pop some bottles n' shit

however you see fit with whatever you see fit:

all nighter

straight failin'

anatomy of the headset

You will be needing this soon, kid:

more dancing!!!

beer goggles

Fixie life through the eyes of Michael "Squints" Palledorous:

worst of the worst

Now I know why your bikes are so miserable.  In one day, I'll never have to see these kids again, and given the freedom that this alots me, I have to say that its been a great displeasure wrenching on your bikes.  In fact, its routinely been, time after time, one of the worst experiences of my life.  I look forward to a life without nuisance & pestering, and this thought behoves me a great Ahhhh feeling.  That feels better.  I guess these kids are the best of the best:

stickers for fixies?! OMG!

Ever wonder how to apply a sticker to surface?  I do all the time - you're not alone.  Not only do I express difficulty in this, seemingly, mundane task, but fixies?  Holy shit.  I, literally, have a room of fixie stickers - mainly my name - and until now, I didn't know how to put them on.  Thanks for the tutorial - 4 minutes of my life are gone:

wheel of fury

I just spotted this over at CyclingWMD - its pretty comical, as there is one resonant truth in cycling:  all cyclist loathe unicyclists and recumbents.


NAUCC 2010 from Max Schulze on Vimeo.

fbm

I Love My Bicycle: The Story of FBM (Full Movie) from Joe Stakun on Vimeo.

the age of electronic is before us

Its sink or swim now - if you're going to be competitive, your company will have to engineer this style of componentry.  Its hard to imagine them out performing the Di2 system, but I'm sure that Campy will find a way to make it even more difficult to install & a couple hundred bucks more.  I'm not a fan of, what would be on Di2, Junction A.  Those bands tend to break easily, but this new system looks nice with the carbon bodies.  I can say definitively that I hate the look of the front derailleur, though.  Regardless, I'm sure that it will be great:

mash - the verb

I'm not sure who got this done - hopefully a member - but I wonder if this is a tribute to the verbage or the fixie super group.  Regardless, if its not a member, this person would get a Doritos tattoo for $100 or break their finger for a hat:

spotted at 14bikeco:

Speaking of...

If anyone is wondering on what to get a dude for Christmas, I would like this:

longest model name in the biz!

competitive cyclist - eat your heart out

This guy will be replacing Andy in no time flat!  Apparently, Chicas Cycles is the greatest place in the world, and can size someone for a bike like no one else.  I thought that this would be a "All I wanted for Christmas was a different bike" kind of post, but I guess that he's "lovin' it".  PS.  Get your bike built by a pro if you don't know what you're doing.  This kid's bike sounds like death on wheels:

let the cliches flow like wine

or PBR/4Loco in this case:


FIXIE Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NewYork from Terence Loos on Vimeo.

i use a jayde grenade as my main form of transportation

i hate to say this kids, but get some brakes.  This is terrifying to me, and makes me happy that I won't be witnessing this first hand for awhile:

merry christmas from the sticks

drillium

a gun shot to the face is a faster way to kill yourself:

go get you bike & gohek!

wtf does that even mean?  I feel that something was lost in the translation.  I have to say, that I thought the video the other day practiced all of the cliches of tarcking.  Sadly though, this one has one up'd it in the mediocrity department - which will stand as its only achievement on its final resume.


GOHEK! (Terengganu Fixie Gear) EP Trailer [LD] from GOHEK! on Vimeo.

It also get's me when a clip is listed as a "trailer" - trailer for what?  An entire movie of this would be intolerable, and could only, possibly, be produced for something of this effect:



At the end of the day, the "fixie community" will say nothing, as if this is an important building block of content to bring to their precious Mountain Dew sponsors. I feel that its akin to super liberal activists who watch the video below. They know that its hilarious, but refuse to let themselves laugh:

home movies

I found this video via Tracko, and have to say that its entertaining in a time capsule kind of way - maybe something you would see projected on the wall of a party I wouldn't be invited to.  More appropriately, Papa Grizwald watching home movies when he's trapped in the attic during Christmas Vacation.  Regardless, crank up some Mariah Carey, and get down with it:


Alpenrose Velodrome 1974 - 1975 from CinelliDog on Vimeo.

soundtrack

you're terrible

when you ride a bike poorly enough for this dude to call your being into question, you have a problem:

this is your life

ending one second at a time.  I realize that this is true when I watch something like this all the way through.  I wonder, am I making the most of my time here on Earth?  Many thoughts I ponder.  Yet, none of which dwell on the torture I'm being confronted with on the screen.  I have so much to say, but one stands out:  Did you have to do the narration all in one take?  Come on, guys.  Now tear this apart:


Fixie Lords: Fixed Gear Subculture from John Ribes on Vimeo.

giggle fest

This has every cliche of the past 3 years, and then some new ones - like $270 Catlike TT helmets while holding a blistering pace of 16mph.  Tie it together with jean shorts and a Batman Utility Pouch, and you've made it onto my site:


one day with tong from Holiday Godgun on Vimeo.

