Closing down sale...

This blog is now closed.

You can now find me at my new bike blog

Cable mod...

Well it's been a while! Thought I'd have a go at modding my front cable as I came up with a solution whilst building up BobK's new rig. The Nokon brake cables come with some plastic tubes which, I think, are to stop cable rattle & paint rub on frames which they are installed on? So the plastic tubes seem to have a good tight fit on normal brake cable outer so I figured I could finally do the cable join that I'd been waiting to do for ages. My reason for doing this mod was purely aesthetic in that I wanted orange cables originally but the Linear will not bend nicely for the brake end of the cable run so a normal piece is substituted for that end.

I cut the top half of the cable (linear) so that the join would run about mid way inside the fork steerer & then the standard outer would continue on to the front brake. I made sure that the 2 mating surface ends of the cables were nice & flat & the fit was nice & tight in the joining piece.

Once fitted it seems to work fine but I will reserve judgement until it's been through a good few sessions. Seeing as I haven't ridden since the RAD Xmas doo that may take a while!

Winter...

It's a daunting time of year isn't it? All we have to look forward to is a good few months of shitty cold weather which consequently means lack of riding :-( I'm kinda 'between bikes' at the moment as I've got a couple waiting to sell to enable me to get a new one & get stuck into some cold commute! I'm hoping that the RAD Xmas doo won't be the next time that I dust off the 20" though?

I also notice that, as the season turns, you start to see less of your friends. This isn't a good thing & it leaves me wishing for a local indoor spot to keep the summer riding roll going & the social element that goes hand in hand with that.

Here's a seasonal piccy I took last night in my yard, one of my boys mates left his BMX out in the rain.:

On a positive note I'm off to spend 5 days in the tropical paradise that is Centre Parcs for some sorely needed R&R.

Lets hook up soon brothers...

Kona Cindercone ***SOLD***

1993 Kona Cindercone 18"

Recently completely stripped & rebuilt with 7 speed cassette & DX thumb-shifters, all in good working order & rides lovely :-) This was originally bought in 1993 as a frame-set (Frame, Forks, headset, Stem, Seatpost, seatclamp & brake guide) & built up with my own choice of components & groupset. Now quite sort after as these are pretty hard to find. I have picured the components before the bike was rebuilt for reference to condition. All the important original spec parts like the headset & stem are there with all the original plastic & rubber seals. Seat post moves in the frame no problem & the original brake guide for the rear brake is all there.

This bike is no 'garage queen' as she's been ridden for the past 15 years. Paint is rough in the usual places for a bike of this vintage & there is a very small dent in the top tube (see detail pics) which was done 10+ years ago & is only cosmetic.

Spec:
Frame - Kona Cindercone 18"
Fork - Kona Project II triple butted
Headset - Impact oversize
Stem - Velocity 1-1/8"
Bars - TransX risers
Seatpost - Kona racelight
Seat clamp - Kona
Seat - Free Agent Kevlar
BB - Shimano UN sealed
Cranks - Shimano Deore LX chainset 22-32-42
Pedals - Wellgo DX
Chain - sachs
Rear mech - Shimano Deore 9s
Front mech - Shimano Exage 500
Front Brake Shimano XTR canti
Rear Brake Shimano LX Canti
Brake Levers - Shimano Deore 2 finger
Thumb shifters - Shimano Deore DX 7 speed indexed
Grips - ODI longnecks
Barends - Bizhouse
Front hub - Shimano Exage 32h
Front Rim - Mavic 231CD
Rear hub - Shimano XT silent clutch 32h
Rear rim - Mavic 121
Cassette - Shimano HG30 11-28t
Tyres - Bontrager Revolt SuperX


Pics:

An Indian Summer...

Just got back from a session at Spiceball & the weather today was great so it would be a crime not to get rolling on the BMX. Surprised (& stoked) to see Sam Keene has blown off the cob-webs & bought Ibbo's old T1 setup & was back out sessioning again! Dan Tobe also keeping it real as usual :-)

Got a few nose picks onto the volcano from the spine down & came close to a tailwhip nosepick to fakie on the jump box which gave me the taste but was sadly not to be repeated... Ray was making it look effortless as per the norm & made some nice opposite stuff.

So maybe our 'summer' falls in the autumn now? who cares! you can't beat a nice little sesh with your mates when its sunny & warm ;-)

Still no sign of Sboy tho...?

