Straitline Components
Today Soul-Riders.com teamed up with Greg from Straitline Components for an in depth look into their precision company.
Many cycling companies might claim to be ‘precision this’ & ‘precision that’ but I doubt any can maintain it as much as Straitline Components can with what they have achieved over the past 12 years in Precision Engineering. With their very own hearts in the right place, now Straitline Components have entered the cycling industry fuelled with passion for riding.
Starting out as Straightline Precision Industry’s, a firm which started 12 years ago over in Sidney BC, Canada. A small team of only 8 people working in a specialized factory catering for the precision end of the machining industry, can proudly say that they have had some of there very own work on Mars & even 8000 metres under the ocean.
They wanted to do something different, a side project that they would have total control over and it would all be all in the name of fun! They were all keen riders at the time and always wondered why they spent money on particular components for their bikes so they decided they wanted to begin a project on the side. So they dropped the “gh” out of Straightline Precision Industries and called themselves Straitline Components all because they live by the Strait of Georgia separating them from the north shore and Vancouver. So it’s these same designers & engineers who use the same machines & software with over a decade of experience now bring you with the opportunity of owning your very own Precision component on your bike today. So when its time to say Straitline Components at the firm, it’s play time for them and is time to bend the rules!
Using the best in over 3 million dollars in CNC technology, equipment & software which however most have never used in the cycling industry, Straitline decided to come out with a line up of products showing us what you can exactly make with today’s technology.
Straitline Components were officially launched at the beginning of 2007 after opening their doors to the public at Interbike in 2006 with a line up only anyone could dream of but in reality a line up that even the average rider could afford.
The products offer you more than just a new part for your bike, they provide you with the best opportunity to buy the best possible product on the market. The cool thing about owning a Straitline Component is that every single (every aspect except the anodizing) item is made in house at their local firm in Sidney using some of the best technology & machines in the world.
PRODUCTS
So what product does Straitline offer, well where do I start? Each & every product is designed & machined with one word in mind; Precision. And that’s exactly what you get. Every owner of a Straitline Component also gets the opportunity to pick from a range of colours so they will look good on every bike out there.
If you had ever heard of Straitline, you probably have heard about their Upgrade Levers. I have been running a set on my downhill bike for a while and beside the instant ‘wow’ factor, they are incredibly comfortable as well. Straitline teamed up with some Arthritis doctors (rheumatologists) who had a concept. They researched this basically because when you are forced to curl the end of your finger over the edge of a modern lever blade, you activate numerous extra tendons in the forearm. Try it one some other items, it’s true. So after several meeting with doctors they decided to design a lever to simply feel natural.
“Natural & simple! This gives us a paddle feel to the finger with a slight edge radius that prevents you from activating tendons creating that burn. These are designed to feel like your finger” Said Greg
They call these “their other babies” and it’s their pedals. They are basicly purely amazing, huge pinned platform which are grippy as anything meaning you should never drop a foot unintentionally. They designed them to a proper contour of your foot, simple hey? They made the Mas as wide as the contact point of your foot explaining the sudden orrrh yeah! You get the 56 pin placement option with 14 per side so each individual rider no matter what style of riding you do, you have the option. The flanged polymer bushing system us self lubricating so it can be run dry & they are light, simple, smooth & proven!
“Our flanged bushing was devised by Mercedes Benz for their brake pedals but Igus is working closely with us to develop new compounds for a few things down the pipeline” said Greg.
People tend to forget how important Bar End Caps are for safety & now over here in Australia with them being a compulsory standard for racing why not bling up your cockpit.
“Well nothing to say other than that they are custom bling!” Said Greg
Straitlines new Vertical Wedge Clamp style has set a whole new standard. It’s a wedge which offers a 8 to one power ratio. A simple way to explain style is comparing it to when you slide a wedge under a door and how the two fuse together. This is effectively how the system works except they use a very slight 8 degree angle on the wedge which allows it to slide down the front of the steerer tube with ease. This system offers no chance of over clamping & damaging your steerer tube as they have this covered when they designed it to bottom out on a platform at maximum clamping force.
“The end result is that the wedge is now fused tightly between the body of the stem and the steer tube giving it a full 360 degrees of contact. It basically becomes self fused but the bolts are to remain inside for safety of course.”
After all the parts used to make this stem work & work well, it still comes in at only 224 grams!
