Fat Bikes, Through Axles & BoB

 The first Fat Bike was ridden in the Sahara from Zinder to Tamanrasset in 1980 by Jean Naud. Using Michelin prototype tyres his journey is recorded in his book Trois Rous Pour Timbouctou. If anybody knows of an English translation of this book please let me know. The fat bike we know today sees its' roots in Alaska and New Mexico between Simon Rakower of All Weather Sports in Fairbanks Alaska and Ray Molina in New Mexico. Ray wanted them for his guided desert tour business. Simon's interest came from being involved in the tech support for the then Iditabike Race across the snows of Alaska. Mainstream availability comes in 2005 with the emergence of the Surly Pugsley frame. Since then we have seen most major brands bring a Fat Bike to the market and tyres appear in standard catalogues.

The history of the Thru Axle has yet it appears to be written, even in the Wiki Book of Lies. A far from extensive search discovered two patents raised in 2006 & 2008 neither from a major manufacturer. The RockShox Psylo has been around since 2001/2 so I can't really illuminate much here. Fair to say the various specs are established in the MTB world, rapidly arriving in CX therefore road thru axles are only a matter of time. Ben Delaney's article in BikeRadar points to the age old saw that the manufacturers want a standard system to allow customer choice. Historically in my experience this ends up with a number of differing standards. (Think BB30)

Where does all this fit in with us here at Amba? Well fairly regularly we get asked if there is a way to fit a Bob trailer to a bike with a rear thru axle. Until late last year the answer had always been no. I then fell across the Robert Axle Project and I finally had an answer. I followed them on Twitter to see what they were up to and was pleasantly surprised with a follow back and an email to the office asking if we'd like to distribute in the UK. Sadly this is too niche even for us so we declined the offer but the thru axle brigade have a BoB trailer attachment solution.

Fat bikes reared their head this week with a customer wanting to tow his BoB with his Surly Moonlander 29er with 5” tyres. Unsurprisingly this is all too much for the 28” fork version of the BoB trailers. A short web search threw this answer up on the MTBR forums. A neatly engineered solution. Further down the thread is a link to Coastkid's blog from 2011 where he has radically modified a BoB to work with his fatbike.

Two solutions for the dedicated fatbike rider in a week and one for the thru axle crowd I thought that was worth putting fingers to keyboard.

Waterproof Rating Systems

Overboard iPad Case

Did you ever start researching something then almost instantly regret it?  With Amba Marketing distributing Overboard waterproof kit to the UK cycling world I thought it apposite to gen up on waterproof rating systems and how they relate to each other.  This could get as messy as light output was!  

The ISO in all its' wondrousness deals only in packaging, electrical components in motor vehicles and exposure to radon.  Waterproof standards are there for materials and almost everything else I could imagine but water resistance of a non safety specific manufactured item no.  Footwear gets one and it doesn't seem a massive stretch to take that to specialist outdoor goods but apparently not.  Looking through the clothing listings shows that the vast majority of spec's are, quite rightly, for specialist safety clothing.  It does beg the question, if boots and safety clothing are covered, surely it's a bit of a cut and paste exercise to use the knowledge from existing spec's and apply them to outdoor clothing/luggage?  

On the high street my less than forensic investigation reveals the standard we usually see is actually the waterproof rating of the material not the finished item.  So while a standard we can work with it tells you nothing about the quality of the seams.  My first “waterproof jacket” had great material but after extended use the seams seeped.  I have owned a jacket with zip on sleeves which was considerably more waterproof than my early visit to waterproof clothing.  The figures we usually see relate to the ISO regulation let's take a 10K or 10,000mm material. To end up with this figure you place a square tube over your fabric of choice you have to be able to fill your tube with water  to a height of 10,000mm without water passing through the fabric.  The IP53 used by Ortlieb is an electrical specification for dust and water ingress and you have to start somewhere.   

Seam sealing, sometimes referred to as seam taping, covers the tiny holes made by the needle in the sewing process so the seams don’t leak using a heat application of thin waterproof tape. Sometimes seams are bonded together using glue or heat, but typically they are first sewn then taped. Garments can be either “fully taped” or “critically taped” – the difference is that a fully taped garment has every seam taped, while a critically taped one has tape only on high exposure areas like the neck, shoulders, and chest. Luggage on the whole is fully taped or even welded. 

Welded seams have replaced traditional sewing in many manufacturers.  They look better and have a better in use life however, it is a more expensive process than sewing.  Last year the US Navy were reported to be investigating having welded seam uniforms made.

Overboard have taken on all the above information and decided to use Roc Gear's WSRS (Waterproof Store Rating System) to rate their equipment.  ROC assert it is, “fast becoming the accepted standard for all types of waterproof containers.” On this point I refer the reader to Mandy Rice Davies.  This does not deviate from the value of a system that is meaningful to both retailer and customer. If ISO ever take on a standard then I think this isn't a bad place to start from.  The reader will notice that both Roc and Overboard refer to the WSRS Rating System, this pedant will not be seen using PIN Number for all the same reasons.

While not the most devastatingly entertaining of posts I hope this article has been of help to you.  I would have included ISO's definitions but at £50 a pop there are more pressing things to throw money at.

Overboard waterproof bags are now distributed to UK & Ireland cycling retailers via Amba Marketing.  If anybody has pertinent information not here or if ISO would like me to help in the outdoor kit testing facility please get in touch. 

Mince Pies

Working on the premise that our food posts get far more interaction than anything other than Eddie Merckx as promised here is @AmbaTechGuys mince pie recipe.  I completely forget where I acquired it from but it is simple and very nice.  I apologise for the lack of a finished item picture but I was on a roll and had boxed and delivered before realising my error.

