BE SURE to FUCKing bLLLLAST the beginning of the guitar solo at 2:08 on this next one!
Sekolah Tinggi Pertanahan Nasional
8 hours ago
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
That's some pretty DAMN expensive gear!
NOS Prototype Campy brakes: $3202!!!
Hopefully the new owner will put this Dura Ace 10 pitch track group to good use: $1352!!!
Right now...
I'm wicked fuckin' tired. Just came off a 12 hour shift at work. The lady was kind enough to save me some of the nice dinner she made yesterday. Although, something about Pumpkin Ravioli w/almonds in a Gorgonzola white sauce just isn't going to do it for me at 1am. Don't get me wrong, it's good and I appreciate it. But if my balls shrivel up into me any more than they already have, I'm going to have to gnaw on a raw steak to make them drop again...Anyways, I apologize for the lack action. Fucking busy as all hell right now. That and there just hasn't been anything of note lately. Well, there's this but whatever. I'm kinda over time trial bikes...
I am going to Philly for the weekend for a good friends opening. With any luck I'll be able to duck into a few shops and report on some goodies I'm able to fondle. I'll also have a couple of good posts coming up in the next few weeks...
Oh and BTW, Where are my godforsaken tubulars Andy??? Hehe, that's okay. I still love you. Call me anytime...
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Size DEFINITELY does matter!
Especially when it's a fucking 75cm frame!!! I mean, check out that head tube. It's just so.. long... and. oddly tantalizing. What I wouldn't do to be able to just. wrap my hands around it and.... WELD ANOTHER BIG FRAME TO THE TOP OF IT AND HAVE AN UBER FUCKING TALL BIKE!!!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
The list of upcoming Bob Jackson Track frames on order designed by yours truly!!!
With any luck these'll show up in about a month or two. Then I'll have some pretty pics for all ya'll. Until then here's what's we ordered:All frames will be made from Reynolds 631, have Dimpled ST's, Paul Dropouts and a Drilled front fork. As for geometry, these will all have a more aggressive track stance. Here's some examples from the previous batch...
50cm ST, 51cmTT
Creamy White frame w/Chocolate Brown panels and lug lining
51cm ST, 51.5 TT
Chocolate Brown frame with Creamy White panels and lug lining
52ct ST, 53cmTT
Matte Black with Hot Pink panels and lug lining
54cm ST, 55cm TT
Metallic Purple with Electric Green panels and lug lining
56cm ST, 56cm TT
Light British Racing Green w/Cream panels and Light Blue lug lining
(kinda like my Bilenky minus it's curly brass-ness)
57cm ST, 56.5cm TT
Matte Dark Grey with Matte Red head panel and Dark Blue lug lining
Prices will be ranging around $11-1200 WITH shipping included anywhere in the US. Shipping to Asia will probably run you another $50. I will of course have updated prices once they come in. For those of you interested please let me know. Just keep in mind I don't actually have access to them yet so I may not be able to answer all your detailed questions...
Also, for those of you who are like: 'Whoa what a rip! Vigorelli's only cost £350 pounds on their site!!' Guess what? You're not taking into account that shipping is another £90 along with the dimpled rear ST, Paul dropouts, two tone color, outlined lugs and panels add up to around £600. And what do you know our economy sucks balls so each American $1 is worth £.5096! Double any number you see that comes after that £ symbol kiddies. So if you're looking to get a Jackson in the next couple of months or so, START. SAVING...
Oh dear god! Barely used Paramount!!!
Paramount, in black, barely used, appears to be in my size and is like, 20 min down the road from me..... Okay, could someone please put me out of my misery RIGHT NOW!
63' Cinelli found in a want ad?!!
I have wet dreams about finding shit like this...
The person I bought this from says he found it in a want ad being sold by a couple that bought it for a graduation present for their son, who never rode it after going off to college.
