and they come in great colors. The only thing that is kind of a drag is that they show the dirt, but that is the price you will happily pay for riding with the newer Limited Edition pastel colors including Soft Green (kind of a pale Celeste green), Soft Blue (like a Baby Blue), and Khaki Brown. We just got the Limited Edition colors in the shop, so if you are trying to match a Velocity Deep V Sea Green rim, the Oury Soft Green grips are a match. The Khaki Brown begs to be mated to a white track frame and a worn honey Brooks leather saddle.

Oury Grips are incredibly comfortable, and they add a welcomed splash of color. The padding on the grips will stop the fillings in your teeth from rattling. You may wear them down like pencil erasers if you are riding your fixie a million miles a week, but they are one of the few handle bar grips that you won't notice. They are squishy and delightful, and they don't leave a dark rubbery residue on your mitts.

Suggestion: If your track bars are transmitting a crazy amount of road vibration to your palms and wrists, you can cut off the closed ends of the Oury grips with a razor to make two Oury "tubes".  Apply some hair spray to the inside of the Oury tubes and gently work them up from the bar drops to the top portion of your bars.  Make sure to center the Oury logo, either toward you or away from you. Remember: Pay attention to the details, so your bike doesn't look as if you were brought up by wolves. (Jump to see a list of colors)

Photos by Wheelgirl. Soft Green and Soft Blue aren't easy to distinguish on the computer monitor. But the colors do look pretty different in natural sun light.

Track Wrench Thick As A Brick in Your Backpack? Try Surly's Fixed Gear JethroTule

If you don't want to ride around with a mini adjustable wrench from Ace or TrueValue Hardware in your backpack, you can spend $25 for a JethroTule. Surly makes this stainless steel 15mm box wrench with an attached bottle opener. The bottle opener part is drilled, so you can hang the tool from a string loop or put it on your key chain.

The wrench fits the 15mm track nut holding your fixed gear bolt-on wheels to your frame.  It has a decent smooth feeling to it, and the back of the bottle opener part is relieved to reduce the weight. The pricey nature has to do with the fact that it is made of stainless steel. Remember you fixie riders: Keep a wrench, tire levers, extra inner tube (or patch kit), and a mini pump on hand this spring riding season. No matter how fly your stylish and minimalistic ride might be, you can't Bungle in the Jungle with a flat tire.

Photos by Wheelgirl.

King Kong with Fixed Gear T-Shirt

Need to dress up for upcoming graduations and weddings? The Wheelgirl Online store has your new Spring T-shirt of an orange King Kong heaving an orange fixed gear bike above his head. The shirts and design is from Elevation 42. (The elevation of Oakland, California is 42 feet above sea level.) This American Apparel 100 percent cotton t-shirt in Asphalt gray, men's size large, is available including shipping for $25.  (We currently have men's size large only. Sorry, not large cats.)

(Photo by Wheelgirl)