Category: making things

Full CD Collection Ripping Workflow

Published January 17, 2016

Back in 2003-2004 I ripped ever CD I owned to 192kbps AAC, a very good sounding format which was cost effective to store on disks of the time. This was a great achievement, and for the last 12 years I’ve enjoyed having all of my music in a central digital format. Now that storage is cheaper and I have some time, and before data rot sets in, I wanted to re-rip the collection to archival-quality Apple Lossless format. (This format was chosen for compatibility with my currently preferred software and hardware players, and being lossless can easily be transcoded to other formats as needed.)

My previous ripping operation was performed with a dual CPU PowerMac G5 and iTunes. While iTunes’ eject-after-import feature facilitates disc swapping, the workflow was selecting a stack of CDs, inserting them one at a time, then manually validating tags and artwork. At the time CD metadata providers didn’t have many of the discs, so a great deal of manual cleanup was needed. This was tedious, and something I didn’t want to repeat…

Not to mention there was no good way to assess the accuracy of the resulting rips…

Twelve years later, with better tools available, and finding some time in the form of a holiday break (Christmas Eve to after New Year’s) I began thinking about re-ripping my CD collection. Having recently moved my web hosting (this site, nuxx.net) to Linode, my old server was sitting unused at home and I only needed some modern software and an autoloader to set up a high performance CD ripping workstation. The requisite tools were purchased and I got to work. 411.3 GB later and most all of my physical CDs (1241 albums) have been imported as cleanly as possible, ready for listening on a myriad of devices, hopefully for years to come. (Duplicates were not ripped.)

Since ripping an entire CD collection is a desire of many friends of mine I wanted to share the general setup and workflow that I used. It went well and was mostly hands-off, with only occasional manual intervention needed when the auto-loader jammed and then tool-assisted cleanup of tags and artwork. By using high quality ripping software which supports AccurateRip I was able to ensure that the vast majority of ripped tracks are affirmed error-free and effectively digital archival quality.

Most Inaccurate tracks were caused by damaged discs; typically reflective layer scratches, cracks, or scuffed polycarbonate.

Success Results:

14069 tracks (92.3%) are Accurate
144 tracks (0.95%) are Inaccurate
1024 tracks (6.7%) were not in the AccurateRip database.
1 track was a hidden track 0 in the pregap, which had to be ripped specially, and thus couldn’t be checked with AccurateRip.

Hardware / Software Used:

HP ML110 G7 w/ 24GB RAM, 64GB SSD, 3x 1TB HDD, USB 3.0 Card, AMD Radeon HD 5450 (Needs to be a sufficient computer to handle ripping, encoding, and displaying Aero graphics with ease. Built-in video card was not sufficient.)
Dell 2005FPW Monitor (1680×1050)
Acronova Nimbie USB Plus NB21-DVD
HP SATA DVD Drive (Internal, identifies as hp DVD-RAM GH80N.)
Samsung USB DVD Drive (External, identifies as TSSTcorp CDDVDW SE-218CB.)
Epson Perfection 3170 Scanner
Windows 7 Professional
dBpoweramp and PerfectTUNES (w/dBpoweramp Batch Ripper and Nimbie Batch Ripper Driver)
Mp3tag (Incredibly useful tagging tool with powerful scripting.)
CD cases organized into numbered boxes of 30-50 discs.

Workflow:

Use dBpoweramp Batch Ripper to rip all CDs. Label output folders by the box numbers containing each CD; this will make manual metadata validation/cleanup easier.
For each disc that is rejected, use dBpoweramp CD Ripper to rip the entire disc. This is likely a metadata issue as CD Ripper has access to more metadata providers than Batch Ripper. Or it may be the drive failing to recognize the disc.
Use AccurateRip from PerfectTUNES to scan the entire directory structure, then use the built-in information tool to get a text file listing all “InAccurate” tracks.
For each disc with “InAccurate” listings:
1. Delete entire disc. (I opted to do this instead of re-ripping just the InAccurate tracks, as metadata differences between CD Ripper and Batch Ripper could lead to file names that are clumsy to fix.)
2. Look disc over and clean if necessary. This, coupled with using a different drive, seems to resolve about 50% of ripping issues. Be sure to use proper technique: soft/clean/low dust cloth, wiping from inside to out (not circularly).
3. Re-rip discs using dBpoweramp CD Ripper in fast mode.
4. Re-rip individual tracks with secure mode as needed. Note that re-reading of bad frames can take hours per track, and that some tracks just won’t match AccurateRip or even rip securely. (Some of my discs are sufficiently damaged that I was not able to rip certain tracks.)
5. Some discs may need to be ripped with Defective by Design settings, particularly in case of copy protection.
6. Make a separate list of discs which have been accepted issues.
Run AccurateRip (part of PerfectTUNES suite) to confirm all tracks and check against list of accepted issues. Repeat #4 as needed.
Run the Fix Albums tool within Album Art (part of PerfectTUNES suite) to attempt automatic acquisition of artwork for all albums.
Start with the PerfectTUNES suite components to fix artwork and metadata:
1. In ID Tags go through a series of directories at a time sanity-checking metadata. Compare each CD case to the tags as needed, confirming that artwork looks sane. Keep a document listing artwork to later review.
2. Use the Album Art tool to attempt bulk fix of art on all albums.
3. One box at a time add artwork using a scanner and online resources. Then fix Low Resolution artwork.
  1. An Epson Perfection 3170 scanner connected and configured in automatic mode, clicking … next to an album then Acquire (from Scanner) will automatically scan, rotate, and crop artwork from a scanner. This seems to fail on thick-case (Digipak, clamshell) albums and is inconsistent on mostly-white artwork.
  2. Decent artwork can be obtained from Discogs.
  3. Add observed metadata errors to a document for later review.
Use Mp3tag to clean up tags. Useful filters and suggestions include:
1. (albumartist MISSING) AND (compilation MISSING) – Find tracks that are not part of compilations but did not get Album Artist set.
2. %_covers% IS "" – Find tracks without artwork.
3. compilation IS 0 – Find tracks with Compilation set to No. This can be removed using the Extended Tags editor.
4. "$len(%year%)" GREATER 4 – Find tracks with Year fields longer than four digits (some metadata includes month and day).
5. (totaldiscs IS 1) AND (discnumber GREATER 1) – Find disc numbers higher than 1 when the total number of discs in the album is 1.
6. Selecting all tracks, exporting to CSV, then reviewing in a spreadsheet program can help find misspellings, duplicates, etc. For example, look at unique values in the Artist column to find misspellings like “Dabyre” vs. “Dabrye” or “X Marks The Pedwalk” vs. “X-Marks The Pedwalk”.
7. NOT %ACCURATERIPRESULT% HAS ": Accurate" – Show all tracks that do not contain the AccurateRip header indicating an accurate rip.
Fix any noted errors using a combination of ID Tags, Album Art, and Mp3tag.
Prepare for archiving by renaming all files using Mp3tag:
1. The following Format string for the Convert → Tag – Filename renamer will move files to e:\final_move with the following formats, without most invalid characters for Windows filesystems, truncating the artist, album, and track lengths to 64 characters: e:\final_move\$if(%albumartist%,$validate($replace(%albumartist%,\,_),_),Various Artists)\$validate($replace(%album%,\,_),_)\$if(%albumartist%,$replace($validate($left(%artist%,64)-$left(%album%,64)-%discnumber%_$num(%track%,2)-$left(%title%,64),-),\,_),$replace($validate($left(%album%,64)-%discnumber%_$num(%track%,2)-$left(%artist%,64)-$left(%title%,64),-),\,_))
  1. Tracks with Album Artist set: ...\Artist\Album\Artist-Album-Disc#_Track#-Title.ext
  2. Tracks without Album Artist set (compilations): ...\Various Artists\Album\Album-Disc#_Track#-Artist-Title.ext
Make a backup. Make many backups…
Import into your preferred music player. In my case, iTunes on OS X:
1. Album or artist at a time, delete the old, MPEG-4 versions and import the Apple Lossless tracks.

