Chain Slap Solutions

Posted on April 4, 2011 by

I like a quiet bike. I find it very distracting to have my bike sound like a metal toolbox full of rocks when riding rough trails. In addition, the damage the chain can inflict on unprotected chain and seat stays is not great for resale value. I’ve experimented with a few different options and arrived at what I think is the best combination of protection, sound deadening, and appearance.

The first product I tried was the Lizard Skins Chainstay Protector. Simple and quick to install and available in a few different sizes and colors. I found it fairly effective at both protecting both the top and bottom of the chainstay and deadening chainslap. However, I wasn’t wild about the looks. It also doesn’t address the chainslap on the underside/inside of the seatstay. To take care of this, I combined the Lizard Skin with the (sadly) discontinued WTB Rubber Chainstay Protector trimmed and affixed to the seatstay starting just above the rear cassette and extending 5-6 inches up the seatstay.

As I started riding more DH, I found myself wanting a little more sound control. I decided to try the old standby, wrapping the chainstay with an inner tube. I secured the ends with Magic Wrap tape, which is great stuff. It only sticks to itself and doesn’t leave that gummy residue electrical tape usually does.

Intense Uzzi VP chainstay with inner tube protection
This worked great for sound deadening, but once again I wasn’t entirely happy with the appearance. It also added unnecessary weight, since I was using a fairly thick tube so the chainslap wouldn’t eat through it too quickly.

My next experiment came after attending the Sea Otter Classic in 2006. I was checking out Sam Hill’s Sunday, as I was getting one soon and wanted to steal any set-up tricks I could. I noticed his mechanic was using adhesive strips of the fuzzy side of Velcro.

Sam Hills Iron Horse Sunday at Sea Otter Classic 2006

The above photo shows a couple other cool sound deadening tricks. First is a short piece of rubber tubing on the upper chainguide right where the chain passes over it. Second is the use of some aquarium tubing over the rear derailleur cable.

Another view:

Sam Hills Sunday, Sea Otter 2006

Fuzzy velcro installed on a 2008 Turner DHR:

2009 Turner DHR rear stays

and on an Intense M6:

Aquarium tubing on an Intense Uzzi VP. (Please ignore the course tape wrapped in the cassette, not one of my better races!)

Intense Uzzi VP rear dropout

I used all the techniques I saw on Sam’s bike on my bikes for a few years and they worked great. The only thing I missed was how completely the inner tube deadened the chain slap. The velcro was okay, but not what I was really looking for.

Then I heard about rubber mastic tape. I did some searching at Home Depot and found some 3M stuff that looked good, but only in 1″ wide rolls. I searched around on the internet and found 2″ wide rolls, which I thought would be perfect. Here’s a link to the 2″ roll: 3M 2228 2″ x 10′ Rubber Mastic Tape.

I tried it and thought it was ideal. It protects the stays, deadens sound well, is easily trimmed and installed, and is durable. Here is how I installed it on my Turner DHR.

Turner DW DHR rear triangle

Turner DW DHR Rear Triangle view 2

As you can see, I’m also using the aquarium tubing to protect the derailleur cable housing. It’s not as vulnerable to chain slap as it was on the Sunday, but the tubing also helps protect the frame where the housing rubs as the rear suspension cycles through its travel. I like to seal the end of the aquarium tubing with some heat shrink tubing:

Heat shrink tubing sealing end of vinyl tubing

At the rear derailleur, the tubing seals nicely around the cable ferrule:

Vinyl tubing on rear derailleur housing

Before installing the mastic tape, I covered the stays with some 3M ClearBra. In addition to protecting the stays, it makes replacing the mastic easier. The mastic seems to be easier to remove from the ClearBra than the painted frame.

I hope you found these tips useful and they make your next ride a little quieter. Any suggestions for other products or techniques? Let me know in the comments section.

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Black Cats aren’t bad luck

Posted on March 21, 2011 by

My girlfriend Carla discovered Black Cat Cycles on a trip to San Luis Obispo in 2007. An employee at a local bike shop there told her about Todd’s bikes and let her demo his personal bike. She came home and placed an order for a hardtail singlespeed right away. I got sucked into the excitement and ordered a 29er for myself. It was a pleasure dealing with Todd. We gave him a general idea about the kind of riding we like to do and let him work his magic. We received our frames a few months later.

We are both so pleased with our bikes. A number of full suspension trailbikes have come and gone from our lives in the past few years, but the Black Cats remain our favorites. We recently abandoned our pursuit of singlespeed nirvana and sent our frames back to Todd for the addition of more cable guides and dropouts with derailleur hangers. They got a fresh coat of paint while they were there as well. Carla now has a 3×9, and I’m running a 1×10.

