Questions and Answers

We get a lot of e-mail questions at VO, an awful lot! I thought I'd answer a few of the ones that have recently been asked several times.

On Cranks:

When will you have more sizes?

We have a 40-foot container due in at the end of the month. All the VO and Grand Cru cranks will be on it, except for the 172.5 sizes. They are a couple of months out.

Will you sell just the 50.4bcd arms, rings, bolts, single speed version, etc?

We'll have chainrings in various sizes in about 2-3 months. The bolts are already for sale. I have not yet decided if we'll sell the arms separately. A single speed version with various single speed specific rings is on the way, maybe by late fall.

On drop Bars:

When will you have other sizes:

Most sizes will be here in a few weeks, but the 48mm Rando bars are delayed a couple of months.

Will two rolls of tape cover them?

Of course, just like any other bar.

On Rims?

When will the wider version of the PBP rims arrive?

Soon, maybe two months. They will be called the Raid rim and be 22mm wide, but look like the PBP.

Will they have double eyelets?

We are working on a double eyelet version of the PBP rim first. Once that's done we'll see about the Raid rims.


On Hubs:

What's up with the hubs you wrote about?

We've been testing them and all but the high flange cassette hub are going into production ASAP. We hope to have them in a few months. This has taken longer than expected, but when you see the quality and style of the final versions I think you'll be impressed. The wide flange cassette hub body is an all-new design so it's taking longer to get just right. The high-low cassette hub is done and in production.

What about the "game changing" dyno hub?

We've put many many miles of real world testing on the prototypes as has the factory. They are now in production and should be here this fall. We'll have a matching LED light that is brilliant (pun intended). I'm super impressed with this combination. The price is great, but the performance is ground breaking.

New Handlebars

I've wanted to offer VO bars for a couple of years, but it's surprisingly time consuming to design and test bars. There are so many subtleties to their shape. We looked at many popular modern and classic bars (I have quite a collection) and tried to identify the best features of each. Then I added my own preferences, mostly longer grip areas or ramps. The result is these two new Grand Cru bars. The first is a classic road bar that reminds me of the old Phillipe Professional bar. The second is based on my idea of the perfect Rando.

Both bars have a high polished center section. The area under tape is bead blasted. The Grand Cru crest appears on either side of the clamp area. The clamp area is bulged, not sleeved, to prevent "creaking".

Our Classic round bend handlebar, the Course bar, has a long flat ramp aft of the hoods. This allows you to slide you hands forward or back which, at least for me, adds a lot of comfort. The drops are open and also extra long so, again, there is plenty of room to move your hands for and aft. The drops are  parallel to the ramps on top, allowing them to be level. You'll see bars like this on many classic constructeur bikes. This is a great all around drop bar for long distance. Though it may not be important to everyone, I also think this is a great looking bar with smooth classic curves and a very nice finish.

The Course bars have a medium drop of about 114mm. The reach (measured from the stem clamp forward) is about 110mm. Available in 42, 44 or 46cm center-to-center. About 395g (44cm)

Our new Rando Bar is the bar that I always wanted. After riding with several different French, American, and Japanese rando bars, I designed this bar to my ideal. It has substantial flare for a wide stance in the drops. The bend is round and open, as on our Course bar. The area behind the hoods is long and flat for extra comfort. The drops are also long so you can slide you hands well back.

The Rando bar has a medium drop, 130mm. The reach (measured from the stem clamp forward) is about 115mm. Available in 42, 44, 46, and 48cm center-to-center at the ends; the width at the hoods is about 7cm narrower than at the ends.

In other news:

• We have more Grand Cru 50.4bcd cranks in stock.
• Check out these nice photos of a VO Randonneuse in Japan.
• We have a new saddle. I'll write more about it soon.

The New Site is Live!

store.velo-orange.com

 Among the improvements:

• More product photos and views; we'll be adding them for weeks
• You can set up an account and your info is saved for future orders
• There is a wish list that you can share
• There is a compare products function
• One click "back in stock" e-mail notification (coming soon; still buggy)
• Easily searchable
• Sorting filter
• Recently viewed items
• Breadcrumbs

 Please let us know what you think.

