This is just a pet peeve post. Not much to report.

I slung the front brake on the latest iteration of Wrongbike the other night, using new Tektro finger levers sized for the pista bars being used, as donated by one Lung.

The annoyance I feel is the adjustment of the ‘clothes hanger’ on the front brake cable, which collects the straddling cable that in turn holds the two sides of the caliper system together. This Brake Delta or Brake Triangle, or, as I like to call it, COCKBIT, drives me nuts. Sure, I’m somewhat spoiled by stringing and adjusting side-pull caliper brakes. But the center-pull design is what I started out on with these conversions, first with Fixie and then with this bike. I’ve adjusted these 5,000 times, and enjoyed precisely zero of them. Now, look, it’s not rocket science, I know. But to test your setup you have to cinche that cockbit down tight, and that’s always a pain in the ass for me. Wrench on the back, socket on the front, fingers bleeding from the brake cable pokery invariably, and somehow it’s never properly adjusted the first time, and I have to adjust it two or three times. Let’s not forget you’re either holding the brakes together somehow, or you’ve sized it, let go of the brakes, then are setting the cockbit blind and hoping you didn’t slip a bit.

I have a tool called the Third Hand by some, that grabs the cable and pulls it tight against the tool itself, freeing you up for the aforementioned wrench and socket action, but I’ve had little success with it, due to clearance issues. The porteur rack makes access very tight.

I think what also frustrates me is that you go through this and the end result is a brake that works OHHKAY. The stopping power on those little chalkboard eraser pads is there, but not THERE there. And you have none of the mechanical advantage of side-pulls when using a finger lever. You aren’t supposed to be using the finger lever, actually. That’s part of the problem.

I haven’t decided yet whether I’ll keep this brake as is or just through a simple side pull on there. We’ll see, once I get to take it out for a test… which, looking at the longevity of this storm system, may be April.

Note also the space madness of getting the brake cable housing looped down to the hanger. I don’t like that one bit. So far.

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Related posts:

1. one lever, two brakes
2. Bike Build Process Log- Rapscallion: The Hanging
3. Bike Build Process Log: Villain- Cranks, Brakes and the Like

next category of NAHBS builds for you is "unique concepts" these are bikes which stood out as … well, unique. things i hadn’t expected or things i hadn’t seen before or just really imaginative things.

first up is the EVIL DEAD BIKE, which i gave it’s own post already.

next up is this crazy madness, a reconstruction of what’s called a "whippet," a bike which was very successful from 1885 to 1888, before the invention of the pneumatic tire. this was made by a frame builder who worked from a line drawing and some museum photos…

since bikes of the time had solid rubber tyres, they were super uncomfortable, and the whippet attempted to compensate for that with details such as a front shock…

and a mid-body shock…

the brake was a crazy contraption which utilized a lever that pushed on a bar that wrapped around the body of the bike (the silver bar just above the frame’s top tube)…

to a metal lever and plate in the back, where the plate rubbed against the solid rubber tyre…

apparently they were very uncomfortable to ride because they were too squishy, and since they had a total of seven pivot points in the design, tensioning the chain would gradually cause the two head tubes to become misaligned, resulting in the front scissor linkage losing functionality when the bars were turned. but still. a crazy bike.

next up is this WTF track bike…

personally, i can’t see any functional reason for this bike to exist, but this is a show, so there you go. it may look like the steering column is fixed, but in fact the stem (polished) is separate from the frame (gray), which is why there’s that other little connection point going from the head tube to the top tube.

next up, the "mudbike." i fucking LOVE this bike and it’s only real unique concept is the paint job. it’s a CX bike that is painted to look like it’s got mud spray on it….

it may not look like much in that picture, but upon closer inspection, you can see that each individual dot is hand-placed using a spoke nipple dipped in a different shade of brown and then touched to the frame. it has over 1500 individual dots over the frame and fork, entirely hand-done…

another one i just absolutely loved was a tandem specifically designed for a parent and child to ride, but unlike other kid bikes, this one put the kid in the front…

now look closely at how that works. the kid’s handlebars are fixed, they don’t do anything. the parents’ handlebars are what turn the front wheel, as on a front bucket cargo bike. but the kids’ pedals turn in conjunction with the parents,’ as on a proper tandem. i LOVE this bike. i’m a huge fan of the kid being on the front (as a rule), because they can actually see what’s going on and begin to feel what it’s like to ride independently.

