Most bike shops slow down in the winter, but we’re as busy as ever with new bikes, new projects, and celebrating with our customers. Here’s a rundown of what we have in the works for 2020:
The Rodriguez Disruptor E-bike and Shift-E system
Our biggest news in the new year is the debut of the Rodriguez Disruptor e-bike with our own Shift-E shifting system. The Disruptor is an e-bike made the Rodriguez way. It’s custom built just for you with a powerful motor and a drivetrain perfect for the high torque e-bike motors produce. The Shift-E drivetrain, exclusive to R+E, can shift under as much as 2 1/2 horsepower. That’s exactly what you need with a 750 watt electric motor in charge. Shift-E also has two shifting modes: manual and automatic. You can control each shift via push button or just put it in automatic and forget it! Shift-E adapts to your preferred cadence for smooth pedaling no matter the terrain.
The Disruptor is how we think e-bikes should be. Light enough to ride like a regular bike, powerful enough for any terrain, and equipped with a shifting system that’s made to withstand the forces of an electric motor. We’re thrilled to see this bike debut to the public and we can’t wait to put you on one.
Rodriguez Thru-Axle Dropouts
Thru-axle hubs are one of the biggest changes in bikes this decade. The quick release skewer has been dominant for nearly a century but that supremacy is finally changing. One of the most common questions we get these days is: “Can you do thru-axle?” The answer has always been yes, but we’ve been unsatisfied with the dropouts available from other companies. That prompted us to do what we usually do in that situation: we made our own! These new dropouts fit our building process a lot better than other dropouts and allow us to build a better bike for our customers. You’ll be able to see these on our showroom floor very soon.
Rodriguez Custom Frame Bags
Rodriguez Bikes has partnered with Bedrock Bags of Colorado to produce our own custom frame bags. These waterproof bags are handmade in Colorado specifically for your Rodriguez bike. Since we have your frame measurements, ordering a custom bag is a piece of cake. Whether you’re doing multi-day bikepacking trips, or just commuting in the Seattle weather, these bags are up for the challenge. We’re glad to be offering such a rugged option for our customers in the new year.
Bike and Pike 2020
This year is our 12th annual Bike and Pike open house! Mark your calendars, it’s happening on Saturday February 29th. We’ll have lots of fun stuff on hand, like Disruptor test rides, Pike Brewing beer, corn dogs (probably!), frame shop tours, and tons of good conversation with people that love bikes. It’s a great party every year and this one promises lots of fun new stuff to see and try out. We can’t wait to see you there!
I can assure you this is not a complete list of the interesting things happening at R+E in 2020, but I can say we’re off to a great start. Keep an eye out here and on our social media to see what we may be plotting in the new year.
In recent years, we’ve seen a rapid evolution in gearing options for bikes of all types. There are new options that have expanded choices for certain riders, and some options (arguably very useful options) have gotten pushed to the side. Rapid changes in “standards” are nothing new in the bike industry, and they tend to cause a lot of confusion for consumers and industry professionals alike. To clear things up, here’s an overview of your options as they stand going into 2020.
The Cassette
Over the past few decades, advances in cassette technology have mainly been aimed at squeezing in more cogs. In the 80s, even the highest-end drivetrains had just six cogs in the rear. 13-26 was considered standard. These days, high-end drivetrains use 11, 12, and even 13 cogs. This has created narrower cogs and chains as well as pushed road bikes to move to a wider rear triangle to accommodate more cogs and disc brakes. These thinner chains and cogs tend to wear out more quickly, however, so that’s been a bit of a trade-off. We’re starting to see some mountain bike drivetrains return to nine (and even seven) speed drivetrains to make them more robust.
As for the actual shifting performance, the woes of the 10 speed era have mainly been ironed out. Shifting is mostly excellent across the board. The new radical shift in cassette technology is range. Driven by mountain bike design, cassettes have ballooned in size. Just a few years ago, a cassette with a range from 11 teeth to 32 teeth was considered a large cassette. These days we’re seeing cassettes as wide as 9 teeth to 50 teeth. That’s a gear range of over 500%. The catch is that those are for single chainring drivetrains, also called 1X. All the shifting is in the cassette, so it needs to have a wide range. The only way to get that kind of range before was to use a triple chainring crankset. Why choose one over the other? Which is better for the rider? Well, that depends.