BTW, if you find a bug please tell us which operating system and browser (including version) you're using.  We know that early versions of IE are not compatible.


UPDATE from Kyle:

We know there have been a few issues so far. For some people, the "Under Construction" warning comes up instead of the home page. If you're getting this page, it means your computer has cached the old page and just needs an update. You can try to clear the cache on your browser, but if that doesn't work just point your browser to store.velo-orange.com and you should be able to see the new store no problem.

We had problems accepting international orders, but we're working on it now. If you're still getting an authorization failure when you try to check out, send us an email and we'll figure it out with you.

For those of you using Internet Explorer: if you're not already, please upgrade to the latest version IE 8! If you're running version 6 or 7 the site will not display properly; it still works, but the layout gets destroyed. The new site was designed to work best with Firefox/Chrome/Safari (standards compliance is important), so unless you have specific reasons or limitations that require the use of Internet Explorer I'd really urge you to use one of these browsers instead.

We'll be finding many little bugs over the next few weeks, but we'll take all the help we can get with spotting them. Thanks for being patient while we work out these (and other) problems!

Grand Cru 110bcd Cranks Are Here

As we wait for the new site to filter through the inter web tubes, I thought we'd post a few shots of the GC 110bcd double crank. We just received a small advanced shipment of these by air. The rest will arrive by ship in a few weeks.

They come with 48/34t 7075 alloy rings; that means they'll last a long time. The 7075 rings really are a big deal; that's why TA rings are so expensive. The price is $190 and the q-factor is around 140mm. The 170mm and 175mm lengths are here. 165mm and 172.5mm lengths will arrive later. And, yes, the arms are cold forged. Weight is around 670g. The dust caps/bolts are self-extracting. Uses a 110mm BB.

The two new Grand Cru drop bars have also arrived. We'll take photos soon.

Then there is the new model VO saddle. It's shape and dimensions are close to that of the Team Pro. Photos and details coming soon.

VO Site Will Be Down on Tuesday

Here's the plan: If our overnight work session goes well, we'll disable the Velo Orange web site tomorrow morning. The new and improved VO and VOI sites should come on line later in the day. At least we hope they do!

This blog will also be redesigned to match the new site. Wish us luck.

Nice Post About VO

The Path Less Pedaled blog has a nice post about visiting Velo Orange.  As you may remember, Russ and Laura dropped by our shop a couple of weeks ago.

They also have a new e-book, Panniers and Peanut Butter. It's a gear guide based on 14 months of touring:

Panniers & Peanut Butter is 75 pages long and goes way beyond a simple list of our stuff, or even a technical look at the pros and cons of different items. It’s chock-full of photos, tips, stories, lessons - and probably everything you could want to know about all of our gear.

Interbike

Tom, Robert, Perry, and I will be at Interbike this week. Interbike is the biggest bike show in America. Thousands of bike shop owners and distributor's representatives attend. So do most of the bike and component manufacturers. It is trade only, so not open to the public.

We have a 20 x 20 booth; number 1531. Please drop by if you attend, or ask the guys from your local bike shop to visit us. We'll have some cool pre-production samples of new rims, cranks, hubs, and other prototypes. We'll also have most of our existing components on display.

A Few Photos and Links

 

 

Box Dog Bikes in San Francisco stocks a lot of VO parts. They also do very nice builds on our frames, like the Rando and Mixte above. Drop by if you're in the Bay Area.

Russ and Laura are on an open ended and long term bike tour. They dropped by VO world headquarters today. You may know Russ as the author of the excellent Epicurean Cyclist blog. Their trip is documented on The Path Less Pedaled blog, which is also well worth reading. Laura creates handcrafted jewelry & bike accessories. Check out her work at the Tangerine Treehouse.

Fyxomatosis is a strange and wonderful shop in Australia. They make chain rings and build cool bikes with some VO components. They also have some classic Italian parts.

Frame Fit

I'm sure that most readers have their frame size dialed-in. Our customers are generally experienced cyclist who've owned enough bikes to know what fits. But we do get an e-mail every week or so asking advice on frame size selection. So here it is.

