dystaind

saw some SF news article of their ringleader leading a ride (I guess that is what you'd call it) from the bay to LA... yes on rollerblades. Not sure how long, but I'm sure it's a fundraiser to cure things.

I hear there's huge roller blade masses around the bay area. Saw some in Palo Alto once-- they even had cones and whistles for the thing.

titanium is the shit. go for it knucks, miyatas are soooolid. had a touring frame that had tight tight geo and rode so smooth.... when it was on smooth roads. for some reason miyata got it in their mind to make their touring frame out of thin tubed aluminum. felt like i was riding a vibrator after 20 or so miles.

nice peugot up there, 180 shipped is quite a good deal.

really diggin the soma corter. although i have a hard time seen how that would be one's "winter beater" but i can only guess that means you got something nicer up your sleeve for the spring weather.

and hamburglar, if you have that much faith in your stupidity, do us a favor and take off your lockring for us. then backpedal up a hill to "tighten" you own cog. or pull a "phat skid" over your handlebars and "tighten" up your cog with that backpressure.

^^ in response

depends on which IRO you're looking at. they're all different metals/geometries etc.

the pista is pretty standard steel, nothing to fawn over, but it's still decent steel nonetheless. the pista has tight track geo, which is comparable to the angus. however the angus has reynolds 631 steel which is a nice upgrade and also comes threaded (meaning you'll need a different stem setup. some people swear by threaded stems, but it's easy to get threadless since that's the common standard nowadays). Pista can be bought from just about any shop, so you can try it out. make sure you try one with a brake on it if you're not used to fixed gear bikes-- they usually sell'em brakeless and with plastic platform pedals.

IRO breakdown:

angus - 631 steel, tight track geo. not sure if it's track legal, but it will be twitchier than a road bike.

mark v pro - 631 steel, comparable if not the same geo as an angus (don't know offhand).

mark v - lower grade of steel, reynolds 530 i believe? has tear shaped tubing which some people like. also has holes for a front + back brake and water bottles (i wish my bike had holes for some).

jamis roy - aluminum and thick tubed. read up on aluminum on sheldonbrown.com if you want to hear a bit more about how it rides. meant more as a versatile commuter-- accepts thicker tires + wider hubs (road hubs), has 2 water bottle bosses, drilled from ffront and back brakes, but still retains a geo more aggressive than your average roadie.

hope that helps.

beautiful. one day i'll get one... i keep telling myself this...

take good care of it-- keep it out of rain, proofide every few months, and don't let that shit get stolen!

i think you'll be happiest with the kilo. cheap-- steel-- rackmounts + brake mounts (for fenders... or brakes). curious-- are you planning to use a back rack? thought about this the other day- weighing down your back with panniers, boxes, back racks could be counterproductive to riding fixed and skid stopping... unless you rock a back break. or don't skid (I know a few SF riders who don't skid at all)

seriously though, it sounds like you want to go pretty budget and if you don't mind a bit of toe-overlap, the kilo will treat you well.

if you don't mind cable hangers, there is a Pake "commuter" frameset with horizontal dropouts for $360. Beefy steel, cyclocross geo (pretty decently high bottom bracket drop), minty blue, and lots of rack stays. plus you get bottle mounts (always nice in my opinion for light systems or water bottles) and canti brakes! ultimate rain/snow/mud bike! also, if you don't rock a back brake, you should probably get a top tube protector... heard some bad stories of people tearing themselves up on the cable mounts on fixed gear conversions. You can imagine what they tore.

you ever done the same thing with a steerer tube? i need to get mine cut down and i have a pipe cutter, but i'm nervious about fucking up my fork. someone (maybe on this thread) told me not to go that route. and then i'll have to push a new star nut too - how hard is that?

don't do this. have a shop cut it. many will do it for free.

knucks-- any kind of geo you particularly favor? if you're down with more road clearance/geometry-- the lemond fillmore is pretty decent steel/construction and has fender mounts. however-- it is drilled front and back for brakes (which can be a good thing when mounting back fenders) and has cable stops. it does have a higher price point though.

i have some fender rack brackets for frames that don't have brackets-- i toured a few states and had a back rack + panniers to carry clothes, food, tools, tent, and a sleeping bag and have no complaints about it. Yeah it isn't perfect and doesn't look super beautiful-- but they worked just fine through rain, dirt, and distance.

You could also hunt for some more odd road conversions... For instance, I have a mid 90's Miyata touring frame with fairly aggressive geometry (i have slight toe overlap on this bike)... and like all other touring frames, it has rack mounts. only disadvantage of the 712A is the thin gauged aluminum tubing. WTF where they thinking!? gahhhhhhHHHHhHHHhhhhhHHHHhHhHhhHhh (the sound you make when you ride over SF streets on that thing or after a 20 mile ride).

if you ride around a 61cm and are really lookin to save some money, i have a friend who might be looking to move his KHS flite. has rack mounts, drilled for brakes, no cable stops, threaded fork, no dents, standard paint scratches because it's a well loved bike

Gem, thanks for sharing the article.

