SILCA acquires Hirobel - Ask me anything

[joshatsilca]

Today we officially announced and have begun shipping the updated Hirobel repair stand clamp and Gear Wipes from SILCA's Indianapolis Facility.

I started designing a modern repair stand clamp to better work with carbon frames 4 years ago after learning from an engineer with one of the big bike brands just how many broken frames they deal with annually with this problem. Then I saw the Hirobel at the Wiggins hour record and knew they had a better idea!

Anyway, it's been a long time coming, but we were able to get a deal together and I'm super excited to bring SILCA manufacturing and engineering to this product line!

Please let me know what questions you have and I'll try to answer them.
You can read the whole story HERE

Josh

[vincenz]

How is this product better than clamping on a seatpost?

If we want to remove all possibility of damage to the frame, why continue to apply any pressure at all on the frame, independent of the method used of holding the frame?

Why not then design a product like what team mechanics use when washing bikes?

[Mikej]

Cool idea - I'm going to have to waste some work resources and get the ball rolling on a DIY!

Changed my mind, the bike swing back and forth.

[dem]

I splurged on a Hirobel a while ago, and it is awesome for quick maintenance jobs and basically doing whatever. Properly clamped, it doesn't move around much.

I never touched my "sprint stand' again, and ended up selling it off. Frankly the Hirobel never leaves my work stand, I just leave it clamped and attached.

The only downer is the price. Once the patent expires, I'd expect them to be sub-$99 and really take off.

[MattTuck]

Not so much a question for Silca, but why wasn't "compatible with typical work stands" one of the design requirements when people started making carbon frames?

[bicycletricycle]

The fragile carbon frame and seat post is a tricky issue these days when it comes to the work stand. This seems like a pretty good solution. I just hook the nose of my saddle on the park stand these days for almost all of my repairs but this does not work well for building a frame from scratch.

[joshatsilca]

Originally Posted by vincenz

How is this product better than clamping on a seatpost?

If we want to remove all possibility of damage to the frame, why continue to apply any pressure at all on the frame, independent of the method used of holding the frame?

Why not then design a product like what team mechanics use when washing bikes?

If your seat post is round, then this is fine, but anymore, most modern bikes are going away from round posts for reasons of either aero or compliance... also the bike brands are increasingly designing custom seat masts or posts which are not going to be designed for generic clamping loads.. We already see this with Trek, Felt and Scott, where seat posts or seat masts are no longer round AND are thinner walled than a traditional seat post to improve compliance.

The 'pro' stands that the euro mechanics use are not their preferred solution for working on bikes but are rather required by the frame manufacturers as they are not allowed to use clamping type stands on the bikes. These stands are nice for washing, but painful for many types of maintenance, and are especially hated now that disc brakes and through axles are becoming the norm and the mechanics have to remove and replace front wheels over and over...

The Hirobel is already in use within the R&D labs at Trek, Specialized, Felt and Pinarello, it is a proven safe way of holding frames for even the most severe work such as pounding out frozen headset races and BB cups.

This particular bike even has it's own custom Hirobel clamp (which is the first place I ever saw one of these in action..)

[joshatsilca]

Originally Posted by MattTuck

Not so much a question for Silca, but why wasn't "compatible with typical work stands" one of the design requirements when people started making carbon frames?

Matt, remember that the repair stand clamp was designed 40 years ago for round steel tubing which was 1 to 1 1/8" outer diameter and had some robust wall thickness.. then came aluminum, and clamps were notorious for crushing early Klein and Cannondale frames in the 90's... then carbon happened, but it was round tubed for a while.. and for even longer, we had traditional seat posts so you could either clamp the seat post or use the Park seat post thing.. until bikes got light enough that the compression wedge on that tool started blowing through the seat tubes..

Now we are in a place where our demands on the bikes are pretty severe, we want them to be lighter, more comfortable, stiffer, etc.. and we can do this with carbon, but in many cases the designers are then adding back material to try and mitigate damage from work stands.. so in a way the work stand has become a limiting factor for moving frame design forward. This is why the Wiggins Pinarello hour record bike just had it's own Hirobel from the start, it meant that the designers never had to even consider or worry about this type of damage during the development.

Oh, and MikeJ it grips multiple tubes in a way that it doesn't swing.

[KonaSS]

All of this makes sense to me as a backwards compatible solution for those that already own a traditional clamp type workstand.

The question is, why isn't anyone building a workstand that addresses the issue directly - something that doesn't require me to buy an adapter.

Will Silca use the Hirobel solution and build a workstand around it?

[pdmtong]

Originally Posted by KonaSS

All of this makes sense to me as a backwards compatible solution for those that already own a traditional clamp type workstand. The question is, why isn't anyone building a workstand that addresses the issue directly - something that doesn't require me to buy an adapter. Will Silca use the Hirobel solution and build a workstand around it?

Are you saying just integrate the Hirobel into the stand? do away with the clamp period? Hmmmm I like that too. Lets ask Josh at NAHBS....

[elliott]

Do you recommend the Park HBH-2 or a toe strap around the downtube/front wheel to prevent the front end from moving around while taping handlebars?

[R3awak3n]

Originally Posted by KonaSS

All of this makes sense to me as a backwards compatible solution for those that already own a traditional clamp type workstand.

The question is, why isn't anyone building a workstand that addresses the issue directly - something that doesn't require me to buy an adapter.

Will Silca use the Hirobel solution and build a workstand around it?

they have...

something like this...





Its excellent too.

[joshatsilca]

Originally Posted by R3awak3n

they have...

something like this...





Its excellent too.

AHHH YES.. the days when we all had pre-built steel bikes with headsets installed, steerer tubes cut and 100mm QR's with rim brakes.. Loved those days, seriously.. loved them a lot, but that stand works for cleaning bikes and basic shifting adjustments. Again, this type of stand is fine even for pro mechanics cleaning bikes all day every day, but is not a be-all end-all in terms of bike assembly, building, front disc brake work, non standard dropouts, etc..

This type of fork mount stand is exactly what the mechanics have been forced into using for now but there are issues.. what happens when you want to run DI2 through the BB and turn the bike upside down? What about adjusting front disc calipers and rotors? What about TT bikes with under BB brakes? In the end, the professional needs more than 1 option but there will certainly be multiple different options for the home mechanic based on level of requirement.

[pdmtong]

josh, thanks for posting here and chapeau for all that you have done to move silca forward.

I remember when the original made waves - what if anything have you changed/improved for the silca version? (like when Thule bought sportworks, this is a chance for improvement and greater availability)

[FriarQuade]

Originally Posted by joshatsilca

This type of fork mount stand is exactly what the mechanics have been forced into using for now but there are issues.. what happens when you want to run DI2 through the BB and turn the bike upside down? What about adjusting front disc calipers and rotors? What about TT bikes with under BB brakes? In the end, the professional needs more than 1 option but there will certainly be multiple different options for the home mechanic based on level of requirement.

As someone that spent a decade turning wrenches for pro road teams near and far, these are the preferred stands. They aren't forced on anyone but are the choice mechanics have made because they are better for the unique tasks of a race mechanic. Which is mostly washing bikes and bolt checks.