September is on (2018) and there's news to share. Up in Port Townsend, WA a new cycle school is getting underway and I taught Wheelbuilding 1 last weekend—twelve diverse students, a beautiful location, and 12 excellent wheels built.
It was a 2-day session with half the time in discussion and half in building. Many of the attendees were from Port Townsend's Recyclery, a community cooperative shop. We used the latest Minoura truing stands, dishing tools by Unior, tensiometers and other aids from yours truly.
The Cotton Building is a super location, right downtown, and directly on the sea. More such classes to follow, details to be shared on the Cycle School's website.
Several weeks ago, Grant Petersen gifted us outtake images from the 1994 Bridgestone catalog shoot. These were images from Wheelsmith's Palo Alto's workshop, then at 201 Hamilton (corner of Emerson). Good times.
Kim Young is a prime mover behind Tuscon bike advocacy org Bicas. Robert (aka Pineapple Bob) still works at Rivendell, which Grant created after Bridgestone Bicycles discontinued.
Now to upcoming Interbike, first edition in Reno after ages in Las Vegas. This is a trade show and of no interest to riders at large because you must pose as a shop or manufacturer to gain entrance. Yet, many product announcements occur at such events and their messages travel far and wide through the media.
I'll be at PBMA's booth (the bike mechanic association) which can be found in the lobby. We'll be offering free calibrations for tensiometers that mechanics have been urged to bring. The calibrator machine is a recent production from Rich Sawiris of wheelbuilder.com. We collaborated on the specs and it is a fabulous design. Will soon be offered for sale.
You'll need to be there to appreciate the features. I'll shortly describe details here. Trust me, this is a breakthrough device.
Also, pertinent to wheel building, Jude Gerace and Boyd Johnson will be doing side-by-side building demonstrations for attendees in Reno. Nothing like seeing and querying to absorb a process.
Back to Port Townsend, September is the year's peak in activity as the town (nearby to my home) hosts the Wood Boat Festival , and a film festival. But please visit next Tuesday (Sep 4, 2018) at the PT School of the Arts downtown gallery. We (PT Cycle School) take it over the first Tuesday of each month for bike-centric presentations. The Sep 4 topic is "Superbike."
As always, please let us know what's going on in your world!
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Peter Hill
November 02, 2021
Like to hear your take on the minoura stand