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At the Bench: the Almost Champion
The first bike shop I worked for had a reputation for being a no-nonsense place that provided quick turnarounds on race bike repairs. We unofficially prioritized repairs for…
The Angle, Fork Rake, Part III
So in Part I of fork rake, I explained just what it is and how it affects a bike's handling. In Part II, we looked at common fork rakes for different kinds of bikes and a…
Not Cycling: Sliderking is a Thing
On Christmas morning 1976, I woke to find a Big Wheel parked in front of the tree, the one with the skid brake. Because we lived in Rhode Island at the time and climate…
At the Bench: Stretching Cables
When I first went to work in a bike shop, other mechanics stressed to me how important it was to "stretch" the new cables on a bike during assembly. In the course of…
At the Bench: Cone Nuts
This morning (as I write this, not the morning you're reading this), as my eyelids fluttered me into consciousness, I had a flashback to the shop where I developed my…
Evangelizing Wales
Let us dispense with pretense. I am Welsh. Though I grew up in the States most of my family live in the green, hilly central part of Wales that the English sometimes refer to…
The Angle: Fork Rake, Part II
In Part I, we looked at how fork rake is determined and how it affects the way a bike steers. That's most of what you need to know about fork rake, but not quite all of…
The Angle: Fork Rake, Part I
So far we've hit bottom bracket drop and head tube angle in the Angle. It's a good start on understanding why a particular bike handles the way it does, but as I mentioned in…
But Still
It doesn't take much. Really. Two mostly round, mostly true wheels. A hop is ok. Oscillations can work, the brakes all the way out, whatever screws they have unscrewed to…
At the Bench: the Bike You Want
Selling a bike seems easy, right? Bikes are awesome and anyone we speak to needs one/another one. So working in a bike shop, where people walk in to buy one of our favorite…