Update Mar 12 2026: I got a couple free orange medical bags (empty) off FB Marketplace and moved the decaleur mount off Angelina’s old Police Line Do Not Cross bag/purse. The orange is much redder, but the bag is pretty great. I will figure out how to add a tombstone pocket and mayyybe a half-basket under it. Baskets are more Riv than Jitensha, but so danged useful.
El Patio enchiladas would have probably fit snugly under the flap but I busted the buckle trying to lengthen the straps.(more…)
I’ve had this wheel for a number of years and only used it occasionally, but after I broke my wrist right before New Years Day 2025, I replaced the fixed wheelset with this Sturmey Archer two speed kickback wheelset.
This new Fitz Porcorosso is an update to my 2019 Fitz Supermoto. Both are custom drop bar, rim brake, go anywhere (carefully) bikes. Big tires, big dropper post. The main update with the new bike is “make it bikepacking” with zits galore on the forks and frame. Fitz Cyclez
I bought the frameset used at Christmas time 2022. The stem had been sold, but I got a matching Valentine Red stem from a friend a couple days later. Currently I’m using a slightly taller stem with less reach, but may go back to the red one.
It’s built up with 3×9 parts off the Fitz. XTR rear derailleurs and Ritchey Logic cranks have been signature parts for me since they were current.
A friend gave me (‘gave,’ not ‘gifted’) a set of gray brakes which kicked off the build set: gray PNW pedals and tape, but the tape discolors unpleasantly; gray XTR hubs I built into wheels with DT Swiss A319 rims (cheap wide good); gray Cambium saddle with a cool topo map pattern that looked good with the bar tape when the bar tape looked good.
Bontrager Privateer Comp drop bar rigid mountain bike
2023 New Year’s update. Knobby tires, original XT cranks back from the Fitz. I moved the RTP tires to my sister in law’s Trek 930, and I sold off all the XTR cranks and funky bottom brackets, including the XTR/Jericho setup (which would have looked amazing on the Fitz…).
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Bontrager Privateer Comp “gravel bike”
2022 New Year’s update. Rat Trap Pass tires, Nitto riser threadless stem, XTR cranks. Unicanitor saddle for all-weather riding. I stole the old-style Bontrager innertube sleeve to protect the seat post slot; I got the idea from the RoadLite, and found old catalog pictures showing other Bontragers with it.
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One of my current older project/brainworms is to convert my Bontrager to a fat-tired road bike. Bars are On-One Midge bars with bar-end shifters. I swapped the SID Dual-Air for a Kona P2 canti fork, and bought some phenomenally expensive (for me) Compass Rat Trap Pass tires. I’d been planning the conversion for some time, but changed the fork the day after I rode down Mt Tam and back to the top with knobbies and a suspension fork.
I visited a couple of cool bikeshops in Sebastopol, and got some bar tape, since I like to buy something when I visit a shop. Black bar tape replaces the dingy faded cloth tape, looking a little more intentional. Spot the electrical tape fanciness on the stem!
Here’s the “finished” bike, still wanting an LD stem (UPDATE: I tried an LD stem, and it was too tall), and A23 rims for tubeless setup. Maybe a setback (or just fresher-looking) 27.0 seatpost (UPDATE: I got a Thomson post).
Bontrager Privateer Comp with drop bars and rigid fork
I rode it for a week with the rigid fork. Less funky dive in the corners. I like it. I chose the canti-only fork because it’s lighter, I don’t like extraneous bits, and I’m happy with V-brakes on this bike.
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This was always a fine bike, and it came with Bontrager-modified King hubs. Keith Bontrager once told an interviewer they were the one piece of kit he wished he had a secret stash of.
Bontrager Privateer with drop bars and suspension fork
I sold my S3X/dyno wheelset and halogen lights, leaving the Ross without a front wheel (because I didn’t go get one off the pile in the shed and put a tire on it), and I took the chain for the Singular, or maybe the Quickbeam after I rode it on gravel paths in a rainstorm.
I had planned to make this into a geared roadbike, with the old SON hub and new IQ Cyo LED headlight, but no derailleur hanger or shifter bosses make it seem better off remaining a fixie. Maybe the Quickbeam needs to become the fendered winter commuter, and the Ross setup as the fixed/free double-single “fast” roadbike.
The seller (friend Pudge) says, “There are some chips and rubs, no dents. If I kept it I would probably have had it repainted, but I’m a bit fastidious about such things.” I read that as “almost flawless,” but I am NOT fastidious about such things. I love the solid blue color for this style of bike. It’s an early Bombadil, with the parallel twin top tube, not the diaga-tube, and without the later “extra” mid-stays.
If you’re interested in the bike as built, you’re going to have to make an offer, which might necessitate some research to get values on the unique parts build. Ghisallo wooden rims, creme Hetre tires, and the great custom “cats” chainring. Put on your sunglasses, this is awesome.
56 cm frame; Nitto Lugged Stem, Mini Front Rack and Bullmoose handlebars; Brooks B-17 Select and Plump Grips; Ghisallo beechwood rims; Weigle-modified Campy front and White Industries ENO rear hubs; Bruce Gordon cantis with replacement cork pads to accommodate wooden rims; Paul Canti levers; Stronglight 49D crankset with Bespoke Chainrings “Solida Cats” 44 tooth chainring; Phil Wood pedals; Berthoud Saddlebag and rack; Grand Bois Hetres.
The Gravel Roadster has given up many of its parts (wheels, bars, brakes and seat) to the Singular Gryphon frameset I’ve been riding for a month or so. I’ll review that bike later, but I want to get some real 29er tires for it. The Gryphon is a mountain bike, and the Gravel Roadster was a road bike. “29er Road Bike” – Can I trademark that?
