Road Gear

Solving the solvent questionDear Lennard,Thanks for the recent notes regarding carbon fiber and solvents/lubrication.I wonder if you could recommend a safe way to remove old tubular cementfrom carbon rims. If you have already addressed the issue, can you pointme in the right direction?ScottDear Scott,This is one of those questions that warrants an answer straight fromthe horse's mouth. I sent off your question to a few carbon rim manufacturersand got these responses back.LennardAnswer from HedAcetone, a stiff plastic bristle brush, and a lot of time arewhat you use to get the cement off a

What are those pedals?It seems that lastweek’s column sparked a bit of interest in the pedals we hadmounted on the Zero G crankset. Well, those are M2 Racer’s ORB pedals andthe pair weighs in at just 99 grams. Fabricated from 6/4 titanium, theORBs feature 15 degrees of self-centering float. Their $228 price is wellwithin the ballpark for high-end titanium spindled pedals. The ORB is among a host of ultra-light M2 Racer products. Thecompany’s range includes a 43-gram saddle, a 69-gram seat post and a 6-grambottle cage. To highlight what a complete package of M2 Racer componentscan do, the

Zero Gravity is stepping up both its component development and its support for the sport in 2006, signing a three-year deal to co-sponsor the Jittery Joe’s road team and bringing a new crank project to market. Regarding last week’s sponsorship deal, Jeff Stewart, Zero G’s director of sales and marketing, said the boutique brake manufacturer has been "super happy with Jittery Joe’s." "We really have a great relationship with them. We put products on their bikes and get real world feedback," Stewart continued. As for the new Zero G cranks, which debuted at Interbike, Zero Gravity hopes to

Alberto Contador of Liberty Seguros has been hailed in Spain as the rider most likely to bring back the stage-racing glory days of Miguel Indurain. If such a thing is even possible, it may well be that Contador is the man to do it. And if not him, it may well be his younger teammate Luis Leon Sanchez. Able to climb as well as time trial, Contador is a big prospect for team director Manolo Saiz, who gave him his first pro contract with ONCE in 2003 and just signed him again for an extended contract. Contador, 22, and Sanchez, 21, made the trek from Spain to Boston in late September, with

Can I just have the new crank?Dear Lennard,I have an older Serotta Legend with 9 speed Dura-Ace and I wonderedif I can replace the crank set-up to the new stiffer 10 speed without compatibilityissues as I would like to leave the 9 speed rear end as is. Seems likeI remember Velo doing an article on this subject last year but I have forgottenthe particulars as to efficiency and effectiveness.GeorgeDear George,I have done it, and it works fine.LennardLong legs and lots of climbingDear Lennard,I'm 6 foot 4 with a 36-inch inseam and I prefer to run 180mm cranks. I also ride a lot of

Center-pull cantilever brakes, once common on mountain bikes, are now completely gone from the racing circuit. However, as summer winds down, the leaves turn and cyclo-cross bikes come out of hiding, the center-pull cantilever can once again enjoy the spotlight. To understand what makes a good cyclo-cross brake, you first have to understand some of the intricacies of cantilever geometry, lever ratios and the whole idea of mechanical advantage. At the most basic level, a brake and its lever must be matched in terms of mechanical advantage. A prime example is a linear-pull brake (the

Insisting on an embargo until Thursday, the SRAM corporation has releasedadditional information on the shifting mechanism behind the company’s newroad components, first introducedat the Eurobike tradeshow in September.While show-goers and consumers have had a look at the group,bikes equipped with the new components were kept behind glass and thosewho who were allowed to play with the shifters were asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Few chose to argue the point with SRAM's six-foot-five-inch media rep' Michael Zellman.Now that the embargo is lifted SRAM is touting what calls its

Dear Lennard,Regarding your TechnicalQ&A with Lennard Zinn: Carbon tubes and lubes the consensusis unanimous that no grease be used on carbon seat posts, one thingwas not shared is how you remove grease from a seat tube if you want tochange to a carbon post from an aluminum post. If solvents shouldn’tbe used what can be used to safely remove grease that has already beenapplied? And on new frames should any prep be done to ensure thatthe frame is free of any contaminates before assembly.I want to share what I personally ran into with a new frame and carbonpost. Knowing that no grease was

In an industry increasingly dominated by mega-corporations, pumping outhi-tech, relatively affordable, but admittedly soulless bikes, you haveto wonder if there’s still a place for the small frame builder.How does a guy in a worn shop apron, often operating out of a garage,manage to compete against a sub-$1000 Chinese-made carbon frame?Quite nicely, thank you.“I do maybe 100 frames a year,” notes Ashland, Oregon's Mike DeSalvo.“That's not a lot for Specialized, maybe, but I sure stay busy.”DeSalvo Cycleswill never rival any of the biggies, but its owner and founder says that’snot the

As VeloNews.com has shown over the past week, Interbike offers a smorgasbordof cutting edge, high-end bikes and related goodies. It’s also filled withbizarre, who-would-possibly-buy-that type gizmos. Wading through the blinkingplastic safety vests to find the 100-gram rear derailleur is just partof the fun.

While the 2005 Interbike International Bicycle Expo has wrapped upanother busy week in Las Vegas, we're still sorting through our briefcases,hard drives and digital cameras for those things that left a big impressionon us. Here's a list of stories that our staff produced over a week inthe desert, but keep checking back, we'll be adding to the list for thenext few days.Interbike - Las Vegas '05Leaving Las VegasHighbrow saddles; Hi-Zoot technology; High-end carbonMore product; more photosOrbea:High-end bikes from the Basque countryInsidethe hall, a Day 1 photo galleryTanned,

Thecustom 11.9-pound bike on which Tyler Hamilton won the 2005 Mt. WashingtonHillclimb was on display in the Parlee booth (Parlee makes a Tyler HamiltonFoundation model, the proceeds from which go to Hamilton’s foundation).Parlee also showed a carbon bike with sculpted carbon lugs decorated withthe new superlight Alpha Q orange metallic GS-10 fork and matching Orangemetallic panels on the frame. Built up with Lightweight wheels, there washardly a steel part on it, but it was meant to evoke the steel frames ofold with sculpted lugs and painted frame panels. All Parlees can be

Produced in the heart of the Basque country, Orbea has a long history of producing carbon fiber bicycles. The company has invested heavily in monocoque molding technology and constantly refines and updates one of the broadest lines of carbon bikes in the business. The company is sure enough of its quality to offer a lifetime warranty on all of its frames, even the lightest of its carbon models.

The heavy and retroSurely the most elegant, no-holds-barred booth at the 2005 Interbike Trade Show in Las Vegas has to bethat of Brooks Saddles. The recreation of an English sitting room (exceptfor the fact that smoking is not allowed in the show) drove home the pointof how English this product remains since its purchase and re-vitalizationby an Italian saddle company, Selle Royal.The factory remains in Smethwick, on the outskirts of Birmingham, whichis where the gawdy red carpet with yellow flowers for the booth came from.All of thesaddles remain the same, made entirely out of thick leather

Ibis is back and doing its thing... but this time in carbon.Tuesday marked the official return of both Ibis and its founder, ScotNicol, to the bike industry after a three-year absence. The brand thathad a devoted following in the 1990s and floundered on hard times sinceNicol sold the company in 2000.While Ibis fans have suffered the absence of a favorite, Nicol has spent the last few years most constructively: "retired and riding my bike." Not bad work if you can get it. Still Nicol has felt the itch and finally found his way back into bike biz' as a "partner" (read unpaid employee) in a

Interbike’s International Expo opened Tuesday, with more than 10,000 attendees swarming in among next season’s bikes on the red carpets of the Sands Convention Center in Las Vegas. After two dusty days of testing product at the Outdoor Demo in nearby Bootleg Canyon, the show moved indoors to get down to business. More than 10,000 buyers for about 3500 bike shops have registered to check out the 2006 wares that some 750 companies — representing more than 1000 brands— have on display. The business they do here determines what will be cropping up in your local shop in the coming months. That

As Day 2 dawned on the most fun part of Interbike, namely riding cool bikes all over the great trails in Bootleg Canyon, the mechanical bull waited, its single horn barely attached but its pride and determination intact. Soon enough, in Yakima’s Bucking for IMBA promotion, one attendee after another came to be spun and tossed about by it while hanging onto a little stub of rope, all under the laughing gaze of people wearing pink foam Yakima-labeled cowboy hats. And sure enough, every would-be bull rider found themselves on his or her back soon enough, thrown off into an inflatable swimming

Fighting desert heat and a big afternoon windstorm, bike manufacturers did their darndest to keep Interbike tradeshow attendees happy for the second day of Outdoor Demo Tuesday, a task made easier by offering up a ton of new and interesting equipment. Giant Bicycles has big news for 2006, two new mountain bikes based on the company’s Maestro suspension technology. Our old colleague, Andrew Juskaitis, now Giant’s communications manager, said the two new bikes are the “bookends” of the Maestro series, offering the suspension design on both cross-country and downhill models. Billed as

The tradeshow season culminates with the start of the Interbike tradeshow in Las Vegas. Although the majority of the show takes place at the Sands Expo and Convention Center - in Sin City itself - the show actually starts a couple of days early, with bike demos in Bootleg Canyon roughly 20 miles outside the city limits. The area is renowned for exceptional mountain bike trails (a few have even earned IMBA’s renowned “Epic Rides” label to prove it). The Interbike folks have been coming to Bootleg canyon for the past few years, because the area offers demo’ riders the opportunity to try out

The 2005 Interbike show kicked off with a warm, cloudless day over the rocky, serpentine singletrack trails of Bootleg Canyon above Lake Mead. The venue has a short section of closed, divided paved road for road-bike testing and a vast area riddled with interesting singletrack for testing mountain bikes. The trail system offers so much mileage that, despite the large crowds at this well-attended Outdoor Demo, many of the nicest trails I had almost completely to myself all afternoon. Ah, the freedomA revelation for me was riding the Santa Cruz VP Free, the company’s all-out freeride bike.

