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A friend of mine built up his bike with wooden rims, and has had a hell of a time with them. He had to rebuild one a couple times because it just wasn't staying true. Slight variation in humidity drastically changes the wheel. Working with super-low tension, as mentioned has been difficult. He tied and soldered the spokes once the wheels were holding fairly true, as this supposedly helps when limited to very low tension.

The build the wheels went on was a total bling build, and they do look fantastic, but they are a lot of work. Having seen everything he's gone through, I definitely would not use them on a daily rider. Show bike only.

You can see a few pics here:

http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2008/sept/2/william_talltreecycles.htm

50cm wow

Yeah, they're a little wide ...

It's all really easy:

26" < 27.5" < (28" = 29") < 27"

Don't thank me. Thank the bike industry.

As far as the naming standards go, tires were often originally named for their outside diameter, regardless of rim size. That's why the name of the tire size often has little to no correlation to the bead diameter (the rim size).

Basically whoever made the first tire for a given rim named the tire size based on the outside dimensions, regardless of the fact that other tires that would share the same rim would not have the same outer diameter.

Forget polo. You need to start up some http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qO8xBlkumYM
with that.

I spoke to one of the fellows working on the project for the new Chub hubs.

The first version were all hand made by the designer. While many of them were fine, being a single individual in a small company, without a lot of R&D money, he couldn't produce the hubs to high enough tolerances to be completely reliable.

The new ones are being manufactured more precisely by a large hub manufacturer (with the original designer still on board), so the problems with the originals should be long gone. The bonding process is supposedly much more refined and consistent now.

sssasky - a good point well made. And i'm probably more of a recreational cyclist than you at the moment.

But...you'll still never seem me in a 'hybrid' shoe. Wear what you're comfortable in, I guess that goes for anything.

B.

Fair enough man. You should always absolutely wear what you are comfortable with.

And I didn't mean my post to come off like an attack. It wasn't personal. I just work in a shop that sells all types of clipless shoes, so I have a bit of a routine when it comes to explaining why anyone would want a 'hybrid' shoe when you can get more performance oriented ones for a similar price. And your 'truth' idea just got me going. neat concept, and something I think I apply in a lot of my daily life, without having labelled it before.

The thing that drives me the most nuts about the profile hubs is that each side has a different chainline ("44mm fixed, 47mm free"). Why, oh why? And neither of them are even standard chainlines. RRRAAAAAGH!

Also, as a hub aimed pretty squarely at the fixed gear freestyle / MASH SF crowd making it fixed/free seems a little odd. Ninety-nine percent of these hubs will probably end up on brakeless fixed gears. And even if they don't, you can still run a freewheel on a fixed thread without problem. RRRRAAAAGH!

I love the design aesthetic, and dig the HUGE bearings. I just wish they were fixed/fixed 42mm chainline (so they play nice with all the rad NJS and vintage stuff the mash crowd likes).

Cool breakdown of the hubs.

i would love to read your dissertation on bicycle clips or rolled trousers. let me know when it's finished.

I'm just preparing for the defence stage ... I'll let you know how it goes ...

I reckon recreational shoes are a no go as they are cycling shoes disguised as trainers. Thus they break the style rule of 'truth' (I like to apply this rulle sporadically to annoy pedants). Also, I've never seen a pair i'd buy if they were just trainers, they're all pretty ugly. Even those US BMX dunks don't do it for me. Get some sidis or other obvious bike shoes and get some other obvious trainers or shoes for the other times.

Depending on your usage, the hybrid-type shoes may in fact be more 'true'. Sidis are designed as a race shoe, from the ground up. Everything about their design is catering to racing cyclists.

As primarily a commuter cyclist who also plays polo and races only in disorganised alley-cat type contexts, a true racing shoe is not true to me or my bike. A hybrid/rec shoe is much more true, given that most of the time I am on my bike, I am going somewhere, be it work, a bar, or a polo game.

A shoe like a Sidi is not meant for living life in. it is meant for someone who will be putting them on right before getting on the bike, and taking them off shortly after - not hanging out in them.

I live a cycling life and need shoes that represent that. A race type shoe is too narrow minded to do that.

Don't get me wrong--I have some sidis, and do really like them--but only within the relatively narrow confines of performance oriented cycling (usually mountain biking, for me).

I will always have 'recreational' style shoes. As a last note, I think 'recreational' is a real misnomer for these shoes. I ride very non-recreationally in mine. If anything, they are my serious cycling shoes and my sidis are my recreational shoes. I think a term like hybrid or commuter is more appropriate, and does less of a disservice to the very substantial functionality of these shoes.

Here's what I wear:

Do I love the way they look? No. Do I hate it? No. But they do suit my daily life a lot more than my Sidis. Sidis were never meant to be worn with jeans.

I know I said I was done, but I'm not.

The mentality that says 'you're riding a bike--wear a 'real' bike shoe' does a disservice to the cycling community as much as the mentality that says you should be wearing lycra if you are on a bike. Not all kinds of cycling demand racing kit. In fact, the vast majority of it doesn't. The most important type of cycling in modern society is urban, functional cycling where racing equipment is not only less functional, it actually dissuades non-cyclists from ever biking, or even taking cyclists seriously.

