44 Bikes

[fortyfour]

[funcrusher]

hi kris -
what kind of fenders are on that huntsman from last week? looks perfect!

[fortyfour]

hi kris -
what kind of fenders are on that huntsman from last week? looks perfect!

Thanks - those are Honjo (Smooth) 40mm's. For the record, about 5" has been bobbed off that set of fenders rear fender. Both were powdered to match the flat black powder of the frame (which is technically a satin powder). The fenders come in raw aluminum, polished and also come in many different profiles, widths, shapes, hammer finishes and have many mounting hardware options. IMO: Honjo is the best. They were purchased through Merry Sales. You can also get them through a studio out in San Fran I believe. Stay tuned for this weeks FNL... there's another one similar to last weeks build, matching fenders and fork but with front rack. Should be a killer little build.

[funcrusher]

i figured they must've been custom painted!

Thanks - those are Honjo (Smooth) 40mm's. For the record, about 5" has been bobbed off that set of fenders rear fender. Both were powdered to match the flat black powder of the frame (which is technically a satin powder). The fenders come in raw aluminum, polished and also come in many different profiles, widths, shapes, hammer finishes and have many mounting hardware options. IMO: Honjo is the best. They were purchased through Merry Sales. You can also get them through a studio out in San Fran I believe. Stay tuned for this weeks FNL... there's another one similar to last weeks build, matching fenders and fork but with front rack. Should be a killer little build.

[blasdelf]

IMO: Honjo is the best. They were purchased through Merry Sales. You can also get them through a studio out in San Fran I believe.

Hiroshi is cooler than cool: Welcome to Jitensha Studio

[fortyfour]

They were not much to powder for the record. (The fork, rack and fenders at the powder shop came to $75.00)

[fortyfour]

[fortyfour]

This is part of a larger Open Farm and Studio Tour of my home town of Lyndeborough, NH. There's some cool places as well on the tour, so be sure to check out lyndeborough's website for additions. Be sure to check out the list here of Farms and Studio's in Lyndeborough. A map will be provided on the town's website soon I believe. I will have all of my personal bikes on hand as well as my wifes's 650b and Huntsman Di2 build. Current work in progress will of course be on hand and I would be happy to take fellow V-Salonistas on a personalized step by step nickel tour of my process from start to finish. This is your chance to get in close and personal. Be sure to plan your Sunday Ride North (or South..). All roads arrive at 44HQ.

[fortyfour]

This is my personal Mountain Bike. I've taken the time for a second installment over on the 44 Bikes Blog to go through every step of my build and explain WHY this bike is built the way it is. Head on over to the 44 Bikes Blog to read more... Enjoy.

[blasdelf]

to go through every step of my build and explain WHY this bike is built the way it is

Thanks for giving so much process detail, you really covered the bases!

I'm curious what your height/weight is, it'd be super compelling if you filled out a 44bikes fitting sheet for yourself

[Britishbane]

Kris, I too enjoyed reading your blog post. Why the removable derailleur hanger? Clearly you think that there are benefits to be had by just slapping another hanger on should the original break, but could you expound upon your reasons a bit further?

[fortyfour]

Thanks for giving so much process detail, you really covered the bases!

I'm curious what your height/weight is, it'd be super compelling if you filled out a 44bikes fitting sheet for yourself

Sure. Good to hear you enjoyed the read. I'm 6'1" with an inseam of about 34". I used to be 195lb but I've lost a lot of muscle mass in the past 10 years and seem to have come back down to where I was in High School of all things. I hover around 180-185lbs these days.

Kris, I too enjoyed reading your blog post. Why the removable derailleur hanger? Clearly you think that there are benefits to be had by just slapping another hanger on should the original break, but could you expound upon your reasons a bit further?

Good to hear you enjoyed the write up.

