Wheelgirl

Wheelgirl Bike Shop Holiday Bonanza Food & Gifts, Sat. 12/12 & Sat. 12/19

OK, my cats who are holiday broke, nervous, crazy, riding around this winter in the dark with frozen hands on stretched chains and bald tires. You're not buying your holiday gifts at Walgreens.Take that Sharpie and write Saturday Dec. 12th  and Saturday Dec. 19th somewhere on your body or sneakers, so you remember to stop by the shop on both of these days and attend the Wheelgirl Bike Shop Holiday Bonanza 11-6 rain or shine.

We are going to eat cupcakes, at the cupcake bake off on Sat. Dec. 12th; drink free coffee, deal on all bike components, and buy all of our cool artsy and craftsy holiday gifts for $10-$30. On Sat. Dec. 19th, we are going to eat food made with Stonehouse Olive Oil, drink more free coffee, and buy more inexpensive and unique gifts.  Sure you can go stand in line all day, in the dark, away from oxygen and sunlight, on the cement floors of Costco or Target, to buy her/him yet another thing with a plug. But why?

Makers of Arts & Crafts: If you want to be a vendor at the Wheelgirl Holiday Bonanza, send an email to service@wheelgirl.com. (Look to the left under the logo, and click on the email link.) It's $10 each day for a 4-to-6 foot table and we'll figure out how to make your table of treats fit. We like supporting makers. Kind of late notice. But I'm kind of a cat of the moment. You've got a week to get it together. We'll keep your veins filled with coffee.Bring it!

Another cool event poster by cyclist and graphic artist Dalton Crosthwait. Photo of recycled bike part jewelry designed and created by employee and cyclist Bryan at the shop. Yes, copy cats, Bryan took all the pins out and paired the linking plates.  Check out Dalton's other work at design + motion at  www.monstrodesign.com

Wheelgirl 2009 T-Shirt Design Contest Winner

We received fewer designs this year, but deciding on a winning design was not an easy task. There are a several designs that would make really great t-shirts. In the end, the judges chose Stephen from Irwin, Pennsylvania, USA. His design makes me remember the happy times when energy bars looked like a cellophane pack of mini donuts; cycling jerseys were any shirt you owned that had short sleeves, and energy drinks consisted of water bottles filled with lukewarm coffee and Coca-Cola. (Yes, it is kind of gross, but it does work.) Congrats, Stephen, for creating this year's winning Wheelgirl Bike Shop "Bike Love" t-shirt design. You win an Chrome Citizen messenger bag! Check out Stephen's other artwork.

Keep your eyes peeled for another t-shirt contest this year. I really love to see the creativity and talent that exists in the bike community. Here are the designs from this year's participants. Well done to all of the designers who entered!

(*Quick completely unrelated note: If you are in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco today, check out the Purple Skunk All Skate Jam.)

(All graphic design and photos by Stephen of Irwin, PA USA. Stephen's art site:  www.fatherofodin.net 

 


 

 

 

Bike Swap at Wheelgirl, This Sat. Oct 10th, Donuts & Coffee, Bargains!

We are having a bike swap from noon to 5pm this Saturday. You are invited. Bring anything bike-related that you want to swap, sell, or trade. If you need to build up a bike, this might be the place to find some sweet deals on components and accessories. Items in the bike shop are on sale. And of course, it isn't a party without free coffee and donuts! We'll also announce the winner of the Wheelgirl 2009 T-Shirt Design contest.  Email the small poster jpg file to everyone you know who loves 2 wheels. (Jump if you need directions for emailing images.)

(Wheelgirl Bike Swap Poster designed and created by local Bay Area, Graphic Designer, Dalton G. Crosthwait  Thanks Dalton! )

Paul Racer Brakes Let You Convert 27-inch Bike Frame to Accept 700c Wheels

You have an old vintage Raleigh, Roberts, Dawes, or Peugeot steel frame with 27-inch wheels. It has semi-horizontal dropouts, and you decide to re-purpose the frame into a single-speed or fixed gear. You want to run 700c wheels, since there are way more choices in 700c rims, tires, and pre-built wheelsets. However, when you put the 700c wheel (smaller) in a road frame made for 27-inch wheels (larger), the brake on the 27-inch geometry frame don't reach the 700c rim braking surface.  Suggestion: Spend the money on a center-pull, long-reach Paul Racer brake.  And you can reward your faithful old steel bike with a nice piece of modern bike component jewelry.

Yes, the Racer brakes are pricey. But you can then keep that old and still-good bike, which you used to ride around town in cut-off jeans and tube socks, out of the landfill. (I know lady cats, you didn't wear tube socks, but you did you did sew the legs shut on your old cut-offs and make purses out of them.) The cost of the brake is about the cost of a BART ticket for a month. The Racer brake is available in braze on or center mount models. So you can buy a model that fits on 26" mountain "V" brake-style frame brazeons or 27-inch and 700c center mount road frames. The Racer brake also allows you to put 650B wheels on a frame made for 700c wheels. But according to the tech spec from Paul, it "will not fit on cantilever brake studs."  Click here for the tech spec. (Jump for more details.)

 

 

(Photos taken by Wheelgirl.)

Plemon's Leather Double Toe Straps, the Hand-Made Ones with the Birds

Ok, you cats who feel like you are going to fly off of your fixies into space if you are not double strapped into your pedals, Wheelgirl Bike Shop just got in another great looking choice in double toe straps. Plemon's all-leather double straps are hand made in San Francisco, California, and you can recognize them because they look beautiful, and they have a bird embossed into the leather. (Seagull, dove, pigeon [in the dove family and carnivorous], Canadian goose, you decide.)

The label is not so easy to read, so look for the lovely little holes in the straps and the birds. If you are wanting to rock double straps that cost something between the price of Soma double straps and Toshi double straps, you now have a locally made option. The brown straps are the thickest, so if you know you are a beast when it comes to breaking toe straps, get brown. (I want a  leather bracelet made to match the brown toe straps.) Suggestion: There are not a ton of white straps currently because they are a new color, so don't cry like a baby cat if you wait too long to decide, and the white straps sell out. (Jump for more photos and  info about these new double toe straps.)

Photos by Wheelgirl

Wheelgirl Bike Shop Looking for Part-Time Bike Mechanic

It is bike season, and we are looking for a part-time bike mechanic with experience working on high-performance road and track bicycles.You need to have experience installing current Campagnolo Record and Chorus and Shimano Dura Ace and Ultegra SL drive trains. You also have to have experience working as a bike mechanic in a bike shop that sells high-performance cycling brands. The position is for 15-to-20 hours per week. The schedule can be flexible. (Jump for resume guidelines.)