Now, I don't claim to be an expert on fit and find that even those who do are often not. I've been sized for a frame at least four times using various methods by self-proclaimed experts and been assured that I require a 57cm, a 59cm, a 60cm and a 61cm frame. My perfect top tube length is definitely, 58cm, 59cm, or 60cm, depending on the expert. So here is my non-expert advice on picking a VO frame size:

I generally recommend getting a traditionally-sized frame, one that's larger than many race bike oriented shops would recommend. The traditionally sized frame will allow you to get the handlebars to proper height without a super-tall stem. And it will allow a reasonable stem extension that does not put too much of your weight over the front wheel. The frame will handle better, be more comfortable, and you'll look better riding it.

Start by checking not at the frame's nominal size but the frame's stand-over height. This is the height of the top of the top tube of the bike with the size tires you'll use. Looking at our frame geometry table you'll see that the stand over height for a 51mm VO Polyvalent is 748mm with 38mm tires. Adjust for tire size, if you plan to fit 32mm tires, subtract 6mm. Most folks will want about 20-40mm clearance between your, ummm, nether-regions and the top tube. A bit more, or less, may be preferred by some. So the next step is to measure your personal stand-over height, or pubic bone height (PBH).

To measure PBH put on your cycling shoes and stand upright with you back to a wall. Spread your feet to about the same width as bike pedals. Now hold a large book square against the wall and raise it firmly against the aforementioned nether region. Have someone measure from the floor to the top of the book. Do this carefully to the closest millimeter. That is you very own PBH. With PBH in hand we can select the frame size based on stand-over height.

You'll also want to check that the top tube length will work for you. Many years ago I learned a method that's simple and gives you a good starting point if using drop bars. When on your bike, with hands on the brake hoods, look toward your front hub, the front axle should be hidden by the handlebars. If the stem extension is reasonable, between 80mm and 110mm, and the saddle rails are clamped to the seat post at, roughly, their midpoint, you have a top tube length that's about right. Now some will take me to task as this method has fallen out of favor for being old fashioned and imprecise,  but it's close enough that you can adjust the saddle and stem length to fine tune fit later. So try this on a few bikes and measure the top tube length of the one that fits best. Measure from the center of the seat tube to the center of the head tube along the top tube and compare to the frame geometry chart. I think it's more important to get the top tube length right than the stand-over height.

Of course this method is not going to work if you plan on using upright bars. In that case go for the longer top tube since upright bars generally sweep back.

Remember that this post is about buying the right sized VO frame and this method will do exactly that. You'll need more information and experience to find your best position on the frame (or to order a custom frame). A good place to start fine tuning would be by reading Bill Boston's site.

Rando Mini-Build Kit

Here is the new Rando mini-build kit.

It includes:

• Rando frameset
• Grand Cru Sealed Bearing Headset, mirror finish
• Grand Cru Seat Post
• VO Rando Rack
• Tektro R558 brakes

The price is $795. And any other components ordered at the same time are 10% off.

This is a limited time offer, when our existing stock of frames starts to run low it will be discontinued.

Mixte Mini-Build Kit

The VO Mixte Build Kit is finally available. The cost is $595.

The kit include:

• VO Mixte Frame
• Tange Levin alloy headset
• Grand Cru Rando rack
• Grand Cru Seatpost
• Tektro R556 Brakes
• Temple bell

The mixte frames will not be re-ordered for 2011, so get them while they last.

BTW, the reason for not re-ordering mixtes is that we're having a bit of a warehouse space crisis and we need to cut down on bulky items like frames.  We are looking for more warehouse space in our neighborhood or, perhaps, a bigger building to house VO World headquarters when our lease expires. I think we'll also skip the fillet brazed frame project for now.

Fillet Brazed Rando Frame

This is a prototype fillet brazed rando frame. Our frame factory has two craftsmen who are skilled at fillet brazing, one is the president. We're exploring the possibility of offering a very limited production run of these frames, maybe 25 frames. It has geometry like the current Rando frame, but it will have an upgraded fork with a nicer bend. The cost would be about $1200.

