white ZTR355 rims

New from NoTubes are these white powder coated ZTR355 rims. They are extremely limited edition at the moment, we were only allowed one pair and I had to ask very nicely but it was worth the effort. They are also expecting to have some Olympic and Flow rims in white some time this summer, and we will be getting a few if they do. Price is likely to be around 25% more than for standard black rims and they weigh about 7-10g each more.

We’ll build these up onto an Industry Nine build and see how they look…

UPDATE : 06 May 2009 – other white rims are starting to come in and the prices are about the same as black rims.

We’ve been thinking about getting some of these Reverse Racing hubs in since last year when we saw some spinning on Emily Horridge’s bike at one of the Midlands races. What caught our attention wasn’t just the bright colours but the fact that when the bike was laying down, the wheel just kept spinning…and spinning. Really nice smooth bearings and great colours along with light weight and a good reputation for reliability in the DH world means we’re looking forward to getting some of these built up.

There are 3 versions:

DH Race (3-zero-6 rear and 1-eight-0 front), very nice light DH hubs, like the names say, 306g rear and 180g front. Also available in a 150g front 15mm axle option. The red hubs in the photo.

Spirit XC: lightweight, QR axle only, the gold hubs in the photo. Weight is 153g front and 278g rear.

Evo9: Front is convertible between 20mm and QR using the adapter provided, while the rear is a 10mm bolt-through type, to be used with normal dropouts. These are the funky green and purple ones in the photo.

Prices are TBC but will be pretty reasonable. Expect full wheelsets to be from around £350.

Suspension specialists TFT and downhill mega-brand Iron Horse are not linked in any way except that a bit of news came out about both today. Firstly that TFT are being sold to “business partners Martin Palmer and Ian Kennedy” who intend “to ensure that TF Tuned becomes widely recognised as the only place to go in the UK and Europe for all matters relating to mountain bike suspension”. Tim Flooks is to remain there as suspension guru, maybe he’ll have time to come up with a way to fix my floppy Marzocchi 66 forks once and for all…maybe not, that might need a miracle.

Somewhat less palatable news comes from the US where the owner of Iron Horse (World Wide Cycle Supply) is  bankrupt. Official reports from anyone connected with Iron Horse make it sound like it’ll be business as usual but a posting on mtbr from a disgruntled ex-employee suggests it might be a bit more messy than that. Many people in the US were already angry that many IH bikes were only available through RScycle.com, an online shop owned by the son of the owner of WWCS.

Rumours must have been circulating for ages because Dave Weigel “surprisingly” decided not to renew the DW licence with Iron horse last July (which probably explains why IH were building up a 5-year supply of the popular, World Championship-winning DW-link frames for sale – maybe exclusively through RS cycles?), and is it just coincidence Sam Hill moved to Specialized when his contract expired last October?

Blizzard in a blizzard

The aptly named Blizzard has come into its own this week as a snow mobile.

I’ve been meaning to put up some photos for a while as its kitted out with a new Shimano Alfine hub gear but somehow it’s never a good time for photos. Its either raining, snowing or really grim when this bike comes out – which is probably no coincidence really.
Its just a shame you can’t see the silver hub as they’re a nice option which isn’t as popular round here as the black, but they’re a good shiny silver bare metal.

Generally the Alfine’s riding nicely now, I think its bedded in a bit. The reverse rise shifter gets me, but only when I go back to a normal bike. It could do with a front double chain ring to get a better range of gears. It’s fine for flat and flattish areas but I can’t get it up steeper hills, obviously thats personal preference even though I’ve got a large 20t sprocket on the back.

Very dirty Shimano Alfine hub

Other parts – its turned into a monster at 31bs. The excellent Maxxis Rendez have been doing a good job steering through snow and are not too slow where its cleared on the road.

I would write some fitting hints but its a blur of swearing, pinched fingers and  misread instructions.

We’ve been trying out the Alfine hub for about a year now and thought it was about time to put down in writing a few observations. This started out life as a few notes on the bottom of the Blizzard snow-bike article here but there is so much we made it into its own article. If you’re after one of your own, head on over to our shop, click here.

What we’ve found out about the Alfine hub:

It’s great not having to worry about derailleurs, flimsy and expensive cassettes, cleaning your bike, even oiling your chain very often – everything just works all the time. They’re not perfect but for the money are an amazing bit of kit for a minimum-maintenance bike.

What colours are available?
Alfine hubs are available in black or polished silver. The silver hubs look better in real life than the black ones. The black ones look better in all the Shimano photos.

Is the Alfine heavy?
The weight of an Alfine hub comes out about 400-600g more than an average normal gear setup, and it’s all concentrated at the far end of the dropouts. You get used to it pretty quickly but initially it makes hopping over stuff a bit harder.

What bits do I need to get it working?
You need a wheel with an Alfine hub in it, an Alfine fitting kit which  contains various small pieces including non-turn washers for every type of dropout, a sprocket (see below on calculating size) and a shifter. If you don’t have horizontal drop-outs then you’ll also need a chain tensioner. You’ll probably also need a centerlock disk or a centerlock->6 bolt adapter if you already own a spare 6-bolt disk.

What is the gear range of an Alfine hub?
The gear range is 306%. What this means in real life is that it’s good but not quite as big as a normal cassette with a double chainring. If you choose a chainring and sprocket so that your lowest Alfine gear is the same as a normal granny gear, then your top gear will be about a 32 chainring / 13 sprocket combination.

