Effetto Mariposa Tubeless Conversion for the Renovo

When I picked up my new front wheel for the Renovo last week at GS Astuto (SP Dynamo SD-8 hub, Velocity Aileron reflective rim), Tim Smith confirmed that the Aileron is a "tubeless ready" rim and can be converted for use with road tubeless tires by adding the right rim tape and valve.

This offered a perfect opportunity to use the Effetto Mariposa tubeless conversion kit I got last year.  Last night, mission accomplished!  For someone who has used a tubeless set up before (or even who has not, but can follow some very basic instructions), it was very easy.  Just clean the inside of the rim, unroll/smoothly apply the tape to the interior (2x wrap for higher pressure road tubeless), insert a hole (I use an awl) for the valve and firmly press it against the rim interior and use the included washer and threaded ring to secure it.  Then fit the tire and add air with a floor pump.

The conversion kit worked just GREAT.  And the kit includes a tool case that will fit in a water bottle holder, plus lots of sealant -- several years' supply?

The front tire filled with air, pulled its bead into the rim's "slot" and held its pressure the very first time.

Enough tape for 2 standard (622) road rims, each wrapped with a double layer.  Second valve not shown.

For the rear wheel, it looked as if the rim already had internal sealed tape on it ... so I tried using that and failed to get the rim to hold air a few times before giving up, removing that old tape, and using the Effetto Mariposa tape.  After trying again, the rear also held air the first time.  As painless a tubeless tire installation as I have ever experienced.

I also swapped out an 11-28 rear cassette for an 11-32, if I am going to use this on hilly ultra endurance events with its 52-36 crank.  I bled the front disk brake ... which had been very soft.  That seems to have worked (though still not as tight as the rear brake).  And I have removed the fenders -- should be easy enough to put them back on so I can "rinko" plausibly with this bike.  I may want to change some of the bolts/nuts so I can install and remove the fenders without needing a "+" screwdriver.

Today, now that I am comfortable the tires are holding pressure well, I will add Caffe Latex sealant. Then ride!  

If all goes well with this setup, ... I will definitely use the Renovo on April's Fleche.  Fast, smooth, comfortable tires, an SP Dynamo hub and Busch Mueller light, shock absorbing Renovo frame.  Di2 Ultegra shifting. Just thinking about it fills me with anticipation!

If all goes well on the Fleche ... maybe Okayama 1200?

The rim looks almost carbon grey/black, ... but with a camera flash (photo at top of post) is very bright: reflective.

Update:  I added the Caffe Latex sealant and rode the bike to/from work.  These 700x25 Schwab One tubeless tires are very smooth and fast, though I would be hard pressed to say if they feel as comfortable as the 700x28 Continental Four Seasons.  They do feel fast.

Visit to GS Astuto -- To Pick Up a New Velocity Aileron wheel!

On Friday morning I visited GS Astuto, near Ikuta station on the Odakyu Line, to pick up a wheel I had asked Tim Smith to build for me.  I have just been too busy to build my own since last summer, and Tim knows more about wheels than anyone else I have met, so I had been looking a chance to try his wheelbuilding.

And I wanted a wheel with the Velocity Aileron (disk brake only) rims I have on the Renovo, with a dynamo light.  I love the Velocity Aileron wheels I have -- the 25mm wide rim is extremely comfortable, the rim shape is nicely aerodynamic and yet good in crosswinds.  And with 14 gauge rotor-side and 2.0/1.8mm double butted non-rotor side spokes, these should wear very well.  

I was delighted that these rims are "tubeless ready". I will use an Effetto Mariposa tubeless conversion kit and try to set this and my current rear wheel from the Renovo up for riding tubeless tires with sealant.  ... This could be my fastest, most comfortable, long distance riding wheel yet!

Tim's company, GS Astuto, is now focused mostly on wheels, but he designs and sells GS Astuto carbon frames as well, and has a few other products in the works.  He offers an extremely attractive "cost/performance" mix, as can only be managed by someone with low overhead, good contacts throughout Asia and a wealth of knowledge both technical and practical about what works and doesn't.  (Did I mention that Tim is the designer and supplier of my Ti Travel bike, Voyage Voyage? -- which has served me through many great rides in recent years, including last year's SR600 Fuji and Paris-Brest-Paris, and I hope will continue to do so.)

