June 30, 2010

Skate Video Wednesday

Mark Gonzales!







Screenprinting Mess Bag Rates

The other day a dude came over to have me screen a skull onto his mess bag
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He also brought me a bottle of whiskey, which I have now adopted as my standard rate. If you would like me to screenprint something on something that you already own, I require a bottle of whiskey, Kentucky or Bourbon, as payment.

Fixed Gear Non Drive Side Thread Protectors: Purpose Built & Recycled

While at B-Rev's in Philly Fuzzy showed me these cool thread on protectors for the non drive side of your flip flop track hub which will protect the threads from abuse during grinds
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It's a good idea and a nice product.

There is also a free recycled piece that you can use for the same job

Just go down to your local shop and ask if they have any Shimano Centerlock covers.
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These come on Shimano Centerlock disc hubs and will fit right onto the freewheel or cog threads on your hub. While it's true that it likely won't do as good of a job at resisting impacts as the metal piece, it's free. So there you go. Better than nothing.

They also do a great job of just keeping dirt and grit out of your threads if you've got nothing threaded onto the opposite side of your hub.

June 29, 2010

O.G.

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Summer Essentials

June 28, 2010

Schwinn Madison Project and question

so the next bike I'm on is this '85 Schwinn Madison that I bought in Philly.
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The first thing I did when checking it out after an initial visual inspection (and something you should always do when thinking about purchasing an older bicycle) was move the seatpost and stem to make sure that they move freely and aren't seized. They moved great so I was reasonably sure the bottom bracket would be a similar situation.

Well the bike came back on Friday and this weekend I stripped it down to make sure
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And this is what the inside of the BB looked like
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notice anything about it? there's a fuck ton of paint and absolutely zero grease. I'm guessing that the paint kept it from seizing up, but holy shit, was that common back then? Talk about playing dangerously.

I also grabbed some shots of the inside of the BB shell which I think does a good job of illustrating what a mid line lugged 80's bike typically looks like on the inside. The Madison is rad, but it sure wasn't an artisan build.
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I'm hoping to get it done this week. I'm rebuilding the headset, Framesavering the frameset, installing a sealed BB, and putting on different wheels and chainring.

Which brings me to the question: does anyone out there know if these 80's Sugino GLP's 144BCD are JIS or ISO tapered?

holla at me if you know

NYC and Philly Trip Favorite Photos

Here are my favorite images from the trip. I'm just going to up and post them now and stop milking this whole "while in New York thing."

In chronological order

view from Brooklyn
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door at Affinity
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wall at King Kog
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Austin, Hern, Kyle
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a blurry but stylish Chris Clappe
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near Chari & Co.
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get better soon Marinoni
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leaned up while hanging out at a stop for Saturday's alleycat
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Antonyo with a foot jam whip during the trick comp.
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Drew I got your next Milwaukee Cog add right here bro.


watching and getting ready
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have you met Dr. Fast?
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street art in Philly
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shiny
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BMX Video Monday

Kevin Porter Web Video from Empire Bmx on Vimeo.




Dose of Awesome

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June 27, 2010

Peacock Groove Project: Completion of Frameset and First Build

Way back on March 9th I ordered a Peacock Groove frameset from local frame builder Erik Noren. Yesterday everything was finally completed and I was able to start my build.

picking it up
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The frameset had come back from paint on June 15th and I left for New York shortly after. While away Erik completed fabrication of the custom chainguard and prepped the frameset. There were a few other details and concerns that needed to be addressed. (I'd like you to know that Spectrum and PG will take care of the skull fiasco this winter. Although I will admit that it's not that huge of a deal)

After some dickering with the BB and such, I was able to complete the build today June 27th.
That means it took roughly three and a half months from order to completed bicycle. That's pretty damn good and Erik hit all the deadlines, 6 weeks for fabrication and then off to paint.

The greatest compliment I can give is that Erik delivered on all of his promises, I have a truly unique and custom bicycle that includes everything I was hoping for and a paint job that is fucking sick. This bike will never be confused for any other and I am a satisfied customer.

Here is my initial build. I use the phrasing "initial", because I'm using parts that I have lying around to complete the bike and then once I know my details, such as stem length and rise, I will order some matchy matchy hotness.

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tires, bar tape, wheels, pedals, brakes, stem, and seatpost will all likely change in the coming weeks. When I get it all dialed in, you'll be the first to know.

short ride tonight to make sure there weren't any glaring issues, first real ride tomorrow.

Super stoked

Previously
Back From Paint
Update
Parts
PG-40
Paint Jobs
Frame Drawing
Tubes
Fork and Dropouts
Bottom Bracket
The Clock Starts Ticking
Dropouts, Chainstays, Fork Crown
Part #1

Willis Johnsons' 1987 50th Anniversary Daccordi

I spent a couple night on Willis Johnsons' floor (you might remember Willis from Bootleg Sessions where he rides FDR skatepark in Philly, or various other film projects) and had the opportunity to take some photos of his very cool Daccordi 50th anniversary frameset, which is just one of many Daccordi's that he owns.

Daccordi 50th Anniversary
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chrome rear end

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check that neat panto in the fork "crown"

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matching stem and the bars feature "computerized hi-tech heat treatement." Life lesson folks, if something is written in digital clock letters it must be both true and good.

If you get all hot and bother over this frameset Ben's Cycle has some NOS ones for sale in limited sizes.


Thanks for the floor space and hospitality Willis!

June 26, 2010

One for B.Ridget



via Revok

YNOT Prototype Backpack

By now you probably already know that Toronto's favorite son Tom Mosher has a new company called YNOT. You also probably know that they're making foot retention straps that have been getting rave reviews all over the interwebs. What you may not know is that they have a number of other things in the works.

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While I was in New York Tom and I got talking about backpacks as he was checking out my new Trash Bag. He then told me that he was sewing backpacks and had a proto with him. Before he showed the goods he was telling me that he had this ingenious idea for a bag, and that he couldn't believe that no one had thought of it before. Well needless to say I was skeptical. Everyone thinks that they're doing something unique and special and let's face it, most aren't. It's like your friend telling you how good his friend's band is. The last thing in the world I was expecting was to be blown away by his inventiveness. Then he dropped this on me.

YNOT Prototype Backpack
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three fold out flaps, with a large flap in the bottom of the bag. Tons of room, almost limitless capacity

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then you fold one of the outside flaps over the other

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then the other, then you put the top flap, which is stitched to the middle piece, over the whole thing and bam, backpack.

Super rad. Congratulations Tom, you're on some next shit.

Thursday

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