OK, so I am ready to move on to bike #2…. nickname "Old_Bluey(tm)" (from a Simpsons episode where Bart lovingly refers to his favorite crowbar as "old Bluey"…

Interestingly enough, the hipster crowd in my neighborhood has realized that I actually built a bike, and a certain dude want me to build him one. Sounds like a commission, which is music to my wife’s ears as she is slowly getting outnumbered by the bikes in our house. I figure I can build this one for under $400, and sell it to Mr Sideburns/distressed Atari T-shirt dude for like $550.

Can I get a sticky post and start this up? I have like 75% of the pieces already, spillage from my last build, and am lining up a powder coater. I think my busy hands have found their calling.

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Related posts:

1. Jens Would Tole Your Baby Brother’s Bike
2. i bet this guy’ll never steal a bike again
3. Bike Build Process Log: Wrongbike – Strip!

Edited to include the block-rocking finished product!

:::

I think I would like to start a fixed gear project. Obviously, I know I would start with a frame, but how should I go about it? I know that’s a huge open ended question, but I want to get a used frame, but get one that’s workable for an entry level technician like myself. So, if you were in my shoes, how would you begin? I have lots of tools since I am endlessly rebuilding my house, and a backyard to work in.

This is not a project to win any hipster beauty contects, its mostly an education in amassing (hoarding) and assebling parts, and understanding how they go together.

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3. team lope bike bio : PROCESS LOG – loos3y

WobblyGoblin(tm), formerly known as RedBot(tm) , is the somewhat laughable result of the chain of events, so to speak, to come out of the LookTheft(tm) of 2007. As you know, R3 readers, my sweet, sweet Look was stolen last summer, which necessitated both the purchase of a new higher-end road bike for the efficiency, (the Cervelo, next the new Look) and a city bike for urban travels, during which I might want to leave the bike unattended for a period. However, THAT bike project, which started as a frankenbuild single-speed, and was meticulously, lovingly torn apart and rebuilt as a sweet, sweet fixed gear by the name of Fix-e. Which soon became obviously more precious emotionally than any city bike, and not disposable enough to use as originally intended. So I was back at square one. I decided to hunt down a beater, something I could ride around town in a mellow manner, lock up and go to the movies, and whatever happened to it, from vandalism to partial theftery to complete theftery, was no problem, A disposable bike! And yet, it must be aesthetically pleasing enough to me that i want to ride it, let alone look at it. Yet, not so aesthetically pleasing that it would be desirable as a purloined product. I looked around the city on an exploratory mission with one Lung, but even the unridable, broken down junkers were over $150, every available frame around being desirable for either a burning man bike, a messenger beater or a fixed gear conversion by someone or other. I was surprised. So, that was a bust. I was considering one of a few models of entry level single speed bikes new, but while it would be sufficient for low-speed, low impact, disposable riding despite the bottom end components, it did not meet the requirements of low theftability. EVEN assuming it was black electrical tapefied.

Enter ebay!

I came across this seller, among many auctions that I was considering, including cheapie beater 10-speeds that would require conversion and be difficult to resist making awesome, and other cruiser type old bikes, who had absorbed a number of these bikes from Montgomery Ward back in the day, and has been slowly converting the stock into motorized bicycles to be sold locally in Kansas. This bike was one of three he was selling off which were too beat up to be worth prettying up for sale. I got it for $40 + $40 shipping. Add replacement tyres (these are old, and dry rotted, and I never ride someone elses tyres!) and the requisite research to size them ($40) and a new seat to replace the beautiful but ripped up and ass-threatening original ($30) and three sweet, sweet seal horns ($3 ea.) and I’m gold, Jerry, gold!

The ride is melllllloow. You can get a little bit of speed on it, but it’s kind of rickety and I want to minimize my crash damage risk. HA! It’s got a coater brake AND a kickstand, and tells you so (the former, not the latter) right on the frame. And, thanks to my sweet, sweet horn mod, you can hear me coming from a block away!

WobblyGoblin(tm), locked up to a theater or pub near you! (or near me.)

