Category: Fine Bikes

Pi Day

One more hour ’til Pi Day.

I like that. Nerd holiday. Crafty bake-y nerd holiday. I don’t do anything to celebrate, or eat pie, I just enjoy the fact of it. It tickles my OCD number-thing neuron, and also my idiotic-pun neuron. Their dendritic spines are reaching out towards each other…

Okay, the freaky over-sharing is over. Let the freaky over-sharing begin! Next bike:

200…4? …6? Gary Fisher Utopia

Gigantic Schwalbe Big Apple Front, Schwalbe 47mm Marathon in back. Sad Face.
Pink Cascadia Fenders. Front on the rear, rear on the front. DIY mounts.
Kona P2 fork, Salsa Woodchipper bars (42mm?), Dia Compe 287v levers.
Two rings, two cogs, no tensioner. Only works in the ‘big’ gear.
Lots and lots of ugly stickers. The best comment I ever got on this bike was from a Rivendell Owners Bunch friend.

“wow.”

I think it was more of an “oh my” “wow” than an all-caps “WOW THAT BIKE IS FREAKIN’ AWESOME” “wow.” Which it is.

Very likely this stem will go back on the Bontrager to support a Titec or Jones bar. I have a prettier silver stem that should work. I like the Kona fork. A 26″ version would work with this setup (my “no money-back” guarantee), but would change the head angle.

I really like the fat fat fat tires. I’m not that into this bike since the rear tire’s bead broke.

The pedals are tiny MKS GR9s with (some) skateboard grip tape to make them useable for my size 13 feet. Really? 13? I used to be an 11.5 narrow. Did you know feet, ears, and noses never stop growing? That’s a Tom Waits “Grab Bag” fun fact that might not actually be true.

Another fun fact: this bike used to belong to James Minarck, and is featured on Cyclofiend.
And… HAPPY PI DAY!

Mostly Stock 1999 Bontrager Privateer

Steel OX Platinum, wishbone seatstays, special Bontrager-specific black-crown SID fork
Bontrager “by Chris King” hubs; replacement rear rim (Ritchey Girder)
Geax Blade on the front, Panaracer Fire XC Pro on the back
9 speed cassette, XTR derailleur, XT front derailleur, Suntour bar-end shifters
On-One Midge bars – flared offroad drops; Newbaum’s cloth tape in blue and orange
Ugly stem, spray-painted blue

This year I want to try Jeff Jones’ H-bars or Loop bars. I’ll keep an eye out for the budget Titec version. Hopefully I’ll ride enough to wear out these tires, too.

63.5mm (25″) Ross Super Grand Tour

Double-fixed setup – Surly Dingle 17/21 and Shimano 600 40t/44t rings
Moustache bars with one lever and one ‘stub’
Old “Jim Blackburn” front rack, with “Schwinn Approved” saddlebag mounted
E6 halogen light mounted to the rack.
Front Shimano 600 sidepull brake
Shimano 600 25mm seatpost, Ideale 2000 saddle
Black Shimano Alfine Dynamo hub, black spokes and Cold Fusion rim from IRO Cycles
Kogswell fixed/fixed hub, silver spokes, black CR-18 rim
Surly Dingle 17/21 and Dura-Ace 15t cogs
V-O fluted metal fenders

I plan to put two fender-stay drawbolts on each fender, and mount them closer to the ends. Not as low as on the Quickbeam, but more out of foot-range. I think the aesthetics will be better on the front, too, if the stays attach to the fender about 3.5″ from the end.

Today is “March Forth,” which pleases me. Good day to leave on a trip, but we’re just going to Mount Hood. Yesterday I started my March project of documenting my bikes, so I can check back on them next year.

The state of the Quickbeam, March 3rd, 2012

Weight as shown (bag, tools, hubs, light, pedal decks, U-lock): 36.5 lbs

– Red Sturmey Archer S3X 3-speed fixed gear hub – shifter mounted on the seat stay
– Black SON dynamo hub
– Shimano 600 cranks, single 42t “rocket ring”
– Nitto M12 with Wald basket (with green sign)
– Carradice Cadet on the front
– Single E6 light, upside-down on a spacer tube
– Eggbeater Candies, large-size skate deck pedals
– Green Brooks B17
– Green-painted Salsa stem
– Original WTB Nitto Dirt Drops
– Green Newbaum’s bar tape
– Stock Tiagra levers. One missing gray plastic bit.
– Front Tektro CR720 cantilever, red Yokozuna road pads
– Rear stock brakes, red Koolstops
– Green-painted Velo-Orange ‘Zeppelin’ Fenders – double nuts
– Mud flaps made from green leather shoe tongues

The Oregon builders going to NAHBS staged a preview of their bikes in Portland at the Ace Hotel. They’ll have a block of booths at NAHBS, which is a good idea for regional builders.
More on the Flickr, and Bike Portland has nice daylight shots.

