Mack Custom Track Hubs

I'm starting to get excited as my new Mack hubs are about to arrive any day now.

Mack fixed hubs? Yep, custom per-order (semi-?)handmade track hubs from Poland. Sealed bearings, single or double fixed, low or high flange, any spoke hole drilling you might want, twelve anodizing colors to choose from at no extra cost. Also, the rear hub design is symmetric on both single and double fixed hubs to make lacing very simple.

All the reviews I've come across so far have been very positive and Maciej Wydra AKA Mr. Mack has in fact been making custom hubs already for years. His hubs have also been sold under the Gromada brand name.

Obviously his hubs design is quite close to the famous Phil Wood track hubs but Mack hubs are supposed to be lighter than Phils. And finally his prices are not too bad either for custom stuff and even the shipping prices are very reasonable. I'll post a full review once my order arrives.

"Track hubs:

- Front low flange (45mm) – 50 Euro
- Rear low flange single fixed (50mm) – 67 Euro
- Rear low flange flip-flop (50mm) – 78
- Front high flange (75mm) – 72 Euro
- Rear high flange single fixed (75mm) – 89 Euro
- Rear high flange (75mm) – 100 Euro

Anodized colors: blue, red, silver, yellow, purple, orange, gold, teal, grey, black, pink, green.

Guarantee – 2 years (excluding bearings)."

For orders & more info: mackhubs@o2.pl

Gran Compe Shot Lever In Colors

Gran Compe's clever double brake lever design in colors, from Rene's NJS Supermarket in Osaka, Japan. 

More Super Deep Aero Rims: Dodici *

Even when the H+Son rims debate is still going on, maybe it's time to introduce yet another new brand of super deep aero rims for your fixed gear bike. Jacopo and the people behind the Vintage Pista blog are from Italy and they've recently produced their own brand of Dodici deep aero rims: 

"More than 40mm height, Incredible Hulk-like strenght, 32 and 36 holes!

Only 1662 grams per set.

Available in powder coated black, white and now also in uncoated rough finish"

If I'm correct, the rims are manufactured in Italy and what's also pretty interesting is the fact that, again I might be wrong here, but the rims appear to be modeled after the legendary and hard-to-find Gipiemme Tecno 416 rims of the 1990s. Ok, Dodici rims have more spoke holes than 416s but still. 

On the other hand, the sellers are comparing their rims to Campy Shamals and and I guess the weight is on the same range between these two. In any case, Dodici rims are bit heavier than Deep Vs, DP18s or H+Sons so maybe they really are strong as well, who knows. 

My man Lauri will be lacing up a pair of these rims very soon and I'm interested in seeing how they will look like in real life. 

You can order directly from the blog or from the Ebay, where they are selling ready-laced wheels too. 

You might want to also check out the Vintage Pista blog because they seem to have quite lot of other interesting stuff for sale there as well, vintage Italian track frames and the like...

Paul Royal Flush Pure Cranks

More 20" Fixed Conversions From The Man Who Brought Us The Fixed Dyno With Black Mags

I tend to keep an eye on the visitor statistics of my blog and one of my all time top posts has been the fixed gear bmx conversion, or the "Dyno With Black Mags". Why? You tell me. 

Anyhow, yesterday Dustin, who actually converted the Dyno, just emailed me about two of his similar later projects, as pictured above & below (click the pics...). I see he's been keeping busy and again I dig both his new creations. He also told me that the original fixed Dyno was sold over a year ago but it's still going strong with its new owner. 

Here's what these two new ones are about, in his own words:

* a crappy magna bmx, also converted to fixed. i built this shortly after the first one was finished. mods include vintage 20" bladed fork, 1- to 3-piece crank conversion, front mag wheel from a mongoose, and element stem/risers. gearing on this one was 52/15. this one has since been sold.

* 1970's gobby folding bike, made here in Arizona back in the day. its been converted to fixed. this bike is only used for monday night bike polo in tempe, where it excels with its maneuverability. original 1-piece cranks converted to 3-piece via american-to-euro bottom bracket conversion. gearing is 48/15, with 140mm truvativ jr.bmx cranks.

More Speed? Get A Bigger Chainring.

Hey trackstar, you want to be the fastest? You need a bigger chainring. Check this out, NOS vintage Sugino Mighty ring with 60 teeth on teh 'bay. Massive!

Those Fyxomatosis Chainrings. Again

More pics, looking better every time. Will I finally make my order? More information here. 

A Bike That Has It All

I've always preferred Velospace over Fixed Gear Gallery. Here's one more example why. 

Dogsballs' Geekhouse has just about everything I dig right now: 

Pursuit style geometry, Profile Racing Fixed hubs & BMX cranks, Araya Aero rims from NJS Supermarket, Custom H riser bar, Wellgo platform pedals, black Ourys, sparkly green color, straight forks, Continental tires etc. 

So nice. 

Phil Wood Spokes. For Real.

As seen in Barrierbloor. 

For sale at Brick Lane Bikes, London, England. 

More Fyxomatosis Chainring Pron

Yesterday I blogged about the new nice fyxomatosis track chainrings. 

