Weird Bike Wednesday

Racing Tricycles? What the hell.

Well I’ll be damned, apparently it is a thing. A thing that dates back to the 1920’s according to http://www.tricycleassociation.org.uk/ and still happens today. It’s even kept up with the technology.

I’ve never been on one of these sweet rides but I imagine I’ll try to track down an even when I make a trip to Wales. In the meantime here’s some links to conversion kits and a few pictures of the best/worst of the best/worst.

http://www.trykit.com/

http://www.bikecare.co.uk/tribike.html

http://www.trikezilla.com/

 

Example of it being a thing.

 

Fixed gear, track trike?

So gross. So very, very gross.

 

You know what? Some where, there’s a girl that will ride this with me. She’s probably off somewhere yelling “ON YOUR LEFT!!1”

 

Reverse trike mixte with disc brakes.

I guess when I get old and can’t balance a bike this will be my preferred ride. Maybe not in the lavender though.

 

Weird Bike Wednesday

Every week I trawl the internet hoping to catch a few fine specimens of the “weird bike.” Every week I find the weirdest shit and distill it down and present it you. I”ll shut up now and get to the pics.

We got some kind of badass here. Wheel/tire/brake combo off a sport bike. Seriously, have fun losing races to slugs.

Someone please find photo or video evidence of this “bike” being ridden. They took the time to weld it up so there had to be some sort of proof that it can be used.

Kent Thruster/McFixie: Second Look

Alrighty folks, it’s time to take a look back on the Kent Thruster I reviewed earlier. I’m still calling it the McFixie because it looks like something Ronald McDonald would ride. It’s actually gotten worse/better in its recent incarnation I discovered on a trip to Wally World to pick up a spare inner tube.

The new Thruster is a white frame with pink and blue plaid graphics, black rims and pink tires. Aside from the pink tires, I prefer it to the Classic McD’s look. Make the suggested modifications and somewhere a girl with have her very own My Little Fixie.

But back to the point. I now have about 200 miles on the bike and feel I can give it a little more insight into the workings of this bike. Bear in mind this bike is too small for me and generally do not ride big box store bicycle shaped objects.

Firstly, it’s too small for me. I’m 6’1” and right at 200 pounds. It supports me on my rides but it is not a comfortable ride. Think adult in a child’s car seat levels of uncomfortable. Now, if you are in the 5’3” to 5’7” range this will probably be an appropriate bike for you…assuming you don’t mind riding the bicycle equivalent of a jack hammer.

Secondly, the Thruster is an extremely rigid bike. I’m not sure how they did it, but they did. I normally ride steel frame bikes and have never had one ride this stiff. Steel is generally a smoother ride than this. I’d expect this ride quality from aluminum or stone. But this is a blessing and a curse. A stiff bike is responsive, goes where you tell it as soon as you tell it so. A stiff bike will also rattle the teeth right out of your head. You might be able to counteract some of the bone jarring with slightly more voluminous tires. Might. A different saddle is a must. I recently used an Origin8 Classic Lite on a restoration and was impressed with its comfort/price ratio. A little hint: shopping.google.com is a bargain hunters best friend. I found one, shipped, for under $20.

 

Thirdly, the brakes are still shite. The brake pads are the first, weakest link. Almost anything would be an improvement, even the $1/ea generic shoes from your local bike shop. The second weakest link in the braking system is the painted rim. Ride enough and the paint will wear off and the brake stopping power will increase. Don’t just take some sandpaper to the rims hoping for an improvement. This will just ruin your wheelset. Let the paint wear off. A few rides in the rain will speed the process along nicely.

Lastly, the drive train can be improved very quickly with two things: new pedals and a slightly larger track cog. The stock pedals are plastic and I can feel them creaking and flexing underfoot with each turn of the cranks. I’m going to pimp another Origin8 product, the ProTrack Light pedals. They are a good pedal for the price.

