Such Bikes

I'll be teaming up with my friend Andy to kick off Such Bikes in a bigger way that it has been. Until now, Such has just been a "repository" of some bike meddling - but in the next few month we'll be launching some innovative products that will bring a new dimension to urban and recreational cycling.

New branding will soon be in place, and the website (http://www.suchbikes.co.uk) will then reflect this and be fully up and running (I expect this to happen by mid-January). These are exciting times.

Design is complete on the prototype for the first product - an urban bike named Battersea. We're working in a few more concepts at the moment; we still need to work out how we will roll these out.

As they say, watch this space!

Wheelbuilding and a new look ...

In spite of my racing has taken a back seat (due to asthma related chest issues) I've been having a lot of bike based fun lately.

So in the meantime I've playing as usual, mostly just tweaking The Pig to get it running even sweeter for the commute. This has largely been just fundamentals like gear and brake adjustments, a cable replacement, new brake pads and fitting some remarkably useful SKS Beavertail mudguards (that I had expected would be terrible, but that work surprisingly well). So nothing terribly exciting. I had originally fitted my much-loved and well-worn Selle San Marco Rolls saddle, but with the coming of winter and increasingly damp weather, I fitted an old synthetic MTB saddle I had lying around that is arguably just as comfy, but I don't mind leaving outside in the off shower.

I had discovered that The Pig's old steel hubs were well past their sell-by. They felt really gritty, with a lot of play. Stripping them revealed a good deal of pitting, and some interestingly egg shaped "balls". So I'd been aiming to get a new pair of cheapie wheels at some point. Then, somewhat fortuitously, my friend Ryan donated a pair of old wheels off his Specialized Crosstown - the rims were wobbly, but the hubs still in relatively good nick.

After procuring a relatively inexpensive Tacx truing stand and a decent dishing tool, I set about stripping Ryan's old front wheel and The Pig's front. I was running under the assumption that The Pig's old rim was still straight, which thankfully proved to be the case. The new old hub proved to be in good nick, and a good clean and re-greasing of the bearings had it spinning sweetly again.

Following Sheldon's wheelbuilding guide, I set myself at the task. Lacing was easy enough, and I think I probably made the requisite number of lacing errors to make sure that in future I'll pay more attention to what I'm doing and not let my mind drift. And perhaps keep the pint of Bombardier for after the job, not before. Anyhow, long story short, after about 3 hours of trial, error and a few curses, the wheel ended up tight and true. A hammering on commute over the next week, with the best that London's tarmac can throw at it, will prove how well I've built it. I'm caressing the table.

The new look? My friend and partner Andy and I have been cooking ideas for developing Such that we'll kick start in the coming months. I'm sure that is going to be a great ride indeed!

Gathering momentum

I've just completed the design of what will hopefully be the first Such frame. It incorporates a many of the features that I think will make the ideal, real world commuting bike. Now to get it built!

Someone, send over some more Midnight Oil!

Good news on the way

This blog has been quiet for a while, but things unraveled today that will hopefully kick Such Bikes alive.

I dare not say more for fear of jinxing it.

Madame's new grips

I had half a bar's worth of Fizik tape in my box from taping up from bar ends way back, so when I saw it recently I hatched the idea to tape up My Darling's grips and bung the end with corks.

A few botched attempts at trimming champagne corks down, I noticed the cork on the bottle of Rioja we were enjoying was just about the right size. Snipped in half, one half per side, turned out to be a perfect fit!

Neat, huh?

My new bike!

Crazy weekend. I finally managed to get the seized seat-post out of the old GT Palomar frame this past Sunday. All other methods having failed, I resorted to Sheldon's cut method. 6 hours of hard labour later I'd got it out. The feeling of achievement was sensational.
But we were due to get to my Darling's birthday picnic in an hour, and I really wanted to get the bike going so, after discovering that a spare 27.2mm seat-post I had lying around wouldn't fit, I popped out to raid the local stores for a 26.8mm post.

