This was quite a find. It’s worth the read.
Lung also noted that the front caliper brakes don’t work with front suspension… the wheel is moving…

My favorite detail was the kickstand, which I saw a lot of on fixies in Chicago, by the way.

http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2008/09 … l-for.html

:::

"This is easily one of the most fascinating bikes I’ve ever seen. Some bicycles make you want to ride them to pieces, others make you want to own them and protect them from harm and scratches, and still others make you want to puke. This one makes me want to puke, sure, but in the way a huge buffet does and not in the way a piece of maggoty roadkill or Larry King does. And like a huge buffet, every time I look at this bicycle I notice something new, and that something doesn’t go with anything else on the bike. If you’ve ever gone to a wedding or something, hit the buffet, and wound up with a heaping and contradictory plate of fried rice, mashed potatoes, a goat cheese omelet from the omelet station, some baked ziti, sweet and sour chicken, French toast, a couple of meatballs, a Caesar salad, and a bowl of Frosted Rice Krispies in chocolate milk for good measure because each item looked good individually but you didn’t consider whether any of it would go together, then you know what I’m talking about.

At the same time, this bicycle also evokes one of those performances when a bunch of rock stars of varying ages and degrees of bloat and irrelevance all take the stage to benefit some kind of charity. This bike has everything from the high-tech time trial bar and saddle of today to the bonded frame, 700c road suspension fork, and bladed Spinergy death wheel of yesteryear. It’s like Chris Cornell, Dave Navarro, Pete Townshend, Paul McCartney, Korn, a few guys from Dire Straits, and, for no good reason at all, the London Symphony Orchestra all belting out a cover of "Rockin’ in the Free World" on some VH1 special to benefit ADD research or something. (And in a case like that, the performance is arguably more harmful than the affliction.)

Most profound, though, is the appearance of both a Spinergy Rev-X and an Aerospoke on the same bicycle. Notice how similar yet how different they are from each-other in their freakishness. In a strange way it’s like spotting Stephen Baldwin and Frank Stallone waiting on line together to see the Bacon Brothers play.

And of course the whole thing leans on a kickstand.

This bike is what’s beautiful about cycling–it is a unique tool assembled to fulfill a unique need. Personally, I can’t imagine a situation that would call for aerodynamics, front suspension, a rear rack, and a triple chainring, but apparently this person finds himself needing to rush places in record time over irregular surfaces while carrying small loads often enough to have built this bicycle. And apparently there’s also a pretty big climb somewhere along the way. It’s also difficult to imagine what you might wear on a bicycle like this–I’m thinking a skinsuit with a pair of cargo shorts, and I’m also guessing there’s a beard and a helmet mirror involved. This bicycle also appeals to me because I happen to have a soft spot for mix-matched brakes. I find using the same style of brake from the same manufacturer front and rear to be boring, and I’m always touched when two completely different brakes come together in a team effort to bring a rider to a stop. With the cantilever front and the dual-pivot rear, this bicycle has the road bike equivalent of a mullet, and I like that.

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THIS is the fucking illest. it’s a single brake lever that mounts next to the stem and is activated from EITHER SIDE. (but NOT both at once.)

it’s importing through MERRY SALES now, and will be available from SOMAFAB soon.

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So, I was in Chicago this weekend for work, and proposed to my close personal friend JJ that we rent bikes and try out the Chicago Critical mass, as I was unfortunately missing the first opportunity to ride wrongBike(tm) in SF’s mass since it’s completion, but WAS in Chicago just in time for the local event. Despite fears about the deaths, and her bum hip as a result of being doored on Valencia when she lived in SF, she was all for it, and so we did. We picked up bikes at Millennium Park, for her a high-seating-position hybrid commuter and for me a beach cruiser frame with a low seat and long bars. And off we went!

It took us about 20 minutes of looping around downtown to find Daly Plaza (a nice political dig for the start of Mass, I thought) and i have to say, the taxis in Chicago are like a dubious fusion of the NY cabbie aggressiveness and the LA cabbie’s freedom to bomb at 90 on a 6 line street. Very scary stuffs.

The Plaza was packed with riders, from the fixie crowd to urban commuters to stunt bikes to politicos. It was pretty awesome. The turnout was solid thanks to an unseasonably warm weekend for late September, and everyone was making the most of it.

We looped around the plaza to whip everyone up, and then headed out. I’m not familiar enough with the lay of the land to describe where we went and such, other than that we visited the Loop, rolled all around downtown, rolled past Batman’s Harvey Dent Armored Car spot, rolled past 80s drug gang projects, took over an illuminated bridge at dusk, found our way to the infamous WienerCircle, a late night booze crawl eatery known for being packed to the street and for an extremely gruff and cussy demeanor. Since we arrived at 9pm, they were polite, which was even more surreal.

It was a great Mass, and I enjoyed the similarities and the differences. I rode frequently with a Berlin transplant named Jergen, on his home built one-side fork mountain bike, watched JJ beam with glee at that first-timer’s awe at the rush of being surrounded by hundreds of bicycles and taking over the street, met several cool folks who threw threes with abandon, and enjoyed the wide, flat streets to which we SF riders are unaccustomed. With the exception of a late int he evening scary moment where an old man freaked out and floored it through us, knocking bikes down and fleeing, it was otherwise a perfect ride. The BEST part for me was watching JJ experience it for the first time, and just gellin on the simple pleasure of being able to drop everything and do a Mass, despite being in another city with total strangers, and have it feel the SAME in the resoundingly awesome.

100% minimum success.

Here is a Flickr set for the Mass, complete with descriptions, for your perusal:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wrongrobot … 560390652/

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So, I decided if I was going to live the Lope lifestyle, and wear the Lope jersey, I had to begin riding to work (suit and tie be damed).

My morning commute sucked. I got 2 flats in the first 3 miles, eventually ran out of patches/tubes and had to hang my head in shame and head for the nearest subway.

When you get 2 flats within 5 minutes of each other, could it be there is something inside the tire. I didn’t have time for a full Lope 10 point inspection while on the road.

I also decided that maybe Wiggam(tm) might not be commuter stock, so hopefully i can get my other projects (Reddie and Whitey) up and running.

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This is a prototype game a designer was messing around with. Posted, specifically because if you successfully pull off a wheelie…well… see above…

but if you mess up? You also get a three… then the bike flies off the screen.

and there are no instructions.

and it’s yellow.

It seems very wrongBike…

http://www.werkhaus.co.nz/2008/07/inter … games.html

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THESE decals for your deeps are very cool in so many ways. available in many, MANY different designs.

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i’ve been looking for a new helmet for a while now. i got ONE a year or so ago, and it was nice, matte black, and brand-aware after i spraypaint-stenciled the big ole "3" on the side of it. but it was bulky and ugly so i went back to my OLD ONE. then i started looking at the BERN HELMETS. even found one at my LBS, but didn’t get it, and ended up glad of such, since now everyone and their momma is rockin em.

but now, i’m ALLL about NUTCASE HELMETS. in addition to having a bunch of super-ill stock designs, they also do custom work. let me say that again. CUSTOM. WORK.

get on it.

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Now, for your viewing pleasure, I present to you the Team Lope Tyre Clubbe Flickr Collection. Within, you will find several photosets, including Ride Photos, Bike Projects, and Moratorii on rides lost or disassembled.

You can view the collection here: Team Lope Tyre Clubbe Collection and subscribe therein to see the new sensitive shit, as it is discovered on gym floors ongoing…

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along the road on the AIDS life/cycle, i discovered something. i really like cycling socks. i only have a couple pair, though, and the reason is simple. they’re fucking stupid. they have all sorts of branding all over the ankles, so you’re always like advertising kit kat bars and shit on every pedalstroke. and that will never do.

until now. SWIFTWICK SOCKS claim to have all sorts of double-happy awesome-time technology to them, and i don’t care one lick. (or wick, in this instance.) because they’re not branded at the ankle. that’s all it takes for me, man.

but if you’re interested in the tech, know that they’re available in both merino wool AND olefin — "the only nobel prize winning fiber." they also have a full-cushion footbed, 200 needle construction, no-seam assembly, compression cuffs, arch support, and a y-heel.

available in three different heights — ankle, calf, and knee.

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one of the most frustrating things about riding a bike with lug nuts on the wheels instead of allen skewers is that you have to carry a 15mm box-end wrench or socket in your tool bag if you ever wanna be able to change a tyre on the road. that’s heavy and bulky and it sucks. but you deal.

recently, though, i’ve seen a couple people with a 15mm wrench attached to their frame’s waterbottle cage mounting point. the first one i saw was homegrown. someone had just taken a box wrench, drilled holes in it, and attached it. i liked this quite a bit. obviously, so did some of the bike manufacturers, cause then they started producing them specifically for this purpose.

but felt bikes (not my favorite manufacturer, but ok i guess) took it one step further and added a bottle opener to the other end, producing their BEERNUTS WRENCH. and for $20? man, i’m sold.

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