Le Cirque du Cyclisme and Racks

For anyone interested in classic bikes, the premier event in the US is Le Cirque du Cyclisme. It's a bike show, charity auction, swap meet, and party all rolled into one weekend. This year it's in Leesburg, VA, a very pleasant town with a lot of good riding nearby and only about 30 miles from Washington DC. Being about halfway down the east coast many folks can drive there. For those of you who want to fly, Washington's Dulles airport is only 12 miles away. More info and photos are here.

Also, we have portuer racks again as well as the new rails! And we have some stainless steel rear constuctuer rack "seconds" at a discount price

Something to Think About

From Paul Krugman's blog:


As he says, "we're number one"!

Then there is this. And this.

We're Moving

I'm a bit behind on posting. It's been busy here, bordering on totally crazy. So we're hiring a couple of more folks and moving to a bigger shop.

The spaces pictured at right will house VO and VO Imports. It's still within a mile or so of downtown Annapolis, but now we have plenty of parking and storage. We'll move at about the end of Summer.

You'll notice that this is an exceedingly elegant structure in the early penitentiary style. The landscaping seen in this photograph might be described as minimal, however we have a large yard in back. It is done in the style of an un-raked Zen garden with rusty machinery and oil drums evoking mountains and islands. Perhaps we should add a koi pond?

Interestingly, the other end of building houses my old company, Chesapeake Light Craft.

Also, we got another, and probably our last, shipment of the very interesting Modolo Grand Fondo Handlebars.

Sneak Peak

I just finished building up the prototype multipurpose frame, well almost. It still needs fenders and racks.; I wish someone had 650b Le Paon fenders in stock. In any case, I've only ridden it around the neighborhood so far, but I really like it.

You may notice a few odd items on this bike. The bottle cage is a new high polish version of our Moderniste cage that should arrive in about two months. The saddle is one of four models, in three colors, of the new VO saddles. They should be here in about 3 months. The bars are old French bars I wanted to try out.

There are a few more photos here. BTW, the chain guard in one of the photos is a model that works with a front dérailleur; it's not attached yet. It's actually plastic, but not as awful looking as some. We might stock it.

City Bike Decision and New Items

Thanks for all the great opinions regarding the city bike. I've placed to order for a production run of TIG welded frames. We will also have them in a Mixte version if that prototype looks good. The Rando frame and the multipurpose frame will both be lugged. I'll post photos of the multi-purpose bike in a few days.

A perfect accessory to a city bike is shopping panniers. The Basil Kavan panniers are beautiful and popular, but expensive. So we decided to stock a simpler style Basil city bike panniers, the Memphis. The Memphis is a double rear pannier in the Dutch style. It's made of sturdy and waterproof imitation leather. It has a cut-out for luggage carrier straps and spring clamp and double reflective stripes front and back. 33 x 12 x 30cm (each bag).

I really like bike baskets and we have a few new Basil models. The Davos is a large open basket and the Denver is an oval model with a lid. Both have handles for shopping. And we now have the very well received Blossom basket in blue.

We also have some inexpensive double track straps, for you animals who want to race to the farmer's market.

A Proper Mixte

Lesli sent some photos of her VO Mixte and it's simply stunning. This frame was built by Johnny Coast. Lesli wrote:

More formal ride/commuting report to come but I can tell you right now that the frame fits perfectly and is a total pleasure to ride. I'm amazed at how light and sporty the bike feels. It's definitely a distant, sports car cousin to my old Raleigh 3-speed. I can promise you that I'll be taking this bike out on a late season 200k just to test its randonneuring credentials. Louis Orsini did amazing work to put the bike together. Lots of small build/adjustments to make those old parts fit together (drilling, filing, shimming, etc). One special detail: he built me up one of his "special" derailleurs: coupling the body of an old Campy rally derailleur to the short cage of a Campagnolo Super record.

The chainguard is a VO prototype and I like it so much I'm going to start bugging Taiwan to hurry up and put it into production. The bars are Bellari Porteurs drilled for NOS CLB inverse levers. There are more photos here. Thanks Leslie.