Finishing touches to the wheel tension, Tim gestures toward one of his experiments --
a bright red rim with high end coatings. Almost an "Usain Bolt pose"?

The finished product, in natural light

Same location, same time, photo taken with iPhone flash.
The rim is "reflective" as you can see.  Perfect for a dynamo hub, and night riding.
The only dark areas are those covered by decals, and they will be coming off soon.
Tim told me to heat the decals with a hair dryer so they will peal right off. (Solvents could damage the rim coating.)

Tim has designed some hubs for GS Astuto wheels. These should be very durable.
Steel cassette freehub that will not score and deteriorate as quickly as the alloy ones --
a great "trade-off" for just a few additional grams of weight.

A GS Astuto wheel with the proprietary hub.

A fun CX experiment. Beautiful Onyx racing products infinite engagement hub for centerlock disk brake,
27mm wide carbon rim, and IRC SeracCX Tubeless "sand" tire. 

The Onyx hyperglide hub -- truly instant engagement.  (onyx label photographed upside down).
Onyx has made a splash in the MTB/CX world -- may be a challenger to Chris King eventually?

The GS Astuto road-disk frame/fork, will be sold either as a frameset or a full bike.  The front fork is thru-axle.  Rear wheel can be either QR or thru-axle. A sleek looking, good quality, reasonably priced carbon frame designed to last and to go anywhere. What's not to like?

Welcome to the Stable -- Parlee Altum R in Sky Blue

The blue appears lighter when the bike is outside

Parlee Cycles is known for producing high-end custom carbon bicycle frames, and based in Beverly, Massachusetts, just North along the coast outside of Boston.

I test rode a Parlee bike last summer when I visited RGT Enterprises in Nagoya.  Parlees offer a very smooth, comfortable ride, while also being incredibly responsive, balanced and precise. The word that comes to mind is "refined".  I did not order one at the time, as Parlee was just about to come out with an entirely new set of their production models.  (Parlee is known for its custom carbon frames, but I am not yet ready -- and may never be -- to get a custom carbon framed bike!)  I was told the new versions would have better clearance for 622x25 and even 622x28 tires, and that is indeed the case. Parlee rolled out its new Altum line of frames last August/September -- Eurobike, Interbike, etc. -- and I had to try one eventually.

I ordered the least expensive, Altum R.  It is an 810g frame/330g fork (in "M" size), a few grams more than the 750g/280g Altum, but still incredibly light and with the same type of ride as the bikes I tried last year.

And the Altum R comes in either a beautiful sky blue or a light grey paint.  I chose the sky blue. (Parlees can be custom painted before delivery, at an additional charge).

How does the Parlee Altum R differ from my most recent carbon frame bike -- the Canyon "Shark", (which has been handed down to my son now, shipped off to Boston, MA)?

Internal Cabling. Both frames have internal cabling, but the Altum R seems much better designed.

First, Altum R has wider openings (with removable covers that snap back into place) at cable entrance/exits and under the bottom bracket shell area, so it is MUCH easier to install and replace cables.  The Canyon had cable liners to help with the INITIAL installation, but those liners were not intended to remain in place, and so cable replacement will be quite difficult.

Second, Altum R works with both mechanical and electronic shifting groupsets.  Two different groups of the cabling guides/covers are provided.  I installed a mechanical groupset -- Shimano Ultegra 6800, but I really love the Di2 on the Renovo and have been reading favorable reviews even from long distance riders/randonneurs.

Certainly for a pure road/racing bike like the Altum R, I may want to change to Di2 at some point, and I can do so easily with the Altum R.  After the flurry of activity this year, I really cannot see myself buying another bike in the near future once the Oregon randonneur is done ....  groupset upgrades, on the other hand, might be possible.  Would not have been practical with the other carbon frame.

The black hard plastic cover is removable, like a similar one under the BB. 

