Bike porn

I suppose it depends which generation French the originally German people that started Wolber were...

And to some extent where they lived. Antoine Wolber started in 1898 in Vailly-sur-Aisne before building his principal factory in nearby Soissons. They just about lasted a century, with the Soissons plant closing in 1999, although by then they were a subsidiary of Michelin. They never had the cachet of Clément, which is why the name hasn't been revived for hipster CX-engers :-)

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dat stem
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peyronie's_disease
slightly NSFW

before you talking more bullshit about this stem:

"The story Michael Huebner is telling right after his trackstand is about the time when he was racing Keirin in Japan. The officials made him ride NJS material [and] of course and he said to them: “Do you really want me to !zackkkk! ride this?” …He was breaking their stems just buy pulling on them. That’s why he was allowed to ride this famous and rare “Bierhahn - Vorbau” (beer faucet stem). It weighed about a ton but was stiff enough to not break under his power.

That’s why they called him the “Beast of the East”. He even rode jerseys saying on the back “Too fast for you”."

If he'd had a proper steerer, he wouldn't have needed that flaccid stem. Not disagreeing that a solid steel bar is a good place to start if you want strength, but there are far better solutions if you don't restrict yourself to the 22.2mm OD which will fit inside a 1" steerer.

He even rode jerseys saying on the back “Too fast for you”

he sounds like a pleasant chap. Just some puerile humour from me, I'm sure the stem's actually great - no-one wants to read the porn thread aesthetics vs function debate on every fucking page.

aesthetics vs function

That's a false dichotomy. If it doesn't excel in both the aesthetic and the functional aspects, it doesn't belong here. Anybody can make a pretty bike, and anybody can make one which works. The porn thread should celebrate only those bikes which are at the pinnacle of both mountains at once.

I think I agree with that. Are we comparing the function of that stem with other quill stems or was the threadless system coming in at that time?

If he'd had a proper steerer, he wouldn't have needed that flaccid stem. Not disagreeing that a solid steel bar is a good place to start if you want strength, but there are far better solutions if you don't restrict yourself to the 22.2mm OD which will fit inside a 1" steerer.

probably correct, but this was back in the late 80ies east german-times

Are we comparing the function of that stem with other quill stems or was the threadless system coming in at that time?

The weakness of the quill system had already been appreciated and a fix attempted by the 1940s at least, with a split clamp at the headset lock nut position to anchor the stem there rather than just at the quill expander, which is necessarily several inches further down leading to the long lever which is the main cause of flex in quill set ups.

The threadless patents date from around 1990

Couldn't resist..

http://25.media.tumblr.com/6c9f5d3d9b4d847968b09107fef575ca/tumblr_mg4m2mIukR1r3ipf9o1_1280.jpg

I read it in the voice of Samuel L. Jackson

I was a body double for him once

TRU FAX^

Now the newbies will understand.

can't find a better pic:

and this:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zpbx71xv5OM/Svwy9sMDXaI/AAAAAAAAAIE/a2x8eIrncd4/s320/somec_w_1.jpghttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zpbx71xv5OM/SvwzGoa5C8I/AAAAAAAAAI0/uLCJmFjAa1o/s320/somec_w_10.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zpbx71xv5OM/Svwy-Hq07xI/AAAAAAAAAIU/O7hYiLvGaQc/s320/somec_w_3.jpghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zpbx71xv5OM/Svwy963j9NI/AAAAAAAAAIM/6kzEQvWp0tA/s320/somec_w_2.jpg

FES nightmare machine

Would ride. Amazing.

THIS IS RAD:

^all the components would be way nicer on an italian frame imo

^all the components would be way nicer on my italian frame imo
fixed that for me