Episode 6 of The BMX Commentator Podcast saw a first in person conversation rather than the usual online chat. A quick trip up the A49 to Chorley and a sit down in the living room of @theseatpostman John Lee, former Torker and Raleigh factory rider in the 1980's.
Nowadays John has a thriving business specialising in removal of stuck seatposts from high end frames (yes, that's a real money making business) John's an engineer at heart and LOVES making stuff better, or better still...making new stuff.
John covers his foray into making two speed set ups for an S&M Steel Panther, the reason why he thinks they should be on a BMX bike, what your gearing should look like and why your chainring isn't actually round.
Yes, you read that correctly...your chainring isn't round. It's something else entirely.
He also gives his take on the Mateo Colsonet French multi-speed set up and how it works. There's a few theories knocking around, and John's is probably the best I've heard.
Lastly, John gives his one pearl of wisdom of how you can make your bike more efficient. You'll smack yourself in the head when you hear it...it's that simple. Yet I've never heard a factory dad talk about it in the same way they talk about carbon bike jewellery, it's nowhere near as sexy!
All this comes with a side helping of Japanese chain encyclopedia and drag co-efficiency measurement.
Dig in and enjoy!!
Please note I didn't have access to my usual audio set up and the quality isn't as good as it normally is. The podcast is a work in progress, and improvements will be incoming in as we go along.
