Projects and Ideas

By Chris

One of things I most enjoy at VO is seeing new projects come to fruition. We always have a long list of stuff that we're working on. The project list on my desk has 31 items this week, they include frames, handlebars, racks, etc. In some cases the projects are simply improvements of an existing product, but most are new. Of course not all of these will work out; we often get to the drawing or prototype stage and decide that whatever it is we were working on isn't all that great after all. In any case, I thought I'd offer a few projects for your amusement or suggestions.

• The Cigne stem we mentioned a few weeks ago is now in production and should be here in about a month if all goes according to plan. We'll have them in 70mm and 90mm extension and black, nickle and raw finishes.
• We're waiting for prototypes of an adapter so you can use the above stem with a threaded 1" fork.
• The 11-speed hubs have gone through many revisions and prototypes. We're now waiting for the, hopefully, final pre-production samples. I think these are amazing hubs, comparable to any.
• We're working on some retro "klunkery" adventure touring bars
• We've ordered prototypes of the new disc Polyvalent. 
• There may be a mixte version of the Polyvalent. We're still pondering the wisdom of this; while there's a very vocal pro-mixte crowd, in reality high-end mixtes don't sell well.
• We are designing some new mounts for our bells. This is a lot harder and more expensive than you might imagine.
• We're revising disc brake mount on the Pass hunter to make it compatible with more brakes. This is done and we're just waiting for ISO testing, but it's delayed the next production run of frames.
• We're testing some new leather saddles and dreaming of a super secret laminated vegan saddle.
• We've asked Rustines to make some rubber shifter and quick-release covers for us. Those should be here in a few weeks.

Obviously that's not the whole list. But as we check some of these projects off, what do you thing we should add to the project list?

The Boyz Ride in The Park

By Chris and Igor,

Feeling a little cooped up on a beautiful summer day Igor, Clint, and I decided to play hooky for a couple of hours today. We took a ride in the park looking for blackberries.

Blackberry stop.

Locals eyeing us.

Chris swings.

Wildlife

A VO Six Pack Rack is perfect for Igor's camera bag

Jungle scene

Art at the community garden plots.

My Piolet

Clint's Spinaci bars, so aero

Refreshments

Down by the Farm

Igor and his Campeur on singletrack

Grinding sand.

Best Era for Cycling

by Scott


Our shipper Brandon here at VO has a game of "what time period would you like to live in"?  He and his girlfriend have discussions at home debating the best time period in history to have lived in a place or to have experienced certain things. I thought we'd expand that to cycling.

I'll limit the option to decades after WW2. Let's take a little look at the decades and some of the highlights:

1950's - Post war Europe starts to recover. French constructeurs ramp up production of bikes that were stopped or reduced during the war. Simplex derailleurs dominate the industry. US road bike building start with Schwinn at the front of the market. Raleigh starts importing bikes to the US. Era of travel by sea is ending as air travel becomes more popular and affordable.

1960's - Perhaps the pinnacle era for French constructeur bikes. Schwinn Paramount production starts in the US. Gear clusters go past 5. Hostel touring popular in Europe as incomes go up and rationing in Europe is ended. Sun Tour introduces the Slant Parallelogram derailleur making shifting easier and more reliable. TA introduces the Pro 5 vis crank set.

1970's - Mass introduction of French and Japanese bikes to the US. The rising cost of fuel pushes the first US bike boom. Bike Centennial starts up promoting the Trans Am bike route across the US. US frame building takes off. Richard Sachs and Peter Weigle begin the custom frame building tradition of the NE US. Campagnolo Super Record Gruppo introduced. Dura Ace introduced as the Japanese alternative.

1980's - Mountain bikes become mass produced. Index shifting arrives and gears go up to 8 in the rear. Aero brake levers and clip in pedals become standard items on racing bikes. Pastel neon frame colors becomes popular for a year or two until we realize our mistake. Cassette bodies become the norm and freewheel hubs start a downward spiral. Mainstream US media takes notice of cycling after Greg Lemond wins the TDF.

1990's - Carbon and Titanium start to become within reach, price wise. Intergrated shifting and brake levers become popular, cycling seen on TV stations that don't have 3 digits in the channel number. Yen drops off and manufacturing moves to Taiwan from Japan for frames and most components. Garish colors for MTB's are the rage despite the 80's. Anodized purple becomes the go to color for US made CNC'd products. Campy introduces a MTB gruppo. Discontinues gruppo a couple years later.

2000's (noughts) - Shimano and Campy continue to battle it out to see who can put the most gears on a cassette, Carbon shows up on lower and lower price points of bikes. Multiple wins in the TDF results in the "Lance" effect: an uptake in road bike sales and sales of USPS jersey's.

2010's (teens) - Gear cluster battle reaches stupid levels, Camo becomes a "thing" color wise, steel bikes make a resurgence in major manufacturer lineup's. Women are welcomed as customers and offered products designed for them rather then just a different color scheme. Bikepacking offers lightweight touring to the masses and hipsters a new place to drink bourbon.

What era would you prefer to ride in?

Front Loading Basics

by Igor

Whenever I think about a typical cycle tourist, I always conjure up an image of a mid-80s steel bike, rear rack loaded to the brim with a stuck-in flag happily waving in the breeze. This is close - Scott touring Sweden in 1993 with Canada flagged panniers on a Rocky Mountain Sirrus:

By the way, Scott's bum bag (fanny pack for us in the Colonies) game is on point.

From numerous years of trial and errors, my preference has swayed to a front load only. This has developed due to a combination of a minimalistic approach to carry and packing, easier in-saddle accessibility, frame design, and surpassing environmental hurdles.

It is worth mentioning that the Campeur has lower trail than the majority of production touring bikes. This makes for neutral handling when loaded with no wheel flop and downright lively when lightly loaded or unloaded. Bikes with high trail have more difficulty with a heavier front load due to introduced wheel flop when going into corners.

So let's say your bike is designed to handle a front load well. Why should you front load? First, your rear wheel will thank you. It will be much less susceptible to spoke heads breaking, pinched tubes, and uneven tire wear since your carry weight will be distributed to the front wheel.

Second, when making efforts out of the saddle a front load does not introduce any luggage sway. Standing out of the saddle with a heavy rear load flexes the frame and rack side to side causing the front end to wander, which zaps energy during sustained climbs.

Similarly, during high crosswind conditions a loaded rear end has a tendency to make the front end wander if the front isn't loaded. Solution? A front load bias plants the front end and crosswinds have a drastically diminished effect so you expend less energy keeping straight. This is very different to a deep section front wheel in which the extremely lightweight front end wheel acts as a sail.

Fourth, you can monitor your luggage to ensure everything stays put safely. The last thing you want to happen is to hit a bump and lose your flipflops or worse get something stuck in the rear wheel without noticing.

Lastly, your gear and food is more easily accessible while you're in the saddle. Your handlebar bag is right there, ripe for the rummaging. Grabbing stuff out of the pannier while riding is definitely more of an acquired skill, but it is possible with lots of practice and gumption.

Non-drive side to show the tent setup.

There is one hitch with front loading. You really need to have your panniers balanced well, otherwise the bike will want to pull to the side with the heavier load. If you're doing a short commute with uneven weights or one pannier, don't worry about it, but anything longer and you'll want to distribute weights evenly.

Which method do you prefer: Front, rear, 4 points? Or are you on the side that says, "People still use racks? It's 2016, get out of the Mesolithic Era!"

Closed for Fireworks On The Fourth

by Scott

We'll be closed on Monday, July 4th to celebrate Independence Day. This weekend is looking nice in the mid Atlantic, so we're all be getting out and about and enjoying all that this area has to offer.

We'll be back in the office on Tuesday at 9:30 to answer the phones and start replying to emails.

Anyone else have plans for the long weekend?