Vallie Components - bicycle parts design

The Hardware trickles In

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 20:10:22 +0100

On Monday I took a quick trip down to the USA to pick up some of the hardware I'll need. The whole importing commercial goods thing was easier than I thought it would be. I've now got a big box of 6902 bearings from Wheels Manufacturing, and some nice stainless German Torx+ bolts from Acument in stock. The bearings are ultra smooth, and the bolts look super classy.

The stainless M8 and M10 axle hardware is on its way as well, but those bolts are being custom made back East, so there's a few weeks lead time left.

I had ordered the bearings and the Torx bolts so early on because I knew I'd need them for testing. I will be pressing these bearings into some anodized sample pucks to ensure the proper fit. I'll also be doing destructive testing on the bolts to determine the max acceptable torque. Just some of the fun things I get to engineer along the way I suppose =]

In machining news, I dropped in on Dennis recently, and the chips are indeed flying. All of the hub blanks have been end milled so they're square, and now they're ready for the lathe. Here you can see one sitting in a nice 3" round clamp on the mill table:

Spring is here and the chips are flying! I can't wait to have these things rolling this summer!

I was looking into other fixed freestyle hubs lately, and found these. It looks like they've got a similar collar as mine, and take 6902 bearings as well. Now, I'm not going to say I invented the fixed freestyle hub, but I'm pretty sure my prototypes caught enough attention that they might have inspired other people to make similar stuff. I guess the main difference here with mine is the ISO mounted cogs, solid flanges, and that mine are being machined in North America. I'm stoked that All City is putting these out really. The bolts are reminiscent of Odyssey BMX hardwware too.

I'm going to wrap this post up with a really interesting link. Its got nothing to do with hubs, but EVERYTHING to do with what's right about bikes. I don't read Swedish, so you don't have to either.. but have a scroll through this thread. It appears that this fellow is making his own porteur bike FROM SCRATCH. I love his rear end alignment jig, wheel truing stand, and general level of creativity. Truly inspiring!

Cutting Blanks

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:54:52 +0100

Yesterday I was able to pick up my 3" 6061 bar stock from a company out in Coquitlam. I swear, the guy working there was a fork lift SURGEON. Dude pivoted, pirouetted, and quad axled the 12' long package into the back of my creepy white van. It was like he was playing the game operation. Impressed. The stuff is super heavy when its all bundled together.

Anways, when I arrived at DMT we cut the strapping and unloaded the bar stock one at a time into his yard. Then we brought his band saw outside in order to do the rough cutting:

It looks kind of janky with the milk crate in there, but he's got it shimmed to be level on the saw, in order to waste the minimum amount of aluminum. Its a lot easier to lift and work with 6' lengths than double that.

Anyways, I left him to cut up my shell blanks.

Soon I'll be picking up my 7075, which is on its way in from Portland. I've also got bearings and bolts coming up from the USA, but I have to import those myself. Anyone ever filled out a B3-3 form?

Production Preparation

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:55:23 +0100

The photos are pouring in and right now I feel like the only one who didn't attend NAHBS. Its alright though, I'm still getting things sorted.

This past week I visited Altech Anodizing to check out their shop. Their GM, Ed Bryant showed me around and explained their processes to me. I was pretty stoked to see a company be so up front about how they go about business. They're ISO 9000:2008 certified, and it makes sense. They are running Race Face parts all day long, and if they didn't have strict process control, then they could end up with different looking parts from day to day. They've got it down to a science, and can do pretty much any colour of the visible light spectrum. I'm not going that far though. Just a simple electropolishing, anodizing, then laser etching. Like so:

The laser etching is the only tricky part, as their laser shoots on a single axis.. so complex wraps (as some Raceface cranks have) take multiple setups, and accurate fixtures. We ended up talking about all sorts of different manufacturing issues, and I walked out of there with a good feeling. I'm really looking forward do doing business with them.