Carla is very happy with her satin black finish and pink on pink panel.

After seeing all the great paint work on the Black Cat website, I told Todd which colors I wanted and gave him free rein on the design. I couldn’t be happier with the unique result.

What prompted me to write this post was finding a couple of videos on YouTube documenting Black Cat Cycles trip to NAHBS. From the YouTube video description: Earlier this year, BlackCat Cycles and Truvativ collaborated on a project with the simple goal of showcasing the art of form and purposeful function a handmade frame embodies. It should be built well and well used. So Todd and Jen from Blackcat designed a dream mountain bike road trip with the North American Handmade Bike show in Austin as the finish line.

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Cyclotrope

Posted on March 18, 2011 by

I’m resuscitating this blog, and expanding its scope a bit. I’m starting off easy, with this video I saw recently. I’ll have some more in-depth posts soon. For now, take 90 seconds and enjoy the creative use of a bike’s rear wheel.

Cyclotrope, created and animated by Tim Weatley.

The cyclotrope is a cycle of 18 images that is spun at a certain speed so that the frame rate of the camera filming it gives the illusion of animation.

More info at the Cyclotrope Project.

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Better Bike Photos, part 1

Posted on March 26, 2008 by

I admit it, I love those “Post a picture of your bike” threads on the MTB message boards. I like checking out how other people set up their bikes. I also enjoy seeing how they are photographed. There is a huge range in the quality of the photos, from fuzzy camera phone images to beautifully sharp and well-composed shots.

I’m always trying to improve my bike photos. Looking at the photo threads gives me lots of ideas on things I’d like to try, and what I want to avoid. Using images I’ve collected from various forums, I thought I’d pass on a few basic tips that might help you improve your bike photos.

The first thing I think about is the lighting. I’ve yet to experiment with off-camera flashes and other artificial light sources (hmm, sounds like a good topic for an upcoming entry), so I currently rely on ambient light.

ex. 1: Make sure there is enough light. This is a cool bike, I just wish I could see it better.

BadLighting_1

ex. 2 & 3: Watch out for harsh shadows falling across the bike, as in the following two photos. It’s easier to get a nice shot when the lighting is even. Keep in mind the eye is drawn to the brightest part of an image, so make sure your bike, not large areas of the background, is the focal point.

BadLighting_2

BadLighting_3

Here’s a nice shot using ambient light. The bike is evenly lit with no distracting shadows.

GoodLighting_1

Here’s a shot I took of my girlfriend’s bike. This was shot on a cloudy, overcast morning.

CarlasEnduro_cloudyDay

The next thing you want to do is make sure the bike is in focus. It can sometimes be tricky in auto-focus mode to make sure the camera is focusing on the bike, and not through the middle of the frame to the background. Another tip is to gently squeeze the shutter to avoid moving the camera while the shutter is open. Sometimes, a tripod or beanbag is useful. I like the GorillaPod. It’s small and light enough to throw in my hydration pack, and the flexible legs allow me to put the camera most anywhere. It’s also great for self-timer shots.

Here’s one of the many blurry photos I came across. Most often blurry shots were posted along with a few other shots of the same bike which were sharp. Why include a blurry one? This photo also leads into my last topic…

blurry2

Background. When composing your shot, don’t just look at the bike, see at what else is in the photo. A busy background as in the photo below makes it hard to focus on the bike.

BusyBackground_1

Another garage shot with a somewhat busy background, and yet thanks to the lighting and composition this one is much more successful. The weathered wood and “old” feel really complement the retro lines and colors of the bike.

NiceBackground_2

Here’s a nice, sharp, well-lit shot, but the strong red and white traffic barriers in the background completely overwhelm the subtle black bike.

BusyBackground_2

Another nice shot ruined by a busy background. The gray steel fence is so close in color to the frame that the two blend together and it’s hard to separate the lines of the bike from the lines of the fence.

BusyBackground_3

Another photo of the bike in the garage shot above. The background is not plain or boring, and yet it’s not distracting. I love “on the trail” shots. Good ones make me want to grab the bike and ride.

NiceBackground_1

So, to sum up: Lighting, focus, and background. Take a minute to consider these three things the next time you’re taking pictures of your shiny new rig or old trusty steed, if for no other reason than to make me glad I clicked on your thread.

If you have any tips of your own to share, please leave a comment. I hope to make this (Better Bike Photos) an ongoing series on this blog, and any suggestions are welcome.

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