In one episode of The Flight of the Conchords HBO show our two stars are biking through town when some thugs try and steal their bikes. Little do the bad guys know the can of rap whoop ass about to be unleashed upon them. I just figured this could be useful for some folks out there who might need some ideas on how to bluff their way out of a difficult situation. Note the reflective safety vest being worn throughout.
My new F-150
My new Ford F-150 showed up weeks early with no warning. I suspect they had one on the production line already that was similar to what I wanted and just made it mine. That’s cool, but due to the early arrival I didn’t have the money or insurance ready to rock when I got the call. I couldn’t resist taking it out for a test drive though. Compared to my current truck it’s a Cadillac.
I need to get a few things done to it next week:
…after that she’ll be ready to roll!
The new truck is huge!
Canmore, Alberta Mural
I saw this as I was riding the last km at the end of my overnight tour today.
My kind of fully loaded bike touring...
Surly 26" Conundrum
I need some group support to help me avoid adding one of these to my stable! I keep checking these fat tire unicycles out online when I have an idle moment and thinking what a lot of fun they’d be after the hospital visit phase of the learning curve is over! Luckily I think my healthy fear of being hurt will be my best defense against getting a unicycle…=-) That and massive monthly payments on my new truck…lol!
Maybe someone else could get one and blog about it? That would give me my fix without the actual buying of a unicycle cost…=-)
Surly’s seductive marketing spew:
“The Conundrum. It’s our unicycle frame for those wanting a Large Marge/Endomorph 3.7-compatible unicycle.Why would anyone want to ride a unicycle? What’s the point of riding one wheel, when riding two wheels is arguably faster and easier? There are lots of reasons; here are a few: 1. The pure challenge and satisfaction of learning to ride make it enjoyable. Once you’ve experienced the feeling of accomplishment from riding 3 meters on your own, you’ll be pushing yourself to ride 5 meters, then 10, then 30, then around the block. Pretty soon, you’ll be measuring your goals in kilometers instead of meters. And once you learn to ride a uni, it’s unlikely that you’ll ever lose the skill. 2. It is great exercise. More muscles are used for unicycling than bicycling, because of the inherent balance elements that are introduced. Spinning one wheel across town, or over your favorite single-track, is going to give you a good workout. 3. It’s very portable. The weight of the heaviest production unicycle is rarely over 8kg (17.6 lbs). It will fit in a car without disassembly. And it can fly with you as checked luggage without incurring extra charges if it’s packed correctly. 4. Generally speaking, unicycling is not equipment-intensive and, therefore, not expensive compared to bicycling with the same quality of components. 5. It’s a complement to other physical activities that you participate in. Your balance and coordination will definitely improve as you spend time on one wheel. This increased control translates to bicycling, snowboarding, skiing, skating, etc.
If you open your mind to possibilities and put aside common stereotypes, you’ll realize that unicycle riding is for all types of people…not just jugglers, acrobats, and clowns. Unicyclist come from every age group, every social, economic, and racial background. Most unicycles get used for cruising around the neighborhood, but many have toured the globe, while others have rolled over some extremely technical off-road trails and stunts…stuff that most bicyclist wouldn’t attempt to ride. Unicycles are ridden on pavement, dirt, slickrock, and snow. Most types of terrain and trails explored by bicyclists have also enticed unicyclists. That being said, we thought it would be appropriate to offer a one-wheeled vehicle that can provide the fat-tired stability and durability that Surly bicycle framesets are known for.
The Conundrum will be offered in two sizes: 24″ and 26″. Both are designed to use a Large Marge rim with a Magura hydraulic rim brake. You don’t have to use our rim; rims from other manufacturers will certainly work. But the dedicated Magura mounts are spaced to accommodate a 65mm-wide rim. You don’t have to use a brake; some riders like ’em—some don’t. We simply give you the option. Of course, we made room for the widest production bicycle tire on the market…the Surly Endomorph 3.7. The Endomorph is only offered in the 26″ size at this time, but the 24″ Conundrum was designed to accept a 24 x 3.7″ tire when this size becomes available. A 24″ x 3.0″ DH tire is recommended in the mean time.
