Bandit Cross Today!

it's shaping up to be a lovely evening. come join us.

Spring Essentials

can't remember if I've done this one, though I probably have.

BMX Video

Finally, Sean Burns' part in Anthem II is online. This is the most killer section in the best BMX video of the year. If you haven't seen the whole video, I highly recommend it and if you haven't seen this video part do yourself a favor and watch it now.




watch this too while you're at it



heroin sheik

Madtown Maidens Alleycat - May 7th Madison

Tony Fast Spring

Dora la Exploradora para la suciedad from Tony Fast on Vimeo.

from our friends in Philly.

Simon Gomok

kids real good, if he smooths out he's as good as anyone with a name




via Zlog

Crucial Jams

Been really in the mood for this sort of thing lately. So timeless. This goes out to Yum-Yums, McMike, Stippy, and Krigstev. Wish we were hanging out in a parking garage.

I made AHTBM

I was checking out All Hail the Black Market last night and lo and behold a photo of a derby circle from a Homey Fall Fest past was his new header. And I'm dead center riding the GMS bike, with Rysgaard hot on my heels.



check out Zeigle in his Elvis suit getting eye of the tiger behind us

Classic Style

Best Dropout Build

via AC Blog

Bandit Cross 4/30 Update

Some folks have expressed concern that the weather is forecasted to be rainy on Saturday. Valid concern. If the weather does not play nice and it's too nasty to race and hang out, the rain date will be the following day Sunday at 6pm. If it's dicey I will make the call around 4 and put the info on the blog and facebook event page.

Vinnie in Vegas

our man Vince was in Vegas with the Unknown riders and here is the video proof.

Untitled from vincent shim on Vimeo.

Broken Hearts and Bicycle Parts 7 - Atlanta May 6th-8th

Here's their press release regarding the event, if you're in the Atlanta area you should definitely be there. The social event of the season I'm told.

April 18, 2011 – “Broken Hearts and Bicyle Parts 7: Backroads and Lightloads,” Sopo Bicycle Cooperative’s seventh annual fundraiser is slated for a weekend of fun, May 6-8th. This event has grown from an alley cat in past years to a full weekend of inclusive cycling events meant to encourage individuals to pick up their bikes and go for a ride. Advance registration can be done now online at Sopobikes.org. Those with smartphones can quickly link to the registration page via QR code from any of the posters or fliers around town.

Friday, May 6th is set to be a low-key welcoming event for both travelling participants as well as new cyclists to town; including a group ride, cookout and dance party. We hope that this relaxing start to the weekend will encourage good friendly relations in the community and allow a positive competitive spirit to grow between participants. Meet at Woodruff Park at 7pm for the group ride.

Saturday, May 7th, alleycat participants will meet at Sopo Bike Coop at 3pm to pick up manifests, and the alleycat will at begin at 4pm. Participants will finish by 7pm at The Music Room, followed by a benefit concert starring Indyana Jonz, Basement Banshees, and The Wild, ending with DJ Soundwave spinning the night away. Prizes will be awarded based on the originality of participant costumes, creativity and good spirit in completing checkpoint tasks, as well as overall time for completion. Tickets to the benefit concert will be $10 but event participants will have complimentary access. The benefit concert is an 21+ event, ID required.

We will also be hosting a farewell vegan friendly brunch Sunday starting at 1pm and all are welcome to come out. This event will be hosted at WonderRoot and will be $5.

Sopo Bicycle Cooperative is a 501(c)3 nonprofit bicycle repair workshop. Sopo's mission is to create equitable access to bicycling by providing affordable bicycle maintenance services and education. All donations to Sopo are tax deductible. The shop is located in the East Atlanta Village at 465-C Flat Shoals Avenue. Operating hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights from 7 pm until 10 pm and Saturday afternoon from 2 pm until 5 pm. Visit www.sopobikes.org for more information.

