Bits and pieces: updates

1. After trying some ergonomic grips on the All-Rounder and liking the additional support they offered, I went ahead and found some for my Peugeot as well.

These corky rubber grips by Asti/Shorex are a nice, more affordable alternative to the Ergon GP-1 grips which retail for over $40 even on Amazon. Yes, they’re made in China. And they cost less than half of what the CP-1’s cost. Now that I am unable to work very much and find myself on a very tight budget, I will get what I need for as little as possible in order to be able to ride my bike.

They have a slightly larger diameter than the used set of ergo grips I found for the All-Rounder, which may actually be beneficial for my arthritic hands. (According to my OT, a larger diameter grip means I don’t have to bring my thumb and forefinger as close together to maintain a grip, which can ease some of the strain and pain.)

2. Remember that funky saddlebag rack I got, then cleaned up and had powder-coated? Well, it works far better on a road frame than on my ATB frames, so I’m letting it go cheap. US shipping only please. I’m asking fifty bucks because it’s cool, vintage and British. Even at that price I’m eating much of the powder-coating cost and you’re getting a heckuva deal. Reach out to me if you’re interested.

3. I hope to start volunteering a couple times a month at Bike Farm now that Passover is behind me. My task will be to show up during an evening open shop period and be available to answer questions and talk someone through a repair as needed. (The idea is that I talk them through in order for them to learn hands-on, and because I can’t really do the repairs myself anymore.) First and third Tuesday evenings for Alphabet Night. Come in, say hi and give the Bike Farm a little love in the form of spare change.

It will be nice to lend some support based on my knowledge and experience, even if I cannot parlay that into paying work anymore. I still love bicycles and their elegant technology and this is a nice way to give something back.

4. Later this spring when the weather warms up, I will be selling off pretty much all the rest of my shop tools and accessories at a discount. I may wait until there’s another swap meet, pay for a little table space and offload them there. But if there’s anything you’re looking for specifically, reach out to me now and ask. I am more than happy to see if I have what you need and let it go separately. The time has come when I can’t really do significant work, even on my bikes, anymore. 

I think that the first time I have to pay a shop to fix a flat it will positively gall me. Looking at it another way, I’ve paid my dues and then some, and it might be nice to pay younger hands to lavish some love on my bike. The jury’s still out on which perspective shows up when the time comes.

5. After unsuccessfully trying to sell my singlespeed, I’ve decided to hang onto it for another year. I’ll put some ergonomic grips on it, and since I’m going mult-modal (bike and bus) a lot more often, it could be the right bike for trips in town where I don’t have to bring groceries home.

It’s spring. Happy riding!

Nobody asked for them.

Here’s a great article by Eben Weiss, aka Bike Snob NYC:

https://www.outsideonline.com/culture/opinion/disc-brakes-took-over-the-cycling-world-heres-why-that-was-a-mistake/

In it, he makes all the reasonable arguments against an entire bicycle industry dropping older technologies in favor of promoting the false idol of “racing trickle-down.”

And if you like that one, here’s another: 

https://www.outsideonline.com/culture/opinion/theres-no-good-reason-to-buy-a-carbon-bike

Again, same thing. The bicycle industry insists on infantilizing consumers by presuming they know what’s best, rather than the people who ride the damned bikes every day.

The last time I dared to question this attitude deeply, I was still working in the bicycle industry and I got my head handed to me on all sides — entirely by men, by the way — because in poo-poohing the 650b renaissance, I had somehow blasphemed the bicycle industry gods.

I built up a 650b test bike for Kogswell twenty years ago. Matthew (of Kogswell) had asked me to be part of the testing group because all his other test-builders were tall guys, and he needed someone shorter to fill out the sample group. I learned a lot from the process, and I’m glad to have done it. But in the end, I simply was not tall enough or big enough to notice a meaningful difference from n ride quality between 650b and my standard, go-to tire size of 26”/559. After the testing was finished, I sold my Kogswell to someone else and went back to my 26’er bikes with no regrets, and watched from the sidelines as two men with considerable social capital proceeded to bully the entire bike industry to invest deeply into 650b. My shop bought some tires, but we never sold very many. Our customers, living on smaller budgets and riding mostly older bikes, didn’t need another t wheel size to devote garage space to. (Rivendell Bicycle Works, which made my 26’er All-Rounder back in 1999, no longer makes frames to fit that wheel size. Too bad. However, they have yet to make a bike with disc tabs, so I mostly forgive them.)

The hard, ugly fact is that racing trickle-down is what helps to pay for the juggernaut costs of racing bike and component development and production. And racing is what gets the company name out in front of the media, not some old fat lady peddling her city bike at 10mph on her way to the store.

Which is a big part of why this old fat lady no longer shops at bike stores for anything new, and why she has a supply of overhauled freewheels on hand to see her out.

Can’t afford the new and shiny stuff? Don’t worry. There are plenty of used bikes and parts out there at downright cheap prices. Relax, and go ride your bike.

Kickstand swap.