The Conundrum was designed with the same functionality and durability criteria that we use when bringing any of our frames to life. The frame is constructed from 4130 CroMoly, of course. The legs were formed, to our specifications, to fit into our own investment cast bearing clamps. The seat tube will accept a 28.6mm seatpost, and we’ll include seatpost shims to accommodate 27.2mm and 22.2mm seatposts as well. Our bearing clamps have a 42mm I.D. that work with stock Kris Holm hub bearings. We’ll include the appropriate shims for 41.28mm (1-5/8″) O.D. Profile hub bearings and the 40mm O.D. bearings used on many brands of hubs. By including a number of seatpost shims and bearing shims, we give you the freedom to use many brands and sizes of components to build up your Surly rig. That’s the Surly way. Like our frames and forks, the Conundrum will be powdercoated \to protect it from abrasion and corrosion. We’ll even include a 31.8mm Surly Constrictor seatpost clamp to keep your perch in check.
Are you intrigued? Do you have what it takes to roll some some solo fat rubber? Do you want to try something new? Do you want a uni that will go where others can’t? Yes? Well, it looks like the Conundrum is the vehicle for you.”
My Pink Hippo Pugsley!
I’ve posted some Burning Man photos on Flickr here. Overall we had a great time although conditions were more challenging than when Sharon and I had been to the event in 2006 and 2007 respectively. Our bikes worked flawlessly and made getting around Black Rock City a lot of fun. I’ll post some tips on what worked and what didn’t when I’ve had a chance to recover from the trip!
Sharon's Frog Bike - thanks Jeremy!...=-)
Photo: Tristan Savatier - Flickr
Photo: Tristan Savatier - Flickr
Photo: Tristan Savatier - Flickr
Photo: TxByteBear - Flickr
Photo: Rahav Segev - Flickr
No more new toys for a while...=-(
I spend a lot of the money I make on bikes/boards and travel. The three main reasons I can afford to do so are:
I don’t have a mortgage. I don’t have a car payment. So I pretty much pay my rent, cellphone bill and internet service each month and the rest of my income is disposable. I have no complaints. I’d much rather be bike touring or kiteboarding in Baja for a month in Dec than own a big house or a big screen TV. Ultimately money is the freedom to make choices and I’m happy with mine. I do get teased by people [incl. my GF!] about my lack of furniture, my fleet of bikes and how much time I spend traveling to do sports. That’s cool…I know it’s a bit weird in our society to not own a TV or a sofa or have a family – yet be surrounded by thousands of $$ in sports equipment.
Well my plan for financial freedom took a small detour this week when I decided it was time to replace my 1997 Mazda pick up truck. I’ve enjoyed many years of trouble free service from my little truck and many years of low cost operation as I paid it off a long time ago. However, its age is showing and while I have a well paying job I figured I should get a new vehicle and pay it off as fast as possible. So I’ll be the proud owner of a new Ford F-150 in a couple months [they are building the truck to my specs].
The downside is that I need to focus my disposable income on the task of paying off the truck as fast as possible. I’ve committed to doing so in 36 months, but ideally I’d like to be done in 24 months. That means no new bikes or boards and definitely no chance of taking up any new sports. I still intend on traveling as I think that’s vital for my mental and physical health, but I’ll just have to make sure I do so as economically as possible.
I must say I am excited to drive a new truck that doesn’t rattle and shake as it rolls down the highway – not to mention being able to go uphill at speeds faster than 80kph will be cool!
from Byran Beretta’s Facebook page…=-)
Waterproof means it keeps ice & water in as well!
I’m not sure if I’ve ever posted this tip before, but since I use it a lot I figured it was worth posting again regardless.
A lot of times I’m riding my bikes to parties where having an icy cold beverage would be lovely. One easy way to do it is to put your beverages at the bottom of an Ortlieb and grab a bag of ice on the way to the event. The ice will keep your drinks cold and the ice + water will stay in the pannier so you can even bring them inside. At night one bag of ice has lasted until the next morning which is about when I am heading home!
I’ll usually take one Ortlieb for drinks and load the other one up with spare clothes, a frisbee, snacks, a blanket to sit on etc…
Beer a bikers best friend...
Of course if you need more capacity you can strap a couple 70L coolers to each side of a Big Dummy – been there done that, but even I’ll admit that’s getting excessive for bicycle transported refreshment…=-)
Sharon's Burning Man Ride
It took me a lot of running around to finish off Sharon’s Burning Man bike, but it’s finally completed. Jeremy gave me the SS cruiser and I added:
All told we have $85 in the bike and it should last a couple years of festival going – not a bad deal. Sharon has a whole bunch of lights and other decorations for this bike, but they won’t go on until we are actually on the playa in a couple weeks.