(Photo by Wheelgirl of a cut away view of a Rohloff Internal Speed Hub. [Thanks, Neil!]  You won't ever have to fix these at our shop. But if you are a bike mechanic, you won't be able to avert your eyes!)

Gripping Tales of Cloth Bar Tape

Many fixed gear riders like the positive feel of cloth bar tape. They feel more connected to their handle bars via the thin layer of cloth with an adhesive backing versus a thicker layer of synthetic cork bar tape. Also, the thinner cloth bar tape may be less likely to slip around than the thicker bar tape if you are doing acrobatic fixietrix. However, be warned, if you have sensitive hands or a rough urban commute, the cloth is really thin and not squishy at all. If you smack a pot hole, you may be more likely to feel the road shock and vibration transmitted through the cloth than through fake cork or rubberized riser bar mountain grips. (Some cyclists solve the hand stinging issue by putting a couple of gel pads on their bar tops and wrapping cloth over the gel pads.) We just got a bunch of cloth bar tape in different colors into the Wheelgirl Bike Shop. So far we are stocking cloth bar tape in brown, dark green, dark blue, white, yellow, red, and black. (Remember: We moved to San Pablo between REI and Performance Bicycles.)

Photo by Wheelgirl.

If Forced To Visit Relatives on 4th of July, Pedal ID by PedalMafia

Eat some grilled food, talk about the economy, kiss your great aunts on the cheek, and sneak a hand-held, web-browsing device to your 4th of July gathering.  I started playing on this site after employee An introduced me to it. An's fixie was stolen, and she was trying to design her next bike. (The thieves cut down the sign to which her bike was u-locked.) An got a inexpensive orange fixie. But what rhymes with "orange"? While you are sitting at the picnic table hoping your Uncle Billy doesn't blow off a finger lighting firecrackers, go to  Pedal ID by Pedal Mafia .

Oh, how I enjoy the labors of creative and smart bike cats. The Pedal ID program is easy. Click here. You will discover colorways for track bikes that mimic those outfits of  late 1970s hair metal bands. Sometimes you will feel embarrassed by your designs and need to reload the tab.  Some tips for new users: To add a component to your canvas, click on the component. To remove a component, click on that specific component icon again, and it will disappear. You can drag and drop any components on the canvas. On the bottom left-hand corner of the Frame page, there is a Pink, Blue, Yellow Frame Paint icon which allows you to paint a frame different colors.

There are about 19 choices you can make from screens for frames, front forks, wheels, wheels bmx (spread the love), chain ring, crank (spider), pedal, toe clip, toe strap, stem, seat post, saddle, handle bar (riser and track bars), tire, tire bmx, grip, chain, exclusive, other (which includes frame pads, Chris King headsets, lanterns, Knog lights.)

No more holding up a component to your fixie and asking every friend you know as well as complete strangers, "Does this look stupid or good?"  This 4th of July, visit Pedal ID, and remember: Lighting paper tubes filled with gun powder inside of containers creates a big noise and shrapnel.

 

(Screens lifted from Pedal Mafia's Pedal ID app.)

Adrian and His Comic Book BMX Components

A guy on a light blue BMX stopped at the bike shop. And I couldn't help but notice his ride. Creative cyclist Adrian had covered his stem, seat, and crank arms in comic book pages. Adrian told me that it took a while and some experimentation to create a coating mixture that works. He showed me photos of another cool looking comic component set he had made. It is summertime; sweeten your rides, creative super cats. (Jump for close ups of comics and more photos.)

(Photos by Wheelgirl. Comic Book Component Created by Adrian)

If You Still Have a Job Buy Yourself a Lynskey Cooper Titanium Frame

If you still have a job, you might want to think about getting your bike dialed so that if you get laid off, you can ride away your work fat and your crying-broke stress during your months of almost assured unemployment. I really like titanium as a bike frame material. My new favorite frame for the money is the Lynksey Performance Cooper Ti frame. Lynskey is offering these all-titanium frames for $1295 + fork. Sure, if you can afford to get a completely custom frame, go wild crazy. But we have built two of the Coopers recently, an extra large and an extra small. And if you can fit correctly on one of the variously sized life-time guaranteed, never rusts, never fatigues, made-in-the-USA titanium Cooper, buy one. Ti is really comfortable to ride. And the titanium tube set for the Cooper is shaped and flattened. The down tube is bi-ovalized. This is not your grandma's thin-and-round-tubed whippy ti bike frame that click, click, clicks every time you are climbing and the front derailleur, chain, and crank are kissing from the stress. The ride and price of the Cooper is reigning supreme.

Oh, and I'd put one of those Lynsksey CNC'd  ti shamrock dropouts on a chain, and wear it around my neck to dinner and a movie. Lynskey does the dropout CNCing and the frame fabrication in-house in Tennessee. Go click around on the Lynskey site while you are still getting a payday. (Jump to read more and more about the Cooper.)

  

(Photos of Lynksey Titanium Cooper taken by Wheelgirl. Photo of the shamrock dropout lifted from the Lynskey site.)

The Bike Kurt Built to Ride From Berkeley, California to Tierra del Fuego, South America

Bike mechanic, racer, and world touring cyclist, Kurt, is leaving on the cycling trip of his dreams. He designed and built his touring bike and wheels to be bombproof and reliable under any conditions. He started with a somewhat damaged XtraCycle frame, a welding torch, some Halo downhill rims and a Halo rear hub, a Schmidt generator front hub, his Jamis frame, some Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires, a Shimano Shadow rear derailleur, XT cranks, a nose-less saddle. Then Kurt, with his formidable skills as a bike mechanic, constructed the bike that is up to the job of making this dream come true. He plans to ride from Berkeley to the tip of South America and, perhaps, onward from there to some other spots on the globe.  His last trip included 12,000 miles through 18 countries in 10 months. For this trip, he has not set a return date. Best wishes and a safe journey to Kurt on his adventure. If you see him during his trip, do me a favor and keep him supplied with giant cake mixing bowls of pasta or breakfast cereal and lots of coffee. (Only black coffee, no flavored coffee, well-meaning lady cat barristas.) In the bike shop, I've also seen him have a "little snack" consisting of a gallon container of orange juice and an entire box of Wheat Thins. A few dough nuts, I've found, also usually produce a grin. We'll have a link on the Wheelgirl site to his his trip-of-a-lifetime stories and photos. (Jump for more photos of Kurt's touring bike.)

 

(Photos by Wheelgirl. Amazing touring bike designed and built by Kurt.)

