i love the wu and i love BMX. thank you, NIKE.

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Such a strange design. The two arc halves are aluminum, hollowed out and housing the battery chain. It is NOT regenerative, which is surprising. But in talking with the owner, I had to admit, it did what we want these kinds of vehicles to do: get drivers out of their cars. He was touting it’s ability to motor up the hill to SF, and I was thinking ‘or you could RIDE to work’… but then, you know, the whole POINT is getting them out of the car and into the air. Maybe pedaling the grade is the next step after they’re used to the idea. So far so good.

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even though i run a front brake, i really only use it very rarely, and that means i have to have tyres that maintain a balance of cost to durability, cause i’m gonna skid through them eventually.

for a long time now, i’ve been running vittoria randonneur tyres, which i reviewed over HERE. this was after trying vittoria rubinos for a while, also reviewed, HERE.

the former (randos) are about $25 a pop and last me anywhere from 2-3 weeks a tyre, or about 200-300 miles, which is totally reasonable.

i tried the vittorias based on the recommendations of the MASHSF crew, who know their way around a skidded tyre better than maybe anyone. and i respect that recommendation and it’s well-placed. however, i’ve come to realize that the reason they push the vittorias so hard is that they’ve been skidding the city since long before track bike parts and fixedGear-specific accessories were available. they had to work with what was available. at that time, randonneur tyres were the best they could find.

but that’s just not the case anymore, and i’ve found that the SOMA EVERWEAR tyre is a much more perfect a balance of cost, durability, and performance. they have 5mm of rubber between the street and the casing and what that’s translated to in my case is well over 900 miles on the same tyre. with skidding. at $45 a piece, that’s something like 3 times more efficient than the vittorias.

UPSIDES…
+ longer-lasting
+ cheaper, over time
+ higher pressure max (100psi) equals less rolling resistance
+ no tread pattern equals less rolling resistance

DOWNSIDES…
+ because there’s no shielding layer in there, when you burn through the rubber, you’re AT the casing, and that means you don’t have much time to get to another tyre
+ no aquaflow tread pattern equals more slippy in the wet conditions
+ much longer time riding on a squared-off point of contact

your specific mileage will vary (heh, see what i did there?), and that will be based on your gearing. if you’re only getting 3 skid patches, you’re gonna smoke tyres like method man smokes weed, and there’s nothing you can do about it. i have 16, so i wear my tyres down a lot more evenly and over a much greater period of time.

but the point is, these are 10/10 CLANK! tyres. get some.

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Lung is in the market for replacement pedals for Tumbler. Hopefully before one falls apart, as recently happened to me on Redcoat. While searching for elusive 1/2" thread old timey ghetto pedals, I came across the section at Harris on folder bike accessories, and saw the quick-release options. Lung was all over these a few years ago, and I have to say, I still think it’s an effing AWESOME idea for a theft deterrent on your city bike. Unclip and bring those pedals in and the thief can’t ride away with your bike. Of all the stuff he’s bringing with him for the score, spare pedals aren’t one of them I’d wager. Sure, if they have a pickup nearby, as was the case likely with my first Look, it won’t matter, but that’s an A for effort anyway. This at least prevents that snatch and ride scenario at cafes or licker stoes, whatever the case may be.

The ones above are MKS and aren’t really SPD standard, just look like it. But there are SPD versions too.

Pretty rad!

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I’m really burdened by stories like this. It is upsetting.

http://urbanvelo.org/charleston-cycling … te-killed/

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eddy merckx’ nickname is "the cannibal," which makes THIS shirt 13 different kinds of awesome.

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Ever since I got a big body DSLR, I’ve been trying to finesse the optimized way to bring my ways and means around while riding, either to take photos of bikes in places, or take photos of anything else, by bike. I’ve tried backpacks, camera bags, slings, and even looked into tactical vests.

Meanwhile, I recently invested in a different hip bag for ride tools. Freeing up my original bag. And that’s when it hit me. I carry the camera on my torso for easy access, but needed an easy, unencumbered means of carrying the accessories. Why not a hip bag approach, as I’ve done with bike stuff anyway?

Above is the kit. Tested thrice now, works like a charm.

- Canon T1i DSLR, on strap with cover (in lieu of being in a bag)
- Ride hip bag containing:
- big 70-300mm telephoto (shroud is reversed)
- Lensbaby lens system
- macro lens
- macro lens ring options
- macro lens ring removal tools
- lens cloth
- remote, for extra rock
- gorrillapod tripod (not shown)

And it fits JUST SO, and not too heavy, and stays put as I ride.

Awesome, I says

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…of course, it’s going to be by bike.

