Titanium Track Bikes

Ok, as it turns out not all of these are actually titanium but there's some stainless steel in the mix there too. Still all real nice looking in that special grey.

Klein Track Bike 1975

"Klein track bike at the New York Bike Show, February 1975. 

 This marked the introduction of Gary Klein's welded aluminum frame to the public. I remember speaking to Gary Klein at the show that day. As you can see, the booth was bare-bones; I think he had a flier explaining his design idea. From my basic engineering knowledge, I understood what he was driving at, and realized this could be a real breakthrough. Little did I (and Gary) know that as usual, a Frenchman, Nicholas Barra, had beaten him to it by about 40 years. But I remember talking to Gary Klein and telling him that while the design and craftsmanship were great, I found his bicycle very ugly. He laughed and said "I think it's beautiful". Spoken like a true engineer. Note the steel (!) Cinelli track bars and stem, and the steel fork. Sugino track crankset."

From Chris Protopapas' Flickr.

Keeping It Simple

Just a random bike from Velospace which somehow really caught my eye. Oversized steel tubing and carbon track fork, low profile rims, classy yet not too flashy parts, no stickers or other clutter. Simple and beautiful, just like it should be.

"What the world looked like in ´93"

(Mortimer in New York, 2003.  Photo Maria Laub)

"MORTIMER, OWNER OF TRACK BIKE-SPECIFIC STORE KEIRIN BERLIN (www.keirinberlin.de), TELLS HOW IT WAS AND HOW IT IS:

I remember in ‘93 when I went to the first cycle messenger world championships (CMWC) in Berlin, i was not even allowed to start, as I had just started 2 months ago, and you had to be a bikemessenger for at least 6 months to compete, but to that story another time..., anyway back in ‘93 I heard some rumours about some guys riding without brakes, but I just thought yeah right...

A few years later in SF at the CMWC in ‘96, there was a trackbike only race, aaaah now I understand, those bikes that they use on the velodrome, damn it how cool is that...!???

So, in 97´ Barcelona Kevin from NYC organized the first skid competition of the CMWC, it smelt like rubber... we were all stoked, but still thought those guys must be crazy...

In ‘98 I left Berlin, first to London to messenger over there, after the ECMC in Graz I went to NYC and took my bike up to Montreal to the NACCC´s (North American Cycle Courier Champs) from there I went to Toronto, to stay with my Dutch friends Kamaal and Xander.  In summer ‘98 it was a big trend to go fixed in Toronto.  Keith from the courier cavern found a bunch of Coppi trackframes and started selling them to his messenger friends, some montreal connection. I had no money to get one, as I just “moved“ to North America...

After Toronto I went to Washington DC to the CMWC and also worked there a few months.  I really like DC, but I had NYC on my mind...

So I jumped on the chinatown bus, got a job at velocity on east 14th and stayed with James Bolger, who told and taught me everything about trackbikes.  Slacker Tim, Fast Eddie and Kevin also convinced me to get a bike...

When I went to Berlin for 3 weeks in September ‘98 I called an old friend who used to be a racer, he got me a bike for 50 German Marks (around 25 euro´s) it was a 1980´s East German Diamant trackbike with Campy cranks, Cinelli bars and stem and Renak hubs from east germany.  I went back to NYC and rebuilt the hubs with clinchers.  Still not 100% convinced I told james that I would just go to the park and try it on the weekend, he replied I should just go and work a day...it is easy, I will see.  So I did and I was hooked, that was October 98´!  I never had a frontbrake on my bike, nor did I ever think about it... NYC was cool “back in the days“ once you saw someone riding a trackbike he greeted you.  It was a very cool underground scene.  I remember the oldschool rastas who also worked at velocity. Timberland boots, flat pedals and big gear, and no attitude.  Yeah yeah, the good ol´ days...

In 2001 I went to Tokyo to ride my Cannondale trackbike thru´ asia.  In Tokyo there was only one guy who had a trackbike, but he was a dispatcher.