If you want a the un-ridden 61cm prototype in the photos it's available. The price, as shown (with chrome headset, crank, rack, BB, and brakes) is $1200. I had intended to build it up for myself, but I have too many bikes already.

Update: The prototype frame is sold. It went right after we posted it on the site.

 

Picture Day

Photos of some really neat bikes found their way into our in-box this week.

Andrew's wood porteur is really beautiful. More images on Flicker. It's really a sweet build, and I want to know more about the frame.

Justin sent photos of his "Faux Constructeur" based on a Schwinn Voyager. This is a super example of what you can do with a little imagination and the right part. Here's Justin's description:

I'd like to share photos of my 1981 Schwinn Voyageur 11.8 with you as your site and products were inspirational in outfitting the bike to my liking over the past year or so. Additional thanks to my local VO dealer, Vic's Classic Bikes.

The Grand Cru crank is arguably the pièce de résistance. I installed it yesterday. On the lowest two or three sprockets, however, the chain just nicks the inside of the crank arm. I'll have to install a spacer. Note that I did order the 118mm Grand Cru BB as recommended, but it's not wide enough to accommodate the 8 speed SRAM cassette.

Other VO parts inlclude:
SS housing (I had to use brake housing for under-bar wrap shifter routing as this is a tall frame).
La Paon fenders
Gran Compe levers and calipers
Grand Cru crank
Spanninga tail light (this does not function as advertised BTW)
Moderniste bottle cage
Constructeur rack
105/Diagonale rear wheel
Shimano 3N-80 32h hub laced to Diagonale front rim (built by local wheel builder)
Ostrich handlebar bag

Other things:
Long cage Ultegra RD
Schmidt E6 and VO light bracket
Crane bell
Brooks honey Flyer Special and bar wrap (I also love your sew-on wrap but wanted to try the wrap - VO's version was out of stock)
Ruffy Tuffy tires
Technomic stem (turned to 21.1mm by a local machine shop)
Nitto Noodle bar (44cm)

The only part original to the bike is the headset. If the size/configuration looks a bit odd it's because I have long legs and limited movement in my lower back from multiple vertebrae fusions.

Also note that the Ultegra triple FD is too wide for this crank on my bike. It is shown for mock-up purposes. It will be replaced by the double version. 

Beth Holladay gets credit for the photos. BTW, I think a BB 2mm spacer will solve the chain issue.

Justine sent photos of her lovely Mercian step-through. She writes:

It's a custom "Miss Mercian." On it are the following VO item

• Porteur bar
• Stem
• Guidonnet levers
• Bell mounted on steerer tube
• Hammered aluminum fenders (The undersides of the fork crown and brake bridge were drilled and tapped for the fenders. Yay!)
• Retro cage
• Toe straps
• Toe clip leathers

 Aaron did a very nice job building a Polyvalent for his wife and is looking forward to building one for himself. There are more photos on flicker.

 Thought you'd like this photo of part of our warehouse after receiving the last shipment.

We'll be exhibiting at Interbike, in Las Vegas, in a few weeks. It's one of the three big industry bike shows, along with Eurobike and the Taipei show. Amazingly, almost everything for our 20' x 20' booth fits into an 8' x 4' x 4' crate.

Dia Compe Inverse Levers, for 22.2mm Bars

Dia Compe has introduced a version of their inverse levers that fit most 22.2mm, MTB size, bars. This is a big deal because you can now use inverse levers on many standard-size city bars.

I'd asked the president of Dia Compe about making these last year, and he told me that other had also requested this new model. That's not surprising; I expect they will be very popular..

Installation of these levers is a little tricky because they are a tight fit in the bars. You'll actually deform the little metal tabs as you insert them, so some effort is required on bars made with thicker wall tubing.

Also, we have wheel stabilizers again. And we just got a shipment of wheels, so some of the models we've been out of will be available again.

Roller Bearing Headsets

Our roller bearing headsets arrived and I thought you'd like to see photos. BTW, we're calling them roller bearing, rather than needle bearing, because that's technically the correct term.

And here are the new knurled headset spacers. I especially like the black ones with the silver trim. They look like old camera lens extension rings. We have chrome spacers too.

