Design Case Study : The Cherry Bomb MTB

Some of you may have heard that Naked Bicycles, owned by the Canadian speed demon Sam Whittingham, won the 2009 People's Choice Award at the North American Hand Made Bicycle Show early this year. This is the second year in a row that he's won an award at the show. The Canadian "A" channel had a piece on that story :

In case you don't know who Sam is, you can read a little about his background in bicycle design and his dabs over the years at setting speed records, recently one of which was a little over 1/9th the speed of sound. He is considered to be the fastest cyclist in the world as far as HPV's and short, flat distances are concerned.

MOTIVATIONS

British Columbia in Canada has a lot of mountain biking. Hence, Sam felt it made sense to build an MTB showbike for this year's NAHBS, which would be one of two bikes, the other being a "coffee cruiser" (which itself was badly sought after by Shimano).

However, his real motivation was to explore what a mountain bike would have looked or evolved into in the 1930's, had it first been built in the 1920's. That is a pretty interesting thought process considering that the mountain biking movement didn't start until the 1960's with the 'clunkers' of California. In essence, I guess he wanted to take his audience back to the age of Frank Sinatra and show what folks would mountain bike with then. As he told Velo Media, he wanted to 'throw everything over the top in a MTB and see what happens'.

Elsewhere on his blog, he stated somewhat differently :

"The idea with this one was to take the lines and modern technology of a modern rig and give it some old-skool building charm. I was delighted to see that many other builders where also not afraid to step outside of 1975 and let there mind wander a bit."

He also told Velonews :

“I wanted to take the modern technology of a mountain bike, the lines, 5 inches of travel, 29-inch wheels, but put it together in a very non-plastic way. Let’s take a nice modern mountain bike, but put some soul in it.”

SIX WEEKS AND 18,000 DOLLARS LATER...


Courtesy : Zack Vestal

From the above ideas, a mere six weeks of hard work and a hellova lot of cash resulted in the Cherry Bomb, a gracefully curvy lugged steel, single speed, dual suspension MTB with 29" wheels made of classic beech rims and a maple wood seatpost. Lacquered wood and nickel finishing was plenty. Its a medly of both old and modern design elements.

The curvy frame has a lugged design, which was polished and painted metallic red. The lugs were nickel plated.

The seatpost, used to represent Canada, was made from a piece of firewood, as Sam reported, which he split and turned.

The dual suspension has 5" of full travel. An interesting feature here is that the main upper and lower suspension pivot uses modified FSA headsets, which are designed to take pivoting forces and can be replaced if worn out. The headsets use angular contact bearings and are adjustable for bearing pre-load.




A Campagnolo down tube shifter was grafted onto a Fox Shox lockout lever. The linkages, which activate the shock, were fully curved, mitered and welded, and then nickel plated to a super shine. Nickel plating, as I said before, is used very liberally in this design, including for all of the lugs, suspension pivot and rear shock mounts, and even the entire rear triangle.

Courtesy : Dirt Rag

Then comes the "beefy" pedals which, beautiful as they look, were decorated with a mother of pearl inlay for the ultimate touch. There is plenty of wood here, an aluminum platform on top and what looks to be 'spikes' for grip (not sure if that was intentional). Sam likes to call them "Shin Burgers". Hey, who wouldn't want to stomp on these, provided they're given steel toed boots? (smirk)


The handlebars were made out of ash wood, turned down to fit with the one piece Al handlebar-stem combo and wrapped with leather grips. A Chris King In-Set headset was used in the front end for steering.

Another unique feature are eccentric dropouts which have a concentric pivot for clamping the rear wheel. This design also helps adjust the tension in the chain. While bikes like the new belt driven Treks use them, such designs are a staple for Sam's bikes. I pieced together a small section of a video from Veloo Media where Sam explains at the show how these dropouts work.