Stepping back a few steps, I've been finalizing things with DMT for the machining of my parts. Before I know it, I'll have my creepy white van full of 12' bar stock! At our last meeting I just realized I didn't have any markings on my cogs! That just won't do. So I guess I have a choice of fonts based on what cutter the mill runs. I'll probably go with a very simple Arial type done with a ball cutter. Its not a huge deal either way, but its just funny how I've got all these little choices to deal with.

Anyways, here's the production hub set profile:

The new rear collars are flared a bit, with wrench flats to ease removal after they've been abused. Since the fronts don't have room for wrench flats, they'll have pin spanner holes, so you can break them free, should they ever become seized to the axle (worst case scenario, you run the hubs through a salty winter and don't forget to clean them until sometime in the summer). I've changed the collars to 7075 as well, to be a bit harder. The tradeoff is that the bar stock is slightly more expensive, and I'm warned that the anodizing might not be a 'perfect' match.

The flanges are now going to be drilled on an angle optimized for deep section rims. I've taken a good look at quite a few 700cmx trick forks, and I've got the front flanges as far out as possible so that they still fit within the legs. I feel this will give the front wheel a good amount of lateral rigidity for those who choose to land their bikes sideways. Despite the differences in flange width, the spokes still calculate within 1mm of each other so wheelbuilding should be a snap.

That's about it for the updates. I'm going to go look at a few more NAHBS photos now.

One Man show

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:09:53 +0100

Despite the lack of site updates, things have been humming right along here at Vallie components. I feel sort of like a one man show, trying to figure out the logistics of this business on my own. Dennis has been helping though, and we've been working hard on trimming the cost down as much as possible for lean batch production of the hub sets and cogs. I've got most of the red tape sorted out (Federal, Provincial, and Municipal licenses/tax numbers etc).. and I've even got Tshirt quotes coming in! Phew! I never thought I would spend so much time in front of Excel again.

So why aren't the hubs available?

Good question. There are a few suppliers I'm still auditioning, as its tough to find some of the required pieces locally (to me at least). After that, I've got to get Paypal/Zencart up and running for my site (Hopefully my webmaster/wife can help me out with that), write the manual, get the packaging in line, figure out international shipping and tax laws, Do first article QA testing, then FINALLY I can simply hit GO! and the world will rush out to buy my hubs.

Right now it looks like my first production batch will be 30 hub sets, and 20 single rears. All 36H. Half will be silver, and half will be black. The initial run of cogs will range from 15T to 17T. If I get enough interest from the polo crowd, I'll do bigger cogs.

Anyways, thats about it for news. I'm still riding the hell out of my original prototype and its got 4364km (2712 miles) on it since I originally built it one year ago. I guess a year product development time isn't that big in the grand scheme of things, but it sure seems like a long time ago, on an internet far away.

2010 already!

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 01:52:22 +0100

Here's an update for all of you who have been following the blog on this here site.

Its 2010 and I'm back in Raincouver BC!
We've moved into a cute little house in East Vancouver, near the inlet. After MONTHS of not so hilarious home owner type problems (8000lbs of garbage, rotting walls and floors, hot water heater failure, leaky roof, no ducting etc) I'm finally "settled" and able to get back to work on bike stuff.

I've been grinding away at some final design revs for the hubs, to make them lighter AND more cost effective for production. I'm almost ready to hand them over to a local machinist.

He's super talented, really into bikes, and understands the pricipals of JIT manufacturing so I think this is going to be a good fit.
Either way, we've got a wide open road ahead of us.

Thanks for reading this, and stay tuned for more updates!

Quadra Island

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 05:08:19 +0100

So I've been working at Naked Bicycles just over 2 weeks now. Its pretty amazing. I live in my van, I'm fed well, go on daily rides with the Quadra Dogs, and get to build bicycles all day (and night) long. Not really a bad gig. In my spare time I've been prototyping a burly cargo fork. I'll be testing it out over the winter to decide if I want to pursue making more of them, or if the design is a worthwhile endeavor.

