Day 48...Its Electric

Yep, you guessed it, Im going to put those pics up from earlier today of the Colnago CLX w/Ultegra Di2.  The customer came in for his fit and rolled out one happy man.  Saw a little more spring in his step on the way out than when he came in.  So very happy for him.




 Before that however, we had a visit from Karen of PedalDancer.com.  She was super fun to chat with and is completely supporting her love of cycling, and the blogging about it, through her "real jobs".  Again, awesome to see the dedication she has for cycling.  Check out her blog/website and look for a post on the shop soon...hopefully!  Thanks Karen!

I also got to build up a sweet wheelset for a customer...yes I realize im simply telling you about my day and nothing of any profound meaning.  Mavic Reflex Tubular rims, Chris King CX hubs, Sapim Laser spokes in a 2 cross front and 3 cross rear pattern.  They came together very nicely.  If I can, Ill take a couple pics of them tomorrow and get them up here.

So, as long as Im on a "theme" kick for the week...that being the "lame" b-log posts...Ill leave you with those 3 lil tidbits of info.  Hopefully something a bit more "meaty" comes to the b-log in the very near future.  Hope everyone has a great weekend!

...boots out.

Day 19...Wheels Anyone?

Today was so nice!  The weather rocked, mid 60's last I checked here in Denver.  Took the boys to the park down the street and watched them do laps on the slides.  It was awesome!  During the day I tended to a couple wheel sets from a client who's going to be selling them.  Pics are posted below, and Ill share the ad when he gets it out.  Easton EA70 tubulars.  1 pair sans tires, but with cassette(Shimano 12-27 Ultegra 10spd), and a 2nd pair w/Challenge CX tires, and same cassette.

Tonight was #bikeschool over on Twitter.  Ive really gotten into it.  1 hour a week, Thursdays at 9pm EST, 7pm MST.  Click the link above and itll take you to the explanation of what #bikeschool is.  I must recommend.

Tomorrow its back to the shop and the "Bikes and Beer" Open House Kirk is throwing.  Its BYOB and the shop is providing food stuffs.  I just hope the drive home doesnt take as long as it did on Wednesday!

boots out...

dont give yourself blisters, use a hairdryer and hot that glue up!

Here they are, ready for sale

the aforementioned cassettes

1 w/tires, 1 sans tires

Secret Sealant Tip

The conversation I wound up having over on Google+ w/Byron, from Bike Hugger, and Geoff, from New England, about FMB's tires and cyclocross got me thinking some.  Just now there was a question about goatheads...those nasty little thorn-balls from the vine-y ground cover plant out here in Colorado, and I'm sure other parts of the country.  That one really got me thinking about sealant and punctures and how much of a pain in the ass they are during this part of the year.

I ran a shop a few years ago that was very very very into cyclocross.  The owner was from Mass, just outside of Boston and was, probably still is, a cross fanatic.  He is also one of the best mechanics Ive met and was privileged to work for him.  Anyway...

We made our own sealant for the shop and sold it.  I feel safe giving out the "recipe" now that the shop has been sold to new owners and is a totally different place now.  This stuff worked so good, people would come by it from the other side of town.  Now, please don't think I'm going to rewrite the book on anything here or blow your minds.  Sometimes its the simple things that make a HUGE difference.  With that in mind...here's the recipe for the Secret Sealant:

• Sealant of choice: Stans or Caffelatex
• Glitter...that's right Glitter: as fine as you can buy at your local craft store

That's it! Seriously. Glitter is great stuff!  It helps to clog the holes faster, hence using less sealant and not allowing as much air to escape. Caffelatex wasn't around then, but now that its here and doesn't use Ammonia as its anticoagulant, which will degradate latex tubes over time.  Instead they use CO2.  Stans is great stuff, and my personal choice if asked, with the exception of the latex rule.  

Take whatever amount you use for the tire setup, road, cross, mtb...etc and pour it in a cup before you put it into the injector.  Pour in the glitter and give it a good mix, then put into the injector you're using.  Ive found that the syringes used by EMT's/Firefighters that are full of saline and have a screw on/off needle tip, work the best.  The only thing is, you have to have a tire/tube with a removable core.  The Caffelatex injector doesn't require removing the valve core, which for using sealant by itself works great.  You can custom widen the opening/tip so that the glitter moves through easier.  Then gently, and firmly press the injector on, make sure theres a good seal, and plunge away.  This is where you'll know if you found the smallest glitter possible.  There's super fine stuff out there, just ask your local club kid friends!  Once its all in, give the injector a couple of pulls and pushes on the plunger so the sealant doesn't backfire on you when you pull the end off.  Wrapping the coupled valve and injector with a rag while pulling off helps to keep from making any mess as well.  