This is a 43cm Fisher Utopia frame (very light aluminum hybrid) with a Kona P2 fork, single ring and 7 or 9 speed cassette. I’m 6’2″. If I were to build this from blank paper (or an actual budget), it would be exactly the same, but in a larger size. This one frame fits a huge range of rider sizes, and if I can get a longer seatpost and another wheelset I’ll probably resurrect it.
Right now the frame, fork, headset, stem, crankset and seatpost are wrapped up in that Niner box. Any takers? Cheap.
I sent an email around to the cyclists at work, alerting them to the Bruce Gordon Retail Space Grand Opening, with the caveat that “he has a reputation as a curmudgeon, but he’s always been nice to me.”
I laughed out loud when Bruce came through passing out tiny buttons that said “Bruce Gordon Was Nice To Me!!” He had bags of them, and a pin press for making them.
Someone told me that earlier in the day, Ross Shafer had taken one, looked at it and handed it back. “I can’t take this, Bruce, you’ve NEVER been nice to me!” Apparently they were an answer to pins he’d made years ago, saying “Bruce Gordon Was Rude To Me.” My friend Mark showed me one later, along with a BG Cycles pocket protector.
I’ve met Bruce at a couple bike shows, but introduced myself as a friend of some of his old Dempsey’s friends (see above). After hearing some good Bruce stories (“You can’t afford one of my bikes – CLICK”) around the (Dempsey’s Red Rooster and PSA) beer kegs, it seems that a beer connection might start things off on a much better footing than a bike connection.
The bikes are great. I saw them at a NAHBS, and bought a CD of excellent photos of them (“I paid five dollars for a HEINEKEN on the train – I think I can buy a $5 CD of bike pictures.”) It was very cool to see them in a smaller venue (if you will).
The retail space is extremely small, with Two Fish, White Industries, Bruce Gordon and Honjo items for sale. Nice stuff. MOAR!
After looking at all the bikes twice, once for the overall effect of 37 years of bikes, one bike a year, all in Bruce’s size, and then again to see the details, I drifted around the shop space, then hung out by the keg as the head of the Sonoma County Bike Coalition held court.
Integrated seat mast?
Bruce Gordon, 1977.
Road-going fixed gear? Single brake, bell, light, rack?
Bruce Gordon, 1980
Green tigerstripe mountain bike with a fastback seat cluster?
Bruce Gordon, 1983
There was some cool engine-fancy happening. My first car was an MGB, my dad had (has) a Triumph motorcycle, Angelina has a Vespa, and we were married in a hearse, so I had some things to talk about on that front, too.
Around the kegs, we chatted about hiding new bicycles in friends’ garages, Cadillac engines vs flathead Fords, and how long people keep riding the same bicycle. Gary (king of the tap) said, “My wife is still riding the bike I made for her when I owned Merlin.”
I chatted with Maurice Tierney (he lives around here now), and he encouraged me to contact the new Dirt Rag art director, and maybe do some more illustrations for them. I said I would, but I haven’t.
First day of Winter… 58 degrees tonight sitting on my porch in California. It’s been a while since I documented my bikes; the Quickbeam has C-Lines and thornflickers, but it’s about the same. Except no fenders or lighting, since it never rains here and never gets dark. So… pretty much totally different. The weight of the bike as shown is 25.5 lbs.
I went for a little spin around downtown, the JC, and the MacDonald neighborhoods. There are Snoopys all over town, since Charles Schultz lived here.
The Quickbeam currently has a 44t ugly Rocket Ring, a 15t D/A cog and a 17/21 Surly Dingle cog. With 37mm Soma C-Lines, it’s geared with 80″, 71″, and 57″. I think the 44t ring is going to move to the Gryphon to replace the 48t ring, which means the Ross will probably give up a ring or two, or I’ll just put the stock 40/32 back on the Quickbeam. This Arabesque 600 crank belongs on the Ross anyway.
I still love the WTB dirt drops on the Quickbeam. The tape faded, and the shellac turned it white in the rain. The Salsa stem might need a respray with the Plasti-kote “Shamrock,” if I can get another can.
The Soma C-Lines are very nice tires. I didn’t like the Tektro 720s when I first got them, but they improved greatly with Koolstop pads. I put the original low-profile brakes back on the rear, though, since these hit my heels. I think every Quickbeam should have a Nitto M12 rack. It connects to the canti posts for a clean look, and it’s very strong. I use a basket, attached with hose clamps. Other people use zip ties, but I don’t trust ’em.
Stock Tiagra brake levers on the WTB dirt drops. The gray plastic bit on the right lever broke and disappeared a couple years ago. I was going to replace it, but it doesn’t seem to matter.
Front view. Quickbeam badge, Wilderness Trail dirt drops’ sexy swoop, green Brooks Special saddle in the background.
Side view. The bike-holder-uppers were sourced from Rivendell. This is the first time I’ve used two on one bike.
There are a couple of things I’ve been missing about Oregon*, and proximity to Portland is one of them. The super happy guy on the far right (really, I’ve never seen him NOT look like that) invited me to the Oregon Handbuilt Show (and secret pre-show Builder’s Ride** – how cool is that?), but I had to pass, since I’m back in California, and I haven’t saved up a jet-set weekend fund yet.
I should have put this up earlier in the week, like when I was home sick, but Sunday is the best day, seriously.
*Riding my bike above Rainbow Lake with the dog. Rain. Snow. McMenamins, Powells, Little Big Burger, Floating World Comics. Handmade bike pride. Pretty much everything else is in the “I’m glad I did it, but I wouldn’t trade back” category. Sorry.
