The Genealogy of Fixies?

"Fixed-gear bicycles, without gears or brakes were created for the controlled environment of a velodrome. This could not be more different from hilly San Francisco or car ridden New York, but their appeal as being both stripped down and minimalist as well as requiring considerable risk and commitment to learn to ride has made them fashionable in hip neighborhoods of large cities, such as New York’s Williamsburg..."

More here. 

Chopped Up Peloton Keirin Frame

This is what it looks like when old Keirin frames die. 

Or maybe it was a victim of a serial killer?

Tokyo Bike Meet Up

Belt Drive Fixed Gear?

What the ...? 

Fixie Pixie got the pics here, apparently it really is some kind of a fixed belt drive system, like in motorcycles or something. 

Interesting. But you know what? I used to deejay and back then, before the days of Serato and all that, every one knew this: all belt drive turntables were shit. Simple as that. It had to direct drive, like Technics SL1200s. And my 1200s are still spinning strong, despite years and years of hard use and being generally almost FUBAR. 

And in this case I would equate the traditional bicycle chain and cogs with the direct drive, ie. better. As in No Competition.  

EDIT.

Oh yes, as TYA pointed this out elsewhere; how do you put that thing on your bike, do you need to saw the frame open at the rear triangle and then weld it back together to get the belt in? 

I would also predict some serious issues with the chainline by looking at the pictures. I hate to be against progress of any kind but this thing seriously puzzles my mind. 

Cops & Cyclists in NYC

Everybody's seen the clip already I'm sure but here it is again, NYPD officer showing in practice what he thinks of the Critical Mass participants at the Times Square. 

Nasty. 

But read here what other cops think of what the asshole did... 

and no one's making that shit up. 

Now, can we get our very own Rodney King Riots, can we?

3BanChovi 4 You.

3BanChovi from NZNZman on Vimeo.

Oh shit! It's that same dude with those BMX bars on his bike doing these tricks again...

But I admit it's really the music on the background why I wanted to post this video. 

Ines Brunn Rules!

Here's Ines Brunn showing some short niceness on video for you. 

BTW. She reads my blog, Hi Ines! 

Check the comments to this entry if you don't trust me.  

Bike Messengers Are Soon Becoming Extinct?

Here's the article in Wired if you didn't read it already but that picture just made me laugh. They look so sad. Sorry dudes. 

DIY: Kill That Stuck Stem & Fork!

Is the stem super-stuck on your fork on that crusty and rusty old road bike you found on the roadside but are gonna convert to a muy fashionable fixie and throw some neon green deep Vs on anyway, against the good advice of those who know better? 

Not a problem!

Keirin warrior Tomity-San from Japan will show you here in this Flickr photoset how to sort that bitch out. And quickly too!

Note this: His name is really Tomity, not Timoty as stated there. 

Which MKS Pedals To Choose?

I cannot answer the question for you but look at the pic (it's stolen from Ben's Cycle), it might or might not help you with your dilemma.

And hey remember that just like the Black Sheep said in the good ol' 1990s, 'The Choice Is Yours':

Cinelli Unicantor Saddle Is Back!

Check this out you white Italian saddle lovin' hipster!

Apparently the venerable Cinelli of Italy is thinking about your ass and your paypal account/credit card balance as they are re-releasing their classic 1960s track (and during the 1980s in a slightly modified version a BMX!) saddle model, the Unicantor. It's hard plastic with no padding of any kind, so that you know.

It should be out sometime soon, probably in several colors too, but I dunno when actually.

If you simply cannot wait, check these Kashimax Aeros out in the meanwhile...

EDIT!

EDIT!

EDIT!

Click & read much more about the saddle here... 

Japanese Girls On Fixed Gear Bikes Again. Well, Not Really.

Yes, apparently it's a fashion photo shoot for for a magazine. Bit different pics than these. Or all of these.

De Rosa Pista SLX Up Close & Personal

Ok, I just posted mine but if you prefer your bike pron more in detail, you'll look here right now. And hey, you could even buy it if you like it... 

In fact, that De Rosa could well be the most perfect classic Italian track bike for sale. Ever. 

Daniel Salmon Velo de Piste

Here's some bike pron for yo'all. 

Not too long ago it was this somewhere in France, now it's as pictured here with me. And you know what? Riding my new bike makes me somehow feel like this song:

Like, 4 real. ;) 

Pistadex Is Dead / Long Live The PistaConceptDex !!!