next up is a crazy and unique brake detail that i noticed on an otherwise simple build…

i don’t know what’s up with that dodgy swede, but note the brake "levers." the brake cable is strung between two fixed points (with the housing on the inner point, as per the usue), but it has beads on it. so when you grab the beads and pull, you’re actually pulling the cable itself. pretty trick.

and finally, the deLorean bikes. these bikes aren’t made by DMC, obviously. they’re homage to the classic stainless steel, gullwing-door sportscar which may or may not be capable of time travel…

they had a sweet, simple city bike with a belt drive and an internally geared rear hub…

and a beautiful roadie which, while boasting questionable wheels, did have a sweet champagne cage on the seat tube…

stay tuned for more NAHBS image posts. i think next i’ll post up the fat tyre bikes.

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1. more NAHBS – cargo bikes
2. NAHBS things of interest
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i figured it’d be easiest if i split up my huge load of NAHBS pictures into categories of bike so that i can post them a little more slowly and efficiently, so here’s your first dose of custom awesomeness, the cargo bikes.

we’ll start with my very favorite bike so far, this ultra sweet bike/trailer combo. note the R3-approved colorway…

here’s a beautiful detail shot of the wooden insert between the frame tubes…

here’s a detail of the trailer, in which you can see that it has it’s own disc brake, somehow activated by that shift lever on the trailer mounting bracket (midway between the rim and hub of the bike’s rear wheel). i imagine you use it with your foot somehow, though that doesn’t seem very efficient. an exceptional detail, however, is the chris king headsets used to allow the trailer to swing side to side through turns, as well as to tilt laterally over uneven road surfaces. very savvy…

here’s another detail of the trailer itself. just gorgeous with the dual fender-mounted tail lights, the tarp covering, the wood platform — a real piece of art…

here’s a final shot of the bike, from the other side, so that you can see the double kickstand. one assumes that you use one stand when the bike’s on it’s own and another when you have the trailer attached, for further stability. very sweet…

i’m sure you can quickly figure out why i love this particular cargo hauler…

this is a BEAUTIFUL long bucket hauler. note the belt drive, the sweet little leather pouch between the frame tubes, and that interesting chainguard concept…

i just love this next one cause it looks so fun. mismatched color tyres, reverse trike frame, just really colorful and wonderful. i like that lashing that holds the canvas of the bucket to the frame of the bucket, too…

that’s it for now, but don’t worry, i have lots and lots more pictures from yesterday, and i’m sure i’ll get some more today. if any more cargo bikes come up, i’ll add them to this post, but in the meantime, stay tuned for the next installment, which will be "unique concepts."

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2. Cargo Bikes: How Much is Too Much?
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So the fun thing about Rapscallion, my toddler toting cargo fixie, is that I can transform it into a pretty reasonable flyer in a very short period of time. I realized I never posted what that was about, so here we are.

The Gomoh front rack is secured by two bolts in the base of the rack, attaching to a mount that runs behind the brake calipers, and then two bolts that secure it to the forks down by the wheel. Pop, pop, pop and pop. It’s off. Mounting bracket remains. You could put a rusty auger bit on this if you wanted to scare any cyclist-mauling ambulances.

The baby seat is held onto a mounting plate by two long pegs that are further secured by a cotter pin. I leave the mount on, and remove the seat quick-snap. The mounting plate is of a spacer type so it sits on the steerer. I considered quickly removing it too, the first time I did this, but was lazy about it. Now, I look at the plate as a forgiving object when smashed into, compared to the isolated spacer stack on the tall steerer when it’s absent, if one were to, oh, I don’t know, skid like a silly fool.

It’s not glamorous, but man it feels light. Partly this is because of contextual awareness: I’m so used to this thing having 20 pounds of rack and 30 pounds of daughter on the front wheel. So freed from that, it zips. Frankly, the one complaint I have is that it’s not fast enough, because it has a 20 cog on there, designed for that normal loading.

