A few new products and miscellaneous notes.
It's funny how companies don't always follow our well considered road maps. For example, we seem to be selling more VO seat post to racers and triathletes than to randonneurs and "country riders". Hardly a day goes by without an e-mail asking for a 31.8mm and/or carbon version. The reason is that all those folks riding too-small frames find benefit in increased set back. We see a similar interest in our stems. So we'll be introducing a new component line called Gran Rapide to meet this need.
Here are a few more projects we're working on. As I mentioned, we're looking at about 100 new products. So these next few weeks will be very busy with plans, price sheets, and specifications buzzing back and forth between Taiwanese factories and VO world headquarters. As usual I'm probably too optimistic about delivery times, so take take them with the proverbial grain of salt.
We've added some new products:
I'm back from Taiwan with lots to report, enough that I'll split it into two posts. We had an extremely productive trip, dozens of meetings with manufacturers at the show and a plethora of new products. After the show we took the high speed train to central Taiwan and visited 11 factories.
Among the new products and projects:
Tom and I will be attending the Taipei International Cycle Show next week The following week we'll be visiting factories that make VO parts. I think this trip marks a sort of transition for Velo Orange.
Velo Orange has offered a wide variety of components and accessories that I though were needed by cyclists. Some of these have proven very popular, others have sold only modestly. We are now at the point where we have a rather large crop of successful products. This means that we'll start fewer new projects this year and concentrate more on refining, and promoting our current offerings. And we'll discontinue some items that have not done as well. I feel like we're beginning a transition from start-up mode to long-term operational model.
I also don't foresee entering new products categories in the near future. You won't see VO lights or apparel or tires soon, but you may well in a year or three. This doesn't mean we'll stop working on new products, just cut back a bit. Here are a few of the things we're currently working on:
How's this for a headline: "Spyclists: how Hitler Youth's cycling tours caused panic in prewar Britain"? Click through; the article, from today's Guardian is fascinating. And keep an eye out for those dastardly cyclo-tourists!
Many of us are leaving for the North American Hand Built Bike Show tomorrow morning. So the VO showroom will be closed Thursday and Friday. Orders will continue to be shipped without delay by our ever-industrious warehouse staff.
We'll have a very large booth at NAHBS and we'll display all the Velo Orange and Grand Cru products as well as numerous prototypes. The show is in Richmond, Virginia this year and is well worth attending,
Now that you've seen the Grand Cru crank, I thought you might be interested in the less expensive VO models. These are all 110bcd, JIS taper, 5-10 speed compatible, and fairly modern in design. Note that the logos on these prototypes will be replaced with a VO crest. Also, there are a few extra little holes in the prototype chain rings that won't appear on the production version.
The Velo Orange Rando frame is designed for spirited long distance road riding and light touring. It can be thought of as a frame that's halfway between a racing frame and a touring frame, suitable for a “credit-card tour”, a 1200km brevet, or a fast club ride.
Construction is lugged and of traditional diameter, not oversize, double butted chrome-molly tubing. The lugs are classic medium point style with small reinforcement webs. Tubing specs and geometry are virtually identical to those used on our semi-custom Pass Hunter and Rando frames. The frame is designed to give a supple and comfortable ride.
The paint is dark blue with just a bit of red, giving a slight purple tint. A single decal graces the downtube, in the traditional constructeur style.
The rando frame is designed for long reach (47 to 57mm) caliper brakes. The ideal tires for this frame would be high quality supple 25-30mm 700c tires such as Pasela 28mm, Grand Bois 28mm, or Challenge 27mm (which are really 29mm). Such tires will provide optimal handling, a very comfortable ride and low rolling resistance 43-45mm fenders fit perfectly. Maximum tire size without fenders is 32mm.
As with all VO frames the emphasis is on comfort and perfect handling, handling that is neutral and forgiving even after 12 hours in the saddle. We use a low trail design as perfected by the French constructeurs and famed for it's ability to "take care of a tired rider". Since low trail geometry is perfect for use with handlebar bag there are braze-ons for a VO rando rack. This keeps the bag within reach, but low enough to ensure that it does not adversely effect handling.
I thought I should send in a report about using the Grand Cru threadless bottom bracket. I own a commuter that is built up around an early-1990s Specialized Rockhopper frame, one that has some damaged threads in its bottom-bracket shell. It had become impossible to turn the pedals with any force without producing a grating creak, no matter how much grease or teflon tape I used when screwing in the bottom bracket. I therefore ordered one of the threadless BBs and tried to install it earlier this week.
The first night, I despaired. No matter what I did, I couldn't get the non-drive-side cup to turn onto the cartridge's threads. Eventually I realized that the problem was that the Grand Cru is a 68mm bottom bracket but my model of Rockhopper has an over-sized, 73mm shell. I had decided that that was the end of the road and started pricing new frames.