The Bianchi Pista Concept mania/idiotism I reported yesterday got me thinking:

Everyone knows about the Pistadex that Bike Snob NYC created and which some people took even further, right? Well, I think that is a thing of the past now. 

The basic Biachi Pista, while being a real cool bike by itself, it's still the low end model or a 'people's bike' in comparison to the high end track racing model that is Pista Concept. Now everyone (some of whom even sometimes claim to ride it on the velodrome) wants the latter one. Nevermind that it's super stiff and with tight geo (read: rather unpleasant to ride for longer distances on city streets, although that is arguably an acquired taste...), and made out of thin alu tubing that will dent super easily when used as a street bike, as sadly reported on many places. 

So, instead there should now be a PistaConceptDex, or simply PistaCdex.

if you only look at the Ebay's completed listings for the Pista Concept, this is what you will find:

* 1725 USD (2004, frameset only!)

* 1000 USD (2004 complete w/ pretty good components)

* 1450 USD (2008 frameset with a HED3 wheel)

* 1430 USD (2007 complete)

* 921 USD (2007 complete)

* 740 USD (2006 frameset) 

And you NEED TO REMEMBER here that the official list price for a new Pista Concept 2008 frameset is still about 579 USD, or something like that. And the older ones were even less when they came out. 

Now, who's with me on this?

Real Funnybike: Level 24"/24"

Check this out, a LEVEL 24/24'' funnybike, from Japan, naturally. 

More strange bikes here in Rene's pisuto blog.  

Helsinki Fixed Gear Wednesday Tricks Session #8 W/ Special Guest: The Cycle Cops

The 8th Fixed Gear Tricks Session happened last night. The location was new behind the famous Finlandia-talo, there were again more people, lots of new faces, new cool bikes, beer was consumed, there were probably even new tricks learned etc. 

Even the bicycling cops (probably the only two of them we have here...) decided to show up but much to everyone's surprise they were cool and didn't seem mind the brakeless bikes with no reflectors being ridden by dudes without helmets, the beer being drank on a public space, or even the slight whiff lingering in the air... 

Bikes Stolen In Helsinki Again

Yesterday two more bikes got stolen here in Helsinki; 

First the pictured green Velocab Berlin Rikshaw got stolen in Veräjämäki, then later in the evening Pauli's well-stickered Surly Steamroller got stolen from in front of the Bullman Bar on Fleminginkatu, Kallio.

Both the bikes were 1.) locked up and 2.) they are highly recognizable, so this super stupid. 

Let's hope they will find their way back to their lawful owners one way or the another. 

And that the thieves will get their asses kicked.  

EDIT.

As Konkeli pointed out, the Rikshaw was found quickly but Pauli's Steamroller is still missing.

So You Want That Bianchi Pista Concept? Ready To Sell Your Kidney To Get It?

There's MASH SF, inflation and all that shit and apparently Bianchi has completely misjudged the market for their bike (especially since it was never meant for Nike Dunks-wearing hipsters who want to use it as a street bike) but the fact that some people want to have a Bianchi Pista Concept so bad that they're willing to pay 1430 USD + shipping, IS F**KING STUPID.  

But you, whoever bought that one, at least you could have gotten this instead with a HED3 since you gonna want that wheel anyway, or this with Dura-Ace gruppo and Zipp wheels, or this, or... 

EDIT.

ooooh shit, I just noticed THIS. It only gets worse... 

WTF? TheFixedGearGallery

I posted the question about where are all the much delayed Alien Bike frames and then I got an anonymous comment on the post, read here. 

Everyone knows about http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/. So you registered the www.thefixedgeargallery.com and posted the page full of shit, and "This domain is for sale. Email websitedomain4sale@gmail.com for inquiries". Pretty smart. Whatever. 

Anyhow, about the current situation with Alien bikes, read here. 

Even More Bootleg Sessions Videos

And again, more clips from Bootleg Sessions 2. This time it's Sam Miller and his brah. How do they make it all look so easy? Check Sam's bike here too. 

KRS-One & his Freestyle Fix

Everyone knows that the NYC bike messengers started riding track bikes on the streets sometime during late 1980s or early 1990s because they were easy to maintain etc., right, and the rest is history, so to say? 

