JP Bike Research

http://velo-orange.blogspot.com/2009/01/shellac-and-bar-tape-guide.html

This is a great overview of how to tape and shellac your bars with old-school cloth.  I’ll probably use cork, but this looks pretty nice.

And of course, there’s also this video from Rivendell.

Curious George Rides a Bike (H.A. Rey)

An odd story where the man with the yellow hat give George his first bike and then before promptly leaving tells George “not to get in trouble.”  Yes, of course he does, crashing his bike in the meanwhile.

Lotta’s Bike (Astrid Lindgren)

We just got this book as a gift, which actually prompted this post.  I love Astrid Lindgren, and love the Swedish attitude towards bikes in this book.  The little 5-year old Lotta desperately wants a bicycle (NOT a tricycle) like her older siblings.  She’s very quirky and we’ve been reading this a lot!

Bicycle Rider (Mary Scioscia) – A beautifully illustrated story of how Marshall Major Taylor got started racing.  I liked this book, but the kids didn’t get into it, probably because it had too many words.  We’ll try again in a year or so.

Just a cursory search, brings up many more books to look at:

• Bear’s Bicycle
• Sally Jean, Bicycle Queen
• Duck on a Bike
• Berenstain Bears – the Bike Lesson
• Froggy Rides a Bike

As I’m building up my bike workshop, I realize that there’s a wide array of tools that are so bicycle specific that you can’t just “make-do” with a wrench and screwdriver.  I know this is not exhuastive, but here’s a brief list of the few tools I’ve had to invest in.  The cost spent on these will disappear over the next many many years, as I remember using my step-father’s bike tools from his childhood to repair my bike.  I guess I can only hope that my girls will want to pull out the torque wrench and tighten something to a specific tightness.

• Torque wrench (off of ebay)
• Park CT-3 Chain Tool, since i couldn’t use the little version
• Park CN-10 Professional Cable Cutter
• Heavy Duty KENT pedal wrench
• Digital Caliper to measure all the different tube thicknesses

I recently discovered that the wheel that came with the Ross is a freewheel, and of course I didn’t have the tool to remove the freewheel (oh yeah, that was broken).  I went to BikeNotBombs and just had them do it rather than invest in the $10 part.  If i have to do it again, I can buy it then, but for now it works.

I already have allen wrenches, and could probably do with a better set of metric wrenches, but anything else I absolutely need?

UPDATE: The pedal wrench came and is pretty heavy duty, and it turns out to be an official Wal-Mart pedal wrench to be used only by the pedal assembly department.  I wonder if this was stolen and resold or what?  It’s solid steel.

I’m planning on putting some Albatross bars on my new ride:

And in my obessive tendency to over analyze things, I found some good site with reviews and pictures of Albatross setups:

and Russ’s great writeup on his brakes and bars.  I’ll be following his lead with the bar-end shifters as well.

There’s also a post on the now defunct Velvet Foghorn about The Albatross Handlebar FanClub.

And since i wasn’t sure, AllenG from an older bikeforum post, photographed the differences between the Nitto North Road and the Albatross:

(ack, it seems the original website was deleted, and so here are the Google cached images, in a much smaller size)

North Road on top of a Mary

Albatross on top of a mary

Comparing the difference in rise and width between the North Road and the Albatross. The Albatross is in the foreground.

I sent this out to a bunch of friends a while back, and it’s worth posting:

From Sheldon Brown’s Bridgestone catalog archive.

A friend of mine wrote this and I figured I had to repost it:

Once one comes to terms with this, one can become unencumbered with finding that perfect item that will make one’s commute as plush as a chauffeured Oscar Myer Weinermobile ride.

I say one could become unencumbered, but really the search for winter riding clothing is more of a process than an end in itself.

I approach winter riding clothing in a sort of Mark Bittman-esque fashion (besides his column and blog you need to check out his show on PBS). I try to deconstruct the haute cuisine of winter riding clothing and strategically replace ingredients that can be done much cheaper without losing value. (Sort of like adding chicken to a duck casoullet, but I would never do that.)

For example, the polyester turtleneck I bought a few years ago at Savers is now my silk weight base layer. And that merino wool sweater also from Savers, I’ve appropriated as my second layer (now in dire need of elbow patches, but the patching would cost more than another thrift-store sweater so why bother?) Lastly a parka circa ‘78 serves as a nice wind blocking layer. Total costs: $20 tops. I’m obsessed . . .

My bottom layer I’m still experimenting with. My goal: to find a trouser that I can wear throughout the winter (even on wet days) that I can wear throughout the work day as well. The jury is still out on some wool/man-made blend pants I bought from Banana Republic 75% off. I save the money for outrageously expensive clipless shoes.

I’ve been enjoying tall smartwool socks (i know, haute cuisine) with my Sidi clipless shoes. And a couple of days I’ve even worn the neoprene bootys Geoff found and sent my way. They even kept my feet semi-dry this morning!

There was no way around doing a full Clark Kent-style change after getting to work this morning however.