But I felt the cake of the entire design were the wooden rims, a big step back if you will from our modern world of varied alloys, carbon fiber composites and other unobtanium. These rims were obtained from Wheel Fanatyk, a U.S distributor for Cerchi Ghisallo, the original Italian producer.

Let's talk a little about the design and manufacturing of these wooden rims.

DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE OF WOODEN RIMS

The wooden rims made of beech were provided by FSA employee Ric Hjertberg, the man behind Wheel Fanatyk, a workshop that distributes these rims for Cerchi Ghisallo.

Cerchi Ghisallo produces wooden rims, mudguards, chaincases, and beechwood packs and carry racks.

Rims like these were the bread and butter of bicycle racing for over seventy years and it made sense to rig the Cherry Bomb with the classic, lively ride of the yesteryear. However, rim brakes introduce the challenge of rim wear due to grit sticking onto the brake pads, although wood's co-efficient of friction with such brakes are superior in dry riding, as claimed by Ric here. Traditional brake pads would also melt due to the localized heat produced during braking. So it was decided that the Cherry Bomb would feature disc brakes for practicality and safety.

Ric has interesting things to teach us. I thank him for this writeup, where he talks in detail about the functioning and other design considerations for wooden rims.

"To understand how a wood rim functions, we need to talk about density and the stiffness of shapes and materials. A bicycle rim resists bending according to the stiffness of the given material and shape. However, material near the rim's exterior does most of the work. Why? When the rim bends, this exterior undergoes the greatest deformation. For example, with a bend to the left, compression is felt on the left and tension on the right. These forces are greatest on the surface, furthest from the rim centerline. As it bends, the magnitudes of compression and stretching are greatest on the surface and this area puts up the greatest resistance. If the rim were solid, material in the center would barely detect the bending. For every degree of bend, internal deformation is smaller than that on the surface.

Wood is much lighter than metals or composites, and this low density is what it leverages as a wheel rim.

Density (g/cm3)

• carbon fiber = 1.7
• aluminum = 2.7
• wood (beech) = .7

Because wood is so light, its resistance to bending is necessarily less than metals. Compared to the other materials, wood needs more frequent spoke support. So, we use traditional spoke numbers like 32 and 36 per wheel. In fact, wood's long reign as premier high performance rim is a major reason for these particular spoke counts. Even three decades after switching to aluminum alloys wheel makers retained these numbers. In the face of aerodynamic evidence, spoke numbers have come down dramatically. However, research shows that the wind resistance of larger spoke numbers only becomes a liability at high speeds rare outside of competition.

So, given more spoke support, what kind of wheel does this solid but very light material make? First, the lower spoke tensions that wood prefers allow it to move around more. This additional degree of motion allows it to absorb shock, to attenuate the vibrations of the road; the same as a lower pressure tire. But the actual deflection of a wood rim during riding is tiny, so the bicycle's quickness is not impaired. What seems to disappear are the higher frequency vibrations of pavement that can tire the body over time and make joints ache. An aluminum rim, built to lower tension, would also move around. Unfortunately, aluminum does not absorb energy to the degree of other materials like steel, wood or composites. So the comfort benefit would be small.

In addition to shock absorption, wood is harder to dent. Its low density means that a pot hole will create only local damage: a nick rather than a generalized dent that might interfere with braking. So, wood rims are legendary for resisting dents; a valuable asset in a world of poorly paved roads. One further advantage is the heat resistance of wood. Rim braking dumps large amounts of heat into the brake caliper and rim, in order to slow the vehicle. Aluminum rims eagerly accept this heat which, when excessive, can melt the tire or tire cement, causing failures. Wood rims refuse to accept this heat preferring, instead, to burn superficially at their surface. A wood rim pushed to braking extremes will create a barely detectable burning odor, but its tires remain cool. The flip side of this tendency is higher heat that brake pads see. Unable to hand off the heat to the wood rim, traditional brake pads will melt on wood. This characteristic can be managed.