The person I bought this from says he found it in a want ad being sold by a couple that bought it for a graduation present for their son, who never rode it after going off to college.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Damn, check out this mf' ing YAMAGUCHI!!!
Interesting vintage Jackson track frame...
Saturday, February 9, 2008
New Crusher Bash Guard from Ben's Cycle!
I was just informed about this new limited run bash guard they're coming out with built around the Sugino 75 Cranks. From the detailed close up shots on their site, its easy to see that they put a lot of effort into making this product. REALLY well thought out and machined to perfection! I get all hott just thinking about the CNC machine spitting out little hot and steamy cork screw shaped pieces of metal all over. This looks like a much needed item for those of you who like to stall or bonk your chainring on ledges and get paid or hooked up for doing so. Fuckers. It also looks like there's more than enough meat on it to enable you to actually grind ledges without damaging your chain. In any case, if you're looking to buy some Sugino gear anyway, they're currently pairing the bash guard with a few other items for 20% off. Check out their site for more pics and info when you get a chance...
Friday, February 8, 2008
DKNY's ad campaign can eat my ass: An NYC cycling blogger's rant...
So I'm sure lots of you have been hearing about the whole DKNY bike campaign thing. Well, I'm still not really sure why they felt the need to copy the whole ghost bike look with what I consider to be my LEAST favorite type of bike out there. Hello Kitty type cruisers (please insert the most un PC derogatory comment you can think of here). I've been watching this one slowly decompose on this already narrow stretch of sidewalk on my way to work. I mean, it's bad enough I have to deal with retouching shit like this all day long...I know, I know, I'm sure some of you are thinking: But it's a good thing to get people on bikes and help support the cycling community, going green, etc, etc.. Well, here's the thing. Those new type of bikes are for lazy people more concerned with being cutsy and or comfy than actually riding. Riding a bicycle isn't supposed to be as cute and comfy as your fucking blanky and favorite stuffed animal (unless you're touring, minus the stuffed animal). That's all we need. A bunch of lazy fucktards riding around with bars three feet wide with NO HELMET on. Wondering why you're cursing them out for nearly getting you killed while riding the wrong way in the bicycle lane on a busy avenue. Yes, this has happened to me on more than one occasion. So trust me, we don't need or want those type of people on our side...
Now if we could get those same lazy people on say, one of the three billion Schwinn cruiser's built in the last 30+ years. How's that for green? Recycling- Heard of it lately?? Seriously, go buy a fucking used bike and throw some Hello Kitty stickers on there or some shit if you really feel the need to announce to the world just how much of a tween sissy wannabe you really are...
Oh yeah, one last thing: Hey DKNY, thanks for the effort but could you please get your fucking trash out of my way before someone decides to piss AND shit on it. Then end up hanging it in a gallery and calling it art...
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Monday, February 4, 2008
FUCK, even more bad news! Sheldon Brown, cycling guru to the world, has past away...
This is a sad day indeed! There aren't many cyclists out there that haven't heard the name Sheldon Brown and benefited from his VAST wisdom and encyclopedic website. His website was the very first one I would tell anyone about who was looking to get into cycling and DIY projects. Despite this sad turn of events I REALLY hope his website stays available to all of us for future and current enthusiasts...
RIP man!!!
Sunday, February 3, 2008
What follows is not only heartbreaking but is COMPLETE BULLSHIT AND MAKES MY FUCKING BLOOD BOIL!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow this shit is seriously going to kill you. Not because it's really long, but because of the pure injustice of the whole situation. I was in the middle of painting my lady's room, which we'll be sharing shortly, when out of the blue I got a call from my good friend Phil who currently resides in London. Turns out that some ignorant fucking cunt vandalized his bike in a REALLY bad way:
Here's his original post and more photographs about his encounter:
Here's his original post and more photographs about his encounter:
*****
Hello all,
What follows is an extremely long, but not uninteresting account of a very shitty night out on Brick Lane. If you can't be bothered to read it, but have a desire to help, please skip to the bottom.