What Are Lugs Worth? UPDATED

I received final pricing for the city bike from the factory today. It would raise the final price of the city bike by $160 to $200 to have it built with lugs, rather than TIG welded. The TIG welded frame and fork would cost about $400. Both versions includes fender mounts, semi horizontal dropouts, chainguard mounts, and all the other braze-ons you would expect from a VO frame. The tubing is double butted and the quality of either is as good as is available in Taiwan, which is not far from a modern production Japanese frame. Both the brazing and welding is very clean and there are no signs of overheating. So the question is, are lugs worth the extra expense?

As I see it, a city bike should not be too expensive or you'll be afraid to leave it out on the street. And a TIG welded frame rides almost as well as a lugged frame. Some say they are indistinguishable.

On the other hand, I think a lugged frame feels just a touch nicer. And it is certainly a lot nicer to look at. There is no question that most folks reading this would prefer a lugged frame, but is it worth the extra cost in this application.

The floor is open.

UPDATE: I wanted to add a few words to answer some questions and offer some explanation.

This is a low trail design with capacity for significant front loading. We are working on less expensive portuer style racks for it. But it is a real city bike for commuting and shopping, not a porteur optimized for a 50 pound front load. A portuer like that will not handle as well when unloaded.

As with all VO frames the emphasis is on perfect handling. I'm confident that there is no production city bike frame that will handle as well. My goal is offer the ride like of a top-of-the-line French constructeur city bike in a frame selling for between $400 and $580. Surlys, Somas, and other current frames are not like this. The Kogswell is a nice bike, but I think it's more like the upcoming multi-purpose frame. The VO has a longer top tube and is designed specifically for city bike handlebars, not drop bars.

This is a 650b frame; that is the best tire size for this sort of bike and I won't compromise on that. A bike like this is not for someone who will be happy on a converted mountain bike. It's for someone who lusts after a $6000 vintage Singer city bike on E-bay, but knows the Singer is far too valuable to lock to a parking meter.

Picture Day

A couple of very nice photos of bikes found their way into my in-box yesterday.

The first is of Mark's lovely Fuji Randoneuse. There are more photos here. He writes:

The only thing original on the bike is the frame and fork. I built-up everything else with either new or NOS parts. Wheels are shimano 105 hubs DT Swiss R1.1 rims 32-spoke laced 4-cross. Tires are Grand Bois 700x32 (thanks out to Jan Heine). Besides short touring, I made the mud flaps out of 1/8" sheet rubber bought at a hardware store. I epoxy-glued one end of these to the inside Honjo fenders, clamping them with a wine cork on the inside to make it fit to the curve of the fender. Then I drilled and through bolted the flap with a small stainless steel bolt/nut.

I've used this bike to carry photo equipment to photograph stages of races like the Amgen Tour of California.
<http://www.medesignphoto.com/amgenTOC2008>

I'm currently retrofiting a second later quad butted del rey frame as a campee bike (it's dark green).

Then there is this stunning Myata built up by David. Click to enlarge the photo; there are lots of nice details. Maybe David will chime in with more info.

Finally we have a less-than-stunning prototype VO "Type C" or city bike. This is a perfect example of why we build prototypes. The fork length is an error. I spec the length from the bottom of the crown because this allows for perfect fender lines, but the manufacturer assumed it was from the top of the crown. Good thing we caught it now. The color will change to a very very dark green. The chain guard was not drilled for this frame, but rather it was an old one that already had some holes in it. In fact, most of the parts were simply bits we had lying around; I'll rebuild it later. This one is in Annette's size; I haven't photographed mine.
















By the way, we have VO handlebar water bottle cage mounts in stock again.

In Stock, Low Down Type 2

This is just a quick note to let those of you who have been waiting for the Type-2 Low Down light mount that they have arrived. These are hot off the lathe and allow you to mount a dynamo light to your front wheel skewer. You can also mount them on the light eyelets of VO racks. The Type-1 , for battery light has been selling well and gotten good reviews from those who have tried it.