On first glance, the thermal characteristics of wood seem similar to carbon fiber: neither readily accepting heat. However, the similarity is superficial. A carbon rim accepts heat slowly, a wood rim nearly not at all. During a demanding descent, brake pads can feel overheated with either material, but slowly and relentlessly the carbon rim becomes hotter and hotter. It dissipates the heat too slowly, so can reach melting temperatures. Wood, on the other hand, might burn a bit on the surface but as a bicycle rim will not reach elevated temperatures. Bottom line, no rim material is ideal for braking. Aluminum or carbon, wood or magnesium, dealing with thousands of watts and trying to protect an inflated tire is a tough and hazardous job."

Ric also explains how wooden rims are historically made. It is an expensive and involved process that takes time. First, thin and specially aged beech strips are soaked prior to shaping, and then coated with a 2-part epoxy to be bent into a spiral wound, hoop shape. Between each strip is a layer of cotton cloth. The spiral hoops and basic rim shape are securely glued and then fly cut on a horizontal routing machine, several cuts after which the rim assumes its basic shape. The rim is then precisely drilled to make spoke nipple holes, after which it is carefully sanded with many coats of marine epoxy.

From Ric's Ebay Page For Wooden Rims : This beautiful wood rim is artisan made by Antonio Cermenati in Magreglio, Italy. It is constructed of aged Slovenian beech wood, assembled in thin laminations that are joined by 2-part epoxy in a proprietary process that the Cermenati's have been perfecting for over 60 years. The Sport rim is available in 700C, weighs about 560 g., has 32 spoke holes, is designed for clincher tires, and comes with a set of extra long nipples and shaped washers. This rim is sold for restoration and historic projects, however, such rims were ridden by athletes and adventurers on the World's most demanding terrain for nearly a century. Due to the individuality of handmade wood rims and the skills required of the wheelbuilder, we cannot warrant the performance of these rims. All we can guarantee is our vast experience in rim making and wheelbuilding, and our passion for excellence that extends to a commitment to work carefully with each customer. The Sport rim carries a pressure limit of 4.5 bar (65 psi) and its beads do not have the "hooks" which are common on today's high pressure rims. This design is the same as all clincher rims prior to the 1960's and carry a tire reliably as long as it is mounted carefully and pressure limits are observed. The "hookless" bead is, of course, universal for automotive and motorcycle rims. The third image is, incidentally, a daily commute bike, travelling 19 miles each way in Seattle (wearing fenders most of the year). The tire is a 700X38C IRC "Metro" tire. This bicycle uses disk brakes, although wood rims are normally used with caliper brakes. The disk brake is a nice touch, enabling the rims to retain their new appearance for many years. Wheels made with wood rims have an unmistakable liveliness and exceptional shock absorption plus, surprising strength and damage resistance. Their beauty is simply awesome. Bicycles are transformed into artistic, nearly magical objects. If you've had the treat of seeing a contemporary bicycle fitted with classic wood rims, you know exactly what we're describing.

Precise drilling of the finished wooden rim. More of the rim manufacturing pictures here.

I guess it is now pretty obvious how all the costs to make this bike added up to 18,000 dollars!

While it was a bike made to impress no doubt, what I was simply amazed with were some of the 'think outside the box' characteristics behind Sam's designs. Too often people are complaining that the bicycle has been around for 100+ years and that design has reached a plateau. Well, that plateau apparently came about because we're seeing the market saturated with the same nonsense year after year. Seriously, I could hear a sentimental ballad from sailors in the middle ages and still not get this bored.

One only needs to take a visit to bike expos such as NAHBS to see the floor teeming with hundreds of fresher ideas, or ideas brought to life from the past. Thanks to all the folks who put up a great show this year and to all the others behind the scenes who made this possible. You can read about all the other award winners and their bikes here.


