Perfect early summer afternoon in Seattle and I spent an hour on my single-speed after work, trying to shed some winter pounds and prep for a memorial day 40 mile road race. I linked up parts of the Interurban and Green River Trails.
The guy who almost tagged me around 4:22 in an engineer that works for another group. I sent him a copy of the clip and gave him a ration of good-natured sh!t for it.
I have neglected my bike since we have lived in France. I thought I would ride every day, but it has been more like once a week or once every two weeks with sputters and spurts of activity. The only bright spot is really that I have been riding 30-50km once a month or so with a neighbor. He is 20 and like 6’2″ and lanky – built like a proper cyclist. The first time he showed up at our garden gate to ride he had a full local team kit (matching jersey, socks, shorts) on and was astride a very clean, full carbon bike. My first reaction was ‘Shit… This kid is going to KILL me …’
Turns out that even in my current chubby condition and at my advanced age, I still have a little something when riding and I had no problem staying with him on the flats and can take him in the hills.
We have been riding off and on for about 18 months and recently I had a friend from Germany in town that I used to ride with there. A mini-tour of the local country side from atop a two wheeled stead was in order, but he didn’t bring a bike. No Worries, I loaned him my road bike and I took one for the team and rode my single speed. I just knew that they were going to kill me, but I needed the workout.
I am happy to report, that I stayed with theme both of them for the whole ride, and blasted by both up a moderate hill. I was super proud of my self after – I am not saying I didn’t hurt or didn’t want to puke, but I was still proud of the showing I managed. Not too shabby for a chubby bearded grandfather.
Someday, I will have a bespoke bike built – custom fit to my goofy measurements and with all the bells a whistles that I want/need/lust after. A bike that is equally suited for using as a city single-speed, a gravel road shredder, light single track, and a 9-speed road rider and tourer.
I want:
A lugged steel frame
S&S couplers so I can fly with it
Disc breaks
Single front 32T or 44T chain ring
18T freewheel (I have an Ultegra 9-speed group and Deraulier in a box…)
Clearance for 33X700 tires
Bull horn bars
Paul 2-finger levers
Flipping Rear dropouts (44 Bike)
Duel bottle cage
Rack and fender mounts (I have a set of wood FastBoy fenders that need a good home)
Brazed on bottle opener (A’la Rodriguez Cycles)
Brooks Swallow Tail saddle.
I really dig what Kristofer Henry in New Hampshire has going with 44 Bikes. If I could talk him into a lugged Huntsman, then we could do some serious business.
I love my Single Speed Bike. I built her in 2007, pieced together out of found, used and scrounged parts – all Bride of Frankenstein-like. She has been loving and trustworthy since our first spin together. We have ridden in five separate countries, in three States, through crazy German and Amsterdam traffic, in cities, on lonely country roads, commuted to and from work together, vacationed together, up horrendous hills, and down at least one set of subway stairs. She has never left me stranded, bruised and bleeding a little, but never alone and lost Now, we are riding single track together.
There is a network of mixed use trails near our house (lots of horses) that go on for miles and they have screamed for me to bike them. Right after our stuff was delivered in February, I got my big ol’ butt on my bike for a “quick run” to the store for milk. It was not quick. I had grossly over-estimated both my level of fitness and the slope of the road leading to said store. It did not help that I tipped the scales at nearly 200 pounds and my former peak cycling weight was ~165. My head was spinning by the time I got to the store and I had to fight with all my dignity not to puke. It was bad.
The very next night I put a set of 33X700 cyclo-cross tires on my bike so I could ride the trails by the house, work off some of the belly, and puke in private. The tires BARELY clear the chain-stays on the frame and are 1/8″ away from the brakes, but they DO clear and that is the most important part. Fvck buying a mountain bike! Me and my Single are just fine on the trails here. Even with the new tires, she weighs a whopping 22 pounds and I can throw her over my shoulder and walk by anything real shitty. Try that with a 40 pound full suspension monster!
We went for a muddy 10+ miler after work today and I had a ball! I am down to 181, the sun was shining, there were hard-packed trail sections that I was able to peddle like crazy on and there were some NASTY sections that were caked in slippery mud. We got dirty together.