New Stems and Restocked Components

Here is a new VO stem. We're calling it the "Tall-Stack" until we think of a better name. Stack height is 75mm. It offers a really clean look on a modern bike. Angle is 17-degrees, for a level extension, and lengths from 80-110mm are currently available.

Many of you asked for VO stems that fit 31.8mm handlebars. we now have them in both 6-degree and 17-degree versions.

We also have new stem shims: 31.8mm-to-26mm and 31.8mm-to-25.4mm.

A few Items we've been out of are back in stock, including:

VO Half Clips
VO Road Pedals
VO Stem Adapters
All sizes of threadless stems
1" Decaleur Kits
Gran Compe ENE Ciclo Tires

There are several other new items we'll list soon. 400 cases of parts arrived on Friday and it'll take a few days to sort through everything.

New Polyvalent Color?

 
We're about to order a new production run of Polyvalent frames and are thinking of changing the color. The two top choices are dark green or dark brown (top or bottom left on the chart). We're leaning toward brown. But I thought I'd open it up to suggestions. What's the best color for a city bike? The only color we've ruled out is blue, since we already have two other blue frames.

More Shiny Stuff

In our never-ending quest to make our products shinier and shinier we asked our headset factory about doing a second round of polishing on our already polished and anodized Grand Cru headset bodies. Instead, the factory prepared samples that were highly polished then lightly chrome plate. We were amazed; it was like a mirror finish. So we have headsets with a finish like those steel Campy headsets that I used in my youth, but with light weight alloy construction and with sealed bearings. These headsets are also more scratch resistant and have nicer  graphics.

We recieved a case of each size by air freight yesterday. The remainder will arrive by ship sometime next month, so we might run out before the ship docks. We should also be getting some neat knurled headset spacers and our roller-bearing headsets in that shipment.

Chrome Stems

If it seems as if we've been working on fillet-brazed quill stems for years, it's only because we have. The photo at left shows the final prototype for the Grand Cru stem. It will have an alloy wedge and even come with a clamp bolt. As to the price, $75-$95 is a fair guess. We hope to have them this winter.

There will also be  a simpler and less expensive VO fillet-brazed and chrome plated. I'll post details when we have the final prototype. It should be soon; we're very close on the design.

Interestingly, these stems are about the same weight or lighter than a Nitto Technomic, but the quill is a little shorter.

Update: Here is a post I wrote last year about Zen and the Art of Making Stems.

Roller Hanger Recall

The draw bolts on the latest production run of Grand Cru Roller Straddle Wire Hangers do not meet our specifications. They can crack if overtightened. We sent out about 130 of these before spotting the problem.

We've already sent e-mails to everyone who bought them, but in case you didn't get an e-mail I'm posting this. Not all roller hangers are effected, just one recent batch. Those can be sent back for a refund or replacement. Please contact us for more info if you bought roller hangers in the recent past.

An easy check is to see if the bolt sticks to a magnet; if it does it's OK.  Also, the good ones don't have a washer under the nut.

VO Double Crank, Special Deal

 The VO Compact Double cranks are here. But they are not as we specified. You may remember that we made a prototype that was chrome plated aluminum alloy. While it looked great and performed perfectly, most folks preferred a polished alloy finish, as on the triple and polyvalent cranks. Unfortunately, the change in specifications did not reach the factory and we have a shipment of chrome plated doubles.

We've decided to sell these at a big discount. The price was to be $115, but this batch is $65 while they last.

The factory still has many more chrome plated VO crank arms. Those will be assembled with polished alloy rings and priced normally. This winter we will have regular polished arms and rings. Again, we don't know of any problems or issues with the chrome cranks, they are simply not what we wanted. And they do look pretty cool.

Update: All sizes sold out.

VO and Grand Cru Cranks Are Here

The triple looks really nice. The VO Triple Crank is a modern, stiff, cold forged crank set. It has all alloy polished chain rings, 48/36/28. The rings are pinned and ramped for easy shifting. Machined alloy dust caps - not plastic - and nice BB bolts are included. At $125 these are a great deal.

