Friday, September 23, 2011

Secure bike park



joined a secure bike parking facility this week
a great idea and good value
$25 for the swipe card then $2 for 12 hours.
showers extra.

unfortunately the calibre of bikes there was underwhelming.
Terk, Ginat, Medria, Sttoc, 
there was a fancy Italian-sounding brand there but it was crabon 
and was wearing a g-string
ugh
not a single bike I would cross the street for
let alone try and pick the D-lock of
in fact, I saw a lot more desirable and rare bikes chained up in the street that day—
e.g Batavus racer with Campagnolo Gran Sport groupset—
than I saw in the "vault"
makes you wonder about the clientele
true early adopters?
needlessly paranoid?
tight-arsed rich?
I think I fall into group B.




Gary was the prettiest one there, by far.
he was about the only steel frame bike anyway.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

bike lane guy




this is Casey.
he wins a lot of friends for cyclists
and makes his point beautifully.

furoshiki + toe-straps = veloshiki?


one of the never-ending searches of the
bike nerd is
the perfect portaging configuration.
combining my love of Japanese culture 
with my love of
traditional bike technology
has lead to a surprisingly effective solution
to the problem of carrying my kendo uniform to training


the package is about 350 x 250 x 200mm
weight about 3 kg
too big to fit in my backpack which already
has a laptop


the furoshiki in this case is 100% polyester
and secured with two knots.
it takes two toe straps joined together to wrap around the load.




a fifth toe strap is used around the seat post and the load straps.




pros –
stylish
simple
cheap
home-made
requires no racks or supports
totally portable from bike to bike
removes completely from bike in seconds
load is secure and doesn't interfere with rider, brakes or wheel
(especially if you have mudguards)
works on bikes with no frame eyelets
no need for dangerous elastic or rubber straps

cons –
a little fiddly to set up the first time
small amount of load-movement affects bike balance

Why are bike components all black these days?


standard issue beto packrack.
like most accessories these days
powdercoated black.
people seem to accept that this is the shade 
components have to be.


same rack
stripped back to bare aluminium.
now which looks better?
a 'no-brainer' as the young people say these days.

Monday, September 19, 2011

26" to 650b conversion - cantilever brakes


650b is bigger than the 26" wheel this bike was made for
so there is almost 10mm of difference in brake position.
old shimano altus cantis have enough up and down adjustability
to line up well with the rim
even when the braze on position is for the smaller size.

Gary's new cluster


first it was the crabon cadex
now I have a bike with more than 12 gears
the 650b rear wheel on the HKII fits an 8 speed cassette
so now I look down and I can hardly count all the cogs




more craftiness - mudflap


as my reader knows
I enjoy a bit of leather-based craft
also
since the jewellery box dancer so enjoyed being name-checked on
feel-of-steel
and in honour of her craftiness 
I thought I should post this.
it seems to work well but it could be larger methinks.
still doesn't prevent all water going on the BB shell
when you run through a puddle.
held in place with a single nut-and-bolt
and the folded-over rims of the mudguard itself.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Return of Positron


positron first gen is back on Victor
and it's a happy reunion.
crane was never quite so happy
– slightly loose mechanism meant the inside of the derailleur
touched the spokes in first gear
o.0
but NOS positron is working fine





the worst thing about replacing Dura Ace
is getting rid of the wonderful shifter
but I'm happy to be back with
Bakelite.

homemade leather toe clip covers


the jewellery-box dancer urged
me to blog these.
she loves a bit of craft and
I did have fun making them.


I sometimes ride wearing school shoes
think Bata Scouts
and found that the toe clips did indeed rub two little sore spots 
on the toe of the shoe.
so these are not just hipster-frippery 
but actually serve a purpose.


Sunday, September 11, 2011

Little bike workhorse



on my way back from the dojo with the kids and all their palaver
it all fitted on the stow-away!
a basket
a rattrap carrier
and one occy strap.
note thermos/frame colour co-ordination

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Gary in France, which is in Fitzroy


bit of distressed French provincial for the calendar shot



outside the parisian branch of tokyo bike
in peel st
they really are japanese in there

Gary's new 'guards II - the leather




close ups of the new mudguards.
the front one is a bit long but it's mounting point at the front fork is fixed
besides, it only scrapes if I roll down a gutter
so I mono down instead.
leather strip stops the mudguard rattling against the inside of the fork.
trés belle, non?

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Gary's new mudguards


new old stock from Ephraim in Brunswick
these mudguards are for 26" mountain bikes
but fit the bigger 650b wheels and ultrawide tyres no probs.
mounting hardware is a bit iffy but so far nothing's broke.
pretty good for $20 a pair including stays and bolts and everything.



speaking of Gary
saw that the new Fisher plastic road-bike has 
gasp
high flange hubs
in
double gasp
silver
with
double gasp again
circular cut-outs
could never spend 3 grand on a plastic bike
but its reassuring to know what's old
is new again