Henristig's picture journal

I’ve been amusing myself tonight looking at how others out there on the interweb have made their own snow/ice tyres…


Hey, Henristig!
I don't know whether it's the location, the quality of light over there, the camera, or the Clockwork, but you do take some damn fine photos. I know RB has a file size upload limit – what resolution and pixel dimensions do you save your photos at?

Another nice orange/white fade, btw. Choice of bits fitted to the frame make this Clockwork look sharp, minimal, modern and timeless. Those fat Ralphs make it look very meaningful too. I may well go for the Ralphs myself, but the Sams are my main choice based on descriptions, reviews and the type of riding I do, which is mostly commuting on badly maintained London roads. Also, On One are currently selling these for about £20 each, which suits my budget.


Hi Dossa,
I'm afraid I’m in two minds about the old skinwalls. I could never decide whether they looked cool, messy or uncool. That said, I do really miss my old skinwall Smoke and Darts. For practicality and availability today, the modern choice is mostly black. I did like the Charge Splashbacks though, but even these seem hard to find now.

Aside of the fat RRs or Smart Sams I’m deciding to buy for everyday use, I’m thinking of getting a set of the new skinwall Onza Canis too – I am quite smitten by these. Although it’s a shame they don’t have the old logo on from the old company.

I am delighted you enjoy the thread guys!

Dossa - I'm not too fond of black walls either, but I think they go well with this certain late 90's Kona-esque ruggedness that I've tried to build into the clocky. Since the last pictures of the orange/whitey I've swapped out the quite narrow Mavic rims for chunky silver 1.5'' Arayas and I have to tell you, it has really really made a difference! Now it looks almost exactly as I want it. I'm really pushing it with tyre clearance on those 1.5'' rims though, but thankfully the tyres still fit with a bit of fiddling. At least now we know that 2.25's on 1.5's is right there on the edge for a Clockwork. I'll have some pictures up as soon as I get them transferred to my computer.

Groovy - I doubt the quality of the pictures can be traced back to the camera at least, because most of them are shot with my phone :facepalm: But the nature is lovely over here, that's for sure. Maybe I should try to mix it up a bit and capture other sides of Finland too next time I'm out shooting/riding? Might be cool to take a ride to the old part of urban Helsinki and have a small session there as well!

I think I've managed to bypass the upload limit of RB quite well because I upload my pictures via imgur where you can upload massive pictures and then I just insert them as an image link ( ) when I post. Easy as pie and I think it looks cleaner when there's no attachment box etc. Anyways, my phone pics are usually between 1-6MB and either 3264x1836 or 1836x3048 and my DSLR pics can get even larger. However, I'm glad RB autoscales the pictures because at that resolution they'd look crap.

Oh, BTW, I got working on the SS project again after a few days of procrastination. Now I've removed the headset and fork crown race and might even get to install the new parts later today.

I'll report back with some pictures from todays ride soon!

OK, time for some pictures! Last night we got some light snowfall over here so now it's all wintery and nice outside. And there's half an inch of ice over EVERYTHING so riding today was loads of fun As I'm starting to get used to this orange/white clockwork it's fast becoming my favourite ride! So steady and grounded yet somehow very light and nimble when you need it to be. Love doing wheelies on it How do you like the rims guys?

Hey, more great pics! The 5th one in the sequence is my fave. The winter woodland/lake setting is wonderful – are those silver birches in amongst there?. Orange/white fades do look good in snow. Love the all silver fittings on it – what are the forks?

Spent Monday evening down in the shed retuning the rear mech and shifting that had gone out of tuning resulting in a sluggish ride – I recently had to buy a cheap emergency wheel after discovering that my old FIR rim was cracking around the whole circumference under the tape, quite a scary discovery...

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... 2#p2067412

Got the cable tensioned again and the shifting fairly sorted for my commute and with some extra pressure in the tyres, I was smoking past most things on the road today – managed to shave 25 minutes off my current times, down to 20Km in 55 minutes.

Some more really good pictures there H. the bike is looking mint.

Thanks! My fave is prolly the first one or the third one in that sequence, I just like how "clean" the shots are I absolutely love that route by the lake BTW. The path starts about half a mile from my front door and then it does this circa two-mile loop that consists of one massive climb, an even more massive descent and some really techincal stuff like trials style rock climbs etc. I mean that's the kind of track you dream of, really. Someday I will film myself doing the lap so you guys can see it too.

The forks are Pace RC30's and they've been really really good so far. Plus they look the part too. I'm always paranoid about tearing up the sidewalls on my rims but it never even occured to me that they can split down the middle too...

I applaud you, 20km in 55 minutes is FAST. Yesterday I did 16km in 45 minutes and that already felt like a workout. BTW I have now finished my SS project, going to take it out for a 20 mile spin today to run some errands. Hopefully nothing goes wrong...