Sorry to revive if this headphones this has become dead and gone-- but I just want to clarify. Yeah, I guess I don't want to sound like a dick, but most of all I think I may not have stated what I felt/thought in the clearest manner.

I guess for clarification-- I'm talking about headphones on bikers. I DEFINTELY don't approve of wearing one if you're in the car. That one should meet disapproval across the board considering how dangerous a thousand-pound-death-box is... but I still stand firm in my (notice the emphasis on myself) disapproval of wearing headphones while biking.

It's a personal choice and everyone can have opinions about them. I personally feel that they lower your awareness around you, meaning concentration and aural awareness. I dont' mean you'll fall off your bike because you're listening to psyche rock-- but you won't be taking everything in the same way as you would sans headphones. My beef with headphones is that with that lessened awareness, you become a dangerous riders-- for other bikers, pedestrians and cars.

I've been nearly swerved into by a few bikers who had headphones and didn't hear/see me passing. Granted, they could just be bad bikers who don't look over their shoulders, can't control their bikes, etc. etc. because I've run into a number of those. But when they have headphones in, I'm sure you can understand that it doesn't add to my positive feelings towards bikers with headphones in.

My statement of endangering comes down to this-- my beef is with people who do shit that MIGHT (even a slight chance is still a chance) endanger me i.e. swerving in and out of lanes, not look over your shoulder, wearing headphones, etc.

But at the end of the day, bike how you want to, build how you want to, listen to what you want to. We can't all be perfect and accidents do happen, so hope all is well and ride safe guys.

why the thought of being on bffgss?

In traffic school for a moving violation. It all started when I was rushing to pick up my girlfriend and my car battery died. Then I sat in the gas station and waited for AAA to jump start my car. Once it got started, I called her, found out time was getting a bit stiff, so I made a left turn where I shouldn't have. It was dumb, I was on the cell phone, felt like stopping would make my car die, and was rushing around on a fairly main avenue of San Francisco.

Glad the cop didn't make me turn off my car engine-- or I would have been stranded and extremely late. Her parents felt pretty bad about the ticket since I was basically driving her and had no reason to go an hour south. They offered to pay part of the ticket, but something about pride, self sufficiency, or embarrassment made me not want to accept their money.

just so you guys know, it's illegal to ride with headphones in both ears (in california... i'm in traffic school for some moving violations.) I guess that allows headsets and riding with one headphone bud in-- but i still don't see how this is a good idea.

People can ride brakeless, helmetless, whatever-- but if you endanger me, my friends, or just freak out cars because you're throwing your dumb deaf meat infront of them, that's where I draw the line. I don't see why you'd let a deaf person ride a bike in a city, so why are earbuds/headphones any better? If you want music, get some speakers in your bag. Or just get off your bike.

this is true. your only allowed to be in the lane when you make left turns

not true.

many (if not all) state laws designate bikes as vehicles. you're allowed to take up a lane if there are no bike lanes.

and if i'm wrong, please show me in clear writing that i am. i'm willing to admit i'm wrong, but you better have solid evidence on it.

yes i sound a bit militant about it, but that's mainly because bikes are not supposed to be on sidewalks. they prove to be more of a hazard to pedestrians and bikers alike. it also doesn't help that ignorance like that is the justification assholes in vehicles feel when they yell out "GET ON THE FUCKIN SIDEWALK" or harass bikers.

like i said, i may be touting the laws that I know (which apply to Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and San Jose), but i'm quite positive they apply to other states/cities as well.

education for san fran:

this is true. your only allowed to be in the lane when you make left turns

not true.

many (if not all) state laws designate bikes as vehicles. you're allowed to take up a lane if there are no bike lanes.

and if i'm wrong, please show me in clear writing that i am. i'm willing to admit i'm wrong, but you better have solid evidence on it.

yes i sound a bit militant about it, but that's mainly because bikes are not supposed to be on sidewalks. they prove to be more of a hazard to pedestrians and bikers alike. it also doesn't help that ignorance like that is the justification assholes in vehicles feel when they yell out "GET ON THE FUCKIN SIDEWALK" or harrass bikers.

like i said, i may be touting the laws that I know (which apply to Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and San Jose), but i'm quite positive they apply to other states/cities as well.

education:

got an old variflex from my childhood. "hi tech ball bearing, variable string gap"

is this worth anything to anyone? i just want to find it a decent home.

track nuts bite down on your drop outs. if you don't have any, git'choo some hater. if they're tightened down-- your grindouts should not be ground down too much.

but who cares!? bikes were MADE to be ridden. worn down drop outs just mean one loved bike!

tartan should never be worn by anyone who is not a 60 year old scot or a 16 year old schoolgirl.

or a punk

..........

that's the same thing as a 60 year old or a 16 year old schoolgirl.

seriously, the only punks i see who wear tartan nowadays are high school kids that are angry at their parents and trying too hard, or old dudes who are still angry at their parents and still trying too hard.

my school "mascot" / colors were the "tartan". we had a kiltie band and were the only university in the US to have a bag piping major. it sounds a lot cooler than it actually was. I think the mascot has not been changed to a scottish terrier.

got a newer/better helmet from REI and some tires to shred. my last helmet was pitted because i sprayed bug repellent on it while biking from Pittsburgh to Washington DC. NEVER EVER let solvents get near the foam (like i did)-- they will eat your helmet up.

and I am so ready to ride.

