this weekend there was a bike expo/swap at the cow palace. (SG)f and i were going to be in tahoe for thanksgiving, and we planned to be back last night so i could attend today.

GOOD.
CHOICE.

this was one of the greatest biking events i’ve ever been to. the cow palace has a main central stadium (large enough to hold a rodeo or a tractor pull), and at least two offshoot convention halls. it was these two halls where the event was — one hall was expo (manufacturers, customizers, and other BUSINESSES debuting and/or selling piecesParts), and one hall was swap (INDIVIDUALS unloading their stockpiles).

i visited both portions, and found scores in each. at the expo, i found a shop that, off to the side of their highlight (which was a bunch of custom builds), had a rack of used wheels. i picked up a front wheel for $30. a front wheel, i might add, that would’ve cost me at LEAST $100 new. and a front wheel that fit my prerequisite for aesthetics. black rim (ritchey deep v), black spokes (aero spokes, radial laced), and black hub (ritchey, again). i’ve been riding a heavy steel wheel on there since i wrecked a while ago, so this is amazing. also, nonemoreBlack. the rest of the expo portion was kind of hit-or-miss, for me anyway, as it was a bunch of tech debuts — better disc brakes, better shifting systems, better whateverthefuck i don’t really pay too much attention to. (oh, but they did have a whole section of vintage BMX bikes that i drooled all over.)

at the swap, i found a pair of pedals ($5) and a pair of combination brake levers/shifters ($15), in MTB style, all of which was for (SG)f’s bike. these are the last pieces of her build, which i’m glad to get done for her. i also scored a wall-mount skewer-based bracket for hanging another bike ($10), and in a pile of loose parts, i found frame-mount derailleur cable adjuster barrels. the dude gave me those for free. the swap was the most entertaining, not only because of all the rows and rows of old vintage bikes and parts (i could’ve easily spent three grand in there), but because there was a street ramp BMX demo going on in one half of the room. it was AWESOME.

anyway, after my $10 entry fee and all of the above, i got out of there for under $75, got a ton of shit i need for THREE separate bikes, and was generally entertained. and because the cow palace is kind of out of the way, i got a nice ride out of the day, too, just getting to and from.

also, the san francisco bicycle coalition’s bicycle valet service was out front, which is always nice.

all in all, a great bike day!

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yeah, THAT‘s safe.

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yeah, THIS oughtta be good for about 3 hours of utter non-productivity.

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so, the reality is that I really like to build bikes, but I really have no space for more than 2 at a time, so I need to sell them as I build them (believe me, its not like my wife is putting a gun to my head or anything….isnt that right sweetie???)

…I created a website and a shadow company "718 Cyclery" to try and do this.

http://www.718c.com

Its kind of a shot in the dark, but I am having fun with it.

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whatever. get it HERE and support your inner lame.

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look, i’m all for a CAMPAIGN that is targeted to keep cyclists safe, and which also highlights our preferred numerology. but let’s be realistic. when was the last time you saw room in a major urban center to cut a cyclist 3 feet of space. i regularly squeeze through needles that my handlebars can barely clear. 3 feet? right. maybe on the backroads.

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i’m sorry to stick THIS in your head for the day, but i’m loving every second of it, so deal.

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i love bikes.
and i especially love fixies.
and i triple love PBR.

but i hate branding.
and i especially hate hipster branding.
and i triple hate drinking and riding, for obvious reasons.

so i think i’m right down the middle on THIS.

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madness. THIS hub sports a massive center and flanges, adding lateral rigidity and vertical compliance. or something.

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Seen on my commute yesterday.
Please note, this is the unholy marriage of one of those uni-form seat-suspension bikes with… a bike rack. Pretty great, in all it’s wrongness…

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