Protest

In the UK this last week there was a big brouhaha over British Cycling partnering, and accepting sponsorship cash from Shell Oil.  One would have thought  that British Cycling would have at least gone with a British oil company like BP. Shell is an American company, partnered with a Dutch Company.

Perhaps that was the reasoning behind another protest in London when two young women threw tomato soup over Dutch painter Vincent Van Gough’s Sunflower painting. Fortunately, the painting was behind glass, so a quick once over with a paper towel and some glass cleaner, and the protest was nothing more than a waste of soup.

The protest was against the use of oil. I would have thought in the UK above all places, the price of gasoline, (Petrol.) is so high that most people are only using it as is absolutely necessary.

I am sure no one is driving around looking for a Shell Station to buy that particular brand of fuel because they saw a Shell Logo on a cyclist’s jersey. That is the crux of it. We all know burning fossil fuel as bad for the environment, the problem is consumerism in general.

I hate the type of protest that draws attention to a problem but offers no solution to the underlying issue. Throwing soup over works of art or giving British Cycling shit for taking money that the sport of cycling can put to good use, solves nothing.

In the 1970s and 1980s I produced a few thousand bicycle frames and did so with a very low carbon footprint. Here we are thirty, forty or more years later, and people are still riding these same bikes. Most still have the original paint, so they don’t even need a re-paint.

Everything produced today has built in obsolescence, including bicycles, and especially phones and other electronic devices. Most made in China from materials derived from oil, using electricity produced using China’s abundant supply of cheap coal.

I have done my bit for the environment and continue to do so. I don’t eat meat, and I don’t buy stuff I don’t need. I have clothes in my closet that probably older than most of the people protesting on the streets today

And if a large corporate oil conglomerate wants to give me money, they can contribute copious amounts of cash by the cartload. I’ll take it

Thank you in advance 😊

Forming tapered tubes for bicycle frames

I was recently asked, “How are tapered tubes formed for steel bicycle frames, like chainstays, seatstays, and fork blades?”

When I had my frame building shop in Worcester, England, I was only 25 miles from the Reynolds tube factory in Birmingham, and I would often visit.

I have witnessed first-hand the various processes of tube manipulation, and the machinery used for that process. Also, I was a Machine Tool Engineer prior to building bicycle frames, so I understood the workings of these special purpose machines.

I could not find a video of the actual Reynolds machines, but I did find the one above of a tapered tube being formed. Not a bicyle tube, but the principle is the same. As you can see the process is done “Cold.”

The tube walls are relatively thin and flexible enough to be manipulated without heat, using the required force, usually applied by mechanical means or hydraulic oil pressure. The process, (If one thinks about it.) is not unlike a potter forming pottery from soft clay on a wheel.

You will also notice the tube is held in the machine at both ends, so it cannot grow in length as its diameter is squeezed smaller. That material must go somewhere, therefore, the wall thickness of the tube becomes gradually thicker towards the end, as the tube becomes smaller in diameter.

This is desirable, as the finished tube has a uniform strength throughout its length. Also, this cold manipulation “work hardens” the material, making it stronger by compressing the molecules or particles of the steel, tighter together.

These machines, once set run automatically. A long length of plain tube is fed into the machine, the taper is formed at one end and is then cut off automatically, and the tube auto-feeds in again. When the length of tube is used another again automatically takes up its place.

You will also notice that there is a liquid coolant running over the tube being worked during this process. This is usually in the form of a mixture of soluble oil and water.

Without it the pressure and the friction generated by this process would create a great amount of heat. This would not be good for the machine, or the product being produced.

I suggest you watch the video in “Full Screen” mode to fully appreciate the mechanical process involved. Here is the YouTube link if needed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAnzRRjKPpc&t=3s

The one you feed

I came across a Cherokee parable that told the story about the fight between good and evil, in the form of two wolves, that live within a person. A good wolf and a bad wolf. I took the story and re-wrote it as a song. This is not the complete song, there is also a bridge and then the chorus repeats, but what I have posted here completes the story.

An old Cherokee Chief, with his grandson by his side

Told a story to the young boy as he listened open eyed.

He said a terrible fight between two wolves goes on inside of you,

And inside me and every man and every woman too.

The one wolf he is evil, anger, sorrow, lies,

Hatred and resentment, arrogance, and pride.

His eyes and teeth are yellow, and his fur is dark as night.

Each day he meets another wolf and the two of them must fight.

The second is a good wolf, his coat is white as snow,

He is love and peace and happiness, all the goodness we could know.

Compassion, truth and kindness, generosity, and joy.

The old man told the story he’d learned as a boy.

The young boy thought about the wolves the ones that fought within,

He looked up at his grandpa and asked him, which one wins.

The old man sat silent, let him think on it a while,

Then with love he stroked the young boy’s hair, answered with a smile.