The threads are even designed to outlast the bolts so they “roll formed” all the threads instead of tapping them where you end up cutting into the grain to create a thread. How they do this is go inside with a special tool and flex a thread into the grain keeping it intact & stronger. “If you really want to try it, put a stem in a vice and get a power tool out and try to strip any threads in the stem. The bolts will sheer off first.” Said Greg
Straitline also make other components such as barrel nuts, inner plates, bash rings & an external bottom bracket remover so check out the Straitline website for more details on those unique components.
Q&A
SR: Why & when did you decide to begin a side project?
SC: Truth be told we barley survived the DOT-COM bust when we were doing heavy work for fiber optics and various firms. They all went bust over night leaving us with few clients and a tight income reduced to knocking on doors to drum up work, sucked. So we wanted to never be in that situation again and being dependant on someone else’s success is a scary thought. That’s when we started Straitline as a simple side project 1.5 years ago with a simple goal but it kinda blew up taking us into 22 countries so sink or swim.
We are all still in awe of it all, it feels good though.
SR: What stands you apart from your competitors in the bicycle industry?
SC: Beside pissing excellence I guess the fact that we are the real deal precision firm. Some people use that term for marketing purposes but we have invested in it for years. If you claim it Back it up I guess! We are too small to be ISO 9000 but most of our clients are and come to us because we can do the job and hold tolerances down to 1/20th of a human hair if need be.
I think if you are surrounded with pressure to succeed you will behave and act differently than the guy who has nothing to loose. I think we’ve had the benefit of developing a business over a decade allowing us to start a side project like this and have fun. This lack of pressure helps keep our feet on the ground and not rush into the hype game. Although we are number one!
SR: Are you amazed with how well the public have taken Straitline only into you second year in the cycling industry?
SC: Ya kinda freaky really but on the other hand it is really cool to see what you worked so hard on being shown in the magazines you used to read. Really odd to go from following riders like Jeff Lenosky to have him call you up wanting to ride your gear. I remember asking if he was the real Lenosky, he assured me he was and that he puts his pants on one leg at a time too. But we all know he backflips off his bed.
Surprisingly we have had lots of competitors that have helped out, only one panicked when we came on the scene. So big props to everyone who took my phone calls answered my dumb questions and held my hand. Just like riding we want someone to go bigger than us then we have a reason to step it up a notch.
SR: Some people out there might be a little confused to what exactly a CNC’d Machine is, for some of the people out there who may not be aware of what it does, could you briefly explain the steps it takes to make a Straitline Product?
SC: I think the best way to explain it is that CNC first of all stands for Computer Numeric Control and it really impresses people when you say it especially the ladies. But some are for prototyping and one off jobs others for high speed production, some under 60 grand other in the hundreds and hundreds of thousands range. A firm down the road bought CNC machine that is 15 million for making logging equipment. Nuts!
As for how we do it step by step I need a page for that alone. People really need to realize the amount of steps that goes into say making a stem or even a lever. It is intriguing yet disgusting at how much goes into making things we take for granted. Lets just say that there aren’t really steps more so set ups and procedures. Easy way is to compare it to chess. Less moves you make the better so we invest in machines that allow us to move fast and give us more time to polish and design style and flow.
SR: Was there any companies out there who inspired you to begin making bike parts?
SC: Many, from day one we wanted Chris King quality and reputation or forget about it, you may have noticed our color selection! Not to be an ass but a lot of companies inspired us to get into the game by selling filet mignon online but delivering corn dogs at the counter. It kind of set our vibe and outlook here. Make a product line that will grow by awe factor, never Photoshop anything, produce a product that has zero machining lines justifying the term “precision”. There isn’t a single sole reading this that would not have done exactly what we did if given the same situation. There is a new era of small rider owned companies coming out challenging the big guys, it is pretty cool to see.
SR: You’re a relatively small bunch of blokes at Straitline, do you ever get under each others necks a bit too much sometimes?
SC: Ya, we are human that happens, but it is all fun and games here. If you aren’t having fun then why bother. We claim 8 people working and this is true but that is us just puffing up. 5 is actually the number with 3 part time. Two brothers DJ and Dennis and poppa Mike, Jeremy and myself are the outsiders.
We have lots of yelling matches and I push my pranks too hard sometimes but that usually ends in a airsoft fight to take out some hidden aggression. All this talk about mars and deep ocean exploration is true, we even make devices that are used by most intelligence agencies but we don’t walk around in white lab coats saying “I concur” with every sentence. We actually have blue mechanic coats that don’t fit that well.
SR: Is there any hidden secrets in house that you have planned for the future? (Obviously don’t announce anything if you didn’t wish too but if so mention you are developing & testing new product)
SC: We have a lot of things planned, the hardest thing is looking into your crystal ball to see if this industry will up and change the “standards”. We are eagerly seeking a bike company willing to break the mold and help us prove concepts. We released a April fools prank taking a piss at the industry and it’s infatuation with gimmicks. It was called the iStem but no one saw our humour, some even tried to buy it! http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?t=81399
We just spent ¾ of a million on new machines just for the bike division to open up development and up to a million by mid summer if we get what we want so we are taking this a hell of a lot more serious than a year and half ago.
SR: How great is it that your very own product is being ridden in over 22 countries in the world?
SC: Growing up here in BC you are almost arrogant assuming that this is the place to be nothing can beat BC’s diversity but then clients send in shots of their local trails and you get jealous. Grass is always greener on the other side right? What is scary is a fast growth but luckily we scored great distributors who see eye to eye with where we want to go. We chose XXIV in Aussie over the big boys mainly because of their views and brands they carry. We aligned ourselves with Core brands to BC and high end alike, Banshee bikes, Industry 9, King, Thomson, Transition bikes, Sombrio and so on. One big family really, we are not in a rush and we want long term.
SR: You obviously have a huge passion for bikes in general, how often to you throw that leg over your ride?
SC: Dude did you have to ask? Not enough. Here is a video of me working out getting the legs ready. VIDEO HERE
Guess you are supposed to bullshit through this question but to be honest when this blew up we were pinned running two companies. I would go to Krankworks and not even bring a bike because I had too many meetings with things to do. In Vegas we’d be setting up the booth and dialing it in instead of the outdoor demo. Germany too much beer lol. But that is the price to pay when you want to start a business you have to live it and breath it. Now that it is all greased up and going well I am back on the bike on the weekends plus we are launching a full pro bike park with modern jumps and pump tracks. Drew Mitchell of Cove Bikes '06 fastest Canadian is helping it get dialed in. But Keep an eye on our BLOG ( www.straitline.blogspot.com ) DJ and I are going to do a motorbike/mtb stunt in the warehouse. I will label it Soul Riders so you can find it. Someone may even loose a leg.
SR: So do you have some cool hookups with some killer riders?
SC: We have a lot of well know riders on our roster that we haven’t really even announced yet, we don’t want to rely on athlete’s image to get you on our gear. Akhemm… Dylan Tremblay, Jeff Lenosky, Chris Soinonen, Alan Hepburn, Anson Wellington and still in chats with Kurtis Sorge but in the off season Guitar Hero runs his life.
I used to think all Aussies were a bunch of midnight oil cranking Chopper Reeds. VIDEO HERE Luckily we met Chris Soininen and Alan Hepburn last year, these guys are solid riders with awesome attitudes. They came over to ride last year in Whistler and on the Island most of you read about them attending Krankworks but after they left everyone knew of them. Most referring to them as the “crazy Aussies with custom helmets” usually ending in “those guys are nuts”. If we had to choose athletes to reflect our style and attitude Chris and Alan would be the guys.
Stoked to see them get scooped by Banshee and do the global comps this year.
SR: Thanks for giving us your time to discuss Straitline Components to all the readers out there, I’m sure they have all learnt a lot about you & now realize your massive passion for every rider out there on their bikes!
SC: Thanks for even asking me to be interviewed I feel famous!
Biking is one of the first childhood pleasures we all have so it really lets you just be a kid 24/7 and it should stay that way. I just find it funny how people take this game so serious, we laughed when we got our first law suit, I even ran off and got some popcorn for the show.
We really want people to understand we are an open firm all are welcome to throw in some input. Lenosky is having a hay day with his own personally factory at his disposal. First we made him the iStem now he wants a kickstand that can hold his cell phone. The man is a genius.
So at the end of the day, you’re getting more than an amazing performing component, you’re getting a CNC’d work of art and that’s what you want!
For more information regarding Straitline Components check out www.straitlinecomponents.com
Or XXIV Imports – Australia: www.xxiv.com.au
SRadmin would like to thank Andrew for a great article, and Greg and his team at Straitline for taking the time to respond to our dribble.