The cassette on the left has a huge range, but is meant for a single chainring up front. The one on the right has smaller steps between gears and is meant to be used with either two or three chainrings.
The rear derailleur has traditionally been used to fine tune your gear selection. Adding more cogs, like having eleven instead of nine, allows for smaller jumps between gears and therefore more control over the gear ratio. Large jumps are made by the double or triple chainring, then the rear was used to find a gear that was “just right”. The new selection of wide range cassettes have much bigger jumps between cog sizes. For some riders this can be frustrating when they can’t shift into a gear that feels perfect for the terrain they happen to be on at the moment. For other riders, this isn’t much of a big deal. They value the simplicity of using a single shifter and will either push harder or go slower when they can’t get the gearing perfect. There seem to be plenty of both types of riders so having multiple options is a good thing.
Chainrings
Chainring configuration has also seen a lot of change recently. We see three major shifts: an expansion in gearing options for double cranks, the emergence of “one-by” drivetrains, and the so-called death of the triple.
Double Chainring Drivetrains
a modern 46/30 “sub-compact” double crankset
Not so long ago, there were essentially three choices in front gearing for double cranks. The traditional choice, suitable for racers and the manliest of manly men, was the 53/39-tooth combo. “Compact” gearing, 50/34-tooth, was initially rolled out as an alternative to triple cranksets and effectively became the industry standard with its more forgiving gear range. Finally, cyclocross ended up with its own chainring standard of 48/36-tooth.
Compact gearing worked well for a lot of riders, but never really lived up to its intended purpose of replacing triple cranks. Triples offered the option of getting ridiculously low gear ratios, but the compact double’s 34-tooth small ring (smaller rings mean lower gears on the front) wasn’t actually all that low a gear.
Enter the All-Road Bike. A growing number of cyclists today want a bike that can go back and forth between paved roads, forest service roads, gravel roads, and single track. That’s a lot to ask and also part of what’s fueling all of this drivetrain evolution and mutation. While the 46/30 has become semi-standard on bikes like this, combinations as low as 42/24 are available. Higher gears are sacrificed for all-terrain capability. Many see it as worth the trade off, but drivetrains may not be done evolving just yet. The recently released GRX series from Shimano will shift an 11-42 in the back while keeping a compact double 50/34 in the front. That’s a lot of range and it’s developments like this that lead people to pronounce “the triple is dead”
The 1X (one-by), or Single Chainring Drivetrain
A modern “one-by” drivetrain
Like a lot of recent developments, the 1X drivetrain comes from the world of mountain biking. Riders who were pushing their mountain bikes to the limit over rough and varied terrain wanted to simplify things and take one variable for failure out of the equation altogether. The front derailleur was seen as the best part to go because when it did malfunction, it could stop a rider in their tracks. Thus, the 1X was born. It’s a little more complicated than just removing the derailleur. Chainrings were redesigned to retain the chain instead of letting it go for shifting. Rear derailleurs had clutch mechanisms added to keep the chain steady over bumpy terrain. This is also where the ultra-wide range cassettes began to develop. Mountain bikes need gearing that’s able to shift to a very low gear and do it quickly. Off-road terrain can become suddenly very steep and having just one control that moves the gear quickly and surely has been great for mountain bikers. They can make huge changes in gear ratio without the fear of dropping the chain off the chainring.
This drivetrain configuration has made the jump to all-road and gravel bikes now, for some of the same reasons. There’s something to be said for simplicity and dependability when your bike is covered in mud and you’re trying to make it up an 18% grade made of soft dirt. The trade off is the range, but cassettes that go from 10 to 50 teeth mitigate that aspect quite a bit. A 500% range is nothing to sneeze at. The disadvantages have to do with the cassette, as I discussed above. Big jumps between gears are not for everyone. Still, for some, the 1X fits their needs exactly. From a builder’s perspective, we just see it as one more tool in the toolbox for making someone a bike they love. It seems to be sticking around and we’ve met more than a few that don’t want to ride anything else.