This shop great, and Sam has been teaching me a LOT. You can read all about the shop in a new article on Pinkbike as well.

This island work vacation has to come to an end sometime though. Soon I'll be back in Vancouver, and able to focus my efforts on the hubs again. Hopefully I'll return with more bikes than I brought here (five).

Home?

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:28:42 +0100

Wow.

Back on the west coast. Strange. Its been a long tough month of living in a van, crawling through caves, swimming in anything wet, mountain biking, stealing showers, driving, sight seeing, and building relations.

I got to check out the Geekhouse shop, Bilenky Cycles, Serotta, Super Rat, Ground Up Designs as well as a bunch of other rad places. Everyone I met was super chill and great to talk with. Many thanks to those who invited us into their homes along the way.

Now that I'm back in Vancouver, I'm already back at work. I've been meeting with people, and will be setting up a shop space shortly (as well as a home of course). I'll be working on the next run of hubs pretty soon as well. I've even got a three week apprenticeship deal worked out with one of my favorite builders, Sam Whittingham. He's currently going for the hour record in a fully faired recumbent down in Detroit, but when he gets back he's got a pile of CX frames to build. I'll be helping out with that. I'm pretty stoked to go work for him, to say the least.

I've been getting back into the Vancouver traffic flow as well. Or lack of flow? Stopping at lights, dealing with busses etc. Yesterday I tried out the 'newly completed' Central Valley Greenway, and it was pretty much as I expected. Slow, dirty, confusing. The signs are laminated paper hung by zip ties. I'm not exactly sure who leaked out that it's complete, maybe I just imagined that part. Still, I won't be making it a part of my temporary commute from Surrey to Vancouver.

I also tried out the new Burrard Bridge bike lane yesterday, and was pretty stoked. There's a lot more room than before, and a LOT more bikes. There's almost enough room to pass people going southbound, but I wouldn't want to spook anyone with wide bars on a bridge. That can lead to trouble.

Its good to see so many friendly Canadian faces again, and I'm looking forward to digging my roots back into this city. The rest of this summer is going to be really great.

Rider Bio: DUNCAN

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:56:44 +0100

A formal introduction is in order. Duncan Lewis has been ripping things up since before the dawn of time. I first met him at a handful of years back at the Burnaby Velodrome's track clinic. Since then I've seen him progress as both a rider and artist. His paint is always fresh, and his bikes are in a constant state of 'thrashed'. Dude sews WITCH HUNT CLOTHING too!

Here he is BEFORE the Vallie Components Hub:

..and here he is now!

Name: Duncan James Gillespie Lewis
Age: 27
height: 6,2'
weight: 175
Hometown: rural regional district of area b
Currently: montreal
beard upkeep details: let it be
riding style: attempted creative use of my surroundings
riding goals: keep progressing and keep having fun
favorite place to ride: anywhere with good people
Dumbest thing you've done on two wheels: messengered all winter in Montreal (Ie:-35 and LOTS of snow)
Best thing you did on two wheels: meet most of my closest friends
ride/post ride rituals: nothing, its usually fairly spur of the moment
Music: a vast variety
Foods: poutine,beer,coffee

Bike Check:

Frame: brooklyn machine works
Fork: black market
Headset: fsa
Stem: dmr
Bars: bent/cheap/black
Saddle: broken
Post: see above
BB: profile
Cranks: profile
Pedals: very broken
Chainring: currently a bent profile, soon to be a tree splined.
Chain: a "colaboration" of many different chains from my past
Rear wheel: Sun rhyno lite/duh Vallie
Rear tire: 700/38
Front wheel: phil wood/sun rhyno lite
Front tire: 700/32

I've got reports that he's already trying his best to destroy his new rear wheel. Here's a link to a quick edit he shot this weekend. I'll get video embedding working on this site asap! Welcome to the Team Duncan!