Hey, be careful of those split tails!I just discovered a reason not to face your bike rearward on a roofrack, especially if you have a split-tail saddle. And another reason tofile the Nader hooks off of a road fork besides just the convenience ofgetting the wheel in and out! I was driving into my driveway with a bike on my roof as I have doneproblem-free for 15 years here. It’s a long gravel driveway lined withbig trees, and while leafy branches droop down, I keep the large branchescut back so no big ones cross the driveway less than 10 feet up. Both ofmy garages are full of bikes, so cars

The second day at the 63rd International Cycle Exhibition in the Nuova Fiera Milano proved substantially more hectic. In the past the show has been limited to industry insiders for the first two days; this year, only one day was afforded. When the doors opened this morning there was an air of urgency in everyone’s step. For the consumers, it was simple excitement, but for the vendors it was anticipation of a hard day’s work ahead. Highlights Saturday included visits to Shimano and Campagnolo. FSA had Ivan Basso on hand for a marathon autograph session promoting its compact cranks. Components

Milan’s 63rd International Cycle Exhibition kicked off Friday, celebrating Italy’s passion for the road bike and doing so in the massive and very new Nuova Fiera Milano. The new venue put all of the EICMA show’s attendees on the same level: We were all lost and most standing in slack-jawed amazement at the building designed by the famous Massimiliano Fuksass. Its 21,032 square meters of floor space increases the amount of room afforded the show by a whopping 25 percent. The convention center lies just outside of Milan’s city center. It can be reached by a convenient 25-minute subway ride.

The Eurobike trade show in Friedrichshafen first opened its doors in 1991. Back then it was a funky little thing that felt more like a gathering of the tribe than the prestigious international event it has become today. Friedrichshafen city’s old trade fair arrangement contributed to that feeling, consisting as it did of a mismatched hodgepodge of creaky buildings connected by a confusing warren of halls and passageways. The buildings were clumped around an irregular courtyard that the Eurobike show filled with test tracks, jumps, a BMX freestyle arena and the inevitable overflow of

Seat tubes and lube?Dear Lennard,I have been in the bicycle industry for many years and have consistently had conflicting advice about using grease in a frame's seat tube when using a carbon seatpost. With the many materials that frames are using now, are there some frames that should have grease in the seat tube when using a carbon seatpost, or is using grease in a seat tube with a carbon seatpost a big no-no? What do the majority of frame and carbon seatpost manufacturers have to say about this and why isn't it more clear? Also, if grease is a good idea, is there any particular

For our third day at the Eurobike show in beautiful Friedrichshafen, Germany, let’s take a quick tour of some new brands coming to the U.S., and new products from some established brands. Then, in our final report, we’ll take a look at the scene here, inside the halls and out in the courtyard, in an attempt to convey the unique flavor of this terrific show, now in its 14th year. AX LightnessAX Lightness components, much coveted by weight freaks, have been trickling into the U.S. for a couple of years. Production quantities are small, so they are sometimes hard to find. But if you have your

The Eurobike trade show in Friedrichshafen, Germany, is a wonderful place to gather information. It turns out it also is a good place to generate misinformation, as we inadvertently did yesterday. After seeing the Sram road group prototypes, we speculated about the shifting system, noticing that there was one shift lever behind the brake lever on each side, but no apparent way for the brake lever to swing or rotate to provide the other half of the shifting equation. Well, that’s because the one lever does it all. Today, we talked with two people who have used the system -- neither one of

Eurobike, the bicycle industry’s annual trade show in Friedrichshafen, Germany, opened its doors Thursday for the 14th consecutive year. Although many companies these days are electing to display their new wares earlier in the summer in a race to be the first to capture dealer interest and begin filling their order books, Eurobike is still the first collective look we get at what’s in store for the new year. Unfortunately, 2005 did not treat the European bicycle industry so well. While few companies are willing to disclose hard numbers, the general indication is that bicycle sales have been

VeloNews associate editor Fred Drier was in Downers Grove this past weekend bringing us coverage of the USPRO Criterium championship, when he stumbled across something to get the product geeks among us talking: Someone was riding a bike with a road group from SRAM. Yep, while many of you have been waiting for a 10-seepd cassette from the mountain bike biased company, they are poised to give us the whole shebang, a complete group. Though many of the products are still in the prototype stage, the company is hinting at a 06’ release. The one photo we have is of a prototype shifter. Jittery Joe’s

Merlin Metalworks has announced an entirely new line of titanium and carbon bikes, dubbed “Works,” for 2006. The Merlin TiWorks series will join the existing Merlin models, which continue as Merlin Classics. Merlin also has a new CarbonWorks bike, the C110, which is essentially a Merlin Proteus carbon frame stripped of its titanium embellishments. The TiWorks bikes are divided into three categories:Compact Racing - CRTraditional Racing - TRMountain Racing- MR. Many of Merlin’s traditional touches are present in the TiWorks line, including 6Al/4V titanium alloy dropouts, size-specific tubing

With the September trade-show season just around the corner, the word about 2006 product has begun pouring into the office. And the latest comes from Italy, where Campagnolo is dropping some hints about wheels, compact cranks and a chain. Eurus: a complete redesignTaking heavy cues from Campagnolo’s sister company Fulcrum, the Eurus has been blessed with some major improvements, including a healthy weight-loss program. For 2006, the Eurus wheelset weighs in at a manufacturer-published 1510 grams. The new version also introduces radical improvements to rim, spokes and hubs. The wheelset uses

The reasons behind those long stemsDear Lennard,Judging from photos, it seems that the pros favor longer stems than the rest of us. Is there any truth in this observation? If so, does it have to do with pros being fitted with smaller frames than amateur/recreational riders, or just preferring a longer reach?Tom Dear Tom,Yes, they definitely do favor long stems. For instance, all of the Bontrager carbon stems on the Discovery team bikes are 140mm. Riders on the team using shorter stems (130mm mostly) do not have carbon stems because only 140mm stems were delivered at the team training camp in

Ten-speed chains and ConneX linksDear Lennard,I've broken two 10-speed chains, but since using ConneX links I have not had a problem. I use the ConneX chain and the Campy chain and the connecting link seems like one of the best bits of design ever. Are they being used in the peloton, and if not, why not?Peter Dear Lennard,Given the tight tolerances of 10-speed chains and the importance of correct reassembly, why don't teams use ConneX links? I understand that these work very well with either Campy or Shimano chains, as well as with Wippermann.Mark Dear Mark and Peter,Master links

How many Pro Tour teams ride tubies?Dear Lennard,Approximately what percentage of Pro Tour teams rides tubular tires? A friend and I recently debated this topic. We agreed that team members rode whatever tire sponsors provided, but we couldn't agree on what percentage of Pro Tour teams rode tubular tires. A ballpark estimate would be appreciated and will determine who buys post-ride ales for the next few weeks.Bart Dear Lennard,I realize from your recent article that several teams are using tubeless tires at this year's Tour. That seems like the way of the future, but as for the ways

Keeping ten-speed chains intactAll of the teams contesting the Tour de France this year are, of course,are using 10-speed chains on their 10-speed Shimano or Campagnolo groups. While you rarely see a broken chain in the professional peloton, youcertainly do see it among everyday enthusiasts nowadays with 10-speed chainsfar more frequently than you used to with 9-speed chains, and especiallymore so than in the old days when riders used 5-, 6-, 7-, and 8-speed chains.Back then breakage on a road bike was practically unheard of. You knowthat if there is any time you would not want to break a

Tool bag?Dear Lennard,The other day during stage 9 I noticed a small black box under the saddle on Jens Voigt's Cervelo. Obviously he wasn't carrying a tool kit like us mortals, so what was it? A radio?Brett Dear Brett,I am posting this since I continue to get this question every day, even though I answered it already. For the answer, check out this link. You really ought to check out the daily SRM telemetry, especially in the Pyrenees and the final time trial. There are a lot of riders hooked up with them. The display isonly live during the stage and there is no file to see

Many people have been asking what those wheels with red hubs like old Mavic Heliums were on David Moncoutie’s bike. The Cofidis rider won stage 12 on the new Mavic Ksyrium ES Dixieme Anniversaire wheels, which indeed are supposed to honor and carry on the tradition of those Heliums, which premiered 10 years ago in the Tour as special climbing wheels, ridden by luminaries like Laurent Jalabert and Richard Virenque, among many others. The front and rear rims of the 10th Anniversary Ksyrium ES are different, with the front being lighter. Mavic says the tubular version weighs 625 grams () and

Each Tour team has a bus and a slew of station wagons. But otherwise, teams vary widely in the other vehicles they bring along, and this has changed even further with the advent of the Pro Tour. And of critical interest to all of the teams is security of all of those bikes and expensive wheels and parts they carry along. Most teams have a bus and a big truck. The buses for the riders are roomy inside and have comfortable seats, tables and other amenities, such as espresso machines. Teams use them as conference rooms for entertaining guests or negotiating team sponsorships, as well as for

First, a question or two: Dear Lennard,The Liberty Seguros shifters: What’s up with them? They aren't any Campy ones I've seen before. Are they the 2006 edition? I first noticed them on the stage to Courcheval.Ignacio Dear Lennard,I noticed today while watching the Tour that Liberty Seguros's Record shifters didn't look all carbon. They appeared to have a metallic streak of some sort near the top of the actual shift lever. Did you see anything like that? The rider’s bike I saw was Jorg Jaksche's. Maybe my mind was playing tricks on me, as I was going crazy with Lance

First, a question: Dear Lennard,What does Jens Voigt carry in his seat bag? Do any of the other TdF riders carry a seat bag?Steve C. Dear Steve,That is the transmitter that sends telemetric data live from Voigt's SRM. And yes, some of the other Tour riders are doing the same thing. Voig, Matthias Kessler (T-Mobile), Gerrit Glomser (Lampre) and Sebastian Lang (Gerolsteiner) all have been wired for live SRM data on various stages. This is one of the (few) benefits of the UCI weight limit on bikes; since the riders can have bikes below the limit, they can add components of their choosing