Triple Chainring Drivetrains
Tales of the triple’s demise may be premature
Well, what about the triple? It’s death has been pronounced before, back in the 80’s. Back then, the triple (a crankset with three chainrings) fell out of favor on road bikes and was relegated to touring bikes and mountain bikes. “Compact” cranks with 50/34 tooth rings, the thinking went, provided plenty low gearing. It was only a few years before manufacturers again figured out that people still wanted to climb big hills on their road bikes without having to stand and mash a big gear, and the 34-tooth ring just wasn’t cutting it. Triples returned to full range of road groups. This is because no other configuration can match the gearing range of a triple drivetrain. That’s still currently true. A triple with a 53/39/28 chainring combination paired with an 11-36 cassette has a high gear of 122.3 inches and a low gear of 21.5 inches. That’s a range of 568%. That means the triple is still king in that category.
So why are so many people willing to declare the triple dead? A triple chainring drivetrain requires a bit more setup and adjustment, but just barely. A lot of people soured on triple shifting during the ten speed era I referenced above. During this time, manufacturers decided to make triple shifting “indexed” the way shifting in the rear was. One set movement of the shifter moved one gear with a click. Well, that didn’t go well at the time. The fledgling technology resulted in a lot of mis-shifts and dropped chains. It really wasn’t fun for anyone. By the time the problems got ironed out, the compact double appeared and people steered away from the triple altogether. And yet, the triple still refuses to go away. Certain riders still insist on one because they love the combination of range, flexibility, and adjustability. Up until recently, it was still the only way to get truly low gears on a road bike. That aspect may have changed, but we’re not ready to count the triple out just yet. A lot of our customers ask for it and we’re going to continue to provide it as best we can for those customers. In the end, we believe it’s worth keeping the option available. The mountainous climbs and long descents of the Pacific Northwest might have something to do with that choice.
We’ve put together a chart to help visualize what the differences between these options are in a linear perspective. Here, you can see not just the range, but what the jumps between gears look like as well. (Thanks to Logan for the chart and his input on this post)
I hope this answers any questions you might have had regarding what’s going on with bicycle drivetrains these days. Currently, we have more options than ever before and that’s not a bad thing. It helps us hone in on what will be best for each individual customer, and as a custom shop that’s exactly what we want. We’re not going to say goodbye to the triple anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean we won’t say a warm hello to the new developments out there.
When designing an e-bike, we knew we would give our customers what we’ve always given them: choice. We are a full custom shop, after all. After months of research, we’ve come up with three different ways to help our customers get an e-bike that works for them. Here’s a rundown of what we’ve come up with
The R+E Cycles U-District
While technically our “middle of the road” option, we are probably the most excited about this one. To make a U-District, we take an existing production frame and modify it to suit the individual rider’s needs. We can add, change, or remove any braze-on as well as modify any parts that the motor might interact with. After that, it’s a fresh paint job and installing a powerful motor and battery system. This method allows us to offer bike with an accessible price that is still flexible enough to meet your needs. This also comes with R+E’s dedication to fit and comfort. No one wants to ride a bike that doesn’t fit, no matter what kind of motor it has.
A Rodriguez e-bike
A full custom Rodriguez is the only answer for those that want the most out of their bike. Every aspect is taken into consideration to meet the rider’s needs and our e-bike versions would be no different. If you have a specific vision of what you want your bike to be, a Rodriguez is the answer.
A KHS Envoy e-bike
For the more budget conscious rider, we offer the KHS Envoy. It’s a way for you to get an entry level e-bike backed by our proven commitment to service and comfort. We’ve worked with KHS for decades to provide entry level bikes for our customers and they’ve produced an excellent e-bike that we’re happy to sell at our shop.
One thing we’ve learned is that the e-bike motor is still in flux. New designs are coming out often and old ones going away just as fast. Our service technicians are learning the skills to work on any of them that come down the pike. We will uphold our commitment to service no matter which way the winds blow. That’s always been our promise to customers and we don’t plan on changing.
To celebrate the introduction of our U-District e-bike, we have an introductory offer happening right now. The first ten U-District bikes we sell will go for the low introductory price of $2499.99 and you will be able to choose any single color paint job you want. These first ten won’t be available for long, so get in touch today. You can find out more about the U-District and our other e-bike options here.
It might still be winter, technically, but we can all feel spring approaching in our bones. Now is the time to start getting ready for your 2019 summer riding season. Depending on what your plans for the summer are, there’s a lot of steps you can take now to get your season started right.
Repairs
Is your bike looking a little rough at the end of winter? Maybe it’s just been sitting since the rain started last year? Now is the time to get a head start at the repair shop. Pretty soon everyone is going to have the same idea and you’re going to end up waiting a week or two just to get some minor work done. Here’s what you should be checking for on your bike:
Brake pads – Are they worn out? Glazed? Misshapen?
Disc rotors – How thin are they getting? Are they warped?
Rims – Is the brake track getting worn? Is the wheel true?
Drivetrain – A stretched chain can ruin everything.
Shifting – Is it crisp and smooth? Need new cables and housing?
Tires – How worn are they? Is dry rot causing cracks?
Headset – A loose headset can cause permanent damage over time.
Upgrades
Maybe a repair is just the excuse you need to upgrade a few parts, or maybe you just want to get that shiny new set of lightweight wheels. Upgrades can be a lot of fun when it makes your bike feel fresh and new again. This is the perfect time to start picking out parts. Special orders can take a while and new wheels have to be built, so always factor in that extra time. That’s not including the actual installation process. Here are some upgrades that give good bang for the buck:
New wheels – This is by far the most impactful upgrade you can get. Rotational weight matters more than static weight so saving a small amount on the wheels can really change the performance of the bike.
New tires – Tires affect ride quality more than anything else. A light, supple tire can smooth out bumps and decrease rolling resistance. This not only makes you faster, but decreases overall fatigue.
Better brakes – It’s easier to go fast when you have confidence in your ability to stop. Sometimes all you need is a nicer brake pad or disc rotor to make a big difference.
New bar tape – It doesn’t sound like much, but some new springy bar tape with a grippy surface can both reduce hand fatigue and give your bike a nice clean look.
Check your fit
This is the one riders don’t think about until it becomes a problem. Getting a professional fitting can get your riding season started on the right foot and prevent unnecessary injuries that might keep you off the bike. If you’ve been having issues with numbness, tingling, or especially knee pain, you probably need to have your fit looked at. We’ve never heard of anyone regretting a professional fitting.
A new bike
Is it time? Is the old steed just not meeting your needs? Do you have new cycling goals that require a different type of bike? Do you just have N+1 fever? Few things match the joy of a new bike. Don’t wait until the week before that big ride you want to do. Bikes take a bit of time to break in, so keep that in mind. A handmade bike from R+E takes weeks to build and that wait only gets longer as the season heats up. Let us know if you’re ready to take the plunge.
The first day of Spring is less than three weeks away and time gets away from all of us. Summer will be over before you know it. Make those plans. Map that ride. Schedule those cycling trips. Get that bike ready. We’re here to help with you any way we can so give us a call or come by the shop. We’ll be here.
The dynamo hub has made a resurgence over the past decade. For those unfamiliar, a dynamo hub is a hub that uses a small internal generator to produce electricity as the bicycle wheel rotates. This electricity powers a light system and can charge a small electronic device with the right setup. Advances in magnet technology and the rise of efficient LED bulbs have made dynamo hubs smaller, lighter and more effective than ever before. Quality hubs are being made by Schmidt, Shimano, Shutter Precision, and others. If you’ve been considering a dynamo system, there’s never been a better time.
