Bridgestone XO

Sweet looking Bridgestone cross bike (XO) with a single chain ring up front. Not sure of the vintage.

New Bikes!

What's wrong with this picture?

Super stylized bikes in Seattle. One internal gear and one fixie:

A Couple More City Bikes

Some more cool bikes from around town... mostly united in having internal hubs or cassette-only shifting.

ok, this is a single speed, but c'mon, that's a sweet (dish) rack

original issue

match made in heaven?

Carrying Strap

The leather carrying strap I fashioned out of an old belt has worn in beautifully. I treated it with leather saddle goop once, and it could probably use another coat soon. The leather has stretched it a very attractive way, nicely matching the contour of the chainring I think. The washers have kept the leather from tearing, despite some initial pinching which can been seen in the photos:

If the leather continues to stretch I may elect to flip the strap around and resize to fit more taughtly between the front and lower rear screws.

More Interesting Bikes

Gorgeous

I think this has the nexus-8 redband

XTR baby!

Snapped in Marin - where else? Must be nice...

Curiously, I never actually checked out Sheldon's internal hub pages - but doing so after the fact, I have found them to be quite interesting. Take a look - some really nice conversions on older frames:

http://sheldonbrown.com/nexus8.shtml

Sheldon Brown's Nexus 8 (Raleigh International)

Tisket/Tasket

The pletscher rack was great, but the mousetrap alone wasn't cutting it for everything I found myself wanting to carry on the bike, so I installed a basket:

M-Wave Wire Basket

This thing is made by M-Wave and at $15 bucks, you could do far, far worse. The basket is just the right size for me, it fits a full paper grocery bag, or a gym bag, or a care package from mom. I've carried all kinds of things in it, including some very, very tasty things:

Seriously, how much more Danish could this bike be?

As you can see in these photos, the basket's rim slants down at the back, allowing it to fit under handlebars. Combined with a bungie net, I can also carry things that don't exactly fit, but which can easily be lashed down:

A large Zachary's deep dish fit like the rig was designed for it.

I string the net across the middle of the basket, front to back as seen in the photo above, (but not overlaping the stem, that was a special condition to fit the pizza). This allows me to slide my helmet and gloves into the basket in my office lobby, then tip the bike up on its rear wheel to fit in the elevator with other people without my helmet etc. falling out. A small detail, but something I do every day, so I like not having to fuss with it each time.

Netting down the middle. Note the bike light in the basket - secured with a zip tie, it shines through the basket not problem.

This basket has two little hooks welded to the underside. These slide under the middle rung on the Pletscher rack and the whole thing is pinned against the rack, keeping these hooks in place, by the mousetrap.

Hooks hold the basket on the rack with the aid of the mousetrap

the hooks on the underside of the basket 

Mousetrap securing the basket to the Pletscher rack

I don't bother with it, but because it's only held in place by the mousetrap, you can remove the basket to take into shops or wherever you're going, which could be convenient. And despite the mousetrap being the only thing holding it in place, it's quite solid, thanks to the little hooks and the strength of the mousetrap spring.

JPR Update - Fenders!

Thanks to cycliholic for the question about fenders - I need to update this thing! I did indeed add some fenders from Bay Area Bikes for the wet winter season - they are the SKS Raceblade model, which attach to the seat stays and forks, and don't require any clearance between the tires and under the brakes or fork, because they only cover part of the wheel. Granted, it's the part of each wheel most likely to make you wet and muddy. Click for a closer view:

With optional mud flap installed (I later removed it because it exacerbated the already troublesome issue of my toes overlapping the front wheel due to the Paramount's steep head tube and short fork rake)

First attempt at mounting. I ended up getting the arc to match the wheel much more closely (too closely, perhaps) on a second attempt.

I was pretty wary of these because of how they connect to the frame in only two locations and provide only partial coverage compared with typically full fenders that mount to eyelets on the frame/fork and behind the bottom bracket, but they are incredibly solid and work beautifully to keep me dry in damp conditions (or in combination with a pair of rain boots on really rainy days). Once you put the clear decal tape on the surface of your seat stays/forks and position the brackets, you can really wrap the rubber fasteners around to achieve a super secure and low(ish) profile. These ship with 8 of the band fasteners and additional zip ties but I only used 1 band per mounting point and a couple of zip ties for overkill.


There's a lot of control over how they fit your bike/wheels. You can slide the brackets that hold the actual fenders along the fender (and secure with a screw when you get them in the right place) and you are supposed to bend the metal arms to fine tune lateral positioning. I probably mounted them a little too close to the wheels, but I wanted them to look as streamlined as possible, so when I'm standing and really cranking, the tires rub the fender in back, but it's not too big a deal. I'd have given them another 1/4 inch clearance if I did it over again next season, we'll see if I even bother removing them this summer, they weigh practically nothing and don't create any other issues, save for making lock ups through the rear rim and seat stay with a small U-lock somewhat difficult, but not impossible - I can always finagle it into position with a standard bike rack or parking meter.