On Friday, as the Tour de France headed to Karlsruhe, Germany, Gerolsteiner’s Fabian Wegmann rode solo for hours on his carbon Specialized S-Works Tarmac. However, once the race hits the mountains, two of his teammates, namely Levi Leipheimer and Georg Totschnig will be riding the even lighter, next-generation S-Works Tarmac SL frame and all-carbon S-Works fork. The SL shares the Tarmac’s geometry. Yet, because Specialized tweaked both tube shapes and dimensions while custom tuning the orientation and number of layers of carbon, the SL has been designed for maximum shock absorption, road

First, a question: Dear Lennard,I was wondering why the Saunier Duval team is allowed to wear their yellow outfits in the Tour. I thought that teams that had yellow in their colors had to change them for the Tour, as ONCE did in the past.Peter Dear Peter,Here is the official answer from Virginie Geinoz, the press officer for Saunier Duval-Prodir: “The Tour asked us to make a new jersey with less yellow. Therefore, we have designed this special edition for the Tour with the shoulders in white.”Lennard Ag2R on carbon clinchersTeam Ag2R is using unmarked Reynolds carbon clincher wheels

Tuesday’s stage was a showdown between the powerhouse time-trial teams, as well as a battle between old and new philosophies about racing against the clock. At the beginning of Lance Armstrong’s Tour victory run, the time-trial powerhouses were Telekom (now T-Mobile), ONCE (now Liberty Seguros) and U.S. Postal (now Discovery). But Liberty Seguros has become only a shadow of its former time-trialing self, and T-Mobile has also slipped a number of notches. The new guard still contains Discovery, but CSC, Phonak and Gerolsteiner are the new young bucks trying to kick the door in. All these

After David Zabriskie’s first day in the yellow jersey, I ran into Allen Lim, Floyd Landis’s personal coach, who described some of Zabriskie’s mental preparation leading up to the Tour. According to Lim, Landis repeatedly told Zabriskie that the yellow jersey was his for the taking. “Floyd lives with Zabriskie in Girona, and ever since the Giro, Floyd’s been telling David, ‘Dude, you’ve gotta aim for winning that prologue at the Tour.’ David was nervous about doing the Giro and the Tour back to back, but that helped ease his concerns. Floyd told him that if he won the prologue and got the

David Zabriskie’s third brake lever probably did not play a role in Saturday’s opening time trial, although his bunny-hopping entire traffic circles instead of riding around them certainly raised a few eyebrows (just kidding). But the extra brake lever on the handlebar extensions has been a source of great interest (see VeloNews, June 27, 2005), and a number of the teams are using them. In a flat individual time trial like the one that opened the 2005 Tour de France, the third lever may not help much beyond taking a little speed off for a corner here or there. It is very useful in courses

Dropped chains - Why? Dear Lennard,

Water, water everywhereDear Lennard,My Spinergy Xaero's quite literally fill up with water if I ride whenit rains even reasonably hard. Only way to get it out is to eitherdeflate the tire and pry it off at the valve hole when the hole's at thebottom, or remove the tube/tire and drain with the hole at the bottom.This drives me nuts! It's not a little water either.It makes a big puddle. Any suggestions?MattDear Matt,I can imagine why this might drive you nuts! It’s amazing how manyquestions about this exact thing I have gotten this spring, regarding manydifferent wheel brands.

Lance Armstrong unveiled a new time trial bike this week at the Dauphiné Libéré that he hopes will catapult him to a seventh Tour de France crown. Following its track record of developing new technology in time for Armstrong's annual summer Tour assault, Trek rolled out the new "TTX" time trial frame utilizing a cutting-edge software design program used to develop Ferrari racing cars and sail boats. "We turned six months of development into five weeks," said Trek's Scott Daubert, adding the project didn't get the green light until right after the Tour de Georgia in April. "We

What about that tape?Dear Lennard,I think I do a pretty good job of gluing my tires securely, and I re-glueevery year. However, on some of my tires the actual tape is separatingin some places from the tire (the layer between tire and rim). Isthere any way to fix this, or is the tire done for?RyanDear Ryan,I have had good luck in the past using Bargecement. This is a contact cement I have been using since childhoodto patch rafts and I first got some from a shoemaker who used it to gluesoles on. I would guess that it’s widely available at hardware stores or whitewater equipment stores.

Third brake lever on CSC’s TT bikesDear Lennard,From the UK - watching the TT at the Giro on Eurosport the other day I noticed CSC were running what seemed to be a third brake lever on the aero’ extension. Can you give any insight to this, as there is nothing on the team website - i.e., would it be wired up like a 'cross lever? Why hasn't anyone done it before and so on?Stuart Dear Stuart,A number of people wrote me about this. A lot of people with sharp eyes out there! Yes, David Zabriskie and Ivan Basso placed 1-2 using Cervelo P3s (one aluminum, one carbon) with a second

Will a 31.7mm bar fit a 31.8mm stem?Dear Lennard,What do you think of using a 31.7 diameter road bar with a 31.8 stem? I'm under the impression that it is widely accepted to be okay. to use 25.8 diameter bars with 26.0 stems, and I do this on three of my bikes as I really like Deda bars, but prefer other stems. I would like to change one bike to a Thomson X4 stem and Deda oversize bars.Shane Dear Shane,The oversized handlebar diameter is done on an inch standard, namely 1-1/4”. Well, 1.25 inches is equal to 31.75mm, putting it squarely between the 31.7mm and 31.8mm dimensions. My opinion