Rear brake cable enters toptube

Steerer and headset.  The Altum R has a tapered fork but its steerer is 1 1/8 inch, so compatible with 99% of stems being sold for road bikes these days.  The other had a 1 1/4 inch steerer, so very limited options.  Similarly, the Altum R integrated headset is very simple and straightforward, whereas the other uses a somewhat non-standard design.

You can see the Altum R's headtube cap.  3 different sizes are available.
I got the medium size cap, which is fine.  I will eliminate the spacer below the stem now
that I have gotten a few rides in and confirm I want a bit more aggressive front end hand position.

Time to cut the fork to correct length.  Nice to have a tool that serves as a guide.

Done.  Why was I so nervous the first time I did this years ago?
I was afraid I would destroy or damage a valuable piece of equipment.
I still inevitably cut the steerer a bit too conservatively, leaving need for some spacers.

Seatpost clamp.  The Altum R has a very nice integrated seatpost clamp.  I have never seen one like this before.  It works very nicely and looks durable.

Finish and Precision.  The Altum R tubing is, to the extent I can tell, nice and smooth on the inside as well as out.  The 31.8mm seatpost fit beautifully in the seat tube -- perfect and "snug as a bug".  Everything fit beautifully in this build-- press-fit BB, headset bearings, headtube top cap, seat post, etc.  I got a new tool for installing the pressfit BB, and added a little Effetto Mariposa "carbo grip" before setting the pressfit BB.

Perfect, snug fit. Smooth inside.

Pressfit BB is in

I am sure there are lots of other features I did not yet even notice.  You can find more on the Parlee site. As mentioned, I built the bike up with a Shimano 11-speed Ultegra (6800) groupset.  Nothing unusual here -- exactly the same as I had used a year ago on the Canyon.  I did add a few extras.

Dipell Bartape

Most important, I decided to try some beautiful leather bar tape.  I first places a layer of gel pads on the bars, then some of the Dipell bar tape now being imported by RGT/David Marx.  This product uses high end "sports leather" -- the same as you would find in custom shoes ordered by a top football (i.e. soccer) star.

The tape feels great -- comfortable, grippy, supple and with plenty of padding.  And my bars now smell a lot like a leather jacket -- a great aroma.  I am sorry this blog does not offer a "scratch and sniff" feature!  It is really a nice smell.

David Marx says this kind of leather bartape will last a LONG time, and can be cleaned and reapplied using new double sided backing tape if it needs to be rewound.  Unlike other leather bartapes, this one has only a single strip of cowhide on each roll of tape, so there is no "weak point".

I cannot help thinking that white bartape would have been great with this bike ... but black will look "like new" much longer.

Shelter

I added some Effetto Mariposa "Shelter" strips to protect the frame and paint job on (1) underside of the downtube, (2) drive-side chain stay, and (3) where the rear brake outer cable might rub against the seat tube.  Shelter is a shock-absorbing plastic adhesive-backed padding that has already been sold for MTB use for some time.  I got a roll of the MTB version awhile back.  It is a bit heavy and thick.
The "road" version is much thinner and lighter.  I barely can notice that it is there, but it should offer protection from at least minor dings. 

I hope the Parlee Altum R will be a "lifetime" carbon frame, not a "four year" one like my first three - Giant TCR, Cervelo R3-SL, Canyon Ultimate CF.  I am not sure the "Shelter" will guarantee that, since I can still knock the bike over, crash it, or have a pebble fly up and strike it in an unusual place. But at least I have tried to improve the odds a bit.

Cleaning out the Stable

How, you might ask, can I manage to add this bike to my growing collection?  Where can I fit them all?

Well, as noted about, I sent one bike off to my son in the U.S. for his birthday last month.

Another, the Bianchi Pista Concept 2006, has been gathering dust for quite awhile now, so it is going to go on the TCC classifieds soon after my summer travels.

And the plan is that the Oregon randonneur bike will, well, stay in Oregon for the time being.

3T Seatpost - Fail

As I took the bike out for its first real ride on Sunday morning, I had only one problem.  I worked to try and "dial in" the position, moving the seat both up and forward twice.  The 3T Ionic 25 Team Stealth post that came with the bike has an interesting "patent pending" exclusive "DiffLock" clamp design, with bolts from both sides.  The second time I tried to adjust the position and tighten the clamp (with very low torque/leverage), the bolt stripped and would not tighten all the way.

