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Roller Brakes Never Had A Chance…
from Rookie’s keyboard, Hello, friends Today, I decided to write a short piece on roller brakes – a somewhat obscure braking system. This post compares the advantages and disadvantages of disc and roller bicycle brakes in relation to one another. Definitions Disc Brakes – hydraulic or cable-operated calipers (jaws in simpler terms) that grab a rotor attached to the hub…
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A Genius Way To Install Fenders On a Road Bike Without Eyelets
from Rookie’s keyboard, Hello, friends Yersterday, I made a post on the importance of mudguards in the world of road cycling. I realize that there are many people out there who would like to add a set of full fenders to their road machines but don’t know how due to the lack of clearance and…
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Mudguards Are Not For Losers (on road bike elitism)
from Rookie’s keyboard, Hello, friends Honestly, I experienced a slight burnout from writing so much for the site over the past few weeks. (If you are wondering why production has slowed down a bit.) But I have prepared another piece on a topic that has annoyed me for quite some time, namely the hatred toward…
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Fixed-gear Essential Knowledge: Pista Drops
from Rookie’s keyboard Hello, friends In this short piece, I will discuss the so-called pista drop handlebars. Many rookies might mistake them for standard road drops. I know because I was one of those rookies once upon a time. The Differences Pista drop bars (PDBs) are built specifically for track bicycles ridden on a velodrome. They are…
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Tig Welded Frames = Domination
from Rookie’s keyboard, Hello, friends In this post, I will discuss two of the three classic ways to assemble a steel frame. They are: a. Lugs b. Welding c. Brazing I already have a post on brazing, so today I will focus on TIG welds. TIG Welded Frames TIG welding stands for Tungsten Inert Gas welding. During…
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Stopping The Aero Bars Addiction
from Rookie’s keyboard, Hello, friends Here’s the deal – where I live people seem to be getting a little too “addicted” to aero bars…for real. Yesterday, a man came to the shop asking for aero bars designed “specificially for a hybrid”. I wasn’t at the terminal, but I insitnctively looked at him when I heard…
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Curved Frames? Maybe… or maybe not
from Rookie’s keyboard, Hello, friends It’s time to dissect another cycling topic. I am dedicating this evening’s post to tube shape. There are two main options – straight (the classic choice) and curved (the snob/alternative variant). My preference is for straight as I like classic things. But don’t worry. I will still try to be…
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The Uncomfortable Truth About Non-steel Rigid Forks (carbon and alloy)
from Rookie’s keyboard, Hello, friends Time for some more fork talk. I will be honest. I am not the biggest fan of non-steel rigid forks, but since you asked for a post on the subject, I prepared one. Today, I will talk about carbon and alloy forks with zero mercy for either of them. The…
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Thursday Magic: The “Fake” 7-speed Hub
from Rookie’s keyboard, Hello, friends Today, I will tell you about the “fake” 7-speed hub I discovered while working on some ancient MTB. First, you need to know is that there are two types of 7-speed hubs – a “dedicated one” and a “fake” one. The first is short and works only with 7-speed cassettes…
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Octalink Died But SQ Taper Didn’t (and won’t)
from Rookie’s keyboard, Hello, friends If you’ve been reading this site for a while, you probably know that I am a big fan of square taper BBs, especially the old-school models that you can service with a set of cone wrenches. In this post, I will tell you why Octalink, the successor of square taper…