White Industries Urban Platform Pedals with Tapered Spindles Are Foxy on Your Fixie

Take a look at the White Industries tapered stainless steel extra-foxy spindles on their newer Urban Platform pedal. No more meowing about your fat work shoes hanging off of your teeny track pedal platforms. It was kind of hard for me to put these in the case and not straight onto my ride. These pedals are not available in giant quantities, yet. But we do have a black-and-silver set in the glass case if you want to see what the fuss is about, and we will be getting in more pedal sets in silver, hopefully. The CNC'd engineered aluminum platforms, exacting touches, and thoughtful hardware, like sealed-bearing cartridges and brass acorn nuts, make them unique and  pricey. The platforms accept all standard toe clips and single or double toe straps. The tab the you step on to align the pedal with your foot is much wider than most and not easy to miss. The platforms kind of look like an electrical outlet face plates to me when I allow my mind to wander. Check out the photos. (Jump for the gear-head specs.)

(Photos by Wheelgirl.)

Ritchey TorqKey Pocket Wrench or Jelly Beans and Sound of Carbon Bars Snapping

During a bike check this Easter Sunday, Cyclist Lee sprang into action by quickly offering his Ritchey TorqKey with a 4mm hex bit. This pocket-sized torque wrench, which fits in the palm of your hand,  worked well during a customary Ritchey carbon handlebar and Ritchey alloy stem check. Torque spec is usually printed on the stem. The TorqKey has one 4mm hex bit and a fixed torque setting of 5 newton meters (5 Nm or 44 inch-pounds), so it works with Ritchey handle bar and stems. When you have tightened a stem face plate bolt to 5 Nm, the wrench clicks, signaling it has topped out, and you can relax knowing you have tightening the stem face plate bolts to manufacturers' spec, and not crushed your carbon handlebars. The alternative, of course, is that under the influence of jelly beans, in a jet-fuel-like sugar coma, you decide arbitrarily to guess what 5 Nm of torque feels like, and with your folding minitool and a few marshmallow chicks for courage, deeply scar or snap your pricey handlebars. We will have the TorqKey at the shop, and you can pick up one for less than a large pizza with two toppings. (Remember we've moved to 1400 San Pablo Ave. between REI and Performance.)

Feeling Just A Little Bit Cranky

Customer Julius brought this in to show us. He was not hurt. But after his ride was interrupted, he might have felt just a little bit cranky. (This is pretty unusual.)

Check Your Rim Braking Surface or Maybe Visit This Daymare

There are tons of beginning cyclist articles on the web telling you to check for tiny rocks and / or bits of metal embedded in your brake pads that can wear down or tear your rim sidewall. Yeah, yeah, yeah. These articles also tell you to replace your brake pads when they wear down, so you don't damage the rim. Right, right, right.  And then, usually, there is a tip about checking for rim wear. Some rims have wear indicators (little cuts in the rim that let you see how far you have worn through the alloy). Oh, tell me something new, you are thinking. I know all of this. My wheels are fine. Or are they?! (Check out the photo.)

If you hold a ruler parallel against the bicycle wheel rim's machined sidewall  and you see a small bit of light between the rim and the ruler, you are usually OK. Some cyclists, however, try this exercise and say to themselves, "Wow, I certainly feel a giant valley of alloy worn away in the middle of the braking surface, and when I hold a ruler parallel to this rim I see a fat-as-a-hog  half moon of light between the straight edge and the machined sidewall of the rim!" If this sounds like you, mileage beast,  you are skating on thin ice this holiday season.

The brakes can wear through an alloy rim braking surface until the alloy is paper thin, and then the braking surface on the rim can rupture, tear, and basically fail. The customer who owns this wheel didn't crash. He had just completed a long ride (with hills)and was putting his bike back on his car bike rack to go home. Lucky guy. Take him to Vegas. Suggestion: Check your rims, dear focused and bike obsessed cats. Plates of Holidays cookies are easier to hold and eat if you are not wearing a sling.

 

Photos by Wheelgirl. Hello Mr. Michelin Man. Happy Holidays.

El Toro Chromed-Plated Steel Pursuit Handle Bars, The Bull Horns Let You Stretch Out

We got in some of Soma's El Toro handle bars. In general, the chrome-plated Tange steel bars are much beefier than alloy bullhorn handle bars. The bars come in 38, 40, 42, and 48 cm widths. The have a 26.0 clamping diameter. And the inner diameter of the bar ends is 20.9.

You can come into the bike shop and squeeze the 40 cm ones we have. You either like the wrist angle of the bull horn bars by Soma or Nitto, or you don't. You need to try them and see if they make your wrists and arms happy. (According to the Soma website. The El Toro bars were after the Irvine, California, Air Force base burned down by aliens in the movie "Independence Day".)

You can fit the Soma pursuit levers with these bars, but according to the Soma site, you have to buy the  20.6 plugs separately. (The plugs that hold the Soma Pursuit brake levers inside the front part of the handle bar can expand from 19.6 to 20.6. And the El Toro bars are 20.9.) Make sure you check the expanding plug diameter of your levers before you get all happy; then, pout like a baby, and then curse like a sailor if  your intended pursuit or time-trial brake levers don't fit right.

Photos by Wheelgirl

3M Reflective Frame Pads Style and Stealth Safety

If you are planning to commute on your fixed gear through the darker winter months, you might want to visit the bike shop and check out the new Bici 3M Reflective frame pad that just arrived.The 3M reflective frame pad looks like a normal light gray frame pad during the day. But the entire surface is made from a reflective material produced by 3M. The frame pad turns a really bright reflective white when it catches the light. One advantage of reflective material on the top tube is that cars entering a main street from a side streets can see you. The first photo, taken inside the shop, shows afternoon sunlight on the frame pad (and the bags in the background with reflective piping and trim). The second photo shows a non-reflective frame pad covered in a white material next to the reflective Bici 3M reflective pad. Again, this photo was taken indoors in the afternoon, and the Bici 3M reflective pad is reflecting sunlight. It is wicked bright.

Photos by Wheelgirl

What Does A Toasted Chain Ring on a Fixed Gear Look Like, Mommy?

Money-saving fixed gear tips: This weekend, check to make sure that your chain ring bolts are all there and tight. Check to make sure that your chain line spacing is appropriate for the drive train configuration you are running on your home-made fixie or single-speed. Check to make sure that you have not over tightened your chain to kingdom come. The blood on the spider, which was twisted out of alignment and beyond repair, is that of the friend who tried to help the buddy who toasted the ring. (We put on a new Sugino Messenger track crank set and new Sugino BB. Really nice guys, but expensive learning experience.) Suggestion: Ride hard. Respect material stress tolerance ranges. Again, try to keep the blood inside your body.

