Month: June 2011

Categories
Cockpit Handlebars and Stems Touring Bike Components

A Conversion: Drop Bar to Albatross Handlebar

Switching from drop style handlebars to an upright, swept back handlebar can change the functionality and personality of a bicycle. And sometimes a change can be good, maybe turning an unused bike, or one that may duplicate another bike in one’s stable of bikes, into the go to, everyday machine.
From This:

To This:

oxford handlebarsOne such handlebar, the Nitto Albatross is popular in both the alloy and chrome-moly versions. Soma Fabrications makes the Oxford bar which is almost identical in size and shape to the alloy Albatross Nitto makes. This 6061 polished aluminum handlebar will take bar end shifters, and has a 25.4mm clamp diameter making it versatile for use with most stems.Making the switch takes a little bit of planning and thought:
– First of all, the brake levers that fit on a drop bar will not fit on the new bar so new  “mountain bike” style brake levers with a 22.2mm clamp diameter, like the Shimano BL-R550 – are a requirement. The brake levers come with new cable and housing which will come in handy because the old cable and housing is probably too short.
– If the drop handlebar setup used bar end shifters these can be transferred to the Albatross or Oxford bar. If downtube shifters, then, no worries. If the drop bars had “brifters”, or those brake levers with the shifters built in, then new shift levers are in order. Either the bar end style or a top mount shifter or I suppose even the mountain bike standard trigger shifters could be used.
– The hand grip areas can be wrapped with regular bar tape or a slide on grip can be used with the caveat that the cable and housing for bar end shifters will not clear most standard grips, and the more or less conventional solution is to use cork grips with grooves filed into them for the cable.

Now it’s a simple matter of disconnecting all the brake and shift cables, un-wrapping the handlebars and taking off the brake and shift levers. The old handlebar comes off and the new one goes on. New shift levers (or the old bar end shifters), brake levers and grips go on, the new cable and housing is fit and tightened and adjusted and that’s it except for possibly adjusting the height or angle of the handlebars to the rider’s preference. A threadless stem with a removable face plate makes removing and installing handlebars pretty simple.

bare oxford handlebars installed
The new bars clamped into place
Sun Race shift lever
This top mount shifter is inexpensive but it works great. It is a single lever meant to be used with a rear derailleur, single chainring and no front derailleur. Who needs more than 5 or 8 gears anyway?
silver bar end shifter
Bar end shift levers work too. See how close to the bar the cable is? This calls for a grooved grip….or just a tape wrap.
IRD brand top mount shifters
Another option might be the IRD brand top mount shifters, indexed for use with a 9 speed rear cassette.
Categories
Hermit's Workshop Touring Bike Accessories

King Cage Tool Pouch

*Note updated Cage is now know as the King Cage Kargo Cage and includes the bottle cage and the pouch!  Finding a place for all the small things that need to be readily accessible when I’m touring…. like tools….is a constant challenge. Ron Andrews at King Cage seems to always be tinkering and coming up with new ideas. I think this is a particularly good one. We have them in the store so get your orders in now! Comes with the ballistic nylon pouch and retails for $45.00.

King Cage Behold tool pouch
The carrier bolts to the bike frame.
King Cage tool pouch and frame
The water bottle cage bolts to the pouch carrier.
Categories
Rivendell Bicycles Touring Bicycles

A Touring Bike – From The Bare Frame

Over the next week or so I will be putting together this:

photo of Riv renovelo frame
RenoVelo, a Rivendell Sam Hillborne

This bike will be used for touring and this is an ideal frame with which to start. The steel tubing is of a gauge or thickness to contribute to the rigidity of the bike when loaded, and the geometry of the bike will make it solid and stable on the road. The 650b wheels with some nice cushy tires will make the ride super plush. In it’s first life it was a demo bike at Rivendell World Headquarters in Walnut Creek, CA and now it is reincarnated as the RenoVelo.
Some other details that make it a good touring frame are:

renovelo rear spacing
135 mm between the dropouts accepts a "mountain" or touring hub. A wider bracing angle makes a stronger wheel than the 130 mm spacing on a standard "road" wheel, and it makes the frame rear triangle stiffer too.
rear braze ons for racks and fenders
Lots of places to bolt racks and fenders.
renovelo headtube
The head tube extends above the top of the top tube. Makes it easy to get the bike "riv'ed out"
renovelo kickstand plate
A place for a kickstand!
Simple, durable square taper cartridge bottom bracket

cantilever brake studs
Studs for cantilever brakes. Depending on the model, better stopping power and clearances than side pulls.

If you are interested in following the progress of this build, as you should be, check back here starting next week. More photos on our Flickr page too. (click the photo banner on the right)

Categories
Cockpit Handlebars and Stems Touring Bike Components

Quill Stems

Quill stemsinsert into the threaded steer tube on a bicycle fork and are held in place by means of a bolt which tightens a wedge inside the tube. The other type of stem commonly used is a so-called threadless stem which clamps to a threadless steer tube. Quill stems and threaded steer tubes are less common nowadays, but the Nitto company in Japan still makes a wide range. Here is a side by side photo of most of the stems they make. Each stem in the photo is placed so that the minimum insertion mark on the stem aligns with the top of the ruler. This gives a basic visual cue as to how high the various stems can extend above the top of the tube. Notice that the stems are placed at an angle meant to replicate the 70 some degree angle of the head tube on most bikes.
NEWS FLASH! 09/26/2012
We now stock the 225 Technomic Deluxe stems. These have a long quill like the Technomic but are cold forged and have the same finish as the Deluxe. 25.4 or 26.0 clamp sizes.

Photo of 4 models of quill stem
From Left to right: Nitto Dirt Drop 100, Nitto Dirt Drop 80, Nitto Technomic, Nitto Technomic Deluxe and Nitto Dynamic

The Dynamic stems only come with a 26.0 mm clamp size, and the Dirt Drop,  Technomic and Deluxe stems come with either 25.4mm or 26.0 mm clamps. A 25.4 stem will not work with a handlebar that has a diameter at the center clamping point of 26.0. However a 26.0 stem will work with a 25.4 handlebar as long as a shim, specially made for this purpose is used between the stem and the bar. The Dirt Drop stems are only made in 80 mm and 100mm versions (the extension from the vertical-ish riser part or quill part of the stem). The other models come with extensions generally from 80 mm to 100mm in 10 mm increments. Got it?

Hopefully, this is a useful comparison for the bicycle traveler who might be thinking about changing the position of their handlebars or about getting different handlebars.

Categories
Best Touring Saddle Cockpit Touring Bike Components

Brooks Saddles

J.B. Brooks took out the first patent for leather saddles in 1882, and the company that bears his name has been making them ever since. Brooks saddles have become iconic, known for their good looks, comfort and durability.

Brooks saddle
Sweet Brooks B67

This two part video relates a little more about the history of the company and shows the process of making each saddle by hand, as has been done for over one hundred years. The Bike Touring News store carries Brooks saddles and always strives to have most models in stock or readily available. ( Alan at EcoVelo just posted this photo essay on Brooks saddles)


Categories
Cockpit Touring Bike Components

Nitto Albatross Handlebar Brake Levers

Let’s review. We know that v-brakes, also called linear pull brakes, require a brake lever configured to “pull” more cable than do side pull or cantilever brakes. We also know that so called aero style drop bar levers fit on drop bars and on moustache bars. (it’s a diameter thing) And those levers have rubberized hoods which are folded back out of the way when wrapping the bars with tape and pop back in place to cover the tape where it wraps around the lever clamp.

drop bar brake hood photo
The hoods on drop bar brake levers.

So what if you have flat or riser mountain bike style handlebars or a swept back bar like the Nitto Albatross? The diameter where the brakes clamp is a little smaller and there is no bend to accommodate the shape of the brake lever clamp. You need a mountain bike style lever, which looks like this.

photo of IRD Sylvan flat bar brake lever
Brake lever for flat bars or swept back bars.

Get some grips (or just get a grip) and clamp these near the end of the grip. And make sure you get a lever designed to work with your brake calipers. For shifters you can use trigger type shifters or a top mount shifter or bar end shifters. More on that in later installments.

Categories
Tours and Rides

Overnight To Montour Report

photo of camping bike and hammock
Montour Bureau of Reclamation campground

Well, the weather finally cooperated this weekend and we were able to complete our Boise-Montour-Boise overnight bike trip. We were attempting to find a passage over the foothills without traveling on the main highways. That didn’t exactly work out, but the adventure and the exploration were really the main point.