dialed

via 14bikeco.com
 

cipollini carbone

You can almost smell the pomade through the screen, but say what you will, the man is still top 3 sprinters of all time.  Aside from the shirtless shots, the bikes look ok. 

take your tarck and shove it

I don't see fgfs going in this direction.  Sean Burns, you go hard:

doggy tower vs air wheelie

Sorry to see that Doggy is taking the season off to shred the snow, but this is, yet another, classic Weird Pista episode:

behind the peloton

slowly but surely

Its been a little under a week since my last Allez post, and I've taken off a great deal of weight & added a great deal of efficiency.  In preparation for my new terrain, and to take advantage of a great deal, I decided to go with the Shimano Ultegra 6650 Compact crankset.  These are running at 175mm for the arms, and 50/34 for the rings.  I've only used the 34t ring once, last night, and climbed one of the 15% grades seated at around 34x20.  Accordingly, my legs feel the burn of high cardio climbing, but this will pay off in the mountains.  Also, with the Ultegra CA's I had to switch out to the Ultegra 6700 bottom bracket.  These together gave my pedal stride the power transfer it needed to propel such a heavy build to do anything.

I also put on new wheels yesterday - Mavic Kysrium Elite's - that are a 16/20 spoke count, and in around 1580g for the pair.  Paired with the cranks, this bike can finally be called efficient, and I'm really starting to enjoy my rides, now. 

In summary, I've cut around 4.5 pounds from this bike, and I'm narrowly closing in on the 19lbs range - not bad for a weeks work.  Next to swap on the list is a new front derailleur (I have an Ultegra 6700), new cassette (a Dura Ace is on the way), new rear derailleur, new seatpost and new skewers.  I think these will A) have the bike at a performing weight B) most importantly, having it performing soundly.  That was my update.

cipollini speaks!

How could you not love this guy with quotes like this:

“I read an interview with Umberto Veronesi, a scientist, a reputed oncologist and Minister for Health,” Cipollini continued. “In five hundred years or more, human beings might have both sets of genitalia, male and female. I don’t want this evolution to have started already in cycling…”

Read the full article of madness here:

CIPOLLINI CIPOLLINI CIPOLLINI

more dancing!!!

for the nerd in you

wtf is structural integrity?!

and who cares.  I encourage everyone to do this to their bikes tonight.  I don't care if you need larger tires or not - my shop needs labor money & your doctor hasn't seen you in a while; so go nuts!  I can't wait to disengage myself from all this nonsense:

track > tarck

If you cared, you probably already saw this, or at least, know where this is from.  If not, exercise your google arm:

WANT!

We've been calling the Dura Ace "duracci" for such a long time that I couldn't have been more excited to see this shirt on Tracko!  Viva Duracci!

new (snow) bike day

I'm making a move to a place that is not so suitable for a dialed Difisso; where climbing mountainous regions takes precedent and snow destroys beautiful bikes.  Thus, my empty wallet opted for the 2011 Specialed Allez.  It will make a nice snow bike, because I couldn't care less about it and the price is nice.  Off the floor, it weighed in over 25lbs (which is 9 pounds heavier than my Difisso), but I've brought down over a pound by trading out the cockpit, saddle and pedals.  Additionally, I'm going to be swapping out the Shimano 2300 drivetrain with Ultegra compact 6650 cranks and 6700 Ultegra Front & Rear Derailleur(s).  The far future is going to hold some Reynolds Solitude wheels & a SRAM 13-26 cassette.  For the snow, I'm embracing the studded tires, and debating on fenders.

I'm around 40 miles deep into this bike, and I can describe it in one word as MEH.  It doesn't do anything jaw dropping, and it probably performs at the pinnacle of average at best.  Granted, a good deal of this animosity is derived from weight and noodley cranks/ wheels, but this will all change soon.  The headset is a pile of garbage at the moment, but I'm swapping it out for my Cane Creek S1 - I still need to mill the crown race to 26.4mm and trim the steerer before I can do this.  The seat tube geo is a little too lax for me, and it propels the rear triangle to have little to no rigidity.  I can't really place any drive into the frame, but a good deal of this is probably to do with the wheels.

The worst part is my struggle to find a connection with this bike.  It behaves like a stranger, and we're still getting to know each other.  I'm finding its limits still, but I don't feel like its ever going to be more than just a bike to me.  I guess that custom builds have enabled me to find a problem with anything.  But, overall, its a good deal, and I would probably recommend it to someone who is entry level & isn't afraid of upgrading parts.  Just keep in mind that it will never be a performance build - only satisfactory at best.

for dusty bottoms

Ever wonder what's under the paint of the laser? Most would never strip it to find out, but oddly enough, I was having a conversation about it last night, and here's the answer. Thanks to Fyxomatosis & CinelliOnly for the answer:

a call to the oddly proportioned

its like top gun, but with the greatest team in the biz & bad lycra tans:

photo from slipstream sports

quite clever

up your ass from caveman on Vimeo.

randoms

randoms

randoms

sometimes nice stuff comes through

One of the prettier bikes that I've seen through the shop: