rantings from the owner of the world's least significant bicycle company
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July 29, 2006
Fichtel & Sachs Torpedo Duomatic hub
Our good friend Ray Coffey loaned us this gem.
It is a two-speed, kickback hub It shifts between high
and low gear when you back pedal it.
Bendix made two-speed hubs as well.
I had a bike with a Bendix two-speed when I was ten
and I really liked it.
This hub is so much finer.
It is light and the chrome plating is smooth and deep.
I doubt that I'll find a way to reproduce this hub.
But if I had a lot of spare cash, this is the hub
that I would re-engineer.
Some day hubs like this will be all but extinct.
What a shame.
These were the Shimano Ultegras of their time.
July 25, 2006
15t kog
Response to our bolt-on kogs has been very good.
Some have asked for a sub-16 tooth size, so
we came up with a 15. We'll test them
and then produce them if they are safe to use.
July 6, 2006
powdered P/R
I just got some photos of the P/R frames from the
powder shop.
July 6, 2006
shifter prototype
Remember the stem shifter that Marc Pfister designed?
We've been working on it a bit.
Here's a prototype. It was built using
standard bits like a seat clamp, shifter bosses
and cable stops. It's rough, to be sure.
But we'll make it better.
July 6, 2006
Blériots at paint
I just got some photos of the latest Blériot batch
from the paint shop.
July 1, 2006
The perfect dropout?
I just got some photos of the P/R frames from the
powder shop. What I found most interesting was
the rear dropouts. I just love these little gems.
They're laser cut from 7mm plate
and then CNC'd. If you look at the starboard dropout
you'll see that the axle surface is raised on both
the inboard and outboard sides.
And see how nice and short the slots are?
Perfect for use with fenders
and single/fixed operation.