Bike Lift in Norway

I'd love to see other simple, elegant solutions to this very common problem.

Veen-Ho De Bicicletas

Sometimes when you're shopping for a nice bottle of Veen-Ho, you cast aside bouquet, legs, nose, vintage and all that crap, and just buy the bottle that has a naked chick and a bike on it.

Crazy ass motorized bike seen in Waikiki. Genius!


OMG it's a fixey! Well actually it had a centrifugal clutch that is basically a freewheel, but still.

Dinosaurs and Robots: Dispatch

Those of you who frequent the whole Make:Blog sector of the bloggosphere have probably seen Hooptierides. That is the blog by the dude who made that drive-in theater projector trike thing. Remember that? Anyway. That same dude has a new project that appeals to all of us garage sale cruising, junk worshipping, tool obsessing, vintage hunting miscreants. He calls it Dinosaurs and Robots: Dispatch, and the first issue is really nice.

Skibike on MAKE:Blog

I love MAKE:Blog. Today they feature the Boozhoundlabs skibike. Aw yeah.

World's Most Dangerous Bike Birthday (Observed)

The latest project: dump-bike fixie.

Custom J-B Weld track cog should keep everything in place. Right? What could happen?

The finished product.

Welcome to the world. Please don't try to kill me like me your friends.

Future Taco

Remember this?







Bam! Thanks to jsn for not allowing me to make it a complete death trap... Now it just needs a maiden voyage to break it in. Note one-cross versus radial lacing. A considerable improvement in strength and reliability? Stay tuned.

Sheldon Brown 1944 - 2008

I hate to break the sweetnourishingbikes winter dry spell with bad news. More at Harris Cyclery.

If you like bikes and you've never heard of Sheldon Brown, you absolutely must visit SheldonBrown.com.

Buy Eric's bike

Eric is selling this kickass full-suspension frame, and he wants to buy more toys, so someone buy it.

2004 Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Pro. Size XL (21in)
Fox RLC Triad Shock w/Propedal and Lockout (Rebuilt by Push Ind. last year)
Seatpost included (Sweet!)

Small ding in the drive side of the down tube and usual wear and tear throughout. Shock and pivots are in great working order.

Rack Test 2 (Anticipation)

I was wondering how much weight you could put in a milk crate on the DIY rack featured here:

http://sweetnourishingbikes.blogspot.com/2006/08/rack.html

This is too much:



The rack didn't fail. But the bike was so unstable I was white-knuckled all the way home fighting the thing. The weight wasn't necessarily the issue - it was the wobbling. I think the rack needs more lateral rigidity or something, because the only way to keep the front wheel from trying to kick out to the side was to keep my own center of gravity as low as possible, eliminating any stand-up pedaling. But the uphill grind home paled in comparison to the urge to reach back and drink the center of gravity down...

Catastrophic Failure

Behold the catastrophic failure of a hub:

About half of the flange on one side just broke completely off. Fortunately, it was right at a switchback, so low speed prevented a serious pile-up. Not so lucky was the resulting ~3 mile walk out of Guaje Canyon. I loosened the spokes as much as possible with the hopes of getting the wheel straight enough to turn inside the fork, but the best I could get was a really annoying rubbing sound every time the wheel came around. With the tire deflated, some persistent pedaling - even downhill, and a high tolerance for a nature-destroying racket for every tire rotation, some riding was possible. Most of the way, however, was on foot. At least it was a nice day.

Dave's commuter

Photos of The Commuter.




Dave sez:

I found this frame at the now-out-of-business Albuquerque Bicycle X-
change. They mostly sold a lot of fixed-up used bikes. There was a
side room full of crap that you could barely get into, and this frame
was hanging from the ceiling-- no wheels, seat, or seat post -- with
a tag that said "$30 AS IS." Given that this place made its money
from fixing up old bikes, I had wonder... as is *what?* But it was a
pretty tall road frame, so maybe it wasn't worth their time to build
up. So I bit.