Photo by Wheelgirl

White Industries Splined High-Flange Track Hubs with Splined Cogs are Here

I've been waiting to see the talked-about White Industries high-flange single-fixed splined track hub set, and we got a pair in the shop last week. Very nice piece of kit. The idea is that they take a special high-quality splined cog made by White Industries that fits on the hubs, like a puzzle piece. So you can't spin the cog off, cross-thread it, or through urban fixed gear acrobatics, damage the hub shell threads by rocking back and forth on a loose set up. You line up the splines of the cog with that of the hub; tighten the lock ring, and get spinning. You don't need a chain whip. You need only a lock ring tool to tighten the ring. Oh, and they are really pretty. I look at bike parts morning, noon, and night. It brings me much happiness to look at high-quality pretty hubs.(Jump for more photos, info about materials used, technical info, as well as wheel building hub measurement specs.)

Photos by Wheelgirl

Shimano Yumeya Website Has A Great Intro. and XTR White Gold Uber Parts

Usually, I hate to watch bike website Flash intros. I press the skip link, since I want specs, not dancing bike parts, and the far-from-entertaining intros seem to last forever. But you have to click here and see the new Shimano site for their new Yumeya product offerings. Yumeya is the set of new white and gold high-performance uber light XTR mountain bike parts. Don't skip the into. And make sure you have on your headphones if you are at work. There is music and a pretty loud yell.  This Kabuki cat, Mr. Ainosuke Katoaka, has so much fortitude and bearing, I had to watch the intro three times, and I forgot to check out the part specs.  He is not even a cat. Check out that hair. He is a lion, and he is the real deal.

As to the XTR offerings, if you are all about gold and white high-performance mountain bike groupset colorways, you need to check out the product offerings.

NiteRide MiNewt Mini-USB Light and Knog Frog Lights

The weather in the Bay Area is gorgeous in September and October. But soon we will all be riding around in the dark trying to figure out if those are puddles or potholes filled with water. Enter the NiteRider MiNewt Mini-USB.  I had the MiNewt model two years ago. And this year's MiNewt is smaller, lighter, and USB charge capable.

Now, Knog's Frog lights are light and easy to use. They have a steady and blinking mode. We sell a ton of them, and I keep a couple of those on my ride. They can live on your bike with little issue, and they help you to be seen. They come in many colors, and all of us at the shop really like the design and function of them. But the MiNewt Mini-USB is what you want if you are a commuter wanting to see where you are actually going on the bike. I have a couple of speed bumps on my ride home from work, and I have to hum my lucky tune when I am trying to see them in the dark with the one LED Frog light. The MiNewt light is bright enough to allow me to avoid pressing a bold raccoon on my commute home.(Jump for specs and detailed photos.)

Photos by Wheelgirl. Frog headlight, MiNewt USB, MiNewt Kit, Frog tail light. (Ti frame welds by Lynskey.)

Soma Double Toe Straps in Brown, White, and Black

You like the classic, understated, old school bike style, and you are trying to match your worn chestnut Brooks saddle to your double straps. Unfortunately, the only double toe straps you can find are the energetic and pricey but-oh-so-nice-and-laminated electric blue Toshi double straps? No worries. We just got a bunch of chestnut brown Soma double straps in the bike shop. We also received Soma white double straps, in case you are Italian traditional and are coordinating a white Selle Italia saddle. (The Soma double straps work with the Soma Oppy X 4-Gate toe clips. Two gates for Soma clips mean the toe clip needs a single strap, and 4 gates mean the clip needs a double strap. Yes, ordering clips always confuses me.) If you are a vagabond alley cat who feels all of this coordination of bike parts is psychically troubling, you can always opt for basic black.

Photos by Wheelgirl. (The black and white are still in their plastic wrapper.)

Anodized Dia-Compe Threadless Headset Spacers, Assorted Colors for Your Road, Fixed Gear, Mountain Bikes

Well, Chris King makes very pretty and accurately cut anodized headset spacers. But if you can't come up with the coin for King spacers, you can start changing the look of your bike by grabbing a few of the color anodized Dia-Compe spacers. They come in pink, blue, green, gold, and purple. (Because I watch you carefully construct the visual style of your individual bikes: The pink is like a dark magenta. Purple has a lot of red in it. The green is dark and classic. The gold is an orange gold, not a yellow gold. The blue is electric not navy.)

Spacers are an easy and inexpensive way to spice up your bike. You can mix them of course, or you can add a dash of brightness to the traditional silver or black spacer stack. They come in 5mm and 10mm thicknesses for both 1-inch and 1-1/8th-inch threadless steerer tubes. The spacers will fit most track and fixed gear, road, and mountain forks. We just received a bunch of them. (I can already predict that they are also going to be very nice candidates for those creative mockingbird riders who like all things shiny and make jewelry, messenger bag do-dads, and key rings.)

Photos by Wheelgirl

Hip Wheelchair Rolls By On Phil Wood Hubs and Mountain Bike Tires

I was sitting on a bench slurping down my coffee before work one late morning about a month ago, and I couldn't help but notice a very hip powder-coated green wheelchair rolling by me on Phil Wood hubs.  Theodore was kind enough to let me take some photos of his ride that he designed. He told me that he really likes the Phils, and he uses regular mountain bike tires on his chair. He explained that dedicated tires for wheelchairs are really pricey (up to $300 for hard rubber specialty wheelchair tires), and these expensive tires are not half as available or comfortable as mountain bike tires. Theodore also told me that he figured out he could use standard plastic electrical connectors, which are available in giant bags for pennies each, instead of more expensive fittings to connect the hand wheel to the main chair wheels. (Jump for more photos.)

Photos by Wheelgirl of Theodore and His Ride He Designed

Dia Compe BRS 100 Dual Pivot Road Brakes in Anodized Blue and Gold

If you are converting an old road bike or building up a single-speed commuter, these Dia Compe BRS 100 anodized dual-pivot brake calipers bring a splash of color to the usual silver scene. The blue is a non-organic shiny, electric blue, and the gold is less orange and more yellow. (You cats matching golds on your fixies know what I am talking about.) The arms are standard road bike length. If you are riding with old and maybe truly frightening brakes right now, add a pop of color and upgrade your ride for a reasonable price. We have a set of the blue and a set of the gold in the case.

