Tuesday, September 30, 2008

FIXPATRIX - Dre





Spotted this kid today over at 3BANCHO. His name is either Dre or Darren, from Singapore I believe. Super smooth.

Enter if you dare!

Over the weekend my wife and I took the kid to a pumpkin patch so we can start getting geared up for Halloween. At the farm we went to they had a bunch of corny rides and crap, including a giant inflatable haunted house thing. This was the entrance...



The words above it read, "Enter if you dare." For some reason, I had a very strong urge to go in there, but my wife wouldn't let me.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

NRTNs

Glad they re-released these...

Planet B-Boy

Got to see a screening of this movie last night. The moves people are doing now are completely insane, and the stories about some of the guys are really interesting, especially the Japanese and Korean crews. If you get a chance to see this thing, definitely do so.

Friday, September 26, 2008

New Old Bike

Finally got my new beater built up...



The Milwaukee is obviously my main rig, but if there's one thing I've learned, it's that you always need a backup. The frame is a 62cm 1972 Raleigh Professional that I got from a friend (thanks Sean!) and it's the perfect candidate for a conversion due to the fact that it was built with absolutely no cable guides on it whatsoever. Clean. It also has the "bird's mouth" lugs on the head tube and the infamous "fastback" configuration around the seat cluster.

I've been hammering it for a few days now, and it's dialed as hell. Doesn't make a sound when you bounce it on the ground other than that beautiful "pap" of the tires hitting the pavement. And of course the most important component is the Profile hub in the back...



...which replaces the crap hub that blew up on my previous beater.

More Interbike Coverage

The guys at urbanvelo.org have a ton of Interbike pics up as well...

Day 1

Day 2

Interbike Coverage

Dennis from FixedGearGallery.com has put up a ton of photos from Interbike. Check 'em out here.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Lance Weirdness

OK, let's have a vote or something...

What's the weirdest thing about Lance's return to Cycling?

1) He's riding for Astana, a team from Kazakhstan (see below).

2) He wants to prove that he can win without doping while riding for Astana, a team that was excluded from the Tour de France this year because of doping issues.

3) He's riding for FREE.

4) Astana is willing to take him back at age 37 and essentially give the boot to Alberto Contador, a phenom in his mid-20s who has won all three major Tours in the past two years.

5) He'll probably invite the guys from MASH to come hang out with him in France next July.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not cracking on Lance or his return, I think it's great. I'm simply pointing out that this whole ordeal has more weird storylines than one could seemingly imagine, and that's really saying something considering the fact that we're talking about a guy who has pretty much been the king of weird storylines throughout his career (Olsen twin, anyone?). Of course, he's also been the king of winning... it'll be fantastic drama next year when he and Astana try to take down Contador and whatever team he ends up with.

Puma Goldsprints Day 1



Day 2 is this Friday, Sept. 26th...
I-Cycle Space @ Vice Gallery
99 N. 10th St (between Berry & Wythe)
Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Fresh pavement

There is a church parking lot by where I work that I've been riding at for years now, and just recently they finally decided to completely repave it for me...



This isn't a very "green" thing to say, but there are few things I find more beautiful than a freshly paved (and flat) parking lot. I even love the smell...

Monday, September 22, 2008

All-City Track Crank

Here is the first glimpse of what kind of products the new All-City brand will be bringing to the table...



Very slick. Clearly these guys aren't just messing around. Some more details from Jeff @ All-City...

Cranksets will be available in Black, Silver, Red, and Gold; and will come with a 47 tooth matching chainring. They will be available in 165mm and 170mm lengths. They are super stiff and should be plenty tough enough for the street.

We will be selling the chainrings in 47, 45,43, and 42 teeth, and will have black, gold, and red available.

Get your hate (or your like) on

Crapping on... er... "critiquing" other people's bikes has become quite a sporting venture for many people over the past few years. If you're into that sort of thing, you can now do it more quickly and easily than ever before...

MyFixedGear.net

My personal favorite rig on the site that I've seen thus far is this one...

http://www.myfixedgear.net/bluu-one

I have a '73 LeJeune conversion that has proven to be surprisingly sturdy, so I have a little place in my heart for them. Mine, however, is ugly as all hell, while this one looks pretty sharp.

If you live in Japan...


...then you probably know where this Faret Cycle Night event is taking place. We had this emailed to us with no info in English...

A link to this vid was also included in the email... good to see the females holding it down in Japan.


ウィリー工場長 from sunfkin on Vimeo.

Um... ouch.

Saw this on hypebeast.com...



I guess that's one way to discourage bike theft...

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Ares Eighty-Eights

Got a new set of pedals yesterday...