A few months after I got it, a loud clicking noise started coming
from the bottom bracket. I took it to the shop for a new bottom
bracket. The repair guy called me later and said that the bottom
bracket was fine, but the grease had hardened! It was probably the
original grease. But the bearings looked fine, so he just cleaned
and repacked.

I included a crappy shot of one of the pedals. I put these on this
summer. When you're crossing a lot of intersections, its nice not to
have to think about where your foot is going to go. Its hard to tell
how big the pedals look, but its like a guy in a suit wearing Doc
Martens.

The Carradice saddle bag is awesome, but I've decided it really needs
a quick release of some sort. You have to buckle it to your seat.
I'd also like to modify the pannier rack with some fuel line
extensions to get it up higher.

Currently, the brakes are fairly sucky and need an upgrade. Also,
the wheels are on long-term loan from my road bike. I'd like new
wheels with fatter tires for better cush. Black spokes might look
good with this frame! Also, I'm very tempted to get an internal gear
rear hub. Something you can shift at a stoplight.

rack update

Originally one idea for the supereasy DIY rack was to pit J-B Weld against PC-7 Epoxy in a no holds barred deathmatch of destruction. The J-B Weld died a quick and painless death. Perhaps PC-7 will do better...


The consistency of PC-7 is very different - more like roofing tar. Pasty, but kinda stringy too, and without the nice surface tension that makes the "fillets" look nice. Definitely lumpier. It also takes way longer than J-B Weld to dry/cure. Overnight at least, and 2 nights would be better.

Stay tuned for the stress testing... Can it hold a 30-pack? On the trail?

supereasy DIY rear rack

NOTE: Before building this rack, scroll down and read the postscript.

So you want a rear rack for your bike - or any kind of rack for that matter - but you don't have the tools to weld or braze or whatever. Well never fear, comrades, J-B Weld is your friend!


Before we get into the actual rack stuff, let me just introduce you to J-B Weld properly, in the words of their own website: "My pickup threw a rod and tore a hole in the block. I plugged the hole with large washers bolted together and sealed it with J-B WELD. That was over 50,000 miles ago; still with no loss of oil. Thanks for a remarkable product!" There are hundreds of awesome testimonials like that, but not all of them are as sublimely redneck!

So here is what we need to build a rack, and it is all available at your local Autozone or other auto parts store. You want 1 package of J-B Weld, and 2 lengths of 3/8" rigid steel high pressure line. This is the stuff you can use for brakes, power steering, etc. It is soft steel so it is bendable. You might also want to pick up a tubing bender for this, and a tubing cutter if you don't have one. You will also need a round "rat tail" file, and auto parts stores usually have pretty good deals on tools, so why not get one there too.


The first thing you want to do is cut the two main pieces of the rack that will go from the seatstay rack eyelets to the dropout eyelets. Crimp one end of each. I used a bench vise, but a hammer would work. So would vise grips if you are truly desperate or one of those sickos that enjoy using vise grips.


Once you have a nice crimped section, drill a hole in it to accept a standard M5 allen head bolt. You don't want a lot of play here, so try to use a bit that is just barely bigger than the bolt. I think I used whatever size is just smaller than 1/4".


Now bolt that sumbitch to the seatstay eyelet. You will have a long straight piece of tubing to work with at this point. Begin bending it to the shape you want the rack to be. Note: A milk crate is about 13" square. Use a tubing bender or some sort of v shaped round thing, like a swamp cooler belt pulley, to keep the tubing from kinking. You will see an example of kinking later in this article. Try not to do that if you can.


My goal was to get the rack level, and leave about as much clearance between the rack and the tire as there is between the brake bridge and the tire. Since you left the tubing long, you can get it where you want it than mark it for cutting, crimping, and drilling for the dropout eyelet.


Once you have the two main pieces done, you can make the little struts that join them and for the platform for the rack. Just cut 3 (or 2 or 4 or whatever) pieces the same length, and use your round file to "fishmouth" them so that they form a nice fit with the main rails. Remember that your file will stay sharp much longer if you only drag it across the metal in the cutting direction, never backwards.


