...all done!

Ok... so after an obscenely long wait for two minor parts, my bike is finally "done."

After spending my hard-earned (and saved) money for a long ass time, I was finally able to turn my Allez into an ultra-light race machine. The nice thing about upgrading the Allez frameset is that, with the exception of material, it is essientially no different (geometry) from the top-of-the-line Tarmac. The major drawback of getting the less glitzy bike at the outset is that the components are either heavy, of low-quality, or both. This is not to say that I didn't enjoy it stock, but it certainly had considerable heft and a few mechanical shortcomings (stay away from Shimano Sora if you can help it, seriously).

I think there's a misconception amongst cyclists and bike shop people. Everyone says, "buy the best bike you can afford." While this is usually pretty good advice, I feel like it's only solidly true for more high-end road bikes when you're deciding between SRAM Red, Dura Ace, and Super Record, for instance. But even on $5000+ racing bikes you'll get a nice carbon frame, (say) Dura Ace STI levers, and rear derailleur, but then they'll toss on a 105 or Ultegra front derailleur and Ultegra cranks. I've never understood why it seems damn near impossible to get a homogenous gruppo on a complete bike unless you order it custom from someplace online like R&A or cross the $8,000 threshold at a place like Bicycle Habitat.

When it comes to less pricey bikes, they do the same thing, but to the extreme. I feel like you get a very decent frame and fork, and then Shimano (or whoever) just tosses on the cheapest parts at random so that it'll just work good enough so the untrained cyclist won't complain... Or you get another bike where the frame and fork leave something to be desired but you get slightly nicer components like 105 or Rival (though still somewhat cobbled together).

So it's a judgement call right?

I went the route of the better frame and fork with crummier componentry since I knew I'd eventually be tinkering with things and replacing other things... which I did.

So here it is (fellow cat 5 racers, you may start quaking your fuzzy legs now):

 

  

The abridged spec's are:

Drivetrain:

SRAM Force doubletap levers (UD carbon & magnesium)

SRAM Force Crankset (UD carbon)

SRAM Force front and rear derailleurs (aluminum, UD carbon, and titanium in places)

SRAM Powerglide Cassette 23-21-19-17-16-15-14-13-12-11 (23-11, 10spd)

SRAM Powerglide Chain with masterlink

Truvativ bottom bracket.

Everything else:

SRAM Force caliper brakeset with Swisstop pads

Neuvation R28 Aero 4 Wheelset (j-bend bladed spokes, 16f -20r)

Continental GP4000 racing tires (handmade in Germany bitches!)

Ritchey WCS 4-Axis stem in "wet white"

Ritchey WCS Alloy seatpost in "wet white"

Black SRAM cables and housing

Cinelli cork handlebar tape (white)

Shimano Ultegra SPD-SL road pedals

So there you have it. Basically a brand new bike.

It really gets under my skin when people say something is the "best" only because it's what they have or use and not for any quantifiable reason, so I'll try and keep the gloating to a minimum cause I know there's always something better, lighter, and sexier out there (assuming one has the resources to obtain said things).

In all honesty, at first I really didn't like the SRAM doubletap shifting. This was due in equal parts to the fact that I wasn't used to it, and that when you first put on new cables, they stretch rapidly and shift quality quickly degrades, necessitating frequent readjustment in the first month of use. I found it awkward to use the same paddle to shift up and down and was constantly mis-shifting or shifting accidentally. 

Then I got used to it, had the cables tensioned again, and now I absolutely love it. I especially love the fact that when riding in the drops, you can pull the shift paddle away from the brake lever and shift up by simply flicking your wrist toward the inside. That said, downshifting in the drops isn't as easy since you'd have to rotate your whole arm around the bar to get it far enough to shift. Also, if you try to do the wrist-flick to downshift, it feels like you're about to break the paddle off which is a little scary to say the least.

