Hot Time, Summer in the City.

I haven't written in a few months, but a lot has been going on. I'm going to quickly outline all of this for myself and anyone else who happens to be reading or care:

1. Adventures- I've made a point to go on a bunch of them when I can. I plan on going on more. These aren't all bicycle related, but I'm sure most of them will be.


2. Music- I've been learning the guitar, and therefore, built one to play electric when I'm good enough.

The guitar I built from a kit I ordered from Ebay. Naturally, I made a few modifications and upgrades. It sounds great! The weird box looking thing with the cable sticking out of it is actually a recording microphone I built out of some parts I had lying around. It's 2 sided- singing into one side sounds like a megaphone, and the other mostly like a regular mic. I think the next one I build is going to have a better filter and maybe a tone knob.

3. Artwork- I've been painting murals, and I've relaunched my website.

What you're looking at above is a great space in Fishtown that we were allowed to paint at/on. It was of course vandalized shortly after, but whatever. You can't do street art/public art without accepting that it's going to get destroyed someday. Usually sooner rather than later.

I've also moved into a new place with my girlfriend, and am in the midst of getting that all together. It has a lot more space for projects and a nice backyard too. I'll probably post more Mural pics later on, but for now you can go to my website to see more.

Frenchie Rides Again...

Started working on the Mercier this weekend. It's a pretty interesting bicycle. Not particularly special, but still a cool piece of history to ride around. It's actually a rebadged Louison Bobet, or, I should say, I bicycle made by a company using his name. If you don't know who he is, He won the TdF 3 years in a row; 1953-55, and was known for being a bit "Hollywood", as compared to other French riders of the time. This was a time when the French were a major force in the cycling world.

It needs some work, and the paint is pretty bad. I got it as a carcass that came with a Spartan derailleur, Simplex dt shifters (plastic), Mafac Racer (!!!) brakes, and Nervar cottered cranks. also, it has a braze-on dt shifter boss, but only on the right side, and the left shifter mounted with a metal collar that was made to accomodate it. Weird. I'll have more pictures when it's done. I'm building it up as a fixed/free singlespeed.
The plan is to make a fixed gear randonneur. This was originally going to be a portuer, but I changed my mind. The head tube geometry is a bit stout, and it should handle pretty fast. It weighs a ton, mostly because of the cranks, but I never care about weight anyway. I still need a seat and some tires. Maybe a cool seat bag from Velo-Orange.

I'm setting up 40-16, and keeping the Nervar cranks on it. It has Nervex dropouts, that look nice chrome plated. I'm not sure what pedal threading the cranks are, but I do have a set of Lyotard pedals if it's french. Updates to follow.

My Kona Ute, and Lack of cool stuff on the internet about the Kona Ute

True, I've found a few forum entries and blogs about it, and how cool it was. But nothing about DIY modifications, or how it handles in touring situations, or adapting other things to fit it; so that's one of the things I'll do on this blog.
This is the wooden platform my dad and I crafted out of cedar. The standard one was plastic. Nothing wrong with it, but I wanted something a little classier, and besides, the newer model Ute's get a wooden deck, so why not?
I also added some handlebars with a drop position (flipped north road bars). My one pet peeve with the Ute is, although an upright position is comfortable for flat land cruising, any longer distance riding, uphill or headwind riding, and general want for more than one hand position was lacking with the stock cruiser bars. I also found that the bike felt more steady under a load.
And Lastly, I added 4 French army back packs, strapped to the deck. The stock Kona bags, or any panniers for that matter, tend to get pricey, and are ultimately unitaskers. These are time-tested bags that are weatherproof, useable in lots of ways, and $15 each. I.Goldberg is a good thing.

The next thing I'll address is the kickstand, which on this version of the Ute (2007, I believe) was frankly, bad. We just got a new torch, so once I get some kind of adapter fab'd up to mount a better one, I'll post the details. If their is a demand, I may even sell them. Who knows.