The importance of gluing in earnestDear Lennard,I read with interest your detailed plan for gluing tubulars in yournewCycling Primer. One thing I left out in my process of gluing on a newtire is to scrape the latex on the base tape on my Vittoria Open Corsa– it did not look like it had anything to scrape. Anyway, since I havealready put a couple layers of glue onto the base tape and mounted thetire, how can I go back and re-scrape and re-glue this tire? Or is it toolate?AndrewDear Andrew,Interesting timing on this, as I just wrote an article on tubular gluingfor the VeloNews issue No.8,

Until recently I had forgotten how much fun it is to just get out and ride for the sake of riding. Over the past 10 winters (give or take a few) I have been logging mile-upon-mile, all in the name of establishing a good base to support my body throughout the next six to eight months of torture it would be put through racing. You see for the last 15 years, right up until about 8 months ago, I was working hard to be a professional cyclist. In some ways I made it, and lived a small part of the dream I had been chasing. I have raced in the pro-class at NORBA Nationals, and I have stood atop

Cold-setting (that means bending to you and me)Dear Lennard,I ride a 1980's vintage Klein Quantum with an 8-speed rear. ShouldI be able to get the frame adjusted to fit a wider 9- or 10-speed wheel?BrianDear Brian,Were this question about a steel frame, it would be not be a problem,but no, you cannot adjust an aluminum frame permanently without damagingthe frame. But you can flex the stays to put in the wheel each time youdo it without hurting the frame. You just can't make fast wheel changes.However, cold-setting an aluminum rear end so that it holds 130mm rearspacing rather than the

Crank optionsDear Lennard,I am going to Corsica in September. My bike has a standard Dura-Ace10-speed drivetrain with a double chainring. I would like to put on a compactcrankset for the trip, then reinstall the original after I return. My preferencewould be to not install a new bottom bracket. I could go to a triple. Doesany compact crank fit the Dura-Ace outside bearing bottom bracket? CanI run a triple Dura-Ace or Ultegra as a double without changing out theread end? I would rather not have to get a new crank and bottom bracket(like an FSA) just for one trip.Many thanks.BobDear Bob,The

Road size versus 'cross sizeDear Lennard,I'm in the process of purchasing a new cyclo-cross bike and a little confused about the sizing. I currently ride a Trek Madone (M) 56 with a top tube length of 56.2 and this fits me fine. I originally thought I would get a 56 XO1, but according to Trek's website, this is an XL but the top tube length is 55.5, a little less than my road bike, and the stand over height is 1.6 larger than the road bike. Should I be on a 54 (L) with a 54.0 top tube length?Any advice would be greatly appreciated.InsungDear Insung,There is no reason to go shorter

Clamping powerDear Lennard,I am hearing that disc brakes can cause the axel to shift within thedropouts when paired with standard quick release skewers causing alignmentproblems in the rotor/caliper interface. Is this true? If so, is movingto a beefier mechanism (such as a new Marzocchi QR20 fork) the only fix?Is there a difference between steel and titanium skewers in this respect?I am thinking of making the change to discs and need to know how much hiddencost there is, new fork, hub, etc.BlairDear Blair,Yes, that’s true. Indeed, the clamping force is definitely less withsome skewer designs

The ABCs of tire sizeDear Lennard,What does the c stand for on a 700c rim and or tire? What unit of measurement is this and how is it determined?BWDear BW,The “c” is not a unit of measurement. It merely designates a certain international rim/tire standard. A 700C rim has a 622mm bead-seat diameter (diameter of the tire bead circle), and you will often find this number imprinted on 700C tires and rim strips. Obviously, there is nothing you could measure on the wheel or tire and come up with 700 units of anything (the outer diameter of a 700C X 23mm road tire is about 668mm).To illustrate the

It's not every day that the President shows up for your bike show. Butas a measure of how important the bicycle industry has become to the economicengine of Taiwan, PresidentChen Shui-bian took a break from his saber-rattling with mainland Chinaover the issue of Taiwan's independence to deliver the keynote speech atthe opening of the 18th annual Taipei International Cycle Show, March 4- 7. With an impressive contingent of gat-packing bodyguards discreetly protecting his flanks for the ribbon-cutting, President Chen proclaimed himself a card-carrying member of the bicycle fan club.