RedBike Photo Gallery

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Related posts:

1. Team Lope Bike Bio: Fix-e
2. Team Lope Bike Bio [Retired]: Sweet, Sweet Cervelo Soloist
3. Team Lope Bike Bio: roadLook

The Fix-e that Came to be from the ashes of Lookery

So, as readers of R3 know, I rode a sweet black LOOK KG361 for about 6 months in 2007. I had craved this bike since I saw it when it was released in 2000, the same year I bought my Bianchi Veloce, thereafter known as Toro, in use as an AidsRide bike by one Lung. After six blissful, if not-exactly-properly-fitted months of riding, including that las-minute save in Calistoga, I overconfidently, if absent-mindedly, decided to lock it up outside the Metreon, and never saw it again. Before I got the Vervelo, and eventually the new Look, the FIRST decision I made was to have a city bike: something simple, that I could lock up around town and not worry about. Not theft-proof, but at least not theft-fearing, either. Something that was easily replaceable. So, I worked Craigslist for awhile, and ended up scoring a single-speed quick-and-dirty conversion from some fixie guys for a few bills, and I was good.

The bike ended up NOT being that fire-and-forget, nearly disposable city bike I intended. It was doomed to be awesome from the start. See, I loved co-piloting some of Lung’s bike (and other) projects, but always felt like it wasn’t so applicable to my riding needs, because I rode these nice road bikes which didn’t want to be effed with (my opinion, not lungs… you should see Toro now) so I lived vicariously through his bikery. But once I got that single speed, I felt the need for bikery of my own. It was poorly assembled, a quick conversion intended for a quick sale, using around the ManRoom parts, and was clearly so, but it worked for me. It was a prime candidate for experimentation, i thought, since hell, it was cheap to begin with and it was the disposable city bike, after all.

Yeahhhh.

Fortunately, Lung still lived in my building and had the ManRoom next to my WrongRoom so he was able to help me with most of the conversion of this bike, originally called Singl3, into the bike I cherish today as fix-e. While I would shed a tear at it’s loss or theft, despite my original intent, it does remain replaceable in the sense that I’m probably going to be working on bikes evermore, now that I’m so obsessed with it, thanks to Lung’s tutelage. If it were to be gone tomorrow, I’d just accelerate work on the next one. That said, it’s tied for favorite bike with my new Look. And frankly, given the choice, I’d rather ride it than anything else. I LOVES it.

The only known photo of Singl3… as if you can see it behind all the other general awesomeness abounding…

Fix-e started out, in the contemporary period, as a simple converted old timey road bike, a Le Jeunet frame from the early 70s. It sported a lux champagne gold mixed with Martinelli’s paint job, well chipped, with UV-radiated-integrated decals. It had the original or similar stem, a pair of chopped straight bars with old finger-grooved hard rubber grips, which I loved to look at but less to ride for more than an hour at a time, and a single 40-tooth chainring in the cranks, which I’d personally never seen before (typical modern road rings are 39/53) it had plastic pedals, an old beat up black plastic seat, one weak brake in front with an old BMX lever, and for wheels, it had a mismatched pair of a 700 and a 27 (I think) one being a complete wheel by someone or other and the other being an Ultegra hub and a Mavic rim, with blue spoke nipples. It rode, it turned, and until the chain came off, it cranked, too. It needed work, like half-mast needed work.

I don’t remember the exact order of upgrades, the way meticulous (read OCD) Lung would, to his benefit and my detriment, but they included:
-a complete strip down, lube and rebuild, during the painting process
-sand/grind of frame and mask/repaint
-new wheels
-new tires
-new bars (twice)
-new tape (twice)
-adjunks (at one point, a bar extension sitting in front of the handlebars, to which was mounted a drink/fritz holder made from hose clamps (Lung genius again)
-new chain
-new cogs
-new old seat
-new brake cable
-new brake lever (twice)
-spikey half-clip-in, half-flat pedals
-top tube pad
-concealed dope

Doing the math, you’ll see that all that remains is the frame, fork, and three piece crank/bottom bracket assembly.

The process of renovating this fine machine was enlightening. Lung helped me strip it down and separate out that which was initially kept from that which was discarded into my ‘future art’ bin. Heh. I was introduced to the exciting, somewhat perilous world of floating bearings (sorry, don’t have the jargon) and bottom bracket mysteries, of chain tension and gearing logic. We only lost a few bearings in the disassembly/reassembly process. I did most of the stripping of the frame, fairly careful not to grind my femoral arteries open or lose right hand articulation in freak sanding mishappery. It took forever! Finally, probably the most exciting step, the repaint process.

Matte black is the new black. Less reflecty for snipers… except for the chrome. Shown here with optional MEGAHORN for SUV alertery.

