Things that make you go Hmmm...

Things around here are always changing, and I suppose that's a good thing. For certain those of us that have chosen cycling as a main mode of transportation, are always hoping for change. Change in peoples attitudes towards cyclists. Changes in laws that can protect us. Changes in tire design, and tread life. I could go on. Sometimes, change just makes you wonder...WTF?

A girl came in earlier this summer, with a bike she had completely bastardized. She rattle can painted a Stronglight crank. To add more insult to the poor bastard she did this:


Those bars, mind you are Cinelli. Wow, hipsters can really fuck over bikes. What possibly could be gained from chopping bars this short? Steering loss? Leverage loss? Elbows to the chest? loss of control? Look at this shit:
Oury Grips be damned. I'll be glad when this trend is over. Such bullshit. I see folks rolling up the street regularly with these chopped bars. All I can say is: see ya in hell. Dumbass!

In other news! I prayed to the bicycle gods and asked that permission be granted to any drunk cyclist, who wished to walk their bike home. Seems some of us think it's better to ride drunk than walk a bicycle. My good pal Sven, has argued that it's just not cool to walk a bike. We've seen the tragic photos of him over and over. Many of you may remember, The Lady Pillowtalk. She started writing a sex blog, but has since stopped posting. She mumbled something about sex being too hard to write about. No, I don't get it either. Anyway, the Lady decided to take Svens road to hell and attempted riding while intoxicated. You can pretty much guess what happened. I exited the bar a few minutes after her, only to see flashing lights up the street. I ran down to see what was going on, and sure enough the Lady was lying in the gutter, wondering why there were so many handsome fire personnel around her? She loves the attention of people in uniform. In fact she told me to get lost, as I was blocking her action. Just take care of my bike, she moaned. Below is a picture of her, the morning after the face plant.





She looks pretty good in a hospital gown and she has the most beautiful eyes. Again, please note, it is best to walk your bike when you've had too many. Permission has been granted.


Not quite a chicks and bikes photo, but I built this up for Annika. She used to ride an SE Draft. Now look at her.





Hot little Whip.

Love and Bicycles

As usual, when I'm having a conversation with Sven. We become engrossed in some pretty wild conversations. Just this morning while sitting at Lovely Bake Shop, here in Bikeville, I asked him how his recent romance was going. He mumbled something about, a whirlwind, love, a balancing act, and trying not to go nuts. I believe the phrase was, "a pyschotic break from reality" I said, I guess that's why for the most part, I don't bother with romance. It's just too much work.

“Love is not only something you feel.
It is something you do.”

David Wilkerson

I agree with Mr. Wilkerson, love is certainly something you do. Whereas that alleged, feeling you get, isn't necessarily love. So, Sven Say's to me, " with all due respect Ron, on bicycles I accept your knowledge. On love, he said my opinion was akin to heresy. Geez, that's harsh.

Sven went on to explain this feeling that you get. This newness, these expectations, wanting to go balls out in pleasing another person. At least for the short term. He claims to have done this in most of his previous bouts with love addiction.
Now, I'm no Dear Abby, but I've been involved in enough affairs to have some knowledge of love and how it relates to other people.

For sure the one thing I can say is , The feeling you get from a trusted bicycle. The freedom one can derive from riding atop a perfectly, fit and functioning bike, is fucking Divine!
The bikes that I've fallen in love with, have treated me well. Been with me through many seasons, and have transported me to many places. I've had love affairs that were short lived, not so with my affairs of the bicycle kind. Look at what a fucking hot machine this is.

Sexy little beast!


It's name is, Filthy McNasty. Truly a lovely bicycle. Just look at those curves. When I ride it, I get this response from it that say's, You know Ron, we work really well together. Why don't you take me on the town and show me off? I reply with, I love you. You sure do please me. Now that's what an affair should be.
Don't tell me I don't know love. It sure as hell ain't tragic and it ain't a lot work. It's just what you do.