That sorted, we realised there was no way we'd get all we needed to take to the picnic in a pannier and backpacks, so the trailer was hitched to The Pig, and it was off to Hyde Park, fighting the gears that simply needed a good deal of attention.

Sunday night, mellow from a few beers, I raided my box of tricks for a new gear cable and got the drivetrain running sweetly. The Palomar was a fairly low end model, so the running gear is cheap pressed steel Shimano 7-speed; but it does amaze me how sweetly it works, specially given how little attention it needed and how much neglect it has had.

I've been riding it all week on the commute. I've discovered that the right crank arm is bent, and that riding on flat pedals is no fun at all. But that aside, it is a barrel of laughs. It reminds me so much of how I felt riding my BMX; it is just such simple fun. Plus, competition on the commute is so much more fun on something slower - there are so many more other commuters to race!

I'm determined to resist the urge to upgrade, but will allow myself a new crankset and a pair of Eggbeaters. And maybe some new grips...

Project Pig - My new commuter

Having converted my commute bike into (what I think is) a very nice cross race bike, I have a terrible problem that I am not able to just ride it around and take it places the way I used to with the Genesis for worrying about it. Not that I have necessarily let this stop me getting around on the bike, but I do find myself anxious to get back to it or getting overly protective over it when taking it places.

This is not healthy. The thing is, I am perfectly happy to give it stick for its intended purpose, but somehow I feel that if it is going to gain scars, they'd better be in competition, or at very least training. Not from some inconsiderate toss on the train dumping his heavy MTB on it. Hence Project Pig.

A while back I picked up a late 90's GT Palomar mountain bike on eBay. It wasn't the best spec, and certainly the frame wasn't a paragon of all that old steel frames could be, but it was in good working order and would be a good basis for me to try a few things out in terms of renovation and refinishing. Since then I have discovered that the seat post has galvanically welded itself inside the frame, and the best efforts of Byran and I have amounted to little else other than a trashed seat post stub stuck in the frame. This is particularly annoying because, other than a bent crank, the GT is in surprisingly good mechanical condition.

The solution was simple - a new frame. But it had to be cheap as the budget had been blown on the crosser. 15 quid sees me as the proud new owner of a ratty (but I believe solid) GT Tequesta frame (to be collected this weekend), and another 25 gets me two new tyres for the commute. I have a set of new gear cables in stock. I may need new brake cables, and the chain is questionable, though I will try to re-use it.

My goal is initially to get it on the road for 50 pounds. If I like it, I might make it a bit special further down the line. Watch this space.

Double Trouble

So, what does your well 'ard bike nut do for kicks on a Friday night? Build bikes of course!

I've wanted to race cyclo cross forever; ever since I'd first seen black and white pictures in bike books depicting crazy, mud splattered men attempting to cycle through bogs and shouldering their bikes while clambering wooden obstacles I had realised it was something I had to do. Having come off a fairly successful tail end of the road racing season, I decided to bite the bullet and convert my daily ride into a proper cyclo cross racer.

Much of the last month was spent scouring the internet for the parts I'd need; an inexpensive cyclo cross frame that would still be versatile during the other half of the year and some powerful cantilever brakes. My wheels were also worn from nearly three years of hard daily use, so they'd be up for renewal too. Add to that tyres that were on their last legs, the rear having started to disintegrate a week before, and a badly cut old Michelin being pressed into service as a temporary repair, it would be like a new bike even just with the overhaul.

Replacing the frame and forks would have meant that I'd have a a spare frame, fork and brake set cluttering up our spare room, something I am regularly reminded is a bad thing. The solution was simple. My friend Bryan was after a bike to get around London, I had a spare old mountain bike lying around that was too small but, apart from wheels and crankset, had pretty much all the bits needed to get him going.

About a week back it was time to press the button: lists were complied of all the parts required for each bike, we shopped around for where the best prices could be had and decided on the spec for each build. The trouble started over beers at the Morpeth where Bryan saw a very nicely turned out Kinesis Decade single speed belonging to a member of the Bikeradar commuting forum; this immediately caught his eye. The next day I'd pointed him to the the Brick Lane Bikes gallery - he was quickly becoming hooked. The parts list was revised - no way was Bryan's bike going to be a simple workhorse.

I got back from Swindon at around 6pm on Friday having raided two bike shops, Red Planet Bikes in Swindon and AW Cycles in Reading, for some previously forgotten small parts. I'd got a text from Bryan confirming that the last of what we needed for his bike had arrived in the post. The time to build had arrived!

We started by stripping the Genesis; something that I'd done so many times before but on this occasion it felt special. We put the parts into two separate boxes, those going to my new crosser in one box and those for Bryan's build in another. With the frame stripped, Bryan started cleaning and polishing it. We then got to cleaning all the parts that would be reused and before we knew it we were fed by my darling wife and the bare frame was back on the workstand ready to take on a whole new character.

Bryan had decided on a simple street white, red and blue concept; as it turned out he'd decided to "do it properly", so nothing from the old GT would be used. This would largely be a brand new bike.

The assembly went very smoothly with no major hitches, just a small faff getting the 9-spd front derailleur to work well with the 8-speed chain. In the end the set-up is a compromise and does restrict the combinations that run smoothly - it does not like crossing the chain - but overall it works well. Technical stuff aside, it looks great. The red and blue scheme of tyres and Bontrager bottle cages combined with white Oury grips and FSA carbon wrap cranks looks very cool indeed. Certainly a result in my books.

Next up was my Kinesis 4T cyclo cross bike. With the FiveT having just been launched, but only available from October, I'd managed to get one of the last 4Ts available. The relief I felt when I realised that mine was the last 57cm in stock at Chain Reaction was immense.

We'd started pretty late with this one - just a bit before midnight I'd estimate. Early on I realised that I'd made a mistake when I bought the front cable hanger, having picked a 1" rather than 1 1/8" size. After a bit of swearing and kicking myself I got on with the rest of the build, doing as much as possible before heading off to shower and sleep around 3:30am.

I shot out of bed at 7am, itching to get to the local bike shops to pick up the hanger. While waiting for the shops to open I pondered the fit and realised I'd need a new bar and stem to get the fit 100% right and identical to my race bike. I figured this would be worth it, so decided this would be added to the morning shopping list. Fortunately we have three shops in easy reach, and quickly we'd found the hanger at Luciano and a nice Ritchey stem and bar combo at Evans at a reduced sale price.

Back home I had until about 12:00 to complete the bike and convert the front room back from bike workshop to living room; Mrs Words was visiting from Bath. While I got stuck into my Kinesis, Bryan put the finishing touches on the Genesis - fitting a colour matched Trek computer and some lights.

Apart from that, it was a fun build. I will admit that I had to resort to the fitting instructions for the Tektro CR520 cantis - a process that turned out to be very easy in the end. I'm also quite chuffed with the solution I devised for the front brake cable - using a slightly modified V brake noodle (with teflon internal guide) and a barrel adjuster to make a very smoothly functioning transition into the hanger. It works a treat and the cable action is sweet.

But of course, the big question is how it rides. On road tyres it is fast and responsive. While it is still very much shaded by my race bike, I'd readily take it along to the local crit. The handling is quick but is certainly a lot more friendly than the my race bike. It is very stiff and harsh, and I'm not sure I'd like to try touring on it.

Riding Bryan's bike is a revelation. The wheels, handbuilt CXP22 rims on Tiagra hubs (as on my Kinesis) spin up much easier than the old factory wheels and with the flat bar is feels much more lively. Plus, did I mention that it looks good?

Stripping Paint

Mrs Words' bike is, I'm ashamed to say, coming on slowly. When I did Tasha's bike, I learned that time spent on prep is worth 10x the amount of time, effort and annoyance trying to hide the resulting imperfections with filler primer and repeated wet sanding.

