Two Things

Long before the days of cycling oriented "multi-tools" there were tool rolls, tool pouches, and individual wrenches. An example of this came through,my place of employment, the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective, recently. 

An individual called about dropping off an old bike and when they came by to donate this bike it turned out to be an old Puegot road bike. It was kitted out with all its original equipment. The "carrot stick" Simplex shifters were still there intact, (IYKYK), and even the funky Simplex front derailleur still worked. It had its original, slightly dried out, Ideal leather saddle, (similar to a Brooks), and the infamous MAFAC Racer brakes.

 It was quite the time piece, as it looked completely unmolested since its sale in, probably the early 1970's, I would guess. Upon closer inspection I saw a black object which looked like a small bag just stuffed in between the saddle's rails and the leather top. I carefully removed it to find that this object was a tool bag. As you may have guessed from the image here. 

It was in remarkable condition and the tools were as well. I'm not sure the combination wrench was an original part of the kit, it looks different and may have been added years ago. However; the four other stamped steel wrenches with the "MAFAC"logo do match the bag with its embossed "MAFAC" logo. Even the hang straps are all intact, which look like easy casualties to wear and time. 

You've got to question the usefulness of stamped steel wrenches. I'm sure they might get you by, and certainly they are light, but obviously they were not precision instruments! I cannot say the combination wrench is a whole lot better, and it is a standard SAE wrench anyway. Not much use on a bicycle. 

It is a cool oddity though, and I will certainly keep it all together as a bit of a conversation starter for the shop and for clinics in the future as a show piece.  

Clik Valve products - Image by A Andonopoulous

Now as I sit and contemplate the soon to be here riding season, I wonder about dedicating a bike to using those TPU tubes to see what I think of this new thing. As I was thinking about what I like about TPU tubes, I was reminded of the number one downfall to these things, in my opinion, and that is the valve stem. 

Those plastic, flexible stems are probably not very sturdy. Although I haven't broken one yet, I know that is a distinct possibility. And furthermore, I do not want to find out. 

There is something I think would help fix this. That would be going to the Clik Valve design. I think it would work in plastic, but even just a steel or brass end, as the TPU tubes have anyway, in the format of a Clik Valve, would be really good. That is because Clik Valve is really easy to engage and disengage. It would likely pose much less of an issue when it comes to the possibility of breaking or damaging a TPU tube. 

Now there is another solution coming out very soon. I'll have more on that in this week's "FN&V", but that solution will be quite pricey. We will see.