Sunday before last, my Father-in-Law, the Chatty Buddha, and I trekked over to the 2011 Seattle Bicycle Expo. We got a late start, make later still by the whole Spring Forward thing. We arrived at the show a little after 3:00 (show ended at 4:00), snagged free parking, and talked the two young ladies at the door into letting us in for free! We spent some time looking at the classic bikes (Where I drooled some and my pants got a little tight), made a quick walk of the show floor, and the circled back to the booths that were most interesting: the $70 cycling Jerseys going for an end-of-show-special for $30 were particularly attractive. We picked up a couple and a conned the vendor into giving us two caps that matched the jerseys for the price of one. J
I walked through the Bamboo Getto and took a few shots, talked to the gents at Co-Motion cycles, Eben Oliver Weiss, AKA Bike Snob, gave a talk that I wanted to see, but my packed weekend schedule prevented it. He Blogged about his trip here.
I acquired another bike a couple weeks ago and just found out that I am inheriting a new Cyclocross bike from a family member who also has a bike fetish, but who’s wife is not as understanding as mine concerning all the hunks of steel, carbon and aluminum in his basement. Though, I may be at a tipping point. One more and I might officially have a substance abuse problem – bike frames CAN be an elicit substance if not consumed in moderation.
As for my latest acquisition: My Hellbilly neighbors had a yard sale a week or so ago and due to the blaring death metal and the drunken lawn party atmosphere, the sale was lightly attended. One of the unsold items was a classic Schwinn Varsity that was somewhat beat up and missing a rear wheel. While walking by on my way to Walgreens, they offered it to me, so I HAD to check it out. It turned out to be a lime Green 1973 10-speed that was in good overall shape and had original bike registration stickers from Walla Walla, WA (1974-1976) and the negotiated price was a case of PBR Tallboys. How could I pass up a frame built in the year I was born?! Such action would border on sacrilege. I paid up and carried the thing to my garage/shop and started stripping all the old parts from the frame. I am not 100% sure what I am going to do with it just yet – maybe a 3-speed internal rear hub and conversion into a sometimes-commuter and basement trainer? For now the frame will hang in the garage awaiting time and spare cash for the build-up.
The coming CycloCross bike is a 9-speed Specialized with a beefy tig-welded aluminum frame. I have to swap the bars and shifters (already have a set from an old bike waiting to be installed) and give it a tune up. I plan to make her my primary work commuter AND my CycloX race bike come fall. This will allow me to forever take the commuter wheels/tires off my carbon bike and tune it for solely training and racing.
I am running out of space in the garage rafters. It is a web of wheels, gears, cables and seats above my workspace. Since they are all out of the way, I don’t know if my cute little bride understands the full depth of my “collection” and if any more two-wheeled “ladies” show up she may do some snooping in the garage and the poo will hit the fan – I hate when we “have to have a talk…” That said, I would still like to have a couple more: a downhill 29er and a folding single speed for the train/travel, but I feel that the physical and financial impact of any cycling purchases in the next couple of years will have a detrimental effect of my love-life and corresponding sleeping arrangements. I REALLY like my bikes, but I like snuggling up to a warm happy wife a lot more. I think that I am going to have to start practicing cycling moderation. That realization hurts a little.
The fixed gear craze, like disco before it, is now dead – see link below. I will observe a moment of silence at 7:00 PM this evening with beer in hand – pouring one out for all the hipster hommies who will need a new trend to follow. I will then forever remove the 16t track cog from my flip-flop hub and place it lovingly on a lonesome nail in my garage. Maybe my son won’t make a “ninja star” out of it and it will be there waiting, much like polyester and bell bottoms, for the day when it is once again socially acceptable.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/700C-Men-s-Mongoose-Cachet-Fixed-Speed-Bike/13398142
I will continue to spin my Single-Speed to and from the grocery store/coffee shop and will occasionally ride my one-geared beauty to work. She has made me a better, stronger cyclist and I DO love to ride that bike. I can’t and won’t give her up just because of the semi-share pedigree with the now passe wanna-be track bikes sold by the likes of Bentonville.