So for this project I am determined to clear every speck of old paint off the frame before starting with the primer. I want the finish to be perfect. The problem is that the Raleigh paint really did a good job on this one, the factory paint is both thick and very hardy. It seems to be a slightly elastic paint that resists scratching and sanding very well indeed. Bring on the power tools!

First I tried a wire wheel, which was rubbish. Followed this with a wire pencil brush, which was markedly better. I'd also got a sanding brush thingie that I'd expected would be rubbish that I didn't bother trying until I was just about done for the day. Of course, only to find that it was at least twice as good as the pencil brush. Oh well, when the weather is good and I get out at the frame again I expect it will be fairly quick run getting the remainder of the frame prepped before it is ready for paint.

More on the trailer

So far, brilliant. It is proving really good at hauling some fairly heavy loads around (the missus loves bottled water...), although I must say that I am seeing the weak points in the design and construction of the frame and will be building my own frame soon with several improvements.

I also need to talk to the box supplier about a better solution to keeping the the lid on...

A little metalwork

Today I started work in earnest on Mrs Words' bike. Before the final stripping of the old paint and sanding in prep for primer & paint, there were a few frame fixings that I wanted to remove.

Like many production bikes, this Raleigh was fitted with many "braze-ons" (I put that in quotes, as these were actually tack welded on) that would not be necessary and consequently would spoil the smooth look I'm hoping to achieve. Also, given that this bike will be using a Nexus hub, some of the "braze-ons" are simply redundant.

So I set about cutting them off and cleaning up with a file. At the same time I drilled out the down tube cable stop to allow the Nexus cable to run through uninterrupted. I'd also decided on internal cable routing for the rear brake, so the top tube cable stops were removed and the new cable holes drilled.


Clearly there is still a lot of work left, particularly sanding - but in a strange sort of way that is all part of the fun. Provided the weather plays ball tomorrow, hopefully I'll get a good lick of primer going. Then it will be to Mrs Words to get going with the new, soon to be revealed Such logo. Apparently I am font illiterate.

Mrs Words' Bike

Last time my sister, Mrs Words, was around in London, we hatched this idea that rather than her buy a new bike to replace her sadly stolen Trek FX, I'd help her find a solid cheapie on eBay and then go about customising it. And so we ended up with a mid-to-late 90's Raleigh Pioneer. It was acquired for a smidge over 40 quid, and was in remarkably good nick to start with.

The idea to build a comfortable, practical but interesting town bike that would be suitable for the odd foray along canal towpath. So I'm thinking hub gears and fat tyres with lots of air volume.

The Raleigh frame is a nice starting point: it is solid so will take the inevitable day-to-day knocks, it has huge tyre clearances to run cushy rubber, it has relaxed geometry which will make it an easy ride and it has horizontal dropouts, so will work perfectly with a hub gear.

So far I've got the frame stripped and again I was very happy that it was in incredibly good shape. The second bonus was that the rear hub spacing is spot on for the Nexus-8 hub that I plan to use, so no cold setting of the rear triangle will be required.

I'm looking forward cleaning up the frame in advance of paint. Hopefully, weather permitting, that will start next weekend. Mrs Words (also pretty handy with anything graphic, it should be mentioned) will be designing the graphics for this frame, as well as a new Such logo.

A Such trailer

For a number of reasons, for the last year we have been addicted to using the car for our weekly shop. In Reading the big-box Sainsbury's was out of town on a road that wasn't bike trailer friendly, the trailer was damaged in a minor accident in town, ... all "good" excuses to default to the comfort of the car, especially during the winter.

But enough, using the car for the 10k round trip to our new "local" supermarket was starting to make far less sense, and given traffic was also a rather painful experience. It was time to resurrect the trailer!