The one you feed, becomes the stronger of the two,

The good or bad, the choice is up to you.

Know deep inside a good wolf lives within,

And his evil adversary, you decide who wins.

The one you feed, is the one that will prevail,

Give the good wolf strength as they fight tooth and nail.

Your thoughts are what they feed on, and the one that will succeed.

Is the wolf that gets most nourishment, the one you feed. 

In these hard times when there is so much hatred in the world, it is good to be reminded that thoughts are powerful. Good or bad thoughts can become good or bad actions. I try to be mindful of what I wish for and be kind to others in thought word or deed. Even when others around me are not always kind to me.

Point of View

If there is one thing I learned building bicycle frames, it is that no two people are alike.

If you could assemble a hundred people, all the exact same height, and then further separate into groups made up of those with similar leg length.

You would find within those groups, the thigh, lower leg and foot measurements would all vary.

Even within the same race, people have different facial features, complexions, hair color, etc. When you consider all peoples, the variations are infinite. An individual’s finger prints are unique, and now we know that DNA is too.

Most people accept these differences and seldom question why. Therefore, it really should be no surprise that people’s opinions will vary even more infinitely than our physical differences.

What are opinions but a collection of thoughts, based on our individual beliefs and experiences? Sometimes called a “Point of View,” meaning literally, the world as one individual sees it from where they stand.

No two individuals can have the same view if they stand in different places. 

In spite of this we sometimes argue and fight defending our point of view, or try to impose our opinions on others.

We accept every other difference in the human species, why do we expect the thought pattern of others to be in line with ours? We are each a free thinking spirit, and I can’t think of anything more random that a person's thoughts.

Could it be because our opinions are the yardstick by which we view and evaluate the world? It is how we judge situations and other people. Our opinions have been formed largely by our life experiences, our parents, teachers and other pivotal people in our lives.

Our opinions can change over time with changing circumstances, if we find a better one we change it. However, at any given time our opinion is the best it can be. We just can’t understand why anyone would have a different opinion, after all, ours is the best.

It is not the difference of opinion that is wrong, it is the failure to see that the other’s view point is from an entirely different place. 

It is the single most cause of conflict between individuals, co-workers, friends, and families. On a larger scale, it is the basic reason nations assemble armies and go to war with each other.

I have found that defending one’s point of view is just a huge waste of time and energy. It achieves little. Rarely does either side move any closer to the other’s way of thinking. Often it drives the two sides further apart

Instead I find it more constructive and fruitful to listen to the other’s opinion. Another’s estimation is often difficult to understand and may even arouse aversion.

But by the simple act of listening, I can better understand the other's point of view without the obligation that it has to become my point of view. I may not necessarily agree, but I may see the position he is standing that gives him that view.

Blindness is not always the inability to see, it is ofttimes caused by refusing to step out of the darkness. Just my point of view.

Bob Hovey's Masi Registry

Bob Hovey’s Registry of Masi Frames has been around for many years, in fact I borrowed the idea when I opened my own Dave Moulton Registry in 2010.

Just today I got a request from Jonathan Justman, original owner of a Masi Gran Criterium serial number D8016. He asked if it could be added to my Dave Moulton Registry. I had to explain that there is no section for Masi frames on my registry, as I do not consider them to be my frames.

I was employed to build these frames from October 1980 until December 1981, but they were built strictly to Faliero Masi’s design. In fact, the frame shop where I worked had a set of “Jig-frames,” unpainted frames in every size, that were actually built by Faliero himself.

These were used to set up the frame jig and ensured that every frame built was an exact copy of the “jig” frames. The various adjustable clamps that held the tubes in the jig were loosened and the jig frame then clamped in place.

Once the set up was complete, and the jig frame removed, the jig was set to this particular size. I simply had to miter the tubes to fit, it was not even necessary that I knew what size frame I was building.

Also, as a paid employee I had no legal rights, to the Masi brand name, and I still don’t. I cannot claim that these are my frames, any more than a journalist in paid employment can claim copywrite for the articles they wrote. The product produced is the property of the employer, not the employee.

Having said that the California Masi frames built during my tenure mentioned above, were not only date stamped, but were marked SMC for San Marcos, California. The date stamp was in the form of A, B, C, and D representing the four quarters of the year, followed by the last two digits of the year. Followed by two more digits that were the number frame that quarter.

Jonathan Justman’s frame number D8016 was built around the end of October 1980 and has the SMC, so there is a good possibility I built it. Ted Kirkbride who owned the shop and subcontracted to build the Masi’s at that time, also built some of the custom orders like track frames or odd sizes.

If owners of the SMC frames with serial numbers starting D80**, A81**, B81**, C81**, and D81**, feel they have some added value having been built by me, I am flattered but lay no claim to these frames.

They belong on Bob Hovey’s Masi Registry, were a few of them have a side note that I built them.