We also have some nice new chrome Japanese round spoke wrenches for a great price.

And we have 8 speed KMC chains in stock Again. I don't know why there was a run on them and we kept selling out. They are very good chains, but still?

A Few New Products

I thought I'd take a break from building up the production city bike prototype and post about a few new products.

We just got new Honjo 45mm x 700c fenders that are based on the famous French Lefol Le Paon fenders. They are highly polished, terribly retro, and one of the most beautiful fender styles ever made. Our VO 650b Le Paon fenders are finally on the way as well.

Another new item is the FSA Gossamer Front Dérailleur that's designed for compact cranks. They have a flat outer cage so they work well with TA Pro-5-Vis, and other older-style, cranks. They clamp onto 28.6 and 31.8mm seat tubes. All hardware is stainless steel. And, yes, they do work perfectly with 9 and 10 speed chains.

And then there is the new Sumo horn. Give him a good squeeze and he'll honk. Wouldn't you? One can't always be elegant. Mounts on most handlebars.

New Brakes

We just recieved a prototype VO long reach caliper brake in our special polished, but not anodized, finish. This matches the finish of TA Pro-5-Vis cranks and many other classic components. I've mentioned these brakes before, but here are the specs. They have a reach of 47-57mm, they are CNC made from 6066 T6 alloy, and their weight is 367gm per set. You'll also notice that we now have matching cartridge brake shoes that take any standard pad. They are super stiff and very smooth. The price is not yet set, but they will compete with the better Shimano long reach brakes. I'm working on the black hardware issue. Any thoughts?

Brett's VO Rando Bike

Just as I was trying to think of something to post about comes a great e-mail from Brett, who just finished building up his VO frame. And he has done a splendid job of it. He writes:

I took a few photos of my VO Randonneur frame built except for the lighting system (it will be a few months before I do that). The ride is superb and the frame is stunning. I've thought about building this dream bike for years but Velo Orange is what really made it possible...

...It took about 20 hours for me to assemble everything and the final weight is less than 25 pounds which includes the heavy Schmidt SON hub.

The quality of the frame is equal or better than many custom frames that cost thousands more and have 2-3 year waits. Even at the current price of $1850 it seems like an incredible bargain. What's more important is that you're supplying the necessary parts to really make it happen from racks to the roller hangers all at reasonable prices!

The rest of the photos are here. I think that's a beautiful build. Great job Brett. By the way, the wait for a frame is now 2.5 years, sorry.

This and That

A few random notes:

The New York Times had a nice article about the bike lending scheme in Washington DC. I'm a huge fan of these programs which have been fairly successful in Europe. Actually, some early attempts had problems, but the newest models seem to be working.

Our TIG welded production city bike prototype will arrive late next week. I'm very excited.

We will also get the frame that may be the basis for a possible multipurpose bike. I'm still working on this concept, but the idea is a bike that's halfway between a city bike and a touring bike, wide 650b tires, wide gearing, light lugged frame, porteur bars, chain guard... It'll be fun to build up. Any ideas?

Stupid Bike Lanes

Annette found this mildly amusing video about stupid bike lanes. Just the thing to waste a few minutes on a Friday afternoon.



And here is Part 2.

More VO Products and Fender News

My trip to Asia is starting to pay off. We now have a number of new products on order including:

• A silver VO two-bolt seat post with very generous setback and fine adjustment.
  
• Very pretty and fairly priced all silver polished aluminum no-logo stems for 1-1/8" threadless forks. This is something a lot of folks have asked for.
  
• VO 1" threaded headsets with sealed angular-contact bearings. It's time to move beyond the recently discontinued Stronglight A9 and Delta and these should prove even more durable and weatherproof.
  
