Jealousy

I have a confession. I'm jealous of a few people... sure from the picture you might think it's Jeff Kerkove. Yeah, I'll admit Jeff has got a few things going for him... a sweet rig, pimping killer product, he's a highly respected rider and blogger, not to mention just an all around great person... wow, ok, I have to say it bluntly and straight forward, I do not have any sort of man crush on Jeff Kerkove.

Now that I've made that clear. The reason I posted a picture of Jeff was simply the fact that almost daily his blog reminds me of the fact that I cannot use ear-bud headphones. And that is what this post is about, my jealousy of anyone who can wear headphones while riding. Yes, of course I could argue the safety issues with doing so but we'll save that for another day. Tonight, I need advice. Any headphones I've tried simply fall out at any movement... I've tried two different Apple earbuds, the Stereo Headset and the old version of the in-ears. I've also tried the JVC Gumy Stereo; all with no luck, all leading to the same response.

Sure I'd love to jump into and get some thing like the Bose or some other high end in-ear with great sound but then end up never being able to use them. Thoughts? Insights? I also want to avoid any sort of rap around version also, so keep that in mind. What do you ride with?

Red's Winter Transformation

A month or so back, I decided that I was finally going to give Red a bit of a face lift. I haven't posted much for photos since this post back in April but she does have new wheels, she got the white Velocity Fusions with black spokes and rims; and I have recently also added a little bling by adding red anodized chain ring bolts. Let me tell you, it's pretty sweet. I'll give a full pictorial once she's complete and probably end up finally submitting it to Fixed Gear Gallery to top it all off. I'm not going to give all of my details but here is on my shopping list:












I won't say for sure what color I'll be using for all of these but I will hint that one of these will have multiple colors mixed and the other two will only have one. But I have to take my time on this transformation, which is often very difficult to do since often once I have it in my mind to do some thing I'll do it pretty quick.

On A Fixie: A Case for 70 gear inches

As part of the on going 'On A Fixie...' Series, this time I'm going to attempt to tackle the mysterious system of thoughts dealing with gear inches.

Gear inches if you were unaware is defined by Sheldon Brown as...

'One of the three comprehensive systems for numbering the gear values for bicycle gears. It is the equivalent diameter of the drive wheel on a high-wheel bicycle. When chain-drive "safety" bikes came in, the same system was used, multiplying the drive wheel diameter by the sprocket ratio. It is very easy to calculate: the diameter of the drive wheel, times the size of the front sprocket divided by the size of the rear sprocket. This gives a convenient two- or three-digit number. The lowest gear on most mountain bikes is around 22-26 inches. The highest gear on road racing bikes is usually around 108-110 inches. Unfortunately, the handwriting is on the wall for all inch-based measurement systems.'

Clear as mud? That's what I thought. If you want to be more confused go here. In normal person terms, gear inches is simply how far the wheel rolls on one full rotation of the pedal.

Now, there is a lot of questioning and playing around with what is the proper gearing on a fixie. Most people simply think about the front chain ring and the rear cog and talk in terms of that. Take my fixie, Red, she has got a 46x17 respectively. Which if you put in to a gear calculator comes out to 71.4 inches [note: if you are using this gear calculator be sure to switch the 'gear units' from 'gear ratios' to 'gear inches']. Which is the closest I can get to 70 gear inches without changing the front chain ring [which is typically the more expensive of the two options].

You might be wondering, ok Adam, you've made your point about being aware of what you're running but really haven't made any real point on why 70 is the magic number... and to be perfectly honest, I have to give credit where it is due. Geoff basically insisted on this as the magic number. Why? BECAUSE IT WON'T KILL YOU! It is what I'd consider to be the perfect gearing right out of the box for climbing and giving you a solid top end speed. I started out with a set up that put me around 59 gear inches and once I got up to stop speed I would literally be hopping in the saddle becuase I was spinning so fast. Sure climbing was super easy but what is really necessary is a solid balance of both.

With the 70 gear inches, it won't kill you on the hills and won't slow you down on the flats. As one begins to ride more, ones legs become stronger going to a tougher gearing could be some thing to consider, or an easier one if you're looking to be the ultra cool hypster skidder... but really, it gives you the most control.


NOTE TO ALL OF YOU WHO WANT TO GET YOUR HANDS ON THE 'MANIFESTO' T's: They are very close to being done and then I'll be taking orders for them. I'll have some with me when I'm back in Iowa at the first of January and would love to get them your way then. Michiganders and everyone else. I'm hoping that the No Drive Website will be transformed shortly to be able to handle orders, or we can always line up a time to meet up.

