And on the seventh day, there was no rest, for there was CRANKMOB.

(The spoke card, which you had to wear a costume to get.)

The ride of the month was tonight, and it was tremendous!

I showed up late, as I had to deal with a flat, and then with a crank that was making a weird elliptical motion and needed the crankbolt tightened substantially, and for once, the ride had left reasonably close to the starting time, as opposed to operating on "bike time", which is anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes after the actual time.

The organizer(s) had been nice enough to post the route online, so I headed up to Santa Monica Blvd. to go looking for them, and after a few minutes, I saw several hundred cyclists headed my way, so I pulled a U-turn. We headed East on Santa Monica, and at the freeway, a bunch of people started yelling "Freeway!" "Freeway!", and I saw Richie, pulling the sound trailer, pause, briefly weigh the triumph that would be 600+ cyclists blinking their way down the 405 vs. the horror that would ensue if any of the 3,000-8,000lb vehicles moving at 60-85mph made contact with even a tiny percentage of those 600+ cyclists, and continue on Santa Monica to Sepulveda, which we took South to the Albertsons at Palms & Sepulveda. Music was played, fire was shot into the air, fun was had by all.



They tolerated us until, as I heard it, a couple of folks decided not to pay for the things they wanted, at which point they locked the doors, and, eventually, the police came and invited us to move along.

From there, it was off to a warehouse party down La Cienega just south of Washington, so we had a nice ride through downtown Culver City then along Venice Blvd., where I ran into E-rock, who had made a day of cycling, from West L.A., out to Pasadena to watch the Tour of California arrive, and back, for a total of something like 92 miles. Knocking out centuries for kicks on the weekend, then going on Crankmob? That's pretty awesome. (For the record, Levi Leipheimer's in the lead, Lance Armstrong's in 6th place, going in to Sunday's finish.)

On our way down La Cienega, I noticed the driver of an SUV getting into an argument with a couple of people, but rode along to the stop. While milling around, Alex Thompson mentioned that some guy (Joel) had had his bike damaged by the SUV, and needed help fixing it. Fellow Bikerowaver Larry H. and I wandered over to see what we could do. It was a bit of a mess, the wheel had been tacoed in such a manner that the derailer hanger had bent and forced the derailer into the spokes. We took the wheel off, and Joel's friend Dave wedged the wheel between a wall and a parking lot post and bent it into a semblance of true, and Larry took a spoke wrench and got it even straighter, while Joel and Dave unbent the derailer hanger, at which point we were able to put the wheel back on the bike, loosen the rear brake cable, and get Joel riding again. It's awesome how much can be fixed on a bicycle with a few simple tools and a little patience. (Being stranded in random parts of L.A. is miserable, so bring the stuff that will keep you from getting stranded. Oh, and pull your bike out of harm's way BEFORE arguing with irrational SUV drivers.)

We were a little concerned about doing TOO good a job actually, since the police still had to take a report about the incident. The arrival of the police was interesting, as while one officer was taking the report, and saying that the incident would be considered a "hit and run" since the driver refused to provide any of his information, the other officer was calling for backup and insisting that cyclists without a headlight walk their bikes and even detaining one kid for being out after curfew. (Yup, if you weren't aware, Los Angeles has a curfew.)

Backup arrived and insisted that we disperse, so my experience with this particular warehouse party was that it was a halfway decent place to do quick-fix bike repairs, more than that, I sadly cannot tell you.

Then, there was more riding, another stop, this time at a 7-11,



and then we went to the roof of a nearby major electronics retailer,



which was the last stop of the evening.


(Another pink bike.)

After a little while of hanging out there, it was time to wander home.

The big party rides are amazing. Tremendous fun is had by almost everyone, and the commercialism is nil. Even most of the stores we stop at, and probably boost sales at SIGNIFICANTLY for the evening, would prefer that we NOT be there. Want to see how people are dealing with an economy that's in the toilet? Come along, and see how much fun you can have without spending a dime.

It's going to be interesting to see how the rides grow, especially as summer comes.

How can you argue with a free party for 500+ people with great music, friendly people, and the chance to ride your bicycle all over West L.A.?

You can't, so come along to next month's ride.

Or, if you want to get started sooner, there are lots more rides here - http://midnightridazz.com/events.php

The Ride With No Name - 2-20-2009

The Ride With No Name was tonight, and, as usual, it was a pretty solid and well organized ride.