OMG my Pugsley has never been so clean!
I actually washed my Pugsley yesterday….*gasp*! It has never been washed and I was amazed how clean it looked with just a little TLC…=-) I’m going to decorate it with fun fur and lights for the burn so I figured I should get the mud and dirt off it first. I’ll also be using my Epic Designs frame bag as well as Ortlieb panniers to haul stuff on the playa. I’m not sure, but I may be the first Epic Designs equipped cyclist to rock Burning Man…!
Photo: Beautifulsoul on Flickr
I’m working on our Burning Man bikes at the moment. I’m going to ride my Surly Pugsley and Sharon is going to ride a BRC cruiser Jeremy donated to the cause. I just got a set of cruiser bars for Sharon’s bike today for $20 at a LBS – sweet deal! So her bike is ready to roll. We’ll both be decorating our bikes with lights, fabric and other do dads. They should look very cool. I’ll post some pics when I get back from the event as we won’t finish decorating the bikes until we arrive at Black Rock City.
I’m excited because in 2007 [my first Burning Man experience] I had a crap bike and didn’t really decorate it. This year I’ll be riding a super fun bike and it will look really cool. I’m going to donate the two bikes I took to Burning Man in 2007 to friends who don’t have anything to ride yet. They aren’t great, but they are better than nothing.
The Pugsely rocks Shambhala!
I just got back from the Shambhala Music Festival and had an amazing time riding my Pugsley. Burning Man should be even more fun in the bike department as the event is huge so there is so much more to explore on a bike.
I need some bars similar to these.
I’m in need of some cruiser bars similar to the ones shown above. If you live in or near Calgary and have some in any condition I’d love to buy or borrow them. Jeremy was kind enough to give me an old BRC cruiser for my GF to use at Burning Man this year – thanks!! I replaced the saddle on it with a comfy one from Canadian Tire and now all it needs are a set of cruiser bars. The bike is not in good enough condition to invest a ton of money so I was hoping someone local might have some bars she could use for Burning Man without me having to buy a brand new set.
Riding the Bow Valley Parkway on my BBC 2-4 Cross Bike
I’ve been really busy the past while and not able to blog as much as I’d like. So if you want more blog content don’t forget I have a blog on the Bow Cycle website as well and I post there once or twice a week.
Walter and the stolen Tikit rescue posse!
I reported that Walter from Bike Friday had his Tikit stolen last March. Luckily he got it back with some help from a Bike Friday triplet riding team that had keen eyes. Read Walter’s story here.
Walter's newly upgraded Tikit
His Tikit did not return unscathed, but it gave Walter the chance to add a little bling and upgrade his bike. Note the bike cuffs lock on the main tube. Click here to see what Walter’s Tikit looked like before it was stolen and subsequently upgraded.
Congrats Walter – glad you got your bike back…=-)
Sharon's Upgraded City MTB
Like a lot of people my girlfriend Sharon owns a decent mountain bike and his no interest in mountain biking. Living in the middle of a large city she has many cycling opportunities, but the slow uncomfortable mountain bike doesn’t encourage her to try and use it to get around. I’m a big advocate of getting the right bike for the job, however, there is no point investing $1000+ unless you have validated you have a serious desire to actually incorporate cycling into your life. Since Sharon’s Burning Man bike was stolen I figured it made the most sense to upgrade her mountain bike for use as a city bike this summer and then make it her new Burning Man bike at the end of the summer. If she uses it a lot over the next few months that would justify the purchase of a new city bike and all the mods we made are useful for cruising the playa at Burning Man.
Jandd Grocery Panniers
In an earlier post I mentioned buying some Jandd grocery panniers for Sharon’s bike. These have turned out to be an excellent choice for her cargo needs. They fold flat when not in use and with open tops are super easy to simply drop stuff in and then grab it as needed. They offer no security or weather protection, but this bike is not going to be ridden in the rain and the panniers detach so easily they can come in with her if she locks up the bike for a while.
Jandd Panniers Top View
I mounted the Jandd grocery panniers to a Filzer PR-2 rack I bought at MEC. You can also see in the photo above a Planet Bike Superflash rear blinkie for night riding.
Terry Ladies Cite X Saddle
Not surprisingly the skinny hard racing saddle that came stock on the bike didn’t make her butt happy so I replaced it with a wider ergonomic Terry Cite X saddle. So far she has been happy on rides up to 1hr. As her range expands we’ll consider trying out a Brooks or some other saddle as needed , but for shorter trips the Terry seems to work quite well and needs no attention.
