My practicing of ambi skids is still slow going. However, my other tasks continue to improve. I’ve been practicing skidding on different bars (and by extension, different geometries)… certainly Crook is the easiest to skid with, being a pursuit frame, and the bulls letting you get way forward. But I’ve now been able to skid on Rapscallion (the baby cargo bike, currently now only a cargo bike), Wrongbike and Carpetbagger. That’s in the drops (Wrongbike), on risers (Rapscallion) and on rising arcs (Carpetbagger)… but the Wrongbike situation leads to the next task: sit skids.

Being able to skid from the tops of the pista bars on wrongbike led to my cracking the sit skid. Before this, I could sort of accomplish it by getting into the drops or bulls or whatever, and I could get a bit of sit skid, but not much. Once I could skid from the bartops (granted, not long skids) I was able to focus on the lift and skid necessary to skid seated. I love it.

More arrows, you see! Now I can, for the first time, ride without my finger resting out of habit on the lever. If I see something happening, I can initiate a sit skid while getting to the brake.

Next up, more ambi skid practice, and I’m in the early stages of working on one hand sit skid. Which, of course, means coffee carriage.

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1. Look Ma No Breaks
2. You Don’t Stop
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Love how there’s a notch in the lever for the bar end brake levers.

http://trdl.tumblr.com/post/18452959834 … ke-and-the

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The other day, when I was lamenting not getting to ride in the rain (who does that) I noted that I’d post about my ride kit for rain days. I have a base kit that goes with me every day (if all goes as according to plan) including tools, spare stuff, a compressed shopping bag/ backpack, an asthma inhaler for emergencies, and a Heat Bullet. But I also have special sub kits that are conditional. For example, a cold weather kit, certain toolkit adds depending on bike being used, and so on. One such conditional kit is my rain kit.

I keep the other kits bundled in parcels in another container but this one gets a bin of its own.
Within:

- Pair of old Vittoria 1975s (these are the ones that got me to LA and were recently retired as the heels are breaking down) which I use for rain conditions these days.

- Waterproof ankle booties

- Clear waterproof jacket (large enough to cover a backpack)

- Brooks saddle cover

- Helmet cover (a new edition)

I’ve used the rain jacket several times, but the saddle cover I’ve always been too lazy to use. Now that I’m riding in the rain on a regular basis though, I’m finally using it properly. To be fair, previously my rain rides were on the baby bike, Rapscallion, with the baby seat removed, and that has an old Brooks saddle beyond help, and no other leather goods on it. But now that I’m riding any and all bikes, I wanted to take better care of the gear. Of course, leather doesn’t dissolve in rain, as many an animal will confirm for you. But it does stretch and such, something less desirable for saddles and bar wrap. Ironically enough, I had TWO of these saddle protectors when I did ALC and didn’t bring them. Subsequently the bikes were wet a few mornings as they were racked in the open.

Here’s that rain helmet cover. I never had one of these before. I never saw the need. But then again, I never deliberately rode in the rain. Sure, I’ve been caught out in the rain on long rides before, and whatever, you get wet. But one annoying thing about vented bike helmets is that eventually that water gets through your cap and then you get really soaked, water down the face etc… especially when one has no hair. So, not for your typical light rain day, but for a day like today, when I left the house in pouring rain? It makes a world of difference.

Here’s one of those Brooks Saddle protectors. It has an elastic rim, and then a cinch in back, as well as a clever velcro strap that you can secure on a seat rail just in case.

The remaining component of my rain kit is the fold-down European fender. I love this thing.

I was behind schedule last night so I brought the bike up to the house and then remembered it was on the deck, around 11pm, so I pulled it in the house and gave it a wipe down. In the morning, it was a feature item for my daughter, who helped get her mother and brother awake through the repeated use of the bell. As is her wont.

Yesterday was a light rain day. Today was a POURING rain day. And I had a great ride in. Yesterday was wrongbike, as above, and today was Crook. Good stuff!

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2. Meh to the Rain! [The Sucky Thing About Rain Days]
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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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1. one lever, two brakes
2. Bike Build Process Log- Rapscallion: The Hanging
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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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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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Related posts:

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2. Cargo Bikes: How Much is Too Much?
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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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Related posts:

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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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This morning I picked up the 29er that will be the basis for my Xtracycle kid carrier.

Here’s a Pro Tip: deflate the front tyre when utilizing a Saris rack or similar type that clamps the wheel. The 29er came with giant knobbies. I cinched it down as best as I could, double strapped it at a secondary point on the same wheel, and of course at the rear, gave it a firm tug, all seemed well. All was not well. Looking in your rear-view on the GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE and watching your bike slowly fold down flat behind you is nerve-wracking, and not from a loss of bike perspective, but a loss of OTHER VEHICLE PASSENGERS int he case of calamity perspective. Fortunately I didn’t have to pull over, as I was beyond the north tower and got over with hazards on and popped into the Vista Point lot to re-secure it. Very little damage other than some wheelstay scratching, but eff it, it’s a mountain bike. The highlight here, beyond determining that a deflated tyre could allow the wheel to be rammed up IN there and secured, was that the strap system of my Saris is officially bombproof. Three straps held the bike onto the rack in the most extreme cantilever possible, right? Man.

Anyway, all ended well, and it’s now in my Shoppe awaiting butchery, but there’s a cautionary tale for you.

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2. why it looks like it does in a cyclist’s shop
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I’m not generally one for the inefficiency of single or even double bike racks, but when one stores one’s ride in one’s home, you have to be clever about it to make it aesthetically pleasing*, and the cantilever with double-grabs (SugarDVD) here is pretty cool.

http://www.gizmag.com/bike-valet-bicycle-storage/21234/

*Or, like Lung, you roll bikes into this corner or that and then stare at them.

UPDATED TO INCLUDE NEW SITE. SEE BELOW FOR DETAILS.

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