Secure bike park

joined a secure bike parking facility this week

bikepark

a great idea and good value

$25 for the swipe card then $2 for 12 hours.

showers extra.

unfortunately the calibre of bikes there was underwhelming.

Terk, Ginat, Medria, Sttoc, 

there was a fancy Italian-sounding brand there but it was crabon 

and was wearing a g-string

ugh

not a single bike I would cross the street for

let alone try and pick the D-lock of

in fact, I saw a lot more desirable and rare bikes chained up in the street that day—

e.g Batavus racer with Campagnolo Gran Sport groupset—

than I saw in the "vault"

makes you wonder about the clientele

true early adopters?

needlessly paranoid?

tight-arsed rich?

I think I fall into group B.

Gary was the prettiest one there, by far.

he was about the only steel frame bike anyway.

bike lane guy

this is Casey.
he wins a lot of friends for cyclists
and makes his point beautifully.

furoshiki + toe-straps = veloshiki?

one of the never-ending searches of the

bike nerd is

the perfect portaging configuration.

combining my love of Japanese culture 

with my love of

traditional bike technology

has lead to a surprisingly effective solution

to the problem of carrying my kendo uniform to training

the package is about 350 x 250 x 200mm

weight about 3 kg

too big to fit in my backpack which already

has a laptop

the furoshiki in this case is 100% polyester

and secured with two knots.

it takes two toe straps joined together to wrap around the load.

a fifth toe strap is used around the seat post and the load straps.

pros –
stylish
simple
cheap
home-made
requires no racks or supports
totally portable from bike to bike
removes completely from bike in seconds
load is secure and doesn't interfere with rider, brakes or wheel
(especially if you have mudguards)
works on bikes with no frame eyelets
no need for dangerous elastic or rubber straps

cons –
a little fiddly to set up the first time
small amount of load-movement affects bike balance

Why are bike components all black these days?

standard issue beto packrack.

like most accessories these days

powdercoated black.

people seem to accept that this is the shade 

components have to be.

same rack

stripped back to bare aluminium.

now which looks better?

a 'no-brainer' as the young people say these days.

26" to 650b conversion - cantilever brakes

650b is bigger than the 26" wheel this bike was made for

so there is almost 10mm of difference in brake position.

old shimano altus cantis have enough up and down adjustability

to line up well with the rim

even when the braze on position is for the smaller size.

Gary's new cluster

first it was the crabon cadex

now I have a bike with more than 12 gears

the 650b rear wheel on the HKII fits an 8 speed cassette

so now I look down and I can hardly count all the cogs

more craftiness - mudflap

as my reader knows

I enjoy a bit of leather-based craft

also

since the jewellery box dancer so enjoyed being name-checked on

feel-of-steel

and in honour of her craftiness 

I thought I should post this.

it seems to work well but it could be larger methinks.

still doesn't prevent all water going on the BB shell

when you run through a puddle.

held in place with a single nut-and-bolt

and the folded-over rims of the mudguard itself.

Return of Positron

positron first gen is back on Victor

and it's a happy reunion.

crane was never quite so happy

– slightly loose mechanism meant the inside of the derailleur

touched the spokes in first gear

o.0

but NOS positron is working fine

the worst thing about replacing Dura Ace
is getting rid of the wonderful shifter
but I'm happy to be back with
Bakelite.

homemade leather toe clip covers

the jewellery-box dancer urged

me to blog these.

she loves a bit of craft and

I did have fun making them.

I sometimes ride wearing school shoes

think Bata Scouts

and found that the toe clips did indeed rub two little sore spots 

on the toe of the shoe.

so these are not just hipster-frippery 

but actually serve a purpose.

Little bike workhorse

on my way back from the dojo with the kids and all their palaver

it all fitted on the stow-away!
a basket
a rattrap carrier
and one occy strap.
note thermos/frame colour co-ordination

eBay sellers and their packaging - an occasional series

shimano HG 8 speed cassette from Hong Kong

Gary in France, which is in Fitzroy

bit of distressed French provincial for the calendar shot

outside the parisian branch of tokyo bike

in peel st

they really are japanese in there

Gary's new 'guards II - the leather

close ups of the new mudguards.
the front one is a bit long but it's mounting point at the front fork is fixed
besides, it only scrapes if I roll down a gutter
so I mono down instead.
leather strip stops the mudguard rattling against the inside of the fork.
trés belle, non?

Gary's new mudguards

new old stock from Ephraim in Brunswick

these mudguards are for 26" mountain bikes

but fit the bigger 650b wheels and ultrawide tyres no probs.

mounting hardware is a bit iffy but so far nothing's broke.

pretty good for $20 a pair including stays and bolts and everything.

speaking of Gary

saw that the new Fisher plastic road-bike has 

gasp

high flange hubs

in

double gasp

silver

with

double gasp again

circular cut-outs

could never spend 3 grand on a plastic bike

but its reassuring to know what's old

is new again