Revised Cockpit and QR Wicker Basket
The cockpit need some work to make it more comfortable so I replaced the flat MTB bar with an ergonomic Thorn Comfort Bar MK2 and added Ergon Grips. For style and utility I installed a quick release wicker basket – which is great for holding items that need easy access or for a fashionable run to the market.
Typically I would have installed some BMX platforms to round out the contact points on this bike, but it already had some decent platform pedals installed that we’ll wear out before upgrading.
Fat knobbies aren’t useful when cruising around town so I swapped in some Schwalbe Big Apple tires in the 26 x 2.15″ size. Inflating them to a moderate pressure yields a reasonably fast and comfortable ride. I saved the knobbies and will reinstall them for Burning Man and possibly move the Big Apples over to her new city bike if she gets one and it has 26″ wheels. I wouldn’t mind trying these Big Apples on my Surly Big Dummy at some point if Sharon doesn’t need them any longer…lol…don’t tell her I covet her tires!…=-)
2.15" Schwalbe Big Apple Tires
I’ve tried to be low pressure about biking. I ride to her place 99% of the time rather than drive since it’s only 15 blocks or so. I also ride to appointments, parties etc… and walk as much as I can. I figure being a positive example is more effective than nagging someone. So far I’ve been pleased that she’s used her bike a fair bit…including climbing the steepest hill in downtown without stopping as well as some fun night rides home from parties. She has even decided to store her bike in the front lobby so it’s easier to grab on the way out rather than haul it up and down to the basement. Sharon has talked about commuting by bike and I’ve offered to ride with her all the way to work in the mornings for company and to provide encouragement & mechanical support!
It will be interesting to see what happens now that she has a bike that is both comfortable and useful. As Mugatu says…”…girls on bikes are soooooo HOT right now!…”….=-)
Lefty & Righty - you guys rock!
I just wanted to send a shout out to my feet for being so awesome the past couple months. Since I hurt my left foot back in Aug ‘07 it took until Feb ‘08 to be mostly back in action and really it wasn’t until March ‘08 that I was pretty much able to do everything I wanted again without pain. I spent a lot of time limping along and I was quite unhappy about my situation due to the slow pace of my recovery. Then the other day I was running to catch up with my friends and realized “…I’m running! Sweet!…”
These days I appreciate my mobility a lot more than I did before my injury. Every time I go for a walk, bike ride or out dancing I remember that wasn’t possible just a short time ago. On the upside having gone through this process has made so many everyday tasks special.
I keep the cast and crutches in the corner of my bedroom to remind me how lucky I am to be back in action…=-)
Photo: James Tworow
A typical Saturday in Calgary found us rolling across town in search of smooth pavement to longboard and a delicious brunch. The Big Dummy wasn’t even maxed out. We had room for one more passenger! Good work Surly…=-)
Sarah biking the playa in 2007
I’m thinking Burning Man may be in the cards for me this year. It’s not a 100% yet, but I’m going to work out the details and see what happens. One question is what to do for a bike? In 2007 I used an old MTB from a friend. It worked and I still have it, but it’s in rough condition due to the very fine dust on the playa. I didn’t really enjoy riding it while at the burn, but it was nice to leave it unlocked and walk away for hours knowing it was most likely going to still be there when I returned and worst case if it was “borrowed” it was not a great loss.
I’m considering bringing one of my nice bikes – probably my Pugsley. I just have to ponder what the hassles of having to lock it all the time will be like and what the damage to the components is likely to be. I’m hoping the dust won’t penetrate the Alfine – that would be tragic!
Anyone bring nice bikes to Burning Man? If so what was your experience like? Would you have preferred to have a beater MTB instead?
My Burning Man rig in 2007.
The Big Dummy is up for the job...
After sitting idle all winter in the corner of my apartment I decided it was time to unleash the Big Dummy for its first ride of 2009. I needed to drop off a Dahon Mu P8 test bike at Bow Cycle so Kurt rode the Dahon and I trucked along on the Big Dummy.
more fun than should be legal...=-)
The right pedal fell off before I had managed 10′ on the Big Dummy – apparently I hadn’t gotten around to finishing the job of installing it sometime over the winter! With that small incident taken care of we rolled the 15kms to Bow Cycle enjoying a lovely spring day in Calgary.
Rebecca on the move...