My multispeed, derailleur equipped, steeds are at this very moment spinning their wheels with glee. No more dismissive looks and snide velo comments from the day-glow orange rimmed and narrow barred bikes locked up at East Street. Yes, it is now their turn to snicker as my bike chain goes click, click, click – moving down the rear cassette, propelling my 9-speed racer ever faster away from soon to be re-purposed and repainted frames and into the reclaimed future of cycling.
Since I have this bicycle fetish, I rode my Single Speed to the 2010 Seattle Bike Show on Saturday and got to take a look at some great new bikes as well as some killer classic race bikes. The show was on the small side – held in one of the cruise ship terminals, but there was maybe 500 Sq. feet of space on the mezzanine for a show of CLASSIC Jack Taylor and various other old track and racing bikes. It made my heart pitter-patter. Some of the steel steeds had derailleurs that only a machinist could dream up, there were oil headlights and canvas bags strapped on here and there, but my favorite jewel of a find on the classic bikes was what appeared to be the first cycling computer – a stopwatch strapped to the handle bar of a velodrome bike – VERY cool. My Penny Farthing is SO getting one of these. I have already started the CAD work on it and will try to sweet talk/bribe our machinist at work to hook me up.
Some of the new bikes were outstanding as well. There was less of an aura of “the fixie” than I have seen at other shows, and more bikes geared toward commuting in the PacNW and work bikes. I saw a couple of ideas that I am going to incorporate into my own shop and cycle fleet: single digit break levers for the Single Speed, a wall clock for the shop made from an old chainring, the aforementioned “cycling computer”, a crate and light for Laurels bike, etc… There were also some unique wooden bikes. They were gorgeous! and the engineering that went into them was impressive, but I am not ready to swap my steel or aluminum frames out just yet.
I do have to give someone a plug: I am apparently an idiot and left my camera on all night and I only noticed that the batteries were completely drained as I took my camera out of my bag to get a shot of an enormous 60+ tooth chainring. I made a mad scramble for some AAs and struck out with the venue coordinator, the concierge, and at random booths. I finally happened upon the Kenmore Camera photo booth. I spoke with Dave Guinn and asked to buy any AAs that he had, even in a camera. He didn’t have any models that used AA had he hadn’t brought any with him, but this guy picks up a display model and hands it to me to use, like I had known him for years. I put my SM card in and was set to take pictures at the show (I will link a few below). I left my battery-less camera with him – not that he asked me too, but I thought it would be a gesture of good faith, and walked around for a couple of hours snapping away. With that kind of attitude, you can bet that I will be doing all my medium format and 35mm portrait film shopping with them and when it is time to upgrade my equipment; I will stop there first. Again, Dave at Kenmore Camera really saved my day.
No matter what the reason, sitting in a doctor’s office exam room is a stress inducing affair – even when expecting good news. I went to the see my Orthopedist yesterday and my shoulder is healing fine. I am now cleared to ride and run and even engage in limited climbing (though I am not sure what that means…). No more excuses for not getting off my ever-expanding ass and getting outside into the mud and just- sprouting greenery. My surgeon said that I will still need to have my supraspinatus tendon repaired, but that it could wait until fall and after summer cycling/road trips/our wedding. It will also give me some needed time to finish some projects at home. I think the key is listening to my body/shoulder and no pushing things over the limit – listening to the first tinges of pain and backing off before I hurt myself further.
Laurel has a list for me to take care of this weekend – in addition to my own projects, but I am going to spend an hour on the bike and will run in a park by the house on Saturday.
I ended up going for my first test ride on the bike Saturday. It felt REALLY GOOD spinning the chainring. I made an easy 3-mile loop, jumped a couple of curbs – didn’t hurt – and made a few stops around the neighborhood. All was fine until I made the steep 500’ climb back up to the house. Holy shit! I am out of shape. I was on the single-speed and even with the 18t rear cog installed, the climb SUPER hurt. I almost puked. It is a long way from punishing Team Discovery-clad Freds on the Interurban this summer; letting them attempt to pass and then dropping into the 54t big ring and spinning up for a mile or so, watching them try to keep pace and then fading into the shrubbery, covered in sweat and despair, while I giggled at them. I will ride again this weekend, maybe going to Cedar Creek to stretch my legs a little and let my lungs burn.