For a route described as "virtually all flat", there were a surprising number of hills. But, since I didn't have to get off and walk at any point, I suppose I can't complain too loudly. (46x16 seems to be a pretty ideal gearing for me, as I'm having a much easier time of it than riding 48x16). Going down steep downhills on a fixed gear with just a front brake is going to take some getting used to though.

The ride starts in the Arts District, and today we went over the bridge and did a tour of East L.A. I don't spend much time there, so it was interesting to see the area. Between the brand new police precincts, the light-rail lines, and the brick cobblestone crosswalks, it looks like the City of L.A. has spent a fair bit on improving the infrastructure. Between the civic upgrades and Chief Bratton's continued success lowering crime rates, if it wasn't for the real estate market being in the worst slump of the modern era, East L.A. would be a fat gentrification target (so some would say it's just as well).

We wandered through East L.A., then found ourselves at a 7-11 in Monterey Park:



A Monterey Park squad car stopped by, the officers asked us if we were with the Midnight Riders, rolled slowly through the parking lot, and went on their way.

That was sort of the theme for the evening. Unlike other rides in other parts of town, which sometimes have bicycle/motorcycle/squad car/helicopter police paying close attention, the attitude of the police on this ride was one of bemused curiosity.

Then we wandered back over the bridge and called it a night.

Tomorrow's crankmob, so rest up everyone.

The ridiculous pink fixie, part 2 - seatpost and front brake installation

So finally the frame came back, and after much searching and much patience (already honed by the November - January wait for the frame), all the parts were in, and I was ready to start building.

I'm going to try to make this as informative as possible (it may get rainmanian in some sections, and I'll include sourcing for parts as well, so if you already know how to work on bikes, you may be pretty bored. I'm including a parts list in here in case anybody wants to do something similar, so you can ballpark your budget beforehand. (Some parts are expensive, but buying parts you're not happy with and then replacing them with the parts you did want costs even more.)

I ended up spending a fair bit more than I had planned for what was intended, more or less, as a joke bike. (I spend some time working at the local bike co-op, so the member discount kept things from getting COMPLETELY out of hand). Luckily it turned out nice enough and is so pleasant to ride that it was worth it. I spent less than I would have on an entry-level fixie from one of the local bike shops, like a Specialized Langster / Giant Bowery / KHS Flite 100 (to name the ones that Wheel World sells, but a fair bit more than the fixed gear offerings at Bikes Direct .)

Protip 1. - If building up a fixed gear from an existing bike, start with as complete a bike as possible. The stupid nickel and dime items really add up, and mostly they're not anything to get excited about purchasing.

Protip 2. - If you just want a cheap fixie, you can build one pretty cheaply with a garage sale / craigslist 10 speed, a track rear wheel, and the right sized cog. If you get a 27" track wheel (they are available), you can keep the 27" wheelset if that's what the bike has, which lets you keep the existing brakes as well. You may need to buy some spacers / reposition the chainring on the crank to straighten the chainline out, but it's doable. (This is to do it safely. DO NOT just screw a track cog on to an old freewheel hub without a counter-threaded lockring, JB weld it in place, and hope for the best, that's just stupid.)

Protip 3. -You will also need tools or access to tools. If there's a bike co-op near you (L.A. has the Bicycle Kitchen, the Bike Oven, and the Bikerowave (where this was built), that really helps, otherwise, add room in your budget for purchasing tools. (Fixies are too easy to build to let the LBS wrenches have all the fun). Bike co-ops are awesome. If you volunteer, you get free stand time to build your bikes, and you'll meet fellow volunteers who consistently bring in really classy rides that they've modified to suit their tastes, that make you want to build something to suit your tastes as well. (Steve M. and Kwang P. set a very good example for me. Thanks guys.)

Seatpost

So let's begin. You start with the frame (1982 Schwinn Traveler, according to the original paint and the stamp on the dropout, designed for 27" wheels), the seatpost, the seat, and of course, the seatpost bolt (which is the first of those little things that wouldn't have to be purchased had you bought a complete bike).

If you've bought the frame without a seatpost, use a set of calipers to measure the inside diameter of the seat tube and/or google the make/model/year of your bike and see if one of the bike forums has already discussed it. (In this case, a 1982 Schwinn Traveler takes a 25.8mm seatpost). Do not just force a seatpost in, as you can sometimes get an oversized seatpost halfway in by brute force/hammering, and then the seatpost tube can begin to bulge and buckle, which is bad.

