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Our fellow resident crumudgen Bruce Gordon is bringing has brought back that legendary Rock n’ Road tire. Yes, that one from the late 80′s. Don’t believe us? Check it here, here and here. Why do you care? Because you have a bike that is itching for a nice 43mm 700c tire that rolls well on the road and climbs like a mountain goat when the terrain turns soft and upward.
We also heard from a little bird over at CX Mag that they LOVED the tire. Wait, did I spoil that? I don’t think so, but you should take that as a hint and pay close attention to the June issue. Just sayin’. Another rumor has it you can pre-order these until the first week of June for $50 a tire (smoking deal). What are you waiting for? Get some!
What does these bad boys look like? They look like awesome. Is that Nouning an Adjective? Verbing the Noun? Whatever. Contemplate that while spinning your wheels and report back here with the proper answer.
The fact of the matter is that we’re a little snobbish when it comes to equipping our bikes. Not to the extent of swapping out derailleur hardware for color coordination purposes (do you have a $100 for some fancy bolts?) or sporting $140 water bottle cages, but we like nice shit that serves a purpose. An area that has always left me ‘wanting’ is handle bar tape. It’s either too spongy or too thin. The majority have sticky crap on the back making it good for one application then you have to throw it away. Find some stuff without sticky that you like the texture of? Good, though it will be dirty before you make it out of the driveway on your first ride (unless its black tape – which is BORING).
I’m feeling a little bit like Goldilocks when it comes to bar tape. Nothing ever seemed good enough. Until I was introduced to Handle Bra.
Yes, Handle Bra. It passes the two handed test. It looks (and feels) damn sexy the way a leather bra should. Even if it’s for your bike.
Why you need leather bar tape:
Classy as hell. Nothing beats the look and feel of quality leather. Period.
Resusable. No tearing, no sticky crap.
East to clean. A little 303 Protectant goes a long way.
I have been riding Handle Bra since mid-December. Including the weather, sweat and my lack of proper care, it still looks and feels awesome. So awesome, that people still comment about it. By comparison? I’ve changed bar tape on another bike twice (and it’s filthy again) and I ride each bike about the same (couple hundred miles a month).
We like Handle Bra so much that we plan on adding it to the store in short order. This stuff isn’t cheap and takes a little more effort to put on than regular tape (non-sticky), but we have a couple tricks that makes the procedure much easier. And considering how often you won’t be changing dirty bar tape, it’s value will be easy to see.
Stay tuned for pictures and links to the store. Maybe a little shameless self promotion, but hey, if we didn’t think it was worth the price, we wouldn’t use it and surely wouldn’t sell it to you all.
Back in November we rocked your world with a video of a CSPC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) test being performed repeatedly on a standard, off-the-shelf carbon fork from a company that Mr. Lopez formerly worked for (if you missed the original post, you can find it here).
A quick recap of the details:
The CPSC only requires this fork to survive a single drop from 180mm.
The specs for this test were written well before carbon fiber was used in bicycle manufacturing.
The new CEN safety tests are even more stringent that the CPSC tests.
Drum Roll Please…
And There You Have it.
The question isn’t which is better, but which is more appropriate for your needs. You can draw your own conclusions about the safety of each material, as there is plenty of crap steel and crap carbon fiber available for mass consumption. The real question comes down to who do you support? The people making products they stand behind or those that offset the cost of failure by selling high margin, low quality products to the masses? The choice is yours.
SOPWAMTOS stands for the Society of People Who Actually Make Their Own Shit. Notice that the ‘Society’ does not have a geographical designation. It’s not necessarily owned by any one country – it just so happened that being Americans that have seen millions of jobs (as well as many within the bike industry) shipped overseas, SOPWAMTOS naturally had an American voice. So surprised were we to hear from bike builders and small manufacturers all over the world saying that they are doing the same thing… (making their own shit) and feeling a little bit conflicted about SOPWAMTOS. Like it is some American-Only Society. That’s not the case – we just aren’t always privy to the goings on in other reaches of the world no matter how much we try to be. We appreciate the heads up from the folks that are bucking the trend and continuing to build their own shit.
So, for our bike building brethren from across the pond, we see the work that you’re doing. As we have said before, true innovation and the pushing of artistic boundaries exist in the minds and are built by the hands of the craft builder. Keep on building cool shit, because that’s really what the bike industry needs. Not more lawsuits. But you already knew that.
SOPWAMTOS is an interesting organism and often misunderstood, misconstrued, or taken so far out of context that one can only sit with their head half cocked and wonder ‘WTF is that person talking about???’ We’ve been called old, Stone Age, cranky, grouchy – even xenophobic (which means a fear of foreigners). And this is only the last week.
