Sunday, December 20, 2015

Victor's new ring



Because I'm going here in the next week, I've needed to bench the 53t ring that works on the
relative flat of town
and go down to a relatively small SR 47t
courtesy of a lovely ebayer from England
this SR ring is just the ticket.
using the small cog a lot more these days as a result






Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Love my drivetrain








































even its shadow
riding home along Darebin Ck trail
with new front panniers
and new folding 32mm (1.25") tyres

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Is this the worst seat cluster ever?























there are lots of beautiful ways of designing a seat cluster
it's one of the places you can see the quality and sensitivity of a frame builder's approach to their craft
not here
this is the definition of agricultural
Ginat are the culprits

Monday, November 2, 2015

DIY mudguard























a quite innovative use for a palm leaf
seen in Byron Bay NSW
1000% more effective that one of these





Friday, October 30, 2015

high flange makes a comeback



spied on a bike in the city
looks like a mid-range wheelset
but def my choice if I had to ride a 'new' bike



Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Drillium



i've always thought that there was a big bit of 
toomuch metal on the 1st gen DA chainrings
so i drilliumed them a bit
please don't look too closely
or you'll see how close I came to fucking up.

who else loves drillium?
i think it's like tattoos:
once you've done it once
you'll never be able to stop
and will probably start doing it in all kinds of
inappropriate places

PS - good riddance tony abbot you sorry-arsed shitwaffle

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Circlejerk of Entitlement, or dickheads on bikes
























This peloton is made up a bunch of priviledged white men who can't imagine that they don't deserve the power they have. A peloton of horror AFAIC.

Cycling really is the new Golf.

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

morning ride

























rode this morning from my place
via Yarra Boulevard
amid all the bibshort monkeys on their crabon machines
to C'wood then back along
Queens Pde
which is here
for a coffee












































my favourite PSAs in Melbourne are
on the bins themselves
all featuring the crappest
grumpy animals yelling at you












































coming up from Darebin Creek ravine
almost native bushland
a magic time of morning

















































this was my steed
a stripped-down Victor
much more a racing machine now
without his rear packrack

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Bianchi home delivery ride

so last weekend I finally finished the Bianchi and
had to deliver it to its new owner
150km away


























so early one Sunday morning I met my good bike friend Vit
and like all good explorers
caught the train half way...



























it was a perfect autumn day...


























with lots to see and reasons to stop


as we were trying to keep of the main highway
we came across lots of gravel
the Bianchi with 25mm tyres being exactly the wrong bike for the job
this section above was
while picturesque
quite boringly corrugated


this section wasn't so bad



coffee break
at your usual country town mixed business
at about this point I was so hungry I could have eaten some antiques actually


headwind was constant
note to self and others:
never ride west out of Melbourne


at one point we swapped shoes and bikes
Vit wore my new Puma tourers on the Bianchi
and I wore his Shimano SPDs on the Raleigh Super Tourer

my feelings about my first experience with clipless stuff is a whole 'nother post

handmade house and vintage Peugeot



more gravel which Bianchi handled OK
had some smooth channels compared to the corrugations of earlier
still
normally a job for >38mm tyres

last big rise
on the home straight
but close to bonking

























a welcome downhill run
by now
although we didn't know it yet
our arms and legs were seriously sunburnt

























handover to the delighted new owner
and a well deserved chicken curry
scoffed down like a caveman











































final spec list:

frame and fork Bianchi Super Corsa (Superleggera?) lugged steel, Columbus (SL?) tubing

wheels Ukai 25mm double wall rims, Shimano 105 hubs

brakes Dia Compe aero brake levers, Shimano 105 sidepull calipers

crankset Suntour Superbe (1st gen)

pedals unknown

saddle Italian-made, Unicantor-type suede, plastic shell

seat post generic

chain rings Campagnolo Super Record 47t & 42t (144bcd)

bars and stem Cinelli stem, Cinelli Giro D'Italia bars

derailleur Suntour Superbe Pro front and rear

freewheel Suntour Pro Compe Ultra 6 speed (14-28t)

tyres Veloflex Master 25 Kevlar folding clinchers (700 x 25C)

Thursday, March 26, 2015

an interesting 'new' bike shop

actually dunno how old it is but Andy is really friendly and was surprised that I knew what a Legnano was.

Here is one of his Legnanos


























It's so original that he wants to use shit, old cables
even though they stretch and that's the last thing you want in a cable.
but I like his taste. otherwise they are agents for Lynskey
which, while they are certainly a wanker's bike
the Audi of steel bikes currently?
they are, after all, steel not plastic, so there's that
as the kids say.
And thy also have their own house brand, "Champione"
which are made with Columbus Zona and are fucking light

but check out these fillets...

 a track bike made by Colossi (?) in awesome stainless steel


Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Victor gets an upgrade


























i've retired Positron
in favour of this lovely Suntour shifter that I've had spare for a while
and its companion rear mech
the equally lovely V-GT
the shifting is delightfully precise


Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Bianchi change to gearing



since this bike is for someone
who's been of the bike for a while
and he lives in the country with lots of hills
and headwinds
I thought it prudent
not to mention compassionate
to put easier gearing on it.
took the 47 tooth Super Record ring off Victor
and the 12-24 freewheel off Jo 650b
but I must say now
the bike does look a little weird




Friday, January 16, 2015

Thursday, November 27, 2014

A visit to Kawaguchi city

if you can call it a city because it pretty much seamlessly
luglessly?
connects to the rest of Tokyo
but it is home to one very special place that I know of


























this is the Toei Bike Factory
as you can see they are churning out frames at the rate of about
one per week
which means there is a two year wait
which is not outrageous
for a custom-made frame
from what I gather






































the place is not big
this is it
all you can see. one room.
three guys working today
and two guys not in
sick? passed away? not sure






this one is one of the Bluebird series
reproduced recently for their 50th anniversary
that's not a Cyclo rear derailleur but
a lighter-weight version of that design made by Toei