Recluse...

My next door neighbour knows how mad on cycles I am, she told me that the house on the other side to her, had a bunch of bikes laying in the garden. Story goes that the guy who lived there was recently evicted as he never went out & evidently, never paid his bills either. I've never even seen the dude & I've lived here 2 years! So the place is a proper shit-hole, who ever lays out a mortgage on it will certainly have their work cut out...

Today I decided to go check the bikes out & see if there was anything that I could use as spares or maybe build up a ride to sell for a few quid. Here's what greeted me as I climbed over the fence:

This old Claud Butler Racer has been there so long that the wheels have actually dissolved into the mire:

As the drains are blocked with years of leaf litter the 'Path' is just a big puddle of shite & I dread to think what I was standing in?!

So I managed to salvage:

1 pair of plastic 9/16" pedals
1 alloy bottle cage
1 Kevlar seat

Which I wouldn't consider the greatest haul... It was fun to go nosing around & it is surprising how nature takes over when you let it. I'd like to take the Claud Butler but I'm certain it would be uneconomic to sort it...?

Oh & there was a nice wood saw just laying there so I gave that a good home too ;-)

Next...

I get bored not having a bike to tinker with, so I was in the shed today & thought fuck it, it's time Cinders was stripped, rebuilt & SOLD.

I've had my Kona Cindercone for 15 years now & she is starting to show her age. I know there are retro MTB guys looking for them so I'm going to clean her up as best I can & then see if I can sell her on to someone who will cherish her a little more than I have! The paintwork has worn in places but considering how long I've ridden her & the places she's been, she's still a damn fine piece of metalwork. I've pondered on powdercoating & other such luxuries but I don't have the funds to do that & besides I think these aforementioned retro MTB lovers would prefer to have it in the original colours that it left the showroom with?

Here's how she looked after riding in the Hell of the North Cotswolds in 2004







What no BMX?

Cruiser Update...

Well thanks to an 'anonymous' post on my cruiser resto thread, I have been in touch with the company that released this bike :-)

Turns out it was indeed an Australian hair-care products promotion & only a few were imported into the UK due to it's lack of lights & brakes.

Thanks to a stoolMX'er & Fudge for their help on this one ;-)

The Score & the Result...

A far cry from BMX but when this project presented itself, how could I resist?

So, a few weeks ago I came into work bright & early on a Monday morning & there’s this beach Cruiser bike lent up against the cages so I went to check it out. It looked in quite good shape, a puncture up front, I did think it was a consignment someone had sent through our parcel network but that wasn’t the case. It had been dumped by one of our drivers fly tipping at the weekend & so, trying not to look too enthusiastic, I asked my boss if I could ‘get rid of it for him?’ It was clear that several of our drivers also had their eye on it so I told them the polish workers must have taken it?! Ha!

So I’ve wanted a beach cruiser for a while now, as I like the thought of just slow cruising to the shops for a paper etc. I did almost buy one of the Revenge Industries 'Booze Cruise' one’s a while back:

However, funds dried up at the time & it didn’t happen. I’ve not been able to establish who produced this bike yet, it has an F on the head tube & the word ‘FUDGE’ on the seat tube but Google isn’t forthcoming with an answer…?

Once I had her home I set to work on fixing the puncture so that I could take her around the block for a spin & a check to see everything else was in working order. The kids were all interested & all had a go around the street. No major issues were evident & it was time for restoration. Here's how she looked when I got her:

Over the course of about 2 weeks, I completely stripped her down:

& with the aid of some duraglit, Autosol, a toothbrush, a bunch of cloths & dusters & a whole lot of elbow grease & TLC, I gradually cleaned & polished every part up. There was some bad rust on the rear rim & I used those wire-wool soap pads to try to remove it but it took some of the chrome plate off. A lesson learnt? All the bearings were in perfect working order & I don’t think this bike had seen many miles riding at all. It’s definitely a neglected case, left out in the rain to rot. How sad… The coaster was fun to strip & rebuild as I’d not had any experience of a brake like this before although, having done extensive work on Bob K’s old Suntour open bearing freecoaster on his Big Daddy, it wasn’t a world away. I had to repeatedly scrub the white-wall tyres to remove the markings & they came up pretty good but not prefect. Everything else was generally in good condition with only surface rusting to deal with. I had to dump the grips as they were soft foam & were a bit ripped up but managed to get a fresh pair off US ebay for about £8 which, aside from the cleaning products I bought, was the only cash I’ve had to spend on this project. Have to thank Ray for the 24tpi wheel nuts he got me for the coaster hub. I may look at replacing the rear rim if a suitable chrome one comes up & the frame has some minor knocks & scratches so maybe a powder coat in future should I feel the need?