Well, check out KRS-One' lyric on Boogie Down Productions' 'The P Is Free' from the 'Criminal Minded' (1986) album:

"Ridin one day on my freestyle fix
Jammin to a tape scott larock had mixed

I said to myself this tape sound funky

Ridin past the 116th street junkie
Thought I saw denise but I was only assumin
Took another look and that butt was boomin
Did a little trick on my freestyle fix..."

Helsinki Fixed Gear Wednesday Tricks Session #7

DSC_0038.jpg
Originally uploaded by .tviQ

The Yksivaihde.net 'Fiksikeskarit' AKA Fixed Gear Wednesday Tricks Session #7 happened last last week, I wasn't there but check the Zen-like concentration of the boys practicing their trackstands...

(.tviQ took the photos, click the name on the right below the pic and you'll find more of her lovely photography on Flickr.)

Shibuya Style - What's Wrong With This Pic?

As seen in Shibuya district, Tokyo, Japan. Pic taken by Kmart. 

And yeah, check it and go ahead, tell me what's wrong with the bike?

Velorution Pics From Helsinki Velodrome

11 to go, 1 goal
Originally uploaded by .tviQ

Ok, I'm back home and now is the time to see what's been going on in Helsinki last week.

Here's some extremely nice pics taken by .twiQ at the Velorution velodrome day at Käpylä Velodrome on Saturday 11th July.

See Ya, Guys.

Ok, I'm off traveling for a while so there might be, or might not be, any posts until I'm back again. Take care and keep mashing hard on them pedals!

Helsinki Wednesday Fixed Gear Trick Session #6

Wednesday again and time for Yksivaihde.net 'Fiksikeskarit' AKA Helsinki Fixed Gear Wednesday Tricks Session #6 around the Hartwall Arena. More people than ever showed up despite the slightly rainy weather. Here's the official picture gallery as usual.

(Pics taken by SanttuT, thanks!)

Masi Pista FTW!

Again, somehing lovely on Ebay. But these don't come aroud often. 1982 Masi Pista, all kitted out with classic vintage Campy & Cinelli parts. Here, click. 

And yeah, everyone knows that Keirin bikes are cool but Italian vintage Pista bikes are million times cooler, period. 

But what's so special about Masi bicycles and Faliero Masi as a framemaker? Well, he's one of guys who embodies the magic of vintage Italian bikes and artesanal framemakers. He raced himself before starting making bikes, he had his workshop beneath the Vigorelli velodrome in Milan, there was a time when his bikes had the tightest geometry of them all, the best riders rode his bikes (for example, Fausto Coppi had a Bianchi sponsorship, yet the frame he rode was actually a Masi) and so on. Read more here.  Or here. 

And as if this wasn't enough, the same Ebay-seller has this for sale too, a 1977 Medici Pro Pista. 

Fixed Magazine #1 Download Is Here.

Fixed Magazine #1 from London. 

Yes, download the whole magazine as PDF here, right now. 

More Bootleg Sessions V.2 Leftovers

We already had some scrapped film clips with Tom LaMarche from second Bootleg Sessions movie, here's more of the same with another Tom, Tom Mosher. 

Check out Bootleg Sessions homepage here. 

Ebay, I love you. Daniel Salmon Track Frame.

Track frame by Cycles D. Salmon, 'Velo Revolutionnaire'. 

'Cycles D. SALMON is the business set up by the 1960s Pro Daniel SALMON, after he hung up his wheels after riding for the Frimatic-TIGRA-Gribaldy, and Kamome-Dilecta teams on the 60s.

Daniel turned to frame-building at his attractive premises in Plouha in N. Normandy, and now (2008), at just turned 67, he is still building. Although he has a catalogue listing various types of models from touring to track etc etc, he is very much a custom builder in the constructeur sense- each frame is built for a specific customer for a specific purpose. Regulars visitors to the Paris-Brest-Paris ride will come across Daniel, at his stand at one of the check-in points, where he will either repair your ailing bike or try to sell you a new one. Fortunately for French cycling there are still a few of the old-fashioned frame-builders such as Daniel still at work. 

He claimed (to have built) the first ever low-profile bike of modern times. It was used by the French National Amateur team. Because Salmon thought it was quite revolutionary he called it just that - le Velo Revolutionnaire, and even to this day his down-tube transsfers still have this name written in them.'

More here. 

So Where Are All The Alien Builds?

The long awaited & much delayed Alien framesets should be shipping finally. So where are the first pics of the first builds? The only one so far seems to be this 'prototype' here. In theory Alien frames look very good and the price isn't that bad either. So let's see them?