vjp

Congratulations Rootboy!

Next step, Shark Tank!

spacemanz

Congrats, Mr. rootboy! I never get flats, but maybe I'll buy a pair of these genuine hand-made ones, before you get bought out by some evil corporation, & they go mass production.

RobE30

Very cool to hear!

rootboy 

Thanks guys.

Shark tank eh? I'm afraid that one went zinging way over my head.. Unless of course you're referring to our local Great White phenom currently stirring up the natives.

rootboy 

...and that little keeper loop by the mounting ring is the toughest piece of all to make! Right you are, Peugeotlover. These were originally designed for use with tubulars. I first used them on my PX-10 back in 72 'cause I hated repairing tubulars. But I think I had fewer to tear apart and repair because of these little doodads.
They work pretty well too with high pressure clinchers with relatively smooth tread patterns. And for those in Goathead country, these are ideal because the goathead sticker is such a large item. I like to run them so they just barely graze the surface of the contact patch area, which works well for most things that might cause a flat.

vjp

It's a TV show where inventors/start-ups do an elevator pitch in front of a group of blood-thirsty venture capitalists.

unterhausen

which end of the fenders are people mounting these on? The one thing that bothers me about using fenders is that it's impossible to wipe the rear wheel with my hand. On the front, I can still reach in front of the fender. There have been a couple of times when my tire picked something up on a ride and I had to dismount to get rid of it. Once was on PBP, which was a heartbreaker since I had just caught a pack of people that were going a speed that I liked.

Peugeotlover

https://janheine.wordpress.com/2012/0...f-tire-wipers/

In this link a tire wiper is shown (1/3rd way down the page) mounted on the rear lower fender.

unterhausen,
if you are using your hand to wipe the tire you need these!
They are there every revolution of the tire.

(When I lived in Happy Valley, I rode a Tour De France 15 speed. That used to be a brand name.)

rootboy 

Ah, thanks. That would explain my ignorance. Haven't had a TV for 15 years.

rootboy 

The way Jan mounts them, Unterhausen, the "proper " way, is on the trailing edge of each fender. However, that puts the front up on the top point of the fender, where, to my mind, it would look bad. But I'm wrapped up in aesthetics more than I ought to be. I've seen a couple of examples back in the 70's mounted trailing edge rear, down by the bottom bracket, and front on the leading edge, which puts it down under the down tube. But this places it "pushing" stuff off the incoming tire instead of pulling it off. But it works and is less visually intrusive, in my opinion. I ran a front "backwards" for many, many miles on my Peugeot...because I got a big wad of chewing gum caught up under the fork crown once with the front mounted "properly", so switched it. Never had a problem with it facing the incoming tire. FWIW & YMMV, of course.

rootboy 

If I'm not mistaken that may have been the guy who started Bicycle Research, a company that sold some cool stuff, and still does I think. His name escapes me at the moment, but it might be more accurate to refer to him as the fellow who brought them to us in the bike boom and popularized them here. I believe they were invented long before America ever saw them. Member Alex Moll has sown me scans of these bent wire "Flint Catchers" in British catalogs from the 50's. And of course there are the other early European variants by Specialties TA, Pellissier, etc.

sk0tt

Nice work rootboy, do these wipe the goatheads right out, or break them off?

rootboy 

I'm not sure SkOtt, as I haven't lived in goat head country for many years. But as I remember, I think they pluck them off pretty cleanly on relatively smooth tread tires.

SJX426 

Rootboy, Thanks for bringing them back. I did very little, in the early years, to prepare for the future, but I did stock up on this product in the early 70's and have 6 pair in the BOP (box of parts). Without the supply, I would have purchased a set from you. Currently I still have an extra set.

The loose screws ad includes the following statement:

"They can now be used with modern brake calipers that are held on the frame and fork with a recessed nut by using the Sheldon Fender Nut (which we no longer stock). It is a special recessed nut that is designed to accept a 6mm (shaft diameter) x 12mm (length) bolt for attaching fenders (or tire savers) without having to loosen the brake caliper."

Is there a source for the "special recessed nut"? For recessed brakes I have done the following:
1. Flattened the mounting "ring" with a hammer to simulate a washer and the decrease the overall "thickness".
[IMG][/IMG]

2. Mounted them on the brake caliber nut side.
[IMG][/IMG]

What have the rest of you done for this configuration?

rootboy 

That's about the only fix I can think of for that situation, SJX.

edit: the thought occurred to me, could you mount it between the brake bolt boss and the fork crown?
Maybe not as that might interfere with the star washer function.

ACH57

Will these work with 42mm tires?

rootboy 

I can custom bend the part that rides on the tires to contour to wider tires, but, they aren't really that effective on tires with any sort of a knobby tread. Relatively smooth tread? Yes. I've made a few sets for guys with 40 to 45 mm road tires.

JPZ66

Hey RB, ...question : are those made from mild steel or SS ? Very nice either way, and congrats for getting em out into the marketplace !!

Joe

wintermute

I'd like to volunteer to help you with that - the more bottles you empty, the more fun you have tossing them!

chapel

These are on my 'to purchase' list
But I need fenders and winter tires first (and as RB said, these are no good on knobby tires)

SJX426 

RootBoy: I thought of that but I have found that trying to "anchor" any brake base with the center bolt to the frame to be a challenge. I was not getting the performance with the configuration pictured above so I moved the mounting to be between the brake nut and lock nut. This is my recommended mounting approach for recessed brake bolts. BTW: I have had movement of the brake around the mounting bolt even on nutted brakes. Flattening the mounting ring feature significanly reduced movemen due to the larger contact area of the flatted surface ILO the ring contact of a radiused feature.

rootboy 

Hi Joe, Thank you.
The part that rides the tires is stainless. Top part brass. Would have liked to do the top portion out of stainless too but can't bend it to those shapes with my small hand tools.

rootboy 

Can you please clarify that for me, SJX? What parts do you mean by "brake nut" and "lock nut". Currently trying to help another customer out who bought some but didn't tell me he had recess mount brakes. I don't have any recess mount brakes so it's hard for me to experiment. Thanks.

Oh and, I do flatten the loops on one version of my fender mount tire savers but have had mixed success doing it on the regular versions.
I may have to experiment more with that as I can see the advantage.

SJX426 

Sure, the stack in the picture is:
1. Brake caliper
2. Washer
3. Tire saver
4. Brake nut
5. Lock nut

Swap 2 and 4 placing the tire saver loop between the nuts. It is difficult to control the adjustment with the caliper and washer stack for proper brake caliper action without including the tire save loop. This way you can adjust the brake nut for the proper adjustment and then torque the lock nut against the loop as needed.

This will cause another challenge in that the loop will rotate with the lock nut as you tighten it down. I try to complensate by off-setting the loop such that it will rotate to the proper orientation when I tighten the nut. This may require a couple of iterations until it is close to being in the right place. I don't settle for perfection so I adjust the "legs" from the loop to be symetrical around the tire and use them to lift the loop barely above the tread. Since the transition from the loop to the "legs" is under the nut, it is not noticably visable at a glance. You have to make an effort to see it. If you are a perfectionist, you will be very frustrated! But take heart, your nuts will not be symetrical either, with respect to the orientation of the flats of each nut to the other! Not to mention having the arc of the tire saver parallel to the tread profile and centered to the bike!

Dawes-man

I'm really pleased for ya, Rootboy!