Team Raleighs

Through posting up the Team Raleigh 753 frameset that I acquired last year, I was contacted by a number of Raleigh enthusiasts. One of those enthusiasts was a gent by the name of Matthew who recently sent over the following correspondance which I hope he won't mind me sharing with you.

So CX season is a fading memory and spring is here so that means road bike time. Thought I'd provide an update of my favorite steel bikes; my 2 raleighs.

Pretty significant upgrades this year;

Over the winter I was able to piece together a pretty complete group of period correct Dura Ace 7400 parts. I'm missing a clamp on FD (I got a braze-on one), headset (no biggie) and hubset. I actually got a very good condition 13-24 DA freewheel. The key thing on 7400 stuff is getting brake levers that aren't crashed and ground up and good shifters. Oh yeah, a good RD is a must. I put all this stuff on the red white and blue bike. You'll see in the photos I have a new 7800 crank on there which lets me switch out a compact crank - there are hills here. I'll probably put the 7400 crank on soon though - it looks cool. I got a nice specialized toupe saddle w carbon rails too. Very good saddle and looks good on bike.

On the red and black bike, I got a great deal on a Alpha Q fork with 1", full carbon steerer tube. I have an Alpha Q fork on my ChiliconCrosso and the thing is bomb-proof so, no worries about this one. Switching out this fork for the original cuts more than a pound when you factor in lighter stem, and bars. The fork firms up the front for sure, but I think its actually slightly more laid back in the handling department than the original. I sorta cheaped out with the stem and bars on there now but they work well. Maybe I'll max em out with tax refund moola. This bike has Suntour Superbe pro parts on it which are still working well (with some work). the kinda trick thing on this is I put an XC-Pro mtb crank without the granny on it and it provides a 110 crank spider - a compact. Strange, but it has a perfect chain line and even spacing arm on both sides! I have a 36-50 on there now. Other parts are rounded out with Bontrager take offs from Trek. This saddle is real light but not as comfortable as the Toupe on the other bike. This bike weighs 18.7 as shown.

Did you ever get yours built up?

Cheers,

-Matt





And to answer your question Matt, I decided that the 57cm TT was just too long for me and that I am perhaps a bit on the heavy side of being able to beat on one of these bikes without breaking it. I have to admit though, seeing these photos makes me sad that it's gone. I hope the dude in Chicago who bought it is loving it.

Dirty Thirty Saturday - Minneapolis

Phil and Bjorn are organizing this race in conjunction with Thirty Days of Biking this weekend. There's a cash prize of $150 to the top male and female racers, and if you double this up with Bandit Cross, it's a two race day.

Bike City With Geno

Bike City // How To Fix A Flat + Stupor Bowl from MPLS.TV on Vimeo.

Video done by MPLS TV, part of an ongoing series.

Indemanda

21st Avenue Bicycles BTA Video! from James Wilson on Vimeo.

a video from 21st Ave bikes in Portland featuring midwest transplant and lubricant afficionado, Amanda.

Gorgeous Giordana Track

At One on One last Friday one of the bikes in the shop that really caught my eye was this Giordana Trackie that was hanging out on the show floor.

Gene's always got a somewhat revolving door of hot bikes in the shop, and at first I just thought it was a cool vintage track frame. Upon closer inspection though the unique treatment of the main tubes was something that I had never seen or heard of before.



The story with the bike is that it belongs to a woman, only a total badass could use the drops with that much drop from the saddle, who only rode it at the velodrome. Never dropped, Never crashed.

It's always cool to see something that you didn't know existed, I've seen other Giordana frames but they were all standard tubesets.

Check out the whole thing


There was no tubing decal, and I didn't get a chance to closely inspect the frame. If anybody knows anything about this tubeset, I'd appreciate you dropping some knowledge.

P.S.
I was just thinking that it's funny to include the phrase "it was only ridden at the track" in a post about a track bike. Like it's a given that it's seen time on the street. Sure some rode them as winter trainers, but most vintage track bikes that have remained with the original owners have only seen velodrome use, which is cool and all but it also seems like a bit of a shame since these machines are so much fun to ride everywhere.