Here's the thing about derailleur hangers: If you bend one, you can really only bend it back a few times before it's moving at the drop of a hat - this I believe we are all well aware of. The average complete bike out the doors is about 6k here at 44HQ. That's a significant investment. My job is to make the bikes sound but build in some fail safes. I've been on rides with guys who have been nursing a bent hanger on a steel bike. Eventually it will break, and then you're out of an entire frame. You can repair it, but then you're dealing with stripping, repair's that can be tricky depending on how the bike was built, then painting / powdering. All that when I just pop on a $5.00 hanger. Good to go. I try and avoid the dog and pony show if I can. The hanger is designed to bend/break before the derailleur does. So in a way, you're protecting your investment and the builder is designing in some fail safes, but you're also helping to protect your equipment. Pure road bikes this isn't as much of an issue.

I'm really talking about mountain bikes, cross or cross-ish style "road" bikes. Gravel set ups. Adventure set ups. Bikes where sticks are on the trail and rocks are looking to give your rear derailleur a pile driver. Especially mountain bikes which will be crashed (it's just part of the sport - you ride in the woods, you're going to fall). Bikes like the Huntsman which is meant for roads less traveled, you're going after rough terrain. You're taking your bike out on long rides on access roads. Adventures. You're riding it for days, weeks or months at a time all loaded up. Chances are against you when it comes to these things. It's really only a matter of time. It's a lot easier to pop a small hanger into a bag and carry it along than have a hanger bend on a long trip.

This is not to say anyone who builds a bike without one is wrong. My point being that if you can build with one, I highly recommend it and the above are the reasons why. Paragon's got a few different styles and are available in 6061, 7075 and Steel replaceable hangers.

As a side note, I recall starting to ride mountain bikes in the late 80's early 90's: No mountain bike I remember had a replaceable hanger. And I remember many times when friends would have a story about bending theirs and then nursing it. Then somewhere in the 90's the replaceable derailleur hanger appeared and it was just pure genius. It seemed that no mountain bike did NOT have one. In recent years, I've seen more and more custom mountain bikes not built with one. But I think this is more of an issue of a supply thing - many build with tabbed style dropouts, or are designing their own. With the self designed dropouts, it's a significant investment to design and machine those two parts as now you're creating a new standard, unless you base it off a readily available hanger style but you're paying for machine time instead of just water or laser cut parts from flat sheet. To my knowledge, there are no traditional style tabbed dropouts with a replaceable hanger - I need to talk to Mark at Paragon about this...

Hope that's not too long winded just about derailleur hangers ;)

Oh... and they also now come in black. Thank you Mark @ Paragon.

[Britishbane]

Hope that's not too long winded just about derailleur hangers ;)

Oh... and they also now come in black. Thank you Mark @ Paragon.

I can dig it, thanks for the thoughtful reply.

[dgaddis]

I can dig it, thanks for the thoughtful reply.

+1 I wouldn't ever have a MTB or any off-road type bike with a fixed hanger, seen way to many get ripped/smashed off.

44BikesRulz

[fortyfour]

You guys asked for it... I'm delivering. These are hand printed by Brainstorm in Dover, NH. Printed on thick 100lb 18x24 sheet made by the French Paper Co. Signed. Numbered. Archival. Worthy of a frame. Or not. Fit for any fine shop wall or man cave. Limited edition of 50. GET TO IT.

[stnphoto]

Awesome, purchase made. Hope to see you Sunday.

[Britishbane]

Done. I DO promise to ride my bicycle

[Matthew Strongin]

Done, done, and done.

[dgaddis]

Done, done, and done.

Me too. I only planned on getting one...

[Matthew Strongin]

Me too. I only planned on getting one...

I had a poster size version of the original "Painting my bike black..." graphic printed off a high resolution file Kris sent a while back. I was getting ready to get it framed nice and proper when word came out that these nice prints were coming. Of course I rolled up that poster and started saving the bucks for the real deal prints. Once I got to the site and had the new black bike print in my cart I just couldn't resist the others. And since my wife is a good sport, these will get framed and probably won't just end up in the man cave.