And the timing couldn’t have been better. It had been a difficult week and the combination of work-a-day events and everyday average life events were beginning to feel oppressive. Funny how halfway through the first day the thought patterns in the brain were beginning to be a little bit more objective and coherent. Such is the power of getting out on the bike!

Just after the road turns to dirt and just before it becomes Pearl Road
photo of camping bike along road
Where's Sky King?

Eagle Road becomes Willow Creek road as one travels north from Eagle and about 17 miles from our front door it turns into dirt. A fairly well maintained dirt road which goes basically straight up for the next 8 miles, and becomes Pearl Road along the way. We were watching for a road which, according to Google Maps, veered off to the left shortly after the abandoned mining town of Pearl and wound back down towards Montour. We never saw this alleged road and finally ended up on Highway 55 just outside of Horseshoe Bend. Dropping down into Horseshoe Bend on the old highway and then about 11 miles on scenic highway 52 along the Payette River brought us to Montour. About 10 miles more than we had planned on, and the 47 total miles for the day took us almost 5 hours to ride. Luckily, we were able to replenish our carbohydrates and spirits at the general store!

photo of front basket loaded for camping
Can you spot the bike touring dietary supplement?

Being so replenished, and having set up the hammocks, we proceeded to cook our pasta primavera and to enjoy the sunny windless evening, with mosquitoes. Sitting in the sun and reading, we could have been anywhere….Texas, California or Croatia, and yet we were only a few hours from home.

image of Hennessy Hammocks
Dual Hennessy Hammocks

The next morning we decided to take the dirt road on the north side of the river into Emmett instead of taking the main highway. According to the campground host, the road was well maintained with little loose gravel and only one climb. Never listen to a cigarette smoking diesel pickup driving campground host. I’m sure the road is a piece of cake driving the pickup home from the bar in Emmett. It’s just that the climbs were numerous and sharp, and the washboard effect was in place on most of them….. heck of a way to start the day.

After a big breakfast in Emmett, the ride up Old Freezeout hill and then on highway 16 back into town was relatively uneventful. And so, with just a little bit of planning and just a little over 24 hours, we were able to get away for a little adventure, recharge and come back raring to go and ready for the next kick in the teeth.

Another successful adventure
Categories
Cockpit Touring Bike Components

Drop Handlebars/Brake Levers

So, the question came up about which brake lever to use on a Nitto Grand Randonneur handlebar. That’s sort of a two part question. In order to answer it we need to delve into brake calipers. Some common brake calipers are:
Cantilever

photo of a cantilever brake caliper
Cantilever Brake Caliper

Sidepull

photo of sidepull brake caliper
The sidepull brake caliper.

Center Pull
photo of center pull brake
The Center Pull Brake caliper

Linear Pull a.k.a V-Brake

photo of a v-brake caliper
The V-brake, sometimes called a linear pull brake.

Stupid v-brake. It throws a monkey wrench into the whole works. Even though they work great and have fantastic stopping power, they use a different leverage than the others to work properly. So whatever lever is used with these calipers, it needs to be v-brake compatible.

“Drop” or “road” style handlebars are of a standard diameter at the point the brakes are meant to clamp to the bar. So any lever that looks like this will work:

photo of Cane Creek brake lever
The Cane Creeek SCR-5 sports a wide, cushy grip- plus it has lizards!

These are also called “aero” brake levers because, rather than exiting the top of the lever and looping over the handlebars, the cable and housing exit under the hood and run along the handlebar, under the wrap, for a nice clean look.Photo of aero brake lever cable routing
aero brake levers on a drop bar
Shimano brake levers.... clean look! Make the tops of the bars level with a smooth transition to the brake hoods, dangit.

The Cane Creek and Tektro levers have a feature known as the Campy style quick release which is a button that releases the cable tension allowing the brake calipers to spread out to clear the tire when the wheel needs to be removed. It’s called Campy style because Campagnolo (Campy) brake calipers do not have quick releases.
Shimano aero brake levers don’t have quite as wide a hood which results in a more classic look. And they don’t have the quick release feature on the brake lever, again maybe not a problem since most brake calipers will have a quick release.
The drop bar brake levers we sell will fit on any of the drop bars we sell. and they will work on the not-so-ironic moustache bars too. Just be sure, if you have v-brakes to get the Tektro RL520 v-brake version. The other standard levers will work with cantilever, side pull or center pull brakes. And finally if you’re replacing a handlebar or just the brake levers you might want to get a cable and housing kit to replace the old set.