In previous years, my annual game trip was done entirely by bike. I’d ride in from Mill Valley, where I work, usually head to the loft (about a quarter mile from the ballpark) and then change and switch bikes, then ride back and check in to valet. Easy cheesy. This year, I live AND work in Mill Valley, and had wee Z pick-up responsibilities later, so i was forced to drive. However, only as far as the Marina. It was a great plan.

I drove in and got over the bridge, where traffic was starting to collect. I pulled off into the Marina by Crissy Field and parked on a side street. Time check: 3:33pm.

The wrongTank LAUNCHED wrongBike(tm) as if by repulsor, and I was soon on my way, by bike, through the Marina (for some lookie-looing) and then back to the waterfront, over the hop, down through Fisherman’s Wharf, and around the bend.

Quick stop by the offices of Lung’s Torture, out of principle more than anything.

Ding ding ding! He didn’t hear me, and I was off.

The SFBC runs a bike valet in the belly of the ballpark, so it’s easy enough to roll up, quick-snap, and drop the ride off. I talked with another fixie guy that was bombing through traffic. He didn’t know what inchgear he had, but given the spread, i’d wager high 70s to my 71.2 on this bike. And with that, up to the suite where the party is that i go to each year.

The way back was awesome. On the way over, traffic was blocked up all the way to the Marina, some of the worst ballpark traffic I’d seen yet. Ont he way back, it was still pretty brutal, so I was able to weave through the Embarcadero, having a great ride and not being in that traffic. Nasty headwind on the approach to, and through, Crissy, but then I got back to wrongTank, hopped in, and got into traffic, only to sit behind an accident on the bridge for an hour. But overall, how could I complain?

It was a nice, refreshing, nostalgic reminder of my usual city riding. Same route, same sights, girls and sun and tourists and other bikes. Far better than the game itself. Anyway, so, that’s how you take in a Giants game.

Bonus, the SFBC folks liked my bike so much they tried to offer me some of their dessert. HA! Awesome.

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THIS is an interesting piece of tech, and i should immediately caveat that it’s made for the downhilling/MTB set. downhill bikes commonly have an oversized 1.5" headtube (news to me, not being a mountain biker), into which one would install this headset, but then run a 1-1/8" fork. by doing so, the tech of the headset allows you to change your head angle by up to 1.5 degrees positive or negative from 0, where 0 is the actual angle of the headtube.

yes, you can accomplish the same thing by running forks with different rakes, but that requires a whole bunch of forks and this doesn’t.

VERY fucking cool if you’re a techie. which i am.

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Crook Type 3 is a transformed version of Crook, the Cinelli Mash I built up and rode on Aids Lifecycle 9, from SF to LA. The concept was simple, and absurd: after completing the 570 mile ride (if successful, which it was) I would swap out the gray frame that made that journey for the limited edition green/ white variant, celebrating the achievement. You can read about the build process for Crook Type 3 here. Suffice to say, I kept the bottom end from the original Crook, and replaced the top end, going with a silver dip theme above the frame line.

Cinelli Mash 09 Limited Edition Green/White Adidas-inspired variant
SRAM Courier 300 Cranks (48/165)
Shimano A520 pedals
Custom wheelset: Soma hubs laced to H+Son 43s
Sugino Track Cog system (17) (Currently 75 inchgear)
SRAM single chain
Dia Compe brake/ carbon fiber cable housing
Paul Comp cross lever, silver
Titanium spacers
Columbus headset and seatpost clamp
Thomson Elite post, silver
Thomson X2 stem, silver
Nitto RB-021 compact bullhorns
VO elkhide wrap
crankbolt wrap caps (!)
Brooks Swallow saddle, honey
Thomson stem cap
Continental Gatorskin Hardshells 25c
Awesomeness

Here’s the build in the wild…

Note the Paul Comp cross lever. That was a hard find, with a deceptively simple solution: Order direct from Paul Comp…
The elkhide is still stretching and getting comfy but it’s gorgeous. I miss gel padding, though. Crank bolts for bar ends. HA!

The gold hub works nicely with the color scheme, which was fortuitous. I’ll eventually have a brass bell on the front end too.

Sneaky inclusion of my Three-Pin rider logo under the chainring, for science.

On Crook 1.0 there was a quote here: ‘by hook or by crook’ which was my inspirational mantra for getting through ALC on a fixed-gear. Now that that was done, I elected to retire it, moving the bike name from the head tube to the usual position here. The cog decal moved from seatpost to seat stay. Oh, and there will be a pinup girl on the nose, it’s just not done. The other missing decals are a Type 3 lettering piece for the name, and a vinyl of our ALC logo used on our ride shirts.

Some adjustments will follow, in seat height and stem. But so far, it’s a greeeaaaaat rahde!

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