Photos by Wheelgirl

Leather Handle Bar Grips by Click For a Mountain, Flat Bar Road and Single-Speed, Fixed Gear Bike

If you are making over your mountain hardtail from the early 1990s or converting an older road bike to a more upright single-speed commuter or fixie with riser or flat bars, stop by the shop and check out the new Clicks spiral leather handle bar grips. They come in four color ways, and they can add a touch of class to your commuter ride. I don't know how they wear on the trails, but for street riding, they look to be of good quality. The ends are protected, so the bars are less likely to break through them. Thus, you are less apt to core sample your own thigh in the event of a stack.

The green goes oh so  nicely with the special edition Brooks green B-17 saddle we have in the case. If you end up riding with a set of these on your city bike, or any other bike for that matter, post a comment. The packaging with the grips states they are "100% PVC-free". (Um...yes, that would make sense.) I did go to the URL on the package (www.clickgear.com), but I got an under construction page, which took me nowhere. If you find the real site, post the URL for the rest of us.

Photos by Wheelgirl

Campagnolo Faux Track Cranks for Fixed Gear Riding

OK, what happens when you have a ton of square-taper alloy Campagnolo Record double road cranks, and everyone has switched to the "modern" outboard bearing style cups and the carbon Campagnolo Ultra Torque Record road racing crank sets? The answer just got delivered to the bike shop.

Campy and a huge bike component distributor took the high-quality alloy Record square tapers and bolted them to some alloy 1/8th inch chain rings with holes drilled to fit cranks requiring 144 BCD (Campy and most true track bolt circle diameter) and 135 BCD (Campy road and Miche track BCD) rings. Yes, there are a ton of holes, but voila! You now have what I am calling "Campy Record faux track crank sets" that you can use to run 1/8th-inch single-speed and fixed gear drive trains. (You can also change out the ring and run a 135 BCD 3/32nds Campy road ring if you run a 3/32nds drive train on your fixie.)  These faux track cranks cost much less than the super pretty and crazy pricey real Campagnolo or Dura Ace track crank sets. (Jump for more and extra photos.)

Photos taken by Wheelgirl

Campagnolo 11-Speed Chorus, Record, Super Record Gruppos or What A Paycheck(s) Looks Like in Bike Parts

Campagnolo 2009 11-speed group sets, Chorus and Record are going to cost almost exactly as much as the 10-speed 2008 gruppos. This will make spending your entire paycheck(s) easier, since you already know how much you are going to have to pony up to decorate your favorite frame in fine Italian jewelry.  Velonews has good technical explanations of the 2009 Campy 11-speed Chorus versus Record differences. And on the Velonews site, you can also read about the new Super Record. If you want to hear and see the new Super Record components, Brian from Campagnolo explains the 2009 Super Record groupset in a video on Roadbikereview.com. If you owned or remember Super Record, first introduced in 1973 by Campy, forget the trip down memory lane. The new 2009 gruppo looks, weighs, and performs nothing like the old one. (Jump for more info. and photos.)

*Start drinking coffee and cutting down on sleep if you plan on entering the Wheelgirl 2008 T-shirt Design Contest. You have 48 hours left to try to win the set of Phil Wood track hubs.

 

Photos of Record 11-Speed rear derailleur lifted from the Velonews site, which in turn, were courtesy of Campagnolo. Super Record cassette photo lifted from Brian's Super Record video.

MKS Sylvan Track Pedals in Anodized Colors for Fixed Gear Makeover, Watching Tour de France is Part-Time Summer Job

I am obsessed with watching every minute of the Versus coverage of this year's Tour de France. It is like a daily five-and-a-half-hour-long HBO mini-series for the bike freak in all of us. When the TdF drama is over, I am sure I'll feel disoriented and lost. Next to my bike, the DVR (digital video recorder), which eliminates the billions of commercials, is my new most favorite machine.  So the extended Tour coverage, coupled with the fact the bike shop is slammed, means that the posts are short and sweet for another week. Anyway, Roland in North Carolina emailed to ask if I had any red track pedals he could buy for a fixie he is building. (I sound like Casey Kasem on American Top 40.) The answer is yes, Roland. MKS is making the Sylvan Track pedal in red, blue, gold, and black anodized colors as well as in the regular silver finish. They cost more, but the color is a nice touch if you are designing a special bike, and the anodized color looks pretty deep on the set of MKS pedals that just arrived at the shop this week.

Photos by Wheelgirl

I Phil Good

Powder-coated white high-flange goodness. "I feel nice like sugar and spice," since the latest Phil Wood track hubs arrived last week. The pair in the glass case are pretty enough to build a bike around.  "Whoa-oa-oa! I feel good, I knew that I would, now I feel good, I knew that I would, now. So good, so good, I got you Whoa!" (Buy an "I Phil Good" t-shirt. I dare you to get the tune to that song out of your head.)

* Reminder: Those artistic cats who hit the snooze button each and every morning, wake it up! You have 11 days left to enter the Wheelgirl 2008 T-Shirt Design Contest .

Photos by Wheelgirl

Big Cheese Star Handle Bar Grips by Dimension

In the shop, we often help customers put a bit of new life into their old road bike by removing the damaged and rusty derailleurs and turning these many-year-old machines into single-speed commuters. When it comes to riding in traffic on a daily basis, many cyclists opt for a more upright commuter-friendly position on the bike, so they can easily see and react to traffic. Customers usually have us replace the road drop bars with some straight bars. When this happens, away goes the bar tape, and grip style and color become discussion topics. I've written about Oury grips. (These are really comfortable, and come in solid colors only.) However, if you are a cyclist who loves a bit of flash, or if you are into astrology, currently working for NASA, or tend to hit your head a lot, Dimension makes the Big Cheese grips with stars on them. If you are visiting the Bay Area this summer, stop by and check out the Wheelgirl bike shop grip selection.

 

Photos by Wheelgirl.

Pake Space Straps, Toe Straps That Remind Us Of Something Else

The Pake Space Straps are a woven nylon toe strap covered in rubbery layer of colored urethane. This past weekend, everyone who touched the strap and bought them at the bike store said the same thing, "What does this toe strap remind me of? Oh, now I know, a flea collar!" The Pake toe straps feel like they have that same kind of coating, flexibility, and strength.

The Space Straps come in three color groups: High-lighter (fluorescent green, yellow, pink, and orange); Opaque (black, duct tape silver, maroon, and white), Translucent (green, yellow, mango, bright blue, navy blue, and red). The texture on all of the various colored straps is definitely unique. A fixed riders who used them over the weekend came in today an reported that they feel pretty good, and other riders have said they feel much better than the inexpensive leather toe strap that wear and tear over time or the nylon ones that stretch out too much and then shred. Time will tell if the coating wears off or becomes gummy and/or grimy. Put up a post if you are riding with these toe straps, and let us know what you think.

