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!
Got this old GT EDGE
recently and decided to build it up fairly light with sram 10 speed mtb bits.
So I roughly stripped the frame and added some faux welding marks with a butane torch then just clearcoated it.
Its got KCNC cranks with some of that scandium through the middle and a scandium kcnc stem. 48t stronglight chainring and a sram 11 to 36 cassette.
Sram rival levers with one shifter removed (40 gram weight saving mod)
Sram XO ten speed rear mech.
I got deda bars and U.S.E. seatpost that I polished up and a Ti flight saddle.
Shimano mtb spds
Sram rival brakes
My wheels are PIMP! suzue road hubs laced to mavic open pros with radial and 4x sapin cxray spokes.
The fork is a 1″ full carbon easton ec90 that was kinda loud so I “realtree” camo duct taped it for that raw militant look.
It weighs 8.8kg at the mo.
I took it for its first big ride today, it was chilly …..
but with numb fingers and toes we managed a good 85km loop up through epping forest
out to the “secret” nuclear bunker
and back to good old hackney for some pizza and beer.
I’m really happy with the 1×10 set up, the spring on that xo mech is soo strong its never dropped off the front and I only just touched the range on that cassette this ride, I think I was in the smallest tooth twice and the second to biggest once. But london is fairly flat…..
And cold…..
Im gonna get another beer.
I took my new cyclocross bike out to the Waitakere Ranges for a onroad/offroad adventure mission on Friday. It’s an amazing ride through the twisting, bush lined roads. The climbs were gnarly, but the views were nice.
The view west to Huia.
It was hot on the road, so I chilled out for a while by this stream.
Eww, lycra stretchy pants.
Finally, I got to some gravel.
And then to the start of the trail. It was pretty mellow and fast to start with.
Quick bike check: USA made Cannondale CX9, Easton EC90X fork with C*NT, Campagnolo stuff, Fizicolonk seat. The trail here was really nice and fast, but that didn’t last.
Epic bogz! My strategy was to hit the mud holes as fast as I could and sort of hydroplane through. That worked sweet until my front wheel washed out in a 20m pit of green water and sludge. Those council quadbikes really fuck up the trails.
Trail snacks: Amaretti biscuits from Kohu Rd ice creamery.
After the mud, the trails got all downhill, flowy and fun. Perfect time to have mud disabled brakes.
Sweet cyclocrossy obstacle. I bunnyhopped it, honest.
Out of the forest.
Blasting through long grass.
Tasty brews. Tuatara APA rules.
The next day I went for a yacht race.
Rob Algie got us the loan of this recently restored 26′ Mullet Boat to race to the Riverhead Pub. You’ve got to love a race programme that includes hooning to a pub to get on the fizzy, yeasty malt drinks. Corona was built in 1936 by Charles Collings. This boat was unbeatable back in the day, but we came third. Not bad for an old girl. We got stuck on the mud banks in the Rangitopuni Creek a few times, but we managed to just wiggle our way off each time. This boat is old school — no winches and very few blocks. Everything takes the strength of at least two strapping lads to do. My arms and hands were wrecked the next day.
The sail back was a reach most of the way — an awesome point of sail for these boats with their huge grunty mainsails. This was the view from the stern. There were lots of malt drinks, wakas and a fine bottle of whisky (Thanks Monty)
Some of the crew L-R: Rob Algie, Zippy, Callum Dowie, Sam Montgomery, Saan Barratt. (Not pictured: Me, Brian Trubovich, Dave Nigh and Nick Atkinson).
Raw dawg.
So I might have rushed into this one a little quick.
I wanted something a bit lighter with bigger tyre clearance than the Dean. I also wanted it ratty and cheapish so I wouldnt have to worry about losing it.
So I bought this Paul Milnes Cyclocross frame on ebay without really checking out the size properly.
Its a great frame, nice and light with loads of tyre clearance but had steeper geo and a shorter top tube than I was expecting. I did a bad job of stripping it with nitromoores for that ratty look and built it up with a cheap 700c hybrid fork originally with a fat 54c tire on the front. It looked sweet but when I rode it I found the toe overlap far too bad and my position too upright. I didn’t want to put drops on and I hate toe overlap (especially when drunk!) so I changed to a longer stem and less swept back bars. The position was better but overlap still annoyed me. Then I realized I had some pace trials forks kicking around doing nothing, so I checked out the AtoC and they were the same as my hybrid forks! So lighter forks and a reverse brake mounts! Only dropping the front by 3-4cm by using a 26×1.95 and giving me 10+cm up front for my big feet.
So heres how it looks now.
cheap town bars and used shifter and free stem thanks to fitzrovia
parts bin seatpost and grips
my VO porteur rack
Magura Racelines off ebay cause Ive always wanted some and they’re cheap good brakes
My sram rival cranks and parts bin chain ring and gaurd
1×8 set up 11 to 34 super range!
Halo supadrive rear hub makes a great sound.
Fluro trials pedals and holdfast to match maguras
shitty dynamo front hub on free rim. not hooked up.
