I don’t mean PRIDE pride, though maybe. I mean SF-specific custom ride. Custom as in causing my lunch to swirl. But still, points for trying.

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As I speculate and scheme about custom cargo rigs for when both kids are of such riding age, I came across these plans, and a few others, for custom sidecars. It actually makes a fair amount of sense, at least if you travel on low-density roads and aren’t constrained to a tiny bike lane for fear of the deaths.

http://www.bikehacks.com/bikehacks/2011 … decar.html

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i was doing about 23 in the dark when i hit a pothole on polk street and went down like a sack of stones. but luckily, outside of some road rash and deep muscle bruising, the only damage incurred was to the ratchet of my left CYCLING SHOE. as you can see, the hinge was mangled and bent far enough inward that it nearly disabled the thing from working. i had to really struggle with it. in addition, it was bent outwards from the shoe’s body, thusly…

so i did some research online and found that specialized, the manufacturer of my shoe, makes some replacement parts available for their cycling shoes and that sure enough, that RATCHET is one of them. so today in my travels around the city (on bus/foot, mind you – i needed a new rear tyre), i stopped at HIGH TRAILS CYCLERY, which is about 6 blocks from my apartment and which i know to be a specialized retailer. and when i asked if they could order the part for me, the dude turned around and reached for the wall and pulled down the very thing i was looking for – it was actually IN STOCK…

now maybe i’m naive to the frequency with which this particular part gets fucked up, but i found both the facts that specialized offers the part, AND that the cyclery in my hood had it in stock to be really convenient and awesome realities. and without going into too much boring detail (too late!), i’m more and more pleased with HTS every time i go there. the first time i went in, i thought it would be a place i might hit in cases of emergency, but they’ve really proven to be a well-rounded shop with awesome people working there and they always seem to have whatever it is i’m looking for.

anyway, installation is SUPER easy on this part. there’s a single screw underneath the lever…

…which allows you to remove and replace the whole thing…

simple as that!

thanks, specialized!
thanks, high trails!

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I love this pic. I sometimes see girls wandering around with iphones teetering on the edge of slipping out of their spray-on jean pockets, but here? I imagine the inverse is the issue, not being able to extract the lock to USE it.

http://comfort-eagle.com/post/9730714818

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A boutique antique and curiosity shop near me here in MV had a bike sculpture in the window, so I inwestigated in the Checkovian sense. Within, a display that includes a selection of BikesnobNYC books and another of the models, all metal, fully functional (if you are a long-legged duck or something)… very cool.

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What I love about cold* ride days is that you get that added spark from getting out there and getting exercise and being in the world, when all your instincts tell you to stay indoors, fire up a hot beverage and look for tattooed cyclist grrrls on Tumblr (and to avoid potholes). It’s not as technically precarious as rain days, which I also love, just slower and wetter, and the faster you go and the more work you do, the warmer you are. This assumes, of course, that you are properly supported. I’m riding in shorts, but I have leg warmers, booties on my Vittorias, long-sleeve undershirt under a polo, with a Castelli winter riding jacket over that, and a cap for me bal’head, so I’m good to go. Despite being struck by the same pestilence that has taken out Zoe, Matteo ad wifebot, I felt like I could ride for hours this morning. There’s a nice vibe you get when you see your breath, less people are out, and you get that warm fuzzy from revving a higher cadence. I took Carpetbagger out today, my coupler build, and was met with some interest at the local Peets about it, and like it always is when I rotate between my bikes, it’s fun to feel all the details with this particular bike’s ride quality, geometry and mood.

Great ride day! Now, those storm clouds over there, those will be changing it from a cold ride day to a wet ride day, so, I guess I get to enjoy both.

*These sorts of comments are always caveated by the fact that we’re talking relative context. Cold for HERE, not cold for say Montreal.

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This is an old favorite making the rounds again on Tumblr. I love her stance, the casual clothes, and being in the center of the street. Something about this pic just screams ‘GO RAHHHHHDE!’

But not ‘Go Attack a Pothole!’

http://comfort-eagle.com/post/9728966038

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This is old news from September, but when Mike Giant’s poteur bike by Huffnagel was stolen, I remember thinking to myself, ‘self? who steals one of a kind signature bikes, like this one, or Lance Armstrong’s time trialer, or the Mash crew rides?’ Actually, my first thought to myself was, ‘self? That is a cool as EFF custom rack mounting system.’
But anyway, are the thieves just ignorant, or is it for a private collector market like with fine art? Never be ridden in the real world, just forever circling a lonely underground billionaire mansion velodrome with Daft Punk being piped in?

http://www.rebel8.com/blog/stolen-bike

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And not necessarily in the chemical fashion.

My illumination needs increased pretty dramatically when I moved to Marin, against Mt. Tam, with poorly lit roads and vengeful deer and swervy SUVs at every turn. Certainly it always helps to have a good light, but in the city, it’s more of a blinky-look-at-me tool, as you are navigating by streetlight more often than not. In my commute to Marin from SF and back, I did make use of a higher power battery stick light system by Vista, but it was a pain because of, you know, the battery, being both heavy and ungainly. This was old technology, circa 1995. When I moved here, I started using Knog lights just for their convenience factor, but previous posts on this topic have explored how they did me little good in the Black Forest, so I started using the big light system again last season. But no more!

The Light and Motion Urban series was exactly what I was looking for. While I could definitely use a super high power light out here, I’m ambivalent about those, especially rider to rider, because they are blinding. BLINDING. So, I wanted something bright but not turbo. I also wanted something very easy to mount and switch from bike to bike, and that was rechargeable without a power pack. Light and Motion’s Urban light is a great combination of features. It is rechargeable by mini-USB from your computer, which eliminates the forgotten-AC Adapter problem. They are bright enough to do the job. And my favorite detail: a swivel on the mount so it can be installed on various tube sections as needed, as seen above, where I swiveled the mount 90 degrees and stuck it on the quill stem of wrongbike for that ride home. It also has amber sidelights which are intended to illuminate a cyclometer. The light comes in 180, 300 and 500 lumens versions, and I bought the 180 lumen model. I would have gone for a more powerful one, but I bought it at a local bike shop from stock on hand. It’s still quite useful. At high-output level, it will illuminate for about 2.5 hours, and on the lowest setting, which is blinky mode, it will run a reported 24 hours on a single charge.

This is the estimated light fall via the mfr site:

Anyway, the ease factor is why I like this light so much. The mount uses a heavy rubber strap so I can pull it on and off each bike being used and basically leave it in my helmet at night. Fire and forget, rechargeable, generally awesome. I like it!

http://www.bikelights.com/urban180.html

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Nicely timed, given Lung’s recent posts about locking skewers on the market today, Bulldog has come out with a very clever keyless system: it’s gravity-based, where a ball bearing slips into place when wheels are down, preventing the skewer lever from actuating; flip the bike and the skewers become operational.

http://urbanvelo.org/onguard-minpin-key … g-skewers/

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