Issues:

Autoloader would occasionally jam. Seemed to be caused by:
- Discs sticking together; ensuring they are gently placed in the loader seems to help.
- Some discs are particularly thin or thick; these would often fail to load properly. Manually rip these.
Autoloader only supports standard size CDs, so mini or artistically cut CDs must be ripped in a normal drive. The USB drive is a laptop-type with a snap-lock spindle, which is better for artistically cut CDs.
Off-balance artistically cut CDs must be ripped at 1x to mitigate vibration. This can be problematic during initial spinup.
Some discs didn’t read well in one drive or another. If a rip would not be error-free in one drive, it’d frequently be fine in another.
Some discs are not present in AccurateRip.
Dirty discs caused more problems than I’d anticipated. Discs seemed to be scratched or dirty for a number of reasons:
- Previous poor storage techniques (DJ or CaseLogic-style slip cases).
- Outgassing of liner notes caused cloudy white buildup on some discs; could be removed with alcohol.
- Discs lacking paint over the reflective layer are more susceptible to damage; particularly if stored in slip cases.
I suspect that less-common discs may have invalid information in AccurateRip. (Tip: The number after the Accurate Rip CRC indicates how many other users the rip matched with.)
In order to use either dBpoweramp CD Ripper or Batch Ripper via Remote Desktop, the following group policy must be enabled: Local Computer Policy → Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → System → Removable Storage Access → All Removable Storage: Allow direct access in remote sessions. This setting is detailed in this article from Microsoft.
PerfectTunes Album Art will lump together albums with differing versions specified with parenthesis. For example, “Pearl’s Girl (Tin There)” and “Pearl’s Girl (Carp Dreams…Koi)” will both show up simply as “Pearl’s Girl”. This can make artwork assignment challenging. To work around this I’d name albums something like “Pearl’s GirlTin There)” until artwork is assigned, then change the name afterward.
PerfectTunes ID Tags will occasionally fail to set the Compilation tag when it is the only attribute being edited. Work around this by using Mp3tag and editing the extended tag COMPILATION to 0 or 1.
PerfectTunes Album Art will not always show missing art. Work around this by using Mp3tag with filter %_covers% IS "" to find specific tracks without art assigned.
Mp3tag had issues renaming the artist “Meanwhile, Back In Communist Russia…” due to the ellipses at the end. By replacing the three dots format (…) with precomposed ellipses (…) the issue was resolved.

Cost:

Time: Hard to fully quantify, but overall process took about four weeks of spare time. Most time was spent waiting for the autoloader on initial rips and then manually cleaning up artwork and metadata issues. I was typically able to run 3-4 boxes of discs through the autoloader per day, then spent some lengthy evenings working on tagging and artwork. The use of the autoloader then PerfectTUNES and Mp3tag made the process feel very efficient.
Hardware:
- Acronova Nimbie USB Plus NB21-DVD: $569.00
- USB 3.0 Card: $19.99
- Internal Power Cable: $1.99
- AMD Radeon HD 5450: $31.76
Software:
- dbPoweramp and PerfectTUNES bundle: $58

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Bar End Plugs for Trail’s Edge Moose Mitts

Published January 7, 2016

Trail’s Edge Moose Mitts are a winter cycling accessory that I’d have a hard time living without and something I recommend to all new winter riders†. They are a mountain bike specific version of the pogie, designed to allow one to wear summer time gloves while riding in cold weather.

As I’ve had mine since January 2009, using them every winter, the elastic straps designed to hold the ends of the Moose Mitts to the bars have become a bit stretched. This, coupled with the Ergon GP1 that I use, has required me to position the elastic band between my middle and ring fingers to keep them comfortably in place. This isn’t bad, per se, but isn’t the most comfortable and sometimes requires fiddling around to get it properly secured. I’d prefer an empty bar, so after soliciting advice from friends I threw something together.

Based on a suggestion from Bob Keller and his Relevate Designs pogies I decided to put a small retention device on the end of the bar for holding the elastic. Coupled with a plastic push button spring lock I have something which I think will work out pretty well. Total cost, beyond parts laying around home, was the (overpriced) $3.70 to pick up a pair of locks from Jo-Ann at 8:45pm. (Purchased via Amazon these same locks would have been cheaper for 10x as many… That’s a good demonstration of the cost of convenience…)

These were assembled by taking some cheap road bar plugs and fitting three small washers, one large washer, and a small piece of neoprene under the head of the bolt on the outside of the plug (photo without neoprene). After tightening up the assembly the neoprene was trimmed flush with the edge of the head of the screw (installed photo). Without the neoprene the outer water spun, and I was concerned it’d rattle while riding.