Vendetta NAHBS bike, originally uploaded by BikeTinker.

DiNucci, originally uploaded by BikeTinker.

Another pretty DiNucci. Curtis Odom hubs and cranks. Yow. The new highwater mark in pretty hubs.

Ira Ryan / Trucker Racks NAHBS, originally uploaded by BikeTinker.

Ira Ryan / Trucker trailer. Two perpendicular King headsets make the u-joint for the trailer. Pretty cool.

Ira Ryan / Trucker Racks NAHBS, originally uploaded by BikeTinker.

signal mixte rack, originally uploaded by BikeTinker.

The Signal mixte was maybe the prettiest bike at the show.

ahearne, originally uploaded by BikeTinker.

Monster. The fenders are rubber (inner tube?) over a framework. Racks and cages for days. Flasks galore. Plexi rack tops.

Winter stainless seat cluster, originally uploaded by BikeTinker.

Winter Bicycles’ matte stainless bike. Unusual seat cluster, and the stem has a light mount.

*I called Vendetta “Ventana” like 40 times – Vulture busted me on it. Thanks.

Simple errand on the first snow day in McMinnville. It had all melted off the town, except in the nooks and crannies. Snow started falling again right before nightfall.

I have a new pair of XL pedal decks on the Ross. I need to cut them down a bit, since the right one hits the crank sometimes.

After Kung Fu on Tuesday I stopped to take some pictures of the Christmas lights, and had to inclue the bike I’ve been riding exclusively, ever since I built the Alfine dynamo wheel.

With the big front bag I can easily carry my uniform and shoes, and the Nex fits perfectly in the side pocket, even with the adapter and 58mm Biotar. Man, I like this bike! It was my first fixie, inspired by Sheldon Brown, now more by Jan Heine.

The low trail geometry (steep headtube, long fork rake) really does handle better with the bag up front. Without it, it seems a little light, especially coming off the Quickbeam. This is an American copy of a French touring bike, I think, and I’ve gone with that. Even the saddle is French, an Ideale 2000.

I didn’t realize that girl was wandering through every photo. I think she might have been a little loaded.

Read Patrick’s for sale posting on the RBW group.

See the good pictures – details and overview. lugggzzzz…

My friend Patrick is selling sold* his 1958 Rene Herse bicycle. Classic (legendary) French constructeur bike in a daily-rider incarnation. All set for a randonneur around 6 feet tall who likes blue. If I had the money, I’d buy it and just stoop a little. The top tube is only one cm shorter than my Ross…

The salient points:

• 61cm c-c Seat Tube, 57cm c-c Top Tube
• Old Phil/Mavic wheels
• Fresh blue powdercoat
• Lefol hammered aluminum fenders
• Classic canvas and leather luggage set included
• Racks and TA bottle cages included (they’re also blue)
• Sanyo BB dynamo, IQ fly headlight, Soubitez taillight
• Simplex retrofriction downtube levers, simplex derailleurs
• 14-28 Shimano 5 speed freewheel (looks new, clicks a little)
• Extra bulbs, 2 extra bottom bracket assemblies,
• No pedals unless you want rat traps with clips and straps
• You pay packing and shipping from Albuquerque, NM

See the original horrible inside-the-garage photo

*to someone who saw the it here, I think.

I’ve been a fan of the Jones spaceframe for several years now. Go look at it. If you don’t like it, I don’t know what I can say to you…

With the introduction of steel production models from Taiwan, Jeff Jones has suddenly put Spaceframe ownership into the realm of possibility, with a sub-$2000 outlay to get rolling with the full Jones package: space frame, truss fork, loop bar and 135mm front hub.

His truss fork can also take a… wait for it… a fatbike front wheel for massive traction and suspensionless suspension. I’d still need a multi-hundred dollar front wheel for the fatbike approach, but I like this idea a lot.

You can get a Jones diamond-frame and fat unicrown fork for only $750, but the downside of of the Jones approach for me is… I want the whole package! Spaceframe, truss fork, loop bar, special front hub for stiffness, custom 6-speed cassette on 22/32 rings (plenty range, dishless wheel)… it just seems like Jeff Jones has thought through all these innovations and details so thoroughly.

To bankroll the Full Experience, I’d need to cannibalize the Gravel Roadster, and sell my prized but undervalued-in-the-marketplace bikes. Even then, I’d probably come up short. Bontragers are holding steady at $350 on Craigslist, and I’d get like $1100 for the Quickbeam. (The Bontrager is still a $1000 bike, dammit!) A couple hundred dollars for a couple other bikes and weird wheels, and I could probably get a 29er setup on the trail. A better option, though, would be to win it in The Dirt Rag sweepstake! Oops, I wasn’t going to share that strategy…