clean your bearings the ultrasonic way

my new love
the ultrasonic
no hydrocarbonic solvents
no fumes
just soapy water and
bvvvrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
you have never seen a bike chain so clean as when one of these babies has seen to it

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.

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

Re-enactment bike ahoy! Shellacked bars, twine and champagne corks.

my capitulation to the hegemony
of the drop bars
proceeds apace.
as does my commitment to the cause of
're-enactment'.
although I had to watch Mr Peterson's video to remind me,
twining the bars took me back to my Dad showing me how to bind a
fishing rod.
very satisfying.

the shellac covers up the words
"Australia" and
"Yellowglen".
I thought the shellac would make the bar tape
hard and scratchy
but the feel is surprisingly warm and smooth
with enough tooth to feel secure.

this kooky short stem
was a hard rubbish find
and puts the bars exactly where I need them
to be able to ride comfortably on the hoods
even though they look a bit naff.

new camera - (bike) fetish gallery

all my fetishes

single chainrings

uncoated aluminium

toestraps

seatpost-mounted warning devices

brake levers

old tech

red tyres

leather

it's all here.

 

Renovated saddle bag

Steph's bike - leather mudflap

homemade leather mudflap

ground clearance

leather off-cut from Leffler's Warehouse

$1.00/sq. foot

secured with two 10mm allen bolts

 soft focus poster for your bedroom wall

A convincing argument for the artist as hero

not just because he uses bikes in his artworks
but because he just got out after 81 days of detention
by the Chinese Government
and he's still willing to stick it up them.
will he become the Chinese Mandela?
we can only hope.


Ai Wei Wei.

mudflaps vers 2, bigger

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

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.

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.