Spring has Sprung

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:31:25 +0100

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:

[Photo courtesy of FastboyCycles]

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:

How to treat my hubs

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:38:00 +0100

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.

Feeds now working!

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:17:51 +0100

I've made the feeds work. Finally.

A lot of you were coming here and getting 404 errors because of an error in the URL formation that was being fed to FeedBurner. I believe it has been fixed.

Thank you for your patience, and please use the contact form to report any web site problems you've encountered in your visits.

-- the mystery administrator

The first 1000 km

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:01:26 +0100

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!

Rider Bio: MORGMAN

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:32:46 +0100

Let me introduce you to Vallie Components' first team rider! This is Morgan Taylor. This guy has an insane bicycle history, involving BMX, experimental tricycles, a cracked skull, fixed touring, freak bike building, wrecking many rims riding 700CMX and more. He's currently a Mighty Riders team rider. Morgan is stoked to be working with me on the hub, and he's doing everything in his power to wreck it and provide me with good test data.

BIO:

Name: Morgan Taylor
Age: 26
Height: 6 feet
Weight: 170ish
Hometown: North Van on a BMX.
Currently: East Van
Beard upkeep details: Somewhere between garden gnome and wizard.
Riding style: Multi-disciplinary, from jumping to racing and many things between. BMX, track, road, CX, tall bike, and more.

Fixed style: long distance, spd, brakeless or not, a glutton for punishment and shredding the gnar.
Riding goals: Sliders, both on track and BMX. Riding to Portland on my tall bike. Competing in B-class CX this winter. Staying healthy.
Favorite place to ride: Hill climbs (and descents!) on Vancouver's North Shore.
Dumbest thing you've done on two wheels: Too many of those.
Best thing you did on two wheels: Always riding with people who push you.
Ride/post ride rituals: Projekt-Breakfast.
Music: Lately, it's been Opeth, Dimmu, Neil Young, and Cat Stevens.
Foods: Bandidas tacos, cereal, bananas, coffee!

BIKE CHECK:

Frame: Rocky Mountain Boroughs

Fork: Bianchi Pista, polished (thanks Andy!) and cleared

Stem: BBB 120mm, slight negative

Bar: Vsixty 50mm riser, cut to 53cm

Seat post: Sick old Control Tech I-beam

Saddle: Selle Italia Filante

Cranks: Dura Ace track 170mm

Pedals: Shimano 747 SPD

Chain Ring: FSA 50t

Chain: KMC 710

Tires: Schwalbe Stelvio and Lugano at the moment.

Rims: Grey 32h Deep V

Hubs: Phil Low Flange and Vallie Street Fixed

Cogs: Velosolo 18t and Vallie 15t

Other: A good set of lights. The bike does not do barspins like this. I've done a number of 100km+ days on it set up exactly as you see as far as gearing and ergonomics are concerned. I am always working toward an (in my opinion) acceptable setup from both performance and aesthetic considerations.

Welcome to the team Morgan!

NAHBS Report

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:59:23 +0100

Wow, so I'm finally back from Indiana. The NAHBS was great. Such an incredible show, and so inspiring being surrounded by that level of creativity all devoted to our favorite two wheeled transport device. I don't even really know where to start.
I put up a Flickr Set Here.

So yeah, Highlights include:

Train ride through many states I hadn't seen.
A buck chasing the train.
Finishing the book "One Gear, No Breaks" (Spoiler: she gets the Gold!)
Riding the MONON rail trail green way.
Staying at the Indy Hostel
Meeting the Tall Tree Cycles / Steel Wool Cycles crew
Hanging out with Sam and Andrea of Naked
Getting valuable input on my hubs from Paul of Paul components
Getting a super positive response from every builder who saw my hub
Riding a fixed folder amongst lifted pickup trucks
Seeing the Momentum crew again
Watching 4 movies in 24 hours on the way home (The Wrestler, Nerdcore Rising, Australia, Frozen River)

