Quick Release

Yep, it was definitely the rear quick release that was driving me crazy. As I noted before, I took an OEM skewer from a defunct racing bike, put it in the rear wheel, and then waited to see what happened. After a couple hundred miles, it had become apparent that the problem was resolved, and conclusively proven that:

• Forward-facing horizontal dropouts require internal cam quick releases, and
• Saint Sheldon is always right.

Honestly, just give me a set of vertical dropouts with some lovely lawyer lips, and I'll be happy.

Having diagnosed and resolved the issue, onto the next problem - a Bontrager Racing Lite quick release looks completely out of place on a classic, low trail 650 rando-style bike!

So off I went to find an appropriate looking quick release. Of course I turned to the mounting pile of discarded wheels lying in the corner of the garage. The only real candidate came from the original wheel that came with my first road racer, which had Matrix Aurora rims and Tiagra hubs. Presumably then, the skewers are Shimano Tiagra, though there's no branding to that effect. They just say Shimano. Anyhoo, the axle seems to be too thick to fit the new wheels. I thought "modern" road bike axles were universal (5 mm, right?), but apparently not. Or maybe it's bent or something. In any case, I couldn't get it in. So, off to the interweb in search of new quick releases that will be aesthetically compatible with my bike...!

As strange as it may seem, there aren't really a lot of aftermarket quick releases in classic silver. You can get affordable internal cam skewers in a Shimano 105 or Ultegra, but they only come in shades of SHIMANO branding and ever-so-cool black and gray colorways. This bike looks classic and timeless. I want components that look classic and timeless, i.e., shiny silver stuff (SSS). Amazon has some really cheap all-steel models that are marketed for use with stationary trainers, and I did try one of those, but it was super heavy and very clunky. So that's not gonna work.

After checking in at Rivendell, it occurred to me to have a look at the company that makes the wheelsets they sell - Velocity of Grand Rapids, USA. And there it was! A simple, sliver internal cam quick release that doesn't look stupid on a classic bike. Okay, the Star Trek typeface of their logo isn't particularly "classic" but I'm probably the only one who will ever notice. So hopefully this is another issue settled. 

Silver Velocity Quick Release Skewer - Nice shape, really.

For those of you weight weenies following along at home, here are the stats of the various alternatives I was working with:

- Original Equipment (Cycles Toussaint/Rimnet)(130 mm): 56 grams

- Velocity (130 mm): 59 grams

- Shimano Tiagra (130 mm): 63 grams

- Bontrager Race Lite (135 mm): 70 grams

Skewered

As I have mentioned before, I am being driven to the very edge of madness by a semi-horizontal dropout and the associated quick release mechanism that allegedly holds the back wheel in place on the back of my Cycles Toussaint Vélo Routier v2. The issue has come and gone, but has never entirely gone away and last week it finally came to a head when in an attempt to tighten the quick release for the third time in five miles of riding, the skewer itself snapped, leaving me stranded on the side of the road. Fortunately the Managing Partner was along for the ride and was able to return to the Bartlecave, retrieve the Bartlemobile and rescue me. 

SuuuhhNAP!!!

The quick release skewers supplied with the Velo Routier DIY build kit are of the "exposed cam" variety which seems to be the norm these days. It's a kind of nice looking item, all silver and shiny, but it has been slipping for a while now. I think it was fine for a while, until it wore the paint off the dropout. Once there was no "soft" paint to hang onto, the shallow knurling on the bolt part just polished the dropout and it more or less started regularly slipping out of the dropout.

See the scratched paint foreward of the dropout? That's where the teeth of the quick release come to rest when it inevitably lets go of the dropout.Those are new screws, by the way - all the futzing wrecked the old ones, so I replaced them.

I put up with it because I'm lazy and didn't really know what to do about it. Then, SuuuNAP!!! So, no alternative but to head to the GoogleNet in search of a solution. And of course, the oracle of information about bikes is where I ultimately found the answer.

Saint Sheldon explicitly warns against using "boutique" exposed cam quick releases on horizontal dropouts.

The exposed-cam skewers are generally OK for vertical dropouts in back, and for forks with "lawyer lips", but should not be relied on with horizontal dropouts or plain forks.

So, the quick releases supplied with the bike are not the best choice for the dropouts. Well, I guess I'm not surprised. Though really nice to look at, it's obvious that the wheelset provided with the Velo Routier DIY build kit is a budget wheelset (ever hear of the Rimnet brand? Me neither.). I don't have any problem with the wheels - they seem pretty sturdy and though a bit to the heavy side, do what wheels are supposed to do. The problem is with the quick releases. It's a small detail, but at least for me, an important one.

So, armed with a potential solution, and in obvious need of a replacement skewer, I turned to the parts bin. The most obvious choice was to use the rear skewer from a bike that doesn't exist anymore; one that also had a 10-speed cassette. So more or less just as a proof of concept I grabbed the one from my unused pair of 2011 Bontrager Race Lite wheels. Fortunately they fit pretty well (they seem a bit long (135 mm?) with about 3/8 inch of threads extending from the nut, but they tightened up nice and snug and the extra length doesn't seem to have a negative effect. I've only been out for one ride since I set it up with the "new" skewer, but over two hours of fairly vigorous riding it seems to have stayed put. I'll leave it this way for a while and see if it resolves the issue.

In the mean time I'll be the guy riding around with a silly looking "aero" quick release hung on a vintage looking bike. Not the weirdest thing you'll see on a day of riding in Rock Creek Park. And who knows? Maybe the aero advantage of the new quick release will make me faster.

Horizontal dropout with a Bontrager Race Lite quick release!

Velo Routier at 1,100 miles

Spring has sprung as they say. Though winter saw some miles on the bike, they were far too few, so now that it's warming up it's time to get out on the road to get the cycling season really going in earnest. But before setting out this weekend I thought I'd spruce up the Velo Routier with a new colorway for the cockpit. I had originally intended to swap out the stem and handlebars too, but I bought a Nitto Technomic which was just too long for my short headset (I ride a 51cm frame). The Rivendell guys would probably approve, but I find super-long stems on road bikes a bit clownish. 

So until I get a new stem, I've stuck with the original Nitto "Young" stem and Nitto B114 "Olympiad" handlebar I swapped from my 1986 Fuji Allegro, simply adding new brake levers in brown with matching Cinelli in "corky" bar tape. As I was re-wrapping the bars I elected to add a bit of gel along the top of the bar, particularly at the bend, where my hands tend to spend the most time. 

Velo Routier in brown!

I like the brown brake hoods better than the black ones I had before. Both are made by Origin 8, but the brown version, "Classique" has more of a Campagnolo shape I much prefer with the added aesthetic bonus of drilled levers. $34 for the pair. In retrospect, I can't believe how much money I've spent over the years on integrated indexed "brifters" and associated parts. Yes, I get why racers want them, but for the rest of us? Friction shifting is more reliable, repairable and yes, affordable. 

Cycles Toussaint Velo Routier Version 2.0

The inaugural ride confirmed that the new brake levers, tape and gel were a good choice. All feels nice and cushy and my inner retrogrouch loves the look. It gives me nice flat ramps which provides lots of positions for my hands. I'll probably still swap out the cockpit for a Soma Fabrications Sutro stem and a Velo Orange Course handlebar the next time I'm ready to re-wrap. That'll let me get the bars just a tiny bit higher (roughly even with the saddle) and give me that classic Maes parallel look. It may also pull the shifters back toward me a skosh. 

I should say that I spent a bit of the ride fighting the horizontal dropouts. So that kind of spoiled what would otherwise have been a delightful, spring ride. For some reason (probably because I'm such an immensely powerful cyclist) the skewer repeatedly kept slipping, letting the wheel go askew and the tire rub against the chain stay. I assure you I had the quick-release as tight as I could make it. I could barely get it open to re-position the wheel. I'm not really sure about the optimum position of the axle in the dropouts and I have them close to the front. I will probably pull them back a bit, but I'm tightening the quick-release as tight as I can and it still keeps letting go. I'll figure it out, but it's kind of a pain. 

Horizontal dropouts.

Cycles Toussaint says of Version 2 of the Velo Routier, "instead of vertical, the Velo Routier 2.0 will have adjustable horizontal rear drop outs which will allow for internal hub and fixed-gear builds." I guess it's possible that someone has done this. Certainly one of the owners has done it. But I can't find many examples online. I'm sympathetic to the challenges of getting such a bike produced, but I wish they would have put the horizontal dropouts on the "fixie" version without the braze-ons and just left the road version with the much more sensible vertical dropouts as on Version 1.