It is now time to mix up a batch of J-B Weld! Awright! Just mix equal parts of the steel and the hardener. I like to use a nail or something else disposable so you don't have to clean it.


Spread J-B Weld on the end of the tubing, put the pieces where you want them, and use bungee cords to hold it all in place.


Next go back and make "fillets" with more J-B Weld. This is easier that it first appears because J-B Weld has a cool surface tension property that makes it self-smoothing. Just get it to stick where you want it, and it will slowly pull itself to a smooth finish.


Let it harden overnight, remove the bungee cords and you have yourself a rack. Paint it so it won't rust, and you are ready to roll.

POSTSCRIPT: This rack broke almost immediately. It turns out J-B weld is not as cool as I thought it was :(

plenty-six miles per hour

This is the best thing I have seen in... maybe forever. It's a birthday card that Fat Cyclist's son made for him about a ride. Classic.

[via]

Copenhagen Girls on Bikes

Edit: I just realized that I failed to attribute this post to the blog I found it on: Bakfiets En Meer!. I'm going to infosphere hell.

I <3 integrated racks

I love bikes with integrated racks where the rack is part of the frame. Here is a really cool example that Peter White sells. I'm suprized the fenders aren't cleaner and more integrated on that bike though. Of course I love the internal gear hub.

Dear readers, if you know of more frames with built in racks, please post links! I am extra-super interested in bikes with integrated front racks, especially ones where the rack is part of the frame so that it doesn't rotate with the fork. Someday I want to build one.

Cyclemotorinatorizer!

Why didn't I think of that?...

Maybe because I have absolutely no idea what is going on is that photo!

I guess this is some sort of wacky motor for you bike. But I'm not totally sure because the photos on the website are too much for my Miller Lite and Wu Tang Clan addled brain. The "Rural Roads With Roger" video is awesome though.

You give it a try and leave a comment if you figure it out: Neodymics Cyclemotor.

Bakfiets!

The term bakfiet means "big bike" or "load carrying bike" in Dutch. These appears to be a surge of very cool Dutch load bikes showing up on the intarwebs and apparently also in America.

Check out Bakfiets en meer for examples of sweet Dutch utility bikes. I don't know what en meer means :)

Marin

Report from Field Agent Kev-1:

When the NYC crew headed to Marin for a week this June, I had to at least try and get in a ride in the MTB fatherland. We were staying in Olema (pop. 55) and I called up the only shop in town, Cycle Therapy (keeping with the time honored pun-based bike shop naming tradition). The owner, Dave, informed my that yes he was closed and that yes, we could rent bikes... meet him at his shop in 10 minutes. The shop consisted of a battered weed covered tow trailer in an empty lot next to a bakery. Upon arrival he hung a phone on the exterior wall of the bakery, plugged it in, and declared himself open for business. In short order we were equipped with 1991 vintage hardtails (Iron Horse, I think) coupled with first generation Manitou front shocks and some bootleg water courtesy of a pilfered municipal spigot key Dave had acquired.



Dave pointed us in the direction of the Boinas Ridge Trail (which I later discovered is somewhat of a regional classic, Marin even had a "Bolinas Ridge" frame back in the day) and described the trail beginning with an easy climb and then good, easy fun. The climb revealed itself as somewhat of an unrelenting five mile death march on boiler-plate-hard ruts under a scorching treeless sky. After an hour of swearing directed mostly at me, our group finally entered eucalyptus grove on the top of the ridge, stopped to eat some blackberries, and then pushed on into some Endor-like redwood forrest which really was super-fun high speed rollers all the way to the end for an epic view of the ocean and Tomales Bay. Turned around, smoked the mostly downhill return 11 miles in no time, nearly rattling our rides back into their original components along the way and finished back at the ranch for some BBQ oysters and a nap.