downtubes.
I’m not sure if this is horrifying or great.
Archive for February, 2008
best sandwiches in america.
Esquire throws down the list of best sandwiches in America, sadly only one of which I’ve had (the Katz’s pastrami, which is as good as they make out.) I am an absolute sandwich fiend, and plan on trying the remainder of the NY places on the list. New York Magazine’s Underground Gourmet throws down with their recurring Sandwich of the Week, which also contains some real gems.
My personal favorites? The Pinocchio at Alidoro, NYC. The spicy Godmother at Bay Cities Italian, Santa Monica, CA. The cubano at Havana Chelsea, NYC. Mmmm…
westminster, scorchers, titanium.
My friend Matthew and I attended this past weekend’s Westminster, MD swap meet, getting up before sunrise on Sunday to get the jump on various other collectors, bike nerds, and 2-wheeled deviants. It was a fine swap, with huge attendance in the Carroll County Agricultural Center (half the room was taken up by a rodeo ring with bleachers surrounding) filled with a decent selection of interesting parts both old and new, as well as some fine bargains. I managed to steal away with a couple of exciting small bits — a Campagnolo 15mm “peanut butter” 15mm wrench for $3, a Campagnolo dog-leg saddle wrench for $2, and most excitingly a full Rohloff/Phil Wood wheelset setup with shifter and cabling at a screaming bargain — a setup that should provide me with an excellent set of Rohloff wheels without breaking the bank.
The hardest part about setting up the Rohloff is not the parts, but rather deciding “what kind of bike would this best go on.” Of late, I’ve been particularly fascinated from both an aesthetic and functional standpoint by “scorcher” and “porteur” type bikes — bikes that are set up in a more upright fashion that a standard road bike, but take relatively narrow tires and most likely have mounts for fenders, racks or the like. Kogswell makes a brilliant Porteur/Randonneur frame that fits the bill quite well, and Velo Orange deliver a fine frame (made here in NYC by Johnny Coast) as well. Somewhat terrifyingly, though, I’ve been engaged by titanium frames, in the same mold. The recent NAHBS show had beautiful bikes galore — track frames, randonneuring bikes, tandems and what have you. In years past I’ve particularly admired the work of the titanium builders out there — Roark, Merlin, etc. Sadly, I wasn’t able to make it out this year, but one picture in particular really did it for me.
Oh, my. Moots has made a frame called the Comooter that takes a Rohloff (!), has fender mounts (!!), and even has a generator hub in the front (!!!) with flat bars! Aiee! Sadly, Moots’ cost about a billion dollars (give or take a million) and thus is out of my budget for the forseeable future, lest I want to get a divorce. Sid’s Bikes here in NYC had the Comooter but without the Rohloff, but in this guise it totally makes sense.
Non-corrosive, strong metal, no paint to chip, custom built to fit the Paragon Machine Works dropouts that fit the Rohloff perfectly without the use of a chain tensioner… it’s like a dream. Ah, well.
This bike is aesthetically a bit more pleasing to me in terms of shape (I don’t love the bowed top tube of the Comooter) but follows the same lines — 35mm cyclocross tires, upright bars, etc. This is actually a Merlin track frame converted by Tam Pham into an homage to the 1993 Ibis Scorcher, a bike well ahead of its time — witness the review from Bicycle Guide in 1993 where the reviewer has to explain the difficulties of riding a fixed wheel bike. It’s interesting to me how everything old (the Scorcher was modelled after a late 1800s racing bike) can be new again — the Comooter looks like a highly advanced Raleigh 3 speed. Then again, I suppose I’m riding fixed wheel bikes now, too…
brooklyn machine works gangsta track.
My friend Chris’ Brooklyn Machine Works Gangsta Track.
rohloff speedhub 500/14.
I have of late been incredibly fascinated by the Rohloff Speedhub 500/14, perhaps the most technically advanced bit of bicycle gear out there. It is a 14 speed, internally geared hub, much along the lines of the Raleigh 3 speed man folks remember from their youth. The difference is, the Rohloff is a completely sealed, evenly spaced internal hub, with 13.6% gain between each gear. The service life of the hub is apparently near unlimited — there are stories of these hubs being ridden almost to 100,000 kilometers without repair. The only external pieces of the hub are the cog (steel, and reversible for even wear prior to replacement), the tension arm (which holds the hub in place in the frame) and the shifter itself, which is a simple twist grip that simply pulls cables up-and-down — all of the logic for the shifting is in the hub itself, not in the shifter.
This makes for, obviously, an incredibly durable and reliable setup — this rider toured India and Sichuan riding an On-One 29er frame with a Rohloff hub, and as always, Sheldon Brown has a fantastic page with information from Andy Blance (touring bike builder Thorn Raven’s designer.) Andy also has put together useful pages on changing the Speedhub’s oil, explaining Rohloff gear cables, and reversing the sprocket on a Rohloff hub.
Sadly, outside of Sheldon’s efforts, the Rohloff is hardly known in the US — they only employ one person here, and seem convinced that only hardcore mountain riders would want one (explaining why the Speedhub’s shifter doesn’t fit on standard drop bars, a situation somewhat remedied by solutions from titanium builder Rewel Bikes, Ohio builder HubBub, and German company Norwid, all of whom offer variations on stem/bar extensions to allow mounting of the shifter to drop bars.
In Europe, however, it’s a totally different story. The hub is widely available, including in a couple of rather delicious looking commuter options from Cannondale, the special production G-Star, and the regular production Bad Boy Rohloff. It’s unfortunate that the US is stuck with very so-so internal hub offerings from Shimano rather than a performance hub like this, as I imagine many commuters/tourers would be quite intrigued by the hub. I am actually working on a project to put together my Co-Motion Nor’Wester with a Rohloff, but I’m somewhat torn as a derailleur setup is so much more familiar, and the compromises involving drop bars aren’t 100% satisfying. We shall see as we get towards sunnier weather though. I have a distinct urge to ride from NYC out to the small town where my Aunt and Uncle live over the Delaware River in Pennsylvania. Seems like a nice ride.
sheldon brown 1944-2008.
Last night, Sheldon Brown, legendary bike maven and one of the foremost providers of accurate technical bike information on the ‘net passed away at the age of 64. Sheldon inspired many (including me) to get more out of bicycling, to be willing to try out technical feats on your own, and to generally love bikes even more. His warm and incredibly generous spirit and willingness to help anyone with even the most minor of problems will not soon be forgotten.
I only had a few email exchanges with Sheldon, but enjoyed his postings on the many bike forums out there dedicated enthusiasts flocked to. His loss will be felt by all in the cycling community.
RIP, Sheldon. May the road under your wheels always be smooth, the weather temperate and the skies clear.