Bikes:

The Geekhouse city bike (20mm front axle, dual disks, short wheelbase)
The blue fat tired Vanilla townie
Black Sheep 36er and cargo bike
Sam's over the top SS full suspension 29er (and riding it in the HYATT)
Signal cycles wine rack
Bilenky's craziness (they brought the whole shop)
The Broakland crew, and their massive track disc fork
Villin bikes
LOTS of hot cross bikes. Many single speeded.
Rody's hot paint on all his bikes at Groovy
Renova strange Italian components
Ahearnes breakaway/couplered bike
Calfee super bamboo mixte citybike
EVERY bike in the indoor bike parking

Phew. Now its back to NYC and back to work. First order of business was to build a new wheel.

I guess I wrecked my back wheel in the ice race. The side wall was folded in, in one spot. I hadn't noticed before because I had a tire on it. I must have trued right past it, compensating for the strange bulge. 500km on a deep V is a pretty short life span, even when riding like an idiot. I quickly de-laced another deep V I had laying around, applied some 3M reflective vinyl for fun and zazz, and did a quick and dirty clone lace job (taping the new rim to the old, and just changing nipples), so I could get out to Prolly's Peel sessions last night.

I got it done just in time, and made the trek out to Williamsburg. There I worked on my Sparks drinking, bunny hops and wheelies a bit. And only had one SPD related fall, surprisingly. Today I have a massive bruise on the inside of my thigh. That's 700cmx for you I guess.

In Hub news, I've got a new team rider. I'll be putting up Bios soon. For now though, its just testing and data collection.

NAHBZ!!!

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 19:50:53 +0100

Well, I think I've got everything ready for the show. Soon I'll be roaring across the countryside on Amtrak's Cardinal Line. It's a 22 hour train ride. Leaving NYC at 6:45am.. and arriving in Indianapolis at 4:45am the next day. It will be nice to have some time to think... Lots of time in fact. I've got a book, and I've got my phone stocked with fresh media.

Sadly, I don't get to take my own bike. It just won't fit. This train line does not have a baggage car, so I'm limited to two carry ons. One of which is a folding bike. I've borrowed an incredible fixed Dahon folder from a friend here, and I'm stoked to hoon around Indianapolis on it.

My Spicer, and my prototype hub are due for a break anyways. They have been seeing relentless abuse this week, with 70km days, and lots of hops, stair drops and general shredding of midtown Manhattan's gnar. The hub has about 500km on it now, and both looks and feels great. I've been cycling the axle bolts before every ride, and riding brake less to add wear faster. I've been hard enough on it that I've had to true up the wheel a couple times, but now that the spokes have bedded and the tension is uniform it's pretty solid. No word on when Morgan will have his test hub built up. Perhaps I should find another test mule.. Who weighs a lot, rides fixed hard and likes recording data?

Since getting killed in the ice race, I've also been busy working on the business side of things. I got some super hot photos done courtesy of Cycling WMD, Joomla help from my lovely wife, and logo help from Gabriel Amadeus designer extraordinaire. About the logo. You may be wondering what the significance of the Ouroboros is. Well.. It symbolizes infinite cyclicality. Energy in equals energy out. From breaking parts to making parts. That's what I'm about. The calipers are just cause I'm a huge nerd.

I've also been busy penning the design for revision 2 of the hub. I'm going to hold off on the machining just yet though, as I want to get things just right.

Anyways, I'm really stoked to go to NAHBS and see my friends Joseph Ahearne, and Sam Whittingham. They've both got some amazing stuff in the works for the show. If you are within a 22 hour radius of Indianapolis, I highly recommend you hit up the show. Every builder seems to really be stepping up their game for this show. You will see bicycle creations that will blow your mind! You can also see me and check out my hub. I'll have one on me. Just look for the scruffy blond guy with the green backpack with a 6 bolt cog hanging off it. Come up and say hello =]