How do I choose what chainring and sprocket size to use?
Let’s assume you have a 32T chainring lying around that you want to use. You also want a gear that will get you up a hill the same as a standard 24:32 granny gear. The 24/32 is a gear ratio of 0.75. The lowest gear on an Alfine hub is a 0.53 ratio. So (32/0.75)*0.53 = 23T sprocket. Unfortunately Alfine sprockets are only available up to 20T but if you really need a gear that low there is a Nexus sprocket that will fit. In that case your biggest gear ratio would be (32/23)*1.62 = 2.26, the same as a 32:14 gear.

What does all that mean in plain English?
It means that if you use a 32:23 setup on your Alfine you’ll be spinning quite a bit along the flat. If you can compromise on a bit of steep hill climbing you’d probably be better off with a 20T sprocket and 32T chainring which would give you most of the range of a double chainring setup but sacrificing the lowest couple of gears. Stronger riders might like to use the 18T sprocket for extra flat/downhill pedalling ability.

Is the freewheel noisy?
No, it’s silent. Pedalling take-up is instant too as it uses a clever clutch mechanism.

What’s the gear spacing like?
There are a couple of big jumps and a couple of slightly small ones. The ratios are: 0.53, 0.64, 0.75, 0.85, 1, 1.22, 1.42, 1.62 if that’s any help.

Can I use a double chainring with an Alfine hub?
If you use a chain tensioner (or rear mech!) with enough capacity to handle the difference in chain length, then yes. We haven’t tried it but reckon the Alfine chain tensioners will probably be OK for a 24T/32T double chainring. Triple chainrings will probably mess up your chainline a bit.

What shifter do I need?
The Alfine shifter, available in black or silver, is a “rapid rise” trigger-style shifter. The “rapid rise” can be confusing at first but you’ll soon get used to it. You can use a Nexus “gripshift” style shifter instead if you prefer.

How do I get the wheel in and out?
Getting the back wheel out can be a faff, especially if you need a chain tensioner for a vertical dropout frame. It’s a fiddly process of lining up the bit the cable goes into while aligning the non-turn washers which are there to prevent the axle rotating in the dropouts. You’ll need to carry a spanner to remove your wheel when fixing punctures.

Is it efficient?
Pedalling the Alfine feels smooth and efficient. It takes a bit of running-in but there is no noticeable drag once it’s settled in. It’s probably not as efficient as a well-oiled traditional transmission but

What maintenance do I need to carry out?
The Alfine is low maintenance but not no-maintenance, it’s certainly not a sealed-for-life Rohloff. Shimano recommend an overhaul every 2 years but they originally intended it as a city bike hub so we’d recommend more often. If it feels at all graunchy give it a spring clean.

Where can I find out more technical information about the Alfine hub?
There is a huge amount of servicing information available here: http://hubstripping.wordpress.com/alfine-shimano/

How much do all the parts cost ?
prices as of feb 09 and subject to change:
1. Alfine hub with NoTubes Arch rim and Competition spokes – £270.56
2. Alfine Shifters (black or silver) – £34.25
3. Alfine sprockets (18t, 20t)- £7.82
5. Alfine fitting kit – £10.76
6. Alfine chain tension (if needed) – £15.65
total – £339.04

and of course you can buy them here in a custom builds > and sometimes as pre-built wheels here >

We need a laugh and we got it …
more at www.50cycles.com/yakkay-gallery.shtml#jazz
do we need to say any more?

alternative cycle helmet

industry nine in the frost

Now there’s only so much you can tell from one ride in deep, sloppy mud but since I finally dodged illness, work and self-destructing forks to actually get out on a ride with my Industry Nine wheels, I thought I should write a quick first ride review as lots of people have been asking about them.

In short, they feel amazing. Mine are the orange Enduro ones with Flow rims and while I’ve been using the Flows for some time built onto Hope Pro IIs, the Enduros are lighter still at 1775g the pair, and feel much stiffer. Not so much on the climbs, I don’t think I could notice much difference there but on the downhills there was an extra degree of precise handling and getting on exactly the right lines that wasn’t there with the old wheels.

The fast 3 degree take-up from freewheeling is nice too, maybe not as revolutionary as I had hoped for but it felt fast and ready for action. The main benefit for me was the lack of noise from the freewheel, it makes a gentle, relaxing even, buzzing noise rather than the eardrum-bursting CLACK-CLACK-CLACK of the Hope.

You also can’t get away from the fact that the i9 look amazing too, but a picture’s worth a thousand words (at least) so I won’t go on about that. Maybe there’s a bit of first-ride invincibility about my impressions so far but I think I’m going to like riding these wheels.

the JRA hamster expired

Regular visitors to the site might have spotted more than just a few glitches over the last week, in fact the whole lot disappeared for a couple of days. Something drastic broke on our server and as luck would have it, it co-incided with our website hosting company going bust.

We’d had inklings that all might not be well the the hosting company (Burton Hosting) as service levels gradually deteriorated from instantaneous response  to not answering phone calls, emails or support tickets over the course of a year, and luckily we had sorted out a new host and taken backups. It still caused a load of trouble but I think we’re back to normal now. If anyone reading this knows what actually happened to Burton Hosting I’d be interested to hear about it.

In other unrelated website destruction news, Singletrackworld.com were hacked by some unscrupulous 6th form students who then posted their entire user database on a hacking website. This is a bit of an unpleasant thing to happen at the best of times but they could have probably done without working hard all through Christmas so we wish them all the best getting it back up and running again.

EDIT: It seems Singletrack were on Burton Hosting too so it’s not entirely unrelated that both our sites went down for longer than they should have done.

And here’s a link about them: http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=742458