1,000 words

It is said that the average woman uses 7,000 words in a day... and a man only 2,000...







... and since Geoff convinced me today that a picture is worth a 1,000 words I believe that this puts me at about 6,000 and I'm spent. Shirts are close to being done.

For Blue

For Blue... So yes, now it's big time.


You've been warned... next week, I'll be back in full force.
[Queue 'Gonna Fly Now' by Bill Conti... that's right the Rocky theme song]

Winter Thoughts...Bolivian Coffee...

It's definitely winter here in West Michigan. It's unbelievably cold outside, my room mate is playing some Christmas music on vinyl, and I'm sitting here with my Mr. Potato Head (Christmas Edition) enjoying cup after cup of the planet's best coffee.

You did read that correctly. I may just have found the best coffee I've tasted thus far in my life. It's called "Bolivia's Best," and it's 100% fair-trade goodness straight from the Andes Mountains. Aside from generating some pretty kick-butt coffee, Bolivia's Best is all about helping the orphaned and abandoned children of Bolivia. I heard all about Bolivia's Best from Mallory Timmer, A recent-and pretty rad-friend at Hope College who gave me a bag to try. The Timmers are actually the family who started the operation, and you can read all about it here. Needless to say...it's great coffee, it's for a phenomenal cause, started by a truly amazing family.

So try it! Click here and order some fo' yo'self.

On the other hand, I've found myself in some sort of a small dilemma. Winter is here, and I've taken the Rig apart, planning on building up a wheel set before next season. Another change I plan to make is a fresh new Carbon flat bar. This is precisely where I find myself stuck. The dilemma? Indecisiveness. There are a few that I can go with, and mostly it's going to come down to color. Care to help me Decide?

The Bontrager Race XXX lite || The FSA K-Force XC Flat || The Salsa Pro Moto Carbon

Those are the choices...for some reason I couldn't upload pictures...Hope College tells me I've exceeded my bandwidth.

Also. The Day the Earth Stood Still comes out today, and I'm most definitely seeing it tonight.

Merry Advent

It's that time year again. Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose, Yuletide carols being sung by the fire, and folks dressed up like Eskimos. (everybody knows.)

It's Christmas time! Well, Advent, to be exact. So in the spirit of Advent, I thought that while I sit here at work (bored out of my skull I might add) I might start flipping through our books and get a few seasonal gift ideas for the cycling folk, assuming that a new bike is out of the question.

Any Hoot. Here are a few gift ideas I found.

The Trek Time Watch. It's a nifty little watch that simply snaps onto most handlebars, and comes in a variety of colors. It comes in a cycling computer version also, complete with anything that you'd find on your every day cycling computer, but I thought that this was a great idea. Most people in the world don't use a cycling computer at all, or if they do, it's for telling time, anyway. This is a perfect solution to this! No more taking your hands off of the bars to check your cell phone or watch, and crashing into a wall, a dog, or a UFO. It's cool, its hip, and it's about $25.00.

The Surly Jethro Tule. What is it? It's freaking awesome. A double-sided 15mm box wrench is perfect for most bolt-on hubs. It's great because it's small enough to fit inside your saddle bag, but it's ergonomically designed to give you enough leverage to really crank those wheels to the bike. It's lightweight, hangs on your key chain if you please, and it's a little over $20.00. Oh yeah, did I mention it has a gnarly bottle-opener?

The Six One Six Sandal. This one is really cool. If you're looking for a great way to ride around town without having to change into your cycling shoes, pick up a pair of these. They're an SPD-compatible, lightweight pair of your dad's old Disney world sandals that let you clip in to your pedals on a hot day without putting on those sweaty cycling shoes. Sure, they look a little tacky, and you want to be a rebel wearing your ...but after all, tacky is back-ie, and there's nothing more conformative than rebellion. (think about it for a minute.) These will set you back about $75.

The Knog Colored Frog lights. No, they're not actually frogs, so you won't get warts...bUt you will get STREET CRED. These nifty little things are super bright LEDs that are encased in a stretchy silicone body that wrap around your handlebars, your seat post, or most any part of the frame. They come in a variety of colors tho match your bike or personality, and they're small enough to stick in your jeans when you aren't using them. A single button on top turns it on, switches between the steady and flash modes, and shuts it off. How much? Mid $20 range for the pair.


....That's all for now, folks. More to come later in the Advent season...there'e a lot of neat bike stuff out there.