extraspecialandbitter profile

That roll at 1:20 is effing loose.

Nice.  Westcomb has really stepped up their game in recent years.  I too had discounted their products, but they look decent.  I'll have to stop by.  Now, if only they had a ski pant that could rival my Strafe Cham pants.

I agree, Neoshell is the shit.  My favorite ski pants are Neoshell (thanks Strafe).  Stretchy and breathable.

Also, the problem with 3D printing is it doesn't seem to be quite there yet.  We could try to make a cheap injection molded glass fiber brake lever Andrew.  Make a mold with Smooth On and then use epoxy and glass fiber / carbon fibers.  It'd be a fun and reasonably easy experiment.

ZigaK, The problem with most online printing services (like Shapeways) is that the materials they use lack structural strength.

The steel is not any good (sintered, then bronze is added to increase strength) .

The Aluminum is okay, but they only have one alloy option and I doubt it's strength. The Aluminum uses SLM (Selective Laser Melting) and it's pretty expensive. It'd be interesting to design a cassette and see how much it'd cost in aluminum. 

And for the luddite dentists in the house, we could always order you a 9 speed cassette made of PLATINUM!

Just build it all yourself.  

Stop whining and buy a fancy new ADAM (atomic diffusion additive manufacturing) 3-D printer ( https://markforged.com/metal-x/ ) and buy a Solid Works license (or Rhino if you want free flowing shapes).  And you can print yourself anything you want.  Then you don't have to be the great armchair engineer that you claim to be.  Don't want to buy a 3D printer?  Build your own CNC machine https://all3dp.com/1/best-diy-cnc-router-kit/#carbide-3d-nomad-833-pro 

In all seriousness though, 3-D printing is pretty exciting.  It's one of those things that sucked initially (FDM), but now they're getting pretty good.  Hopefully companies like Shapeways keep buying more printers that can re-produce higher strength materials... and hopefully the cost for these printed parts also keeps going down.  Then you can start an online store and people can just order parts on demand.  Keep a digital database and bam, part (we're not there yet though... yet).

Yes!  Single Speed!

Also, if you're interested.  I made a chain length calculator.  It can be helpful if you don't have a proper tensioner (or if you want to minimize chainstay length).  I used a Blackspire Stinger and it works pretty well.  https://goo.gl/forms/RfM8Wf3z6Cf3i8x72

Edit:  Here's a new and improved one with all possible gear ratios in a table: https://goo.gl/forms/ZbtFHYVk8b232mqF3

Our society is essentially a bunch of self righteous entitled hypocrites.

Holy crap.  And I thought I was dorky by making a Weighted Decision Matrix to make purchasing decisions.

I've been out of the loop for the past month, did I miss a new wheel standard?

I have a 2002 ish Super T if anyone needs to retro out their bike.  It's heavy and flexy.

Hmmm.  I should try some of these nipples.   Sounds interesting.  Do you guys get the DT Pro Head or the Squorx?

Mike-E: 
- Don't cheap out on spokes.  Double butted high quality spokes will be stronger and easier to build with.

- I like the Pro Wheelbuilder calculator: https://www.prowheelbuilder.com/spokelengthcalculator 

- tension comes first, then trueness.  Ideally you have a perfectly tensioned wheel that is also perfectly round and true.

- If you have problems getting an even tension, think of spokes in pairs (the spokes that cross).  Sometimes the leading is tight and the trailing is loose and by balancing them out you maintain trueness and fix your tension.  Also think how tightening that one spoke will affect all the others.

- A good way to learn is to break it up into sections.  If you have a 100mm front or 142mm rear, then try tensioning the drive side (if rear) or brake side (if a front wheel) to about 2/3 tension first, while only worrying about vertical truing (roundness).  Then do the other side while only worrying about side to side truing.  This breaks the steps up in your head and lets you only worry about one thing at a time.  This method doesn't work as well with boost, but it depends on your hubs and how even the spoke tension is on each side (the more even it is, the less the method works).

