News Tech Corner

Our new Thunderbolt cranks are shipping now. Some aesthetic updates to the previous Twombolt crank should be immediately clear, but the biggest improvements have been made in the manufacturing stages.

Unlike ordinary heat-treatments, which are often merely an after-thought, The 41-Thermal® process encompasses all stages of production, and includes our own joint preparation controls, refined welding techniques (now visible in the crank’s larger weld beads), and of course, in the post-weld heat-treatment system that we originally pioneered in 1999 and continue to refine and tweak to this day.

• Laboratory tested and team proven
• Updated open-ended spindle cap
• New wedge cluster band with greater flexibility
• Never-Wobble crank arm and spindle interface guarantee
• 41-Thermal® lifetime replacement warranty against bending, cracking and breaking
• US Pat. Nos. 7,267,030, 7,523,684, 7,523,685, and/or 7,770,492
• 1 lb. 11.8 oz. (788g)
• 175 or 180mm
• RHD or LHD

For the first time, we have decided to share how we lab test our cranks…

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Download the Full Manual (PDF – 832kb)

We have a very limited batch of JCPC pedals that are currently out on the market and we expect to get more by the end of the year. If you’re one of the few to get a pair, here’s a fully detailed instruction manual to go along with it.

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FLATWARE TWOMBOLT:
» 160mm arms.
» Twombolt wedge cluster assembly system.
» Flatland specific gauge tubing and a larger spindle-bore hole size allow for a significantly lighter crankset.
» Socket Drive interface eliminates the need for a sprocket bolt allows for the use of very small sprocket sizes.
» 41-Thermal processed.
» Available in Black.
» Weight without BB: 1lb. 7.1oz. / 654.88g
» Weight with standard mid BB: 1lb. 13.1 oz. / 824.98g

FLATWARE RHODE ISLAND “SOCKET DRIVE”:
» Socket Drive interface.
» 7075-T6 aluminum.
» 20 or 22-T.
» 1/8″ tooth thickness.
» Available in Black, Gold and High Polished.

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The Rhode Island Sprocket

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Socket Drive

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Here’s the latest product to come out of Flatware line. This new flatland-specific Twombolt crank and Rhode Island sprocket are available now, so hit up your shops and mail-orders to get a set. Click around the flipbook above for pics and read below for details.

New “Socket Drive” Interface

This 9-sided sprocket interface has been designed as a new standard for sprocket fitting. It can be built into the spindle on 2-piece cranks like the Twombolt, or it can be incorporated into the arm on 3-piece cranks.


A new interface seemed to be a necessary development because sprockets have become smaller across the board. On anything less than a 25-T there starts to be a heavy concentration of stress around the drive bolt and the sprocket teeth. Switching to a closer spaced sprocket bolt is one solution, but that also increases the stress on the sprocket as the same torque applied at a closer radius results in a much larger contact force.

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Matt Beringer e-mailed us a bike check today along with a couple of photos. With winter coming to an end, it looks like he’s getting his bicycle dialed for the warmer days ahead. Aside from a couple parts here and there, he’s pretty much taken apart his whole bike, for one thorough overhaul. Click the pics to make ’em big.

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Bike maintenance with Jim Bauer

Ride BMX has a couple video how-to’s with Mr. Jim Bauer. The first one is how-to install a bottom bracket and the other one is for our Odyssey Twombolts (embedded after the jump). If you’re looking for a printable version, click HERE.

Oh and if you want to get a little bit more info about that Terry Adams cover shoot we posted yesterday, there’s a Q&A over at the ESPN site.

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Download the Full Manual (PDF – 1.92mb)

We released the G-Sport Ratchet Hub a couple weeks ago and we now have an instruction manual available for download. It has step-by-step instructions for maintenance, cleaning and switching from right to left hand drive. In it, you’ll also find a complete listing of technical specifications for the hub.

Download the Full Manual (PDF – 762kb)

TWOMBOLT CRANKS SHIPPING
Our update to the Wombolt crankset is on its way to shops and distributors. Twombolts (Two+Wombolt) are available now in fluorescent red, white and black. We have RHD-175 at the moment, with LHD and other sizes following soon.

The new features for the crank are as follows:
– Updated mating arm lug for improved fit and increased durability.
– All-new cluster design that optimizes the arm’s interface, simplifies assembly, and makes use of a durable AND replaceable elastic retainer band.
– Greatly improved overall function and performance proven both in the lab and during extensive long-term riding.
– 2 lbs. 2.5 oz. / 978g (with Mid BB). 1 lb. 13.5 oz. / 836g (without BB).

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*This article first appeared in Ride UK (#91) and is reproduced here by kind permission of Ride UK.

This month I want to continue where I left off last time. If you remember I had just finished assembling the worlds most garish wheel, a lovely little rear 48, laced 4 cross and interlaced under the third. But there is a lot more to wheel building than just putting the parts together in the right order. Wheels are very simple, they may look a bit complex, but like all the best ideas they have been with us so long because they are simple and work. Unlike the Government (which seems to think that it makes more sense to continue to pour money into a disastrous policy of smashing apart the very building blocks of the universe to get energy rather than make a small effort to pioneer profitable technology to harvest some of the freely available energy around us in the waves, wind and sun) we can make the most of this simple technology by putting in just a little more effort.

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*This article first appeared in Ride UK (#88) and is reproduced here by kind permission of Ride UK.

This month’s tech column is going to be about chain tension. But before I get on to that I should probably ramble on about something pretty much unrelated for a while. In this case I want to get you to take a minute to think just how awesome bicycles are. I was awestruck the other day watching the aftermath of the London tube and bus bombs. People were talking about their fear of getting back on the underground but saying they had no option… No option!?!? It’s the middle of summer the tube network only extends about 8 miles from the centre of London anyway and London is virtually flat. Why not get on a damn bike?! Do you know what the statistics for terrorists bombings of bicycles are? I had dreams of seeing the roads of London suddenly full of cyclists cruising down the empty bus lanes, saving their tube-fare and getting some much needed exercise… Sadly it never happened. But remember that that bike of yours can do more than just tricks.

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*This article first appeared in Ride UK (#87) and is reproduced here by kind permission of Ride UK.

People like Jeremy Clarkson often talk about torque. Unfortunately they either just quote a number or skirt right past it like it is this incredibly difficult concept to understand. The truth is that torque is very simple to understand. Time for another dumb simile… (hard to believe that that is really how you spell simile but I cant think of anything better so lets go with it)

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