Zen Minimalism, Metal and Death

Well InterBike's out of the way and I managed to get through about 1/100th of stuff that was on show, but you can bet your titanium Ratchet axle that there'll be a flood of re-caps and reviews, reminders and re-launches coming up - so it ain't over yet.

I never did get round to saying anything about the morsels on offer at the Fly booth at InterBike and they've already posted up their re-cap. So you could check that here, or bear with me while I pick out the tasty bits:



So that's basically how it all looked - flat colours on white, simple graphics. Translated, the names of the frames and forks are Moon, Lakes, Mountains, Earth and Water. All very minimal and zen. But then, of course, there's the Pantera, which is more metal and death, but hey, you gotta stick with the classics.

That said, the Pantera forks are no more. And neither are the Tierras. Instead Fly'll only be making the Agua forks - the ones with the investment cast dropouts. And speaking of discontinued models, there was no sign of the Campillo frame on their stand either. I'm not sure whether or not this means my current ride is now officially an antique, but since it was one of the lighter frames going around (4.3 lbs) it'd be interesting in that it would be another manufacturer joining WeThePeople in moving away from lighter weight frames. Yeah, sounds doubtful.

Another fairly doubtful scenario is the mass re-emergence of brakes and that's just not going to happen until Fit's street kids put 'em back on. Regardless, Fly just keep pumping out brake related stuff - which is admirably untrendy:



Just a bunch of brake pads? Yeah, I suppose so, but apparently they're a different compound and are a bit fatter so you've got more rubber on rim, and they use a female bolt system to keep them looking tidy. Also the curved adjustment surfaces are integrated into the bolt and the pad so you've got a couple of less washers to faff about with. Incidentally Odyssey have just posted up some new pads and cables and are saying that the clear pads work the best for painted rims. So there you go.



Rigid straddle cable = less flex and easier set up.



Possibly the most boring photo I have ever posted, but anyway, it's a close up of their Spanish removable mount set up that Sergio explained in a web vid not long ago.



They dropped a new sprocket at InterBike as well - The Circulo. What did I tell you ... Zen.



The red stem pictured is a new topload stem. And like superstar they seem to be suggesting that you should run it upside down. Bottom load stems are officially hot right now.



And lastly, but definitely not least, a chance to have a decent look at the PC Ruben pedals. Fly are pretty much the last to jump on board with PCs, but at least they're not just hijacking a Wellgo and calling it Sliced Bread.

So in homage to the pedal, to the man, to the middle name of my first born, to no-footer to flatty wall rides (@1:11) and to Built to Spill:

Cosmic Brake Alignment

This blog is already bordering on being a Fly fanzine I know, but I put the blame squarely on their stream of simple ideas. And on that note, here's another:


Surprise! It's a new removable brake mount design!


The titanium grub screw market is now officially wide open

Up until a couple of years ago kids were suffering the obscenity of having impotent and demoralised brake mounts de-cooling their life when they rode street. Inexcusable. And frame manufacturers were being forced into producing two versions of every frame just to keep these little pricks (ahem... valued customers) happy. Ying was not yang.

So desperate was this situation that Fly came up with the idea of removeable mounts and, not surprisingly, every frame manufacturer saw the chance to realign their inventory chakras and jumped on board. Fair enough, but you think that one of them could at least have chipped in and done their part in the evolution of the idea. Instead Fly have done the evolving, and now, by undoing a little grub screw in your frame, you can remove the brake bosses with brakes still attached and so avoid fiddling cables, barrels and knarps each time you do it.

That's good, but were I see the major advantage is that when you turn 30, you can just put your brakes back on without having to avoid the temptation to buy a 24" or worse still - a cruiser.

In terms of exactly how this all happens it's probably easiest if you just watch Sergio:

Since most people either ride brakes or don't, you'd have to say the original idea was a bigger deal than this in that the real advantage was for the frame manufacturers and that race has been run already. But since this design shouldn't cost any more than the current standard, it's hard to see why those manufacturers won't now switch to similar systems - it's like something for nothing. And who doesn't like something for nothing? It's just so much better than nothing for something. Follow?

Flying

Kevin Porter bike check off Vinyl with a closer look at the prototype plastic Ruben pedals and their new removable brake mounts that you can take on and off without having to adjust your brakes. Nice. And the riding... very nice.



In the interests of promoting Australian music to the world, I would like to note that the song in that clip was incorrectly labeled. I would post the incorrectly labeled clip, but this is better:

Insane Manual Feathering

Do you think that brakes might be making a comeback?

Not two of them obviously - that's a far too high brake to bike ratio. But one on the back end can be a revolution in opening up new worlds of variable speed riding, insane manual feathering and sudden stopping. Sure brakeless completes were novel at first, but now they're just passe. Their cleaness crying out for some cable and caliper clutter.

Anyway, maybe in Spain brakes were never "out", cause Fly have pumped an unfashionable amount of time and effort into improving them and have just released the final piece in their forged, cnc'd and anodised braking puzzle:


Fly brake lever: 66 grams / 2.3 oz

I've grown very fond of my Primo J Lever over it's five years of faultless service, but since reading up on Fly's new offering the wobble it's developed over the course of it's life seems a little worse. They've addressed this by using a larger diameter brass bushing that is apprarently also of a harder material. Sounds good.

Everyone want's less for their dollar these days, so I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that you can now also have less for your lever-dollar. Working on the principal that all frames now come with a barrel adjuster, they've not included one on the lever and in the process have been able to further reduce the size of the lever body.



You'll also get a little bag of hardware that allows you the choice between the 4 set ups above, depending on how complicated or clean you want it. The "internal coned piece" is one of those options and seems like a good, simple idea that acts to open up the end of the cable casing to reduce friction on the cable. It's probably not going to make a huge difference to your braking performance, but every little bit helps and it ain't going to hurt.

Besides, you don't even run brakes.