Two Things

Seen various places on the web: SRAM's new stem/head tube design

 Just Because You Can....

The 32" wheel thing is a bit of a problem for the bicycle industry. Yes - it has created buzz the industry has not seen since before the pandemic. However, it is a platform which excludes too many people based upon height. 

This has resulted in what we see here today- A 'solution' which would allow people to run their handle bars at a more appropriate height for them and still have the head tube length and height necessary to accommodate a 32" wheel and suspension travel.  

Notice how the lower part of the stem in the drawing penetrates the head tube and how the top of the stem barely is above the head tube. I mean....why not? We aren't really needing all that material in the middle of the head tube anyway.  (Actually, this is true)

Besides increasing complexity, I can see several other issues with this design. First and foremost is how steer tubes react to larger inputs from a trail obstacle or big suspension hit. They bend. 

You might think this is impossible, but it is true. The mid-point of a steer tube's length does flex slightly when you ride. The bottom, near the crown race, is a 'fulcrum point' where a lot of stress happens. The top of the steer tube, generally held in check by the top bearings in a head set, could also be a point of movement, but this does not erase the fact the the steer tube can and does flex.  

How a stem, which attaches to the mid-point and top of a steer tube, deals with those sometimes different stresses is a mystery now. But I can almost hear the squeaking and creaking from here.   

Perhaps It Is A Sign:

N.Y. Roll grew up in rural Western New York. He likes to send me Instagram reels about Buffalo N.Y. and Rochester N.Y. anytime he sees something relevant to those two cities. Or anything relating to Western New York, really. Apparently "The Algorithm' hits his feed consistently given the amount of New York related reels I get from him.

The Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective receives a lot of donated bicycles. Sometimes we get bikes with bags on them and then occasionally those bags have stuff in them. I've found bicycle tubes, patch kits, change, and other odds and ends. Recently I found an old combination wrench in a bag. 

I'm a sucker for tools, being a mechanic, so I took it to my bench for further examination. It was a Barco wrench with "Buffalo" stamped on it. Uhhh......Buffalo New York? 

Yes.....Buffalo New York. The Barco company, started in 1896, eventually bought out a tool manufacturer and started making tools in the late 1910's. Their line grew and was quite successful. This wrench would appear to have been from the early 1930's. 

Oh, and this company eventually made furniture you may have heard of like the Barcolounger. Yep! Same outfit. 

Maybe I ought to give this wrench to N.Y. Roll. Maybe it is a sign to me that I will somehow never escape Western New York. Maybe..... Or it is just an old, worn tool. 

Yeah....that's it!