Back in action again. This time, we’re starting from the ground up. The most time consuming portion to this bicycle build is the wheels. And when I mean wheels, i mean lacing and truing wheels so that it’ll last you a good 50,000 miles of riding. For this wheel build, we decided to lace a wheel with techonology and style. We decided to go with a Nuvinici n360 gearless drivetrain w/black spokes, silver nipples and a Origin 8 “track attack” wheel in anodized in red. Bad ass. In building a bicycle wheel there are 3 main areas of focus: lacing, tensioning and truing. This first part will be the lacing section.

The Nuvinici n360 hub is the newest hub developed by Nuvinici. It’s technology will have any cyclist turnin’ heads. It’s a seamless shifting experience; no noise from gear shifting and is magical if you ask us. The Nuvinici n360 is compared to a 24 speed gearing system by today’s gearing standards. You’re probably wondering how it works, but thanks god theres a youtube video explaining this. It’s very impressive and I recommend anyone with the whole mechanic gearing to switch over. Guranteed to last you 10+ years of riding. This gearings system is nasty. It uses balls. In different sizes too. Peep the vid Dee YO.

Hope you understood the technology explaination. On to lacing. Now this is an artform. Whoever said that lacing bicycle wheels was easy, must have been doing it for 20+ years because it take patience. With the hub we decided to go with a 36 hole / spoke configuration, 3 cross pattern. We wanted a really durable setup and having the deep profiled rims from Origin 8 will help solidify that idea. We are no experts in wheelbuilding, but with the guidance from Sam at Hello Bicycle, we’re striving to become wheelbuilding champs. Wheelbuilding Pros like Sam, can build a wheel in an hour/hour and half tops. For us on the other hand, not so much. From what Sam told us, “uhhhhhhhhhhh yeah, it’s gonna take you guys sometime. Actually you’ll be come one with the wheelbuilding and you’re gonna have a good relationship soon.” This wheel we’re building is a 36 spoke wheel, not to mention this is a custom wheel build and hasn’t been seen before, namsayin. That’s how we do Nuvinici n360 + Origin 8 Track Attack wheel = A real bitchin’ ass wheel build. So lacing….. here we go!

Sorry for the blurry photos. My hand was too excited from all the lacing action. Now that the lacing is finished to this rear wheel, spokes will go through a uniform spoke depth which means all the the nipples will be turned until 1 visble thread on each spoke is visible. This will be the starting point before we begin tensioning and truing.

Next up, is the truing stand, but we’ll save that for the next post. Stay tuned, Namsayin! This build is well on its way. Be sure to follow us on twitter.com/namsayin. ACTION!

Part two of the tear down starts off with the bottom bracket and did we find something pretty interesting.

Time to go play Oregon Trail: the live version.

Now that we have the bicycle bare and ready, it’s time to build some wheels. Stay tuned for another post this week. The build it definitely on its way. Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Cycling action! FACK!

The other night, we (Al-Michael, Terry and I) went to Hello Bicycle to begin the build process. Over the next couple of days, we’ll be documenting the build of this “smasher” worthy bicycle. This being my brother’s first time dealing with a build, we decided that it’s necessary for “cred” purposes that he put in the wrench time. Namsayin. Ladies don’t faint at the muscle poses and positions that Al-Michael is displaying.

The tear-down. Now it might seem pretty simple and straight forward, but if you’ dont know what you’re doing you can spend alot of time picking your butt and scratching your head. Sam is the head technican at Hello Bicycle and Al-Michael is we’ll gonna be putting the work.

The process is pretty straight forward. We want to be able to get to the frame in bare-naked, “look-ma” no parts, form. First up we unloosen the nuts both front and rear wheels. Ladies, there’s muscle involved in these photos, so please, don’t faint.

After the rear wheel has been removed from the chain and the rear fork, time to move forward towars the front.

Removing the two bolts that hold the wheel to the front fork is simple. On to the next and that is the chain. Not alot of people know about removing chains, but there are two types of chains; a solid-link chain and one with beginning and end links. The chain that is on the single-speed is a solid link chain and will require a special tool to press the rod out of the link holes.

Now that the chain has been removed, time for the sprocket / crankset to be removed. This also requires a special tool. Tool in hand, Al-Michael is going to get down and dirtay! When we start to put the bike together, we’ll go into an in-depth explaination of the tools used and how to fit, tightening and tune the bike to insure quality fitment and secure each part in its proper places.

Now with the crankset off, next up is the bottom bracket, but will save that explaination for tomorrow. Stay tuned! Namsayin! It’s going!

Those that follow us here on Namsayin should know what we love. Actually, theres alot of things we love; texaco treats, riding bicycles, fixing cars, talking about designs, new gadgets, what color paint you used to paint your garage, stuff like that, but for right now, let’s talk about the bike game. Namsayin is gearing up (literally for our winter) for the 2012 and we’ll begin a little early by introducing to you HELLO BICYCLE. Last night, we spent the evening talking about how bicycles has become ultra relevant to metropalisssssses around the globe. SF, NY, LA Tokyo, Paris, Munich and the list goes on; all have huge following when it comes to the cycling world. Which brings us to the 206. Here in Seattle, you can find bike lanes everywhere! So much that our mayor is spending 700k a year just putting bike lanes into effect. So you can see, cycling is a movement by itself, but it’s becoming a force when they’re together.

The cycling game is one thing that Terry and I have been doing as of the last 3 years. While being in LA we’ve seen this culture grow from a handful of riders to a bicycle block bregade comprised of mainly fixed gear riders. So with Namsayin, I’ve seen an opportunity for us to team up with a local bicycle shop, build a dope ass bicycle (bicycles in the future as well) and collaborate on a build that still embraces the Namsayin Lifestyle. Our parts selection is definitely on point. What we will be building is a 9 speed, gearless road bike with style and grace. This will be an on-going post and we will be documenting every bit and piece of the build in the weeks to come.

The base for our build is Michelle Joli;”the conditioner,” the single speed, french Carbo-lite frenchie I purchased in L.A. in 2009. Since the move back to Seattle, I opt-d for a fixie and have blessed my brother with this bike and the opportunity has now come in full circle as he would like to revamp the road bike to his liking. Time to build it into an amazing bicycle. Stay tuned; we’re about to make you hip with it, Namsayin! FACK! =)