Also, I didn’t get in trouble for riding before my Doc said it was OK. I got the stink eye a little from Laurel, but there have been no major repercussions thus far. I still get to sleep in the house and no mysterious locks have appeared on any of my two-wheeled mistresses 🙂
It has been almost two months since I ever so gracefully cart-wheeled down the basement stairs in my wife’s pink robe. I had my first shoulder surgery in December and go back in February for an evaluation for the second one. I feel a lot better that I did and really NEED to get on one of my bikes. It was sunny and warm this past weekend and I was shaking like a crackhead eyeing a fresh pipe, just thinking about taking a spin around the neighborhood. Laurel said “nuh-uh!” and I spent some serious time staring out the window like a kid with chickenpox watching his buddies play baseball – pouty bottom lip and furred brow included.
I am going for a little clandestine “test” ride this weekend if I can sneak out of the house, single-speed in tow, without getting caught by the wife. If she finds out I am planning to ride AMA, then all bets are off and I will likely get to mop and do dishes all weekend. Now, if she catches me AFTER the ride, we that is a whole different story. Then, at least I will be guilty of something and will smile as I wash and scrub, thinking about peddling. Better forgiveness than permission.
Moved from Germany back to US for job in Seattle
Drove cross-country in the middle of winter
Started new job
Lived in temporary basement apartment
Laurel took 1week trip with her mom
Survived lay-off at work
Laurel started new job
Started traveling for work
Laurel hated new job
Road trip to Portland
Laurel gets new job she likes
Stuff arrived from Germany – no damage
Found a house to live in
Started bike commuting to work after unpacking single-speed
Looked for a puppy to adopt
Found and adopted Brodie (½ Boston ½ French Bulldog)
Laurel laid off
Traveling for work again
Laurel found a new job as HR director
My daughter in Seattle for two weeks
Took time off
Did tourist stuff
Had FANTASTIC time with Madison
My daughter flew home, everyone sad
Started looking for a new house to buy
Work going great!
Found great house and put offer in, offer accepted
Went on most laid back climbing road trip ever
Had great time with friends
Laurel LOVES her job
Flew to rural Louisiana to help design helicopter system
Took weekend off while there and spent it with the kids
Reached 1,200 bike-commute miles
Brodie escapes twice and eats glasses
Brodie still a GREAT puppy
Bought small flat-bed truck for moving and yard work a new house
Halloween at work, took my Penny-Farthing and wore great mustache
Heat stopped working in Rental house, landlord waited 3+ weeks to have it fixed.
House closed 107 days after offer accepted – incompetent selling agent
Moved out of rental house and into our new (built in the 20’s) home in West Seattle
Fell down the basement stairs at 05:30 and tore up shoulder third morning in house
Got great painkillers from doctor
Saw 3 doctors in 5 visits. Had x-rays, ultrasound, and an MRI
Had shoulder surgery (4th on same shoulder)
Need to have another special surgery in 2010 to repair a tendon
First house guests come up for long weekend
Worked till Christmas
Grew beard
Brother&Mother-in-law come for Christmas
Heavily self-medicated due to acute mother-in-law induced stress.
Killed Zombies on Christmas Eve at the shooting range – new tradition started
Finished 23rd book this year
Gained 10 pounds since surgery
Father-in-law came in for New Years
Took 1st run after surgery – felt good, but not great.
Spent New Years Eve with Laurel, Donald, David, Lucy, Rosy, and Brodie.
Moved from Germany back to US for job in Seattle
Drove cross-country in the middle of winter
Started new job
Lived in temp basement apartment
Laurel took 1week trip with her mom
Survived lay-off at work
Laurel started new job
Started traveling for work
Laurel hated new job
Road trip to Portland
Laurel gets new job she likes
Stuff arrived from Germany – no damage J
Found a house to live in
Started bike commuting to work after unpacking single-speed
Looked for a puppy to adopt
Found and adopted Brodie (½ Boston ½ French Bulldog)
Laurel laid off
Traveling for work again
Laurel found a new job as HR director
My daughter in Seattle for two weeks
Took time off
Did tourist stuff
Had FANTASTIC time with Madison
My daughter flew home, everyone sad
Started looking for a new house to buy
Work going great!