The wide range Polyvalent crank has 46/30 rings and comes with a polished alloy chain ring guard. The 46/30 rings give almost the range of a triple when used with a wide cassette, while the chain ring guard helps keep your pants clean. This is a great crank for city bikes and utility bikes.

The 46t ring is specially designed to shift properly in the middle position. (A regular 46 outer ring won't work because it's spaced for the outer position mounting.) I want to use it with a VO chain guard on my own city bike; that will be a sweet setup.

 

Classic 50.4 BCD cranks, like the TA, Stronglight 49D, and others are still sought after by randonneurs and cyclo-tourists. These cranks offer tremendous versatility (chain rings from 26t to 62t fit). They are also light and have very narrow Q-factors, or tread.

While the new Grand Cru Crank looks like the classics, we have made several important improvements. They are cold forged 7075 aluminum alloy. The rings are thicker so they don't flex as on classic cranks. The BB taper and all threading is common sizes, no need for special tools and BBs. The rings have modern shifting aids so shifting performance is much improved.

The VO double cranks are not yet available

Wheel Stabilizer

I don't usually order accessories or components that I've haven't tried, but we'd received a fair number of e-mails suggesting that we stock wheel stabilizers. Tom has been lobbying for a year to add them to our inventory. What the heck is a wheel stabilizer?

Wheel stabilizers are common on European utility bikes. They are a spring connecting the fork to the down tube. They add a subtle self centering action to the front wheel, making loading and unloading of a bike with a basket, or say....our Porteur rack....much easier. You don't fight the bike while putting stuff in it. The front of the bike stays put. The spring offers some resistance to steering, so it counteracts deflections from hitting potholes and road debris, too.

It's pretty universal - any bike with a down tube of 1-3/8" or smaller can be fitted. It connects to the fork via the brake pivot hole. The hole diameter is made for nutted calipers or a M6 bolt. For recessed mount calipers, minor modification with a drill is necessary. It's rust resistant, includes all the required brackets and hardware, and has a pinch guard to cover the torsion spring. Not bad for $10.

Since we added them to the site a couple of days ago, they've been selling very well. Who would have thought?

Update: We sold out. More are on order, but no ETA yet.

Gran Compe ENE Mini-rack Details

The Gran-Compe ENE racks arrived today. These are much like the Mafac mini-racks and are designed to support a handlebar bag. (More info about the Mafac racks can be found here.) ENE racks mount directly to Gran-Compe 610 and Dia-Compe 750 centerpull brakes. There is no direct attachment to the frame so they can be used on any bike so long as the brakes fit.

They are chrome plated steel and the platform is about 140mm x 70mm. The  upright is about 75mm high. So they are the right size for an average handlebar bag, but too small for anything larger. There are four 5mm light mounts under the platform, two on each side. The rack sits level on most frames. At 160g these have to be among the lightest racks ever made. Cost is $50.

The tag on the rack reads, "Designed only for GC610 & DC 750 brakes". Of course we tried it on several other centerpull brakes and managed to mount it on various Mafac (including Racers and Raids), Weinmann, and older Dia-Compe models. The mounting tangs are 68mm c-t-c, but can be flexed to spread or narrow a little.

On another subject, we just received more Montmarte, Left Bank, and Porteur handlebars. A lot of you have been asking about these, so they'll probably sell fast.

118mm Bottom Brackets

  We just received 118mm Grand Cru bottom brackets. They are available in all thread-types:

• Standard BSA (or ISO)
• French thread
• Italian thread (On sale!)
• Threadless, which fit Swiss and several other odd sizes.

118mm BBs have been a little hard to find, but it's a very common size on older bikes, especially those with classic European cranks. They will also be used with our new 50.4bcd cranks.

BTW, we are overstocked on Italian thread BBs so they are on sale.

All Grand Cru bottom bracket have oversize sealed bearings and boron-steel hollow axles. Both cups are alloy. The quality is first rate. Axle bolts are included. 258gm average weight. JIS taper.

A customer recently pointed out a troubling comment on a competitor's web site. He was speculating that our BBs were simply re-badged versions of some lower-quality BBs he sells. Not only is that untrue, but anyone in the bike biz knows it.