Wish I Could Be There

Parts organisation on a grand scale

mrs feelofsteel 

was impressed with my storage solutions 

and labelling.

been doing so much searching on eBay in French

that the words were starting to get into my head.

was also interesting to see the stuff that I accumulate most of

definitely drivetrain stuff 

Composants de Transmission

but also surprisingly brake stuff too 

Etriers et Leviers de Freins

and pedals.

experiments in speed

a beautiful little hymn to steel
and localness

new helments

the advantages of a leather saddle

you can put things underneath.

tool roll containing multitool, small shifting spanner, three tyre levers and patches
and spare tube
all stashed under the rails

Shellacked bartape

I've used cloth bar tape and shellac on several of my bikes now
and it has been great.

The cloth tape on the VA Sport above was originally bright red.

Durable, comfortable and aesthetically pleasing.
I don't care that it's not completely period-correct.

This tape was bright yellow before shellacking.

I also found that the shellac is strong enough to hold the tape in place without the need for

electrical tape or twine to bind it off at the end.

I especially like how it wears.
侘寂
or wabi sabi the Japanese call it.

which cyclist are you?

the glorious inconsistencies of a Jo Routens head tube badge

a fruitful couple of hours on illustrator
led to this.
routens had a few different typefaces and logos in their time.
this one is based on the headtube decal
on my own bike.

one thing's for sure
they could make bikes
but they weren't typographers:
main text is britannic bold
sort of.
heavily modified.
roundel text is eurostile
(manually extended and emboldened)
which by itself prob dates the bike to the 70s.

the "j" of jo had to be constructed from scratch.

remaking this logo reminded me how
people once upon a time had to draw such things
using pencil and ruler.
which in the hands of amateurs
leads to the glorious inconsistencies you get here.

if they had illustrator back then
this font would have been far more perfect
and far less interesting

How A Bike Is Made

I reckon Melvyn Bragg is doing the voiceover
thanks Tim

first encounter with high-end crabon

coz it was new and didn't have any pedals

they had to put mine on

hehe!

well amateur, that is.

verdict: meh

didn't rock my world

Showing your age

no quicker way of showing your age in the cycling world
than by your use of
nomenclature

pre internet there were
mudguards
clusters
seat pins
Campag

now there are
fenders
freewheels
seat posts
Campy

what others can you think of?

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

Twitter fame

http://twitter.com/#!/commutercycles/status/165019224673239040/photo/1

Old Japanese Bridgestone bike advert: long socks the epitome of amateur cool

long socks!

school shoes!

jaunty hat!

short shorts!

this guy is 110% amateur.

from the lovely Grand Bois