Interesting Bikes

I'm going to start posting pics I've snapped of interesting bikes - usually bikes that are similar to the JPR, modified commuters built out of old steel frames, racing bikes, etc. Here's a couple:

Ok, right off the bat I'm throwing a curveball - this one isn't steel, it's a Cannondale, but pretty similar style to JPR. It is always parked outside my office and was definitely part of the inspiration for a 7-8 speed with a single chain ring and no front derailleur. Also note the swept bars and racks. Very nice commuter - though I imagine the aluminum frame is rather jarring on Oakland roads. She seems to be running 25mm tires, so faster, but bumpier. 

I only saw this bike once, but did a double take since it looks surprisingly like the JPR. It's a Panasonic, whoo hoo! I have no idea if this is a good frame or not, but the way it was built up looks like someone values it - inverted swept bars, nice saddle, and with non-caliper brakes - maybe it was supposed to be a cyclocross-type bike?

Snapped this from the passenger seat at Shattuck and 52nd - track bike painted solid gold with an internal hub and gripshift. Looks like the nexus so a 7 or 8 speed. Sweet get up and this guy looks like a serious cyclist, but he was in the right lane of two that merge into a freeway ramp, so he got off to a slow start across the intersection and then had to change lanes while people were gearing up to get on the onramp. Not the brightest move, but then, it's a crappy intersection anyway you slice it.

And finally, two glamour shots and a funny wheel insert - Rivendale, Merckx, BART:

A. Homer Hilsen

USA! USA! er, Bel-el-gium!

Remember these things?

Great Western Bike Rally

Two weeks ago, the JPR met her maker. So to speak. We packed up the car and headed down to Paso Robles for the 47th annual Great Western Bike Rally, where the JPR (as a newly minted Schwinn Paramount Series 3) was raffled off back in 1994.

We met Ralph and Laverne Boethling, who were the dynamic duo behind the GWBR for several decades, and who we learned purchased two identical 1992 Series 3 Paramounts from a friend who owned a local bike shop to include as the grand prizes for the raffle. Apparently both bikes were bought for $500 of Ralph and Laverne's own money! It would be cool to find out who won the other Paramount that year (1994). Maybe some day they'll see this post and get in touch?

We displayed the JPR at the Concourse de Elegance at the Rally, and although it didn't win a "best in show" honor, a lot of folks got to see the final result and read up about the project. It was a lot of fun to tell the story, and some people actually remembered the raffle from that year - I created a little a sign summarizing the rebuild:

Here's some iPhone video of Ralph and Laverne (who, incidentally, won the coed 60+ time trial earlier that day) checking out the JPR, and a few other shots of the display:

JPR on display at the Great Western Bike Rally

Talking to Ralph about the rebuild

The GWBR features over 20 different rides, including short, kid-friendly rides, wine-tasting rides, and metric or full centuries. We took the JPR out on her inaugural tour (non-commute ride) on Saturday, cycling about 22 miles out to Star Farms, a private residence with a giant pond and smoothie cabana, complete with sandy beach and palm trees. It was a bizarre scene to find in a landscape of back roads and vast farming plots, but it was a good ride to see how the JPR would handle longer distances - very comfortably, as it turns out!

Star Farms

I had signed up for the metric century on Sunday, but ended up going for a ride with a bunch of folks who were camped next to us, several of whom were riding custom Rivendell bikes:

Custom Rivendell, all Brooks'ed up

I rode the JPR with them on a route out to the Pacific and back, racking up 62 miles and 4400 feet of climbing. About halfway, right after lunch, we had a 10-mile stretch fighting brutal 20+ mph headwinds up the coast. I took my turns, along with the two gents featured in the following clip, pulling the group along. Both of these guys, each twice my age, then proceeded to catch and drop me on the final climb. So I would say I've got a little more training to do before next year...

All in all, it was a great weekend, and I highly recommend next year's Rally to anyone who might be interested. Here are some more pics from the weekend:

10 miles into the first "real" tour with the JPR, trying out a camelbak on the front rack. It was actually more of a pain that simply wearing it on my back, which I did on the following day's ride.

JPR overlooking a reservoir on one of the big climbs along Sunday's 62 miler

Father-in-law re-debuting his Roubaix on the way to Star Farms

Climbing out towards the coast

Returning to Paso...

...along the scenic route

At some point in the past, I got the notion that the Central Coast was devoid of hills. I was wrong: