First Vallie Hub in Canada

Yes, I finally got my hub built up. The rest of the photos from an afternoon with Matt at Mighty's new 4th and Burrard location can be found on flickr.

Vallie Components Hub Official Release

"Parts for people who break parts" ... hey, that's me!

Lyle is on his way to Indianapolis with the physical manifestation of years worth of effort: the Vallie Components Street Fixed Hub and 15 tooth ISO cog.

We've been waiting for this for a long time. I remember when Lyle introduced me to the work that George French was doing with his G-Sport brand: bringing new ideas to the BMX market to shake the issues of the old designs and ride fresh parts. I was intrigued by the designs that seemed so far from the norm, but at the same time were so logical. 

Now, we have this type of innovation in our own midst. Lyle made a huge step in quitting his engineering job to forge ahead in bike parts design. When we were both working jobs that we were tiring of, this seemed so far away, so revolutionary. Vallie Components is now a reality. It was a step toward working for himself, in an industry he supports. In the years between then and now, we've met and become friends with many people through the international culture of the bicycle.

Project B's presence at 2007's Mini Bike Winter IV had Lyle on the Tour de Bomb podium on his custom-built Killhlimber. This event was a major milestone in our relationship with Portland. We continued to build friendships that had been started a few months earlier at Velomutations. We came back on a high. We were stoked to ride mini bikes.

The following year, Lyle headed down a week early to check out the NAHBS show, meeting up with our Portland friends and making new friends with the hand made bike community.

The 2008 Tour de Bomb was the Portland debut of The Cheetah, a bike that was designed to "give back" to Zoobomb after all they had given to us. And give back it did. Lyle won the freaking race!

It turns out Gabe wasn't that mad at Lyle for winning, though, as he helped him out with the awesome logo and business card design. Just in time for NAHBS 2009 (show coverage at Urban Velo), Lyle's got his site all polished up with the lovely Rhiannon's help. Click through there, and send him a message!

Of course, the final touch on the site is these great photos from WMD:

I've got one of the prototypes in my hot little hands. It's going to be built up soon, I promise - the Rocky has been salivating in anticipation. People who break parts, stay tuned. I'll probably get photos up on flickr before anywhere else.

IRO Bandit Strikes Again.

My lovely wife noticed a bicycle outside of Tom's that was "Pretty Candy" as she put it, and snapped a pic.

As it turns out, its the IRO Bandit, with a new setup. Really, this isn't something TOO out of the ordinary, but it sticks out like a sore thumb in my neighborhood. There just aren't that many track bikes locked up in the Upper West Side.

Are you ready for this?



The first thing we notice is that he's upgraded the front wheel from a nice Deep V to high flange to a well used Aerospoke complete with brake wear and street cred stickers. Not sure if that's an upgrade to be honest.

He DID get rid of that extensive front end setup, and went with something a bit more practical, keeping the Thomson stem and Kashimax TT protector of course. ..and red Ourys, if you believe it!

The chesterfield of a Specialized Body Geometry (TM) saddle has been swapped for a slim and suggestive Selle An-Atomica. Clearly the IRO Bandit values his perineal comfort.

A pretty new RED chain has been added, and to complement it some translucent strawberry Odyssey Twisted PC 'pledals' as well. These are a bit wider than the Wellgo mountain flats he had before, I wondering if his cornering lean angle has suffered?

On to the final change; His low flange small box section rear wheel has been swapped in favour of something with MUCH shorter spokes. We now see a high flange hub to what appears to be an H+Son Formation Face rim (judging by the amount of valve he's got left), and what could potentially be Vittoria Randonneur with Double Shield Puncture Protection (TM), reflective sidewalls for night time safety, and deep tread for wet weather traction.

I should also mention, he's ditched the punk rock belt of a Kryptonite chain, for the new and flashy Abus Bordo. I have heard really good things about this lock, but it just seems like its in a position to dent the down tube should the bike be molested at the rack.

Lets just compare this to the changes that have happened to my own bicycle in the past couple of months:

SEPTEMBER to NOW

Bars/stem - IRO Bandit and I are on the same page here. We've both lost our Nitto RB-019s for some risers. The difference is that I recognize that the different bar setups require different length stems. Maybe the Bandit does now as well...

Cranks/Chainring - I replaced my bent and well used Shimano Tricolor 600 172.5s to Takagi 3/32" 42T with a combination of 105 and 600 170s to a rad Specialties TA 1/8" 130mm 42T ring. I also put in a new UN73 bottom bracket and a new KMC 710 chain. These are all pretty much wear related repairs, though the shorter cranks are giving me a marginally higher max RPM.

Rear Wheel - Again The IRO Bandit and I have similar thoughts. Deeper is Stronger. I just recently rebuilt my rear wheel from a janky failing Ambrosio Excellence, to a VERY economically priced Deep V (Which was apparently a prize for Best Checkpoint at Metal Race 1). I swapped tires from an IRC Redstorm to a Michelin Megamium due to wear as well. I'm really happy with the new wheel. It definitely weighs a bit more, but its linear tension and stiffness make the back end of my bike feel really solid.

..and of course, i put some fenders on because I like riding year round.

At first it seems that all of my upgrades have been for function, and the Bandit's for fashion. But maybe I have more in common with the IRO Bandit than I originally thought. I was sort of clowning him the first time I saw his bike (and again after seeing the wife's picture), but now I wonder if there's more to it than that. What if this bike isn't a reality, and its more just an extension of myself that I'm not prepared to embrace? Are digital pictures really evidence that something exists? I hate Aerospokes and BMX pedals on track bikes. Is the IRO Bandit MY Tyler Durden? I don't eat at Tom's.. do I?

ech·e·lon [ éshə lòn ]

I killed my Atmos.
Its kind of underwhelming since I wasn't wearing it at the time.
I was really hoping I would get to test it on my head.
It DID save my hard drive though, as proved by this post.
I've already replaced it, with a slightly more economical model.
Not as light, not as cool, but acceptable none the less.
The venting doesn't seem to work as well, but its better than the Pro-tec, which is unbearable in this heat.
I'll just have to ride faster to force the hot air into it.
I better put it to use and get back on my fucking bike.
Watch out Central Park roadies, I'm going to get you on the climbs.

ÆROHEAD 2 IS DOWN!

The warranty Aerohead that Velocity sent me last year, is on its way out. Both brake surfaces are splaying outwards at the bead seat.
The wheel is still true, but braking is terrible now, grabbing every revolution as the rim width changes.
Morgan has offered to loan/sell me his Mavic Open Pro, radially laced to the same Dimension front hub that I have.

But whats this, the brake surface has never seen wear.

Are you sure you want this Morgan?

...and I heard her exclaim, 'ere she drove out of sight:

"I'm going to fucking Squamish!"

Happy birthday, Crazy Eyes. All hail the Queen!

lollerpegz

You want silly new products?!?!
WELL DO I HAVE SOMETHING TO SHOW YOU.

This is the SPILLJUICE SUICIDE ROLLER PEG!



YEAH!



Without actually trying this product, here are my thoughts:

PROs:
-can 'grind' anything
(...and I put 'grind' in single quotes because you won't get that satisfying grinding sound that is associated with grinding)

CONs:
-$49 USD PER PEG
-ice and toothpicks become MUCH harder
-cannot incorporate any flatland tricks
-heavier than a normal peg
-dropping the bike on them will surely blow out the cartridge bearings
-no more sparks (the best thing about grinding at night)
-the anodized aluminum will look like crap after rolling along a concrete ledge
-its already been done (by Fishbone)

Sure, there are some gnar ledges around town I wouldn't mind hitting, but I know I wont even slide if I get onto them. I guess I could drop $100 to try... Or maybe if Spilljuice wants to send Proj-B a set for evaluation, we could attempt that block long horizontal rail at Victoria Park. uhh yeah. Next step, ultra-lite suicide loller PLEGS?

At this point I should probably note that my MacNeil heat treated 4130 pegs are still going strong after 4 years of use.

This is exactly the sort of product/company that makes me think I should be designing BMX parts. Do it better.

Do you have any pirate memory games?

Heres a little vid of Tuesday's HeyFixie ride. They ended up at China creek. I was out rollin twennies,working on street that eve, so I missed the fun. (I even had risers on the freakin Cunny at the time. I'm bad at heyfixiing lately)



I was hoping to see Duncan drop into the Teacup, honestly.
Either way, big ups to the haunted (oooooh) for stepping up the 700cmx=D

In other news, I'm wrecking your NJS, one piece at a time.
My new bar/stem setup had me doing nosebonk to toeverlap to brutal impaling within 30 seconds of hopping off the rollers last night.