If you are on a budget, and you need to do a bit of a makeover to your fixed gear, a new set of clips and straps is usually a good investment, and an upgrade can go a long way in making your fixie pedaling and skidding feel more dialed. You can check out the colors we have in the following photos, and we just ordered some more different colors today. (I think the High-lighter colors might best appeal to those who were not yet born the first time that neon colors were in fashion.)

*Reminder: If you win the Wheelgirl.com 2008 T-Shirt Design Contest, you get a set of Phil  Wood track hubs plus more. Organized creative cats are beginning to send in their entries. You've got 17 days left before the deadline, procrastinating and talented cats. All details are here.

Photos by Wheelgirl. First photo is Opaque black, white, duct tape silver, then Translucent mango, yellow, and green. The close-up photo is of the Translucent green Pake Space Strap. 

Phil Wood Says You Can Radially Lace Any Hub They Make And Not Void Warranty

I just got off of the phone with Mark at Phil Wood, and then I called back and talked with Bruno at Phil Wood just to double-check (after Peter at Cog Magazine specifically asked me if this also applied to Phil Wood SLR track hubs). Cats on two wheels: Phil Wood will warranty any Phil Wood hub that is radially laced. You will not void the Phil Wood warranty if you radially lace any Phil Wood high-flange regular, SLR (the track hub with little windows cut out of the flanges), or low-flange track; road, and single-speed hubs. Bruno said he had not yet seen a Phil hub flange sheared off, since Phil uses a less brittle aluminum alloy to make their hubs and stress on the flanges causing fractures don't happen the same way they do on hubs manufactured with more brittle aluminum. The worst thing Bruno has seen are a few hubs from the 1970s and 1980s which had been re-laced 4 times over 30 years, and the spoke holes finally said that they were tired causing the flanges to warp a bit. I'll take that kind of quality any day.

According to Mark, the engineers who designed the Phil Wood high-flange track hubs design them with the thought that cyclists might want to lace their front hubs radially. If you are new to fixed gear riding, radial lacing is the spoke pattern that looks minimal and cool, since the spokes don't cross. They radiate out from the center of the hub straight into the rim.

Alright rebel riding cats, I can already hear the question: "But what if i do want to radially lace my rear fixed Phil Wood hub. Will that void the warranty?"  (Jump for the answer.)

(Example photo lifted after random Google search from Velospace.org)

Soma Velodrama and IRD Superdrome CrMo Track Bars in Powder-Coated Colors

If you love the curves of Deda's Velocita track bars, we just got in some Soma Velodrama CrMo track bars. These bars have a 31.8 center and come powder coated in white or pink in sizes 38cm, 40cm, 42cm. The Velodrama track bike handlebars have a reach of 94mm and a 176mm drop. They retail on the Soma website for $79.99. We have a set of white Velodrama 40cm bars you can wrap your mitts around in the shop. The Velodrama bars are modeled after the IRD Superdrome and made of Tange steel.

So, if you are partial to stealth black track bars, you might want to opt for the IRD deep-drop, black powder-coated track bar, the Superdrome CrMo made with Tange steel. Available in a 31.8 clamping diameter, these bars are also available in a chrome finish. The reach is 94mm with a 176mm drop. The black Superdrome bars are available in 38cm, 40cm, 42cm, and 44cm. Most of the fixie and track riders who come into the shop prefer a narrower bar, but if you are a broad-shouldered cat, IRD has you covered with the 44cm. These retail on the IRD site for $81.99. We have a set of black 40mm Superdromes in the shop you can grasp and nod toward if they feel just right.

If you want a set of these track bars shipped to you, send an email. Suggestions: Make sure your stem has a clamping diameter made to fit a 31.8 bar center. Ask a bike mechanic friend if you are not sure.

Remember: The countdown begins, and you have 32 days left to enter the Wheelgirl 2008 T-Shirt Design Contest. If you win, you get a set of Phil Wood track hubs.

(Photos by Wheelgirl.)

Want a Clean Look, But Ride Too Many Hills for Fixie or Single Speed, Internal Hub Considerations

I receive phone calls from city cyclists who build up single speeds, and then realize after a couple of weeks that their commute contains too many hills for a one-geared bike. Most of these riders like the clean design of fixed gear and single-speed bikes, and they don't want to hang derailleurs off of their bike frames. So, the next logical question they ask is what about building up a rear wheel with an internal hub.

Most people were introduced to internal hubs on bikes such as the proverbial Raleigh three speed. You flick a switch or turn a grip, and all the gear changing takes place inside the hub where you can't see it and the mechanism is protected from the elements. These hubs employee planetary or epicycle gearing.

If you are considering an internal hub, right this second, read the late great Sheldon Brown's instructions on Bike Frame / Hub Spacing before we go on. Sheldon has written a clear lesson on figuring out hub spacing, cold setting, and he has included helpful photos. Also, read his article on Chainline Spacing, so you get a general idea about what is going on between the alignment of the front and the back of a bicycle drive train.

Now, given the number of internal hubs on the market, which one is going to work with your brakes and bike frame? Internal hubs are made in models that are compatible with either disc brakes, or coaster brakes (you use your feet to brake, like when you were a kid), or roller brakes, or V brakes. Shimano, for example, offers two models of their 8-speed Nexus hub: Model SG-8C20 has an integrated coaster brake; Nexus Model SG-8R25 is both V-brake and roller brake compatible. Also check the spacing specifications for each internal hub in which you are interested on the manufacturers' sites. Most manufacturers make 3-speed, 5-speed, and 8- or 9-speed internal hubs. Rohloff does a 14-speed hub. My suggestion is to try to find a hub that suits your current brake style, gearing comfort needs, and minimizes the amount of deforming you need to do to your frame in order to make the hub fit. If you are trekking across a continent, make sure to pick the hub that works with your adventure terrain. Strong suggestion: If you are thinking about an internal coaster hub for you city bike, and you ride like a wild cat, make sure to run a front brake also. You only need to skid through an intersection once to realize that coaster brakes are not made to stop late-for-work coffee-drinking adults riding at full tilt. (Been there, done that.)