- Over tighten 1/4 turn, then back turn 1/4 turn to minimize spoke wind up (e.g. if you want to make a 1/4 turn, turn it 1/2 way, then go back 1/4).

- Show us pictures afterwards.

Photo

Nice. I was there the day after you.  It was pretty smokey though.  Did you join the Sunday ride?

But ya. I bought my partner a Ti hardtail from Sam.  I personally would get steel, but she loves the Ti.  Steel is easier to modify later on as well.  Titanium is really hard to modify / fix later on, but it should last for a very long time.   Assuming it's not too big of a change, Sam has modified bikes he sold long ago to work with modern standards.

I would say that if you're thinking about it you should send them an e-mail and stop by the next time you're on Quadra (bring beer). 

Also, Sam was also doing "Super Boost Plus" before it was a thing, just so he could get the shortest possible chainstays.

So I updated my Single Speed calculator.  Now you get all possible gear ratios in a nice table. 

https://goo.gl/forms/uD9uy0h4SZghqlF33

Something I learned.  The Chromag Primer and Rootdown BA have a magic gear.  30-19 shouldn't even require a chain tensioner.  Less than 1mm of tensioning required (0.66 mm).  This also gives you a pretty nice gear ratio (1.58).  Somebody want to test this out?  Make sure my math is accurate.  If you're in North Van / the Sea to Sky I might even lend you a 19 tooth cog.

Posted by: TheWhiz

Thanks for the information. Very tempting. I currently run a 30 tooth narrow wide but would probably go 32 non-narrow wide (so I can run a half-link if necessary) and start with 19 or 20 tooth cog (on my 29er.)

Cheers.

I don't think you can run a half link on a narrow wide. The link itself is too skinny. And it would mess the timing of the chain up since you would have an odd number of links. So every 2nd revolution your narrow would attempt to mate to your wide and vice versa.

Posted by: TheWhiz

That's awesome. Dumb question for you, is it hard to set up the Stinger to tension the chain? I have a rootdown and sometimes think I would like to try it as a singlespeed. I have another bike I converted to ss with a dmr kit (it's not too bad) but this looks like it would be cleaner and perhaps hold better (as the iscg has 3 holes instead of something that just attaches to the derailleur hanger.) Is installing the stinger and setting up the tension for the chain as easy as I would think it is?

It was pretty easy. 3 screws. Most chain rings don't seem to interfere with the screw holes.

I personally liked the Stinger because it was nice and clean looking.

Edit to add:  The Stinger becomes less effective on smaller chain rings.  I wouldn't go any smaller than a 28.  The photo above is a 32 tooth.

2016 Chromag Samurai 65 (pre super slack HA)

Last year I did some updates. I sent the frame to DeKerf and he put in a port in the seat tube so I could run more dropper post options.

I also built it up as a single speed last year by using a Blackspire Stinger as a "tensioner". And it's pretty easy to switch between gears and single speed. I usually run a 32-19, but can remove a link and run it 28-19. It takes about 5 minutes to change gears.

Here's some Bush Doctor from Sunday

I'm Currently building up a set of Chromag Phase rims on an old set of Hope Pro2 Evos (24 point engagement) and I'm going to throw some 2.6s on there.

Speaking of single speed, I'm going to try to be an enabler. You should try it out on your hardtail.

I made a little calculator to make it easier. You probably want to be somewhere around a 1.6 gear ratio on a 27.5 and around a 1.5 on a 29r.

https://goo.gl/forms/RfM8Wf3z6Cf3i8x72

32-19 on a 27.5 wheel with 2.3" minions

It's a bit of a grunt on the steep climbs, but that's what the granny gear (walking) is for.   I must have gotten passed by 30 people on the flat section to Happy... that's what sucked the most.  Then it was Sunday cruise speed up the climb for the next hour.

Descending it was totally fine.  Although I was feeling pretty destroyed on all the descents.

Where were all the single speeders?  

It was lonely out there.

Well, if you want to hop on for sizing you're welcome to (North Van).  But I'm away next week.

FWIW, the M/L fits me like a glove 5'10", long legs (32" inseam).  I have enough space for a 175 mm dropper.