Slack Randoms: An Enclosed Gearbox Drivetrain, A Walkie Talkie Helmet & More

Sep 24, 2021
by James Smurthwaite  
We use Slack as our workplace communication tool at Pinkbike and we have a #randoms channel which we use to share an assortment of videos and stories from all corners of the cycling world and beyond... We thought a couple of the moments from the past week were too good not to share with a wider audience, so here are some of the highlights.



Eurobike Award Winners

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From lubricant applicators to shorts made from airbags, there's no end of surprising recipients of the Eurobike Award. We've taken a skim through this year's winners to bring you some of the more interesting products. First up is the Nuseti hardtail that has a completely internal drivetrain.

This isn't the first time we've seen this concept - last year we covered the Katz Bikes full suspension frame and in fact, Nuseti itself featured on the Pinkbike homepage in 2014 with an earlier version of this concept.

The man behind the project is Gregory Zielinski - multiple Polish downhill National Champion and MTB Masters European Championship medalist, who also owns a component company called Mayan. This new design is a refined, carbon update on the bike we featured in 2014 and it retains the key internal drivetrain.

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The Jay Jay 29 may only be a hardtail compared to the full suspension Katz concept, but it uses a centrally mounted gearbox, not a Rohloff hub, so it should offer better weight distribution. The planetary gearbox is one Gregory has designed himself with 16 speeds. With everything from the cogs to the belt completely sealed, he's hoping it will offer a maintenance-free solution for the lifetime of the bike.

We're hoping to get a more in-depth look at this bike in the coming weeks but in the meantime, head here for more info.



Walkie Talkie Helmet


"Did you say 'go' or did you say 'no'?" As the classic 'Shit Mountain Bikers Say' video shows, sometimes communicating with your buddies on the trail isn't as easy as we'd like.

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Well, another winner of a Eurobike Award might have that covered. The Sena M1 Evo helmet has a Mesh Intercom platform that allows communication with multiple riders within a half-mile (900 meters) range and incorporates up to 9 channels. An integrated microphone is tucked inside the brow of the helmet while recessed speakers allow you to hear your buddies' responses. If you're riding solo, you can also connect those speakers to your smartphone for music, GPS directions, phone calls, and more. More info, here.



Changing wheels with the cassette still on the bike


The final award winner we wanted to spotlight is the Lagar Concept Fasten system. This is a new axle that allows you to remove your wheel with the cassette still on the bike, making it possible to switch between wheels in seconds. The French brand has been able to do this by moving the bearings from the hubs to inside the frame and the fork. The solution looks a bit inelegant at the moment and is definitely too un-aero for its target demographic of road racers, but Lagar Concept is hoping it will allow bike designers to create frames with, "an innovative braking system without worrying about the precise place and size of the brake disc, or even equip the bike with a new innovative transmission."

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More info, here.



Mountain Biker vs Magpies


There's a section of the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail that's notorious for swooping magpie attacks on cyclists. Paul Heymans, head of the Trail Users Association decided to see if he could deter them with a number of different methods. More info, here.



Tape for Broken Frames


Would you trust this tape on a broken frame?

Author Info:
jamessmurthwaite avatar

Member since Nov 14, 2018
1,770 articles

81 Comments
  • 95 1
 OK pinkbike, bring us the long term fiberfix review from your new Outside+ lab. Saw a frame in half, wrap it up, and see if itll stand up to testing methods.
  • 130 1
 I wonder if it would work on those Praxis cranks..
  • 20 135
flag dldewar (Sep 24, 2021 at 11:27) (Below Threshold)
 @seraph: He never did a Huck to Flat!!!!!!
  • 19 2
 @seraph: and mount those cranks on a Pole. Keep hucking and taping ..
  • 10 0
 someone should make a frame and build it out of this material.
  • 11 0
 Every huck to flat fail needs to be repaired and retested with this. Go get 'em @jasonlucas
  • 13 0
 @rrolly: maybe Jason can tape his ankle with it too.
  • 3 0
 Calfee has been using similar to join the tubes on his diy bamboo bike kits
calfeedesign.com/what-is-in-calfee-diy-kits
@abzillah:
  • 1 0
 @gcrider: JB WELD not same stuff, but if you use with some hemp cloth will do a good job!
  • 1 0
 I was meaning the water activated casting tape at the bottom of this picture
m.pinkbike.com/photo/21374543
@aljoburr:
  • 1 0
 Long-term is right. That FiberFix ad is like 4 years old.
  • 50 2
 That fasten wheel idea would be awesome for a commuter bike by being able to quickly swap between studded and non-studded tires for the day depending on weather.
  • 7 8
 Or you just have 2 sets of actual wheels and do the exact same thing, but right now with limitless options available already.
  • 14 1
 Always sad to see people who don't have time to take time.
  • 2 0
 Will depend on axle strength whither or not it is a good idea, did that 15 years ago & kept bending axles?
  • 3 4
 @insertfunusername: swapping an entire wheel out will almost always require a small adjustment of the brakes and rear derailleur.
  • 2 0
 @Xyphota: I swap between Shimano XT and DT 350 laced wheels with NO ISSUES Wink
  • 6 0
 @HerrDoctorSloth: still you need two cassettes, two freehubs and two discs. I find the idea interesting.
  • 2 0
 @Xyphota: I just shim the two wheel sets so that they are the same when I need to. You can get a large variety of thin shims for the brake and cassette. It is how you set up any wheelset for a racing type that you are allowed to change wheels in case of flats.

On my current setup I lucked out that 2 totally random hubs just mounted up exactly the same with no need to adjust either the brake or derailleur. I run a 10-42 on my gravel wheelset and a 11-36 on the commuter wheelset and surprisingly it shifts totally fine on either wheels set with no adjustment.
  • 1 0
 @fautquecaswing: hubs have freehubs attached and in my case I want 2 totally different gear ratios and the 105 cassette only cost $35 and the 160 rotor cost about $18... But I do get your point. If the proprietary hub, frame, axle system and freehub were of great quality and a good price then this is pretty interesting.
  • 1 0
 I swap wheels between slicks and knobbies on my gravel bike and the derailleur adjust is always slightly off after a swap. That would be pretty cool.
  • 1 0
 @dthomp325: you can get thin spacers that you put behind the cassette to shim it so that it would not need to be adjusted.
  • 1 0
 @dthomp325: I haven't done an XD cassette, but there is no reason you couldn't. Don't know if you would need to have a different diameter spacer or maybe locate it at the threaded area instead of the splined area. If I had the parts in hand I could tell you how I would do it. I'm sure it has been done thousands of times by all the people running XD drivers in cyclocross, MTB racing, as well as the road teams running it, since it is super important to not need to adjust derailleurs and disc brakes after a wheels swap due to a flat.
  • 38 0
 Me, sinigng the convoy theme on me new walkie talkie helmet until other users pull it off my head an smash it... . That's a big 10 4 over an out rubber duckie
  • 7 0
 CONVOY!!
  • 7 1
 East bound and down
  • 3 0
 @mfoga: well now I just wanna watch Archer!!!
  • 1 0
 I recall Wade Simmons was stumping for a system like this ten-ish years ago. I believe it was developed by a friend of his.
  • 1 0
 @nojzilla: oh I was thinking more Smokey and Bandit
  • 2 0
 @mfoga: Yeah, but Archer had a good few episodes dedicated to S&TB, they're TOO funny. Sally Fields tho
  • 3 0
 Now I'm just laughing to myself over 'LickBag and Snowball' :'D
  • 1 0
 Haha I remember that song on the Big Rig Hits album. Phantom 309. Man, I completely forgot about that. Thx
  • 1 0
 @nojzilla: “Jug Down” haha
  • 27 0
 Oh boy, the magpie video is hilarious
  • 21 0
 I used fiber fix and my stool really solidified. Not what I was expecting.
  • 3 0
 @Highlander406: So, you can use that tape to fix all kinds of shyte?? lol
  • 20 0
 Dude just died for a fancy medical tape/flex tape ad....
  • 29 0
 BMXers really need to wear helmets. Especially when holding their bike together with tape.
  • 2 0
 Next time when I break my leg I know how to fix it. Should work on broken skulls too..
  • 10 0
 If Stan had done frame repair instead of tubeless, all our early videos would have looked like this.
  • 30 0
 StansNoWelds
  • 10 1
 I couldn't concentrate on the photo of the hardtail because the tire graphics didn't line up with the graphics on the wheels.
  • 4 0
 They don't line up with the valves either... Wish you hadn't pointed that out as I can't unsee that either. Funky bike though, always worth appreciating innovation like this
  • 5 0
 @HankHank: My OCD is flaring up.
  • 8 0
 People always say Australia has scary snakes and spiders but magpie's are definitely the worst animal we've got. They have even caused the death of a road cyclist and a young baby in the last few years.
  • 8 1
 Wow, I get to save an extra 10 seconds when removing a wheel and spend probably 120 seconds longer aligning both side?

Such innovation.
  • 2 0
 It was pretty innovative when Cinelli did it in the 60's with their bivalent hubs. What with wrestling with horizontal dropouts, quick releases, and rim brakes in those days. Now, not so much.
  • 6 0
 The swooping Magpie is the only truly scary animal in Australia........some only swoop......some hit hard with their beaks & some go for blood!!
  • 7 0
 Yes he needs glasses, the really bezerk ones go for your eyes!!
  • 4 1
 Evidently this is true as people are now happy letting sharks swim around eating people, but want swooping magpies culled or shot.
  • 2 0
 @MarkGooseD: Wow, here we have Magpies (or as I call them, RATS WITH WINGS) in spades, but other than being annoyingly loud at times, have never seen that level of aggression towards humans (did find a dead Blue Jay under my Mugo pine the day after shooing about 15 Magpies THREE times the previous day once though). There was a time when you could call the city if they were becoming a problem, and they would come out and "deal with them", but they stopped doing that close to a couple of decades ago. .....
  • 2 0
 I'd take a magpie over a salt water crocodile any day of the week. Those things will eat you for lunch.
  • 3 0
 I use Magpie Alert to plan my rides this time of year.

www.magpiealert.com
  • 2 0
 @Joffa: WOW! I'm amazed @ the heightened level of aggression you guys seem to be experiencing from your "winged rats" in Aus. Is this a case of them protecting the nest after laying eggs/tending to young, or are they like this 24/7/365?
As mentioned in a previous post, here in Alberta, they're bloody annoying mostly because of their noise level, as well as digging through peoples trash, then taking chicken bones,etc & soaking them in my neighbour's bird bath, then flying onto nearby rooftops to pick them clean. I regularly find bones, etc on my front walk when I mow the lawn. But around here, I've never heard of or witnessed anything close to what people are reporting in your magpiealert..
  • 2 0
 @GT-CORRADO: only for 3-4 months during the end of winter & through to early parts of summer......anytime around that they're placid
  • 6 0
 in 4000 years that mummy bmx is gonna confuse some folks when they dig it up
  • 6 0
 Specialized and yeti need to buy the tape patent asap
  • 18 0
 Both? Hmmm...tape 'em together and get Spaghetti.
  • 2 0
 Former road mechanic here. I've used the FiberFix to repair a sear stay broken in transit. It held up for a week of racing and likely would have lasted longer if we had to use it longer.
  • 2 0
 A team mate on a road training camp I was on broke one of his seat stays in half, so we repaired it with fiber tape. After he got a new frame and everything we decided to have a bit of fun and snap the fiber taped area. Believe it or not, the other seatstay, and the chainstay broke long before the fiber taped area. If I cracked my enduro anywhere, I would glady keep riding it hard with fiber tape, if it wasn't so ugly.
  • 1 0
 @Darwin66: Then when you fall off and break a bone no need to go to hospital just rap it up your self?
  • 2 0
 FiberFix is basically Soft Cast Resin : tinyurl.com/fzu2z2ev We use it at work all the time.
  • 3 0
 Everything about this makes me half hard
  • 1 0
 Half mast makes me feel big!
  • 2 0
 Time for some Fiber Fix!
  • 1 0
 That Nuseti is gorgeous. It's lines are so clean. Add a PNW Coast shockpost/dropper and it's the perfect bike for 90% of riders.
  • 1 0
 Friday Fiber Fail, Fiber Friday Fail, Fail Fiber Friday, Fail Friday Fiber - sweet it never fails on Fridays!
  • 1 0
 I changed the rear wheel on my 1945 Harley like that. I miss that old bike.
  • 2 0
 that flange spacing tho. fix one "problem", create three more! win win!
  • 1 0
 Whats the head angle on that frame is giving me all the feels from 2010.
  • 1 1
 Of course I'm a little biased for clean lines and light weight. www.pinkbike.com/photo/18893193
  • 1 0
 my money was on the Crash Test Dummy
  • 6 6
 If I use Fiberfix on my Session will it still look like a Session?
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