Unsubstantiated 'Cuevas' Turbo roadie frame and the Choose your own adventure Townie build!

I got this 'Cuevas' road frame from the old Spokes and Strings shop in Brooklyn in 02' or something I think. They had this one and a bunch of other that they claimed to have purchased when Cuevas closed their build shop. Which is around the time when Francisco died if I'm not mistaken. I went to the old Cuevas bike shop in queens to check it out and met his son Fernando. From what he was saying it wasn't a true Cuevas frame made by his father and wouldn't really comment on it's origins. I assumed it was some sort of not quite finished experiment/abortion since it was originally raw and not quite finished when I got it..

More here..

Regardless I def remember it riding real nice when I built it up a while back. It's obviously not been built up in a really long time..

Right, why am I telling you this shit.. Well, I've been kinda wanting to build up a super chill cruiser/townie type jam with a few speeds in back, single ring in front and some north roads bars for a while now. Both my tall bikes have north roads on em and they're kind of rad. Anyways, I was going through possible candidates when I spotted the 'Cuevas'. It's not a contender but I thought you'd all enjoy having a peek due to it's overwhelming aero oddness..

Here's the main thing- I've been wanting to build a bike up around this for a loooong time:


Campy single sided clamp on shifter = WIN

I bought it on ebay around the same time as when I got the Cuevas frame. I just got it for the hell of it cause I thought it was neat. Only $15 bucks too :)

The idea behind this build closely resembles the premise behind this old commercial:



Though on the other hand it's a bit of a FAIL since the only road frames I currently own that'll fit me have shifter bosses. Which could easily be removed of course. Though the implementation of which for a measly clamp on shifter would undoubtedly put a considerable twist in the panties of many a bike snob. Which certainly doesn't make me want to do it any less, in fact, quite the opposite!

So here's the choose your own adventure portion of the build. Which one shall it be? You decide..

Tonights contenders are these two pretty beat to shit basement find steel road frames I got for free. Neglected over the years to be tripped over, scratched, dinged and rusted from floods. No matching fork for either due to front end collisions no doubt..

DeBernardi:


Guerciotti:


Either way the sparks are gonna fuckin fly!

So untwist those panties folks cause they're mearly Cycling Trivialities. The great thing about steel, what the frames are made out of, is that you can use these things called torches that get really hot and enable you to remount said shifter bosses with a process called brazing. If one would choose to do so of course. Though spending any time and money required to renovate either of these frames would be better spent getting ones head examined..

Also keep in mind I was originally thinking of building a tall bike from them so consider this possible action as the lesser of two evils..

So choose wisely and we'll move on to the next chapter in our story..

Unsubstantiated 'Cuevas' Turbo roadie frame and the Choose your own adventure Townie build!

Brooklyn Banks to be closed?! HEINOUS!!!

I saw this over on Prolly's blog and left a long ass comment. Figured I'd toss it up here while I was at it:

I was there the day when they closed the smaller upper section of the banks. Close to 10 years ago now. We were all just skating like we always did when this dude in a fork lift just barges up right in the middle of us with these 20' highway dividers and starts dropping em in front towards the bottom. No one said anything at all or told us to watch out. Everyone was like: WTF is going on?!! Realizing there was nothing we could do about it, my friends and I spent the next five or so minutes taking turns spotting for each other and ollieing the wall into the off ramp. As each barrier came down closer to the part easiest to hit, we would move over to the section that was lower making it harder to hit off of. But when that last barrier came down that was it. No more Brooklyn Banks. The lower part was still open but wasn't as popular to skate at the time as the smaller upper part and of course, no wall ollie. It was a sad day and I'm glad I was there to skate it right up until the last minute. I feel like they eventually took the barriers away but with all the cars parked there it was always a bust. The fact that the rest is being closed now really fucking sucks! All us locals need to make it a point to head over there to get our last sessions in..