The three types of riders that most often use dynamo hubs are daily commuters, riders that do multi-day bike touring, and long distance Randonneur riders. For the commuter, dynamos provide a near maintenance free lighting system that they don’t have to think about. It’s just always there, never needing charging or fresh batteries. You can grab your bike and go with one less thing to worry about. Touring riders use their dynamos as a charging station that keeps their devices charged no matter how many days they’re on tour. Very handy when you’re using GPS as your guide or your phone is your only connection to civilization. Randonneurs can’t afford to have a light battery die in the middle of a 1200km ride so the dynamo hub system gives them a reliable, battery-free system they can depend on for the long haul.
This system with a Schmidt SON Delux hub and B+M Luxos U headlight provides both light and charging capability
There are some trade-offs for all of this convenience and reliability. Cost is one factor. The high end systems can be quite expensive, but there are entry level hubs and lights available as well. You must have a dedicated wheel built for the dynamo hub itself, then lights and wiring must be installed. While not terribly difficult, setting up the system can be time consuming. Adding a USB charger into the mix can add cost and complexity, depending on how you choose to do it. The good news is that you only have to do it once. There’s also a bit of a weight penalty, since dynamo hubs are heavier than a standard front hub. The dynamo magnets also produce a slight amount of drag when rolling, The amount of which depends on the hub and whether the light is turned on. For example, the Shimano Alfine dynamo requires 2.2 watts of additional force at 30 kph, while the Schmidt requires 1.2 watts at the same speed. That is with the light or charger turned off. Both hubs require between 6 and 7 watts when the light or charger is switched on at that speed.
Modern dynamo hubs are meant to be mostly maintenance free. Manufacturers require the hubs to be serviced by professionals and hubs must be shipped to service centers. Attempting to service any dynamo hub yourself is a dicey affair. Most require proprietary tools and also have delicate electronic parts that are easily damaged by inexperienced hands. This is where the longevity of a hub comes into play. As a general rule, the higher end hubs can travel farther before problems occur. Schmidt, for example, says you should get tens of thousands of kilometers out of one of their hubs before any maintenance is required.
Much of the best bicycle lighting available comes from dynamo specific lights. Companies like Busch+Mueller, Schmidt, Supernova, and Herrmans have headlights that provide wide, evenly illuminated light fields that cover a large swath of the road ahead while not blinding oncoming riders. Compared to the focused round beams of most battery powered lights, it’s almost no contest when it comes to road visibility. You can see some nice beam comparisons here.
This is just an introduction to dynamo systems. If they interest you, we’d love to help you put a system together. Our expert mechanics can have you up and running in no time. Whether you want a reliable lighting setup, or a full charging system, we can help you select what will fit your needs best.
For further reading we recommend the following pages:
Here’s a Rodriguez with a Schmidt hub and light system
For something invented in the Victorian era, bicycles sure do change a lot from year to year. New materials, engineering advances, and the changing demands of riders keep the bicycle in a constantly evolving state. Economics can also play a role in this, for good or ill. Bicycle manufacturers need to sell bikes to stay in business. This can lead to some design decisions whose sole purpose is to drive future sales. This is called planned obsolescence. The idea is that the design will be obsolete within a known time frame and the manufacturer will be there to sell you a new model just in time. You see this in lots of electronic products, like cell phones or pop stars.
How do you know the difference between an improved design versus one designed to become obsolete? This can be tricky, even for those of us doing the manufacturing. Some real advances, like hydraulic disc brakes, seem here to stay and a benefit for many riders. It gets trickier when you look at bottom bracket designs, axle standards, or headsets. Of the dozens of designs out there, which one is going to stick around? Is it the right one for our customers? Should we switch now and risk pouring resources into a passing fad? Should we stick to our current design and risk falling out of step with the industry? This is the position many small builders face regularly.
Those of us at Rodriguez like to think we have a leg up on this question. After all, we’ve seen lots of designs come and go over the years. A lot of the time we can tell if something is going to be a lasting change because we can see how it’s going to play out over time. Or it’s possible that we just think we can and we’re guessing like everyone else. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.