With Shimano, I was used to having the feeling of actually Shifting the chain with the lever... you could literally feel the shifter move sideways, and though it was indexed, shifting to larger sprockets always felt like it took some finger strength. With SRAM it's like a mouse-click and the derailleurs do everything for you. and it's damn precise too. I heard that the Red stuff shifts a little faster and more precisely, though I'd be curious to see if I could actually tell the difference because the Force drivetrain is (as far as I can tell) completely without issue. Where my Shimano stuff would occasionally click or creak or lag in certain spots (no matter how finely tuned I tried to get it), SRAM is like the hyper-obedient child in comparison to the Shimano brat.

I don't know how people review brakes because as far as I can tell, as long as you come to a stop smoothly, they work. end of story. The SRAM Force brakes are pretty sweet lookin' though. they're all skeletonized (unnecessary material drilled out) which looks neat and they work silently which is good.

Well, enough of the technical mumbo jumbo; it tips the scales at 15.5 lbs (give or take a few ounces), and that's what matters.

P.S. If anyone wants to rummage through my parts bin, I have the shimano/specialized version of basically everything listed above... shoot me an e-mail or call me and I'll tell you how much (if anything ) I want for it; some of it's real good shit.

...pretty little things

So unfortunately I got a call Tuesday around noon from NYC Velo saying that my parts were delayed yet again, and that they had to order them from another distributor... According to their latest account of the situation, they should be here today. I'm going to see if they can knock the tax or something off for making me wait three times longer than I had intended.

In other news, I got an e-mail from Rapha this morning inviting me to join them on a gentleman's race at 7:30 am on Sunday, February 28th. Since I'm all about epic rides and rapha in general, I'd totally be there with socks on, except for the problem that it takes place in Richmond VA.

Why Virginia, you ask? Well Rapha and countless others are descending on the town for the North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS) next week. Needless to say, handmade bikes make mass-produced ones look tired and boring:

Rear Dropout from Signal Cycles' Rapha Continental Bike

Engin City Bike by Engin Cycles 

 

Headtube Badge from Signal Cycles' Rapha Continental Bike

Sol Vista by Black Sheep Bikes

Track Bike by Villin Cycleworks

Rumspringa Cyclocross Bike by Courage Bicycles

I'm sure if I was able to make it all the way down there on such short notice, It'd be an awesome time; though I think journalism is best left to journalists, photography to photographers; as the wanton reappropriation of copyrighted material is best left to bloggers. (Just to be clear, I do feel bad using other people's photos without permission, but they'd probably want money and I figure this is free fuckin' advertizing anyway, so I'm faultless here... Shit; how many of you would've known about Signal, Engin, Courage, Black Sheep, etc... if I hadn't just linked you to them, hmm?)

Speaking of blogs, while wasting time on facebook just now, I came across a great photo of a friend taken by someone who seems to be a rather accomplished photographer.

Just spent half an hour diggin' her stuff.

Hopefully tomorrow the new parts will be installed and I can demonstrate to you how my photographic skills pale in comparison to the above...

Bye bye

...new toys, necessary delays, and a peek under the drop cloth

Given the amount of time, effort and money (gathered through time and effort) I've invested in making a legitimate racing machine out of the Allez, I think it's only right that I resist the temptation to let it "drop" until it's complete...completely complete.

After having the most crucial components installed and taking it for a few quick spins to get accustomed with the new gear, I realized that it was missing a few finishing touches.

So tomorrow evening I will take delivery of this...

 

...and this...

 

...from the good folks at NYC Velo (anyone who supplies me with "free" espresso while placing orders qualifies as good people).

I hope to find the time to install these guys on the bike prior to the phryday festivities, after which I will get the whole set up cleaned to a sparkle and go at it with a camera and tripod for the purposes of posterity and gloating (mostly gloating).

Anyways, here are a few spy photos of the build thus far...

 

 

Ok enough titillation for one day...

RIP Alexander McQueen, Franco Ballerini, and Lino Gastaldello.

and I'm out...

Update: Sorry about the shitty formatting; blogger has this new post-composing interface that is excruciatingly inconsistent... all those photos are supposed to line up vertically, though don't worry, I'll hopefully have it resolved soon.