I wanted a flat matte black finish, so I got high-temperature engine paint. We primered it and then gave it some coats of the black and it came together nicely, with few drips. I sound vague here because by we, I mean largely Lung, who was blessed with both the enthusiasms, and the free time, to hit the frame on intervals. Awesome.
One lesson learned, though: I don’t care what temperature rating the paint has: seal it with a matte clearcoat. Because that thing has proven quite chippable since.

Here’s Singl3 prior to the fixed gearery… handsome bike stand, too.

The wheels are now a Mavic open pro on Shimano hub the front, new, and in the back, a sweet, sweet ENO Eccentric hub in the back, one side being a fixed 16 cog and the other a free 17. Same 40-tooth chainring, new chain, nice and tight. There was a fair amount of manhandling of the wheelstays because the frame was bent and the spacing back there was deformed. Very hard to get the wheel in there and tightened properly by yourself (if you are me; I was convinced I was screwed, unable to get them wide enough to accept the ENO even on a stand with a breaker bar; I was preparing to HEAT the metal, a bad idea, with Lung at his house when he simply dropped them in, using different leverage. As you can see, I remain not very mechanically inclined.)

Sweet’ knobby tires.

I started with these sweet textured knobby tires, but I longed for the familiar ride of slicks from my road experience, and subsequently sold those to one Lung, and picked up gorgeous white stripe slicks from SOMA Fabrications.

The scheme, clearly, is matte black, chrome, with leather accents. The original chrome on the Le Jeunet ("the the") was taped off and remains, though the lugs were painted.

Original chrome, seen! ENO hub, not yet seen!

The seat is a vintage Brooks saddle, well worn with the asses of generations past. I love it. I’m all Brooks now.

The bars were kept as-is for quite awhile, but I was getting a good amount of shoulder fatigue from that position and ultimately decided to go for something swoopy and funky, so I added Nitto Mustache Bars. These were taped in Brooks leather tape in Antique Brown to match the saddle.

Those old-timey mustache bars…

The bars were awesome, but they ARE old timey, and fix-e was increasingly moving towards a more contemporary fusion of styles, so I decided to pull them off and use them on the next bike, and replaced them with a pair of Nitto Bullhorns. These give me more reach and a confident riding position. Wrapped in honey leather tape, this time, for some contrast. This was also timed with my decision to change the brake lever. I was originally using a small black BMX brake lever on the original flat chopped bars, but when I put the mustache bars on there, they were too wide a diameter for the single clamp lever.

At one point I even tried using the bar extended and moving the brake lever onto the stem. Not successful. Proven in EPIC FAIL on test ride.

Few double clamp levers exist other then an old, let’s say budget model SunTour, so I decided on what I THOUGHT was a Thommovation: using a bar-end brake lever on the end of the mustache bars, in a ‘reverse’ position. As it turned out, I ended up seeing it on another bike, and later on singles sold at Sports basement, so not so unique an approach. Never did see it on mustache bars though. So, bar-end lever on the bullhorns now, complete.

Note also that the bullhorns allow for a perfect tuck when ascending stairs with the bike…

The final details are an aesthetically pleasing, in other words fly, custom top tube pad I had made, black denim on the outside, with sick red perforated leather concealed on the inside, but never shown. It’s like I’m a rigid librarian wearing sexy lingerie under my sensible herringbone suit! (And I’d like to meet, uh, me.) And tucked into that? A vintage playing card… the 3 of aces, in fact.

You will also note the custom custom and superfly exclusive TRDL crest on the head tube. A more elaborate crest exists on my own right arm, of course, but this is a badge of wrongPride(tm) I say!

Since the day I photographed the bike for this belated post and deemed fix-e both completed and named, there have been changes, non-deliberate and of little consequence.

My sweet leather underseat tool bag was lifted while I bought eggs on one of my and Lung’s Saturday breakfast spins. And in an ill-conceived transport of Fix-e within the MINI, I inadvertently allowed the front wheel to rest loosely on top of the frame on the way in, and back, from Marin (it was on a towel… then wasn’t.) the road vibration quietly allowed the spokes to shear all the paint off of the left seat/top stay, so there’s subsequently been a bit of black electrical taping, which was mandatory anyway.