• VO 1" alloy high quality ball-bearing headsets.
• Beautiful VO 1-1/8" sealed-bearing headsets. You'll be pleased at how nice and fairly priced these are, but some current high end HS manufacturers may not be too happy.
• A range of VO sealed-bearing square taper bottom brackets with alloy cups and boron axles.
• Replacement dérailleur jockey wheels made from a special high-wear low friction composite.
  

I'm still working on hubs, pedals, and a bunch of other projects. The items above will start arriving in 2-3 months.

Fenders:

The 650b VO fenders have been delayed by a few weeks. There was apparently an issue with our new tooling and some adjustments were needed. It was one of those cases where I was not told until well after they should have arrived. The factory says they are very close now.

We've also ordered a run of 45mm polished stainless steel fenders. If they look good, and the samples looked very nice, we may also make them in 50mm.

We are also getting some wide 26" VO fenders that should take tires up to 2.25". A number of you have asked for these.

Also:

We received the following comment in an e-mail:

"Straddle wire hangers - fantastique!

I ordered two sets of your straddle wire hangers and just wanted to let you know that they are WAY better than the originals on my '64 Herse..."

The New VO Crank

OK, it's not really the new VO Crank, but I found some of these new-old-stock Universal Aduprat 3-pin cranksets.

I know that there is no good reason in the world to use cottered steel cranks today. As for not so good reasons, they are very slim and elegant, they are chrome plated, they definitely look retro, and they will not break.

Anyway, I couldn't resist and we bought a few. They are 170mm with 48/40 rings. The British thread BB is included and they take French thread pedals, though they can be tapped to British. If you want a set to restore an old bike or just to be different, they cost $55.

We also now stock Salsa "Halter Top" brake levers and And Tektro RT345AG brake levers. The Halter tops are a very well made and nicely polished inline brake for touring or cyclo-cross. The Tektro Rt354AG is a nice, but inexpensive brake for city and MTB bars.

Frame News

Here are a couple of shots of frame prototypes.

The fork is the prototype of the one for our production TIG welded city bike. This bike will be very similar to the VO Gentleman frame that we now offer. A mixte version is also in the works. This frame is, more or less, on schedule and I still hope to see them this summer.

The lugged frame is another prototype that's much like our city bike, but may eventually morph into an all-around model. It may become our third production model.

The production Rando frame has hit a roadblock. The Japanese company we ordered the frames from has simply taken too long. So I just canceled the order and gave it to a company in Taiwan. The design work is done, lugs are selected, so I'm hopeful we can get it into production soon

We also plan to offer this frame as the basis for a complete bike that will include a generator hub, Brooks saddle, front rack, etc.

VO Roller Hangers are Here

And they look great, maybe better than the originals. These were the style of hangers used on some of the finest constructeur bikes. You'll see them on bikes by Singer, Toei, Routens, Alp, Reyhand, Goeland, etc.

The workmanship is beyond my expectations and the polishing is much nicer than the photos show.

Annette and Heidi say they'll make nice earrings for those of you who don't have the right bike.

They are $20 a pair in the VO store. Used originals sell for well over $100 and the only reproductions made previously sell for $75. They are also available to other bike shops at wholesale prices through VO imports.

New VO Rando Frame Photos

Here are a couple of brand new VO rando frames.

The first is for Kathryn in a custom creme color. I wasn't sure I'd like this color, but I think it looks great on the finished bike. The paint is so shiny the photos appear wavy. More photos can be found here.

The second bike is Steve's and is now being painted. These photos show the just brazed frame. The next step is sanding filing and cleanup prior to painting. Note that while all the lugs are silver brazed, the fill in the dropout attachment is brass because of the gap to be filled. More photos are here.

Low Down Light Mounts

Steve and Dick make light mounts. They make them one at a time by hand on a lathe here in the US. They start with a solid aluminum rod, turn and drill it and press in a steel insert so the threads won't strip. Then they neatly wrap each one only in thin paper to cut down on packaging. They call them "Low-Down Light Mounts".

They are tiny and they replace the nut on you hub skewer allowing you to quickly mount a handlebar type light on just about any bike, even one with a big front load that would block a normal fork crown or handlebar mounted light. The light is a bit lower than is ideal, but then a bar mounted light is far too high to be ideal. A lower light does better illuminates the texture of the road than a high one making it easier to spot road hazards. For $27 they should be polished, but otherwise they look great. Yes, I know that Nitto sometimes makes a mount like this, but those are unavailable at the moment and the last price was $37.

The photo shows the Type 1 mount which is for a battery light. I hope I'm not giving away industrial secrets when I tell you that they will soon have one for dynamo powered light, the Type 2. I have prototype and it's really neat because it accepts a Spanninga, or B&M light with no bar mount. And you don't need much wire if you have hub generator.

Speaking of light mounts, we've made small batches of our of our VO rack-type light mounts and they keep selling out. I guess folks like them. So we're making a real production run this time and will probably have them in stock for a long while. We'll also sell them, and the Low-Down brackets to other shops through VO Imports.

And finally, we may get some of the coolest light ever made from Japan. They are hand made in a one man shop and some Japanese/American friends have been working with me to import a few. The price will make you choke, but you will like them. No photos yet, sorry.

New French Style Handlebars

We just received two new models of VO/Nitto handlebars.

The first of these is the Montmartre bar. Montmartre is an area of Paris known for its cafes and artist's studios. The Montmartre bar is a very traditional French city bar. It accepts bar end shifters or inverse brake levers. It does not, however, accept MTB levers or shifters. As you guessed, the diameter is the same as on road bars.

Like most traditional French bars, the Montmartre bar is narrow, 42cm center-to-center. The streets of Montmartre are narrow and it wouldn't do to knock over a drink at a cafe table or snag a Citroen's rear view mirror with the wide Harley-style bars that seem so popular on this side of the Pond. Besides, a proper low trail city bike has geometry that allows it to hold a straight line with almost no input, yet turn with only the gentlest touch. We are piloting a fine bicycle, not driving a tractor!

The rise on the Montmartre bar is about 6cm. We do want to sit up so we can enjoy that greatest of all Parisian pursuits, people watching, even when cycling.

We went a bit wild with the second bar's design. It is a full 49cm wide and the grips flare outward a bit to appeal to the less restrained cyclist. Given its radical nature it can only be named the Left Bank Bar, after that section of Paris, the Latin Quarter on the left bank of the Seine, that was historically populated by students and leftist philosophers. The Left Bank Bar is also made for inverse levers or bar end shifters, and not for MTB bits.

These bars are made by Nitto exclusively for Velo Orange and both display Nitto's usual superb workmanship and finish. The clamp diameter is 25.4mm on both and the bars are bulged, rather than sleeved, so they will not squeak.

I recommend traditional grips on these bars, either three layers of cloth tape or leather grips. We already have a leather grip kit for them.

Both bars and grips will be in the store later today. We also just received Nitto S83 seat posts and Sugino "old logo" triple cranks.

V0 Retro Cages

Two factories, two countries, four prototypes, and more than 6 months later, the VO retro cages are ready. Ready to go into production, that is.

You see two versions. The one on the left is based on the original design and is also the model that's currently copied by Toei of Japan, though their version costs $95 and our will be under $20.

The one on the right has a loop to further secure the bottle. I thought this might be needed for folks who ride unpaved roads, but after playing with the prototypes I don't think it's necessary.

Just to be clear, this cage is based on an old TA design from the '40s or early '50. It is a one-handed cage; you put in the bottle just like on any other cage; but it holds the bottle very securely. The little tabs allow you to spread the cage for an oversized bottle. Say you're in Belgium and need to carry a pint of beer.... We at VO try to think of these eventualities.

Please don't ask when they'll be in stock, 2-3 months maybe. Do you think it was/is worth the wait?

RFP for BCD

RFP is "request for proposal", a term that's often bandied about in our near-the-beltway town. I'm looking for feedback, proposals, on the BCD to be used on new VO cranks. Since the the comments in the previous post degenerated, or generated, into a discussion of various crank preferences and BCDs I thought this would be the perfect time get into this.