Brooklyn Banks to be closed?! HEINOUS!!!

Well now this is just silly..

Rossin really does take the cake again and again for their some of their wacky builds. This one is no exception:

Just look at that saddle to bar drop height- pavement lickin' good ya'll!

Check this Panto-tastic one too:


I would SO be all over that action if it was reasonably priced..

Well now this is just silly..

SUPER RARE Colnago Pantograph porn!

6 arm?! Hot damn!!

Brake set too:

So fuuuuucking hott right?! Wicked expensive too :/ I know for a fact I've posted this golden steed before but can't seem to find the post. All I could find so far was this, this, this- AH, here it is! Also be sure to scope out Ray Dobbins site if you haven't already..

SUPER RARE Colnago Pantograph porn!

Because you haven't heard enough about US health care already..

Faces of American Health Care, Part 2: Former Pro Skater, Lee Bender from austin considine on Vimeo.

If only there was a way to collect all the profiteering SCUMBAGS who've had a hand in turning our health care system against us on the edge of a rocky hill, cancel their insurance policy, wrap them in razor wire, give em a shove and then meet em at the bottom with an ambulance from a 3rd rate hospital..

Here's another good read since we're on the topic of profiteering assholes..

Because you haven't heard enough about US health care already..

Eddie's Cycle City visit 2.0! and HOLY SHIT another GOLD MINE!!!

I don't know about you mofoz but I had one hell of a porntastically titillating bike nerding weekend!

Almost two years to the day was when I last visited Eddie's Cycle City of Bayonne NJ after hearing about it through word of mouth. I decided to pay Steve and his son Paul another visit this past weekend to say what's up and feast on the porn I knew they would have in store for me..

But not before having a nosh awn some serious muthafuckin' breakfast!


Yes, it really is good enough to mention. Good oolllll' White Mana in da JC!

Right, anyways, here's some snaps I made:

Lots of restorations in progress:

Paramounts a plenty!

This is only one of MANY DRAWERS:

Work table:

Paul's Schwinn Prologe set up with more modern gear:

Steve's own personal 1974 Paramount that he used to race back in the day:

Nerrrrrvvvvveeexxxxxx!!!

Heat sink pads!

Rad print he showed me of himself during a century ride from Liberty State Park to Philly:

Some more photos too:

The best was when he was talking about how he still remebered the day when he first opened the box back in 74' and how he can still smell the first waft of leathery tubular air that came out..

It was really awesome checking out the shop again and a big thanks to Steve and Paul for taking the time to show me all the rad stuff they have there!

More pics on my flickr set..

Also be sure to check out my first visit in 07' to see more of the shop including this SICK 100 year old Iver Johnson 6 day racer:

Def worth a visit if you live in and around the local NJ/NYC area..

Afterwords I decided to go check out the skatepark at the base of the Bayonne bridge that I'd seen the last time I was out exploring around the area..



Yep, nothing like being that weird older guy flying around scaring everyone under 15. Which was everyone.. One of the kids was like- 'Oh man, ahmma hav ta steel dat one!' referring to the 5-0 to tail I did across the fun box. So yeah, fun but the set-up was a bit wonky..

This dude who was parked out in the lot was def my hero for sssslamming the shit out of his beat up old impala:


So rad!

AND NOW.. On to the gold mine!

Which I would consider to be more of a small but super concentrated vein, tho it was tantilazing none the less!

I started my Sunday as any other but it was while perusing the NYC fixed forum that things got interesting. I saw that sashae (renovated Nagaswa owner) had posted this craigslist find:

1979 Cinelli Supercorsa 58cm - $1200 (northern nj)

Hi, my Cinelli is looking for a new home. It is in nice shape and has the original copper color paint with chrome lugs, chain stay & fork crown. The original build super record group is in good shape with slightly updated Delta brakes. The bar, stem & seat are Cinelli and the chain rings are Cinelli engraved. The frame size is 58cm c to c. The bike has always been kept indoors and infrequently used but well maintained. Let me know if you have any questions, thanks!