ADDITIONAL RESOURCES :

Design Of Vintage Bikes
Engineered Wood : The Renovo Bicycle



Hey, CHILLOUT TIME now! Bring some ol' tunes back....

* * *

Factor 001 : Formula 1 Instrumented Racing Bike

We're increasingly seeing companies specializing in motor vehicle systems enter the cycling industry. One of the obvious perks of this trend is that some fresh ideas are being dragged along into the cycling scene! Only a few weeks back, I had posted in depth about an ex-McLaren engineer's 'Thixomolded' magnesium folding bike. That is a world's first. Click here to read if you missed it.

What is making wild news at the moment is the Factor 001 bike designed by one of the suppliers of racing systems to the motorsport world, UK based Beru f1 Systems. Beru specializes in advanced design and manufacturing facilites for vehicle wiring harnesses, tyre pressure monitoring systems, stress measurement and load cells, with electronics and composites also as part of their business.


The bike is to be displayed at the Science Museum in London. See here. New photos of the bike will be released soon. Blogs and websites are calling it the "Most Advanced Bicycle In The World". I can't blame them at this point, since here are some of the highlights of the design :

• Multi-channel Electronics Package : Provides unique ergonometric data collection (science of human-machine interaction optimization), logging and analysis capabilities which can correlate biometric data from the rider. It also measures physical force data from the bike and environmental data. All this has been supposedly developed with feedback from professional athletes.
• Carbon Ceramic Brakes : I quote them as saying that this affords "exact braking performance at any temperature".
• Fully Integrated Structure : Using BERU f1systems’ Wire-in-Composite patented technology; load sensors, wiring, batteries, sensors, control cables and lines for the hydraulic braking system are all fully integrated into the composite during construction, to give a clean, uncluttered appearance to the bike.
• Heart rate, GPS coordinates and torsional stresses on the frame among other data are displayed on a touchscreen panel built into the handlebars.
• Wireless connectivity
  
• Monocoque Composite Wheels : 8-spoke monocoque composite wheels deliver high lateral stiffness and robustness, for, I quote them - "everyday use".
  
• Made To Measure Frame : Bespoke made-to-measure frame (to within 1mm). Twin-spar frame reduces sideways frame flex and preserves rider comfort. Complete bike will weigh in under 7kg.
  
• All In-House Manufacturing : Almost all original parts and key components are designed and manufactured in-house from Formula One-grade materials.

Here's a view of their disc braking system :



Chain :


And rear of the bike :



MY THOUGHTS :

1) Specialized, Scientific Tool : That this is a highly specialized, scientific bike is without doubt in my mind. All the fresh ideas coming out of this F1 company is good for the industry. It'll get people to put on their thinking caps to start competing in the market. But I don't feel it can become a mainstream design. Frankly, all this instrumentation could be overkill for most racing bicyclists. Unless you're really obsessed with numbers, most of us cyclists hardly have the time to spend as lab rats. So this design may only be focused on a small section of the market.

2) Cost : As if that's not enough, the $28,000 price tag will have you double checking your purchasing choice. I'm not sure why having an 'on board computer' is being touted here as a striking feature. Cycling computers are hardly a new phenomena. And SRM, Powertap and other measurement devices exist in the market that are far cheaper to integrate with an existing bike for measurement (heart rate & power). So I think the key to thinking about this bike is this : How much more efficient in your cycling will you become (as opposed to now) with a $28,000 fully tricked out scientific lab on wheels? And will you see tangible benefits in performance to actually have your investment sort of pay itself over time?

3) Not Designed For Mass Start Races : People are saying that the bike itself may appeal to professional and semi-professional athletes competing at the highest levels in cycling and other sports; as well as personal trainers, fitness camp organisers, and affluent fitness training enthusiasts. But hold on. One of the designers of the bike wrote anonymously on a popular cycling blog in 2007 :

"The Factor 001 is not designed for UCI sanctioned mass-start races - Just as a car such as a Bugatti Veyron isn't designed with FIA regulations in mind. So super-quick wheel changes take a back seat to having the best braking option. It is a fast road machine rather than a 'racing' bike. The frame 'architecture' was arrived at simply because it offers the best lateral stiffness with the least mass, not to fit with UCI regulations (which it wouldn't in any case - the press release shots don't show very much at this stage)."