When you look at societies where biking is truly a part of daily life, very few of the people on bikes are kitted out in spandex and lycra. When you look at societies where cycling is less integrated (and I say this as someone living in such a society), people dressed up in hilarious racing clothes and shoes do nothing but encourage the idea of cycling as a purely recreational, non functional activity.

**Functional, versatile bike equipment = functional, versatile cyclists.

Racing oriented, narrowly specific bike equipment = cycling as recreational activity.**

Okay, now I'm done.

I love recreational shoes. I used to hate biking to places like the pub in my sidis. It's just not comfortable. Now I wear rec style shoes all the time. Very nominal difference in on-bike performance. HUGE difference in off bike comfort and safety. LOVE IT.

If you're after a 3/32 chain, I like the cheapo SRAM chains. PC48 and PC58.

It's definitely not a bareknuckle. Bareknuckle is 1 1/8 threadless and has a way nicer fork. Way nicer.

The Dolan's not bad looking, but I'd take the surly over it for the same price.

Hi-tensile steel? Holy crap. That's gonna be one heavy bike. Terrible quality components throughout. A waste of money.

There might be a market for this kind of bike, but it's an exploitive market. It relies on the consumers' ignorance to fool them into thinking they are getting a good deal. In fact, they are buying a bike where everything needs a lot of maintenance to keep working at all, and will work badly regardless (not to mention the target market are exactly the people who will do NO maintenance).

Bikes like this are bad for the cycling industry, and the people who buy them. Sure, a few more people will be on the road with bikes like these. But the majority of these people will give up once the bike breaks down and they find out how much it costs to upgrade to components that won't break down immediately. We're talking about people having to replace, at a minimum, the wheels and bottom bracket, probably headset as well, maybe the brakes. They will quickly surpass the price of the original purpose.

From the perspective of value, quality, and the goal of getting more people on bikes, companies would be much more well advised to raise the price by £100 and spec some decent components. Raise is by £150 and put a decent frame on as well.

Then it's up to the cycling community and industry to educate people about why they should spend a bit more for a new bike. And if they're still on a tight budget, great--set them up on well made conversions. They'll get better components, and a unique bike.

If you want to encourage more people to ride bikes, you need to offer them lighter weight, well made bikes with decent components so that the bike is fun to ride for more than the first week. Rip them off at the very beginning and they will resent the bike and the entire industry for conning them.

The don't have a patent on it (AFAIK). They're just the only company willing to put the machining time into producing them. You can find instructions for making your own using basically the same design, but I think for most people it makes more sense to just buy it.

I had one. It worked, but I didn't love it by any means. I eventually replaced the frame with something with horizontal drops and changed the axle to a non eccentric. In future, I will simply always use frames with some sort of tensioning system built in. There's plenty of good, cheap options out there.

I also have one of their freewheels. That, I love.

39:17

Since I got used to it for polo, I now use it everywhere. Way more fun than pushing a steep gear.

Spin, Forrest! Spin!

I think I hate it. Can't people just pick a dominant brake hand? I find it pretty ugly compared to something like just a single inline lever, or the paul e-lever.

I have Sidi's, and I can't say that I love them all that much. The fit has been great since day one, but I just don't find them unbelievable great on the bike. And off the bike they pretty much suck.

95% of the time I wear these:

They're cheap as hell, and they're great. They are very very slightly less comfortable on the bike than the Sidi's (barely noticeable), and 1000X better off the bike. Plus they are dirt cheap (the retail on them in Canada is only $49CAD (25£).

Certainly doesn't look like anything special. Generic low-end aluminum. I certainly wouldn't put any money into it, but if you can do a parts-bin build, go for it.

its a quill. stupid artist

The 2008 setup is definitely a threadless setup. The pictures clearly show a threadless stem - easy give away is the bolts for clamping the steer tube. And the specs clearly describe it as having a threadless headset.

I've ridden a Phil Wood set-screw type EBB through a very salty, slushy Canadian winter. 220lbs rider, really low gear (lots of torque). Never shifted, slipped or creaked. Set it and forget it. The only time I have adjusted it was to accommodate for chain stretch. Very happy with it, and it's a lot simpler than something like the bushnell.

Okay. I'm done.

Wow. Check out their soft-tail. I wonder what this would be like to ride as a fixed gear?

http://www.3gbikes.com/bikes/s-rod.html

Oh man. they must be the greatest company ever. Nothing but quality.

Think I can get it to barspin?

http://www.3gbikes.com/bikes/primitive_3spd.html

TWO DISC BRAKE MOUNTS!

Yeah, I met more than a couple people from Saskatoon in my time in Montreal. And now my parents live in the T-dot. Us prairie folk get around. Apparently to all the same places.

Somehow I don't think the Montrealers would appreciate having their city renamed little-Saskatoon.

The '08 is definitely retro - the font is straight disco. But it is hot hot hot. I'm super impressed with the new fuji paintjobs. Very nice. I would go 08 no second thought. Despite having two fixed already, I'm thinking of getting the fuji anyways. Just because.

Oh yeah, I love me some low gearing. 39:17 every day. Started as my polo gear, learned to love it for all my riding.