For a new fixed gear cog I’d suggest something in a 20tooth size. It should be under $20 and can be picked up online or from your local bike shop. It will limit your top speed but will make your acceleration quicker and climbing hills, and using your legs to stop, much easier. The stock setup is not a bad gear ratio for freewheel riding, assuming you only ride on the flattest of roads. I’d suggest a one or two tooth increase on the freewheel as well (~$20 + labor) to make acceleration and hill climbing easier.

But at this point you have spent an additional $75-$100 in parts to make a $100 bike more comfortable to ride. For not much more you could visit bikesdirect.com and look at their fixed gear track bikes and get one in a size that actually fits you and will ride much better.

Or, just get the Thruster in original flavor Mickie D’s or the new pink/blue plaid and thrash it for the lulz.

Weird Bike Wednesday

In this Weird Bike Wednesday, it’s only the best of the best in the Time Trial Commuter category. Somewhere, someone was late to work because they didn’t have a set of carbon wheels, or TT bars. Maybe their areo tuck wasn’t tucked enough? What the need is a TT Commuter. Racks, Zipps, lights, aero cross section everything!

I am a firm believer in the “do what you can, with what you have, where you are” motto but damn. The disc wheel, dynamo, shoulder carry bag, clip ons on flat bars, fender. So dreamy!

Fixed gear, step through frame and time trial bars. Let’s make babies!

I wanted to think this was a piss take but the fenders fit close and the brakes are correctly placed. “Mawage. Mawage is wot bwings us togeder tooday. Mawage, that bwessed awangment, that dweam wifin a dweam... “

I see where I think this one was going but it came up short. I can only guess it was a Paris-Roubaix wannabe. The RockShox P-R is the giveaway, but the mismatched wheels and rack ruin it. TTCommuter.

Coors Light and a Pomeranian in the rack on the flat bars. Spinergy.

Winrar!

1983 Raleigh Olympian Restoration

A new project has come through my door. It’s been many months coming but with the assistance of our local ride crew I found a bike for my friend. As of now it just looks like an old road bike. The plans are to make it look like an old road bike, but clean. Aside from that it might get a fresh set of decals and some contrast paint on the lugs.

[Here it is in all of its glory]

To do list:

1. Clean All The Parts!!!1
2. New tires/tubes/rim strips
3. Fresh bar tape
4. New (old stock) brake levers
5. Paint lug edges (maybe)
6. Fresh decals (maybe)
7. New chain
8. New saddle
9. Handlebar bag

Weird Bike Wednesday

Bringing you the weird, the wtf and the “well, huh…”

“What I think I’ll do is start a fire in front of my bike. Should make it look more extreme.

I’ve complained about the saddle on my McFixie an awful lot lately but this bike absolutely wins the worst saddle category. And that lightweight, recyclable top tube. But what happened to the handlebars?

If you’re going to flip the bars that far just go ahead and make them full on felon bars. This bike has to be too large for it’s owner for the seat to be down that far.

A Nimbus 2000 it is not, but that steering mechanism looks like it just might work.

Back in the late 80’s some bike riders got the idea to recreate Formula One racing, on two wheels. Somewhat flat track, left and right turns. Here’s one example of the bikes that came out of that time:

I had an opportunity to ride one of these in my youth. Basically it was a 20” bmx bike, wheel covers, drop stem with flat bars, a huge chain ring and a wide range cassette thrown in for good measure. Oh yeah, and a body kit the likes of which wouldn’t be seen again until The Fast and The Furious. The bikes were fast but super awkward to ride. The racing was done in such tight quarters that the wrecks were more fantastic than the motorsport equivalent.

Which brings us to these nostalgia monsters:

This one obviously has aspirations of becoming a Cat6 Formula One Commuter racer…somewhere very dark.

It’s just bad. I heard it was solid bondo and added nearly 60 pounds to the already heavy BSO. Any aero qualities were negated by the serious obesity of this piece. But it gets better. Look closely at the hubs, they’re green. The pedals? Also green. Cranks too! Someone took the time to attempt to color match this. OVERKILL!!!

I’m going to quit bitching about other peoples bikes and go spend some time with mine. If you got one, ride one.