Definitely check out this comparison of internal hubs by Marco at Hubstripping.com. You technical cats who love look at mechanisms and reading specs, click around on Marco's site until you get busted by your boss or co-worker for obsessing over gearing ranges and ratios while on the clock. Check out the manufacturer sites of the internal hubs Marco compares: Shimano, SRAM, Sturmey Archer, Rohloff, and Fichtel & Sachs. Wheelgirl bike shop recently built up some Nu Vinci hubs, which are heavy if you are riding a ton of hills, but useful for general, low-maintenance cycling. Marco has info on these hubs also. If we can build you wheel around your favorite internal hub, email us. We do build wheels for those living outside the Bay Area. The shipping is less than $20.00 to send a wheel set UPS ground.

(Photos of internal hubs, left to right, Rohloff, Shimano, SRAM, Sturmey Archer, NuVinci. All photos lifted from respective manufacturers' sites.)

Campagnolo Moving to 11-Speed Cassette in 2009, Campy Please Include Espresso for Bike Mechanics

Bike Radar reports that Campagnolo is going to announce an 11-speed cassette for three of their 2009 gruppos. The 11 cogs in new 2009 Campy 11-speed group set cassette will fit into the existing space that currently accommodates 10 cogs. So, as pointed out in a Bike Radar article, the 2009 chains and chain rings may require spot-on drive train spacing in order to accommodate the narrower gaps between cogs. You bike mechanics better find some inner peace or a vat of coffee, since the shifting and derailleur adjustments for 11 in the back and two up front, coupled with the new 5.5 mm chain, may teach you something about yourself.  The 11-speed cassette is expected to be backward compatible with 8-, 9-, and 10-speed freehubs. ("He said on my death bed I would achieve total consciousness, so I've got that going for me, which nice.)

(Tullio Campagnolo photo lifted from Bike Radar site.)

2009 Dura Ace 7900 Cycling Group Set 135 Grams Lighter, Chain Has Reusable Quicklink Connection Pin

The 2009 7900 Series Dura Ace road racing group set made by Shimano is 135 grams (4.76 ounces) lighter than Dura Ace 7800 and provides more of a black and silver hi-tech look. Dura Ace 2009 (even though we are still in the year 2008) ups the ante on cycling component choice, performance, and value. The FC-7900 HollowTech crankset is 20 percent stiffer and has re-profiled teeth. The new crankset has hollow chain rings and is available in 53T/39T, 52T/39T, 52T/42T, 54T/42T, 55T/42T, and 56T/44T configurations. So, you are bound to find a chain ring combination that makes your body and need for speed happy. Not doing a ton of racing but want high-performance in a compact crankset? The Dura Ace 7900 Series offers a compact crankset (FC-7950) with 50T/34T chain rings. In addition, you shorter- and longer-legged beasts on two wheels, can order cranks lengths from 165mm to 180mm in 2.5mm increments.

Here are a few Dura Ace 7900 details. (Jump for more details): The ST-7900 Dura Ace Dual Control Levers have titanium fixing bolts. Shimano engineers have decreased the rear shift stroke by 20 percent for faster rear shifts, and they have shaved 40 grams of weight from each pair. The CS-7900 cassette, with an aluminum carrier and the four largest sprockets made of titanium, is offered in 11-21T, 11-23T, 11-25T, 11-27T, 11-28T, 12-23T, 12-25T, 12-27T. Again, you should be able to find the right cassette for your cycling preferences and geography. The RD-7900 rear derailleur has a carbon pulley plate. The FD-7900-B front derailleur has been redesigned to eliminate trim (having to click your shifter between the settings in certain gear ratios, so the chain doesn't rub). The BR-7900 brake calipers have a redesigned brake arch. The PD-7810 Pro-Tour Racing pedals, released a while ago, have an extra-wide platform. The FH-7900 rear hub (8-, 9-, and 10-speed compatible) has a titanium free hub body.

The 7900 series wheel sets are offered in six flavors. You may choose to race on a carbon 50mm high-profile tubular or clincher wheel set: WH-7850-C50-TU at 1467 gms, and WH-7850-C50-CL at 1580 gms. Need something less aero and lighter? Check out the 7900 series carbon tubular and tubeless wheel sets: WH-7850-C24-TU at 1257 gms and WH-7850-C24-TL at 1400 gms. Or you can opt for a even lighter carbon alloy composite clincher wheel set: WH-7850-C24-CL at 1380 gms or a Scandium road tubeless wheel set: WH7850-SL at 1514 gms.  (All weights given are for a pair of wheels.)

For many talented but disorganized cycling cats, your chain repair tool of choice is your cellphone, which you dial to get a ride home when your chain breaks. These cats, and those mileage monsters who have forgotten to re-stock the chain pin supply in their seat bags, may be quite happy about the CN-7900 Dura Ace Hyperglide 10-speed chain. In addition to having hollow pins and perforated chain plates, it can accept the new and reusable Quicklink connector. (Time will tell if it this is a good idea.) According to Shimano, you can use a new SM-CN79 Quicklink reusable connection link for tool-free chain removal and installation on the CN-7900 chain, and you can still use a 10-speed Hyperglide connecting pin to connect the chain.

I really like the smooth feeling of the 7800 Dura Ace road chains, so if you are riding a new Dura Ace CN-7900 chain with or without the Quicklink, please put up a post, and let us know if the redesigned chain feels markedly smoother. If you have first-hand experience fixing a busted Dura Ace 7900 chain without using tools leave a comment. Actually, if you are riding any of these new 7900 Dura Ace Series group set parts, put up a post and let us know how they compare to Dura Ace 7800.

(Jump for more 2009 Dura Ace 7900 Series road racing group set performance stats and specs and check out Shimano's Dura Ace website.)

(Photos lifted from the Shimano Dura Ace website.)

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.

Nail Straight Up Through Bike Rim Wins Best Flat Tire Prize

We see a bunch of broken, bent, taco'd, and twisted bike wheels at Wheelgirl. But Customer Mike wins the prize for the best flat tire story of late. Like others before him, he visited the Wheelgirl bike shop inquiring about a new set of hand-built wheels. Why? Because the  guy was out for a ride and ran over a giant nail that pierced completely through his rear tire, inner tube, and alloy 700c rear rim.

The nail exited the rim in a pretty straight line almost in alignment with the spokes.This is what makes this nail-induced flat noteworthy. It is hard to get a nail to go straight through your rim. Most people pick up nails that are angled. Mike did get knocked off his ride from the sudden loss of tire pressure, but he avoided all injury. The story has a happy ending: We built him up with a nice new wheel set of Shimano Ultegra hubs on black Mavic Open Pro Rims. Ride on Customer Mike.

   

Photos taken by Wheelgirl. Check out the alignment of the nail in the first photo.

