New Products: Technomic Stems, Tire Bead Jack…
We’re excited to add a few new products to our program. The Technomic stem is the workhorse among Nitto’s stems. Like the top-of-the-line NP, it’s forged from aluminum for ultimate strength. Functionally, the two stems are almost identical. Most of the differences are aesthetic: The NP is polished to an incredibly beautiful lustre; the Technomic shows very fine polishing marks if you look very carefully. The NP is anodized; the Technomic isn’t. That’s not a big deal, either, because the aluminum alloy used for these stems doesn’t oxidize. The NP has a beautiful recessed nut for the stem bolt, whereas the Technomic’s nut is, well, just a nut. However, if you install a decaleur, you’ll replace that nut anyhow. And finally, the NP has very fine rifling on the inside of the bar clamp to grip the handlebars even more securely. But I’ve never heard of a bar slipping in a Technomic stem, either. As an added benefit, the Technomic also comes in ultra-short versions – all the way down to 50 mm. (That’s what Natsuko rides on her bikes, which are designed with long-ish top tubes to avoid toe overlap.) We’ve got most sizes in stock now.
We’ve all been there: A tire just doesn’t want to go onto the rim. It’s usually because the rim well is too shallow to provide the slack we need to lift the tire bead over the rim sidewall. Pinches tubes, broken tire levers and bruised thumbs can be the result. Kool-Stop sent us a sample of their Tire Bead Jack a while ago, and it lay in our toolbox. Then came the time to replace a tire on a very tight-fitting carbon rim, and after much frustration, we remembered the Tire Bead Jack. The tire went onto the rim in a snap, and the next day, we placed an order with Kool-Stop. Most of the time, Rene Herse tires go onto modern rims without tools, but when a rim is giving trouble, you’ll be glad to have this tool.
We now offer our favorite Maware leather bar tape in white, too. The color is dyed into the leather, so it’s a nice off-white, not the painted-on bright white of many other tapes. That means it’ll acquire a nice patina as you use it. Maware’s tape is made from pigskin, so it’s thin and doesn’t have raised edges. It has the most luxurious feel of any bar tape I’ve used.
Not a new product: Our knickers have been so popular lately that Matt, who makes them right here in Seattle, can’t keep up! He just dropped off another batch, so all sizes are in stock again.
We’re also received another shipment of Rene Herse tires, so all models are in stock now – including our long-awaited Humptulips Ridge 26″ knobbies.
Click on the links or the images for more information.
