crank it up.

Tuesdays equal Day off... Which I have no complaints about other than the fact that no one else I know is free on Tuesdays during the day, so often I'm flying solo. Today will consist of shoveling the blast of winter that we got last night, haircut, and then heading into the shop at some point to mess around with the Salsa Size-o-Matic on the Ferrous so I know what Thomson stem to order to go along with the ever so sweet Surly Torsion Bar.

Yesterday I did get a little some thing for the rig. I didn't plan on getting this until later because I was still weighing options but it was a deal I couldn't refuse. It's the Race Face X-type Deus XC Crankset. I've already taken off the rings and replaced it with a 32T Rocket Chainring. It's smooth, real smooth. Pictures of the bike to come.

The chainrings/bolts I took off are for sale also... $50 [includes shipping]... 44/32/22 4-bolt. Interested? Email me, adamlorenz@gmail.com

Depending on the road conditions, I've decided I just might take one of my fixies out. We'll see, they both still have slicks on them.

the dream...

The dream bike has begun...

It all started with the ever so sweet Devo Blue Ferrous 29er Frame and the Bontrager Switchblade Carbon Fork... I've now added a Salsa Lip Lock, Eccentric Bottom Bracket, Thomson Elite 410 Seatpost and ever so comfortable [and I'm being serious] Brooks B17 Honey Saddle.

It's going to be a slow build but I'm already excited to ride it.

Fisher to Men...

So this is kind of a big deal. You should check it out. Meet the man, the myth, the legend.The shops website will soon be updated and hopefully carry with it more details about this really sweet event coming at the end of the month.

sweet and sour...

Holy you cow! Bottke is still alive and from the looks of it is either God-like or an extra in The Invisible. But it's good to have him back, if only for his second post.

So I've stumbled onto a few things that are pretty cool and one pretty bad thing. Fortunately for you, there's videos!

The Sweets.

There is a new bike I've begun. Let's just say, it'll be a very slow build because this will be my dream bike. No regrets on this one. Pictures soon to follow.

I've started to frequent a few new sites, one of them being mysinglespeed.com. There I landed on this video preview for macaframa. It looks to be in the spirit of some BMX videos but there is just some thing smooth about this. Watch. Enjoy.




The Sour.

I was told about this story from KGB. You might remember him from a post or two and his willingness to 'reenact' certain abuses of bicycle parts. Check out the article from Velonews. Check out the video of the Attack of the abominable snow [plow] man at Jeff's blog. Looks like this Jeff and I share a mutual friend.


I'm looking forward to figuring out what this years challenge will be. Unfortunately it's taken longer than I'd hope but at the same time, weather here in Michigan has made it very difficult to do anything besides indoor riding but I've got the weekend free, so I might pull one of the fixies out at take her for a spin.

If you're in the Grand Rapids area on Sunday March 2nd there is going to be the Grand Rapids Bicycle Film Festival from 1-5 at Wealthy St. Theather. Here's a listing of the film schedule:

1: 15 PM _ Team Rwanda - The trailer features the team training in Rwanda and competing in the Cape Epic Mountain Bike Race in South Africa.
1:25 PM _ Mashers Media Presents: BMX Crashes
1:30 PM _ Singletrack Minds - Documentary of MTB origins & the hiker/biker struggle to coexist in Marin County, CA
2:00 PM _ Mashers Media Presents: Tailwinds Cyclocross Series
2:15 PM _ Griped Films Presents: 24 Solo -One man's quest for a 7th World Title
3:30 PM _ Intermission
3:40 PM _ Pedal - A fast paced documentary about surviving in the streets of NYC as a bicycle messenger by Peter Sutherland.
4:35 pm _ Mashers Media presents: Iceman Bike Race

I'm Alive!

Hello to anyone who still reads this. Adam and I are trying to get this back going and are working on another bike related challenge idea. Winter is getting lamer by the day, and we keep getting little 2 day teasers of warmer temps. There isn't really much to talk about this time of year so here are a few pictures and a raised glass to springtime and long rides!

Adam hounded me for a long time for his bike pictures, but now all the glory goes to me. His rolling turd is PUNK!

I have a godlike presence on the bike.  

Adios Amigos! Stay Warm!

arrrrrrr...

A special thanks to the Surly guys for point out this site to me, it rates blogs as to what they are rated. A bit surprising, it said I received this rating because of the word 'death' being found once and 'sex' being found 13 times... Now, I think it was my last post that moved me past the PG rating.

Damn Brits! I really think I need to earn such a rating on my own.

this weeks riddler

At the shop, there are times when customers do a number of things that I will have no originality in bringing light too. From the JRA's to the it's making a 'noise' to the 'I want a bike that pedals easy' customers, in the off season the ratio seems to increase with those customers since traffic is often down this time of year.

Regardless, this past week a customer brought in a wheel, tube and tire for us to change them. Nothing unusual. UNTIL, the customer says that this is 'really European'. Here is what he gave us to fix.


Here is then a picture of what this value taken apart.


So what is the name of this value? Click here but I would love to hear your thoughts..