Things are Heating up.

I should be on the reality TV show, The Biggest Loser. Not because I'm trying to lose my fat ass, but because I'm such a slacker to this blog. The weather is getting more to the liking of fair weather riders, so folks are coming out of the woodwork. I've never been a fan of seasonal cyclists. But alas, this year I'm ready. (somewhat).

Last time I posted. I listed the Next Girlfriend Bike Challenge. I have some challengers and I'm confident that I'll kick the balls off of all of them. The most serious challenge, I believe will be the one from Bean. She's re-doing an already hot Peugeot mixte, that will be one of the nicest rides on the street. It's Purple for gods sake. Hard to beat that color.
Ryan, got started on a bike and let Roseanna finish his project (of course), a Peugeot mixte as well. It's nice, but my next girlfriends bike should easily crush it.

I also got a challenge from Jesy G. a girl who this time last year rode a Schwinn Collegiate. Now she has a small collective of bikes. Not sure what she's gonna do. I don't think she's sure either. But as with the others, my NGB will kick her cute little ass. Mike Figueroa also sent me a challenge via email. I however see him walking and holding hands, more than riding, so his ass is kicked before he ever starts. Yes Mike thats right. Laura, is working to build her next girlfriends bike for herself. She's putting a ton of effort into it, which pleases this guy to no end. She has however asked for my assistance with assembly. Naturally, I'll assist. I will also make sure she doesn't win.

I built up this pretty Raleigh Sprite last week. The gem goes to Lane, who looks Divine in the saddle. For fans of "Chicks and Bikes" here it is:





Roseanna rebuilt this little guy on Sunday. It's a Raleigh Twenty folding bike. She even repacked the 3-speed Sturmey Archer hub. (impressive)I bought 100psi tires tires for it. They have a lot less drag than the originals. The little sucker really moves out.

Seems it needs a basket, perhaps a rear one. Gonna look in to that.

Here are some pics of recent work:


I'm really diggin the roadster setup.

This is a Nashbar frame, Bean built up.


Keep you posted.

For The Next Girl

I was having a conversation with a fellow cycle enthusiast Paul Grens, yesterday. Something he'd told me a few months ago came back up and made me laugh. He came by looking for parts for a Raleigh Sports cruiser. I asked him was this his "next girlfriends bike"? We both cracked up when he said, yes.

We were looking around at things he needed to finish the project when it occured to me what a great idea that was. I'm bored this time of year, so why not? I've built and restored a ton of bikes, but some of the most difficult projects have been step-through frames. I dislike how many of them look. I understand their value and need. It's sad but I often neglect some pretty wonderful frames because they happen to be step-through.





Nothing wrong with these bikes for sure. I'm not alone in my neglect of ladies frames. Many women don't care for them. Just look at the prices, on craigslist. You can get one for a song. I've watched a lot of them make it inside the scrap yard. Shame on me.

So for the next 8 weeks, I'm going to have a contest. All are invited to participate. I'm going to build my "next girlfriends bike". Will she be tall? What color does she like. Will she be girlie? Will she be a shorty? Maybe a big girl? It has to fit perfectly, so these are important questions. To the rest of you, I challenge. Build your "next girlfriends bike. If you are married or in some other arrangement, feel free to participate. If your next girlfriend is a guy, you can get in on this as well. However, he'd better be comfortable on a step-though. Mixte frames are welcome as well. I'm not sure what my next girlfriend looks like. I do know she's gonna look good on my bike.
I also believe it's gonna look better than your bike. Hmm... where to start?


Who accepts this challenge?
You don't have to live in the Chicago area either. But time stamp your photos and show your build steps. Don't write and tell your your next girlfriend doesn't ride a bike. If they don't, keep looking. The only prize the winner gets is hopefully an appreciative girl/guy/mate or whatever. So I guess in some way we all win.

Feel free to comment or tell me, your bike, will kick my bikes ass. I just don't think so.

Chicago Xmas Mass

I usually never ride Critical Mass. I feel it could be a good thing for the cycling community in Chicago. Perhaps if it were done right. Or had less Massholes. That's a term given car drivers in Massachusetts when they drive recklessly. Here in Chicago, it's a term given to cyclists in Critical Mass who act like buffoons. I figured on Christmas Day, there would be very few riders and almost no car traffic, so what the hell.

Three of us (Sven Scott & myself) who seemed to be the only people still in town on xmas, ( we're at that age where no one really has to see ya at Christmas time ) decided to head on downtown. If nothing else we could see just how many crazies would be out that night.



The ride downtown was nice, however short. I had assembled the Holdsworth, that had been hanging from the ceiling for months. I was happy to only have a short commute downtown. I lowered the seat for photos and had forgotten to raise it before jumping on. Stupid, yeah I know. The thing looked really sweet anyways.



I built the rear hub up as a 4-speed. Figured it would give me pulling options in the wind/snow. It worked really well.



Holiday Bar ends...


We met up with what seemed to be about 60 people (80 tops). There was holiday cheer, people taking pictures, smiling, talking, flask sipping, it was snowing lightly, a really pretty scene, given the day it was.


We shoved off after 6pm or so. A quick trip trough he loop with no circles around the block, cool. There were two cop cars in the procession and we were moving at a pretty good pace. As soon as we came upon Michigan avenue, pulled up to a light, there it was. MASS UP! What? there's only enough people to barely fill the intersection and some fools gotta yell mass up. I spoke up without yelling, SHUT UP. We continued along Michigan, which is quite beautiful this time of year. Tons of lights, people hurrying about, and on this night, very few cars. We ended up near the Viagra Triangle and then it happened...
Right in the middle of the little park near Gibsons. They decide to do a circle. I call it the "Circle Jerk". Thats one sure way to piss a driver off. Yeah anyone can wait for a procession, but waiting while someone completely fucks up the intersection, well...thats just rude.

We were not even halfway through the ride and I was thinking of my exit. I figured once we hit Armitage. Exit west, let's get the fuck out of here. As soon as we left the group, I could feel the night getting better. Really, as soon a we turned off. It was snowing pretty heavily and the westbound traffic did not exist.
There's nothing like a night ride in fresh snow. The bike was very quiet and so where the streets.

Heaven has no massholes...

What I'd like to see

It's 3:23am and I can't sleep. I was just reading over a few of the other blogs I follow, when this hits me. What the fuck am I doing? Why is it so hard to just write shit down? Is it because I seem to have alcohol in my bloodstream most evenings? Or just fucking lazy? I believe thats it..

I'm a bit of an asshole critic. Especially when it come to bikes and the cycling community as a whole. There's lot's of things about bicycles that I love dearly. Then of course there are things that make me cringe! Things I hope would go away forever. Let me see...

Hipster Tails



Besides providing inadequate protection, coming loose when you need them to stay in place. They look really stupid and say this about the rider: Is he/she just cheap, or too dumb to realize what a terrible product that is? Don't forget to recycle when you toss this shit out.

This is what fenders should look like:


This should ruffle some feathers. Of course I don't care...


It's very much like Nascar, boring and unnecessary. I'm convinced, many racers stopped enjoying actually riding a bike long ago. Lot's and lot's of testosterone. Yuck!

Sorry westtown. I love what you're doing for the cycling community but this is silly:

I was once asked to assist in organizing a black womens cycling organization. I thought that was silly as well. Inclusion is inclusion and separation is... not community.

Call me a cranky old bastard but:

Nothing screams hipster or latfh as loudly. In ten years there will be lots of folks in chiropractic clinics all with the same problem. One shoulder longer than the other. Or for backpackers, both shoulders bent the fuck backwards. You will eventually pay for your poor fashion sense.
Something else I'd like to is an end to the thinking that single speed/fixed gear is the only way. Likewise those who believe gears belong on every roadbike. You're both wrong.

Don't hate me. My blood alcohol level is again above the legal limit...

What you can do with a hundred bucks.

I regularly get bike dealers traders and scrappers, offering me older English bicycles. It seems other bicycle mechanics/rebuilders don't want them. You can easily distinguish these bikes by a few things. The color, frame design, headbadges, 3-speed hubs (often, but not always.)Many of these bikes were made in the same factory in England. You can find such names as, Dunelt, Phillips, Hercules, Royal Scot and Humber.The most popular of all at least in the US, is Raleigh.
I picked one up at our recent swap meet, for $50 bucks. The frame was pretty clean as were the fenders. The hub needed rebuilding but other than that, it was a pretty cheap deal.
A couple of friends invited me to breakfast the other day. They were both riding cruisers and dressed well. Not wanting to be the odd one, I pumped up the tires on the Raleigh, did a quick brake adjustment, raised the saddle and took off with them. We took a scenic neighborhood route, as opposed to the through streets.It was a nice morning and taking it easy on a cruiser felt so natural. We took a scenic route on the return trip as well. Upon returning to the shop, I decided to make the cruiser mine. Besides completely rebuilding it. (Which I've still yet to do). It needed a few personal touches. I hate a street bike with no bell, so that was a no-brainer. Lights, that's a given. In fact I believe only a moron would ride without lights.
What this bike needed however, was something personal.

I recently picked up a few wine crates from a local wine shop. Most shops have to dispose of these somehow so, they can be purchased for free.99 Which is a fabulous price. I've seen folks do really creative things with these crates in the past, but I'd only used them as storage bins. How silly of me. So finally, my brain powered up and I came up with this:


A few lag bolts, some shellac, a couple of rubber mounts, some wood quarter round to reinforce the corners and there it is.