Velocity Deep V ELVS Glow-In-The-Dark Fixed Gear Rims, Make Momma Smile

If you are riding your fixed gear at night, here is something that will make your Momma smile. Velocity ELVS Deep V glow-in-the-dark rims will help drivers to see you crazy cats riding your fixies around in the dark.The Deep V rims look black in the daylight and glow reflective white at night, so there is not a harsh visible style decision that you need to make in the name of safety.

Ehtan Laek of Laek House independently developed these ELVS glow-in-the-dark rims with Velocity. Ethan wrote about these on his site in September of last year. Manni from Portland emailed me about some Nitto bars and directed me to the post. (Thanks, Manni.) We will have some Laek House reflective clothing in the shop this spring. So keep that in mind if you want your threads to match your rims.

According to Velocity, the rims have a reflective vinyl coating on them similar to that used by emergency vehicles. The coating can't tolerate brake shoes rubbing on it, so all of the ELVS rims are Deep V rims with a non-machined braking surface. This makes the rims suitable for building fixed gear wheels. Velocity states that the ELVS rims hold up in nice weather as well as the rains and winter slop, and the rims when wet retain 90 percent of their reflective qualities. The ELVS coating is designed to resist road mild acids, mild alkalies, and salts, as well as "occasional fuel spills".  You want to avoid scratching the surface of the rim or using harsh detergents to clean the rim, since you can damage the coating. So be mindful when you lock up your ride. However, Velocity does say you can sparingly use rubbing alcohol (keyword: "sparingly") to clean grease and grime from the street from the rim surface.

We have some ELVS rims on order, and they will be online in the Wheelgirl Fun & Fixed Gear shop. Email us if you want to reserve of these glow-in-the-dark Deep Vs and make your Momma smile.

First photo lifted from the Velocity site. Next two photos lifted from the Laek House site. Rims are black in the daylight and turn reflective white when it is dark.

Bicycle When It is Quiet, AEG's Giant Decibels Meter Billboards

OK, these giant decibel (dB) meter billboards were not made to support urban bicycle commuting. They are part of a marketing campaign to encourage consumers to buy quiet household appliances made by the company AEG-Electrolux. But if you are bicycle commuting or running errands via bike and passing by these meters in Berlin, Brussels, London, Milano, or Madrid, you can try to ride during the quieter times by looking on the web. All of the dB stats recorded by the dB meters are graphed by time and date. The site, Noise Awareness site in the United Kingdom, lets you view the noise data from the cities where these giant decibel meters are listed.

And if you are one of the many gifted children who lives on two wheels in Berkeley, and you have time on your hands this summer, here's a project.  Why not put a discrete decibel meter somewhere, like at Spruce and Rose or up by Tilden Park or on Grizzly Peak, so the recreational and competitive cyclists can avoid the scenic and narrow roads during the peak times for car travel. Make sure there is a way to wirelessly convey the monitoring data to a web app. You special talented San Franciso bike riding engineers, get to work on one for Market Street and the Embarcadero.

(Jump to read a bit about the history of the noise measuring unit, the decibel.)

   

Photo lifted from the Noise Awareness site.

via notcot

Get Ready for BBQ Grill Season with Park Tools BBQ-3 Tool Set

If you love to cycle, and you work on your bike, the Park Tools BBQ-3 is the barbque grilling tool set you need this spring and summer. The Park Tool BBQ-3 set contains a stainless steel pedal wrench spatula, complete with a spoke wrench hanging loop. And if you need more than flipping capabilities, you can reposition your after-ride grilled treats with the included BBQ tongs made from two stainless steel cone wrenches. Both tools are a good weight and feel right in the hand of an experienced BBQ chef and / or bike mechanic.

The stainless steel implements are easy to keep clean and sport the comfortable and recognizable Park Tool blue rubber-coated handles. The spatula spoke wrench hanger is printed with "BBQ1". But the set is called the BBQ-3.

I know one of you curious cats is going to grill up some corn on the cob and then try to remove your pedals from your bike with the spatula. Strong suggestion: You ride through all kinds of stuff that you and your dinner guest would not want to eat. Use a dedicated steel pedal wrench that is not designed for cooking. Save the Park BBQ-3 grill tools for your barbecued food delights. (You can pick up a set for 25 clamshells in the Wheelgirl Fun and Fixed Gear online store, which is growing slowly.)

If you have any great grill recipes or BBQ sauces for after ride meals, make sure to post them.

(Photos taken by Wheelgirl.)

Michelin Pro Race 3 Folding Clincher Road Tires Have Arrived

Pro Race 3 Service Course road tires from Michelin have arrived for the rest of us. Michelin Pro Race 3 tires were available to the pro peleton during last summer's Tour de France. But now black and gray Pro 3 Race tires are available in the shop. The other colors will be released during the bike season. The black stripe in the middle is fatter than the Pro Race 2 tires.

Michelin states that the Pro Race 3 replaces Pro Race 2 and offers high-performance and good looks for those who love smooth-rolling road race tires. (Michelin doesn't have the tire specs up on their site yet.) According to Michelin, the new tread delivers 20% more straight line grip than the Pro² Race, while the new shoulder rubber offers a huge 40% improvement. Michelin says the Moto GP compounds are also more readily deformable than before to help maintain grip on coarser pavement and reduce rolling resistance. For added security, the Pro³ Race casing gains a new High Density Puncture Protector (HDPP) nylon belt.

If you have put some miles on these tires since their release, put up a post and let us know how they roll. (Jump to read the specs on the new Pro Race 3 Michelin road race tires.)

(Photos by Wheelgirl)

Face to Face or Back to Back, You Don't Have to Look at Someone's Neck Hairs

Chen Yugang of Taiwan designed and built a tandem bike prototype that allows two cyclists to ride the bike by positioning themselves face to face or back to back. The idea, according to Chen, is that you can enjoy a different and unique view while riding on his tandem bike. The bike isn't yet in production. But according to Chen, you can change the seating configuration quickly and easily without tools.

Of course, for those sitting face to face, there is also the thrill (and potential danger) of the unknown, since you can't really see where you are going. The same thrill of the unknown is partly true for those sitting back to back, since the captain (person in the front) still faces forward and can see where he or she is going. But the stoker (person sitting in the back) is now facing backward. So the stoker doesn't have to count the hairs on the captain's neck, but the stoker also cannot see for love or money without the use of a mirror where the bike is pointed. Check out the video of two riders booking on a different tandem set up back to back.

(First photo lifted from the DailyTimes . Second photo lifted from Geekologie via video from Metacafe.)

daily times to geekologie to dvice to giz