The McFixie: Or, the Kent Thruster Review

About 8 weeks ago I broke down and bought the bike I said I would never buy. I wanted it. It was interesting. It is fugly and overall NOT a crap bike.

“Why did you buy this?”

It was on sale. I fell for it.

After half an hour of talking to the “Toy Manager” she called in the assistant store manager who could not understand why I wanted to take the wheels off to transport it home.

“Because it won’t fit in the trunk of the car, that’s why. What does it matter?”

He then had to call the store manager, at home, to find out if it was OK for me to disassemble the bike in the store for easier transport. Cluster-F city. It took an hour from entry to the store to me going through self check-out with my bike and two ponies.

[Enough about Wal-Mart antics and My Little Pony.]

I brought the bike home and immediately set it up as a fixed gear. A few laps around the driveway and I discovered the brakes rub. Primarily the rear brakes. The handlebars were rotated 180 degrees from where they should be. A lot more of the parts are plastic than the photo on the Wal-Mart website led me to believe. I brought the bike in my shop to give it a quick once over. Eight hours later I felt somewhat comfortable riding it.

The following item is not recommended or even considered safe, it was just for my own amusement.

I removed all safety features: reflectors, chain guard, bash ring. They were all plastic and going to eventually break. (Side note: I don’t ride this bike after dark and if I plan to, I have a full set of lights for it). Don’t try this at home unless you fully understand what the hell you are doing.

The rear brake was bent causing it to drag. It was bent bad enough that I didn’t even consider trying to bend it back. I took it off and threw it in the scrap parts pile.

The wheels shown on the Wal-Mart website have machined braking surfaces. Mine are painted and severely limit the braking efforts. Either way, the red&yellow/yellow&red combo got swapped around and is now yellow on yellow and red on red. Much more pleasing.

[Ignore the water hose. I didn’t feel like moving it and it kind of matches the photo.]

Staying with the wheels I’ll mention this: my rear wheel is slightly out of round. Not enough to notice while riding but if you give it a spin on the stand it develops a nice hop. I’ll bring my mechanic a sixer of something beer-like and we’ll fix this problem.

The drivetrain is squiffy at best, but for all practical purposes as a “my first fixie” it’s not that bad. The pedals are plastic yet shown as metal on the Wal-Mart website. Standard sized bottom bracket with what feels like the shortest cranks they felt like including. Chain ring is a non standard type and cannot be changed. The flip-flop hub included both a fixed cog with lock ring and a freewheel of the same tooth count. No chain tugs makes getting the chain tension difficult.

The frame feels like it could be cast iron but we’ll just say steel. It’s freaking heavy for no bigger than it is. No bottle cage bosses even though they are shown on the website. Only available in one size, feels like a 52cm. Old school 1” threaded headset instead of 1 1/8” like the current standard. The seat is meh at best and the grips are hellish.

The Kent Thruster “fixie” normally sells for $99.99 but due to some scrapes and scratches mine was discounted to $69.99. Honestly it is NOT as bad as I make it out to be. Don’t expect to get what’s pictured on the website. Do expect their “free assembly” to be bad and to require a few hours of slowly going over for mistakes. For a big-box-store brand bicycle shaped object, I would rather have this bike than one of the many 26” full suspension turds. Yes, it’s too small for me (I’m ~6’1” and 200lbs) but that does not make it any less fun to ride. Now that I have “My First Fixie” out of the way it’s time to start shopping for a more permanent addition to my bike stable.

[You can see the $30 discount scratch on the right side of the handlebars. ]

[Rode it to work, a grand five miles each way. It bordered on masochistic but has started to grow on me.]

[Occasionally I take a decent picture of myself. This is not one of them.]

Tour de Paducah - Alps Leg

An interest has been shown in seeing some of the routes I ride. I've logged my first one on mapmyride.com. As a security precaution I'll not be showing my starting point as my home address. Most, if not all of my routes, will be showing Dairyette as a start or end point. Also, Dairyette is a wonderful place filled with delicious treats to totally negate all your riding efforts.

Tour de Paducah - "Alps" Leg