Found great house and put offer in, offer accepted
Went on most laid back climbing road trip ever
Had great time with friends
Laurel LOVES her job
Flew to rural Louisiana to help design helicopter system
Took weekend and spent it with the kids
Reached 1,200 bike-commute miles
Brodie escapes twice and eats glasses
Brodie still a GREAT puppy
Bought small flat-bed truck for moving and yard work a new house
Halloween at work, took my Penny-Farthing and wore great mustache
Heat stopped working in Rental house, landlord waited 3+ weeks to have it fixed.
House closed 107 days after offer accepted – incompetent selling agent
Moved out of rental house and into our new (built in the 20’s) home in West Seattle
Fell down the basement stairs at 05:30 and tore up shoulder third morning in house
Got great painkillers from doctor
Saw 3 doctors in 5 visits. Had x-rays, ultrasound, and an MRI
Had shoulder surgery (4th on same shoulder)
Need to have another special surgery in 2010 to repair a tendon
First houseguests come up for long weekend
Worked till Christmas
Brother&Mother-in-law come for Christmas
Heavily self-medicated due to acute mother-in-law induced stress.
Killed Zombies on Christmas Eve at the shooting range – new tradition started
Finished 24th book this year
Gained 10 pounds since surgery
Father-in-law came in for New Years
Took 1st run after surgery – felt good, but not great.
Spent New Years Eve with Laurel, Donald, David, Lucy, Rosy, and Brodie.
Man, Some days my bike commute (1200+ miles so far this year) is the SHIT!… Warm sunshine, crisp air, blue sky, mountains in the background, little traffic, all the lights are green, etc… Then there are days like today that I get home ragged, twitching, in a foul mood, and in need of quite time. I got off a little late so the sun was setting as I started the 40-minute ride home. Traffic was tight, exhaust fumes hung thick in the air, some asshole swerved at me to be funny – I hope, two douche-bags laid into their horns as they sped past me while I was climbing a hill, a lady in a Honda almost hit me in the cross walk, and finally this dick screamed at me with his head hanging out the passenger window of a truck as I was coming to yet another red-light. I got up out of the saddle and mashed the peddles for all I was worth, getting mentally ready for the beat-down I was going to give the ass-hat. Just as I got within reach of the bumper, the guy driving ran the light. I hate assholes!
I was hit 5 times in 3 years of living in California and I learned that you have to watch drivers like a hawk. After a while you become intuitive of their no-signal right turns and you can feel when that lady on her cell phone is going to look right through you and pull out, so you hit the brakes and avoid a crash that she was never aware of. The Burbs and industrial district south of Seattle is a whole other hot mess indeed. Unlike in the city proper, there aren’t too many of us bike commuters, lots of busy mid-level managers talking into the mobile phones, and it is a battle every time I get on my bike. There is a guy in a dark blue Chevy Malibu van that has the same schedule as me who will squeeze his van against the curb if he sees me coming so that I can’t pass him at red lights – no cutting in line! I get honked at daily, had a Burger King bag tossed at me back in June, and once had a semi-homeless (living in his car) dude (there are a bunch in S. King County, WA) try to chase me down and steal my bike – really!
Now, if I had caught the guy at the light I would have hit him at least three times before he got his door open. Then it would have been two good-sized fellers on a skinny guy in spandex and funny shoes. I would have given pretty good, but I would have bleed some and I don’t know if that would have taught them the proper lesson. Ruminating on that and the possibility of assault by one of our local street people, I have decided to not fuck around with my safety. I have a wife and kids and it is my job to come home safe every night (and contribute heavily to two college funds), so I sat down at my bride’s sewing machine and made (with her patient help) a snazzy black nylon pouch to hold my bike-commute insurance policy: bear spray. Yep, a big ol’ canister of Ursine-Off. If it can stop a charging grizzly, then some asshole that takes a swipe at me because I am on a bike and look like an easy target is going to have a very spice-filled evening. I see it this way: If you’re a prick and you try to touch me or run me over, you get a nice even coating of Oleoresin Capsicum, I call the cops, you learn a valuable lesson, I go home safely, have a yummy dinner, you may get to post bail, I have a beer, you spend the rest of your evening itchy and red. Everyone wins!
