Month: August 2008

Fat Tires

Fat Tires: The horrible roads don’t seem as bad, the bumps not quite so severe. I didn’t lose much in the form of performance, in many ways I’ve gained. In many situations the fatties handle better. [snip -ed] I don’t plan on riding skinny ever again.

Here’s another blog entry with a similar theme. [I can’t make such an emphatic statement. I love both for what they are. There’s a time and a place. At the moments my tires run from 2.35 (Schwalbe Big Apple) fatties to 35c and 33 middle of the roads, to 21/23c skinnies. They all have their place, and they’re all lovely. I will add that as the weather turns colder I spend more time on fatter tires. Seems like part of the cycle of life.]
Source: MnBicycleCommuter

Environmental Constraint = Better Quality

Environmental constraints, because they impel us to reduce waste and narrow our choices in raw materials and trims, also help us improve the business’s bottom line. When we reduce complexity, we allow ourselves to focus our efforts on greater innovations. We’ve learned that in reality, unlimited choice ultimately drives up costs. The ‘Live Simply’ mantra turns out to be more than a nice bumper-sticker slogan; it’s sound business advice. Time and again we’ve learned that when we do the right thing we end up doing well.[The project I’m working on is just starting to learn this lesson… I hope.]
Source: The Cleanest Line

Weapon of choice (winter division)

IMG_0129.jpgLittle steps on the way to the fall/winter season…

I have a new wheel. It’s got a blingy Chris King singlespeed hub in red. But wait you say, it looks like there’s gears on there? And Hmmm. 6 of them? Strange. The idea is to build a very strong and stiff wheel, so Jeff Jones reworks an cassette to create a 34 -17 set, designed around using a singlespeed hub so that there’s no offset. The wheel is built with equally tensioned spokes. It also makes it super easy to convert to a single speed should I desire. Nice. All part of the WOC(WD) (see the title).

Allez!
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