Here's the finished project:

I’m very happy with the results; it’s probably taken 20-30 hours of (mainly) polishing, washing & rebuilding but as soon as I took her for a cruise to the shops, it’s clear that work was worth it. You don’t think about rushing or even where you are heading, just slow pedalling along in a very comfortable riding position enjoying this very ‘chilled-out’ style of bike. It takes me back to my childhood days of my old Raleigh Bomber. It will more than likely be my eldest daughter that gets to ride it most as she doesn’t own a bike of her own & I do think it’s a slightly more girl than boy colour scheme? Still, I don’t doubt I will have the odd spin when mood takes…

Peace

Few bits...

Not posted for a good while & did some tinkering with the Campillo today so thought I'd do a blog entry for a change...

I wasn't getting on with the tensioners that Fly include with their frames so I took them off. After a session at Corby this week my wheel slipped a bit & I decided I did need at least one tensioner on there after all. My wheel is quite slammed in the frame (oooh look at you!) & it's a bit of a pain to get the wheel out without major surgery of some description. One thing that bugged me concerning the chain tensioners was that, the screw that holds the tensioner to the drop out, sticks out on the outside & interferes with the peg when you push the wheel up towards the BB. I filed off the excess screw that sticks out so that it's now nice & flush to the outer edge of the drop out. This was done in a vice, not in situ ;-)

Just another little detail that's no longer playing on my mind. Here's how the tensioner is positioned on the chain side, fits just nice now!

I've heard that some people have had issues getting these to fit on different hubs so I'm glad that wasn't the case here. After a check over & a little more dialing in, it's good to go for the next session. I picked up some foam cleaner which is real good for removing oily marks from the white frame, now she'd pass the Daz Doorstep Challenge any day!

I also pulled the old Mosca out of the shed today as I want to get rid of her. I cruised up to the local motor factors on my beach cruiser (blog to follow soon) to pick up some paint stripper & after an hour or three I had the back end relatively clean. Shit job stripping frames & I got pissed off with doing it so I left it at this for another day.

Chacombe - 1st of the year...

Mikey & I dusted off our bad backs & went for a quick session up to Chacombe this evening. It was good to get back on the ramps as neither of us had ridden since the RAD doo back in Feb!? There were a handful of bladers there whom pretty much went off to smoke their shit as soon as we turned up so we had the place to ourselves, as is the norm at Chacombe.

I've been riding my Kona to work since the improvement in the weather to try to get some fitness back so I pretty much just took it steady really as I'm also still getting into my new ride & was a bit rusty. It's surprising how darn cold it was sat up on the decks but we had a nice little session indeed & it's always good to catch up with friends you don't see that often.

Even some local girls gave us a smile when they left :-)

good vibes...

FlyBikes Campillo bike build...

Finally got the Campillo built after months of preparation! Real happy with how it turned out although there's one or two little bits to change yet...

Spec:

Frame: 2008 Fly Campillo, 20.2”
Forks: Odyssey pro dirt, 14mm, brake lugs
Stem: Super**** elect
Headset: FSA impact internal 45/45, carbon spacer
Bars: Odyssey civilian svelte, hi-rise
Bar ends: home brew, aluminium
Grips: Union 'eat shit'
Front lever: Odyssey modulever OE
Front cable: Clarkes outer, stainless inner
Front brake: Suelo
Rear lever: Odyssey modulever OE
Rear upper cable: Modulever, odyssey linear outers
Gyro: Odyssey GTX
Rear lower cable: Oryg dual, odyssey linear outers
Rear brake: FlyBikes, koolstop eagle claw II salmon pads
Seat: Macneil fat capitol, Knight Ti bolt
Seat post: Macneil
Seat clamp: Built in
Cranks: Primo hollowbites, 175mm
Crank spindle: BSD Ti, 22mm
BB: Super****, spanish, 22mm
Sprocket: Tree Bicycle Co 'Lite' 28t
Chain: KMC Pintle Halflink
Pedals: Victim, magnesium, Ti spindles
Front tyre: KHE premium street Mac2
Front rim: Sun Rhynolite XL, 36h, velox rim tape
Front spokes: Prolite feather, double butted, alloy nipples
Front hub: Prolite evolution, 14mm, hollow axle, 36h
Front pegs: T1 ramp x2
Rear tyre: KHE premium street Mac2
Rear rim: Odyssey 7ka, 48h, velox rim tape
Rear spokes: Prolite Feather, double butted, alloy nipples
Rear hub: Odyssey reloader, 14mm, 48h, 10t, Knight Ti nuts
Rear pegs: Macneil fashionably light x2

Weight: Lighter than my last...