The advent of carbon bicycles has thrown a lot of these questions out the window. Does it matter if the design is any good if the bicycle itself is only designed to last a few years? Those of us building in steel or titanium are often expected to use the same components as carbon race bikes even if no one has any idea if the designs are going to stick around. (For example, the new T47 threaded bottom bracket design might eventually become the accepted standard for non-carbon bikes, but it’s hard to know now how that’s going to shake out until it does.) These can be difficult decisions. Some companies avoid this question for the most part by sticking with older designs and a classic aesthetic. We build a lot of high performance bikes that use state of the art components and sometimes it’s difficult to strike the balance between longevity and cutting edge. We’ve always built our bikes to last a lifetime and we don’t want that to change. It’s part of our ethos as a company and we still make the wrong choice sometimes.
When you come to Rodriguez for a bicycle, know that we’ve considered all of these decisions quite deliberately. We will try and build you a bike that meets your needs and will keep meeting them for the long haul. In a culture of disposability, we want to be the thing that stays true, year after year.
The bike industry is an ever changing beast. Evolving technologies are always redirecting the state of bicycle performance and aesthetic. Sometimes this is a real benefit, like threadless headsets, but some things don’t hold up over time. Remember Octalink bottom brackets or U-brakes?
A more detailed article explaining the differences between flat mount and post mount can be read here
One newer piece of equipment causing some confusion is the flat mount disc brake caliper. Developed by Shimano and introduced in 2015, the flat mount caliper is supposed to be simpler and sleeker than the post mount caliper that became standard on mountain bikes. Intended for road bikes, the flat mount caliper sits directly on the chainstay or fork blade, taking up less space than a common post mount caliper. For aesthetic minimalists, mounting the brake inside the rear triangle is better looking. What are the mechanical benefits, if any?
A Sram flat mount caliper on a Rodriguez Bandito. The smaller size and less conspicuous mount allow for a more traditional rear triangle
Modern disc brakes started out using IS (International Standard) mounts, often called “disc tabs”. These have two threadless holes running parallel to the hub axle that are used to mount an IS caliper or an adapter for a post mount caliper. The lack of threads meant users were less likely to damage their frames accidentally during maintenance or installation. Post mount calipers are often adapted to IS mounts because the variety of adapters allows for tremendous flexibility in rotor size. A post mount caliper affixed to an IS mount can use any rotor size between 140mm to 203mm, depending on the adapter used.
Post mount calipers, like this TRP Spyre, require more room in the rear triangle. Note the taller dropout style that creates space for the caliper inside the rear triangle.
Flat mount calipers are designed to look cleaner. There are only two small adapters and flat mount calipers are limited to 140mm and 160mm rotors. This is reasonable since these are the standard sizes used on road bikes. Adapter plates are small and sandwiched between the caliper and the frame, saving space. There are weight savings, but they are somewhat negated by the frame and fork being beefed up to provide mounting points and withstand the braking forces incurred.
You can see these two approaches to disc brakes here at Rodriguez Bicycles. Our Phinney Ridge uses post mount calipers adapted to IS mounts for the greatest range of flexibility. Our Bandito disc road bikes have a focus on road performance and light weight and we use a flat mount caliper in the rear triangle. The Bandito often uses a post mount front brake due to limitations in fork design availability. We prefer a straight 1⅛” headtube because of the significant weight saving it offers. However, this currently limits us to carbon forks that use post mount calipers. This is one area where we feel the weight savings is worth it.
Disc brakes have become a dominant force in modern cycling. They have opened up frames to ever wider tires and brought hydraulic braking to more riders. For those of us that ride year round in the Pacific Northwest, they have given us a reprieve from excessive rim wear caused by the wet grit that coats our wheels in the winter. While not perfect for every application, they are a technology that has proven itself a valuable option for many riders. If you’re interested in a bike with disc brakes, we’d be happy to discuss which options are right for your cycling goals.
To see more examples of Rodriguez disc brake bikes, check out the Phinney Ridge and the Bandito. The Makeshift is also available with disc brakes.