Oh, and lastly, because the frame is technically too short for me, I’ve been continually looking for ways to extend my stretch in the riding position, from the bullhorns, to my latest part, a drainpipe seatpost from the old school BMX days (I saw one in the wild, and Lung identified it with childlike glee, the glimmer of his BMX trophies twinkling in the reflection of his red-tinged eyes…)

All in all, a fantastic experience. It taught me the basics of ten-speed to fixed gear conversions, allowed me to gleam the satisfaction of hand-made projects in my otherwise digital day to day, and gave me a new obsession. A second fixed conversion is underway for the summer. More Lung assistance will be required. But man, what a treat. And besides, the process of riding a single and eventually fixed let me not only get over my aversion to fixed gear riding, but learn to really appreciate it as part of a balanced riding style.

The rub? I’m still in need of a city bike.

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Related posts:

1. Team Lope Bike Bio: Schwixie(tm)
2. team lope bike bio — bianchiBlue
3. Team Lope Ride Report – You CAN Take it With You

UPDATE : this thread used to be called "new toy!" but has since been renamed in order to keep with the team lope bike bio standard. if you’ve already been reading, you can jump directly to the new additions HERE.

I haven’t had a bike project in a long time, and it ain’t for lack of trying. I tried to rebuild the old Lean — better, faster, stronger — but it wasn’t gonna serve the purpose necessary. I tried to rescue an abandoned bike for use in a long-stalled fantasy project, but the drivetrain’s main component is beyond obscure, not to mention rusty as fuck. So I’ve been hurting.

But then the other day, I was looking at a sale email I got from a shop I use frequently. They had RIDICULOUS percentages off of stuff. And I needed some stuff. But in addition to the stuff I needed, I spied a frame — perfect for the needs I had for yet ANOTHER long-fantasized-about project. And the frame was knocked down in price by something like 65%. It was a STEAL, and I’d just gotten my finances in order, so the timing couldn’t have been better.

I ordered it online and had it shipped to the store for free shipping. And it arrived today, along with WRs order that he placed on the same day. So after barbecue with he and long-time forum member Kid Anubis, WR and I fired over to the shop, picked up our shit, and now in my living room sits the following (cameraphone pic, sorry)…

It’s got a few sweet little details that make it perfect, and I’m looking forward to building it up over the next year. I’m not even going to speculate what it might end up looking like, save the givens — black, fixed, and sick.

FOHWAHD!

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Well, I’ve been working on this for quite a while.

When I decided to get back into cycling about 3 or 4 years ago (after about an 8-year hiatus), I needed a bike NOW, and so I picked up a 1972 Schwinn Varsity off of Craig’s List for 75 bucks. It weighed about a million pounds and it rattled like fucking crazy, but it worked and I was riding again.

As time went on, I came across a free frame which went on to become my beloved Lean(tm) — urban smash-bike like no other — and so my beautiful orange bomber got stripped down to the parts and hung on the wall "for another time."

Well, that time came. I needed another bike project (cause you know, I need bike projects), and I’d been toying with the idea of building a fixie — a fixed-gear, one-speed, purist’s bike. I’ve previously admonished hipster fools for riding fixies, as they seem to be trendy these days. I, on the other hand, am not trendy, and I have been riding bikes since those fools were on momma’s nipple, so I let all the hatred go and committed to restoring and re-vamping the Schwinn with no gears and no freewheel.

And lo and behold, SCHWIXIE(tm) was born…

• ’72 SCHWINN VARSITY FRAME/FORK
• GENERIC HEADSET
• VINTAGE SEAT COLLAR
• VINTAGE STEM
• VINTAGE SCHWINN-APPROVED FRONT BRAKE
• 27" WEINMANN ALUMINUM WHEELS
• SHIMANO TRACK COG, 15T
• 27 X 1 1/4" DURO WHITEWALL TIRES
• CRUPI BOTTOM BRACKET CONVERSION CUPS
• SHIMANO BOTTOM BRACKET
• DOTEK CRANK ARMS, 165MM
• DIMENSION PEDALS
• PROFILE BMX CHAINWHEEL, 40T
• SHADOW CONSPIRACY "INTERLOCK 2" HALF-LINK CHAIN
• WALD STEEL SEATPOST
• GENERIC SEAT GUTS
• BLACK MARKET "KNUCKLES" SEAT
• AZONIC DOUBLEWALL RISER BARS, 1.5" RISE
• S&M LOGO GRIPS
• POVERTY BEND-E LEVER

This bike is fucking bad ass, and it gets a lot of looks and compliments. It’s still heavy, but it’s WAY lighter than it was when it was all vintage. And it’s surprisingly FAST. It’s very maneuverable, it’s completely trick, and with the exception of a loose headset (unfixable, thanks to the frame/fork’s age), it’s lock-down tight.