There are effectively two ways to secure the elastic strap to the bar end: tightening the lock against the body of the Moose Mitt, or tightening it against the end of the elastic strap. As shown above I’ll start with the former because this results in a Moose Mitt position most like when I’d have the strap looped around the grip and between my fingers. One downside is that loosening the strap could result in pulling the lock off of the elastic, which’d be hard to fix when out in the cold. If this becomes an issue I’ll address it by fitting a wishbone-shaped piece in the end of the elastic then sewing it shut.

UPDATE: After my first ride with this setup I think it’s great. The bars were more comfortable to hold, and the cord only popped off once; when I was fooling with the Moose Mitt itself while stopped. I’ll likely keep using this setup for a while.

† I believe that Moose Mitts are considerably better than their primary competitor, Bar Mitts. Specifically, Bar Mitts are made of too heavy of a material (neoprene) and are smaller and harder to get in and out of. For most riding here in Southeast Michigan one warms up quickly and thus only moderate insulation and wind blocking is needed to keep hands warm. This is exactly what Moose Mitts provide. I Back in 2009 I paid full price for mine, but they do happen to be made by my buddy Mike Flack and his wife Abby at their shop Trail’s Edge right here in Southeast Michigan… Moose Mitts also now come with cord locks.

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Intertape Polymer Group (IPG) TPP350 as Fat Bike Tubeless Tape on DT Swiss BR 2250 Wheels

Published November 1, 2015

Thanks to a fortuitous meeting with a fellow cyclist and tape engineer a few weeks back I ended up with a quantity of Intertape Polymer Group‘s TPP350 (PDF Techncial Data Sheet – photo) tape in 96mm width (photo) for testing. This polypropylene strapping tape, with rubber adhesive, is exactly the product I’ve been trying to find for use in fat bike tubeless setups. I have very high hopes for this tape, as a narrower and similar tape — IPG competitor Scotch’s Strapping Tape 8898 — has worked fairly well on my Mukluk for the past year. While similar, the narrower 8898 has been a problem for some setups because the width necessitates multiple passes which is hard to seal. For reliable tubeless setups I prefer that the air-holding part of the wheel have as few seams and gaps as possible, and using tape that’s too narrow requires overlapping passes which results in wrinkles and small gaps. These ends of the wrinkles and gaps will get filled with tubeless tire sealant (eg: Stan’s or Orange Seal), but with the side effect of exposing the adhesive to sealant. This in turn weakens the adhesive, resulting in larger gaps which eventually the sealant can’t plug. Thus a leak and a flat tire.

Fat bike rims effectively come in two styles: those with weight-reducing holes cut in them (eg: DT Swiss BR 710, Surly Holy Rolling Darryl, SUNringlé Mulefüt 80SL) and those without (eg: HED Big Deal, Nextie). Hole-less rims are relatively easy to set up tubeless, as only a thin strip of sealing tape is needed to cover the spoke holes inside the rim., but for a hole-y rim an air-tight seal needs to be built up between the tire beads. There are a few ways to accomplish this (eg: split tube, Fatty Stripper, oversized vinyl rim strip), but I prefer a simple, reliable solution that’ll both hold up to repeated tire swaps and allow the locking bead prefer something that’s as simple as possible: a rim strip and full-width tape.

In this case I’m using the stock DT Swiss TRSXXXXS68559S rim strip and 96mm wide TPP350; a very promising configuration. (The DT rim strips are 61g/ea and One wrap of TPP350 on 26″ rims is approximately 20g. Actual tape mass ended up lower, as the tape was trimmed back to the bead seat.)

One of the biggest benefits, but also the biggest downside to this setup, is the width of the tape. Ideally there would be tape that fits exactly within the rim, bead to bead while conforming to the inner shape of the rim, but except for a few cases there isn’t. While a few manufacturers make this available (eg: SUNringlé with a 78mm tape for their 80mm rims) most rims are currently without a solution. Thus, an oversized tape like 96mm TPP350 that can be trimmed to fit is a very good choice. A combination of the lack of stretchyness of the tape and width resulted in wrinkles along the inner rim surface, but as the ends of these wrinkles are outside of the formed air chamber sealant will not be able to leak in and thus are not a concern.