My single speed on the edge of Interurban Trail with Mt. Rainer in the background. click on for large image
My 3-5 times per week commute to work on the bike is going great. Even when it rains, it is still a good time out and offsets the amazing amount of time spent in a chair in front of my computer at work. I have just put new wet-condition specific brake pads on my road bike as well as removable fenders and treaded commuter tires. I will swap out the wheels and remove the fenders for long fast road training rides or for any races that I do this year. In addition to my regular road bike, I have been riding my single speed into the office part of the time. I take off after work along the river trail and do 15 to 20 miles of flats before meeting Laurel in the valley after she gets off and put the bike on the roof for a hill-less, pain free ride home. On clear days, Rainer sticks up and I get to look at the snow-capped mountain for ¾ of the way home. There are worse views. “The Hill” is still there. It gives me a small sense of accomplishment everyday when I top it, but that fact doesn’t make it any less of a beast. I have tried a couple of other ways home (will try one more this afternoon). It is the same overall elevation gain from work to home no matter which path I choose, some routes have longer, more gradual ascents. The longer ride to the house is great on pretty days and lessons the chance that I will keel-over from exhaustion one fine afternoon.
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Earlier this summer, Laurel (my amazing wife) and I took her bike to the shop to have it repaired – warranty issue. While there, we saw a Penny Farthing (also called a Hiwheel or a Bone Shaker) in the window of the shop with a price tag on it. You NEVER see these things for sale! Some guy will have one is his window as advertising or just to be cool, but they never sell them. Well, we found a place that did. Laurel wouldn’t let me leave the shop without taking this baby home: that is how cool she thought it was. She even let me stay in the shop stroking it sweetly as she went to an ATM to get cash. I love my wife! I am not going to tell you what she paid for it, but it wasn’t much. We had to walk my “new” bike home because I was wearing flip-flops. About halfway there she looked over and asked me, “Umm, can you actually ride this thing?” Fvck yes I can!! I went right home, put some real shoes on, and took it for a cautionary spin around a local school yard to practice mounting and un-mounting – it has been about 22 years since I was shown how by a visiting clown at my elementary school. Just like riding a bike… After a few adjustments, I rode the thing from the house to downtown Hamburg, around the Klein Alster Lake and back – about ten miles. I turned heads and made people smile and wave (neither is a common site in Hamburg) wherever I went. I even let some old guys have their picture taken with it. Not a chick-magnet, but it pulls old dudes out of the woodwork to talk about classic bikes. I had a lot of fun that first day, but paid a high price. The seat that came with the bike was an old unicycle saddle with no springs to cushion the cobblestones and bumps. I ended up getting a blister on the tip of my tailbone that hurt so bad I couldn’t ride any of my regular bikes for a week. |
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Our first ride together |
My Boneshaker on the Alster in Hamburg |
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Over the next few days, I found out more and more about my new stead – the original builder’s son still runs the company that built it and really helped me out with info about the bike. She was built by Rideable Bicycle Replicas in the late 1970’s as a copy of an 1875 French Boneshaker and brought to Hamburg along with 20 or so other hiwheels for a bicycle show. My bike was one of 13 that were sold to a guy who rented them out for TV shows, movies, as decoration, and to museums. By 2008 he only had 4 left and mine was the most complete, as it had spent the last ten years in a puppet museum; sparing it a hard life. He sold my bike, two other complete, but ugly/bent ones, and the heavily damaged forth hiwheel to the bike shop owner who then put the best one in the window. The only notable damage to mine is where some jackass drilled strait through the headbadge, the head tube, and the fork to suspend the bike from the ceiling so an evil little puppet could sit astride it – sorry it sort of feels like thinking about my wife kissing some old boyfriend – makes me twitch a little. Since the initial tailbone trauma, I have installed a new seat (two different ones actually), new bars, given her a good scrubbing, and ride her around town for errands on the any weekend afternoon that the sun is shinning. I even rode her to a local wilderness park to get on a few trails with my wife– not recommended. I didn’t go ass-over-tea-kettle, but it is not the greatest bike I have ever ridden on dirt. To be completely honest, I have had one accident thus far: the cobblestones on my street were wet a couple weekends ago and I slipped off while mounting in front of about fifteen neighbors. They think that I am ‘that crazy American that lives in the red building’ anyway, so it only hurt me pride a little. |
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At the Niendorfer Gehege Park in North Hamburg |
Riding on the paths in the Gehege after a picnic lunch |
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Gabby, my new two-wheeled mistress. Hold your curser on the pic to see what she looked like on our first date… |
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| My Singlespeed/fixie:
I fell in love with singlespeed/fixed gear bikes a long while ago. What’s not to love? They are quick, light, there is nothing on them to steal or screw-up, and they have a certain cool factor that is generally limited to things like Triumph bobber motorcycles and Hellbilly music. After my admiration started to border on obsession, I thought about picking a new pre-built and ready to ride Raleigh, Alta, or Giant up from a local shop. When I casually mentioned this “plan” to my loving wife, she MAY have exploded… She may have also pointed out that I have 3.5 (the .5 part is my unicycle – see “Nerdy” post below…) other bikes taking up space, time, and money in our lives and that there was NO WAY that I was going into a store and drop 500-800€ for a new “toy.” After some time had passed we reached an agreement of sorts: I could built a “new” bike if I spent less than 150€, slowly over time, and invested some sweat-equity in the project. Seeing an eventual path to my goal and not wanting to start Armageddon over a steel-framed bicycle, I agreed to her proposition.