Tonight, much against my better judgement, I went to dinner with friends at a curry house on Brick Lane.
As my friends went into the restaurant, I asked the bloke out on the street who was trying to hustle people in to eat where I could leave my bike and he directed me down Woodseer St. There was a street sign with a bike locked to it and just opposite it on the building a basement window with an iron grating. As I was locking my bike up, someone was unlocking his bike from the street sign and this guy who had parked his car next to the pole was giving him shit for locking his bike so close to his car, so I left my bike chained to the basement window grating (the window was covered over with newspaper, so I didn't think anyone would mind) on Woodseer st with my kryptonite chain through the rear wheel and frame and a d-lock through the front wheel and the frame.
After half an hour, I popped up (we were eating downstairs at City Spice) to check on it, everything was fine.
About an hour later, I popped up again to check on it and something wasn't right. The bike was still there, but it was hanging away from the wall, definitely not how I'd left it. As I got closer, I could see that the saddle was missing. The strange thing was that when I got to the bike, the saddle rails were still attached and there was a little piece of foam/gel attached to one of the rails. I checked around on the street and saw my saddle lying next to some trash. I picked it up and ran inside, telling my friends that actually I was going home, someone had fucked with my bike and I didn't feel like going out. I left money for dinner and went out again.
As I was unlocking my bike, I noticed that the bars were bent, too. (At this point, I should explain that I have the purple and blue KHS with the curly seat tube, bullhorns, and black deepVs with conti 4000s - pictures to follow in the morning) They didn't seem damaged, just that the stem had been pushed (quite forcibly) to the side and was no longer aligned with the front wheel. That's when I noticed that the front tire was not just flat, it was completely deflated. I looked more closely and saw that the tire had been sliced clean through with a knife, and so had the rear tire.
That's when the window above where I'd left the bike opened.
"Hey, mate," a man says, "you should have asked permission before locking your bike under my window"
"What?"
"You should have asked permission. You can't just go locking your bike under someone's window."
"Excuse me?"
"Your lucky your bike is still here."
"Did you do this?"
"You should have asked permission"
"But did you do this?"
"I'm just saying, you should have asked"
While this was going on, a few guys who worked in the kitchen either of the restaurant at which I had eaten or one of the neighbouring restaurants walked by, looking both at my bike and the guy who was speaking from the window. Then the guy from earlier, who had given shit to the other cyclist for locking his bike next to his car, came by and echoed similar sentiments to the guy in the window.
I returned to the guy in the window.
"Did you do this?"
No straight answer.
"Did you see it happen?"
Same story. "You should have asked permission" etc etc.
"You knew I was in the restaurant, why didn't you just ask me to move it?" In my shock I was trying to reason with a madman who had quite probably vandalised my bike himself. "It's £40 for the saddle alone"
"Well, you're lucky the bike is still here. This is Brick Lane, my friend"
"And if I call the cops?"
"Then I will press charges against you for disturbing the peace" [No joke, he seriously said this to me.]
Finally, I gave up talking to him. Some dodgy looking characters were milling about and I didn't know what the situation was. I'm new to London and I was pretty shaken up. In fact, I'm still in shock, shaking with anger as I type this.
I unlocked my bike completely and noticed that the rims had not gone untouched. They had tried to kick the wheels in and several spokes were bent or broken. In two places my deepVs were bent, both front and rear. I noticed when I got home that the chain is bent and there is a dent in the (aero) downtube, as well as a few other dents that didn't use to be there. I went to the bloke outside the restaurant who had told me I could lock the bike there. All of his previous friendliness was gone. "No, I said you could park there [on the pole] not there [against the grating]." The vibe was getting really unfriendly and I still didn't know what to do. I walked north up Brick Lane, hoping to find some cops to see if there was anything I could do. I'm still not sure whether that guy in the window and the guys from the kitchen vandalised my bike themselves, or whether they just looked on as it happened. I don't know whether someone tried to wrench the bike off the grating and then, frustrated by the two locks, just had a go at beating the shit out of it, whether it was motivated by jealousy or anger or hooliganism. I just know that I feel as though I myself had been attacked.
