News

*This article first appeared in Ride UK (#81) and is reproduced here by kind permission of Ride UK.

“Supertherm or Ox platinum? T45 or Reynolds 853? Sanko or Tange? What’s it all about?”

Yep, several people have been foolish enough to ask me to write a tech column on all the “fancy” tubes that companies are increasingly using to make frames. Obviously this is unlikely to be an exciting story with dumb security guards and drunken antics but I will do my best to prevent it being completely unreadable.

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The stem has reached the distributors, so whenever your shop can get them is when you will see them.
Here are the directions that come with the stem, so check these out before you ask questions.
36mm of available fork steerer tube is an important measure so you know if your current fork will fit(if you cut it down). Pay special attention to steps 5 and 6 to avoid under/overtightening
They may look complicated, but we wanted to make sure your bike is running smooth. You could make instructions for how to properly install a normal stem just as thorough.

Jimmy’s Grip is shipping out.

Thin, minimal grip, random stipple pattern(think clark’s shoe sole) with a VERY slight(only about 1mm) buldge in the center-tapering out to the ends.
Its got bats on it (like Jimmy’s arm). Bats are good luck.

ODYSSEY’S ODYSSEY

The new Odyssey Euro road trip video is at the duplicators as i type and will be available before Christmas. Judging by the photos in the recent RIDE BMX covering the trip, you should have some kind of idea about the riding that went down (not to mention Levan). Good stuff indeed!!

Riders:

Gary Young
Adam Banton
Jimmy Levan
Matt Beringer
James Hitchcox
Fraser Peek
Scott Foster
Mike Aitken
Ben Foakes

photo: Derek Fetco

photo: Losey

photo: jim

photos: jim

For those of you who are interested or have been asking us, this is what the inside of our 41 Thermal cranks look like. I took the liberty of cutting an arm so you can see that the spindle lug and sprocket bolt lug are machined out of one peice. This increases durability and strength by taking some of the pressure off the spindle lug.

Here’s a look at our upcoming new sprocket. Some of you may have seen this sprocket unfinished at interbike, but here is a production sample.

Vermont sprocket:

7075 aluminum
28t or 30t only
6mm width
choose from 1 of 5 mounting positions
3.1 ounces (28t)

This is a sneak peek and production is almost under way, therefore these sprockets will not be available until early december. Now you can ask Tom at Empire when these will be available.

Here is the 2005 Odyssey Cassette Hub.

As you can see, it looks similar to our existing cassette hub, but many improvements have been made.

SPECS:

6061 SHELL WITH ANGLED FLANGES.

LESS MATERIAL TO INTERFERE WITH CONENUTS TO PREVENT “GHOST PEDALING”.

14MM HEAT TREATED HOLLOW AXLE WITH ALLEN KEY ENDS.

IMPROVED 7075 BEARING SPACER WITH REINFORCED ENDS.

IMPROVED 4130 AXLE NUTS AND HEAT TREATED 4130 CONENUTS.

IMPROVED 4-PAWL DRIVER FOR QUICKER ENGAGEMENT.

IMPROVED ALUMINUM COG LOCKRING. WRENCH FLATS STYLE, No special tool needed.

4130 REPLACEABLE COGS (12, 13, 14, 16).

HIGH QUALITY JAPANESE BEARINGS (always were)

36 OR 48 HOLE.

AVAILABLE IN BLACK, ANODIZED RED OR ANODIZED GREY.

NOTE: These hubs are not available, and will not be available for a few months.