I started right away looking on eBay for a suitable candidate bike, but the sellers there were all pretty savvy and I would have blown my budget on the frame alone. I checked most of the used bike shops in town – I stopped counting after sixteen – and while some had just what I needed, their frames didn’t match my budget. I pined away for a few weeks and finally decided to stop looking for the ‘perfect’ frame and to maybe start checking at junk shops for something that I could make do with. The very afternoon I made that decision, Laurel and I were out walking and found a wrecked bike in the trash. It was in BAD shape: Missing the front wheel & misc. parts, a shattered rear wheel, rust and dings everywhere, but the frame was straight, the forks were still there, the chainring was OK, and other than being filthy and banged up, the cranks were just what I needed. It was like Manna from Heaven. I took it home, cleaned it up, and stripped it down to the bare frame that same night.
For the last couple of years I have been a daily visitor to fixedgeargalley.com for my morning dose of bike-porn. Many of the bikes there started their lives as crappy or moderate road bikes that were switched to single speeds. Some of these bikes are God-awful ugly: pink and lime green or with strange attachments bolted willy-nilly to the frame and bars, but the majority are sleek, well built, and very functional. The site served as my daily inspiration to complete my own bike. After looking at the entire 6000+ bike image library, I had a pretty good idea about what I wanted for my own bike in terms of look and function.
It turned out that the found-frame was two sizes too big for me and that the steel forks were an inch and a half out of true, but the frame was solid with no serious imperfections and no rust bad enough to cause structural problems. The drop bars were in good shape too, so I flipped them over and chopped them off to make narrow bullhorn bars. Work got hectic at that point and the frame hung on the wall in my basement for a couple of months, as I told anyone who would listen about my new project. For my birthday, my most dependable riding buddy bought me a bike jersey at the local messenger/track bike shop. Somehow this speciality shop had evaded my attention until that point. There I found what amounted to singlespeed Heaven. For that same birthday, my wife gave me 50€ to buy whatever bike parts I desired. Off we went on the afternoon of the 34th anniversary of my birth and I picked up a flip-flop hub, a 16-tooth freewheel for one side, and a 16-tooth fixed track gear for the other. I may have fondled it, wearing a perverse smile, all the way home.
I spent a couple of hours the next week building the rear wheel from a rim that I have had for a while. I had some trouble with calculating the correct spoke length and used the late Sheldon Brown’s online calculator to set me straight (Sheldon forgot more about bikes than I will ever know and his site was a crutch I used during the whole build process.). I went to a local BMX shop for new spokes and when I found out that they wanted 50€ for them, I laughed at them and left. The wheel and bike frame continued to collect dust until after Christmas with me picking up a few parts here and there: used brakes, a new seat, used seat post, and a used chrome track fork. I found that the original stem/neck on the bike suffered the same fate as the original forks, so I picked up a cheap lightly used one. The track bike shop, Suicycle, ended up building the rear wheel and supplying the new spokes for the same price quoted by the other shop for just the spokes. I was more than happy to let them do it as it saved me time and aggravation.