For triathletes, Profile offers the TriStryke saddle, which in additionto a huge center vent and titanium rails boasts notches underneath at thefront and rear to make racking your bike easier in the transition area.At 275 grams, the TriStryke is available now.PZ ComponentsPZ Components is the new name for Pazzazz, a moniker that never caughton for reasons we'll let others decide. But the attractions of PZ's partsare undebatable: nice design, great features, and attractive pricing. PZ's focus in recent years has been on composite technology, and this year thecompany is offering

With the hint of spring in the air and the Buyer’s Guide long gone, I figured last week was the ideal time to follow up on an invitation to visit custom shoe builder D2 in Eagle, Colorado, about 20 miles east of Vail. Don Lamson and Dan Kurtanich (D2, get it?) have been working together the past three years to provide cyclists what they call “the finest cycling footwear money can buy.” You may recognize Lamson’s name. He has more than 20 years in the custom-shoe business, including time spent with Lampson Design and Doni. His business partner and old skiing buddy Kurtanich returned to

Marketing ploy?Dear Lennard,Shimano's website lists the Dura Ace 7800 hubset as being only 10-speedcompatible, but the Ultegra 6600 hubs are listed as both 9- and 10-speedcompatible. Is there actually a difference or is this "10-speed only" designation a marketing ploy?RobertDear Robert,The Dura-Ace hub has an aluminum 10-speed freehub body, while the Ultegrahub has a steel 9-speed freehub body. The 10-speed freehub body has a largerouter diameter and deeper splines. The deeper splines are more resistantto damage to the freehub body’s spline ribs due to torque on the cogs forcingthe

Last month I mentioned I had the opportunity to drop in on SRAM’s 2006 OE product camp in Oracle, Arizona, for a sneak peek at what’s comin’ down the pipe from the Chicago folks for 2006. While I was able to post some details about SRAM’s new products, only now are we allowed to show you some of the tantalizing photos. Here’s a collection of what’s what from SRAM for next year.

As I mentioned last week, it wouldn’t be until today – March 1 – that I could speak freely about a few of Manitou’s new-for-2006 products. If you couldn’t guess from my somewhat cryptic comment last week, Manitou is back to taking a serious look at the cross-country segment for 2006. Welcome to the lightweight, high-performance world of the Manitou R-Seven. While the race-oriented Skareb served its purpose quite nicely for the past three years, Manitou’s Joel Smith recently explained that it’s the company’s goal to “redefine suspension for the XC market.” Considering what Manitou has

Just got back in the office after a five-day trip (or was it six? I’ve never been good with time travel) to check out a bit of Manitou’s 2006 suspension technology. While trapped on Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, one of the Canary Islands, just off the coast of Morocco, I’m pretty sure I signed a piece of paper promising I wouldn’t spill the beans on the new fork. So I’ll be particularly brief and vague here; the full story can be told on March 1. Manitou, which in my opinion has set the standard for freeride and downhill suspension over the past five years, has chosen to dump a ton of R&D into

With frame materials and production processes becoming so advanced,one must wonder if there is room for the custom frame builder to competewith major manufacturers. Dotting the map from coast to coast, custom buildersare often individuals working in their garages making one frame at a time.These individuals rarely have home offices to visit, so to get a read what’snew with custom builders, VeloNews visited the 1st Annual HandmadeBicycle Show, held in Houston, Texas, in January.Aftera lap of the show floor, it was evident that these builders favor variety.The 30 craftsmen who went to Houston

Unwelcome floatDear Lennard,I have 1997 Campy chorus (9-speed) on my bike and other than the factthat I have to replace the right lever indexing spring every four years,I love it.My friend has '99 Chorus (also 9-speed) and is not as happy. It seemsthat sometime between those two years Campy changed the "balance" of thesprings in the right lever and the rear derailleur, so that instead ofclicking into one set position, the rear derailleur has about 1-2 millimetersof lateral "float" that allows you to center the chain on the selectedcog. Maybe they thought it was a good idea for folks who

Well, it's finally over!The 2005 VeloNews Buyer's Guide has been printed and will be hittingmailboxes and newsstands next week. The late nights, frantic flipping throughtattered productcatalogs, desperate searches through image CDs and annoying late-nightcell phone calls to product managers are over...for the time being. The end result? The largest Buyer's Guide that VeloNewshas ever published (at 156 pages). With a feature section on14 of the coolest ProTour bikes available in 2005, a report on custom buildersand five detailed race scenarios features, I'm certain you'll

It's lemmony fresh, too!Dear Lennard,Could you recommend a good method and/or product to clean and maintaina titanium frame (unpainted finish)? Also, do you have any suggestionsto keep aluminum parts (i.e. Campy hubs, etc.) clean and shiny?E.J.Dear E.J.,You can clean the titanium frame first with soap and water and thenwith a solvent on the greasy patches that did not come clean. Be carefulyou don’t remove decals, if you use a really strong solvent like acetone(and make sure you wear gloves and a respirator). Usually, a biodegradabledegreaser is sufficient to clean it up. After cleaning,

Dear Lennard,I have two sets of wheels I use for my bike with two different sets of clinchers, each with a different maximum-pressure rating. My race wheels have tires with a max pressure rating of 116 psi (Michelin Pro Race). However, my training wheels have tires with a max pressure of 145 psi (Vredestein Fortezza Tri Comp). I use my training wheels as my pit wheels while racing. If I have to change a wheel during a race, will the different pressures between the front and rear cause me handling problems or other dangers? Secondly, I am 175 pounds and use paired-spoke wheels (Shimano

This is crunch time for the tech’ guys in VeloNews editorial. Whilemost of our colleagues may dread the workload heading into July, Lennard and I are hard at work putting together the annual Buyer’s Guide. Still, Iwas lucky enough to sneak away from the office to spend two precious daysin the Northern Sonoran Desert with the folks of SRAM last week. On theagenda: two days of riding the latest SRAM, Truvativ, Avid and RockShoxproduct. Held a month before the official SRAM press launch, this particularcamp was designated for bicycle product managers intent of putting thefinishing touches on

