Amber Reflectors -- International Search

One of my favorite old-school features of the Casseroll is the amber wheel reflector set. Unfortunately, one of them broke the other day. As it snapped and rested lifeless in the palm of my hand, I was carried away in a vision of a booth I recall at Interbike several years prior. In the Asian section of the floor, a gentleman displayed his wide array of reflectors, and uttered the prophetic statement, "In the U.S., these are very hard to find," as he waved his hand over the amber reflectors. At the time, his brochure and/or business card seemed unnecessary to pick up, so I moved on. What a fateful decision.

My search ensued. I had a hunch that J&B would have something similar, but distasteful. I was right (here, here).  Bleh. I pressed on, with droplets of sweat forming on my brow as I diligently searched the corners of the interweb. Deflect-o has the reflector, but I'm not necessarily interested in a carton of several hundred. Finally, after several minutes of searching the first page of Google results, I found, deep in the depths of an eBay search, the reflectors. Buy-it-now. Ordered. Paid. Shipped.

Over a week had passed, so I logged in to check on the status of the order. Oops. Paypal had my wrong address. Would I ever see the reflectors? Would they make the arduous journey from Madison to Minneapolis? Life was tense for a few days. Then, a package arrived:

The package was properly forwarded from my Madison address! Victory! Notice the stamp with detail of the shipment's origin. I really wanted these reflectors. Life rocks again.

Today's reason for Why I Ride a bike: I enjoy doing my part to be visible and to be a part of traffic, along with the personal vehicle. 

IRD Cafam Cantilever Brake Yoke Height Adjustment

When deciding on changing from the VO Grand Cru canti brakes to the IRD Cafam variety, I found an incredibly nerdy, yet amazing tool. It's called the MAITOY. I was concerned with the lack of power of the VO's, and with the help of the MAITOY, I discovered that the VO brake was not ideal for my bike configuration (brake post spacing, rim width, etc.). On the MAITOY graph, the mechanical advantage was about 1.5. With the IRD's, the MA is more like 4+. Almost too much, if that's possible.

Solution time. The fixed yoke/straddle that comes with the brake was too short. That is, the yoke height was really low, jacking up the MA, to the point that the brake arms barely move. The brakes are powerful, but lack modulation.

The solution: old school brake straddle cable and yoke. With this new/old school configuration, the yoke height and straddle cable length are adjusted independently. Problem solved.

Rear brake w/ original configuration. 

New configuration on the front brake.

The new configuration is difficult to see, but essentially the brake arms are farther apart, and the yoke height was adjusted to arrive at an optimal MA. It's lovely. Old school wins again. The rear is next. 

Today's reason for Why I Ride a bike: The guy at the bike shop recognized some of the niche components, and had a good "bike talk" session. Camaraderie is excellent.

Honestly, Pops is Why I Ride

A little history. My family and I moved to Alpine, UT in 1988, then a small community.

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Alpine is nestled in between gorgeous mountain peaks, with immediate access to trail systems and Wilderness areas. My dad made friends with some guys who were in to "mountain biking," a relatively new sport. My dad started to ride some of the local trails with these guys, and, shortly thereafter, bought me my first mountain bike.

I was in 2nd grade, the bike was a red, 24"-wheeled Giant Rincon. 21-speed, index shifters, rigid fork, cantilever brakes, plastic pedals with toe cages, and who-knows-what for a saddle. This is where men were born.

My pops wasn't shy about hauling me up the Hog Hollow trail, as we called it, to which access is all but eliminated now due to expanding development. One fateful day, after climbing to the top of what is now neighbor to the Suncrest development, the group turned back and headed down the dirt trail to the city streets--twilight (the time of day, not vampires) was approaching.

We get down the dirt trail no problem. My dad and his buddies liked to see who could be the fastest down "Chatfield Hill." 50mph was the goal. Remember, I'm in 2nd grade at the time, so of course I wanted to keep up! They take off, and I do my best to catch up. I'm churning my Biopace cranks as fast as I can. The last thing I remember was my handlebars wobbling. Lights out. I woke up as I was being hauled to the hospital, my face, arms, and legs covered in road rash. I had faceplanted onto and skidded across the asphault at probably 30mph (I have pictures--in storage). The culprit? A bent fork. Turns out, I ran into the back of a parked car a couple days before and bent my fork. Yes, I ran into a parked car. Undoubtedly I was doing something awesome. Bent fork = speed wobbles > 30mph. Lesson learned.

