At Interbike, I talked with Dave and Daryl at the Wheels Manufacturing booth. Wheels Manufacturing is pretty clear when it comes to communicating their feelings about the location of the bike show.
I really like Wheels Manufacturing products, as does Daniel, the head mechanic at the shop. We've used lots of their fastener, ferrules, bolts, hub replacement parts, replacement axels. Lots of bearings, spacers, valve extenders. Their stuff is made in the USA and in my experience, always has been well-made and reliable. They make smart, useful bike parts. They are all about the details.
So, the first thing I saw in the booth was a single-speed spacing kit that has a chain guide. Nice. Next, they had a new bearing cartridge measuring guide. So you can pop a bearing cartridge out of a hub or bottom bracket cup, and you can match it to the template to figure out the inner and outer diameters. (Instead of trying to read the teeny tiny numbers on the cartridge. "Does that look like a "5" or a "6" to you?")
Then everyone was looking at the multi-tool with the spare derailleur hanger. Say, you are out in the woods with your WheelsMfg multi-tool and you snap your derailleur hanger. Other mountain bikers might be worried and cry for their mammas. But you would have no worries. Because as you can see in the photos, the side of the multi-tool is actually a cleverly integrated spare derailleur hanger.
I asked if they had a bit, bob, or bracket that we could attach to the brake bolt hole in a steel fork, so we could drop a front brake caliper to allow it to work with 27-inch-wheeled Raleigh, Centurion, and Peugeot fixie conversions. No, was their reply, but they did promise to think about it. (Jump for more on this.)
Photos taken by wheelgirl in Vegas at Interbike 2007
Converting and re-purposing old Raleighs, Peugeots, and all of the other older 27-inch-wheeled frames on the planet that had universal brakes makes for a challenge. Modern short-reach brakes don't fit. Even modern long-reach brakes don't fit many of these frames. For example, Customer Tom's Centurion has a not-long-enough long-reach Tektro that threatens his front tire daily. And these bikes make for great single-speeds and fixie conversions.
If you have manufacturing insurance and a CNC machine, love bikes, and are bored this winter, how about you make a bracket that let's cyclists put an inexpensive, short-reach dual pivot front brake on their 27-inch- wheeled fixed commuter?
The guys at the Problem Solvers booth explained to me that you have to make sure the brake manufacturer(s) you use for your measurements don't decide to change the brake bolt specs. So, if you decide to do this, find a decent not-too-pricey brake that doesn't get remodeled every year. Anyway, no promises, but Wheels Manufacturing did say they would think about it.