Shortly after the holidays, we sold my wife’s super-cool Moulton travel bike for a profit and went to buy her another bike that better suited her sense of aesthetics (long story…). While at the shop she spotted some pedals that I had been looking for. They were 75€ new and we got a lightly used pair and a used MTB handle bar for 30€ total. Oh, it was a happy day! She found a great bike for a lot less than she sold the other for and with some of the leftover funds I got some parts for my project. As I built the bike up I realized that we had been sold two LEFT side pedals… Laurel had business near the shop and was sweet enough to go there twice; the first time they didn’t have a RIGHT side pedal and the second to argue about a refund. I ended up buying a new set of similar ones at a local roadbike shop.
I had changed my mind about the cow horns. I wanted something sleeker and bars better able to fit between cars as I made my way through traffic to work in the mornings. There is a current fad among messengers and messenger wannnabes to chop the bar down to ten inches and your thumbs rubbing the underside of the stem. That is somewhat squirrelly for my taste and doesn’t afford me the space to mount brakes. As I have two kids to put through college, I need breaks on my bike. I cut the MTB bars down to fifteen inches, chose 2-fingered MTB break levers, and installed rubber grips to make for both a functional and nice looking setup. I did end up using the cow horns on my folding train-commuter bike. They turned out VERY nice.
A couple of weeks later, I spent a Saturday sanding, priming, and re-sanding and re-priming the frame. Over the next couple of days I put two nice, even rattle-can coats of matte black automotive paint on it and hung it up in my attic to dry. When the painting was done, I made one touch up, and then hung it in our shower with a wallpaper dryer on it all night to help cure the paint. The next day I cut the fork threads to length, installed the bearings, enlarged the brake calliper mounting holes, greased everything (including inside the seat tube) and put it all together in our living room, making sure to fit it as closely as possible to the geometry and measurements of my race bike. Everything did not go exactly as planned: My special ordered chain didn’t fit and my rear break calliper was too short. Those two things took a couple of days to sort out while my bike patiently waited for me in our living room. Did I mention that I have the most understanding wife ever?! Not only did she give me cash for my obsession and go to shops for/with me, bought me bike tools for Christmas, and in addition to not flipping out to bike parts all over her dining room table for a week, she was supportive of my little obsession the whole time.
On the first semi-sunny day (not a frequent occurrence in the cold north of Deutschland) that we had after I finished the build, I took the bike out for a ten mile shakedown ride on Hamburg’s streets, sidewalks, bike lanes. HOLY SHIT!! My new single speed/fixie is all that I could have wished for. It made me want to be bad… I found myself weaving through cars at red lights, passing perhaps too closely to pedestrians, shooting through spaces not ordinarily thought of as bike-friendly. I am old enough to realize that this behavior was something that would get me in trouble at home, but it was just so much damn fun!! The steel frame was smooth on the cobblestones, it was really responsive, and it tracked great when riding with no hands. The bike is light enough that hopping a tall curb took very little effort, the small bars were really comfortable to ride with, and I got a bunch of compliments while in a bike shop and while waiting for lights to turn. The only slightly negative comment that I have is that it doesn’t exactly stop on a dime, but that has to do with the brake lever that I used and can be fixed with an upgrade to BMX levers and stiffer brake pads.
In the interest of full disclosure, I spent about 100€ more than we agreed upon, but in my defence the forks were half of that and the bike still cost about a third of what a new bike would have cost. In addition to learning an absolute ton about gear ratios, inside bike builder tricks, wheel building, and rider fitting – I also had a hobby to occupy my time for almost a year, time that could have been spent bugging my wife and getting on her nerves. One COULD almost reason that a year free of certain aggravation might be priceless… If you see my wife and she is still ticked about the cost overrun, you could remind her of this, you know – if you want…
Like all my other bikes, this one has a woman’s name: Gabby – after Gabrielle Reese the pro volleyball player and model. She is named so because like her namesake, she is too tall for me, is quick, responsive, beautiful, agile, sleek, and if you don’t pay her the proper amount of attention while riding her you will likely end up on the pavement broken and bleeding.
I took pictures of the build process, and have put them here, if you want to take a look and the specifications for my home-brewed bike are below:
Frame: 80’s model 12 speed Raleigh roadbike, originally white. |