I got it in check within a few km of drifting though. The street never felt so close. Triceps are screamin, back tire's hissin, I'm like lowlife mike but with more RWD.

My boss asks me, "Are these for bad pedestrians?"

"They're just extra incentive to keep it precise."


UPCOMING EVENT:
Pirate themed Critical Mass. Tomorrow. Art Gallery. 6pm.
Because seriously, who doesn't fucking love dressing up like a pirate.

WHAT IS GOING ON ?!?! [/Xandir]

What not to do on a friends bike:

Attempt to do a front brake nose pivot on a bike with Time pedals, while you are wearing SPD shoes. The twisting will JUST allow your foot to 'clip in' enough that you're hooked. You will crash. You will be thankful the bike is built like a 26" BMX.

While working on Porchject-B yesterday, we ran into Wendell of FearlessGearless. He was celebrating his birthday by purchasing a fancy new helmet, and we made him stop at the porch and drink a tallcan with us. He also insisted I crash his bike.

We discussed the presentations at the 'THIRD WAVE' of cyclists lecture we attended Wednesday night at SFU. Jack Beckers talk was hardly even a talk. More of a mechanical dictation of points that moved too fast on an automated .PPT animation. Hans Groen on the other hand was captivating, and had some really funny (and true) points to make on the way our city is engineering its bike routes. ..and Gordon Price had a really good slide show with all types of cycling based infrastructure shown.

Sadly, our city takes so long to react.

Around this time last year, I wrote a letter to the city, inquiring about the traffic signals at Main/Union, and the intended bike route through Victoria/Broadway. Read here.

..well, the good news is that the city FINALLY painted the bike box at Victoria/Broadway. So maybe I won't get killed while Zoolandering that intersection. Maybe.

But the bad news is that even though Transport Canada has approved the use of the bicycle signal, it hasn't been installed or implemented yet at Main/Union.

One thing I would LOVE to see our city implement, is the the approaching barriers surrounding roundabouts, that Davis California uses. These devices just make it inconvienient for a motorist to cut the wrong way around a roundabout.

Enough about infrastructure. Yesterday was BUY EVERYTHING DAY.
This included parts for not only my bike(s), but Rhiannon's Centurion too. She's been such a good girl, I'm giving her a new drivetrain.

The Centurion gets:
-Sugino Cranks 170mm 110mmBCD triple
-Shimano bottom bracket 123mm
-MEC Blackspire 38T 110mmBCD chainring
-NOS Shimano Exage front derailleur
-P clips

I got:
-Shimano 520 SPD pedals
-Ridiculously light XC MTB bar
-Lightweight french style stem 80mm
-Brown Animal BMX grips
-long presta valve tubes
-new spoke wrench
-fender clip for SKS fenders

I tried installing the new BB and cranks on Rhiannon's bike last night and things didn't go too well. The 123mm BB is too short for the little ring to clear the chainstay..so I've got to respace it, or get a longer one. Also, the granny gear seems to be the wrong BCD for these cranks too. It would be so much simpler to keep it a double.

I did manage to get my stupid light new bars on the track bike though. I might as well just book a dentist appointment now:


My shoebox is overflowing with bike stuff, which can only mean,
RANDOM STUFF FOR SALE:

110mm stem, unknown make - $5
Changstar levers with Gum Dia Compe hoods - $5
Mildly worn Shimano Dura Ace 15T cog with matching KMC510HX chain - $20
Suzue high flange 36H front hub - $5
14mm 48H front BMX hub - $2
mini coaster hub 20H - $2
26" x 22mm rim tape - $2
2x road drop bars, approx 42cm wide - $5 each
Green under seat bag - $FREE
Seats - $FREE

Let me know if you want any of this crap. (Cog and Chain sale pending)

One last note. I've got tall bike envy. Seems like everyone's bike is higher than mine. I almost want to buy into the 'I CAN TOTALLY SEE OVER ALL THE TRAFFIK' SUV mindset.



Nice one, Gabe. Bad America indeed.

Now I'll go back to patiently waiting for Canada Post to bring my new hubs.