On the way back from Bow Cycle I towed Kurt on his longboard for 15kms. Strangely enough this is an ideal arrangement for both of us…he gets to ride for a really long time with no pushing and I get a better workout…=-)
Angela goes hands free...
We stopped at Eau Caire for a drink and to people watch. When we ran into Rebecca and Angela of course they had to try out the Dummy.
Towing Rebecca...
I’m looking forward to lots of good times on this bike….=-)
11yr Anniversary Edition 1x1
Surly’s latest complete bike:
Ideal for….ummm….actually I have no idea what this bike is ideal for!
Have you seen this Tikit?
Walter Lapchynski’s Tikit has been stolen. You can see photos of his bike here and read his post discussing the theft here. It’s a unique bike so hopefully he’ll get it back.
A cunning new technique I read about on-line...=-)
My Santa Cruz Nomad is not very clean any longer1
Did you know beer is a performance enhancing substance?
and loving it...
Why do you need so many bikes?
Fairly often I get asked why I need so many bikes – both in real life and online. A lot of the time it’s said in jest, but some of the time people get downright snarky with me as if I paid for my bikes from their kid’s college fund. I generally ignore these questions and move on with my life as fast as possible, but occasionally I get tweaked and ruminate on the stupidity and irony of the question. I had one of the later moments yesterday and came up with my “Top 10 Witty Comebacks!”:
I will never argue that I don’t have way more bikes than I need or can even ride properly, but when I look around me at the stuff people buy and the things they spend their time on I don’t, for the most part, see objects or activities that make any more sense than owning 7-10 bicycles.
I also don’t go around bugging people about their life choices. You want to have 3 big screen HD TVs, satelite and digital cable TV service as well as a 17 speaker surround sound home theatre with heated electronically operated lazy-boy recliners upgraded with built in beer fridges???…cool…enjoy…I’m too busy riding bike, working on my bikes, reading about bikes and writing about bikes to care…=-)
Bike Magazine Dec 2004
My last season of hardcore MTBing was 2004. I did a bit trail riding in 2005, but for the most part I was switching over to the dark-side of road riding in all it’s forms. I didn’t realize it, but I guess when I saw the end approaching I stashed a few of the best issues of Bike Magazine and Dirt Rag in my office. There they sat forgotten until just a few days ago when I found them again.
With a renewed interest in riding dirt I figured they’d be worth another read. I was right. I must have only kept the best of the best as just about every issue is great. It’s funny reading about MTBing from the perspective of 2004. Back then 4″ of travel was all mountain and 2.5″ of travel was XC. Now 4″ is XC and 6″ is all mountain. 36mm forks were just making their debut in 2004.
What I like most of all aren’t the out dated gear reviews or bike showdowns, but rather the road trip and destination articles. It’s nice to see that no matter how technology changes the spirit of exploration and the joy of riding sweet singletrack doesn’t change.
Image: Bike Magazine Dec 2004
I hate those 3-D optical illusion puzzles that people have. You know the ones where you are supposed to stare at a jumble of weird colours for an hour and try not to focus so you see a flying dragon in 3-D…lame! Well I just found a bike related optical illusion puzzle in an old issue of Bike Magazine. There is supposed to be a bike in the image above. I’ve tried staring at it…looking at it with my peripheral vision..blurring my focus…everything and so far I haven’t seen a bicycle.
I just wanted to make sure this wasn’t some kind of practical joke so if anyone sees a bike let me know….I’ll keep trying!
Turner RFX All Mountain
“Recently I have been asked if Turner Bikes are warranted if they are purchased on E Bay or from ‘unauthorized’ dealers. Obviously these riders do not know much about Turner Bikes customer service and I would appreciate ya’ll sharing this info.
Of course we will warrant a frame bought anywhere from anyone as long as it is within the warranty period.Save your receipt. Our warranty is also transferable with a used frame, all the second buyer has to do is obtain the original sales receipt for that frame from the original purchaser, warranty transferred.
We of course offer a $500 trade in on any age Turner Bike in any condition to anyone that has it regardless of having a receipt. If it is a genuine Turner, it will get genuine service of one kind or another.
Our commitment is to the owner of a Turner frame and keeping them on the trail as cost effectively as possible.
David Turner”
I have never owned a Turner, but this attitude has just generated a great deal of good will towards the brand and when I’m in the market for a new bike I’ll give them extra special consideration. Nicely done Turner…=-)
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