47c rear conti cityride
So basically its too small and rides like crap. The geo is too steep for a load in the front so its already been stripped down and parts re-appropriated.
Im still on the look out for old cannondale CX frame 56cm if anyone sees a cheap one.
Ah well you cant win em all.
More builds to come.
finally remembered to take pictures of my winter bike that took me a while to build because i was busy spending money on pretty strong carbon (more on that later…). so i had the opportunity of getting a amazing sillgey last year in october (read ‘free’! thanks to DADDY Too White!)
that’s the frame before i got it pimped up
anyway, after a few months of having it just lying there collecting dust i finally got it painted by procoat and got the classy treatment (which i have been patiently waiting to get it done) and got a gloss black with gold flakes.
after getting the frame re-couloured, i had my good mate Baxter to fabricate me some ultra rare-pretty much one of a kind- stickers for the bike and voila! magic!
after that part i started to go awol with my budget and decided i needed to put the whole bike as swiftly as possible. so i wanted to have two words in a certain particular font that this japanese company made plastered all over the bike because i thought it could be nice.
here is the result.
are those ultra rare vintage xtr brake levers that only use to come in a lever/shifter combo?!
of course not! nothing a bit of steady hand and dremel won’t create adventure times.
duracell
duramarmite (dad’s jokes are lame)
double dura ace! all the way!
yup carbon braided saddle
you might have notice i’m running 2 different model of dura ace brakes for extra dura points
octalink to 55teeth of heavy grinding
22 tooth of 72 engagement point
allegance to metal
please support your L.B.C.
This is my L&S Creations cruiser. These frames and parts are being reproduced by Boss BMX founder Carlo Lucia to the exact specs from back in the day. Carlo started out making frames for Patterson and Panda before going on to start Boss. After Boss folded, Carlo set up L&S Creations.
People either seem to love or hate the paint, which is cool. Rather than trying to buy a patina, I was going for something I’d seen at the Old School BMXhibition I put on a few years back. Andy White had picked up this rad Titan BMX with this crazy textured paint job just like the mini in the pic below. Hutch also did a run of frames in the same colour/finish which they called Futuristic Black. They were super rare and freaky looking.
I just really liked the texture of the paint, which Josca aptly described as looking like it had been pulled out of a tar pit. I reckon it has a kind of 80s sci-fi feel, like Bladerunner meets Robocop. Tim at Procoat knew exactly what I was after and nailed it first time.
T.Whites Bikes sorted me out with all the profile bits, including an awesome looking set of blood red mini hubs.
Tim White, the choice dude that he is, gave me a brand new set of Jive Tentacle grips complete with Jive nuts. Rad!
The rest of the bits were mid-school parts that I had picked up from here and there, including a new Odyssey Svelte saddle, chrome GT layback seat post (Adventure Cycles find), Odyssey Pozi-stop seatpost clamp and an Odyssey pitbull brake.
This one has been a long time coming, but its finally finished just in time for summer cruising around england.
Let me introduce you all to the boss.
Skulls Super Irie Surly Long Haul Trucker “Deluxe”
Unlike Skulls Retro nightmare townie the Boss is comprised of all NEW top shelf components.
The Boss is equipped with the following.
Surly LHT deluxe frame (What make it deluxe is the s&s couplers under the inner-tubes so I can brake it in two and pack it into a non oversize flight case or soft bag).
Racks are Surly.
Bars are Jeff Jones design Titec H-Bar.
Thompson x4 stem with coloured faceplate upgrade.
Chris King Rasta Dreadset with Chris king Headset spacers.
Seatpost is Sars.
Seat clamp and skewers are Salsa flip offs.
Brooks flyer saddle.
Shimano 9speed cassette.
Tyres are Halo 2.3 Twin-rail.
Sks Cromoplastic mudguards.
Paul Moto Vbrakes and 2 tone Love levers (modded by swapping silver levers out with jammys black ones)
Shifters are the new 9speed thumb shifters from microshift.
Mechs are Microshift Marvo XE Limited coloured edition.
Rasta Cranks are Raceface Atlas AM with Blackspire outer and middle rings shimano inner. Running on a Chris King external BB.
Pedals are Onza with OG Powergrips (pins ground down).
Chain is a Titanium Nitrate coated KMC 9 speed.
Rear wheel is Chris King classic hub laced to Mavic 217 Ceramic, sapim spokes.
Front wheel is Son Schmidt 28 deluxe dynamo hub laced to Mavic 217 ceramic it powers my Schmidt edelux front light and my Supernova E3 rear light (with a joiner at the S&S, thanks Jammy)
It also powers my Tout terrain Plug 2 USB top-cap which can charge your ipod/phone/GPS or any other usb device while you ride! Making sure you always got some irie tunes jammin.
Peep the mesmerizing reggae pics below.
Damn this things an rasta eyefull.
Oh well keep irie dudes
Peace love skulls.
anyone has any 90′s anodized part they would like to donate for the ‘poor yeti pro fro conglomerate of awesome international foundation for the cure of monochromatic 90′s diseases’?