Nobody wanted to go to Keirin races, but I went and I loved it... I rode from Tokyo to Osaka, took a ferry to Shanghai, rode from there to Shanghai, down the coast to Hong Kong, over to Vietnam to Hanoi, down route one on the coast to Saigon, over to Cambodia to Phnom Penh, took a boat (too warm to ride) up to Siem Reap, and from there I went to Bangkok... all with around 20kg´s of luggage and no brakes, just fixed, with a flip flop hub, that i never turned around, as i had to take the whole rack off, too difficult.  It was an experience that I don´t want to miss and that I want to do again... one day!  So, anyone telling me that I am crazy or people are crazy who rides track bikes on the street, should try doing something like that on any bike, same same...

I went back to nyc after 9/11 worked in NYC till 2003 then opened the shop in Berlin in 2004, we were like a handful of people riding trackbikes.

We went to kyotoloco in May 2004 when the keirin frames where still available for 5000-10000 yen and almost no one was riding them on the street.

In 2005 I went to NYC for the CMWC and to work again as a bikemessenger.

The trackbike thing took off, everybody was riding fixedgear, mostly conversions or cheap complete bikes. Non-messengers started racing us to the next light and Williamsburg was full of people just walking down bedford ave with girlfriend on the left, bike on the right...when I came back to Berlin, more and more people got into it, but we never expected that it would go crazy like this.

I personally think that the fixed gear bike will stay, it is not just a trend. the bikes are so beautiful and simple, so anyone who likes bikes will get one, just to have one, or to see it as a piece of art for the wall..."

Via Cinelli True Story

RE: Save The Track Bike!

Thanks!

Monster Track XI

Woking Schwinn

Pic from Pete_D's Flickr.

3 x Geekhouse On Ebay

Yay! Three Geekhouse bikes on Ebay right now. 

Actually they're being auctioned off by Marty Walsh, the framebuilder himself. Two of them are custom 'Über Rock City' frames made for NAHBS 2009, built up with nice components too, and one is his standard model Rockcity. 

Check them all out here. 

Disc Wheel! Trispoke! Golden Frame!

Those Fyxomatosis Chainrings. Again

More pics, looking better every time. Will I finally make my order? More information 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. 

My Diamant Tarck Bike

Some time ago I wrote about a pile of parts I had scored from the 'bay with the intention of building one more fixed gear bike, or a tarck bike, for myself. Well, here it is finally in action. 

An East-German 1970s Diamant track frame, unknown older Italian road fork, Sugino Mighty crank and a pile of mixed parts. The fork is probably not made by Colnago like it was supposed to be, and I decided to save the Dura-Ace BB for another project and used a cheap sealed cartridge BB instead. 

(tnts from the yksivaihe.net took the photo, thanks!) 

Pistadex Launches!

Remember the Pistadex? 

"Readers of the BikeSnobNYC blog will no doubt be familiar with the PistaDex, a means by which the popularity of fixed-gear bicycles can be measured. Well, now there is an entire website devoted entirely to this hot new pop culture catch phrase: PistaDex.com! For the moment, PistaDex.com consists simply of a single page containing a definition of "PistaDex." However, stay tuned--in the coming days PistaDex.com will transform itself into the definitive destination for all things PistaDex! There will be PistaDex forums, where visitors can not only share photos of their own Pistas, but also exchange wacky overpriced Pista ads from their local Craigslist. There will also be tickers which constantly monitor the PistaDex in major cities across the USA and around the world, so you know just how much your Pista is worth. Best of all, there will be merchandise, including t-shirts with clever slogans like: "You're spiking my PistaDex!;" "Keep your eyes on the PistaDex!;" and, simply, "PistaDex!" And that's just the beginning. So keep checking back at PistaDex.com like the the rat in a skinner box that you are!"

It will be here soon. 

Girl Fixing A Bike

Ok, here's the link to the original source of this lovely pic by Minx. Thanks! 

'Speed': Three Track Bike Themed Random B&W Images For Saturday

So You Want A Custom Panasonic NJS Keirin Track Frame? With Color & Size Of Your Own Choice?

Yup, you read the title right. A Panasonic NJS certified Keirin / Track frameset made with Tange Double Butted Tubing and most importantly with the sizing & color of your own choice - even a BIG frame, delivered directly from the factory in Japan to your home door, for only 1000USD. 