I needed to strength test the box so I hopped on and road the bike over to Lincoln Park. I had a friend that owed me a few bucks so, I could make it a dual purpose trip. I took Cortland ave. east to Armitage ave. Cortland, like many Chicago streets, has it's share of rough patches. A good test for the design. The box never rattled and when I reached Clark street, I shook it to see if maybe it was loosening. Nothing, as solid as when I first mounted it. That felt great.

The friend I was to meet was working over at the zoo, so I figured what the hell. I never go there, not really a fan, but hey I'll check it out.

They have this zoo lights festival, that's opening after Thanksgiving. There must be over a trillion lights all strung up around the place. Every goddamn tree, is covered in wire and lights.

As much as I think it's silly, It's kinda cool. Something to do on a fall weekday. There was almost no one around. Just a few nannies and couple school groups.
I'd say check it out for sure. Try to avoid the animal exhibits. Most of the animals, thankfully were indoors. That would figure, since many of them are from Sub Saharan Africa, whose climate is vastly different from lakefront Chicago. Sad really. I took this shot of the Zebras that happened to be out. They looked bored to tears, poor beasts...They just stood there, looking sad, shit...


I thought this sign was ironic:

"Help us protect our wildlife". Tough to do since they are no longer in the wild.
What's that? Captivity you say?

After tooling around for about 45 minutes, I finally found my friend. This is him below. He's one of the guys hired to string all those purdy lights.

After meeting up with him, I figured time to get out this pretty, but sad place.
I jumped back on the Raleigh and headed west. What a cool bike, hipsters take note. That thing on the bottom is called a kickstand.

All this bike plus a little dress up, for about a hundred bucks.
What's really sweet about the rear wine crate? What you can bring home in it.


Nice, a toast to Raleigh cruisers!

A sign that the world has changed.

Like we actually need more signs. As if the global depression isn't enough. I now have another sign that the world I once knew is no longer. We had our Bike Swap last weekend. It was loads of fun. For those of you who missed it, we have a video that Carene is editing of the two days. "Carene editing" is also synonymous with, "you may never see it". I'll keep hope alive however. My sign of change is this: If I had 5 bucks for every person who asked me, "what's a swap meet"? I could take a vacation in Wisconsin.
So here it is from Wikipedia.
A flea market or swap meet is a type of bazaar where inexpensive or secondhand goods are sold or bartered.

One would think that given the current economic climate, swap meets would be everywhere. But alas, it seems few people have even heard of them.
Sad...There are many bike swaps during the winter in the Midwest. Do yourself a favor, attend one. You won't regret it. Thinking about the Wiki definition, I really like the word Bazaar. So for next time look out for, "Lugs Bicycle Bazaar", although I'm sure some people still won't actually know what it is. For those who do, check this out.

This saddle was marked $5 dollars and sat around all day Saturday unsold. I got it, and it's no longer for sale. Wait til you see it polished.

A brand new Axiom Pannier bag. Great for the ladies or you softer boys. 20 bucks!

Beautiful vintage britches.

Bike crap galore

No, this wasn't for sale but this fella came by with this hipstered out Eddy Merckx.



There was tons of other stuff, like new cycling shoes for $5 dollars or leather saddles starting at $30. Most attendees had fun and found something to go home with. I'm sure we will do it again. There used to be a shop in Old Town, which is now just called Wells street. The shop was called the Bizarre Bazaar. They had all kinds of wacky stuff inside. It was such a cool place. That's it, that's what I'll call our next swap meet. "The Bizarre Bicycle Bazaar" Stay tuned.

A Weekend you don't want to miss

I'll be there and have confirmed 5 other bike dealers/mechanics/collectors who will be unloading tons of cool stuff. Build up that winter bike. Get that new saddle. Find a treasure. Ignore dates on flyer. Actual dates 11/7-11/8 11am-4pm

About Last Night

Well, another Zombie ride is now in the record books. I'm beginning to see a pattern, arranging these events. Ever since the Winter Solstice Ride, "Mother Nature" has been a "Mother Fucker" for us. Thanks to all who joined us last night. You are an inspiration to cyclists everywhere. Here are a few scenes from last night.

As always Sven was unsure of the attire for the occasion. He thought it was return of the naked ride. He still vaguely resembled a Zombie.


Clare and Laura are usually looking to eat something. Brains were on the menu last night.


Something about Rosanna's costume that looked quite normal. Can't quite put my finger on it.

Tony had the costume of the night. Not sure what he was. Perhaps man on the loose with a bag of stolen makeup.


This was the high point of the evening. Touching...



Ghost bikes should be recognized by the Federal and Local Governments. That's just how I feel.

On a lighter note. This unlucky young fellow, had the misfortune of having his crank fall off. So much for new bikes being problem free.

Fortunately Bean happened to be chewing on a couple of crank bolts. I've seen her eat those fuckers. Now all is well with that Schwinn Madison.


There was at least 1 Hipster Hanging, that took place.

Looking at Brittany in this wig reminds me that the aFro was, and still is, a cool hairstyle.

Then again...forget what I just said.




Dear God...