Seeing as how it was in North Jersey I couldn't resist sending the seller an email to see if I could swing by to scope out the bike. Once he contacted me I asked if he had any other gear and if it would be cool for me to swing by to check out the bike and take some photos. Two yes's later, I tossed my camera gear in the car and sped off to see what laid in store for me. Boy oh boy was I ever not dissapointed!

Martin turned out to be a true cycling enthusiast through and through. He has been collecting pieces for group sets for years and only recently had he decided (regrettably) to start thinning out his stable:

Lots of really great stuff! Lots of Campy, Suntour, Mavic. Mostly rare and or NOS condition too!

Right, sooooo here's the part where I get to be called a huge fucking hypocrite for talking smack about Campagnolo vs Shimano and wanting a Japanses roadie with some DA 7700, fuck friction shifters I'd take STI any day blah, blah, blah..

Yeah, I bought it..

What can I say, it was MUCH too pretty to let it fall in the wrong hands! Hands hairier than mine that is. If that's even possible..

I knew I should've just kept my fucking mouth shut! I've always wanted an italian whip in the form of a Merckx I meant Rossin! I was tired :/ or Cinelli and what the fuck else am I supposed to put on it?? Fucking douche.. In any case, that bad boy rolls smooooooth as all hell! Just need to make a few slight adjustments and minor part swap outs and she'll feel right at home with the rest of the stable..

Oh and it also comes with a set of NOS Mavic MA40 clinchers!

He also has this unknown vintage track racer from the 40's - 50's (NFS!):

No markings on it at all. Beautiful bike! If anyone recognizes anything about the details on the frame please be sure to let me know. I'd love to pass the info on to him..

More pics on my flickr set..

Thus ends another funtastic porn filled weekend in the life of mwah. Now.. time for some fraking beauty sleep!

Eddie's Cycle City visit 2.0! and HOLY SHIT another GOLD MINE!!!

Sweet Ti Seven fixer!

Check it:

Sweet Ti Seven fixer!

Wet dream 3rensho roadie and the commuter I built for a friend..

This 3Rensho is SO fucking hott I can barely stand it!

It's also SO fucking expensive I can barely stand it!

The DA AX and panto stuff is nice but I'd dump that shit for some DA7700 in a hhhheartbeat! I've always thought those brake calipers are ugly as sin too..

Here's the little franken bike commuter lock up bike I built for a friend:

Nothing special but I love building up locker for freinds :-) Came out to 20.5 lbs too!

Wet dream 3rensho roadie and the commuter I built for a friend..

Paging chicks and bikes blog!

goooodtaseeeeyooouuuu!

Okay so she def is a tad bit scrawny. Nothing that some biscuits and gravy couldn't solve- Let's see a little more junk in that trunk darlin'! Take that top off while you're at it eh?

Paging chicks and bikes blog!

ummm, AWESOME much?!

This would be SO RAD to own where there's a lots of abandoned railroad tracks!

I would paint it all black with neon green wheels and call it the burnout mobile, hehe..

ummm, AWESOME much?!

Holy shit these things look fuken crazy!

As seen on Trecool - translated from Spanish..

Holy shit these things look fuken crazy!

Wow this really fucking sucks my balls..

The photo is of a little girl at her parents funeral. They were both killed when a motorist veered into them while they were riding a tandem..

Yeah.. The EXACT opposite of what you think of when you imagine couples riding tandems..

It's really great to see how the local cyclists all came out and lined up to show their support despite being such a somber occasion. The little bicycle pin on her dress killed me :'( x 100

As seen on Urban Velo.. BE SURE to click on the photo to read the more in depth article..

Sorry to bum you all out but I think it's really important to get stories like this out there. Please repost and forward the article around to your friends and relatives..

Wow this really fucking sucks my balls..