Whinlatter 29 12 12

I don't think this needs any introductions. Seems to be a habit riding Whinlatter in the rain, especially on 29th of Dec. Well its better than snow surfing!

An idiots guide to building a bike

Or........A guide to building an idiots bike

 

Part two: Decals

Rule # 57: No stickers -
 

Nobody gives a shit what causes you support, what war you’re against, what gear you buy, or what year you rode x,y & z See Rule #5 and ride your bike. Decals, on the other hand, are not only permissible, but extremely Pro.

 

So ensuring that I obey the rules I set about designing myself some decals for the new frame (they are definitely not stickers).

 

The decals have gained inspiration from several sources:

• 5 four..3 - A spin on the Longitude and Latitude that this blog gets its name from.
• Legs speak louder... & It's all about the bike - Paying homage to the Velominati rules and its disdain for a certain famous, now disgraced, multi Tour de France winner.
• Ride 'till the bell tolls - a play on - 'Weekends are like recess for adults so play hard until the bell rings'  with a twist on mortality - Not sure who the original quote is from.
• Hydrocross was the obvious (to me) amalgamation of hydraulic (brake) hydrocarbon (oil and carbon) cross (cyclocross and everything else crossed into the bike). When you see what else I have in mind for this bike you'll possibly understand the 'cross' bit.
• Various other inspirations long forgotten but still in my head.

After a few weeks of messing around with various art work packages, confirming that some ideas were far too cheesy with Alan, my cycling style guru, and sticking paper proofs on the frame, this is what I came up with:

 

 

My next problem, getting someone to make them!

I sent the proof to some local vinyl decal suppliers and a few Internet suppliers. I got a few replies and initially went with the first to reply. After a week or two of endless questions from the supplier they still hadn't given me a price! I tried a local supplier who had responded, they obviously didn't want the job as they were as help full as..... well they just weren't. So finally I went with an Internet supplier who's price was fairly high but communications were great.

http://www.vinyllettering.co.uk/

I'm glad I did, my feeble attempt at designing looked good on paper, however the vinyl cutting software had different thoughts (probably why no one else would have a go!) Nick at vinyl lettering had to redraw the design again to get it right and then send the proofs back for me to approve. Even then the design in places is fiddly to say the least and took a fair amount of work to get right.

Applying the decals with the backing paper.

 

Thats 54..3 or 54 North 3 West. Latitude and Longditude of West Cumbria.

The finished article, I'm biased but it does look cool... to me.

So what I thought would be the easy bit, actually getting the decals, ended up a long winded affair but worth it. They are supplied in a three layer sandwich with the decal in the middle. After positioning each one in turn you remove the base paper and apply with the top paper still in place. After giving it all a good rub then the top paper is removed to reveal the decal.

So this is the frame ready to start building, the only second hand bit will be an old carbon seat post I have, everything else will be new. Hopefully some will turn up with a man with a beard on the back of a sleigh next week. (Yes........... my Dad's coming for Christmas!!)



An idiots guide to building a bike

Or is that.... a guide to building a bike, by an idiot.........you choose.

Part one....Frame

Over the last two winters I've refurbished and modified my 50 year old dinghy, this year I'm back in bike mode.

I've been dabbling with disc brakes on other bikes (rather than a mountain bike) for a couple of years without great success. I want a proper road worthy bike (drop handlebars and light weight etc) with good disc brakes (hydraulic) and Campagnolo gears (Italian). So it had to be carbon fibre with disc mounts.

In 2010 the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale is the governing body for international competitive cycling events.) Cyclocross bikes to compete with disc brakes, this change in the rules stimulated manufacturers to start developing frames and disc brakes for cyclocross they still have not allowed the same on road bikes and so road frames with disc mounts are very limited.

So with a few cyclocross disc frames available it seemed this was best way forward for my project. But as the development is very new so are the frames! Enter China..............

Its long been known that most bike frames are made in the far east and imported into Europe, the main bike brands do all the R&T and then get the frames mass produced in a factory somewhere around China or Taiwan etc. This way the suppliers can make a top of the range frame cheap and sell it in Europe with a big mark up. So how to cut out the brand middle man and go direct?

'Alibaba' is one answer: 'Alibaba Group is a family of Internet-based businesses which makes it easy for anyone to buy or sell on line anywhere in the world'. I'd stumbled across Alibaba a few times while doing searches but always thought it was, as the name suggests, a group of people selling slightly dodgy copies of stuff, so always steered away.

I stared searching for a frame in this country and did find a suitable frame at a fairly reasonable price. search for 'cyclocross carbon disc frame' and you'll soon see what I mean. However I wondered if i could get the frame cheaper, direct? So searching internationally I came across 'Miracle cycles' their main web site only does bulk orders but they had a link to the Alibaba site that does small one off orders http://www.aliexpress.com/store/409931. for a fraction of the cost of a very, very, very similar frame from the UK.

So the seed was sown, could I risk placing an order with a supplier in China? well after a week or two of deliberation, a few questions via Email with very quick responses (not great English but hay ho) I went for it. After a small delay in sending the order (they promised dispatch in two days, it took about 6) the parcel was sent. Two weeks later and daily tracking the parcel on its journey it arrived in the UK. Into customs and back out then arrived in the Carlisle showing 'awaiting customs payment' dohhh. I phoned them up, paid the charges and the very next day it was delivered. Total including shipping and import duties £360.

 

 

 

Rear fork

Full carbon fork with disc mounts.

 

My first impressions are the general quality is great, as good as my other road frame but for about 1/5th the price! I had a few niggles with resin in the head set bearing seat, this took about 3 min's with a file to sort. Lets hope the ride is as good as it looks!

The frame was supplied with a full carbon fork that tapers from 1 1/8 to 1 1/2. There was also the corresponding headset and carbon spacers supplied. (The headset and spacers would be £30 - 40 alone).

So is this a dodgy copy of a frame that sells for over twice the price in this country? I'll never know, but if it is, its a very, very, very, very good copy!

Skiing.

Long legs?

Winter is here again, hurrah. I got my skis out today, Max and I headed up to Great End.

The snow was really high well above 2500 ft, with the skis strapped to my pack and my big boots on I'm always bothered it might be a waste of effort if the snow isn't deep enough or the wrong snow!!

Yep you need the right sort of snow for my short snow blades, they are no good in powder, just sink in and you end up doing a face plant! What you need is good hard snow.



Great Gable from Wasdale



Great End from a frozen Lambfoot Dub

My boots are fully rigid Salomon winter climbing boots that I've modified to fit the snow blades, the bindings are very similar to a reversed crampon style that just clip on from the front. They a good compromise, fairly easy to walk in (for big rigid boots) and just about stiff enough to ski in (with a bit of experience and continually remembering to lean forward)

Big boots and little Skis



Wasdale from Lambfoot Dub.

Loads of snow, if you go high enough.

Well my luck was in today, perfect snow with a good frozen crust, bright sunshine and absolutely no wind (no that doesn't happen very often). A brilliant day.

Ski Sunday on Great End 2 12 12