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Today Today - December 2014

@TCC - Shouldn't I get an award for all the activity from this post? I will leave the award designation to you;)
 
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Only if you like the post I made linking to your hubs, if only for how fast I found them :)

Edit; how does that suit you?
 
So yeah, I agree with @TimeTraveler when he said good stuff comes out of Taiwan and China.

The products I know the most about, in this regard, are actually those made by Odyssey BMX. One of my friends is the lead designer behind all of their products, and also the man behind G-Sport. Any of you into BMX will instantly know these two companies as being the complete and utter, hands down best there is, no question.

G-Sport was started in 1994, by my mate, as a response to wanting to make BMX parts that didn't completely melt when used. Anyone riding in the early-mid 90s will remember how everything was rubbish and bent after a single session. Suddenly though, around 1996, there was one company making bomb-proof hubs; a BMX hub has to take a BRUTAL amount of infinite direction hammer so is required to be a billion billion times stronger than a road or MTB hub. My mate designed and made these in his cellar in Sheffield for years, and we all used to go round there to buy them. He would fit them to our BMXs and talk to us for hours and hours about how they worked, the design, the engineering principals, the reasons behind each feature, etc etc., so I learned an absolute brain full about hubs, design and engineering from him (and still do to this day). Anyway, fast forward 8 years, and it turned out that our small group of locals were not the only ones who knew he was making the best stuff in the world; he got bought out and employed by Odyssey. Over night, Odyssey went from being a kind of OK BMX parts maker, to being the undisputed champion of the world. Nothing comes close, even to this day. My mate was behind all of that. He also led Sunday! to be the best frame out there.

Anyway, around 2005, Odyssey being the massive US company they are, moved production over to Taiwan. My mate oversaw all of this, and despite concerns from the BMX community about the quality dropping and him selling out, etc, nothing bad happened. His stuff continued to be the best in the world, and actually with the Taiwanese government investment in the vast and incredibly equipped factories there, he was able to prototype and make stuff that he would never have been able to afford to tool up for had he kept it local. He goes over there a lot and always comes back singing their praises, both in terms of quality of output, and working standards. There is nobody I trust more, when it comes to engineering, cycling technology, or innovative bicycle design than him, and if he says China and Taiwan are capable of making excellent stuff, I believe him, 100% blind faith.
 
@TCC - Okay, I like your link.

Activity Boss??? I guess I could get used to that as long as it is passed on to someone else next week.
 
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Feel free to rename it. It is yours to play around with.
 
(cold rain for a couple days, after some earlier snow... and I hope the rain lets up for you tokyo folks tomorrow)
 
Shintaro and I installed the new chain and rear derailleur (5700 GS) as well as Cool Stop Salmon brake pads.

Today I visited Tim (GS Astuto) at his new shop near Ikuta on Rt3. As you head out on Setagaya dori (Rt3), Tim's shop is a little before Ikuta station on the left, after you pass a flyover and then a Honda dealer.

It was raining all the way there and back (20 km), so great weather to test those brake pads which have an excellent reputation for their performance in the rain. So far they feel alright :)

I could do with some more waterproof gloves though.
 
Managed to get Anchor out today as weather was ok. On one hill passed a MEGA MAMIL on a beautiful BMC cycle and it got me thinking about weight limits for riders on carbon frames and light weight wheels etc so did some digging. Found this where someone was asking same question - http://bicycles.stackexchange.com/q...eight-that-normal-racing-wheels-can-withstand
It seems some people must be putting their lives at risk with light weight wheels and toooo much weight on themselves....
Found this also - Specialized weight limits - quite low for race cycles http://www.specialized.com/media/docs/support/0000037057/0000037057_r1.pdf
 
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I got my ボロボロ Schwinn Paramount returned back to me today freshly painted and aligned so well that you could set your watch to it. Will build it up tomorrow. The color is 鳥の子色 throughout, supposedly one of the traditional colors of Japan.

1450906_851445601573914_8618128699004200779_n.jpg
 
I had my first experience with a dropped handle road bike yesterday; borrowed a Giant Defy 3 and cycled around my city. It was absolutely amazing; completely different from my 20,000 yen cross bike. After doing some research, I realised I spent almost all my time on the drops, which was why it was pretty uncomfortable heh.