^ gotta be careful... those shorts sometimes just rub the right way

i just hate the whole knickers thing because of the trendhopping. there are tons of dudes that get into it and within a week have this insane kit that they rock 24-7.. out to bars, to and from work, etc

- shants/knickers/manpris/tampons

- uberaero helmet

- front brake

- fenders

- beater conversion that they insist on using crappy parts then getting pissed when they break that is usually rattlecanned (they read rattlecan on the forum and that's the "in" way to talk about it) OR a pista

- a jersey

- spd cleat shoes

- messenger bag (usually chrome or timbuk2)

- a utility belt (worn when its too hot out)

- freight fanny pack

- sunglasses with every shade for day/night/cloudy/etc

they also enjoy posting on forums from their IT job about brakes, what gear ratio to use while commuting, hating hipsters (when they just jumped on a trend and now cycling is "theirs" ... it doesn't belong to these hipsters..), and being the first person to post about a pista vs iro.

now please, this is in jest, but you see what i mean. i love what the trend of fixed gear has done for cycling, urban transportation and steez points no matter who's getting into it. its a great thing, but some people take it over the edge in 5 seconds.

sadly i think i fit 90% of those. proud to say i haven't fallen into wearing shants, jerseys, spds, sunglasses... but fuck me. i got a chrome a while back when i almost lost a hard drive and sketchbook in the rain and swore it would never happen again. now i come back to the west coast-- and almost every other person in SF has a chrome. i know a bag isn't directly connected to my individuality, but something in me feels a bit lost. i hate being vain.

hey guys, just sold my road bike to work on a pista that i got. been loving it so far!! I plan on using it as a commuter, but also want to hit up the hellyer velodrome.

Should I stick w/ the pista frame, or go for maybe an iro angus or something along that line?

I understand that a lot of people hate on the pista, but is it still a good track bike overall?

I live in downtown San Jose, if anyone wants to ride sometime.

like the above said-- ride what you want. who cares what it is? as long as it fits and you sizewise, stylewise, handling (yeah that includes brakes).

the pista is a fine bike. there's a reason why "every" hipster seems to be riding it.

by the way, i'm in san jose also and am always lookin for a reason to get out of the house. i'd be down for a ride any time.

yo, could i see a bigger picture of the whale crushing a city shirt?

droppin price and bumpin again.

price drop on the angler bag. $45 obo.

just got back from a small family trip down south.

sorry to hear about charlie. I used to browse the BFFGSS forum all the time... shiznaz consistently brightened that place up.

i don't care what you ride, just ride it safe. fuck fashion.

goes bump in the night. fanny pack still for sale.

i have a chrome and am pretty happy with it. the seatbelt does get a bit retarded-- people love pushing it to test if it's real. yes... it is real-- and now my messenger bag has dropped to the floor with my laptop in it. fucker. if you keep the stabilization strap on-- the bag won't fall completely to the floor, but it is still a nuisance.

if i didn't have the chrome-- i'd probably snag a seagull black bag. i don't really want custom art or to pay an arm and a leg. $95, HUGE size, really sturdy looking construction, U-lock holster on the strap if you want it, and a strap system that doesn't fall apart on you (i do like baileys, but a plastic buckle? i'd be paranoid of crushign it. likewise, the chrome seat buckle is handy at times and a pain at others.)

http://seagullbagsohio.blogspot.com/

i also know of a guy who makes custom u-lock holsters that fit on your belt. they fit mini-locks really well and are pretty good construction.

oh, and +1 on pacs. they are ridiculously well made and have u-lock holsters on the side of the bag (seriously great idea).

if you want a fanny pack-- i have one for sale that has a u-lock holster. it can fit mini's or standards (might be more bulky with the standard).

Ya I believe so. Thats what you would need to know for getting a new frame?

Thanks

for a new frame you need the center tube measurements. that's from the bottom bracket (big round cylindrical area of your frame where your crank arms/pedal are installed to) up to your seat post

http://www.calfeedesign.com/framemeasurement.htm

generally it's the ST (seat tube) or called the center tube.

hate to spam you guys, but some of you mentioned wanting a hip pack. got one up for sale (and a playstation 2. i'd like to get that playstation out of my house, so offers/trades are very welcome):

http://www.superfuture.com/supertalk/showthread.php?t=33313

just a few preview pics: