We finally got some good weather over here so I have blown the dust off the track bike
NOS 3ttt ergo bars from fitzrovia cycles and some pin head nuts on the front for single dlock locking up.
Now stash the KEY somewhere so you dont leave it at home. Rubber band under the seat for now. bearings in all the allen bolts.
Why am I obsessed with bike luggage? Dunno anyway..
step 1. Buy shitty seatbag on ebay
Step 2. Cut off tags
Step 3. Iron on SKULLBIKECLUB patch
Step 4. Fill with the essentials.
Step 5. Drink x Ride x Rad
This is Alex’s South African made Hansom.
Alex is a mechanic at my favourite shop in London Fitzrovia Bicycles.
This is his beater of course.
Stripped Hansom frame
Mega filed fork to fit 28c (used to just fit 23c)
zenith stem and genetic seatpost
blue concor and odi grips
sick smoked white bars off old 90′s carrera
H+son to halo wheels with everyones favourite panaracer pasala tyres
Miche cranks with SR chainring (gotta get one)
DMR V8 pedals an Ynot straps?
YBN hollowlink chain.
Filed fork crown
Drillium chainring
smoked bars
Locked down saddle
More Hansom bike checks to come….
Bike too cool?
Nothing says 90′s nerd like barends on your commuter. Climb like John Tomac or get aero in your skinsuit.
So after a quick nerdabouthenet I found these bad boys on ebay with bonus integrated tool kit nerdpoints.
Stashmodathon! I thought.
Having already modded my keys and tools into one I wondered what else I could fit in there.
Take that shit apart.
The built in tyre levers are quite good so I got rid of everything else and found some useful stuff to cram in there like glue and patch’s and quick-links and how about a tire boot? Sure why not.
While your at it you might as well grind down your security skewer keys to fit in there too.
Lets hope no thieving bastards are reading this!
Job done! now where’s my helmet mirror?
But wait ! I still have the problem of no spare tube…. and no oversized seattube/steerer/stem to stash it in on this old steel frame.
So this calls for some old school ghetto style stashing.
In the baggy it goes
This ones called the mule.
This ones called border patrol
But in the end I went for the classic up ya bum.
Heres Straton aka Plagways everyday comuter townie and now tourer he’s been slowly dialling in with some sick bits.
Set up now for his epic ride through Morroco over the atlas mountains and into the sahara desert for a world music festival.
Parts rundown
Renyolds 531 Raleigh Royal
shimano hubs 105? laced to open pros
Panaracer Pasala tyres (mudgaurds are off for morroco and bigger tyres on)
shimano triple and 9 speed MTB 11-32 cassette
dura-ace bar end shifters
time atac pedals
Nitto albatross bar
TF imports stem
Paul cantilever brakes with kool stop salmon pads
VO grande crue seatpost with Brooks B17 saddle
Brooks bar tape with jelly tape underneath
Topeak XL bottle cage
Soma front porteur rack
Nitto rear saddle bag support
Carradice camper? saddlebag
Prologic carp fishing bag front
Some random photos some of which I may or may not have posted before.
Here’s another fishing bag I picked up on ebay.
It has exactly the same reinforced base as the other one but with a few added features.
Its MOAASSIIVE. Fits heaps in it almost too much considering that more weight on the front = less handing and a higher crashability factor.
Front opening is two clips and a drawstring which is a lot easier access in winter with gloves on.
Three big ass pockets for D-locks and tools and snacks. These are padded too like the big main compartment.
The back has shoulder straps to wear it as a backpack, they are adjustable to shorten them up at the top which makes tucking them away pretty easy.
Its got two LONG straps that go from the shoulder to the bottom that you can secure it to your rack with. I run em back underneath and around the bars.
I shortened the shoulder strap webbing to the minimum to stop it dangling and I replaced all the clips because the ones it came with were shit and broke.
Its cool you can use it as a back pack but to be honest I rarely do. I usually just grab it and haul it one handed cause I’m not going that far. Plus as a back pack it sticks out off your back loads which means knocking people and shit off the supermarket shelves.
Its not very waterproof so Ive given it a nikwax coating and the zips are shit on the pockets but im not using them that much.
Its a bit heavier than the prologic given the added capacity. 1.8kg apposed to 1.5kg
I got it for £17 posted + £5 for some new clips = £22 so a bit cheaper.
So all in all I’ve given it a weighty 6 skulls out of 10. On the skullsramdomwhogivesashit scale. It would’ve scored higher if not for the distinct lack of camo.
I cant take credit for this one, I was just thinking one morning how annoying keys are and how they dont fit very well together on a keyring, so a quick google later and I found this cool hack mod on instructionables.
I just so happened to be useing one of the crankbros multi tools aswell and thought I should try combine as many of the tools and keys INTO ONE!
Step one.
Take everything apart.
Step two.
Cut up your keys (you might wanna go get spares cut first). I had to drill out the holes a bit bigger to 6mm and file the kryptonite plastic bits flatter.
Step 3.
Put it all back together. This is the tricky bit, deciding what tools to keep and working out the best order to get them all to fit together snug. Took me hours of taking it apart and putting it back together and added little washers here and there but the result is TIGHT!
Ends up no bigger and fits in your pocket better minus some redundant tools.
So there isn’t a bike I’ve had recently that I haven’t added town bars and a front rack to.
New parts are… Cheap XLC ergo town bars.
Salsa stem.
Sram X5 shifter.
Stripped TF 1″ fork.
14bike co barends.
CNCed tecktro levers (nicer and cheaper than pauls?).
Rotor cranks and suntour ring.
Handlebar mount beer cozie from Mannies Lowrider shop in Venice Beach.
Mods on this build are lowrider mount front light and rear mudguard light cable run through heatshrink down the gear cable and up the mudguard stay. Fiddly!
Teva and Justin took me out for some long overdue mountain biking. I got to ride tevas super deluxe carbon double banger while justin tested out his new specialised purchase.
Teva held it down old school on his fat chance and had no problem keeping up with us old fellas with new bikes.
beers went in the creek and we were off for a twisty dry 14km loop.
bent tooth?
some bush surgery on justins chainring
chillin.
Thanks guys!
Found this old mix CD at my sisters.
Some good upbeat tunes!
In the dropbox or media fire above.
Heres a few pics I took before I left.
Crazy concept Cheribum show bike at the new Cheribum shop opening in Aoyama
You wouldn’t lock your cherubim out on the street with that lock in london.
Hirojuku girl
Vegan Ramen!
Thats it. Japan is totally awesome and rad and everyone is super nice. Its very flat and easy to cycle as long as you know your way around. Theres not really much crime so it feels very safe. The food is great especally for the carnivores and its crazy so if you get a chance try and make it there. Im gonna go back for sure.