I'm definitely going to purchase a road bike, now to find one within my budget!
 
Managed to get Anchor out today as weather was ok. On one hill passed a MEGA MAMIL on a beautiful BMC cycle and it got me thinking about weight limits for riders on carbon frames and light weight wheels etc so did some digging. Found this where someone was asking same question - http://bicycles.stackexchange.com/q...eight-that-normal-racing-wheels-can-withstand
It seems some people must be putting their lives at risk with light weight wheels and toooo much weight on themselves....
Found this also - Specialized weight limits - quite low for race cycles http://www.specialized.com/media/docs/support/0000037057/0000037057_r1.pdf

Low? Who is out there buying a Venge and weighing over 109kg? That is an advanced bike for an advanced rider. With say 15% body fat, you would need to be about 275cm tall to go over this limit.
 
Who did the work and how was the price and timing of the work? Thanks.

I had my buddy at my LBS (Mizutani Cycles in Shinkemigawa, Chiba) send it to someone in Osaka. I don't know who actually did the work. The cold setting was done by my friend. A single color costs around 20,000. I've had a look around and that seems to be the norm. It took a little less than a month.

I'm going to switch out the brakes and 650B wheels for 700c and get a slightly less tall stem (can't jam it in any farther than that), but here's the build for now. I also need to paint that pump.

IMG_0799.JPG IMG_0806.JPG
 
Sick (but you didn't give us a step by step A-Team style build montage!). Any info on the paint / clear coating used?
 
Low? Who is out there buying a Venge and weighing over 109kg? That is an advanced bike for an advanced rider. With say 15% body fat, you would need to be about 275cm tall to go over this limit.
But some wheels are down to 85 kgs
 
Haha. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) my process isn't nearly as exacting as yours and thus not worth the effort of documentation.
I can't really say anything about the paint except that it's a powder coat and it was chosen from a book of Japanese colors. I can say that it looks really nice, though.
 
I'm going to switch out the brakes and 650B wheels for 700c and get a slightly less tall stem (can't jam it in any farther than that), but here's the build for now. I also need to paint that pump.
Thanks for the info.. That looks great, oldschool and practical. Decals in it's future? Any reason for the wheelset swap? I really like the look of that 650B wheel set. Looks like you have enough cable to be able to run your shifter cables under the bar tape to the stem and perhaps you can shorten the brake cables as well for a cleaner look? Nice ride.
 
But some wheels are down to 85 kgs

Which wheels are these? Got a link?

Haha. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) my process isn't nearly as exacting as yours and thus not worth the effort of documentation.
I can't really say anything about the paint except that it's a powder coat and it was chosen from a book of Japanese colors. I can say that it looks really nice, though.

Haha, all good. Powder coating in one colour for 20,000yen... Well, if that is the going rate, then OK... Looks good though mate, which is what matters. I powder coated my Hoffman Deebo frame in 1998, and it still has the same paint, pretty much unscratched, despite being monstered about for 16 years, by an array of lunatics.
 
Thanks for the info.. That looks great, oldschool and practical. Decals in it's future? Any reason for the wheelset swap? I really like the look of that 650B wheel set. Looks like you have enough cable to be able to run your shifter cables under the bar tape to the stem and perhaps you can shorten the brake cables as well for a cleaner look? Nice ride.

I thought long and hard about saving the Paramount logo, but I really like the bare look of the frame right now. It still has the original aluminum head badge which is enough for me.

I might leave those 650B wheels on. It's incredibly comfortable as it's setup right now. The thing about this frame is that it's designed for 27 inch wheels so it requires absurdly long calipers to reach the 650b rims. I found a super cheap 1980s 700c tourer that I think has a better suited geometry for a 650b conversion, so I think I'm going to throw these wheels on that.

Thanks for the tip on the cables.
 
Which wheels are these? Got a link?
On the first link I supplied on earlier post, if you go down the page there is a quote from Fulcrum wheels and link to their site. Also Mavic have stated max 100kgs
 
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