Spence was an innovator all we local mechanics copied his good ideas and learned from him. The brake booster was manufactured by someone else and I regularly used them on the bikes I built. If he originated the idea I sure that like his friend Phil Wood he didn't believe in patents (He's the one that convinced Phil to market his hub and invested much of the cash for the new venture). He was the our local master and our mentor. His garage shop on Randy Lane was a regular stop on our way home from training. I still have a rear wheel but on a one off phil hub that Spence built for me shortly before his premature death to destroy. To test his empirical knowledge of dish, flange placement spoke tension, rim design. As expected I did knock out of true. I trued it up, tied and soldered it (a skill from Spence) and it now lives in the shop as my 130 mm true wheel. Terence Shaw Santa Clara, California
Original Message: ----------------- From: carb7008@cs.com Date: Mon, 7 Dec 2009 21:52:53 -0500 To: velorosso@flash.net, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: Re: [CR] Spence Wolfe Bikes
Thanks John for the Spence Wolfe feature tip of Mafac Competitions with stiffener. I have one Mafac Racer in my spares that has a stiffener installed and wondered what the heck it was. It consists of an eigth-inch thick aluminum plate, half-inch wide and shaped in an arch spanning the arms and fastened with ugly allen bolts in place of Mafac's chromed hex-head pivot bolts. I wonder if this was an attempt to quell Mafac squeeling or will different pads cure this as well?
I'd like to emphasize by paraphrasing Jerry, that many, if not most, of Spence Wolfe's modifications weren't necessarily exclusive and were common custom touches available from the "better" shops.
Anyway, thanks to all the responses from list-members in regard to my query.
Jack Romans Sacramento, California _______________________________________________
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