The wheel changing issue is true. If you carefully observe the rear portion of the bike, the tire/wheel is partially enveloped by what seems like a groove, or channel in the seat tube. Seeing latest pictures of the bike from a different angle, the seat tube has a bifurcation into which a part of the wheel sits in. This design feature escapes me and it may be just for style, or aerodynamics, but it brings about its own issues. The design may not be compatible with tires wider than 23c which could preclude its flexibility to riding variety.

Note : The above picture is an image of the prototype

4) Manufacturer Expertise : The makers of the bike have been traditionally knee deep in the F1 scene, working with electronic monitoring systems and composites. They may know motor vehicles but they are new in the cycling scene. Whether they know a thing or two about what makes cyclists tick, issues relating to fit and comfort, and whether they possess the knowhow of designing a stable riding bike are really questions open in the air right now.



UPDATE March 13, 2009


Here's a BBC video of the launching of the bike at the Science Museum in London.




And another one from the Science Museum :





ADDITIONAL RESOURCES :

GoCycle : World's First Thixomolded Bicycle

* * *

Engineered Wood : The Renovo Bicycle

Image courtesy Renovo

One of the best cases I've seen for the use of wood in structural applications is put forth by Renovo Hardwood Bicycles of Portland, Oregon.

Wanting to separate away the wrong, yet common perception that perhaps cheap quality consumer woods might be used on their frames, they say :

"Consumer wood products are not engineered for light weight and high performance, nor are they joined, fastened or finished to endure challenging outdoor conditions and high loads, so knowledge of wood based on commonplace wood products is no more relevant to a Renovo frame than it is to other high-tech, all-wood structures like: a 350' laminated wood bridge in Norway, the magnificent 154' wood yacht Scheherazade, and the Falco all-wood 200 mph airplanes. These modern engineered applications of wood are designed to last a lifetime in highly stressed, adverse conditions."

Yes that's right. Some of the most marvelous designs out there incorporate the tried and true strength and toughness of engineered wood such as the following :

I was surprised to learn that the "Timber Terror" Mosquito was built out of laminated plywood! To take that to brutal war must have had the designers pretty convinced about the suitable properties of wood to begin with!

Building an eye-catching yet strong bicycle frame out of Douglas Fir might be now easy task for the family run company, but all that colorful background experience from engineering lighting fixtures to building composite kit airplanes and other wood products might help. Besides, Mr. Wheeler was always a bike nut since college days.

The bike has a relatively non-aggressive and comfortable frame weighing anywhere from 3.5 to 4 pounds. All the wood is bought kiln dried through vendors with the appropriate moisture content and then cut/machined with their aresenal of high tech saws and CNC machines.

The frames are made starting with two halves, bonded along the center line using modern adhesives in a climate controlled room and are then cured in their facility for additional strengthening of the bond.

Metal inserts are placed in the structure at the headtube, seat tube and bottom bracket areas. The bottom bracket shell is bonded to the frame with epoxy and fastened mechanically. According to Renovo's testing, over 2000 pounds of force is required to tear the shell off the frame. So unless you've handed your bicycle to your pet elephant to ride on Sunday morning, you'll be fine!

The exterior of the hardwood monocoque is then given a thorough refinish.

The bike's sizes may be standard, but everything else is custom built, according to the customer's choice of grain, color and type of wood!

I like choices!

For additional FAQ's about hardwood usage in bicycles, you can visit Renovo's website here "Wood, Seriously" or read my somewhat related 3 part series on Bamboo Bicycles :

Bamboo For Bicycles Part 1
Bamboo For Bicycles Part 2
Bamboo For Bicycles Part 3

Form and Function

From Villin Cycle Works, FL. Very nice.