So please, drop me line with pics of your lover. (The steel ones) Show me what gets you off.
I just love erotic photos.

Not too drunk tonight

It's been a relatively peaceful day around here so alas, it's 10:30 and I'm sober! I've taken some great photos lately. I've wanted to post them for some time, but I'm usually two sheets by now.
Not to sound like a hypocrite. Even though I am. I'm starting to become an advocate for
helmets. I do own one, yet because I'm too dumb to rock it, you can more often than not find me without one. I believe in freedom of choice. If someone wants to drive without wearing a seatbelt, they should be free to be ejected from whatever vehicle they want to. Likewise with bikes, if someone wants to end it all on a slab of asphalt, so be it.
There have been a few visitors to the shop lately and one regular in particular, that have me rethinking my choice. You may have seen Sven's photo in recent posts.He's the guy that tries like hell to win the title of worst dressed Chicagoan. Well I have a more recent photo that shows he's into cosmetic surgery. Check this out!


Sven, claims to have made out with Division st. While riding without a helmet.
I have reason to believe he's been visiting Dr. 90210. Checkout the smirk in the following photo.

Those scars don't look like road rash. They kinda look unnatural, like, oh say...Botox? Or as Sven uses the code word, Botizzle.

Another fella came by recently. Showing of his new tattoo. Max Moore, a really nice guy, who seems to have his head on straight. Until, he decided on this little Frankenstein head tatt.

Boy the things some folks will do to make a fashion statement.
Now whenever I see him he tries to hide that tattoo and piercing mistake with a
helmet. Can't fool me, I saw him down at that Insight Studios place.

Chicks and....

Amy has moved into one of the rooms in the back of the shop with me. Now that's a reason for wearing a helmet. I'm gonna get drunk now.

Beware of sellers using the phrase ready to ride

As I cruise craigslist daily, I often check out the regular bike sellers just to see what they have acquired. We spend much of our time in search of just the right bike to rebuild. I get jealous when, someone beats me to a nice old lugged bike, or some Dura Ace equipped bike that sold way too cheap. Some of these guys post regularly on CL, I really don't know they find the time to post as much as they do. Many seem to be stuck on the phase "ready to ride". Some also are big on the words de-greased and re-greased. A writer from Chicago Magazine can in recently and interviewed us. He asked what should one look for when purchasing a used bike. I told to look out for guys who said their bike was "fine tuned" a term who's hidden meaning is "bullshit". Another one to look out for is "ready to ride". It's a copied term that gets used way too often. It's hidden meaning is " I haven't fucking touched the bottom bracket, so don't ask". At the time of this post, I used keywords ready to ride on a CL bike search and got 79 matches. My advice, beware!

A twenty plus year old bike, with twenty plus year old wheels? No mention from any of these guys about spoke re-tension. On single speeds, look out for guys who failed to mention if the rear wheel was re-spaced or re-dished. It takes a lot of time and patience. It's needed in most every case, It make for a straight chainline. Prevents premature chain wear and most importantly, keeps the chain from falling off. Below is a photo of and incorrect chainline. It's way too far to the left.


It's easy to put a bike out sale at $200 bucks if you don't put any time or money into it. Below is an example of a good chainline. Checkout the spacing.


To do a good rebuild, one should really replace the wheels, unless they were really nice double eyeleted ones used on higher end models. I'm gonna start sending these guys emails asking, what the fucks up with the old ass wheels? Gotta check their asses. Shits outta control.

Perfectly Spaced.