So one of the main reasons I took this bike out this way yesterday was that it was raining, and this doubles as my rain bike. But also, I wanted to see if I could start expanding my skidding beyond the comfort zone of the bulls on Crook. I’m happy to report a few observations:

- I can skid off risers, though not as easily yet as bulls. Though, when I put my mind to it, I found it pretty easy to get forward.
- I can skid on SOMA Everwears MUCH easier than my bulletproof Gatorskins. This stands to reason, as the gators are textured and grippy, and the Everwears are softer rubber, and well regarded for skidding anyway. But my first time comparing, so wow.
- The unwinding bottom bracket cup has not renewed it’s pernicious unwinding since I took it home and got up IN there. We’ll see.

Anyway, transformations! And yes, in Stay Limber Mode, this is called RapscalLean.

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I love the combination of finery and klugery here. Like the polished copper forks and the mangled rear brake cable. Pics:

http://fixedworldwide.tumblr.com/post/1 … inglespeed

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My Xtracycle build is still months away, but this weekend I took the bike out that will become the Xtracycle project bike (codename: Brute) for a grocery run in neighboring Corte Madera. I’ve taken Wee-Z on trailer-based rides like this before, and frankly while doable, on a road bike you feel pushed around by the load behind you. This time, using my 29er, it was a different animal. I had purchase on the road, so the push/pull of the trailer wasn’t as bad, and definitely was more stable in the upright and elevated ride position.

Here we are at Joe Trade, preparing to shop. Just a few things…

Uhm.

On the way back, the 29er really earned it’s stripes, not only in current use but as the bike on which the project will be built. First off, understand I was carrying a shit ton of live load. The 23 pounds of trailer (lightest on the market more or less) plus almost 30 pounds of Wee-Z, plus 3 full bags of groceries, a gallon of milk, and an insulated double size bag filled with a six pack ( ‘Microbrews for life!’) two bottles of red, a bottle of champagne, and 43 cans of cat food.

That’s a lot of load.

The suspension was nice to have. Most MTB Xtracycle conversions involve locking out the front suspension, and maybe there’s a reason to do that, but for now, I was benefitting from it to some degree, as the power suckage that comes as a result wasn’t a noticeable problem yet. Know what else came in handy? The effing GRANNY GEAR, kids. I rode fixed to LA, but I sire as hell needed a granny to get up the climb from Corte Madera. Again, lots of load.
Also, those disc brakes stop nicely. Especially when a phalanx of deer are flying across your path. There were maybe 9 of them.

At home, I discovered Wee-Z, literally buried in foodstuffs, was fast asleep, so I did what any reasonable person would: made a steak sandwich and a mimosa and recharged. For science!

Pre-load Stress Test: Successful.

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I mentioned to Lung over the weekend that I was aggravated by the current state of Wrongbike. It was, most recently, built up sort of like a rando, with wood fenders, a leather portage strap, leather wrapped mustache bars, weird long brake lever imported from the land of the rising tole, and a front porteur rack with a folding pannier basket. However, while I’ve ridden that thing around MV on townie rides, grocery or coffee runs (it was the best coffee bike yet, having so much vertical strappy space in the basket for the coffee cup) this time, I rode it home after a late evening at work. In freezing cold. In normal clothes. Everything was wrong about this ride. No strap ins, poor lighting, saddle dropping from tension issues, stem too tall, bars pushing me too far forward, etc etc. It was simply not comfortable for me for any distance. I had tried to build that up using parts from the previous Rapscallion baby bike build after I swapped frames on that project, but it was clearly an unsuccessful experiment. What to do…

FIX IT!

While Wee-Z dutifully ‘fixit-ed’ her Elmo hobby horse, I pulled the front end apart. Off came the wire basket (it’s rattly and irritating and off center, though functional.) Off came the ginormous Nitto Tecnomic stem that was required for the baby seat mounting. Off came the mustache bars, to be handed off to Lung in our usual cycle of passing parts back and forth, specifically these bars, which have been mounted on 55 bikes between us. Off came the brake lever and cabling.