What do you do when your track bike is so pimp that you couldn’t even consider locking it up on the streets of London.
I decided to build a beautiful beater.
I got this Maeda track frame on ebay, it was pretty beat up with a big dent in the top tube and both chainstays cracked. I took it to ted who tigged it up for some Gin and it was ready for more shredding.
Heres the run down.
Maeda 57cm NJS frame from 1994
Hatta headset
Nitto B105 road bars
3TTT pro chrome stem
Dura ace easton seatpost
Old Concor saddle
The untoughest izumi super tough chain made out of spare super tough links!
Old no brand wide as mountainbike pedals
mks L deep double clips with ridersway sample double straps
Old rigeda DP18 rims laced to Suzue hubs
Soma Everwear rear and Conti ultra front
Sugino 75′s on campy centaur BB with Sugino 52t 3/32nd chainring.
EAI 19t cog = 74 gear inch
Everything except the wheels and pedals is locked down with magnetic ball bearings in the allen bolts.
It rides sweet and hasn’t got any toe overlap!
This thing is pure snob bait seriously hard to look at. Heres the parts list.
56cm Nigel Dean Cadet, Renyolds 500 tubing
Cook Brothers cranks, oddesey triple trap pedals and power grips
nos Deore DX mechs
XT thumbies
old Diacompe 55s levers
purple canti brakes cant remember the brand. peace sign hanger up front, fuck you fingers on the back.
xact town bar, cork grips and tape
JD suspension stem
xlite suspension seatpost
selle italia turbo gel saddle
wheels are pulstar straight pull hubs laced to Velocity chukkers with panaracer pasala tyres 35 front 32 rear
Bottle opener quick releases!!
Velo orange fenders and porteur rack and Satan sticker
While this thing is all set for a English winter beating a new ultimate irie rider build has already begun….
Hey Dudes
Had the day off today and was sick so did some work on the blog.
The bike gallery page is back up, I trawled through the archives trying to find pics of all your bikes. If there are any up that you dont want up or any more you want to add you can edit your galleries by editing the gallery in the draft posts titled “name” rides. Don’t publish the posts just save them and they will update.
Would be great to get some more good picks of your bikes up I know you guys have more!
The blog Theme got changed feel free to edit it mike! I just messed up the old one somehow.
New Banner too.
PEACE!
Hey Dudes, I finally finished my Look KG221 that I bought ages ago.
Its got Campag record cranks and Sti’s and headset, Centaur brakes and mechs, original seatpost with the Blue Lug Mondian saddle, CD mavic open pros to Campag and Quando hubs and Cinelli Integralter bars with pain in the arse internal cable routing (also prone to snapping)
My favourite bit is the old vetta toe clips an old Italian man gave me on MKS GR9 pedals. They just look like they were made for each other.
I bought this frame off Hagan a while back after pestering him to sell it to me for ages. He gave it a flash new paint job and did some sleuthing into it’s origins. It was built by Liam O’Brien, an ex-pat Englishman who settled in Christchurch, and his son John. It’s made out of Reynolds 753 with Reynolds lugs. It’s sort of finished; Tim sorted me out with some Phil Wood hubs to build when I find some good rims, and I have some other bits a pieces to put on, including a rad saddle.
The bits:
Liam O’Brien Reynolds 753 sprinter frame 56cm seat tube, 55.8cm top tube.
36 hole Shimano NJS Dura Ace hubs laced three-cross with Wheelsmith double butted spokes (the best) to Sun M13II rims (which are rubbish).
Phil Wood bottom bracket
Suntour Superbe Pro track cranks
52 tooth Dura Ace chainring and 16 tooth Dura Ace cog.
Izumi Gold chain
Controltec seatpost (90s MTB parts rule — if you got some, sell them to me!)
Cinelli Unicanitor saddle (bit beat up, but OG – better shape and more comfortable than the repop ones)
3t Pro Chrome stem made with Columbus Thron tubes
Dura Ace headset
Nitto RB021 bullhorns
Oh yeah, Conti Gatorskin tyres — 25c rear, 23c front.
Thanks to Hagan of CGK, T.White’s Bikes, and Mark Skulls (for the 5Gold toptube protector I forgot to mention earlier.)
Hey Dudes
Heres my new Fixed Bike I built up for a bit of fun commuting.
Frame is a Charge sissor modded buy Super Ted with oversized 631 top tube and down tubes (59 TT)
Brooklyn Machin Works Cluster fork, diacompe Dcup headset
Sram Omnium cranks (had to hammer the chain stay to make them fit)
Free Oddessey Pedals, Holdfast
KMC Kool chain
USE seatpost, free saddle
Brooklyn Machin Works stem, deity freeride bars and genetic track grips
grand compe hub on back with 18t EAI cog, laced to Velo Orange Diagonal Rims 32H, Retro PACE hub and front with Delta security skewer
Panaracer RIBMO 35c on rear and Halo Twinrail 38c front.
Everything is locked down apart from the rear wheel and cranks and pedals.