Mods:
Gyro
Bar-ends
Brake noodles used for lower cable bends from gyro stops.


Big thanks to:

Alex @ Cromoly distro in Spain for supplying the frame
(no thanks to IMG)
Kevin Porter @ FlyBikes for the assistance in sourcing the frame
Pat @ Flatlandfuel for the marvelous deals - via BobK
Dan @ cyclesport for the good service

From BigD to Strowler - keeping the faith

With agent Khol being plagued with injuries of late, it was time to spark that fire again & get him a new build done. Most of the parts are from his KGB Psyconexion build we did in 06, so it all went together relatively painlessly.

Spec:

Frame: Hoffman Bikes Strowler (KJ Sig) internal/Mid, 19.75”
Forks: KGB Space, 10mm, AD lugs
Stem: KGB Trap with gyro plate
Headset: Kink internal
Bars: KGB Sarvet
Bar ends: Inertia, aluminium
Grips: KGB Rhythm
Front lever: Odyssey modulever
Front cable: Nokon
Front brake: Odyssey Evolver
Seat: Odyssey 99'er
Seat post: Odyssey Intac
Seat clamp: Profile slim jim
Cranks: Profile, 160mm. Ti Chainring bolt
Crank spindle: Profile Ti, 19mm
BB: KHE, mid, 19mm
Sprocket: Quamen 25t
Chain: KMC Superlite cool
Pedals: Ares 88
Front tyre: KHE Lamello Skinwall (Tyre pressure =105 lbs)
Front rim: Araya Super 7X, 48h, Odyssey rim tape
Front spokes: DT Swiss
Front hub: Proper Magnalite, 10mm, 48h
Front pegs: Bizhouse Escalator
Rear tyre: KHE Lamello Skinwall (Tyre pressure =105 lbs)
Rear rim: Araya Super 7X, 48h, Odyssey rim tape
Rear spokes: DT Swiss
Rear hub: KHE Geisha street freecoaster, 14mm stubs, 48h, 11t
Rear pegs: Bizhouse Escalator

Cheers

interview 16

name..... Gregg Jose Alvarez

years riding.. 10

fav spot to ride.. admiral holland car park (without drunkards)

riding style.. mainly forwards, but also backwards.

plans for this year.. build my bmw. then use it to find some cool places to ride that inspire me to ride. ( editors note, mate you can ride to spiceball, its just round the corner from you??)

what inspires me to ride.. nice weather, good music, being happy but in need of a refreshing ride.

who inspires me?.. God. Emmalene. My parents. Anyone who is truly a good down to earth person.


describe local scene.. Banbury is amazing. something for everyone. Always changing and always something fresh to see.

Music.. lots of stuff. from nirvana to michael jackson. not too fond of dance or drum and bass though.

thanks.... God for inventing bmx. emmalene for being the best wife in the world. my parents for being rad. And anyone who has ridden with me and contributed to an amazing sessions.

interview 15

Name: Alex Leech

age: 37 in April

years riding. 26 in April

fav spot to ride. On my bike, it really doesn't matter what

riding style. Mini tech, but Im happy riding jumps, BMX tracks, Vert, it all counts.

plans for this year. To get on my bike more than once a month

what inspires you to ride. The feeling you get when you ride, and just after riding.

who inspires you? Anyone who is intusiastic and has a good time riding

describe your local scene. I don't get out much so I cant say.

music. My latest playlist includes Gorilla Biscuits, Millencolin, Chain of Strength, The Cure, Anthrax, Huey Lewis and the News, Goldfinger ….

what you at when not riding. Family; wife and 2 small sons. Work; most of the days. Building up old S&M bikes from the 90s.

thanks to anyone? Ian, Sunil and Ray for keepin on keepin on.