Ares Eighty-Eights, $10 plus shipping from AresBykesAmerica.com. Plastic components are all the rage these days, obviously because they're so light, and these things definitely are much lighter than the metal Wellgo's I was using.

I didn't get them because of the weight thing, however, but rather because they're rounded instead of being squared off on the edges. This allows my feet to twist and rotate on them better so there's less chance of getting stuck with my foot on the edge rather than on the flat part. They also look like they would work well with a single cross strap set-up.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Another new fixed blog

You can never have too many, right? Got a link for this site sent to us today, and it looks like a pretty detailed addition to my already sizable list of daily visits...

Friday, September 19, 2008

Lance finally hits the big time...

...the lucky bastard got to ride with the MASH crew!

Seriously though, this vid has already been on every blog you can imagine, and each of those blogs has already pointed out the fact that it has been on every other blog you can imagine but they're posting it anyway, and I'm going to post it anyway too because it's pretty damned inspiring.



I got the feeling while watching this that L.A. had more fun riding with the MASH doods than he did while winning any of those 7 TdFs. No wonder he wants to get back into racing. You can almost hear him make the decision in his own mind in that last clip where he rides away from the rest of the group...

Macaframa is here!

The premiere is less than a week away... super stoked for Colin, Colby, and the rest of the guys...

Thursday, September 18, 2008

More Seattle Action

These Seattle kids just don't stop! Another alleycat is going down on 9/19...

Wish I were still in Brooklyn...

...because this looks like it'll be a good time. From an email we received today...

PUMA Presents: I-Cycle Space @ Vice Gallery
Being first to embrace and be involved in the bike community, PUMA is
teaming up with VICE to follow up the release of the I-Cycle Film Series
with the I-Cycle Space. The I-Cycle Space will bring together different
elements of cycling culture and community through films, art and
competition.

The I-Cycle Space will live at the Vice Gallery in Brooklyn and will kick
off with an opening party on September 15th and end on the 30th. It will
include an installation dedicated to cycling culture, all day film
screenings, free low maintenance and bicycle repairs and a refueling area
with water and energy drinks. All is free and open to the public.

The I-Cycle Space will also be the battle grounds for the I-Cycle
Throwdown, a set of goldsprint competitions taking place on the Thursday
the 18th and Friday the 26th. The I-Cycle Throwdown will bring together a
mix of industry leaders, brands and bike messengers who share the love of
cycling and put their skills to the test.





Straight outta Minneapolis...



All-City Cycles, named after the All-City Championships event that takes place in Minneapolis every year, will be producing fixed specific parts and accessories starting in January '09. The brand is headed by Jeff Frane, the rider who organizes the All-City Championships as well as various Bike Jerks events, and it is under the same umbrella as a little company called Surly. Should be some killer stuff, can't wait to see what they come up with...!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

BBall sleds

I haven't gotten a new pair of basketball shoes in years, but I think I might have to get some of these...




The soon to be released Adidas TS Gil Creators. Normally I despise basketball shoes, and I pretty much swore I would never wear another pair after my college career was over, but I like this style a lot based on photos I've seen. Obviously I won't get a set in either of these "special" (that can be taken two ways) colorways (what's with the oven mitt material on the first pair?), but if the standards look reasonably normal, I may have to score some.

Nicky Hayden is Specialized

Before blazing around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on his Honda during last weekend's MotoGP race, local sensation Nicky Hayden toured the circuit under his own power...



The former world champ has had a tough year, but he did great at this event, landing in 2nd place. I was at the track all three days, and I have to say that the weather on Sunday was something that I never want to endure again. The remnants of hurricane Ike brought blasting rain and wind gusts up to 60 mph, and I was stupid enough to actually ride my bike to and from the circuit (finding car parking is a bitch and can be ridiculously expensive). I was soaked through from the ride, and at one point the wind was blowing so hard that I had all of my body weight hanging off the left side of the bike just so I could stay upright!

Other than that crap, the weekend was amazing. MotoGP is seriously intense.

Monday, September 15, 2008

What do you get...

...when you mix a metal theme into a Brooklyn-based bike race? These two guys.



More photos here. The event was called Metal Race 2, and it apparently included some sort of David Clinger lookalike contest...

Profile fixed/fixed!

Hell yes.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Shigeo in Japan!

Saw this vid on 3BANCHO's blog... at about 1:20 you can see Shiggy from Bootleg Sessions v.1 easily win the backwards circle contest. I met him in Seattle last summer, great rider and an incredibly nice guy. Good to see him back home and still doing his thing.


Hamakin - Yokohama Friday from hc100 on Vimeo.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

You can't do that

When this film first came out in 1899, do you think everyone told this guy to get a horse?

Friday, September 12, 2008

The Creative Process

I've been into the Mudkids for 10+ years now, so I thought this video was damned interesting... Russ shows how he builds his vocals around a new demo track that he got from producer ELP-Mass. If they like it, they'll cut the final product in the studio. If you've ever wondered how the pros go through the writing process, this is it.

Louisville Alleycat

If you're in the midwest, try to get to this! L'ville in action...

Thursday, September 11, 2008

It's a bird, it's a plane...

...it's one of those Moto-X riders blasting a huge air two blocks from my house at a Red Bull event promoting this weekend's MotoGP race in Indianapolis. You gotta hand it to Red Bull, they definitely know how to hype shit up...



As usual, sorry about the crappy phone pic.

FUTURE.tense September

Definitely one of the best fliers I've seen in awhile...



If you're in Sea-town, don't miss this!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

BFF Tokyo video

Saw this video on Eli Chessen's Tokyo Jitensha-Jin blog detailing the goings on at this year's Bicycle Film Festival in Tokyo. Watching this makes me really stoked to have been part of the BFF this year. Notice about halfway through you'll see our man Kyoichi Ozaki wearing what appears to be a 3BANCHO (his brand) New Era cap... sick. That dood has more hookups than anyone on the planet.


Bicycle Film Festival TOKYO '08 PART 2 from Eli Tokyo Jitensha-Jin on Vimeo.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Funday #1

Jake Ricker from Bootleg Sessions v.2 and friends chilling down in Arizona...


Funday #1 from Laali on Vimeo.

Milwaukee Bikes Blog

The guys at Milwaukee/Ben's Cycle started up a new blog a few days ago. Should be interesting, those guys are always messing with new stuff, and who doesn't want an inside look at a shop that has their brand hand-built by Waterford?

Monday, September 8, 2008

Grip perfection

After much trial and error, I have finally settled upon the perfect grip formula...



Profile Dog Collars, Bizhouse Grip Rings, and Eastern Grip Stops. Industrial strength goodness. I'm pretty much convinced that with this setup, you'll never have to mess with buying/installing another set of grips for as long as you ride.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

I'm in love.

Tried out my new tube cutter on a set of bars a couple of days ago, and it worked perfectly. Unbelievably fast, precise, and easy to use. Why in the hell I didn't get one of these earlier I'll never know. I enjoyed using it so much that now I'm looking around for other bars to cut down...

Friday, September 5, 2008

Mini-MASH

Awhile ago I mentioned on here that I am about to have a baby girl (well, my wife is anyway), and today I received this little gem in the mail from MASH's Mike Martin...



I have to admit, I was completely blown away by Mike's gesture. What a cool thing to send. Thanks Mike, that's awesome. As soon as the girl grows up a little, she'll be rocking this constantly...

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Photo Blog

My buddy Steve just made a blog for his photography. Check it out here.



More pics from the NACCCs

Got a couple of our man Wilis...




Rocking the gorgeous light blue BMW Gangsta and the King Kog jersey, checking his map while riding... dood's a pro.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

NACCC Chicago Trick Comp

Found this pic on Iamameatpopsicle's Flickr...



Gotta say, it's pretty killer to see someone else throwing down one of my variations. I think this is the guy who won the trick comp, and from the other pics it looks like he was doing a lot more than trackstands. Nice work, whoever you are. Looks like I need to get up to Chicago to ride more often...!

Freestylin' Retrospective online

Awhile ago I was wondering how in the hell I was going to get my hands on a copy of the limited edition Freestylin' Retrospective book (only 2,500 copies were printed). A couple of weeks ago one went for $710 on eBay. Ugh.

Well, the interwebz have saved me. Someone scanned and uploaded the entire thing, and you can read it here. Thank you, internuts!

Monday, September 1, 2008

Diversion TV



Since we've sold out of Bootleg Sessions v.1 and currently have no plans to press any more, I've been thinking about submitting it to this new site called Diversion TV. I know a lot about the guy who runs it through flatland BMX circles (I don't know him personally), and I trust the site because of that. I guess it's down right now because he's rebuilding some stuff, so when he gets it back up and running maybe I'll send him a copy of the DVD and see if he'll transfer it into whatever streaming format they use so people who still want to watch it can do so.

I think the cost is usually like $3.00 per video for as many plays as you want in a 48 hour period, or you can get unlimited plays of everything they have for $10 a month. Not sure how this will go over, I know that I personally would rather have a DVD than watch something streamed on the internet, but since it won't cost us anything to submit it, I guess I'll try it out. It'll be interesting to see if Bobby (the guy who runs the site) can get this thing to catch on at all. Hopefully he can, he seems like a great guy and has put together a lot of amazing bike vids in his own right...