For about ten years I’ve been using a center-mount kickstand on the Rivvy. It wasn’t ideal, but the bike was more stable this way. I didn’t want to use a two-legged center-mount kickstand because of the added weight; I don’t carry stupid-heavy loads anymore and it would’ve been overkill. Plus, they’re expensive.

Then I came into a used rear-mount kickstand that would give me the stability I wanted without further risk to the chain stays near the bottom bracket shell. So I swapped it in.

(Pro tip: determine the contact points on your rear triangle, and give those a few wraps of cloth tape to protect the paint and give the mounting bracket a good place to grip.)

I had to remove the rubber tip from the old kickstand, which required some cutting through super-glue.

The rubber tip adds a few mm of height to set the angle where I’d like it, and protects the metal end from scraping against the sidewalk and wearing down. I didn’t have a spare, so I rescued the old one. They’re meant to fit the Pletscher or Greenfield kickstands, and you can buy them at any bike shop for about $3.

After removing the rubber tip, I installed it on the replacement kickstand. Because of the cut I’d had to make to get it off, I applied super glue and then wrapped a zip tie around it to hold it in place while the glue dries. Eventually, I ,Amy fill in the split with either more super glue, or some plastic resin. But right now it seems to hold together fine on its own. I’ll probably leave the zip tie alone.

Wayback Bicycle Machine: on thrift and common sense

I came across this article in an old Bridgestone Bicycle catalog. Written by Peter Egan, who would go on to work for a time at Rivendell Bicycle Works, it makes as much, if not more, sense today as it did in 1994. Enjoy it, and then go ride your bike.

Bike Farm needs some love. You can help.

I’m going to start helping out a couple times a month at Bike Farm, to get out of the house and not focus on my own stuff for a little while.

The Bike Farm is a workshop that allows people to rent tools and bench space, and learn how to repair their own bicycles. The shop is volunteer-run and depends on donations from the public as well as volunteer hours. 

If you’d like to find out more, check out their website: https://www.bikefarm.org/

Peugeot saddlebag support UPDATE

After trying the first saddlebag support rack on the Peugeot and finding it wanting, I swapped it over to the Rivvy, where it still needs adjustment but is working better there.

I went looking for another one and found it at the Bike Recyclery, a Portland shop dealing in vintage bikes and parts. The maker was unknown, suspected to be Japanese, and seemed like a far better shape and a better attachment design that might work, so I gulped and sprang for it to the tune of thirty bucks. (Though when I consider what I spent on buying, shipping and powder coating the English rack that’s now on the Rivvy, this may have been a bargain. Don’t tell my partner.)

Today I installed it on the Peugeot. And I learned two things: first, these cool, old saddlebag support racks are designed to work on road frames, where these less space between the seat stays and the rear wheel and between the rear wheel and the installed rack. Secondly, those design characteristics mean that any vintage support may work, but will look a little odd on a mountain bike, even an older one.

Still, I forged ahead. And along the way, I had to do some cutting and filing in order to accommodate the frame’s rack eyelets because I didn’t want to cut them off. It took some doing, but in the end I made it work. Again, it’s not a perfect fit, and it won’t be on a mountain bike, but it makes me happier than the previous rack did.

 

Getting the clamps to fit inside the space between the sear stays and above the brake cable hanger was a tight fit. Squeezing the ends together hurt my hands and I had to try several times before I was successful.

Then I had to remove the rack and cut and file space to fit around the frame’s rack eyelets, which I didn’t want to remove in case I wanted to use a full-sized rack later on.

The aluminum alloy rack came slightly bent out of alignment, and I had to be very careful about how much pressure I used to realign it so I didn’t break it. In the end, with several adjustments in a well-padded bench vise, I got the lower half of the clamps to properly align. If I want to bring the upper half of the clamps into better alignment I might have to use a hammer and punch, after zip-tying the lower halves into place and letting the outer-pushing spring of the rack do its job, I find that it’s holding solidly enough for now. I’ll add thicker zip ties to the top halves if I think it’s needed.

If I tie the rear of the bag to the seatpost and close the bag, it sits well enough on the support that the support actually makes sense. If you look closely at the first photo, you’ll see that the end of the rack flares up just slightly, a nice touch that helps keep the bottom of the bag from rolling off the back of the rack. A coroplast stiffener inside the bottom panel of the bag may help reinforce that aspect. I’ll cut and install that tomorrow and see if it does.

Let’s do something stupid: Ladd’s 500

IT. IS. ON!

Ladd’s 500 returns for another day of bicycle mayhem.

Saturday, April 13 at Ladd’s Circle.

“Let’s do something stupid!”

Here’s the deal. Every year this event has grown in popularity, and every year the cost of putting it on has risen. David Robinson has been throwing this party out of his own pocket since 2016, but with permit costs rising upwards of $1200 (!!) it’s not feasible to keep expecting one guy to do all the heavy lifting.

So I’m going to suggest that, if you plan to show up to ride or watch, bring a few dollar bills with you, ask around for David (he’ll be in the middle of the circle with several hundred other people), and press the cash into his hand as a thank-you for all his hard work, and to help defray his out-of-pocket costs. 

See you on the 13th.