Here are the high-level steps that I used to set up the DT Swiss BR 2250 wheels (based on the BR 710 rim) and Bontrager Barbegazi tires on my Salsa Blackborow. Even without sealant this configuration held air, a testament to the combination of rim, tire, tape, and valve stem. I intend to use this same process and configuration for other test setups, including Specialized Ground Control Fat tires on Stout XC 90 wheels:

Fit rim strip.
Apply tape around entire rim, smoothly along top edge of rim wall, overlapping by a few inches at the valve stem hole.
Press tape down into center of rim. Do not attempt to smooth the tape by wiping along the rim as this will promote large wrinkles.
Fit tire and tube, inflating until bead is seated. This will press the tape into the bead seat with excess tape overhanging the rim.
Deflate tube, but before full deflation is reached, dislodge one bead to allow air in. (If this is not done, the collapsing tube and air-tight nature of the wheel assembly will pull the rim strip and tape away from the rim).
Remove tire and tube.
Using a sharp blade, trim the tape at the junction of the bead seat and sidewall. Be sure that tape remains in the bead seat.
Press tape into place along bead seat to ensure it’s smoothly in place.
Reinstall tire and tube, inflating until bead is seated.
Deflate tube, again dislodging one side before deflation is complete.
Remove tube.
Install tubeless valve assembly.
Re-seat loose tire bead and inflate until bead is seated.
Add sealant (3oz) via valve stem and reinflate tire. Shake wheel to distribute sealant.

Due to the thin rim wall the cone-shaped gasket on the NoTubes Valves cannot be sufficiently tightened with just the provided locknut. This can lead to leaking, an issue which I experienced on my Mukluk with SUNringlé Mulefüt 80SL rims. This is easily fixed by adding a rubber washer inside the rim beneath the cone-shaped valve (photo) and a nylon spacer to the outside beneath the lock nut (photo). Specifically, I used a 1/4″ interior diameter rubber and nylon washers purchased from Lowe’s small parts bin, although any similar parts will work. Another style of tubeless valve, such as those from American Classic will not need the rubber washer inside the rim.

After a few hours of semi-hard riding at Potawatomi (fast, flowing, and occasionally rough Southeast Michigan trails) I’m confident in this setup and cannot think of a better existing product for making different kinds of fat bike wheels tubeless. It allowed for the usual tubeless benefits (reduced weight, increased tire compliance) on a solid, air-tight setup. I expect it to continue reliably as a solid tubeless setup throughout the winter; a time when I definitely don’t want to be stuck with a flat. I really hope it becomes widely available, as there are many fat bike riders who’d love access to tape like this.

Here are my pro/con thoughts on using IPG TPP350 tape for fat bike tubeless setups:

Pros:

Tape made by a commercial manufacturer. (Although not yet available for order at this width in small quantities…)
Wide width should accommodate most rim sizes with a single pass, meaning minimal inner seams and lower weight. Wrinkles are a non-issue.
Tape film and adhesive types (polypropylene film and rubber-based adhesive) are well-tested within tubeless bicycle applications.
Adhesive firmly holds tape to both rim and rim strip, yet is removable.

Cons:

Wide tape width is challenging to handle.
Tape width and elasticity prevents wrinkle-free application around rim. (Additional material adds weight, may be unattractive if wrinkles are visible through rim strip.)
Trimming excess tape is inconvenient and potentially error-prone.
Rim strip required to prevent tape from stretching through cutouts. (Adds weight.)

The result is that I’m quite happy with TPP350 and would recommend it to others for fat bike tubeless use. I’ll soon be trying this out on some other rims.

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New Fat Bike: 2016 Salsa Blackborow

Published October 24, 2015

Four years ago my fried Erick dropped off a very large box at my house. My first fat bike, a brand new Salsa Mukluk 2, had arrived. This was one of the first large-scale production fatbikes, and one of the first to be light weight out of the box, and I’ve had some very good times with it in all seasons. This year, with huge thanks to QBP, Tree Fort Bikes, Jeff Buerman, and Mike Wirth, I’ve acquired and built a custom 2016 Salsa Blackborow; my next fat bike. This is an aluminum framed, carbon fiber forked fatbike, using Salsa’s great geometry, ready to accept 5″ class tires.

I had originally planned to set this bike up tubeless, but after some issues with the original tubeless setup I build it up with Superlight tubes. I hope to replace this with a tubeless setup sometime in the near future, but I’m still evaluating potential rim sealing options. These may be the FattyStripper latex rim strips or possibly some wide tensilized polypropylene strapping tape (similar to Stan’s Rim Tape).