My inbox often contains messages with ideas for new products including cranks. Here are some options that have been suggested.

• 86bcd, the old Stronglight 99 pattern. The smallest ring possible is 28t. The person who suggested this is a well known frame designer/manufacturer.
  
• 50.4bcd, this is the pattern used on TA Pro-5-Vis, Stronglight 49d, Nervar, Sugino PX, etc. It's also the oldest BCD still made. The smallest ring is 26t.
• 110/74bcd; we all know this one and VO is already sourcing this crank, but using an existing mold to keep cost down. It may have outboard BB bearings! The RFP is for a crank using new molds. And though I like the TA Zephyr we won't make a copy; the Sugina Alpina is close enough.
  
• The old Rene Herse BCD, 3-pin, is a very pretty crank.
• 94/56bcd. I've never used this size.

I am currently leaning toward using 50.4bcd. It seems to be the most practical; it's very light, allows a low q-factor, looks nice, and takes a huge range of chain rings. The arms can be set up as a single, double, triple, or quad! We would also make VO chainrings in the most popular sizes, 48,46,30,26... This would ensure a supply of rings from two manufacturers. The shape of the arms would loosely resemble the Stronglight 49d. Waddaya think?

In other news, The RH-style roller hangers are done and on the way. The TA/Toei-type water bottle cage is ready for production, based on the latest sample photos. And those 650b fenders should finally be ready.

Tom's Toe Clip Straps

Some of you may not understand why it takes so long to get new products made. Come to think of it, I'm not sure I do. But here is a little conversation with a toe clip strap manufacturer to give you some idea of how even the simplest products can be very complicated.

I saw a very nice range of toe clip straps from a small manufacturer I had not previously heard of. Tom, who works with me on developing and sourcing new products, and I decided to have a chat with them. C is me, T is Tom, M is the manufacturer. Of course this is all condensed from memory and just meant to illustrate the complications involved.

C: We'd like to get a quote on some of the straps you manufacture. We're most interested in the thicker ones with stainless steel buckles. Can you do colors other than brown and black.

M: These are our best straps. We can probably make them in other colors for a large order.

T: These buckles are stainless?

M: Yes, of course.

T: Is the rivet stainless?

M: Yes.

T: Chris, what do you think about the way this rivet is set? Maybe the washer could be larger.

C: Hmmm.

T: Is this spring stainless.

M: The spring can be stainless or not as you wish.

C: Wouldn't a non-stainless spring retain it's "spring" longer?

M: I don't know, but I'll find out.

T: Is the buckle roller stainless on this model, and how about on this other model?

M: One roller is a stainless spring type roller, the other is chrome plated brass.

T: The brass one has a nicer shape. Could we have it in this buckle?

M: Yes

C: Americans have huge feet, can we adjust the strap length.

M: Yes, we can make them any length.

T: I don't like this attachment method. The one on this model looks much stronger. Can we have this metal reinforcement on the other model?

M: Yes; we can do that.

T: Would it be stainless?

M: I have to check with the shop, but I think so.

C: What about leather? I see two types.

M: This is split hide and this is full grain. The full grain is more expensive.

C: Is this one artificial?

M: No this is another type of split grain hide.

C: Is there any problem with getting an embossed logo?

M: No problem.

T: OK. Please send us samples and pricing for the model we've outlined. I'm sure we'll think of a lot more questions later.

C: Now lets talk about the track style straps...

Imagine a conversation about a new crankset.

The VO Taillight

The VO Taillight can be mounted on a seat tube braze-on, on a seat stay using the clamp, or on a chain stay.

They are hand machined from a solid aluminum billet by a small shop here in the US. We are having them made because I had the prototype on the blue bike in the photo and got a bunch of e-mails requesting that we make them. So far as I know, this is the only seat post boss taillight made today.

Many people have French constructuer bikes with a mount for one, but the price of an original JOS light is over $600

The price for our version will be about $48 (sorry). It should be available next week.