Deathare & Koteigear have set up a blog shop ('blogshop', did I just invent a new word?) http://www.pistoposeur.blogspot.com/ where you can make your specific order, hand over your hard-earned dough and they'll take care of the rest. Just like that. 

Here's info from the site:

"Here you can order a new, semi-custom NJS Panasonic frameset at a great price. $1000 delivered to your door in the USA from Japan. (For delivery to other countries, please contact for a quote.) Only PayPal payments are accepted. All questions should be directed to pistoposeur@gmail.com

What do you get for your money?
A new Panasonic NJS track frame in the exact size you want. You can choose from 23 different colors, 4 different logo colors and even have your name put on the frame, in a variety of fonts, if you so desire. (Japanese Hiragana is also available.) The frameset includes a Tange Vantage NJS headset and has chromed, forged track and fork ends. All this comes straight from Panasonic in Japan.

Steps for ordering:
1. Choose a frame size from the chart below.
2. Choose a frame color from the color chart below.
3. Choose logo size and color from images below.
4. Choose font for your name on the frame if you desire this option."

So basically they're using the Panasonic's POS (Personal Order System? I don't speak Japanese...) from which anyone can order these frames but ONLY in Japan and ONLY in Japanese. So that's pretty fair deal, I guess. And as an additional bonus the color choices available are super fresh, aaahh!

So if you're ordering from them, tell them where you read about their blog and if there's eventually enough of you coming from here, maybe those guys will give me one for free? The power of teh Interwebz network marketing and all that, right? 

Anyhow, after this it's kind of a matter of opinion whether you should order your frame from these guys or whether you should get a custom Ocean street track frame made to your measures. Ocean offers bit more options, even cooler colors but is also costs a little bit more. It's also a smaller company than the National/Panasonic conglomerate so some could choose to rather support them instead. 

Or, if you are in Europe like me, you could get a Bob Jackson custom frame made for you, or, or, or... well, you know. 

EDIT. 

Here's a low quality scan of the Panasonic color chart to those of you who are interested:

Random Fixed Gear Pic Of The Day

Just a pile of nice bikes, that's all. 

The Perfect Nagasawa on Ebay.

I said it before, blogging about stuff for sale on 'bay is kinda boring but, again, this bike is so perfect that I cannot not do this. 

It's an original Nakano Red Nagasawa Keirin bike, made by one of the most respected framebuilders alive today, the number '8208' indicates that it was most likely made in August 1982, it's full NJS, with classic SunTour Superbe Pro parts and all that yaddayadda, but just look at it. 

And yes, it's just like the bike legendary Koichi Nakano, one of the best Keirin and Sprint track cyclists of all time, always rode, just like when he won the dramatic World Pro Sprint Final in 1982 against Gordon Singleton. It was his 6th Sprint Championship, by the way. You really need to watch all three rounds, here, here and the final one here. The Super Makuri, yeah!

But whoever ends up getting this beaty, just lose the hideous brake right away, ok? 

Cinelli Mystic Rats Street Fixed Gear Bike?!?!

This news just came in:

It looks like the venerable CINELLI of Milano, Italy, is coming out with a new bike model. So what's the fuss about that? Well, it's kind of a street fixed gear bike AKA Tarck Bike AND apparently it is called 'MYSTIC RATS'.  

Like WTF?

"Single speed, switch from free wheel to fixed gear for unforgettable mystic emotions on road and track, thanks to the exclusive reversible 16 teeth flip flop rear hub. 

Columbus light alloy compact super frame, fork rake 35. 

Cromoly special track"

Basically the bike and the component set-up doesn't look half bad, except that it's made out of aluminium alloy instead of proper Columbus steel tubing and the parts have funny names like 'Bootleg Mystic'. In fact, the whole bike looks a lil' bit too much like last years' matte black Cannondale Capo to me. 

Cino Cinelli must be turning in his grave. Or, is he even dead  yet? I dunno. 

More BMX Trickz On Fixed Gear Bikes

I posted this already, but if you liked it, here's some more BMX trickz on tarck bikes, this time from Japan...