The next day, though, while I was talking to another volunteer mechanic about my problem, he asked me why I didn't just shave a few millimeters off of the bottom-bracket shell. My automatic response was, "Because that would trash the threa...oh."
On Saturday therefore I did just that: scribed and ground off 2mm from each side of the BB shell, re-tapped and -faced the shell, and then slipped in the threadless BB. Success! A bike that I was almost certain was a lost cause is now riding smoothly and quietly for the first time in about six months. And, if someone has the appropriate tools, they can add those with over-sized BB shells to the list of bikes that they can rescue with this type of bottom bracket. Truly, a great design.
I put together some photos of my process, more because I wanted to show other amateurs how I got it to work:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/the-macnab/sets/72157623481976138/
Anticipating another explosive spring season, Velo Orange is looking to add to our warehouse staff. Here is how Annette puts it:
We need another person fast, who gets to know our stock and warehouse like it was their own sock drawer. Must read an order correctly, pack a box well, and differentiate a BB shim from a headset spacer. Ability to thrive in chaos with equanimity a plus. Pay isn't great, but it's more than most bike shops offer (you wouldn't relocate across country for this). And we move people up rapidly and are always looking to use any other skills you might have. Employees also get a huge discount, plus free prototype parts to test and keep. Full time. Please e-mail if interested.
I'm putting on the finishing touches to Miss Hannah's mixte and will be shipping it off to her in Washington DC sometime next week.
I wanted to share with you all what Roger at our local engraving shop--Wyoming Trophy and Engraving--did for Miss Hannah's Velo Orange chainguard.
I sent the chainguard and my quote (with apologies to John Keats--I *was* an English major about a thousand years ago ;-) into town with Terry, my partner and Hannah's Mom, and Roger did the rest.
Only Heidi, who has a four wheel drive truck, managed to reach Velo Orange today. But the roads seemed to be getting plowed and we plan to be fully staffed and open tomorrow. I think we can get all the Velo Orange orders that came in this week shipped by closing time; sorry for the delay. VO Imports has also had a snow holiday and all those orders should ship on Friday as well.
This is now officially the snowiest winter on record, by 11" I think. And more is predicted for Monday. We're going cross country skiing on Saturday. Anyone else doing snow related fun stuff?
Four of us braved the icy and unplowed streets and reached VO world headquarters today. Heidi, Annette, and Kyle managed to pack and ship all the orders that came in over the weekend and they're still working on those from Monday and today. But with another snowstorm predicted for tonight we'll almost certainly be closed tomorrow. Poor Tom, who lives about a mile from the Capital building in Washington DC, has still not seen a plow on his street. My street was plowed last night only after I stopped a plow driver and asked.
Due to the recent snowstorm most of our staff can't make it to work today. So VO is closed.
This was one of the heaviest snowfalls, some say the heaviest, on record in our little city. We'd previously had only 13 storms on record that deposited over a foot of snow, but we've had two this year. This one was over two feet and we were simply not prepared for it.
My own street hasn't yet been plowed and is impassible even for four wheel drive trucks, though it's fun to watch them try. Many of our downtown streets were built in the days of horse and buggy and are so narrow that they are hard to plow. The sidewalks outside of downtown have not been cleared at all so walking down the busiest road in town to reach VO is hazardous at best, riding would be suicidal. A couple of our staff are stuck in other cities due to canceled flights. And public transport is not running so Perry can't make it in from Baltimore. Tom, who lives in Washington DC, says his street has also not been plowed. What a mess! And there is a winter storm watch for Tuesday night with predictions of up to 20" more snow.
I am glad I live in the downtown area where we can walk to restaurants, shops, and pubs. Most of the business owners and staff live close by, so many places are open. With few cars and only locals about, our compact city center has a cozy and convivial feel. What a wonderful argument for building walkable and integrated neighborhoods. I think I'll answer e-mails from home then walk a few blocks, have a long lunch at one of our Irish pubs, and read Jack London over a second pint. Might as well make the best of it. For those of you stuck in un-plowed suburbia I would suggest Kunsler's Geography of Nowhere.
Anyone else snowbound? What are you reading?
I thought you might be interested in some photos of the Polyvalent build I recently finished up. It's a complete black and silver motif with a combination of old and new components. The bike is intended for commuting, errand running, and social rides. So far, I've really enjoyed the bike. The ride is stable and the low pressure tires really smooth out the bumps.
We have three new models of stainless steel fenders. I generally prefer alloy fenders for road bikes, but there are good reasons to choose stainless steel. Stainless steel fenders are more durable and dent resistant. They are particularly good for city bikes that spend time in bike racks and locked to parking meters. Stainless steel fenders should also be considered for long distance touring bikes where maximum reliability is more important than a little extra weigh.
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