... girlies

 

via chicks and bikes

Just ran across this site, chicks and bikes, whilst perusing tracko. while I usually have little interest in blogs of the ccc or sartorialist blog-way; I am a fan of pretty girls. and bikes. and boobies. Of course the undisputed masters of fixed-gear-soft-core-hipster-porn is the fixfixfix.

 

via thefixfixfix

...enjoi...

...the [two-week-long] madness (installment 13)

So after assuring you that I am officially back to tending the weedy garden that is this blog, I feel somewhat obligated to explain my rather lengthy hiatus from it with what few readers I may have left.

As I had mentioned some time ago, in an extraordinarily good turn of fortune for the firm I essentially embody one half of, we managed to finally secure paying work and as such all available time and efforts were directed at accomplishing our directive to a T.

Coupled with that daytime craziness, I also did two other things which are of some interest to this blog and pertain (at least loosely) to Cycling and/or New York City: First, I moved all of my worldly possessions out of my former residence and moved back to the ghetto.

Now don't get me wrong, Bed-Stuy has it's upsides; twenty-four hour liquor stores, bodegas-a-plenty, and "low rent" to name a few. However, it also sucks in many other less immediately-noticeable ways, like the consistently crummy meat selection among the pitifully few choices of supermarket.

At any rate, I'm staying around the corner from a G train stop now and have had one opportunity so far to witness the hipster (read: white people) inundation of Bed-Stuy firsthand... You see, when I first moved here some eight years ago as a naive college student, most of us knew that going north of Classon Avenue by any means other than taxi or subway was a pretty bad idea. Then two years later a few friends and I moved right to the technical border between Bed-Stuy and Clinton Hill (though real-estate agents like to consider it Fort Greene sometimes) and watched as we went from being an anomalie in that neighborhood to being the old hats that were 'cool' with the locals. Of course the barriers between race, religion, or status of brooklyn's denizens haven't disappeared, they just moved north a ways.

So I feel strangely comforted living here again, I know the 'hood and my new house rocks: pool table, laundry in the basement, backyard, dishwasher, cool peeps; you name it.

I also have a miniature bunny bernard to keep me company:


The second thing that kept me without time for the bloggin' was an architecture/design competition I entered into with some cats from the school days. The deadline hasn't yet passed, and the work doesn't belong to me solely, but if everyone is fine with it, I might do a post later this week with some of the images and a description of the system we designed. I can, however drop something I did that didn't end up getting used in our submission booklet:


A new idea for the massive shortage of physical bike-storage infrastructure in places like Copenhagen is to merely delineate an area of sidewalk or curb-space for amorphous bike parking. Our submission proposed a lit piece of 'intelligent' infrastructure that would keep watch over bikes in it's view...

Working on the project was a lot of fun and I always enjoy getting the creative juices flowing, though I have to say, working in a group has never been my thing. I'm one of those people that wants either complete control or a minimum of responsibility. Of course, that's a secret I'll never let any of my past, present, or future employers onto.

I kind of feel like one of those dogs that keep running their legs after they've been removed from the ground; my brain still operates like there isn't a moment to lose, but my hands can't find things to work on at a complementary rate.

To fill the void I've again taken up working out a complete portfolio for professional marketing (shoot me now), and cycling.

I had felt a little miffed because along with the very-seasonal weather this autumn, my schedule prevented me from putting down the miles I normally would over the weekends and in the evenings... I think my most recent weekly total was on the order of 70 miles, due largely to the fact that my new residence is a good mile and a half closer to work, shaving three miles each day and fifteen miles a week off of that total. Now that I'm a hop, skip, and a jump away from everything I give a damn about in Brooklyn, most of my trips by bike are less than a couple of miles.

Though not all is bad on the cycling front; now that I take the Williamsburg bridge on my commute in, my legs are getting beefier and beefier from climbing the south-side ramp as a shortcut toward Manhattan each day. Also, riding that particular bridge affords me the opportunity to observe hipster 'culture' "on the ground," as they say in journalistic parlance.

