Vallie Components - bicycle part and accessory design

Its been a while since an update. I guess I've been busier than I thought. The weather here on the East coast is finally starting to warm up, and it almost feels like spring. Even the Shaved Ice vendors are back out on the street (Even though its only like 10°C). I've been riding a whole bunch, but not just on my track bike lately. At the start of the month, I finally finished a project I had going all winter. The Time Trial Tall:

Bike Check:
Frame: 59cm Peugeot Carbolite to 58cm Fuji Ace
Fork: 1" to 1-1/4" internally sleeved extended steerer Quintana Roo Carbon 650c
Stem: ITM Carbon wrapped
Bar: Syntace Bullhorns
Brakes: Shimano 105 front, Tektro Rear, Dia Compe levers
Seat post: Stock Peugeot 24.0mm steel
Saddle: Avocet Turbo courtesy of John Prolly
Cranks: Shimano 600
Pedals: Shimano M520 SPD
Chain Ring: Shimano 52T
Chain: KMC 3/32"
Derailleur: Shimano 105 with 105 down tube shifter
Tires: Rear: Specialized All Conditions 700x23, Front: Ritchey Tom Slick 26"x1"
Rear Wheel: Tempest 2 asymetric hub lace to Velocity Deep V, 28H, half radial, 8speed cassette
Front Wheel: Spinergy Spox 26"

Other: The bike was CAD designed, and turned out exactly as I had hoped. Steerer tube angle is still 73° and there is minimal flex from the front end. The bike is stable under all conditions, and feels like a big road bike. So far I've put over 100km on it in Manhattan traffic, and will be taking it on some long road rides very soon.

In hub news, we're still doing destructive testing. I raced in the Randall's Island Tracklocross this past weekend, and really put my drive train through some abuse.

 

During the race I swear I heard my cog weeping as the chain rollers ground mud and sand into every trough and orifice of the hub. After cleaning it up I looked at my fork crown, and it has been ground down to the brazing. The race was super fun, and I came in in the top 10 out of 42 racers. After a couple more days of riding around on 32mm CX tires at 40psi on a 40/17 gear I got bored and switched my bike back to its usual street setup. Here's how it looked for the race though:

In Team news, Morgan is hopping onto a plane tonight, and will arrive in NYC tomorrow. He's got some clever bike box trickery going on to try and get the airlines to not charge him oversize or bike box fees. Who knows how that will work. I'm stoked to get to ride with him over the next couple of weeks.

My other rider DUNCAN LEWIS has also been hard at work. Both sewing rad clothes, and riding the shit out of his bike. After many issues with UPS, Customs, and the bike shop ordering his rim, its FINALLY on its way to him. Wow. that took forever. Sorry Duncan. I'll have a complete bio and bike check very soon. Shortly, he'll be filming for an upcoming movie called The Revival. Check out the Trailer. For now though, here's Duncan slaying a big ledge:

 

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Well, it seems my test riders are doing their jobs.

I just got word from Morgan Taylor that he hucked himself (along with his Rocky Mtn. Boroughs) off a 16 set in East Van. How gnar is that?  Apparently, he was hauling ass through a park, knowing there was a stair set coming up, but not knowing how big it was. He was going fast enough to be committed, and pulled up, making that leap of faith that is only familiar to BMXers, MTBers, backcountry skiers and snowboarders.

I imagine he was in the air for quite some time. Probably long enough to realize he wasn't going to make it. Word is he cased his rear wheel on the last step, and the front end of the bike came down HARD. 

Total damage:

• Rear Deep V pinched from stair impact
• Front Deep V ovalized with ripples where the spokes pulled
• Front fork (Bianchi Pista)  has one leg bent forwards
• Morgan's thumb is sprained, and he's banged up all over.

I think he's still in shock. I made him ride back and take the picture of the stairs. Tim Wyatt's GTB is in there for scale.  He measured it too. 8' overall height, 16 stairs at 6" each, 16' distance from the top stair to the bottom. I've witnessed some pretty retarded stunts on track bikes before, but this is probably the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

...oh yeah, the hub is fine. Morgan will be relacing it to another Deep V soon, and riding his track bike again once he finds another 1" fork.

In other news, my other (yet to be named) test rider is patiently waiting for his wheel to be delivered. Though, he just broke a Phil hub, and is getting less patient by the day. Stay tuned for his bio and bike check once he finally does get on my hub.

EDIT: Since this article is getting pasted all over the blogs I feel I should clear some things up. I did not see this happen. I am on the other side of the continent. I DO believe Morgan when he tells me this story for many reasons. He is a very close friend and I have ridden with him a LOT. He has nothing to gain by lying to me. I know this sort of thing is well within his physical and mental capacity. He rides BMX and smoothly hits lines I will not. I also know that he rides near the limits dictated by physics half the time he is on a bicycle (track, BMX, mini, tall, etc). He does NOT have a camera crew follow him around to record his indiscretions on a bike. When he hurts himself it's often in traffic, and often when he is by himself. That actually worries me a lot. I am glad he is okay, and look forward to riding BMX with him when he comes to visit in NYC. For all the internerd skeptics, I'm going to post the pictures of his bike. It actually fared pretty well considering the size of the drop. I would attribute that to someone who knows what they're doing when airing and landing a bicycle.

 

 

 

 

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-- the mystery administrator 

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Well, I've got just over 1000 km on my first hub. 

• Axle bolt cycles = 30
• Cog bolt cycles = 5 each side.
• Bearing installation = 3x 
• Rims = 2

Notes:

The raw aluminum finish is getting a bit cloudy, but these prototypes weren't cleared or anodized in any way, so that's to be expected when riding on salty roads. The bearings are still super smooth after multiple installations, and after all the axle bolt cycles, the 6061 bearing collars are holding up well. I wrecked the bead seat on the first deep V I had it laced to, either from the ice race or casing stairs. The second rim laced up easily with the same spokes, but new nipples.

I've got about 900km on the round profile teeth, and 100 on the straight profile teeth. While I think the round teeth will wear longer, due to increased roller contact throughout the parabolic travel cycle, the straight tooth cog seems to be quieter on deceleration. This is where the bottom of the chain is pulled taught, and the rollers have to find their way into the troughs under load. Further testing will determine which is best.

You can see in this pic that not only is the round tooth cog still dirty, but its got a touch of rust on the inside face. I guess the black oxide coating isn't quite thick enough. That's another minor issue that will have to be taken care of next revision.

If this round tooth profile looks familiar to you, that's because it's the brainchild of Phil Wasson, the machinist behind many of today's best BMX parts. Check out this video of Phil's Super Rat Machine Works shop. Its good to know that what's good enough for Tree is good enough for me.

Things are looking pretty promising. I've been getting a lot of emails from interested bikers, and shops about the release date and price.  Honestly, I can't say just yet. There's still a lot more testing to be done before I'll be ready to sell these to the biking public. ..and by testing, I mean hard core riding. Which is what I'm about to do right now!

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