Put the seat on the seatpost, the seatpost bolt into the frame (if your bike has one, some have seatpost collars, lube the bejeezus out of the seatpost, insert it to a ballpark height, and tighten the seatpost bolt. Lots of lube makes it easier to insert the seatpost, but also adds something of a barrier to keep water from coming into the seatpost. (In the case of this bike, it originally came with a smaller seatpost and a shim to account for imperfections in manufacture, so some sanding/filing was also required, but gobs of lithium grease really helped).



Now you should put the bike on a stand (if you've got one) by clamping the seatpost (since the seatpost is both very substantial and cheap to replace, which cannot be said of any of the tubing on your frame).

Front Brake

There will be lots of links to Sheldon Brown's website in this part.

You need brakes on any bike. On a fixed gear, even though you can slow/stop with your legs, you need at least a front brake.

Why the front? Because.

Even on a fixed gear? Yes.

But I can stop as quickly by skidding. Unless the laws of physics work differently for you, no you can't. Plus, if your chain snaps (a not impossible occurrence), a brake is an infinitely preferable option to Ted Shredding it to a stop or colliding with something.

In this case, the bike was built for 27" (630mm) wheels, and I replaced them with more modern 700c (622mm) wheels. The difference in the tire radius is only 4mm, so some brakes would be able to adjust that much. Since I didn't have brakes, I measured the reach I'd need by putting a sample 700c rim in the fork and measuring from the middle of the brake bolt hole in the fork to the rim. I measured approximately 60mm, which is longer than most readily available brakes can reach.

If you're doing a conversion of a 27" frame using 700c wheels and want to run a brake, you have 4 main options:
1. Luck out and find that your existing brakes have a range of adjustment that covers the new wheels.
2. Buy a 700c fork and use that, accepting that it may affect the geometry of the whole frame slightly.
3. Rummage through the used parts bin at your local bike co-op until you find something that fits.
4. The Tektro R556 .

I went with Option 4. The Tektro R556 is pretty much THE standard for a new brake if you're converting a 27" frame to use 700c tires.



In order to install this front brake on a 27" fork, it's best to drill out the hole in the back of the fork with a 5/16" bit, because it matches up well with the recessed nut for the brake.



First put on your safety glasses:



Put the fork in a vise or hold it steady, then drill through the existing hole. (If the fork does not already have a hole, and it's the original fork, take a look at the bike and make sure it's not something that's worth more in its original condition.)



Sweep up the metal shavings, then install the brake by tightening down the recessed nut you've just made room for.



Looks pretty good.



So, now we've got a frame with a front brake and a seat.

Parts tally so far:
Frame - 25" 1982 Schwinn Traveler (25" = 63.5cm! No wonder it felt a little big once I got it together and rode it.)
Seatpost - Ultracycle 25.8mm silver
Seatpost Binder Bolt - generic
Saddle - Forte Softail
Brake - Tektro R556

We'll move on to installing the fork, headset, stem, and maybe more next time.

Have a good one.

The ridiculous pink fixie, part 1.

A few months back, I bought a rusty old (1982) Schwinn Traveler frame from the Bikerowave for $20. It looked like this:



Then, after doing the math, I put it on the shelf for a while and bought a fixed gear from bikesdirect.com

But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to build a bike from the frame up, so when Bikerowave got a group together in November for a powdercoating trip, I thought this would be a good time to get started, so I dremeled off/filed down the braze-ons (because I don't like them on fixed gear bikes, and it's not like there's going to be a shortage of old high-ten Schwinn frames any time soon, so the collectors have plent of of other options), and sent it off to the powdercoaters for a delightful shade of bright pink.

I chose pink because pink brings joy and hilarity by its very appearance, as Pinkman has proven.
(I used to see this guy when I went to Berkeley, and he's a bringer of joy to the general public.)



Then someone sent me a link to the PedalID site where you can design your own bikes, and I started with this:



Of course, since we went to an industrial powdercoaters out in El Monte, they didn't have "Telemagenta" in stock. Neither did their distributor. So they had to have it shipped in from out of state.

So, in the weeks it took for them to locate the right color, I ended up screwing around on Pedal ID even more, and ended up with this:



That looked pretty cool, so I ordered up the necessary parts to make it a reality.

We'll see how that turned out in the next post.