I have an idea that will revolutionize the bike industry

I was in the middle of this video thinking that either this guy is a master of irony so great that none of us mere mortals can ever hope to scale his heights or get the joke, or this is the corniest schtick in the history of ever. What is he like a Mormon who fell into a bomb shelter during the 1950's and survived on nothing but Leave it Beaver episodes and tit milk? .

A fucking photo collage for christ sakes.

and that music.

Then I got to the end and I cursed myself for being such an asshole.
It's like kicking a puppy.

Good luck fella.

Shine on you crazy diamond.

Lamp

Saturday

Went out and worked on some trails in a park in South Minneapolis in hopes of having a Bandit Cross race their next weekend. We finished the first section, but it was pretty clear that the ground is going to be too wet to race this early in the spring. Nevertheless it's always a good time hanging out in the woods and putting in some work.

Shea Airwolf Edit

Shea Hardacre just put out this edit of him riding the size small All-City Airwolf 26" prototype.

AIRWOLF from DPH on Vimeo.

Tea

via DPOW

Bandit Cross This Saturday - Minneapolis

Saturday 4/30
Hobo Camp, Bryn Mawr Meadows
Racing starts promptly at 6
Trail Work starts at 5
Free to all
All bikes welcome though one cog is preferred

If you haven't heard, the Minneapolis institution known as Hobo Camp is on the chopping block. While I've been getting mixed information on when the demolition will actually happen (could be soon, could be next year), one things for certain: better enjoy it while it lasts.

If you missed out last year I sure hope you make it to this one, bandit cross has been, at least for me, a few days last fall that really reaffirmed my faith in the Minneapolis cycling community. No bullshit attitudes, no whining, just folks having a great time in the company of their friends both old and new.

The idea is to spread cyclocross to riders who find the resources required for "real races" and the atmosphere of said races prohibitive and to provide a fun positive atmosphere to learn, ride hard, and have fun.

Please show up at 5 if you can lend a hand to prep the course prior to the race. If you have a saw please bring one, there are a couple of downed trees that we need to take care of (bring a rake too if you can).

Friday Night

Went to Skinny's going away party at One on One. (good luck in SF!) Took some photos on the way there and shot some of the bikes that were hanging around the shop.





the beautiful headbadge of Speedhound


The Speedhound fork with one of my favorite fork crowns and embellishments


This Tigra was lovely, though the parts especially the wooden rims aren't necessarily "correct"


drillium


This little beaut was built by Minnesota (heck, let's say cycling) legend Cecil Behringer. (the namesake of the AC Cecil pedal) For those not familiar with Cecil, and this is ultra abriged, he used to operate the Shakopee Velodrome in the burbs and was part of the team that helped create the first titanium bicycle frame along with Pino Maroni. For more info on Cecil please go here.



it was a lovely evening

Friday Morning

came across this downed grass on a beautiful overcast morning and had to take the photo op

BMX Video Monday

keep it brutal

Crash Party - 'Surfin for the Ugly Broads' from Bone Deth Video WasteLand on Vimeo.

Last Wednesday

Ted Dibiase

P.S.
The greatest cat name I've ever heard of was "Ted DiBiase" if I ever get a cat, I will totally steal it and never feel bad about it. Not for a second.

Fun With Scooters

give me a break, it's Saturday.

Spring Essentials

The New Mayor of Milwaukee

Save The Date: Bandit Cross 4/30

I've got to do some more scouting and trail work to do but I'm hoping to have the first Bandit Cross race of the year next Saturday. The plan is to race on a new course.

So please keep the date open and expect an official announcement on Monday.

If any of you are up for a Sunday (Easter) trail building sesh in South Minnie please leave a comment letting me know. If a few folks are in I'll post up the details and we'll make this a nice little get together. The new course needs the woods to be raked out.