Woodpile

supermassive pic

Red Star

Forget electronic gear shifting, this is wireless!

wifi comes to cycling
... 50+ years ago

far from being a simple "re-enactment" accessory
this solved a specific problem
towhit
a broken, left-hand side derailleur lever boss

operator's view

Nitto Grand Bois front rack and "vintage" LED headlight

Grand Bois frontrack 

with "modern" headlight mounting boss

attached to canti bosses

two rubber washers keep the headlight from rubbing the tyre sidewall
and cushion it from road vibration.
headlight shell is only chrome-plated plastic.
for $20.00, I'm not complaining.

impossible to get the front rack mounting to meet 

the mudguard like its

supposed to.

now realise that's one of the signs of a custom

randonneuse

the light is quite bright.
not the brightest LED front light I've seen
but easily bright enough to light an unlit country trail

headlight mounted upside down but still angles well to 

avoid dazzling oncoming traffic.

on/off button underneath

can be reached while riding.

ALPS stem

I heard that the owner of the ALPS brand
stopped making bikes altogether
because he was sick of them being bought by collectors
and hung on the wall.

almost as bad as them being transported
by car
to where they get ridden

very short stem made by Nitto for ALPS
replaced the dirt drop I had on it previously





















these kinds on stems don't allow a decaleur
see below
to be bolted through the pinch bolt of the stem
as a normal quill stem will.

click and click again on the top pic
to see those sawtooth extraction marks on the bars
in all their glory

Grand Bois high flange hubs

just released

god love grand bois!

sealed bearings, 

d-ring acorns

and all.

lovely

Beautiful gift... with Gios hubs?

a few weeks ago I came home to find this stashed in the bushes of my front garden.
seems someone had been doing some
reverse-thieving.
since found out who it was
a lovely friend of mine.
but I don't have space for any more bikes.

pretty sure those hubs have just got stickers on them.
in spite of that they're pretty nice, sealed-bearing jobs.

so I gave it to one of the students at my school.

he has taught himself how to build up a nice bike from whatever

bits he can find.

don't think he's had anything as nice as this to start with though.

I left all the dust and grease on for him...

new pump for Jo

everytime I put
"Jo Routens"
in a blog post title
I get a zillion hits
that means this one will remain read by only
myself,
Brian
and the Smut Pedaller
whoever she is.
so now Jo has a 19 inch pump
with the much sought-after
tricolor stripes.
pas mal n'est pas?

Bikes, etc is now a pro blog

i have just been promoted to the upper
eschelon
of bike blogs:
those that receive free stuff
simply because they're that good.
to wit
one pair Viscount QR skewers
furnished by Bike Bar
for services to promotion and dissemination
of bike lore and lulz

move over snobby and velouria