Here are more pics of the product. Looking mighty good. 

Track Chainrings For Life From Fyxomatosis

Fyxomatosis, Australia's track bike connoisseur extraordinaire (tm) has started producing his own track chainrings, which look super delicious, thanks to his great photography skills (click the pic to make it bigger). 

But the chainrings seriously do look good with that classic Italian pista style, there are two finish options, they appear to super-sturdy, and the twist is that he promises a 12 month guarantee on the chainrings (see below). 

The price is actually quite reasonable too when you compare them to any high quality 1/8 track chainrings, like Sugino 75, Dura-Ace or TA. 

This is what the man himself has to say about them, besides the marketing copy below:

"They are SUPER silent. I've ridden just about every chainring there is - Suntour Superbe, Campagnolo, Sugino, No namers, SR, Dura-ace. These are quieter and wear better, even with the wipperman BMX chain I had.

They'll be available eventually in 130/135 - 1/8th. They're not light due to their beefy cut, material is aluminium."

And they're good for cutting tomatoes too?

 * * * 

fyxomatosis chainrings

All 144BCD - 1/8th
All 4mm plate.
Australian made.

The tooth profile and contact area for the chain is greater = longer life, better wear.

If you wear out a chainring significantly from riding in 12 months, we will replace it FREE. No exceptions.

It will take more than a ride across China and back to wear us out in a year - Good luck!

Tested on couriers and track animals. All come with a 12 month 'Kill me if you can' warranty.

RAW finish - USD$59 delivered
POLISHED Finish - USD$69 delivered

Get them HERE! 

Polo Guards In New Colors From Ben's Cycle

More in here.

Dia-Compe Gran Compe SS Tires In New Colors

If you want them, buy 'em directly from Japan. Rene has them.

Profile Racing Fixed Hubs: 'Strong Enough For Fixed Freestyle'

Keeping my eye on the blogs and forums, I've recently noticed that more and more people talking about Profile Racing's new fixed hubs. Now I don't claim to know anything about the BMX scene but based on my limited research, it seems that Profile Racing is for BMX what Phil Wood is for the fixed gear, especially ever since Phil Wood's legendary BMX hubs are apparently sold only per special order anymore.

Basically, high-end hubs and other selected parts, all good lookin', probably super-reliable, and made in the good ol' US of A by a small-ish company who's been in the business for a long time. Today when 97% of all bike components seem to be made in Taiwan, this is kinda special.  

Or, is this just another BMX company jumping on the fixed gear bandwagon? There are plenty of those too but none them seem to have been very successful. 

Well, who cares because Profile Racing seems to be serious in what they're doing, there's a new website for their Fixed Gear venture and a 'Fixed Flow Team' of sponsored riders, guys known from Bootleg Sessions mainly, Keo, John Prolly, Tom LaMarche, SuperTed, Dustin Klein and so on. The best team any company has, because no other company (outside of the Japan) seems even to have a team, yet. 

But what about the hubs then?

"Profile Fixed Hubs are strong enough for fixed freestyle, light enough for the velodrome, and stylish enough to ride to the bar."

They look damn sturdy but are apparently much lighter than what you would expect (front 230g/rear 270g). Sealed bearings, of course. The axle nuts are the recessed hex bolt kind that thread into the hollow axle, just like in Phils. Standard choice of 28/32/36 holes. Fixed/free for now but soon also in fixed/fixed, and besides the normal 120mm width, you can get them also as 110mm or 130mm. And yes, they come in a number of lovely anodized colors. 

Only thing which I'm wondering about is the 44mm chainline but that extra 2mm probably doesn't make such a big difference anyway.

So are these hubs really the new Phils for the fixed gear tricks / freestyle generation? I don't know, time will show that, but I admit they look pretty damn convincing. Now If only I could afford them to try them out. 

Dia-Compe Gran Compe Shot Brake Lever.

I blogged about the new fancy Dia-Compe Gran Compe Shot brake lever already sometime ago when Rene had some for sale directly from Japan but here's new picture and according to Soma the price in States (and probably in Ebay too) will be about 70 bucks. So, not very cheap.  

Pedal Mafia ID Fun & Games.

I don't know if the Pedal Mafia ID tool is new or old but it sure is FUN. Just look at my epic dream bike above I conjured up with it. 

No, just kidding. This is more like it:

The New Deep V is... H PLUS SON Formation Face Rim. Cos' it's Deeeeeeeeep...

Deeper than Velocity Deep Vs, yes. A bit lighter too. I think we have a winner. If you live in a non-windy city, that is.  Read more here. 

Bad News From Japan: No More Sugino 75 Chainrings

I just read this sad news from Rene's blog. Sugino has discontinued their very excellent and slightly more economically priced 75-series NJS-certified track chainrings for 2009. This sounds very strange as one would expect there be huge and growing market for these things but I trust Rene as he runs a fixed gear / track bike shop in Osaka and knows his stuff. 

Metallico Tsuchinoko-Bar

Metallico Tsuchinoko-Bar AKA Dildo Bar, straight outta Japan. 

Some might like it, some might not. 

Extra Rare Japanese Chain?