Svelte Cycles without comproise

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Flash Tuesday: Edge 2.68s

So the day ran a tad longer than expected but none the less I was able to snap some indoor (sorry for the flash) shots of these bomber Edge 2.68s before they went in a box headed express for Florida. Michael is a 90kg triathlete so I wanted to find the proper blend between stiffness, lightweight, aerodynamics and ride quality. The build consists of White Industries H2 Hubs, Campy Record 10s 11/21 cassette, DT Swiss Ti RWS Skewers, Sapim CX-Ray spokes, Edge 2.68 rims (more resilient than the 1.68s), Tufo Extreme Tape and Vittoria EVO CX Tubulars.










If you would like a set of Handbuilt Edge Wheels for yourself drop me a line at "justin@sveltecycles.com" or pick up the phone and dial 603 943-4202.

More to come...

Cheers,
Justin

Monday, March 30, 2009

Week In Pictures. Monday: Spooky Skeletor.

With the good fortune of a strong work order this week, I will be doing daily blog updates with a focus on more photos and less chat. Today brings us a very special Spooky Skeletor which will be raced by yours truly. Enjoy!























Stay tuned for more...

Cheers,
Justin Spinelli

PS: If you would like a Spooky Skeletor for yourself, shoot me an e-mail "justin@sveltecycles.com" or give me a call 603 943-4202.

PSS: These are fantastic bikes whether you are looking for something light and nimble to play around on come the weekend or a full bore race machine you can depend on not to let you down when that number is pinned to your back.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Bar Tape Done "Proper".

There is a right and a wrong way of doing just about anything. One of my pet peeves is a poorly wrapped set of handlebars. I akin wrapping handlebars to making pasta. During my tenure in Italy my Uncle Roberto taught me the proper way of making pasta "al-dente", something very simple yet requiring fine attention to detail and method. What follows is a little step-by-step tutorial of what I believe to be the proper method of wrapping handlebars.

Selecting the appropriate colour is essential. This is a topic of conversation in and of its own so we can save that for another time. Long story made short I selected a nice dark silver hue for this classic ten speed project.


We start by removing the old tape which proved to be a tedious task. This bike originated in the rainy climate of Portland, Oregon (coincidentally my home town) and its original mechanic; Eric Tonkin did a fine job on this machine. Kudos Eric.



The Cinelli cork tape was so well adhered that I derailed from the normal m.o. of peeling off the wrap...

...to disecting the wrap with a razor and peel it off in one congeled piece.



Here I am removing the old school screw in bar plugs.


With the Cinelli "Giro D'Italia" bars stripped of their previous orange drappings, I prep by affixing the brake lever clamp strip under the hood so it's ready to go when the time comes.



I peel the entire backing off exposing the back-tack and get to work.


Starting at the bottom of the bar I leave an overlap and begin by wrapping the tape in towards the stem. Direction of wrap is very important. If you don't do this right the tape will unroll loose at each end of the bar respectively.



I make my way up the lenght of the bar overlaping the tape evenly and do the "figure 8" around the brake lever clamp. I am sure to exit the loop with the tape wrapping in the direction toward the rear of the bike. Simple but very important.


Even spacing...


While keeping the slant of the tape continuous I align the edge of the clamp portion of the bar to the wrap and cut in a stright line up to that point to create that clean, PRO look.


The last strip is rolled over and is affixed with care by an evenly sliced strip of electrical tape.



The extra flaps on the brake lever clamp are snipped now.

Time to intall the end plugs. Leaving the overlap allows them to wedge in with security.


A little love tap with the sand filled mallet and voila!


Before...

After...

I find the Fizik Microtex to be the finest of bar wraps currently available which is why it is the only line of tape I sell. I do have in stock a myriad of colours but am streamling things down to black and white only. If you have a special hue in mind just email me at "justin@sveltecycles.com" and I will have what you need sent out to your doorstep. If you are a black/white type, go ahead and order direct off the website.

www.sveltecyles.com

Thanks For Reading,
Justin Spinelli