Stripping the paint. 1 1/4” fork and shorter stem acquired. I need to source some rub-off letters to put BIKETINKER on the top tub. Ideally I’d put drop bars on here but the stems don’t work for that. I’d also love to make this a singlespeed for the lightness but I haven’t even measured the chainstay yet.
No Cannondale will ever be Otto
Direct, human, well composed photos are exactly to my taste. As is the coffee here.
(more…)
It can always be deeper.
Something I do pretty regularly and for sure pretty recently… is make a small project a BIG project.
(more…)Tinkering with bicycles is like gardening with steel and aluminum.
(more…)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.
Venmo $5 for 3 stickers to @biketinker – I’ll add some kind of sticker gallery here of new and old 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.
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.
(more…)
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.
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.
Every bike in the concours.
5: Brifters! My first ever brake lever shifting bike. Maybe my second ever even riding one. I thought they were genius when they came out, I was just too poor and riding fixed all the time.
(more…)Sayonara 2025.
Fun couple hours riding up out of Fairfax and down into Sleepy Hollow. Gorgeous day, and I didn’t injure myself!
I always love the Gestalt Haus jackalope sausage, but the M&G burger was really calling me. Next time.
Nicassshhio Reservoir was beautiful, and The Mighty Kia is always fun over D Street into Petaluma.
Oh yeah, I started my day taking a cat to the vet. Here he is interested in the toy, but not fooled by the toy.
Getting my anemia fixed.
I broke my wrist right before New Year and spent some time in the hospital for surgery intake, and they did a bunch of blood tests. The results show up in your phone app in about 20 minutes!
Turns out my iron levels and hematocrit were abysmal. Like “no wonder I suck at bicycles” bad.
Kaiser had said, “oh your iron is a little low we might look at that in a year or two” United said, “dood you’re anemic here’s what we will do.” And then they did it.
So if you feel weak and asthmatic riding bikes and your poops are often almost black… talk to a doctor about anemia!
Quad Lock phone mounts for bike and car.
I have a terrible sense of direction and it takes me repeated visits to understand the spatial relations of a place. So I tend to go places I already know. Having a phone/map mount where I can see it and follow the map is a huge help for me to get around and try new routes.
I use it more in the car than on the bike, but I hope to change that in 2026.
Overall, Quad Lock is good, it needs a dedicated case, and I like the ring back thing because it aids in holding the phone easily and securely.
The only downside is that it smooths out the movement of the phone on the bike so I don’t get “steps” in my activity app.