But hipsters are known to be skittish of other cyclists and bikes, particularly those with both good bike handling skills, multiple gear ratios, or uncoordinated 'colorways'; so I decided to disguise my road bike by outfitting it with this bad boy in the carbon materialway:


Yeeeeah, thats right; that's a HED3. on my bike. for real.


After a harrowing crash into a hasidic child last weekend, I completely cleaned and fixed the bike so it's tip-top again, and this tri-spoke looks killer on it and is the perfect addition to my ride.

I must admit that while I really wish I did, I didn't actually purchase this wheel; I'm borrowing it from a friend who seems to be delighfully unconcerned that I'm zipping around on something that costs nearly as much as the bike itself.

Maybe after a week or so of riding the HED I'll have a better idea of it's pros and cons, but after a couple hours on it so far, I can see why people drop serious cash on carbon wheels; the ride is remarkably supple and yet the steering is incredibly snappy and responsive. The only downside I have yet percieved is that the wide spoke blades catch cross breezes like theres no tomorrow and since its so damn light, a strong East River gust could put you off course if you're not careful.

I think my favourite part of riding with this wheel is that it makes cool and intimidating noises depending on the air movement around it; in a crosswind going very fast it sounds like a muffled helicopter, though still quite audible (thp-thp-thp). With a headwind the chopping noise gets a little louder until you reach a certain speed where you can literally feel the wheel begin to knife the air in two.

Literally... that's not an exaggeration, this thing cuts the air like marshmallows get mugged in Bed-Stuy -

fast-n-easy

... phot-o-the-day

CMWC 2009 in Tokyo by Tak of New York Bike Dreams.

On an interesting side note before I get back to slaving away on the CAD, those Livestrong bikes Lance rode this past year were up for grabs at a Sotheby's auction recently, and some of them fetched some serious dough... Of course, Damien Hirst's ridiculous pink madone topped the list at $500,000.00

Check the ending prices of the other 6 here.

...Phryday Fotos

(Nike X Livestrong - STAGES Art Exhibition at the Armory on Park via freshness mag)




(Cyclocross Norddal by Rapha on their Flickr page)

And this is what I'm doin' tonight... feel free to join me, I think shit kicks off at 7-ish

...Bike Porn (decisions decisions)

Like all people "into cycling" I've recently come to the realization that I have far too few bicycles in my 'stable'. So scouring craigslist, ebay, and local shops for a new frameset, I became increasingly confused about what sort of bike to build [first].

As the winter months approach, I know a beater bike would be ideal considering the amount of salt, snow and grime brought on by foul weather riding.


My initial thought was that I could get a crappy Panasonic or Myata, ride it through the hell that is New York winters, and then repaint the frame and build it up into a nice ss/fixed bike for the springtime. Something like this maybe (disregard the 'colorways'):


However, I frequently fall victim to my own good taste and end up only perusing frames costing way more than I can reasonably afford or ones unfit to be ridden in anything but the nicest weather, like this one I recently saw on the 'Bay.

Also, growing up in a mass-produced generation, I salivate over rare or custom things so I was elated when I found this website, that boasts a gallery of vintage bikes (of course, all exquisitely lugged, pantographed, yadda, yadda, yadda...) and a thorough history of the racing bicycle.

Now I want this 1979 Colnago Pista




yeaaaah, zero fucking clearance to the crown.

Or how about this Vintage Chesini X Uno:



Alas, I'll probably never be able to even come close to affording a bike like either of these, but fortunately, there are a few frame builders that make not so commonplace frames at more mass-produced prices.

I've been looking at Leader Bike a lot recently, And I think I'm going to settle on the 725TR as a base for an upcoming track setup. I know a couple of people with Leader frames who are quite satisfied with them, so hopefully I'll succeed in building a track monster that, while maybe not being the rarest bike on the road, won't fall into what I like to call the "nike bike" category.


I knew this was a good choice because upon opening an image of this frame on my monitor, Mr. Bernard stuck his ears up straight and gave a nose-wiggle of approval before hopping onto his throne.


While one should always have decisions blessed by a miniature bunny, I can't say I'll definitely get the Leader; who knows, maybe I'll find something good on craigslist one of these days...