Dear Lennard,I have an ’04 Specialized S-Works E5 frame. I’ve noticed after a ridein the rain when I tip the bike up some pretty murky water runs out thechain stays near the rear wheel. Last night I was changing my bottom bracket(the new Dura-Ace 10-speed, if that matters) and it made a nice little pondon my garage floor. Since water and probably some nasty road salt, gritand grime are getting into my frame, do I need to strip it down on occasionand flush it out with some clean water?MattDear Matt,Yes, that is a very good idea. Also, a drain hole in the bottom bracketshell is a good idea – or

We just received word from Zipp that the company has chosen to go ahead and “dimple” many of its popular carbon road wheels. In fact, everyone of its Deep-V wheelsets will receive what company says is a major aerodynamic enhancement. “In every wind, speed and direction ZIPP's dimpled wheels are more aerodynamic our same wheels without the dimples. In 90 percent of riding conditions the innovation will save you between 1 and 4 watts of energy," Zipp claims. "The aerodynamic benefit mimics the reason golf balls have dimples, aircraft wings and race cars use trip strips and vortex

Straight blades?Dear Lennard,Thanks for the discussion on rake and trail and various geometry issues in your December 21st column. I have a follow-up question: Since it appears you can achieve trail change via head tube angle and fork geometry, what are the implications of a straight fork like a Colnago Star, versus a fork that has blades that curve as they near the axle?Jeffrey Dear Jeffrey,I should have put something about this in the book, because it is such a common misperception. Straight forks do have rake (i.e., offset of the front hub from the steering axis)! Look at your

Since we’re hunkering down to produce the 2005 VeloNews Buyer’s Guide, I’m going to have to keep this week’s column a bit tighter (read: shorter) than usual. Excuses aside, I have to say that the most exciting part of producing this year’s BG has got to be the “Bikes of the ProTour” section. When the idea of rounding up every production ProTour replica bike was first pitched in November, I have to admit it seemed more than far-fetched to me. I mean, I was going to be the guy responsible for ordering 15 of the hardest-to-get road bikes of 2005 – a long shot in full production months of May

Dear Lennard,I recently converted to wheels with bladed spokes, and now my speedometermagnet no longer fits onto the spoke (I have a Performance brand Axiom8.0C). Is there any solution where I don't have to buy an entire new computer?If I do have to upgrade, can you recommend one that will mount to a bladedspoke?AndrewDear Andrew,You can buy separate magnets for this type of spoke. For example, lookingin the Quality Bicycle catalog, and estimating the retail price, it lookslike you could get a hand-tightening Campagnolo magnet for $27 that I ampretty sure I have used on bladed spokes, a

Like the annual return of the swallows to Capistrano, this is the time of year that VeloNews staff get to pump-out another edition of our Buyer’s Guide. In its third year of production, the VeloNews Buyer’s Guide has grown from a “let’s see if it works” publication to a “keystone property,”or so our marketing staff likes to call it. To me, the tremendous amount of work we put into it is well worth it because of the Guide’s sheer usefulness and “drool factor.” You won’t see a larger collection of “to-die-for” bikes anywhere in 2005 than our Buyer’s Guide. This year we’ve enlisted the help of

Oh my achin' backDear Lennard,My bones are getting stiff and achy, and I am looking for a way tosoften my every day/training bike, a Cannondale CAAD 5 with the stock all-carbonfork. The bike fits me like a glove and is very responsive.Would a carbon bar and stem combination damp the ride and add comfort,or are carbon bars just as stiff and noncompliant as alloy bars?Are any carbon bars "softer" than others? Have you ridden Specialized'sRoubaix? Is there a significant improvement in the ride? Isthere a real tradeoff in performance? My 59-year-old neck, arms andback thank you!Bill Dear Bill,I

First off, a while back in (almost) sunny Southern California for Christmas, I managed to pull Shimano PR guy Jasen Thorpe out of his cubicle for a morning of off-road riding and tech chit-chat. Thorpe came to the famed Aliso Viejo riding trails armed with one of his truly fish-out-of-water bicycle creations–a one-size-too-small GT Ruckus hardtail fully equipped with 2005 Shimano Hone components. “It is too early in the year to start riding fast, so I’d rather stick to my hucking bike for general trail riding,” Thorpe offered. Oddball or not, the point of the Ruckus was to show off

Where is that table?Dear Lennard,Where can I find the torque charts that the latest issue of VeloNewssaid were on the Web site?CharlesDear Charles,Hereyou go!LennardAsking SantaDear Lennard,I'm suggesting an inch pounds torque wrench from Santa for Christmasand I'm a little confused on which to put on my list. The one I want isa 1/4" twist knob type US, but they have a few options on the increments.Should I go with a 40-200 or 10-50? I'm most doing all the stuff onmy road and mountain bike, stems, cranks bolts etc.PaulDear Paul,Sorry if my answer is too late for Santa, but click on the torque