I walked all the way up Brick Lane without seeing any police, then walked past Brick Lane Bikes, which was completely closed and deserted and decided to see if anyone was in at Fixed Gear London, if I could even remember which warehouse it was in (I'd only been once for the MASH preview). Before I got there, though, I got fed up with my frustration and just called 999. I spoke to someone who told me that I shouldn't have called 999, but who was very helpful nonetheless. He took all the details down, then directed me to go to Bethnal Green Police Station to make a formal statement. So I turned around and walked down Bethnal Green Road with my bike on my shoulder. I stayed 40 minutes, giving all the details all over again to an extremely friendly and helpful woman, but I know that nothing will come of it.
Maybe they will send someone to speak to the guy in the window, she said, but I could tell that even she was sceptical as she said it. They might review the CCTV footage, if there is any [I can't remember if there was a camera there]. Her best advice was "just don't go to Brick Lane". With that, I picked up my bike on my shoulder and walked the 3+ miles home, shaking with anger and frustration.
I suppose I'm lucky that the bike didn't get stolen outright and many of the parts are salvageable, but I really feel violated. I'm out of a job at the moment, looking for work, and I was considering trying to get a job as a courier for a few months just to get some cash coming in. But now my bike is fucked and I'm no mechanic. I imagine that the rims can be bent back into shape and I know that several people on here build wheels. I'm hoping I just need a few new spokes and some serious truing, but I don't really have the money right now to take the bike into a shop.
Here's where I need help: do you think a shop (BLB perhaps?) would give me a free reckoning of all the damage done and possibly an estimate of how much it would be to fix? (One of my concerns is not being able to spot an area that has been damaged and only discovering it when the bike disintegrates under me while riding it - not likely, I know, but I really am not very good with repairs) Or do you think if I bring it along to polo someone might be willing to have a look at it and let me know what needs doing? (And who might be willing to do it for beer?) Finally, does anyone have a cheap saddle that I could buy off them?
If you've read this far, thanks for taking the time. Please be careful with your bikes, especially at Brick Lane. And don't eat at City Spice, I'm sure that a few of those guys knew what was going down. Certainly the bloke outside could have told me not to leave my bike where I'd left it or could have come down to tell me to move it. But people don't really give a shit about a bike, I guess.
*****
Like I said. Fucking bullshit. The worst part of all this is that he's currently between jobs and was planning on messengering to cover his expenses...
For those of you living in London who frequent this blog please check out his original thread on the London Fixed Gear Forum. If there's anything you can do to help Phil out it would be much appreciated by him and all in the community there. To everyone else who would like to help with random parts they have lying around, please contact me via email: thetriplec@hotmail.com For those of you who like me, have something like $2.37 sitting in their Paypal accounts, send a small donation to the same email address above. I have personally decided to handle the cost of fixing the frame up by a professional builder and every cent counts. Also, if you know of any great builders in or around the London area, please let him or I know. Thanks A LOT to all of you that made it this far and for those who decide to lend a hand...
Like I said. Fucking bullshit. The worst part of all this is that he's currently between jobs and was planning on messengering to cover his expenses...
For those of you living in London who frequent this blog please check out his original thread on the London Fixed Gear Forum. If there's anything you can do to help Phil out it would be much appreciated by him and all in the community there. To everyone else who would like to help with random parts they have lying around, please contact me via email: thetriplec@hotmail.com For those of you who like me, have something like $2.37 sitting in their Paypal accounts, send a small donation to the same email address above. I have personally decided to handle the cost of fixing the frame up by a professional builder and every cent counts. Also, if you know of any great builders in or around the London area, please let him or I know. Thanks A LOT to all of you that made it this far and for those who decide to lend a hand...
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