1991 Colnago Ferrari C35 Collector's Edition

I wish I were friends with Alex Wong. Because he happens to have something I don't.

Mr. Wong has put up a collector's edition of a 1991 Colnago C35 up on EBAY, carved in red carbon fiber composite and 24K plated gold. Bling bling!


I thought the seller's description was interesting.

Mr. Wong says (unedited) : "In the summer of 1991, I was invited by Ferrari to visit the factory and test drive an Ferrari F40 that I have purchased, which I took delivery on September. While at the factory, I purchase this Ferrari Cologna C35 in Ferrari Red at the Ferrari store across the street from the factory, for $ 8,000 US (that was while US dollar was at the strongest), I had it ship back to the US. I don’t ride bicycle, this was mean to be a collector piece, I had this bike since then, it has never been ridden, and it is in museum quality."

Now it is quite apparent that Mr. Wong, even though rich beyond doubt, doesn't ride a bicycle as he had the audacity not only to spell words horribly wrong, but also call a Colnago a "Cologna" and describe it as a 'mean' collector's piece. I now think there is no justice done with this bike sitting at his home.

So go and bid here if you're crazy. I like the pictures.

Bamboo for Bicycles PART 3

Bamboo Fixed Gear, anyone?

Here's the third installment of this series. I am so fascinated by this material that I didn't have a word limit for the other two posts. I'm sorry to those who're saturated with bamboo but I didnt want to leave any strings loose in the air, so to speak.

If you read Part 2, you may have noticed the unanswered questions on Nick Frey's Bamboo bike that I said might sooner or later be revealed.

In this post, Nick replies to them so we can get an idea of what his ideas are and where he's going to go with them. For me, it was a good learning process and I was quite appreciative of the fact that he spent some time out of his training and school to detail the building process with me.


A quick recap : Nick Frey is a mechanical engineering junior at Princeton University. He's also Espoir National Time Trial champion. He and friends teamed up to build a practical wooden road racing bike for a design project at school. They went from one to two and now three bicycles, at each step rectifying mistakes and learning more about the material and the process. Perfecting the art has been their goal throughout. Most importantly, their idea has culminated in a venture to start a company specializing in bamboo bicycles.


Chat With Nick Frey Continued...


Me : So was this master plan part of a senior project or just time pass..? Where did the idea to form a company pop up from?

Nick : It was our design project for MAE 321: Engineering Design. Our inspiration was Calfee, but the idea for the company basically evolved from our love of thinking about and building these bikes and the fact that Calfee's are so overpriced and no one else makes them.


Me : The propane torching for the bamboo is totally new? I mean, are you looking to patent it? That'd be cool. Whats cutting tools do you use for bamboo (just saws?) and are you also employing any jigs for torching, assembly etc?

Nick : Propane torching is not new, it is how many suppliers "mottle" the tubes to look cool. However, we torch GREEN bamboo, just after being cut, while suppliers torch bamboo that has already been air dried, so theirs split quite often while ours are sealed by the heat and much stronger. I don't think we will patent anything because of IP problems with Princeton, and because most things in the bike industry do not depend on patents but rather advertising, name, pedigree, and reviews. We use a special cutting tool in our milling machine that is meant for nice mitered cuts in wood even against the grain and on holes with close centers. We have the EXACT size needed for both the BB and head tube, so one cut and some quick trimming with a Dremel and VOILA!


Me : Who supplied you with the oven and bamboo raw material for the pilot project?

Nick : We cut down our own because the stuff we were getting from Brazil was taking forever. We have actually realized that local stuff is the best! It has the right diameter, and there is a TON of variety for wall-thickness, nodal density, shape, etc. Also, we can cut it and treat it immediately, a key to preventing splitting and making it strong.

Me : What about an average time you've found to make Model Zero? Thoughts related to shortening the production cycle will depend on better technology (jogs and machinery), automated processes, simpler designs etc. (Big issue when you're running a company!)

Nick : Model Zero took a LONG time, but our third model is taking far less time (most of it was making the jig and creating/CNC'ing the dropouts). The time needed for cutting and treating the bamboo is about 1.5 hours, bake overnight, then mitering a whole bike takes another 1.5 hours to get it perfect, then making the dropouts (just run the CNC machine while mitering) and making a little seattube sleeve for the seatpost and clamp adds another 0.5 hours, then wrapping the joints takes about 1 hour. Let it sit overnight, maybe do another wrapping layer and get it cosmetically perfect, spray-paint our name and whatever else, apply tung oil, and the whole thing takes about 5-6 hours. We have been really taking a lot of time with mine because I want it to be PERFECT and am going to race on it and use it as a show-bike, and with squeezing in a couple hours every couple days due to training and school it has taken a while. However, once the company is up and running, one person can definitely make a complete, finished frame in one day of work.

Me : So who's putting down the initial investments? Contributions from a summer pizza job, or just friends chipping in ? ;)

Nick : He is getting an operation setup in Nigeria (born there, works closely with the national university there) and we should be making bikes by the summer! The cool part about this operation is the low investment in capital costs. The CNC'ing is outsourced easily, and then all we need is a small mill and lathe, and a Dremel, and we are golden. At this point, advertising and getting a shop in Boulder, CO to use as a nice showroom will be the majority of our cost, and that will not occur until after graduation when we have hopefully built a name for ourselves.

Me : Lastly, how do you ensure straightness in your tubes? Bamboo is all natural. Model Zero's down tube has a little angle 1/4th of the way from head tube (at least looks to me). I suppose you'll selectively pick your tubing then ?

Nick : Straightness is desirable in most tubes, but the seatstays are actually curved, and the seattube and chainstays are ovalized. Mostly it doesn't matter if there is some bend, we oriented the tube that way because it looks cool. To be honest, the stuff is WAY stronger than any carbon or aluminum (it weighs a little more, but won't shatter when you lay it down!) and having a little bend in it just looks cool and makes each frame unique. We could throw out any tube that isn't perfectly straight, but we prefer to incorporate a bend like that into each frame design (like the seattube on my race bike curves from the BB shell around the rear wheel a little bit!).

* * *

Thank you for reading. I wish Nick and team the best of luck. I'm sure its a challenge juggling school with competition and now frame building. But I like to call problems challenges, they're never problems!

I'm sure you must have been following up on the North American Hand Made Bicycle Show. For those who haven't, be sure to check out the Cyclelicious Bicycle Blog for some good reports.

Bike Radar has some closeups of some of the bicycles. Also check out the Bike Forest Blog for awards news.

Here's a sweet picture from Cyclelicious, if its not straying too much away from our wooden bike theme.

Renovo's Hard Wood Monocoque Bicycle

Gorgeous!

Responsorium Ciaveté

Perhaps one of the latest revolution in steel alloys is the new Columbus XCR tubing. Pretty neat. It is probably their answer to super light Reynold's "Carpenter's" tubing. I'm not here to compare and contrast, but simply to show you what Pegarotti, the famed Italian frame maker, has lately come up with this alloy. Handcrafted and handpainted for your pleasure, this thing is stuff of beauty. It'll set you back 4500 dollars, and I wonder how much we have to pay for his painting. (?) Is he a talented artist, I don't know? Find out. Anyway, interesting part of the story is that he named it Ciavete (cha-va-tay, from some Italian dialect), which literally means "f*** off", reflecting the feelings he has towards the cancer he was diagnosed with in 2006. Atleast this is what competitive cyclist as to say. So there's something for language class.

The Lamborghini Bicycle

Before all that, I've incorporated some music on the side, so feel free to check out the day's tune. Ofcourse, you don't get to choose what you want to hear so bear with me. Anywho, let the music beginnn...!!!