Serves: Some, about 18 tarts per pack.
Nutritional Info: Calories; Loads.  Allergies; Gluten.  Diabetics: adjust levels before eating.

You Will Need:

1x 375g pack ready rolled puff pastry. (Not straight from the fridge)
1x 820g jar of mincemeat.  (Get the best you can afford it's worth it)
Demerara sugar
A little milk to seal


1. Cover your pastry board with enough sugar to completely cover your sheet of pastry.

2. Lay the pastry on the sugar and press down so the sugar embeds in the pastry.

3. Cover the pastry with the mincemeat leaving a 15mm gap on on long edge.

4. Roll the pastry firmly like a Swiss roll and seal the edge with a little milk.

5. Pop in the fridge to firm up and rest for 30 minutes.

6. Pre heat your oven to Gas 6, 200C, Fan 180C

7. Take the roll from the fridge and slice into 10-15mm slices

8. Press the cut faces of the slices into the remaining sugar so they crush down a little.

9. Place the tarts on a non stick baking sheet allowing a little room between each to allow for spreading

10. Place in the centre of the pre heated oven for around 20 minutes until sticky and golden.

11. Remove from the oven and allow to cool a little on the tray. (Try to remove them too soon and they'll fall apart)

12.  Remove from the tray with a fish slice before they fully cool and the caramel welds to the tray and place on a rack to cool fully.

13. These normally keep long enough to get from my house to the NT car park at White Horse Hill near Uffington, where they are devoured by a group of mulled wine fuelled cyclists in short order.

Enjoy.

Neil

Hello, thanks for visiting the Koolstop stand at the Cycle Show in Birmingham UK. Sorry I couldn't be there but there is no leg room for a 3m polar bear on modern aircraft and that Yeti is very close with the use of his Skoda.

If you've got here you entered our competition for two pairs of pads of your choice, good luck, we'll announce the winners as soon as we've contacted all of you. Now we'd like to keep in touch with you if that's OK?

Below are links to our various social networks, it would be really nice if you'd click through and give us a like or follow. We won't swamp your newsfeed with surrogate adverts they bore us as much as you. There will be links to new products, things our retailers are up to and what we're up to and the occasional cat on a unicycle. (It's the web them's the rules) It would be nice to stay in touch.

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Introducing Swisseye

Introducing Swisseye

The team at Amba are excited to reveal that the first of the new brands from Eurobike 2014 to go live on our B2B is the sports glasses manufacturer Swisseye. This will go live on Monday 22 September and we hope you'll be as impressed as we are.

We have placed an initial order for stock items that we will hold in the warehouse at Exeter. This will show on the B2B and price list as Stock Items and will be with us before the end of September. Items in the Swisseye catalogue not on this initial list will be available as a special order and take a week or two to arrive after an order is placed with Swisseye. With over fifty styles available the chances of us getting what everyone would like was always a big call so with advice from the people at Swisseye we have gone with the obvious and popular lines elsewhere in Europe.

You, our retailers, are at the core of everything we do here at Amba so if there's a style you want to stock give us a call and we'll get you and your customers sorted as quick as we can. If they prove popular it is a fluid list and if customers demand we'll provide for you.

We were very excited by the quality of the infant and children's glasses available and all colours and styles will be stocked. A far wider variety of styles are available for customers with prescription glasses whether with clip in frames or traditionally glazed by an optician. Spare frames and replacement lenses will be available as well as nose pieces, arm rubbers and a selection of small parts. There are standard, polarised and photocromic lenses and styles to sort all faces and pockets.

As soon as our demo stock arrives we'll be able to come out and show you the range and we are sure you'll be as impressed as we are. In the meantime have a browse through their website and see what you think. Any questions or to organise a visit, contact the office or Neil.

The Amba Team

New Campagnolo Compatible Pads from Koolstop

Koolstop Campagnolo

Campagnolo pads can be a nightmare for the unsuspecting retailer or user and the new offering from Koolstop needn't muddy the waters. The new Super Record designated pads have been produced to fit to the new style Skeleton brake shoes but are compatible with Campag holders from 2000 onwards. Amba will have these in stock very soon.

We will be stocking the pad compounds in our standard ranges, ie Black, Salmon, Dual Compound, Ceramic & Carbon. If you want the carbon 2 or Red Cross pads let your retailer know and we'll get them in for them. For compound details see the Koolstop page here. 

For customers with old style Veloce brakes where the bolt screws into the back of the pad, Koolstop's Dura holders can be used as they fit the smaller slots in the calipers. Pre 2000 pad inserts replacements are still available from us but I suspect most riders have upgraded in the last 14 years so they'll start sliding into retro before too long.

Stop All the Clocks

Say it quietly, but as from today the days are just getting shorter. I know it puts a downer on the weekend but my glass is not half empty, I'm at my Sister's celebrating her birthday so no chance of that.

Between today and the 26 October when the clocks go back a riders thoughts should turn to lights. Whether it's checking over last seasons, did you discharge your rechargeable and fully recharge it before putting it away? or researching this winter's illuminating lovely, prior planning prevents poor performance. Retailers are starting to plan their stock for the lighting season so you the customer can ease their decision by deciding sooner rather than later what you are going to use.

Are you finally going to indulge in a dynohub front wheel and light system that just works? Upgrade to a decent rechargeable system? Or just spend a tenner on a piece of junk off of eBay with no warranty or beam pattern but it has a big lumen number and Cree LED in the title? Why not do the research on what Lux, Lumen and Candella actually mean and where manufacturers measure them. Have a look at the beam pattern maps that more enlightened manufacturers publish then make an informed decision. Heaven forfend but you could even pass your information around and help to quash the torrent of BS that is out there about bicycle lights.

The darkness is coming, be ready.