Needless to say, I recovered, and my red bike now had a chrome replacement fork. I milked all the sympathy I could for as long as I could, but had to man up at some point and ride some more. I did. I do.

Pops rockin his Gary Fisher Roscoe. Almost 57......

If not for my pops, I would probably be some Nancy with no ability to think for myself. I know a lot of Nancys. My brothers, for example. I'm glad I was taught how to not be a wuss. The bike has played an integral part in my Nancy avoidance strategy.

Pops is the best. See his lanyard? 

Thank you, dad, for hooking me up with cool stuff to do as a kid. You are today's reason, and the true reason, for Why I Ride.

Arkel Cam-Lock Kit for the Black Rose Panniers

So, I'm riding through a large, busy intersection, and maneuver over (bunny hop) a rather large crevice in the concrete road surface. This type of road hazard is fairly typical, I'm finding, in the upper Midwest. Shortly after landing, one of my panniers jostled its way off the rack and jammed into the rear wheel, sending me into a sideways skid (I was still in the process of making the turn).

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Alas, the basic clip attachment of my Black Rose panniers will not suffice. For quite some time, I have been a fan of Arkel's Cam-Lock attachment system. It's quite genius. I'll let you read Arkel's description for details. Regrettably, I would have to remove some of the beautiful copper rivets securing the original retention system on the pannier, but it's a sacrifice I had to make. 

First, I searched Arkel's dealer list here in Minnesota, and I realized that one of my favorite transportation-oriented bike shops is directly across Lake Calhoun from me: Calhoun Cycle. Of course, they had a pair of the 8" cam-locks in stock. I almost cruised right past the shop, for its subtle appearance. Inside, it's a Brooks, Carradice, Arkel, Brompton, Larry vs. Harry, etc. etc. etc. wonderland. So RAD. I wiped the drool off my chin and got to work. 

This is the 8" Arkel kit. Should line up nicely.

This is to test how it mounts, and to tighten up the bungee. I had to slide one of the main hooks inboard  to not contact the rack unduly. 

With the bungee properly tensioned. 

Unfortunately, these will have to go. 

Gone. =(...

Replaced. =)

Large washer on the inside. 

I was able to use existing holes left from the rivets. Now to secure the hook.

My method of removing the rivets. Tedious and time consuming, but it worked. 

I busted out the sewing machine (it was already out with a quilting wife) and attached the webbing so there was just  a little tension on the hook.

I love how secure this system is. Now I can bunny hop cavernous road hazards as needed. I have several other projects I've been working on.....posts to come. 

Today's reason Why I Ride a bike: A bicycle provides me with a transportation option, capable of carrying what I need safely and efficiently.

What do you think?

Wheel Build - White Industries hub

A couple months ago, I noticed that my rim eyelets were cracking at several locations. The rim is a Salsa Delgado Cross 32h. This all happened as I was packing up our apartment for the move from Madison to Minneapolis, so the bum wheel is in storage until I can give it warranty attention back in Madison. We'll see how that goes.

In the meantime, I need a wheel with a non-cracked rim. I rounded up a new Delgado rim and chose 2.0 straight Wheelsmith spokes. The teaser photo here was of my hub choice. I decided on the White Industries hub for a few reasons.

First, its polished aluminum hubshell matches the overall evolving design of the Casseroll and the Schmidt Sondelux front hub.

Second, I like the High-Low hub flange design (55mm vs. 40.5mm). According to White Industries, "The hub shell design is a high/low flange which allows for a more even and better spoke tension with a hub spaced to 130mm." I'll buy that. Oh wait, I did buy that. My rim eyelet issue may have been enhanced by grossly uneven spoke tension. 


Third, the titanium freehub was a must-have. Also, 5 standard-sized bearings is a big deal. 


Fourth, people in Petaluma, CA make it. 




Here's a shot during the wheelbuild:

Gotta line up the valve hole with the hub logo.

It's lighter, its pawls are classy sounding, and it matches the look and feel of the Casseroll package. Stoked. 

Today's reason for Why I Ride a bike: My bike is my "car", and I invest in it accordingly.