Thanks to a very Euro group on facebook, I was able to learn that Lamborghini once made a bicycle under their name.

I don't want to mess with any more pictures of this bike, since its heavily copywrited with text on the website. Anyway, some highlights are that this bike was made in Germany by Lamborghini Bike International for the 1979 Frankfurt Motor Show. Now what was remarkable was that the bike was built with Titanium and Magnesium (for the wheel rims probably) and supposedly, even polyester was used (handlebar tape?).. bringing the total weight of this bike to 14.3 pounds, or 6.5 kg. That's pretty sick for a 1970's bike. The cost of this limited production baby must have run well into the 10,000's of dollars, but whatever happened to the Lamborghini bike, I do not know. It just goes on to perhaps show that auto companies can take a break from cars and produce bikes to get their name out there, and do so in the highest form of bling bling om shanti.. Good question to think about? What if the car business was no more economical in a hypothetical world where 'go go green' was the chant and any more of 4 wheelers were looked down upon. Don't you think if car companies wanted, they could make some hot bikes and put current bike companies in tough competition? Well, its also a matter of 'field of expertise' but still....

Some observations : In this picture, the wheels have no tires. And ..the brake hoods can easily give someone Carpel Tunnel, unless the position is changed. Man, can someone even ride like that? Is that EURO? And that odd looking thing to stabilize the bike is extremely fugly and industrial.

See more pictures and details here.

My Ride

Since I'm not really sure of what to write on, I thought I'd let you know what I'm riding these days. I was busy at school with a lot of engineering work, but thanks to Shickluna bikes, they built some new components into what I was previously riding. I loved the bike then, I love the bike now. I rode about 3500 miles this season, with my limited time, and that includes two centuries. Hopefully, she'll come with me for a 100 mile ride in Cayuga, which we've been thinking about for a few days now.

The ride characteristics are good but depends a lot on the rider! If you dress well and you're upbeat, this baby will take you fast! I'm usually that way, so she has not disappointed me.

Specialized Allez, used it for 2 years, and since I've a special attachment to it, no I'm not going to carbon.

I'm old fasioned so I like Dura Ace 9 speed on her.

SRAM PG cassette, absolutely durable and decently lightweight

My pedestal, the loyal servant K-Force Light, nicely adorned with ceramic MEGAEXO outboard bearings

This is like a sofa, Selle Regal. She's so rare, she had to take a trip from Australia.

Zero gravity brakes are a fine piece, but I wouldn't say there any better than the brakes out there. Maybe this would do better with a set of BHP brakepads.

The beafy Zipp 145 stem

The medley of blue and silver Nokon cables delivers decent looks with smooth shifting

The handlebar tape is unique in itself, it plays in light, and is washable! I like to stand out a bit here and there...Nokon's deliver a clean look to the front.

Speedplay Ti Zeros, the next best thing after my shimano mountain pedals! No really, shimano's rock! :)

Cables and housing routed underneath the handlebar tape

USE Alient seatpost, very light and very strong. I've had no problems with it for a year. You should check out the clamping design, very unique, but they could put more thought into making disassembly easy. C'mon USE....

CateEye takes a shut-eye...she's a little..err..shy

Outboard bearings, a new thing in bottom bracket technology..sort of...

Cock-pit, rider-pit whatever...

The highly recommended racing set of Pro 2's with exceptional low rolling resistance...I think I wrote a post on these so check it out..

Bettini is not the only one to sleep with his bike in the hotel... shown here are my three bikes, a Trek fixie, a Bianchi steel for ultra long rides, and my race bike..if I only paid more attention to cleaning the room up..

Weight as built on my Ultimate Digital scale = 17.45 lbs. I'm pretty happy.

Thanks for looking. Leave a few comments if you'd like!

Happy weekend. Ci vediamo...