And a wool hat. (reserve your moral outrage for smokers and people who don’t wear seatbelts)

Recap: Ears, toes, fingers (I love my pearl izumi lobster claws!). Silk weight base, wool, wind stopper. Obsessive drive to never pay full price for outdoor gear.  Zen acceptance of the cold.

Now I’m off into the night. I hope all that slush hasn’t frozen. Better use the main roadways.

Bon Appetite et Voyage,

Aaron

I picked this bike up yesterday and although there’s a bit of cleaning work to be done, and someday a paint-over (yech!), this will hopefully be perfect.  It’s a 25″ frame with 700c wheels and cantilever brakes and should prove to be a great xtracycle conversion.

Mint-condition Ross Mt. Hood 18-speed cross bike for tall rider; 25” wheels; 25” frame; 34.5” crossbar height; ready to ride; hardly used; only $75. This is a great performing, highly efficient bike used sparingly for a few regional treks around the Boston area, outer Cape Cod, & White Mountains. Meticulously maintained & looks new. If you love biking, you’ll swear by this bike. Moving & must sell quickly at sacrifice price. CALL 617-xxx-xxxx 8AM-10PM

I’m trying to figure out what frame to use for my xtracycle conversion, and am not willing to spend much money.  Whatever money I do spend I want the fram to be big enough.  The 22″ mountain bike that i got from Tom years ago seems to be way too small.  I’m sure I could modify it to fit, but I don’t really feel like touring on a mtn bike.

I just wrote a bunch of questions to the guys at Xtracycle:

Hi Peter,

I wanted to follow up to our conversation a while back with some specific questions.  I have abandoned my 27″ framed road bike as a conversion option and am looking for a nice inexpensive used canti-tabbed frame to use.  So, two basic questions:
1. As a tall man at 6′5″ and 210lb who fits nicely on a 27″ (65+cm)road bike frame, is it reasonable to hunt down a 25″ 80’s or 90’s mountain bike (if they exist) or would a smaller 22″ or 23″ frame work fine with the seat and steering stem all raised properly?  I’d like to use the bike for light touring with the family, which is why it seems wrong to get a smaller bike.  I know there are also consideration about dealing with all the extra weight.
2. That said, there’s still the issue between 26″ and 700c, and I can’t seem to get the best story on whether the Xtracycle posse prefers one over the other.  Again, as a tall guy, wouldn’t 700c be better?  With fenders attached, what’s the tire width limit?  How about with no fenders?

Thanks for all your help, and once I get a frame/bike to start building up, I’m ordering my Free Radical.

Peter wrote back:

Geoff,

In case we didn;t clarify this before, the two sizes of wheel we support are 26″ and 700c.  a 35mm tire is the largest tire you can fit in with a 700c rim, while a 3″ tire maxes out a 26″ rim.

The difference in overall diameter between the 700c and the 26″ wheels is pretty minimal.  There is only about an inch of difference when you factor in your average skinny road tire versus a fat mountain tire.  You will feel a slight difference in steering if you exchange one size for the other, which is usually negligible.  The bigger difference is in strength between smaller and larger wheels.  A smaller wheel will be stronger than a larger one as a general rule – this is just a rule of thumb, though, and a well-built road wheel can still outperform a cheap 26″ wheel.  High spoke counts helps immensely.  Average is 32, strong is 36.  Tandems can take 40 or so.

So if you’re wanting the strongest setup, I’d recommend a 26″ wheel from a decent manufacturer.  You can mix wheels, too, and concentrate your money on a good rear wheel.  Fat tires also make the ride smooth and more tolerant.  Schwalbe Big Apple tires are our favorites.  CST makes a good cruiser tire, too.  2 inches or larger usually feels plush.  Hookworms are the ultimate fat tire.  A lot of this depends on you r preference more than anything.  If you like a road feel, you can probably do fine with 700c X 35mm tires with 36 or 40 spokes and never hear a squawk from the wheels.

I’ll let Rick, our resident tall guy, answer some questions about sizing.

peter

And Rick wrote back:

Hey Geoff,

Rick here (6′6″ and a puny 185lbs).  I currently ride a Big Dummy 22″ and a 20.5″ Specialized S-Works mountain bike.

Surprisingly, I fit my Specialized better, although I had to purchase an extra long Thomson seatpost (420mm) to make it work.  You’ll get more flex from a taller frame, especially one with weaker welds at the joints.

For town and touring, nothing beats a 700c with the largest tires possible.  FYI, some rim manufacturers make slightly larger diameters so don’t be surprised when your 35c don’t fit anymore, just a heads up.  It’s rare and I’ve only heard of one person with that issue.

I rocked out 700c’s on a Alfine hub setup and ran Specialized Nimbus tires.  The Nimbus are great b/c of their armadillo puncture resistant technology.  Thought I’d surely get a pinch flat a few times I ran them at low pressure, but managed to avoid a flat.

So, in recap, you’ll be able to make a smaller frame work and you’ll be better off with less flex on a smaller frame.  But, if you happen to find a good quality 25″, do it and don’t look back.

Cheers,

Rick

So, to sum up, I’m looking for a large touring bike with cantilever brakes and either 26″ or 700c wheels.  I’m off to look at one from craigslist today, so we’ll see.