With tubes the complete bike, including bottle cages, bell, rear light, and Garmin Edge 510, is 29.46 pounds. With the tubes coming in at ~240g/ea I expect to save just under a pound by switching to tubeless. I’m quite happy with this weight, which is quite decent for a burly bike with 4.7″ tires.

My first shakedown ride on the Blackborow at River Bends (my usual bike shakedown location) went really well. There were the usual stops to adjust the grips and brakes, but otherwise I was very happy with the ride. The GX 1×11 drivetrain worked wonderfully, the high engagement rear hub felt spot-on, and I’m convinced that Salsa has gotten the geometry perfect. The only downside was the heavier-feeling wheels, but the forthcoming tubeless conversion should alleviate much of this.

I can’t wait to ride it more.

More photos of the bike can be found here: 2016 Salsa Blackborow

Here’s the details initial build for this bike:

Frame / Fork: 2016 Salsa Blackborow Frame (Medium) / Bearpaw Carbon/Aluminum Fork
Wheelset: DT Swiss BR 2250 Classic
Freehub Ratchets: Bontrager HUB51312614R (54-point for DT Swiss)
Summer Tires: Bontrager Barbegazi (26″ x 4.7″)
Winter Tires: 45NRTH Flowbeist / Dunderbeist
Rim Strip: DT Swiss TRSXXXXS68559S (68×559)
Tubes: Q-Tubes Superlight 26″ x 2.4-2.75″
Brakes: TRP Spyke (180mm front, 160mm rear)
Front Brake Spacer: Shimano SM-MA90-F180P/P2
Brake Levers: Avid FR-5 (Black)
Brake Lever Insulation: 18mm 3:1 Heat Shrink (Generic)
Handlebar: Salsa Bend 2 (23 Degree)
Grips: Ergon GP1 (Large)
Headset: Cane Creek 40 Tapered ZS44|ZS56/40
Stem: Thomson X4 (SM-E133 BLACK, 0x100)
Spacers: Aluminum (Generic)
Stem Cap: Niner YAWYD
Seatpost: Thomson Elite (SP-E116 BLACK, 31.6 x 410)
Seatpost Clamp: Salsa Lip Lock
Saddle: Specialized Phenom Expert (143mm)
Crankset: Race Face Turbine Cinch (175mm x 190mm), ICT Spacer Kit, Alloy Crank Boots
Bottom Bracket: Race Face BB92 (124mm x 41mm)
Pedals: Crank Brothers Eggbeater 3 (Black/Green)
Chainring: Race Face Direct Mount Narrow-Wide (30t)
Cassette: SRAM XG-1150 FULL PIN Cassette
Derailleur: SRAM GX 1×11 X-HORIZON Rear Derailleur
Shifter: SRAM GX 11-speed X-ACTUATION Trigger Shifter
Chain: SRAM PC-X1
Cables/Housing: Jagwire
Chainslap Protection: Scotch 2228 Rubber Mastic Tape
Bottle Cages: King Cage Stainless Steel Cage
Rear Light: Planet Bike Superflash Stealth
Bell: Mirrycle Original Incredibell
Sensors: Garmin Bike Speed Sensor (Hub Mount)

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Cut Hockey Pucks as Pinch Weld Protectors

Published September 29, 2015

After lifting a car via pinch weld, hearing a pop, and seeing it bend slightly I became nervous about setting a jack stands using them without any additional support. Thanks to the magic of the internet I got this idea from a car forum: cheap hockey pucks ($1.99/ea at DICK’s) with slots cut in them. The pinch weld is placed in the slot and the jack stand supports the heavy rubber puck which braces the frame rail.

These were cut by laying a 1cm strip of masking tape on the top of each puck, making a vertical cut with a hacksaw, then an angled cut to meet the vertical. The wedge of rubber was then encouraged out of the slot with a flat blade screwdriver and cleaned up as needed. Fairly simple and only about 20 minutes of work after acquiring the pucks.

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Tyvek Tape for Fat Bike Tubeless

Published September 19, 2015

On recommendation from my friend Roger, who is also building up a new fat bike, I decided to try some using some seam sealing tape designed for Tyvek installations as rim tape (MSDS). This is commonly known as “Tyvek Tape”, even though it isn’t actually made of Tyvek. It is actually a somewhat stretchy polypropylene tape with acrylic adhesive. At $11.98/roll it’s not exactly cheap, but with 50m of tape in a single roll there’s enough to do numerous wheelsets.