The trailer in question was originally a fairly crude "low-cost" kiddie trailer. The frame was bent in the accident, and the fabric was beginning to tear from having been used for load carrying it wasn't designed for. My plan was to strip it right down to the basic frame, straighten it and then mount a suitable box onto the frame that would be suitable for load carrying.

Stripping it was easy enough and, being steel, it straightened easily enough without cracking or any other loss of integrity. For the box, my research found that a "Euro standard" industrial packing crate was just about the size I was looking for (800x600), so I ordered one.

Assembling the lot was easy enough and I was quite chuffed that it all fitted together so well without modification - almost as though the parts were made for each other.

In practice it works really nicely, the low CofG making it very stable and the large crate proving easily able to swallow the weekly shop. To add to my sense of achievement, I hadn't got 50m from our flat when a lady stopped me to ask about the trailer. I think that perhaps I should build these to sell; I'm currently looking into sourcing the parts needed - but I do think that I can build something similar (and better) fairly inexpensively.

I also need to solve the problem of keeping the lid on (for this particular type of crate), as well as mount suitable lights, reflectors and mount a flag. Watch this space.

Carbon schmarbon

The fork my daily bike was equipped with from the factory was an all aluminium affair, and it was definitely the single worst aspect of the bike. So it was almost with a sense of relief that I detected the start of fatigue cracking at the fork blade/dropout junction which gave me a good excuse to replace (read upgrade) the fork.

Now, the standard route to kill the road buzz and make the bike more comfy would be a carbon fork upgrade, but I'm getting a little tired of all the carbon hype so decided to see how a steel (in this case Tange chromoly) fork would compare.

Ok, I'll start by admitting that I dig steel; it is wonderfully springy properties an naturally smooths out the shocks and buzz of bad surfaces. I will readily confess my bias.

Self fulfilling proofs aside, I was pleasantly surprised with my steel fork retrofit. The buzz through the bars is much reduced (not surprising given the aluminium original), but it also compares very favourably with the all carbon Dedacciai fork on my race bike - taking out the buzz, but also taking out the sharp shocks that the carbon fork still nails all the way through.

Of course, it isn't without compromise. Handling and braking are both a bit softer now, the former being fine for a commuter, the latter being a small price to pay for the upside.

Thinking of upgrading to a carbon fork? Maybe think again and look at the old fashioned steel alternatives...

Steel really is real.

Freedom from cars

It is funny. In the early half of the last century, with the industrial revolution in full swing, Germany led Europe in giving the everyman a passport to freedom in the form of a cheap and reliable car. And now it seems the Germans may be leading again, but this time giving people freedom from their cars.

I came across this story from the NY Times. Vauban is a suburb on the outskirts of Freiburg. What makes this drab sounding locality special is that Vauban is a leading example of how people can live without cars. You see, cars are not allowed on the streets of Vauban and driveways are prohibited. There are two garages on either end of the suburb to serve the residents, containing both private and a rental cars for occasional use by the residents. A central tramway provides links to the city. 70% of families in Vauban do not own cars. It really does sound like science fiction - especially in the Fatherland of the car itself.

It warms me to read stories like this; demonstrating that while a change to more "sustainable" transport does require some sacrifice, it also brings with it many gains - and that these benefits are not just of the sort that hippies on the fringes will enjoy, but rather genuine improvements in quality of life that outweigh the sacrifices.

But I think it is important that we don't see this (and similar) ideas as anti-car, pro-bike - but rather a return from industrial to human scale town planning. Spaces designed to be used and enjoyed by people, where kids can play in the streets and where we interact with each other. This German experience continues the thread of the urban redesign trials in NYC - which, I believe, have sparked a renewal of people using streets.

Human scale technology. Pedal on.

A bit of DIY

I have a slight aversion to the dreaded "DIY". I strongly believe that this has nothing to do with ability or inclination to work with my hands, but rather all the disconnect I have between brick and mortar vs chromoly and aluminium.