Already far from home up the river, I decided to ride with a slightly loose seat to Y's or Nalshima Tachikawa and get a replacement bolt ASAP.  The seat slid back to the far end of the rails quite quickly, but at least did not come off.  When I got off the bike at a convenience store soon after to check ... the entire left clamp and bolt were gone.  I guess it was stripped so badly that not only would it not tighten, but it fell off.  I retraced the route looking for it, but no luck.

3T - 25 Ionic team stealth -- he way it should look from the side.

3T 25 Ionic team stealth -- with missing bolt and clamp/cover. 

Instead of getting a new bolt, at Y's I got a TNI aluminum seatpost -- the lightest weight 350mm 31.6mm aluminum post I could find, and installed that instead.  At least it has an easy to use clamp.

TNI aluminum post.  Lighter than the Deda 

The last time I used an aluminum 31.6mm post, on the Ti Travel Bike, I found the ride very stiff and harsh.  But on the Parlee, even with an aluminum post the ride is great.  Confident, but not harsh.  And great to have the seat secured in one place!

(I would note that Parlee provides its own seat post with the Altum ... but not with the less expensive Altum R.  No "DiffLock" issues with the Parlee post.)

The rest of my inaugural ride went without a hitch.  This is a beautiful bike, it handles effortlessly, and Sky Blue is what I will ride when I want to remember the joy of riding a road bike -- when the sky is blue, and when I want to go fast and travel light.

bold graphics

Helmet Refresh with Octoplus ... from Effetto Mariposa

I have at least 5 helmets sitting in my garage, 3 of which I use, and two of which are for my sons when they come back home or other visitors.

Two of those I use are nice light Giro Atmos models.  The new one has front and rear lights attached for randonneuring, while the older one is strictly for road cycling.   Both are still in usable condition.

The third helmet, an unknown model by Bell, is for in city riding and commuting.  It often is clipped to my bars in an open parking area, exposed to the elements.  Paint has faded, and the inner padding is almost gone.  But it is never suffered any kind of major impact, and so retains its functionality as protection for my head.  Besides, the faded color gives it a kind of "distressed" look -- one of many things that says "I did not just take up riding yesterday!"

So how to extend its life?  With Octoplus from Effetto Mariposa, a "Universal Bicycle Helmet Pad Kit", to quote the packaging description.  Made in Italy.  The company is in Lugano, on the Swiss/Italian border.  Effetto Mariposa has some really cool niche products, including this one.  I use their Caffe Latex sealant for my tubeless tires, and the road version of their "Shelter" product to protect the most vulnerable areas of a carbon frame.  David Marx of RGT knows the head of the company and recommended Octoplus to me.

The package contains a sheet that has lots of the required padding sections, plus velcro attachments with sticky/tape backing to attach to the inside of the helmet.  This is what the pieces are supposed to look like:

Which is very accurate.

Here is the rest of the material after the usable parts are removed.  This might be useful as ... a piece of art, in a kind of SW native American pattern for a wall hanging?

It took about 10 minutes to remove the pieces and attach them inside my helmet.  The result?  No more velcro rubbing directly against my head.  No more scuzzy, worn padding.  Feels like a new helmet!

A really nice way to extend life of a helmet.

A note -- while I used all 8 arms and kept them attached to the "body" of the Octopus, it is possible to cut, separate, fold, bend and generally redo with the padding wherever it works best.  Given the velcro attachments probably already in your help, plus the 10 small additional strips you get with the kit, it should not be hard to get a fit that is just right.  In fact, I may end up trimming the end of a few arms.  We shall see.

A nice product ...  Maybe Giro, Bell, OGK, GVR, Kask,  Lazer, Catlike, Spiuk, MET, Carrera and other helmet brands will not be so happy with it, but given the prices they charge, this kind of approach makes a lot of sense.

UPDATE - September 2015.  A second helmet refresh project completed with Octoplus.  The helmet has a completely different pre-existing set of padding, and requires a different layout.  The Octoplus works fine.  And this time I saved plenty of material for use on another helmet!