I’d intended to use Scotch 8898 tape for tubeless, but after looking at the Tyvek Tape I decided to give it a try and thus far I’m glad I did. On the DT Swiss BR 2250 wheels I first installed the DT Swiss Rim Strip, centering it between the locking bead seats (photo). I then laid one strip of tape with the edge in the bead seat, butted up against the vertical side of the rim. This was smoothed against the Rim Strip and a second piece was applied to the other side. After most of the wrinkles were smoothed I laid a third strip of tape down the center to cover any center wrinkles, pulling it taught as one normally does when installing any rim tape. This was smoothed into place with a rag and taping was considered complete (photo).

To ensure the tape was well bonded I then fitted a tire and tube, inflated to 20 PSI, and set the whole assembly in the sun to warm up and soften the adhesive. After 30 minutes or so I took the wheel out of the sun and set it in the basement to cool back down. Once cool I deflated the tube, unseated the tire from one side of the rim, and removed the tube. A Stan’s valve was then fitted into the rim, a plastic washer placed on the outside below the locknut, and everything tightened up. The valve core was removed and an air compressor and custom chuck was used to seat the tire. Four ounces of Stan’s Sealant was injected into the wheel via a syringe, the wheel closed up and reinflated, and the sealant shaken around the wheel.

The tape provided a nice, smooth surface for the tire bead to slide across, and after a few days the wheels (fitted with Panaracer Fat B Nimble 26 x 4.0 tires) are nicely holding air. This tape seems like a great, light-weight product for using on fat bike wheels. I’m glad I gave it a go, as the thinner, stretchy tape seems much easier to apply than the Scotch 8898. It seems to make a great seal and hold well, and was pretty easy to install.

I inadvertently ended up with a couple small puckers along the rim tape on the rear wheel, but I think this was due to either sticking the Tyvek tape to the rim tape with too much force, or possibly deflating the tubed wheel while still warm. I don’t believe I can correct it without completely removing the rim tape, so I’ll have to live with it.

UPDATE on 2015-Sep-22: Over the past few days the rear wheel — the one with the small puckers — lost all pressure. The root of the problem turned out to be adhesive used on the Tyvek tape. The acrylic adhesive is a bit gummy and softens with a bit of heat. My process of installing a tube, deflating the tube, then unseating half of the tire dislodges the tape leading to the puckering — which was a symptom of dislodged tape — and thus leaking. Using some tweezers I can unfold and put the tape back in the bead seat which allows a tubeless setup to hold, but this setup feels fragile. I think the combination of thin tape, soft adhesive, and very wide rim strip (resulting in not much adhesive being on the rim) allow this to happen.

While the wheels are currently holding 20 PSI reliably, I’m concerned about what may happen to the tape in hot weather or as regular tire maintenance needs to occur. I suspect that I may have to switch to a different tape some time down the line, maybe the rubber adhesive Scotch 8898. Doing this will be a pain, because of how solidly the acrylic adhesive sticks to the rim and rim strip… At this point I may have to get some new rim strips.

UPDATE on 2015-Sep-29: I’ve decided to move away from the Tyvek tape. The rear wheel deflated over the next few days in the same failure mode, and both of my friend Rodger’s wheels went flat when taken out in the sun. When disassembling and cleaning the wheel set I found the front beginning to suffer from the same issue, so it was only a matter of time before the tape became dislodged there and failed.

Because of the tenacity of the Tyvek adhesive I purchased another set of rim strips from eBay and cut the current ones. The rims were cleaned up with mineral spirits and set to dry. In a few days I’ll be trying them again with new strips and Scotch 8898. If that fails I’ll be trying FattyStripper Tubeless Solutions trim-to-fit latex rim strips.

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Fat Bike Capacity: 1 + 1

Published August 29, 2015

Lately I’ve had a need to carry two fat bikes on my well-loved 1Up USA Quick Rack, so I ordered a second Fat Tire Spacer Kit. Price has gone up from $29 to $34 and the style has changed, but it still seems like the best external rack available for carrying a fat bike. The original, which adds Delrin spacers can be seen on the left, and the new style which uses wider angled bits for the tire is on the right.