Dream indeed! Well, anyway, this was the first time I needed to tension a Brooks Swallow, and I’m not sure why, other than it’s generally my oldest one. That made a world of difference. The saddle mounting position will change once the bike is done. I finally got the spare Nitto bulls on the old vintage stem from Wrongbike’s earliest incarnation as a beater Vista from the 70s. It had been attempted before, but was 1-2mm too large for the stem clamp. Finally got it up IN there. Now I wait for my usual elkhide and a finger-pull lever and we’ll see what’s what…

Carry on…

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On the way to work, I sometimes take an alternate route. Instead of riding down Shoreline and to Miller and through Mill Valley, I’ll go the other way, climb the hill towards Mt. Tam, and take a steep route through the residential streets up to a crest and then down the other side and into town, which is a great workout and very challenging. Today, right as I was about to turn off to this alternate route, I decided to take advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and keep going up Highway 1 to a place called ‘Four Corners’ which is the gateway for the descent into Stinson Beach/Pt Reyes, the ascent up Mt. Tam, back down Hwy 1 towards our house, or down to Mill Valley. I’ve never ridden this on my fixed gear and it was difficult but I made it. Now, I suspect that later in the season, I’ll have the leg strength and the endurance to do this more easily, and actually attempt to ride up Tam on the MASH, but at this point, mid-February on short infant-induced sleep and without breakfast, I checked the Success column on this one.

I took a few glamor photos of the bike, naturally. This is February?

Part of the incentive to do this was the weather, but also, I’m about to change rear cogs to a 17t which will push me to 76 inchgear, and this sort of climb will be that much harder.

The biggest setback this morning was road construction about half-way up that had traffic blocked in both directions. I didn’t want to stop, but I was the first vehicle to be blocked by the rotating one-way traffic as managed by the work crews, so I did circles until it was our time. I managed not to ride off the cliff edge, too.

I took a break once I was up on the range, after that last section of switchbacks, to get my heart rate under control. Yeesh. No gear options, no discounts. Full price effort.

The descent was actually just as hard. Usually coming up to Four Corners from downtown MV I would take Edgewood and it was a climb but you got there. Somehow I dropped down onto Molino descending today, and it was brutal. It’s space madness steep, so I was on the break I mean Brake, back pedaling, trying to stay around 10mph-15mph or so because it was a drop, a turn, another drop, and lots of commuter traffic and construction trucks barreling down the hill. It was sketchy. Plus my quads and my arms are all very sore from skid stopping so I was not taking chances.

Durrrr!

That is all! Not a bad work commute!

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Apparently SRAM’s summer racing season offerings will include a hydraulic brake system for road/cyclocross. This made me aware of two things:
1. Why my brake levers on Brute are so far away from the bar (master cylinder therein)
2. The issue with disc brakes and skinny tyres

http://velonews.competitor.com/2012/02/ … ked_205943

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It’s getting good in a hurry!

After my last post, I found it even easier to skid on the way home. At the house, which is on a hill, I was locked out. Thus, I started doing intervals up and down two of the steepish sections, practicing. That’s what the kids call sessioning. HAR.

And lo, another benchmark. Rubber down.

It’s like this and uh

like that and uh

It’s like this and uh

like that and uh

It’s like this and uh

like that and uh

It’s like this and uh

like that and uh.

After which I chilled until the next episode.

Side note: the last stretch of them, my wifebot with kids in car were behind me. She didn’t understand why I was climbing UP the hill past our house so she followed me. I turned around, she flipped a U, and then I descended and got four good skids in. I thought to myself, self, if being run over by your own family isn’t motivation, what is?

I asked if she saw the skids, in a moment of Lungish enthusiasms, and she stared at me quizzically and said ‘the what?’…

:::

And, I should mention, while it was damp this morning by thick fog, I was skidding all over. One brake all commute. This afternoon I hopped out for ‘a coffee’ and got up IN there, thanks to the morning rains, and I was finally in that place… where you can just wave the back end around.

That is all.
I’m almost 39. Heh.

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