ghost in the gears

Crazy Two Weeks / Dream Bike!

So this past two weeks, I’ve slept in Academy Buildings (Not Dorms… hiding out in Academy Classroom buildings), on the street on Haight, Golden Gate Park, the alleyway by Bike Kitchen, and made a new friends and hustled enough money for a new cell phone, haircut, and windbreaker.

But none of that is very interesting, what is interesting is that during this time, I was unabe to ride a bike more or less, so I spent a shitload of time doing a “dream bike” build in my head, and this is what I came up with- the (in my opinion) perfect street track bike that is also raceable on the weekends:

Frameset:

Brooklyn Machine Works Gangsta Track 40cm

Its got a sloping top tube but its not exactly “compact geometry”, and the front fork has enough clearance that you won’t get toe overlap even with deep clips and up to a 700x35 tire. Classy double plate fork crown and nice understated logos that you won’t want to cover up (immediately, at least). Also… handmade made from AMERICAN 4130 CrMo… thats right… Fuck framesets mass produced by Japs or in Taiwan, this is the real shit right here… hand built, start to finish. COST: $775.

Headset:

Chris King Dreadset 1-1/8”

I fucking hate reggae and I don’t really smoke weed anymore, but I love weed culture and anything related to it, which is why I love this headset. And its Chris King which means you think a corner and the bike takes it- it’s just that good. Price: $125 + 20 for color options.

Crankset and BB:

Miche Pista Advanced w/ Miche Primato Track BB

Italian made, not quite as high end as Campagnolo Record, but more street rideable (they make the Advance chainrings in 46 and 49), the matching Primato BB gives a nice straight chainline and is made in Italy as well. Price: $200 for the Crankset and $30 for the BB

Wheelset:

Mavic Ellipse

Deep V’s wish they were these wheels. 20 bladed spokes per wheel, the best performance you can get for the track without going to tubular rims, or so I’ve heard and because its Mavic, you know its strong enough to ride on the road. Fixed/Fixed Mavic hubs. Price: $450

So that covers the important parts, pretty much the small “hard parts” like seatpost, stem, etc would all be the typical brandnames- Thompson, Sette, etc.

The Penultimate Sonoma Blog Entry

“The fire in our throats will beckon the thaw.”

So the Sonoma is in its last 24 hours. I lived, I loved, I lost, and I learned- the personal growth I’ve experienced has been tremendous; coming here as a jaded urban-dwelling hipster and leaving as a level-headed well rounded REAL PERSON.

Sonoma is one of those certain quaint small towns that adorn the front of glossy as station postcards that seem to capture a fleeting yet timeless portrait of a fragment of time that seems to be deep within your memory even though you’ve never been there. You know the people, the places, the sights and scents, although the experience is altogether foreign to your smog-blunted senses. Fast and free, yet repressed and reserved; Sonoma is both the open road with scenery and sky flying by you and the backwoods trail that meanders along the stream that one constantly stops to contemplate the dapple of sunlight and the gather and flow of water over stones worn round by time and weather.

Blood and bone and skin and stone- that is the essence of the small American town. As Steinbeck and his canine companion Charlie observed:

“The new American finds his challenge and his love in the traffic-choked streets, skies nested in smog, choking with the acids of industry, the screech of rubber and houses leashed in against one another while the townlets wither a time and die. This is not offered in criticism but only as observation. And I am sure that, as all pendulums reverse their swing, so eventually will the swollen cities rupture like dehiscent wombs and disperse their children back to the countryside.”

This child of the concrete jungle has been reborn into the countryside but he finds himself maturing at an alarmingly rapid pace and once again yearning for the lights and bathroom tugjobs that only the cold city streets can offer. The honest people of the small town place their work-worn hands in my mine and all I can offer in return is a cynical jest- the smirking sneer of the urban sophisticate that reduces their small town optimism  to a quivering mass of useless flesh.

So I leave Sonoma, both in spite of it and in love with it.

Kill noise. End Transmission.

Jank Ass Fixie: Part Two

Progress continues. The frame has been repainted a bright red, making it look slightly more legit. The outer chainring is 48t which is a bit heavy for my taste (especially with a 16 tooth cog- one skid patch), so it will either eventually go or be paired with a 18 or 19 tooth cog. 

Now comes the hard part- adjusting chain length- something I’ve never done before, I’m using a chain off an old mountain bike for now until I can get my hands on a 1/8th BMX chain.

Although the paintjob might make the bike look more legit, there are still a few things that make this bike jank as fuck:

•  Only four of the chainring bolts are the shorter singlespeed/BMX style ones.
• The bolt that clamps the seat tube used to be a quick release that I ghetto rigged.
• One of the shitty plastic pedals is still stuck on.
• The only seat I have right now is one of those granny seats with the springs in the back.

Jank Ass Fixie

 Build-Up: Part One

You know whats better than a girl inviting you over to use her hot tub? Stealing her best friend’s bike from her house on the way out.

The bike is a late 80s (I think) Schwinn Mirada- not the most ideal frame for a conversion (its heavy as fuck and the geometry is more relaxed than a redneck on a Sunday afternoon), also it had all the crazy touring doodads- attachments for panniers, water bottles, fenders, and brake line ferrules for DAYS.

A pair of bolt cutters and a Dremel tool got rid of anything that could tear pants (as well as the inner chainrings). (Photo is post-cutting/grinding shit off)

Unfortunately one of the pedals is SEVERELY rusted in… if you have fucking intense muscles and live in Sonoma, please help?

So far, the parts I have are:

Frameset, Sugino VP Cranks (Don’t know how well these will work), Wheelset, Profile Stem, Cinelli Track Drops, Pedals (Mismatched), and a chain off a ladie’s mountain bike (FUCK MY LIFE).

Rattlecanning next. 

The Sonoma Experience: The First 48

Sonoma, or “Slow-Fucking-Noma” as my friend Sam likes to call it, is a truly a dizzying experience. The first 48 hours went by like a whirlwind in a tornado bearing down upon a hurricane approaching an island already ravaged by fire and floods.

So far I’ve been fortunate enough to:

• Enjoy shrimp and grilled vegetables with a nice red wine at a suburban home (and its even in a cul-de-sac!)
• Go to a farmer’s market and see a knife sharpening guy, amateur dance contest, and two fixed gear bikes (!) all in the same place.
• Speaking of the farmer’s market, there was a woman who walked by us about four times, each time with like a multitude of corn dogs- I presume she’s gearing up for the world’s most fattening gang bang (how very Felliniesque).
• See one other asian person.
• Climb up through a graveyard to a mountain where I could survey a whole town.
• Spend twenty minutes on said mountain attempting to smash a beer bottle with large stones (Congratulations to Mason Newman for actually succeeding).
• Eat a burrito.
• Watch HR Pufnstuf synced up to Electro.

• Drink almost nothing but alcohol (and warm Diet Root Beer).

Morale is higher than ever, and i look forward to the next day with great vigour. Ironically, people in suburbia are way more receptive to the concept of ghosting than I imagined- something this blog is very happy about. I really can’t imagine spending my one month of real summer vacation anywhere else.