Sounds and looks like you live in the ideal location!

I do have a strong fascination for the Nordic countries. Video of the route would be great to see. Have sometimes thought of filming my “white knuckle ride” through the scenic transport chaos of London. The 55 minutes is my current “PB”. It can take longer depending on traffic, on weather or how unfit I feel. Over the last 3 years or so, I’ve gradually built up and got used to the distance.

I’ve lived in Cardiff one time where once you get out of the city, you’re straight into the mountains and forests or even wild parts of coast – miss that. Have lived high up in the Pennines (very close to Orange’s base) so was straight onto the wild moors with hard climbs and hairy descents.

I guess it’s gonna be hard to find some nice RC30 forks…

With the rim crack :shock: I only discovered that by ‘luck’ as I had to replace a tube that had completely flatted overnight. For some time there had been a nocking under breaking where a small bulge had formed. I had to resort to a cheap emergency wheel to keep running :facepalm: . I’m aiming to build a quality wheelset at some point over the next month or two. Have just received my new Smart Sams in time for a bit of winter – gonna fit these in my lunch break.

Look forward to some scenic shots of the SS Clockwork.

Smart Sams (Evo 2.25/Black/Skin) update:

Fitted the pair last night before heading home. Had them pumped up fairly hard for faster running. Despite having quite pronounced sharp chunky and squidgy knobbies, they rolled really really fast like smoother tyres would. The grip is fantastic – it was odd feeling glued to the road yet able to fly along without any rumbling or effort to roll them (I was still keeping up with the roadies). Had to make a sudden stop for something cutting across in front of me. The grip stopped me controllably and precisely in just a couple of feet and without leaving any rubber on the tarmac. With my other tyres (Race Kings 2.2s) I would have been sliding metres locked up and producing the kind of noise that has pedestrians leaping out of their skins :shock: Plus there would be a bald patch.

However, there's quite a down side. Within an hour of riding, I picked up a DIY staple in each tyre and had to fix steady punctures when I got home :x. The carcasses of the Sams feel quite thin and flimsy – I can imagine smoking along a trail or rocky descent and a rogue small sharp stone could rip through them.

Also, one edge of the rear Sam has buzz-sawed through the powder coating on the rear wishbone when banking to the left – they're just slightly fatter the Race King 2.2s :x

After 3 years of running 2 pairs of Race Kings, I never had a puncture, I just eventually wore the tread off them.

I may have to consider reinforcing the Sams or either ditch them. Shame, they were only £20 each to the normal price of £40 to £50 each.

It's been a while Shame about those Smart Sams, I just had my first puncture today on my RR's but that was completely my own fault due to landing a jump quite badly.

I've gotten around to take some pics of the SS clockwork. I'm not 100% sure if I like the look of it or not, but I'll keep it like that cos it's supposed to be my hack bike. Single speeding in general is heaps of fun I've noticed, but I really need a tensioner for my chain. It keeps jumping off way too much.

Lately I've also been contemplating about getting back into riding park and doing tricks and stuff. I used to ride BMX about 6 years ago and I was actually quite good at it too. Then for some reason I just stopped riding bikes altogether. Now that I've slowly gone back to riding again I'm starting to feel the itch for some tricks The SS clockwork has already gotten its fair share of abuse with me practising some trials moves on it etc. but now I'm thinking of getting an actual dedicated bike for it. It's not going to be BMX this time, this time around I'm a bit more drawn to trials and street. And as it happens a guy in my area is wanting to part with his almost mint Inspired Skye (the cream of the crop when it comes to street trials bikes, does the name Danny MacAskill ring a bell? ) for a bargain of £1000 so I'm feeling the jitters. I'll try to sell my iMac that doesn't get used and buy the Skye and then injure the crap out of myself next summer

Here's the singlespeed.







Yesterday I lent one of my Clockworks to a buddy of mine and we rode to Helsinki together. It's safe to say the weather was pretty brutal. We suffered through hail, snow and rain. This is how the bikes looked when we came back :facepalm:

Love the snow covered Clockworks!

The SS is looking good. Is that a non-ramped chainring you've fitted? A tensioner will help a lot but may clutter the minimal look of SS.

My Clockwork had been languishing sadly in my folk's damp garage for a decade or more. They were moving to a smaller house so I had go and collect it and other stuff. After being reunited with it, I fixed it up and have now been riding for the last 3-4 years. It's rekindled my love of cycling, and I think my riding skills and appreciation of it all are better this time around.

Good to hear you want to get back to some tricks. The Skye is way cool. On my commute, I go past a couple of skate parks and I'm often tempted to stop off and have a blast pulling some shapes, but then common sense and old injuries get the better of me.

But before you part with your iMac, watch this link for some inspiration – you won't see any of this sort of thing on the Tour de France...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhabgvI ... r_embedded