The element of the bike that I personally like best is that I’ve managed to maintain EXACTLY the visual layout of the original. The complete ’72 had a black seat, white cork grip tape, chrome cranks, etc.. I changed all the structures, but I kept all the colors in exactly the same place.

Yes, that’s a brassknuckle graphic on the seat. I could’ve shit when I found that seat online. Ordered it immediately. I really scored on those tires, too. WHITEWALLS? Come on, you know that’s ill. But the part that gets the most talk? The chain. I think it’s because it looks so unique. That chain is made for BMX bikes (most of the parts are, actually), but I got it cause it’s made of "half-links." Instead of having to take out an entire chain link to shorten it, with this, you just have to take a half of a link, cause that’s all there is. Meaning you can massage the size in a VERY savvy manner, which is important with these kinds of bikes. But it’s also bomb-proof. That chain is made to be grinded on. So it’s beefy as fuck. And people notice.

Anyway, this bike takes some SERIOUS control to ride. See, on a fixed-gear, you cannot coast. As the wheel turns, so do the pedals. There’s no freewheel and there’s no coaster brake. You pedal forward, you go forward. You pedal backward, you go backward. As you can imagine, this motherfucker is DANGEROUS. But it’s also VERY fluid once you get the hang of it. And therein lies the joy.

Also, this bike is CLEARLY a female. She can’t be controlled easily, she has a mind of her own, and if you don’t work WITH her, she’ll fucking throw you down. HARD. And yes, I love her.

Schwixie Photo Gallery

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Related posts:

1. Team Lope Bike Bio: Fix-e
2. team lope bike bio — bianchiBlue
3. Team Lope Bike Bio [Retired]: gangstaLean(tm)

The way to salve the wound of a stolen sweet, sweet LOOK? Buy a sweet, sweet Cervelo (or let the bank do it, actually)…

I bought this bike to replace my Look, based largely on three factors:
a) the desire to try a new geometry and technology
2) a great write-up in Bicycling magazine
d) my love of grey

I probably put about 2,000 miles on it in one season. FAST.

:::

Unfortunately, this sweet, sweet Cervelo Soloist proved to be an ill fit for this rider. It was fast, twitchy and a great value, but I never really felt comfortable on it. The aluminum was rigid and the geometry, while supposedly ideal for compact riders, felt awkward in climbs. I finally had to let it go, and returned to the Looks for my road riding needs…

Soloist Photo Gallery

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Related posts:

1. Retired Bike Photo Gallery: The Sweet, Sweet Cervelo Soloist
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I originally posted this in the "Art Exhibit" thread because I had a very specific vision for it, and because I built it from the ground up. Maybe not art to some. But art to me, no doubt. And it took me something like 9 months or more.

100% scratch-built. 100% custom. There is no other bike like it. Meet gangstaLean(tm)…

Specifics…
-> Road/BMX hybrid — road frame, fork, and wheels, BMX steering column.
-> 7-speed rear gearing only. (Technically, only 6-speeds, cause the chain falls off when you hit 1st gear. Oops!)
-> One brake. Front. I live for the thrill. (WR is appalled at this detail.)
-> Emergency kit under the seat. 3 zipties, 2 inner tubes, a tire iron, and a sack of weed.
-> Black electrical tape covering all decals. (1) They don’t pay me to advertise for them. (2) It looks stolen.
-> 50/12 top end gearing. FAST.

Backstory…
A frame was left on the swapRock(tm) in our building. (Giant boulder in the lobby on which people leave free shit.) It went through two owners (one of whom was our very own WrongRobot) before finding its way to me. Once I had it, it was on. I was bound and determined to make a custom ride for myself. A fully custom, hybrid BMX/road, full-stealth, tech, mashin, city bike.

Development…
I won’t bore you with details, but suffice it to say that the geometries of the frame precluded this bike being easy to obtain parts for. It’s a triathlon frame, which means it’s smaller than your average roadbike, which means it’s fucking impossible to just go out and start grabbing up parts. EBay was my friend throughout this process. And a Dremel tool. Yeah. That’s right. I had to grind, bang, bend, and smack this baby into being.

And lest you think I’m not reppin R3, know this. The single brake lever is RED. And see that forkblade there? Here’s a closeup…

BELIEVE.

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Related posts:

1. team lope bike bio — bianchiBlue
2. Team Lope Bike Bio: Fix-e
3. Team Lope Bike Bio [Retired]: Sweet, Sweet Cervelo Soloist

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