Search results for:

My opinion is that tubies are nice to have at Herne hill but not essential.

During training and all the go-race stuff no-one in the beginner group was using tubies and most folks ie Speedy Yasu and wee Scott, were racing on the tires they'd ridden down to Herne Hill.

I did at one point bring a nice set of Ultraspeeds with me for racing but it was such a pain to swap tires twice in an evening so I ended up doing the same. Road most of last season on some Vittoria Rubino Pros which did a great job (pretty cheap and never punctured riding back to Hackney)

Pretty much any tire with a decent TPI >= 120 TPI (Continental GP Supersonic, GP4, Vittoria Open Corsas etc) will do fine on the rough and ready surface of Herne Hill. Its one of those tracks where no-one seems to care about what type of tire you have.

Tubies would are a little bit faster, have a nicer feel and its often claimed they're safer if you flat out on the track (though never had a problem - touch wood - with flatting in a race).

But the nice thing about clinchers, if you have to ride to HH, is that you can fix 'em if you flat. With tubies you're pretty much hosed unless some lends you a wheel or you bring a spare.

So if you're comfortable with tubs and don't mind either: riding on the street with them or bring a spare wheel, then go for it. But until you get 'up to race speed' they're not going to buy you anything IMHO.

Swear this is a known problem with IRO hubs. See this for lots of info:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=260588&highlight=iro+locknut (lots of linked threads in there).

Part has common threading so Condor should be able to either give you a replacement or something else that works.

Ok so I was wrong about the Mavic Gels being any good. Probably seemed ok cause I'm a skinny git and the wheels were built really well.

So I'll revise my originall advice - sell the DA/Mavic Gels and use that money to finance relacing the DA 7600s to something practical.

First I'd see how much you get to the track this year, you lazy git :)

As to weight. I raced most of last year with Deep Vs (prob heavier than the Atlantas) and I was too out of shape really too notice rim weight :) So I would take the Campy/Atlantas down to Herne Hill and try them out. On the track weight is not so much of an issue as you'd think, aside from pursuit racing.

But my solution would be to sell the Campy Record/Atlanta wheels on Ebay to generate mad cash. Sure they're very shiny and pretty but they would give you plenty of money to sort out the other two wheelsets.

I'd then relace the DA 7600s to a really nice set of new tubular rims (sod those Weinmann rims) and keep the other DAs as spares (which if you're not using you can always sell at a later date). The nice thing here is both take the same lockrings and cogs.

I'd also add that I doubt you could do much damage to the Mavic Gel rims. Used to have a pair for racing and they were great.

It’s a nice dilemma to have

Cheers for the kind words Bill. Hopefully the maker will not to a Zo and only start selling to japanese collectors on Ebay ;)

Didn't mean to be so mysterious but its not my call to go public on this esp on public forum. If you're working or regular alley cat racer you probably know the maker already.

The prototype bags out there are dope (really nice work) but its hard to go from making a few for some friends to taking general orders esp when its not your main buisness. Always think of Freight/Zugster as examples. Both went from making a few bags to taking general orders and suddenly they had tons of bags on backorder. Instead of getting some riding in all your spare time is spent sewing. Sure you can pay folks to cut patterns and streamline the designs but you have to take small steps at first.

So sorry DanK - looks like for one-off custom stuff you're better off talking to Bugaboo, Wig, Seagull etc or following the advice to get friendly with a Fashion/Art student.

Should've kept my big mouth shut but am excited about these bags.

What about ITM eclyspe stems, nice salsa single bolt stems or Cinelli Grammo stems? All very nice and minimal but hard to come by in their threadless form. Nice thing about the Grammos and the salsa stems is that they're stiff which is good for skidding/riding at Herne Hill. Actually can't remember any flex in the Eclypse I owned either.

BTW aren't the Alter stems 1" only? Didn't think they came in 1 1/8" or am I talking rubbish? I think the stems I listed above may also be 1" only.

I'm thinking about selling my old frame. But I don't even know what to ask for it.

Good Points:
56cm 1973 Raleigh Professional Track Frame
Handbuilt by Carlton Cycles
Campagnolo Track Ends - beefy
Reynolds 531 throughout
Nervex Pro Lugs
Comes with Campy Pista crank, bb and Shimano Headset
Raced at both Hellyer Park (California) and Herne Hill

Bad points:
Frame was crashed - professionally repaired by Bernie Mikkelsen (v. respected California Framebuilder).
Original fork is missing - has replacement 531 fork built by Barry Witcomb.
Frame is powdercoated - finish is faded and badly scratched.
Chrome on rear is in poor condition - scratched and pitting in places.
Crank is 151 bcd and left pedal threads are slightly damaged (never caused problems).
Headset and BB are a little ropey.

On the one hand its a really nice frame but everything about it needs some tlc.

There are photos here. Any suggestions of what it might be worth?

Grips are just Big cheese BMX grips with the ends cut-off. Work quite well. Come in a bunch of colours with white stars.

Some really nice rides been posted.

Heres my new whip (and soon to be only bike). Custom Richie Ditta track frame. This thing is fabulous.

More photos.

London to Brighton fixed is a little tricky. Did this with IOC and others but it was really hard on the brakeless riders in our group.

Took us about 5hrs as we really didn't have a route planned out beforehand, got lost a few times and there were quite a few nice country pubs on the way.

Ditchling beacon is a killer. You really need to gear down to make this all the way up (something like a 46x18 makes it possible).

Couldn't imagine doing the actual London to Brighton fixed as the descents would be a nightmare. All those folks braking at random would strip the fun out of riding fixed.

If you really want a real race, post your challenge on moving target and/or get your arse down to the Duke of York.

Ain't a real race without Donny (fastest messenger in London - though Marco is pushing him) et al.

Mickster - most folks catch the train from Waterloo to Redhill?!? and then its about 1/2 an hour ride from there to Ripley. (See Salmon Childs first post). Last year you could get group buy tickets for the train, which really helped keep the cost down.

Buffalo Bill's post on Ripley is here.
Should be fairly easy to spot whose going, as you don't often get large groups of fixie riders in Waterloo Station at that time of day.

Ripley Jumble is always great even if you just want to look rather than buy. Can't go. Saving myself for Good Friday @ Herne Hill as I'm skint.

There may be one custom bag maker in London soon (prototype bags are still under development).

But it depends on what you mean by custom. If you're after Reload style totally customisable bags, then I think you'll have to order from bagaboo, reload, seagull, zugster etc.

If you mean custom as in a few tweaks (colours, pocket options) then there may be an option for you soon. Last time I heard is that bags may start being available in April. All handmade in London, which is pretty sweet.

Mavic CXP-33s are a good alternative to Deep Vs. Not as sexy, very limited colour options but they work really well as a street/velodrome rims.

BTW you can the Deep Vs without machined sidewalls, which look great if you're a brakeless rider. Pretty heavy rims for the 'drome though.

Just box everything up as well as you can (esp wheels and frames) - lots of shops in the US will box bikes for about 40 USD. If you want to do it yourself, shops will generally sell/give you shipping boxes (on my last trip, I picked up a box, padding, spacers and assorted rubber bumpers for 5USD from a shop).

Most international flights you can bring boxed bikes on with no problems. Have done this with Virgin and American recently. The bike just formed part of my normal baggage allowance. Flying with your bike is much safer than shipping it and its my preferred method.

Customs - you have to pay for anything less than six months old as damnham stated. But your chances of being stopped at Gatwick/Heathrow are really slim. They tend not to stop passengers from US flights, in my experience.