Give it a try if you're having trouble, or just want to see if it works for you.  Hopefully you'll enjoy the same results so many riders did when we sold it.

Primus SS Whip

This was a nice little project that just got finished...minus the bar wrap(owner's choice of course).  Primus Mootry SS conversion.  Fresh glue job on the tires, new bars and stem.  Have fun Peder!

Tubies Made Easy...Gluing

As promised, here's the next step in the gluing process after cleaning and stretching(still to come, dont worry).  I would refer to my Disclaimer from the previous post in regards to this.  This is the way I do it, so please again, feel free to add/subtract/multiply how and what you do.  

First thing I do when its time to glue is place the wheel in the truing stand, or other appropriate device.  If you are using a truing stand with adjustable sites, apply just enough pressure to the rim to keep it from moving.  Theres no real reason to do this except it keeps the wheel from moving on me and makes my life easier.

Align the valve hole as a "starting" point for the glue application.  This obviously serves as a reference point for anything wheel oriented, truing, building, tire/tube installation and gluing.

Now its time to get out your brush and glue.  I realize not everyone uses a brush.  Ive gone through a few evolutions in figuring out what works best.  Ive seen different brushes used, fingers(in glove or plastic bag) and various other items.  My reasons for choosing these brushes are that the bristle width is pretty spot on for most rims out there today, and with a little trimming(which i do) I can get the brush to pull and lay the glue in just such a way that works great.  Also, you can reuse these things over and over.  Just take a small cup and put enough paint thinner in to cover the bristles and leave over night.  After some rinsing the next day, its all ready to go again, and again and again.  Then there's cost...THEYRE CHEAP!  A buck or buck and change per brush, so youre not going too break the bank on something thats gonna get used alot.

As for applying the glue to the rim, again different strokes for different folks.  Im not a fan of putting the glue on the rim THEN spreading it around.  I put just enough glue on the brush to spread the distance between valve/spoke holes on the rim.  This comes from gluing over and over and playing with the amount of glue.  Paint the glue on in nice smooth even strokes.  "No Clumps" is the key here.  It uses less glue and also allows the layers to "mate" as you get into the 2nd and Final coat.

Try not to get too clumpy at the spokes holes.  Its super messy, wastes glue and makes for extra cleaning when replacing tires, or truing internal nipples.  Also, DONT be afraid of going all the way to the edge of the rim/tire interface part of the surface.  You want to utilize the entire surface of the rim as there's nothing worse than a tire slowly working itself off the rim then suddenly failing on a tight turn.  If you go over the edge of the rim with glue, just take your finger, or rag, and wipe off the excess immediately.

Once the rim is done, give it a spin.  It probably doesnt really do anything overall but in my mind it helps start the tacking process....just sayin

Now to the tires.  As stated in the previous post(link above on "Disclaimer"), I like to inflate the tire enough so that when laid on a flat surface the base tape is facing up.  Again, start at the valve, that whole point of reference thing.  I take the tube of glue and gently press it until the glue starts flow, and then lay the end of the tube on the tire and let the capillary action continue to pull glue out.  I lay just enough down so that "the run" doesnt happen too fast before I get to it with the brush.  I use short strokes and use the edges of the brush to get the edges of the base tape.  Ive seen too many tires come in where the glue wasnt distributed over the entire surface.  That can lead to the obvious "roll" of a tire which in turn can lead to a bad situation for everyone.

Nice even coating is what youre looking for.

One last point on the tire is to not be shy around the valve stem as well.  This is the one place you dont want and movement as it can lead to tearing of the valve stem from the casing.  Apply the same amount of glue there are you did on the rest of the tire.  

When everything is done, hang the tire on the same hook as the wheel.  I place the valve stem at the top since theres less base tape to have issues with if some air comes out over night and is easily re-glued.  If you only have 1 set of tires/wheels to deal with then it doesnt matter where you hang everything.  This is a good practice if you have multiple tires/wheels and you have to keep track of what tires go on certain wheels.

That concludes this portion of "Tubies Made Easy".  Its looking like Ill be able to do the removing/cleaning/stretching part in the next day or so.  Final Coat and Pulling on will come in a couple days as well.

Thanks for coming by....Boots