Performance...

Fantastic.

So I'm building a fixie...

...From the journal of Mitch. April 15th.

Damn you Shayne and Halldor!! A plague upon your houses!!

So... I tried Halldor and Shayne's fixie's out in the parking lot at Riders Cycles... Damn it they're fun!! I must build one!


Here are some photo's from my first 'project-bike' at Riders. The project began when Chevy found an old Nishiki in her dads barn, or shed... or swamp, something like that anyway. She donated to me in exchange for a case of beer, of which I drank three. whoops. It's not my fault, one just tastes like more, then two tastes like even more... hmmm... when do they stop tasting like more?

Anyway, here is the frame after I cleaned it up a tad;




The black around the bottom bracket is not me using a spray-can for cool effect. It is burn marks from where the frame has been brazed back together. Nice, no?

The first thing I would need would be a pair of wheels. I ordered this Formula track hub after looking through, literally, a catalogue. I know that hardcore urban-fixieists will mock me for my hubs 'lack of pedigree'. But it msrps for about $45, has sealed bearings and spins. Plus, despite it's lack of pedigree, it manages to hold the wheel to the frame, what with it's 'axle nuts' and all.

I opted to use metal spoke nipples, instead of papier-mache ones. A departure, I know.

For spokes I used these long straight ones.

Under the watchful eye of Steve, the wheel guru, my rear wheel took shape... fortunately, round.

Now, I know that "Pabst Blue Ribbon" can lay claim to being 'cycling's beer of choice'. But I think that they should change it to 'American cycling's beer of choice'. Because up here in the true North, we are blessed with a quality micro brewery every half-block. Here is one of my personal favorites; 'Blue Buck' from Phillips.

These are cranks. These ones were not designed to be fitted to a fixed gear bicycle. They are too long. When I turn corners they will bottom out on the ground, and I will crash. It may hurt.

If your like me, your probably dying to find a use for your collection of old and warped Hayes brake rotors...

...Coming together nicely.








...more to follow.

Fixie culture

I don't get the whole fixie-craze thing. How fun can it be to ride a bike that you can't coast on, that has no brakes, and that has a gear which either makes climbing hills too hard, or makes you have to descend them spinning your cranks at 185rpm? The whole thing seems ridiculous to me. Why also does it seem to be that a prerequisite for joining the fixie-scene requires one to either be color blind, or at least pretend to be?


I often mocked fixie's openly. Claiming that they were the plaything of "Uber-hipsters". Those who no longer would be seen in public with an apple product, because they're far too mainstream now. These people needed a new outlet to express their 'individuality'. Fixies are the i-phone for those who outgrew the i-phone. When you had a walkman, a future fixie rider had a discman, when you were alphabetizing your CD collection on your bookshelf, a future fixie rider was attempting to find some obscure foreign band to download on to his/her i-pod. Because being one of the first to own an i-pod whilst simotaneously being the first in ones group of friends to 'discover' an up and comming band would elevate one to some sort of social demi-god in his or her clique.

But sadly, the time of 'i' was drawing to a close. The mother of someone you once thought was cool for having an i-pod, now has an i-phone. Possibly even his or her grandmother! And a user-group generation span of more than two certainly destroys any cool-factor that any product can have. Enter the urban fixie. Filling the void left in the wake of 'i's demise. The apperance of these bikes allows you to know who is at the forefront of cool. I, for one, shall never be caught dead riding one.

...from the journal of Mitch, april 14'th