Bike Tinker

Blog

  • Mill Valley history ride

    Mill Valley history ride

    On a whim I signed up for a 9am guided Historical Society bike ride around Mill Valley, and also actually showed up.

    Highly recommended on both counts.

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  • Cleaned a bike

    Cleaned a bike

    My friend asked how often we cleaned our bikes. I said maybe twice a year? I’ll hose it off sometimes I guess.

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  • Sea Otter 2026

    Camping at a big bike event

    1. The Adventuremobile Parade

    Our campsite was at Action Corner where all the traffic got routed to parking or camping or wherever.

    E’s Vanagon
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  • Cannondale crime bike

    Cannondale crime bike

    Java Boy bars, mullet setup, 90% clean frame. Fresh BB, hottest headset

    Crizzle called this PW PROTO 1 which is very funny for those who know. Then he gave me a 1 1/4” King headset, black on black sotto voce, like the nicest headset that exists.

    Daaang son – oversized King headset

    Hilariously I was so stoked to find a 1 1/4” fork with a long enough steerer that… I bought a 700c (Rodriguez tandem?) fork instead of a 26”. Right there in the description, 100% my fault. Then I missed out on a 26” Pepperoni fork.

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  • Paul C Miller photos of 90s Russia at Rollup

    Paul C Miller photos of 90s Russia at Rollup

    Photos from Paul C Miller’s upcoming book “Momentum”

    Direct, human, well composed photos are exactly to my taste. As is the coffee here.

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  • Biketinker’s Well

    Biketinker’s Well

    It can always be deeper.

    Something I do pretty regularly and for sure pretty recently… is make a small project a BIG project.

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  • Bike gardening

    Tinkering with bicycles is like gardening with steel and aluminum.

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  • Sturmey Archer ASC

    Well lookit this. I’ve wanted a three speed fixed gear Sturmey Archer ASC for about 25 years, ever since I read about them on Sheldon Brown’s site.

    ASC three speed fixed hub!
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  • RIP Paragon Machine Works

    In Memoriam from all Biketinkers.

    $5 for 3 stickers. Venmo @biketinker and include your mailing address.

    Biketinker rip of the Paragon skull logo
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  • New stickers

    Venmo $5 for 3 stickers to @biketinker – I’ll add some kind of sticker gallery here of new and old stickers.

    Biketinker Blowpop 4” stickers
    Glow in the dark mojo valve 3” stickers

    I sold off most of my stock of stickers and patches recently to clear the way for new and weirder designs.

    Main changes are adding the Biketinker name, and not being constrained by a bicycle theme. And I use “Sticky Brand” for production, not that old donkey brand.

  • Angel Island campout

    My friend booked a campsite in December, but had to reschedule… for the most beautiful post-time-change couple days in Bay Area memory.

    First principles: What bike? Fitz or Stooge?

    Do I take the Stooge? Big ole rack!
    Do I take the Fitz?? Supposed to be my bikepacking bike, but no racks.

    My friend says SAME DAMN BIKE, and he’s not entirely wrong.

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  • Bruce Gordon show at the Marin Museum of Bicycling

    Bruce Gordon show at the Marin Museum of Bicycling

    I had seen these Bruce Gordon show bikes before, at NAHBS, at Bruce’s shop gallery, and in David DiFalco’s storage space.

    They’re still marvelous.

    Pointy deco titanium Bruce Gordon rack with Bruce’s pointy deco titanium cantilever brakes.
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  • Orange Ebisu

    Orange Ebisu

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  • Voigtlander Vito BL

    Voigtlander Vito BL with half case

    UPDATE: I gave this camera back to my friend for display. While it could be fixed, a $120 repair isn’t practical for a sub-$50 camera.

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  • O to the G

    Battery / First and Market

    The slow churn of this guy’s legs easing up through the crosswalk, then weaving across and onto the sidewalk caused a double-take. “Whoa. Fixed.”

    The colored rear tire has 2001/2026vibes. Style never goes out of style.

  • Alex Pretti Ride Saturday 1/31

    UPDATE: About 150 people came out for the ride, I led it, and some deputized citizens ran sweep and kept things on track. I want you to think about stepping in and making something happen when you see a need.

    Unity poster for Alex Pretti courtesy of Angry Catfish and Champagne Rodman
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