At 122mm (4.8″) the new spacer kit is slightly wider than the previous’ 114.5mm (4.5″). I’m planning to build a new fat bike with 5″-class tires, but with the knobs of the 45NRTH Flowbeist and Dunderbeist — the winter tires intended for the new bike — measuring 110mm on an 82mm rim I should be good. Hopefully the 4.8″ Schwalbe Jumbo Jim also fits, as I’m likely using those for summer… If the 122mm-width arms are needed for the new bike I’ll likely move the spacer kit or trays around, but hopefully that won’t be needed.

When installing these I also took my friend Rodney’s recommendation and fitted some cut-down bicycle grips to the spacers on both trays. The original design leaves narrow silicone bands in place, but these don’t span the full width of the Fat Tire spacers and the rack can end up making a slight rattling sound. The original foam grips from the Mukluk 2 were a perfect fit for this.

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Butter in Coffee‽

Published May 20, 2015

Initially upon hearing about the bulletproof coffee idea, where butter (or another medium-chain triglycerides oil) is used in coffee as a sort-of healthy breakfast I found the idea revolting. I’d pictured a cup of coffee with globs of oil floating on the top, sticking to one’s upper lip while drinking. Still, it had me curious… Since I’ll regularly have coffee with half & half (half cream) or heavy cream, and butter isn’t much different from heavy cream (just less water and whey), I figured I’d give it a try.

This morning I brewed coffee like normal, added a tablespoon of unsalted butter, then processed it with a stick blender. The result? Decent. It’s very much like coffee with half and half, but with a less sweet taste to it. It’s still rich and soft tasting, but not as dessert-like. A very fine, almost-creamy foam was left on the top, but tilting the glass to drink agitated it, caused the bubbles to burst, resulting in a soda-like fizzing feeling on my upper lip. Nothing bad, but I could tell little droplets were coming off the top of the beverage.

I strongly suspect that, besides the whey and a bit of lactose (I’m not sure how much of this goes with the buttermilk vs. stays with the fat) the only difference between this and simply using heavy cream is who does the homogenization. Combined with a banana eaten a bit later while walking into work I feel plenty satisfied breakfast-wise, but no different than after having regular coffee + cream.

Next I think I’ll try this along with one of the other popular coffee blend-ins: coconut oil. I’m not particularly fond of the smell of coconut oil itself (it reminds me of sunscreen), but coffee and coconut can work well together, so I’ll give it a go. I can’t see myself doing this very often, though, as it makes for more dishes and takes more time than simply adding liquid dairy from a container. It was nice to try, and the taste / texture is much better than I thought I would be.

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2015 Subaru Outback GPS Mount Prototype

Published May 4, 2015

I recently acquired a new car, a 2015 Subaru Outback 2.5 Premium, but it didn’t have a GPS/moving map in it. Since this is something that I’m very fond of, I picked up a Garmin nüvi 68LM and have been working on a nice way to mount it in the vehicle.

This evening I set to work with some Delrin scraps and a band saw and made these small adapters for the center console. They allow the GPS to set in a small closable glove compartment, but pivot forward so the space behind it can be accessed. With the addition of two more rubber bumpers on the back side of the GPS unit it sits fairly well inside of the compartment, and a power outlet directly behind the unit makes for a very clean look.

I’m not completely happy with the fit of these, but they are better than the balancing act I was using before and are a good prototype. After using this for a couple of weeks I’ll probably refine the idea, but I’m pretty happy with the result after a few hours of work this evening.

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Road Tubeless Sealing Issue: Narrow Tape

Published April 14, 2015

I had to throw out six ounces of fresh Stan’s, but at least I identified the most-likely cause of my road tubeless issues: the rim tape. For some new wheels that I’m building for the Vaya, 1/2″ tensilized polypropylene strapping tape (McMaster-Carr part number 7637a31), which seems to be the same as Stan’s NoTubes 12mm tape, was chosen for sealing the rim. This width covers the spoke holes, but after being pumped up to 70 PSI it seems to have leaked as the tape stretched.

The photo above shows where the tape slightly puckered and allowed air (and sealant) out when under high pressure.

The proposed solution for this issue is a double-layer of tape, partially off set side to side, to both make the area over the spoke holes thicker and have more tape stuck to the inner wall of the rim (photo). I would have used a wider tape, but the next size up is 21mm, and this doesn’t sit nicely in the U channel in the center of the rim (cross section).

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