But today I undertook a project that combined the two - installing a wall hanger to sort out the bike storage in out apartment. Keeping two bikes fairly out of the way, but accessible, in a London flat can be a bit tricky (we won't mention the 3rd bike that lives in the front room). It can be even more of a problem when we have guests around staying in the 2nd bedroom. A cunning solution was needed.

The passageway is the best place for them, but rather then have the two line astern, making night-time access to the bathroom fraught with the risk of shin/pedal collisions in the dark, we now have them stacked on upon the other.

The wall bracket was sourced from Halfords for a tenner, and took all of about 5 mins to affix to the wall. It feels pretty secure and could double as a handy stand for simple maintenance and tuning.

I'm fairly happy with how it does it's intended job, my only quibble being that the arm is a bit long so the bike is further off the wall than it needs to be; a consequence of the rack being suitable for all types of bikes hence making allowance for wider handlebars. When I'm feeling more energetic, I'll dig out the hacksaw and drill and shorten the arm a little to get the bike closer to the wall, and make a bit more room for walking past.

All in all though, success. And certainly the passage is a lot tidier.

Annual Service

My trusty Genesis has been due for attention for some time now. The gear changing had become sloppy, and the transmission had become noisy - a frankly embarrassing state of affairs! So a week back I hopped online and ordered all the bits I needed to get her running sweetly again, but despite the parts arriving Tuesday, I've been feeling a bit poorly so haven't got around to getting the work done.

The annual service is always good fun, a time to get the bike working 100% and replace all the tired old wear items with shiny new ones. I find working on bikes very relaxing; it is very rewarding know that when I'm done, the machine will once again be working like clockwork.

I'd already done the full strip-down and rebuild earlier this year after what was a particularly harsh winter for the bike, so the work needed today was a simple parts replacement; the chain, cassette and (this year) the rear derailleur jockey wheels.

So half an hour spent with the Foo Fighters, the bike, tools and workstand - bliss. The bike is humming and shining (the oily bits anyway). A good excuse for a snap then!

Danny MacAskill

I just watched this and had to share: A link to this video was posted on the Bikeradar forums. Inspirational stuff.

WARNING: This will blow your mind.

The first step ...

When we moved from sunny South Africa to soggy Britain our lives changed completely. The biggest change was probably how we get around. Our circumstances meant that a car just didn't make sense, and so I rediscovered the joys of riding my bicycle.

So over the last two years my sprocketheadedness has developed into a wonderful affliction: I ride my bike every day to get to work and back, I've got back into bike racing and the constant urge to fiddle and fettle often invades our front room. And with all the riding I find I have so many ideas - ways to make bikes more useful to us, easier to use or sometimes just more beautiful. I've also found inspiration from reading about the NAHBS and seeing the incredible creations from the Vanilla Workshop.

There is a book we've had on our bookshelf for ages called "Whatever You Think, Think the Opposite". I read it about a year ago, and one phrase really resonated. I'm sure the authour Paul Arden won't mind me quoting it here:

"Do it, then fix it as you go: Too many people spend too much time trying to perfect something before they actually do it. Instead of waiting for perfection, run with what you've got, and fix it as you go."

So I've decided to get on with it and start building bikes. I don't have the facilities or skills for framebuilding yet, so I decided to start with what I have around the house. In this case, my darling wife was off in Paris for a week to run a marathon, so wouldn't be needing her bike for that time. That window was all I needed to transform her dowdy Ribble into something a bit more special.

I love lugged steel frames, so decided to give this TIG welded aluminium frame a classic look with faux lugs. It took a little longer than I'd hoped (about a week longer), and I was quite anxious about how it would turn out through most of the process. But in the end I think it has come out as well as I'd hoped.

Sure, there are things I'd change and do differently if I were to do them again - but I'm pretty proud of it. I hope you like it (I've posted a few pictures of the refurb here).

More projects are in the pipeline, and I'll be posting here as they take shape.

Thanks for looking!