Talk about ruffling Feathers

I rarely get comments on this blog, occasionally I get some from people who I know. Mostly good stuff or something funny. The previous post must have really struck a nerve to a few readers as I got plenty negative comments. I'm of the belief that any criticism is ok. At least then I know folks are reading. This one guy said I have no business talking about the Mercier Kilo TT. When I don't know who the rider is. Well, I don't remember saying I care who was riding it. I wouldn't car if it where a relative of mine. Though I would not be speaking to them. I just said they, (the bikes) have no soul. While certain bikes do have their place, (they meet a price point) of fit a budget (usually low). It's okay to say how you feel about them. Furthermore if you want your comment posted please have the balls to leave a name with your comment. Otherwise keep it to yourself. A crew of us went to NAHBS this winter and the two things you could say about the bikes on display. They had tons of character and plenty of soul. Perhaps because they built by humans. (by hand). Not just a spec sheet that was faxed to Taiwan. If that's what some people call a nice bike, so be it. Some people call Lite beer, beer. I call it a waste of money. Taking great names like Motobecane, Windsor, Dawes and Mercier. Marketing them to appear to be different brands and selling them to the masses, is just kinda shitty. For those who wrote and said this blog sucks, and I suck, thanks for reading. For those who like it, much love!

Sold at bikesdirect.com
Comes in many colors,
Free shipping,
Still ain't got no soul...

Things I've noticed of Late

I just finished going over my SD card, clearing out some of the junk photos and there are a few things that I've come to notice. Thought I'd catalogue them here. Here is what Hippies used to call Hash

Of course, things sometimes change for the worse.
Here is what hipsters call hash.

I think I prefer the smaller plastic bag.
It seems more and more people are doing the World Naked Bike Ride

More folks are riding bikes these days. Makes me happy. Along with that the saggy ass factor appears to be disappearing. That can't be a bad thing.


Amy has been working real hard for the title of worlds worse dressed human and she does a pretty good job of keeping herself near the top of the heap.

But just when she nears the top of the pile, Sven Lager just smacks her the fuck back down. Yikes!

Because of a silly bet, I gave up eating sausage and all other meat for a month.

A whole month! I did not lose a fucking pound!

That 70s French bikes are really beautiful...

However the shit you buy from bikesdirect.com Ain't got no soul.

Let's not forget, Chicks and Bikes.





Be back soon.

Hard to Post in Warm Weather

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. Between the warm weather and how good beer seems to taste this time of year, posting has been tough. Lot's going on recently. My dad came into town earlier last week, and my right arm Carene, left town late last week. Luckily I'm left handed. While Carene was away, I had a wife for the weekend. I forgot how nice marriage can often be. The Lady Pillow Talk in Chicago and I went to a bike swap, tons of garage sales and Wolff's Flea Market at the Allstate Arena. I never knew how much the lady loved looking for treasures. Below was the haul from Sundays outing.

Having a wife was so much fun, that I didn't even mind the three-hundred stairs we had to tackle afterwards. I would highly recommend a shopping trip with the Lady, but you'll have a hard time over the next few months as I don't want her to shop with anyone else. Isn't she lovely?

In other news, we have been building some hot as hell bikes of late. Kristy and Matt picked up these bikes recently. Kristy's is a vintage Gitane mixte and Matt's is a Vintage Motobecane with Nervex lugs. Both are fine examples of rich French cycling history.


I had one hell of time convincing Lisa, that an old Peugeot frame would make one of the hottest bikes around. She now understands. The photos speak for themselves.


Stay tuned, lot's more hot stuff to come.

This Week in Bikeville

Some pretty interesting things seem to happen in Bikeville. What's really neat is, all you have to do is keep your eyes open. In her last post Bean forgot to mention just how addicted she is to perfection. Here she is making adjustments to Briannas bike on the street.

Of course, what she really wanted to do was hop on her bike and do a silly trackstand. Don't you love her?


Powdercoating is the Shit. Look at how Brianna's crank turned out.


What is it about chicks who promote booze? Is it me, or?



Maybe it's me. Anyway, chicks with bikes are way more interesting. Look who picked up bikes recently. Below is Laura with an 81' Ross Fixie that Bean built.


Got my finger on the trigger and might start cappin...


Alex stopped by recently. I love chick and bike photos.

The Dawes head badge is wicked hot.


Kate the Baller finally finished her "Sunday Bike". she wouldn't pose with it but here is two thousand words.



Fixedgeargallery ain't got shit on Bikeville.