So here we sit, trying to figure out the best way to connect the consumer with the highest quality bike parts built by small manufacturers that don’t have enormous marketing budgets because they are investing in their manufacturing processes. Does that mean we ‘dislike’ those that aren’t made in America? Or those that build quality parts while paying their workers a fair wage* and operate in compliance with environmental regulations yet just happen to be a bit larger, a bit more successful? Of course not – because that’s exactly what we are doing, just on a different scale.
Still Reading? Good. It’s Time to Get Down to Business.
Seems some feathers were ruffled when the topic of outsourcing vs. insourcing (in the bike business) was brought up. But it’s time to be 100% clear – Bruce Gordon Cycles has not always manufactured, in house, every, single, little, nut and bolt that goes into every bike I’ve built. I don’t know best practices for tanning leather nor the magic carbon content required to build a tire with a durometer reading of 68.
Snide remarks aside, over my career I have dabbled in having frames made elsewhere to compete in markets that I could not scale and compete were I to try and do everything on my own. Yep, even I have tried the dark side. Quite frankly, the true cost was and has never, been worth the benefit. Some cliff notes before I ramble: Read more »
Over the last week there has been a lot of chatter about China, imports, profit margins, marketing and Rapha. And while everyone has their opinions to the moral rights/wrongs of building “stuff” at a low cost factory in a country with environmental/human rights violations that would make Nike cringe, some things became very clear to me.
I care about the origin of my stuff.
I understand that some will disagree, some aren’t interested. That’s fine.
A month ago we teased you with the prospect of a new road bike that was fast, relatively light, and could accommodate wider tires & fenders. All while not riding like a slug. A short time ago we teased you with a naked welded frame. As of today, the bike is ready. Feast your eyes on the SOPWAMTOS road bike. It’s here, it’s fast, it’s pretty darn light, and it plain kicks ass.
You can find the exact specs on the bike page, but the overview is this:
28mm tires & fenders
A mix of (mostly) American made steel, carbon and aluminum parts
Fully loaded (including fenders, boat anchor Shimano pedals & Koobi saddle) tipped the scales at exactly 20lbs in a 57cm size.
And it rides like the Speeder bike from Star Wars. That fast and that nimble.
(In case you forgot)
How Do You Get One Of These For Yourself???
That’s pretty easy. Call/email Bruce and tell him you want one. It will be up on the store pretty soon, but the in meantime, phone or email is best.
What Does it Cost to Own Something This Badass???
Pricing is currently being worked out. There will be at least 2 parts kits to appeal to different budgets. Regardless of which kit you purchase, neither will need ‘upgrades’ – they are both solid builds. One will just be a little more badass than the other.
What are the Color Options???
Powdercoat rocks because it’s so damn durable and looks awesome. Besides, this is an all-weather bike, so it deserves an all-weather paint job. While there won’t be 150 colors to choose from (though we could have Ed Litton paint it if you really want to), expect the usual and customary colors (black, white, red, yellow, blue and Rust) as well as a surprise or two. Color chips will be posted.
Do I Have to Buy Fenders Too???
No. But clearly (see the pics) they fit. We chose Honjo’s because they are beautiful, high quality and made by a small group of craftsmen in Japan. Have another favorite? Go for it. These are just what we use.
What About Sizing???
Sizing and geometry. Guess we need to post that stuff up? Since this is what would be considered a semi-custom bike, expect frame sizes to change in 2cm. increments (49, 51, 53, 55, 57, 59, 61cm). Final specs will be posted.
Some people don’t like carbon. Others enjoy pointing out all the failures that occur with carbon bike parts (for joy, information, or otherwise). Proponents & skeptics aside, the best answers come directly from the people that build the stuff.
That said, reading is pretty laborous ( <- so is proper spelling). So we bring you a video courtesy of Mike Lopez (formerly of Reynold Composites).
Sipping on the last of my personal IPA is a bitter sweet moment. Clearly I enjoyed the batch now that I am at the end – but unfortunately all I have left are empty bottles. On the bright side it’s time for a new batch o’ brew! But this blog post isn’t about my emotional attachment issues to the beer I brew – oh no – but the celebration of a new kind of garage concoction, Homebrewed Components!
Yes dear friends, we have added some of the very cool components built by the mad scientist Dan Wilcox. Geared towards the single speed and 1×9/1×10 crowd, Dan embodies the persona required to associate with the World of SOPWAMTOS. We’re offering his 4 bolt chainrings, spiderless chainrings as well as two different rear cogs (a spoked stainless and a 2pc alum/stainless or alum/titanium options). If the SOPWAMTOS faithful like what they see, we can include even more of Dan’s offerings.
If that wasn’t enough good news, Dan has even agreed to contribute his thoughts on the bike industry, life and making his own shit to our blog. That is something we all can look forward to.
