Thursday, December 15, 2016

Dead-Eyed Santa - Entry #1!

I have received the first (and hopefully not last) entry in my dead-eyed Santa contest! This one was submitted by John and features a nicely unenthusiastic Santa holding Scotty the dog, who doesn't look totally pumped about things either. Perhaps Santa wasn't a dog person. Perhaps Santa was confused by the fact that Scotty was not a Scottie... we'll never know. No matter what, this is a great start. Thanks John!



Yer Pal,
R A N T W I C K

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Dead-Eyed Santa Contest!

I've never been a big fan of the Christmas season; I blame part of my crank on 5 years or so working in retail in a Mall. I also have trouble getting behind anything that stresses a lot of people out. But I am trying to change, so I am trying to catch the holiday spirit by hosting a festive contest!




I think lots of families have at least one picture like this. I love them. The child pictured here is my now 18 year old daughter. Ah, these are the special times a father never forgets, you know?

Anyway, please send me your dead-eyed Santa pictures. The winner will be chosen by the man at my work who has been Santa for many years at the kid's party hosted at my place of employment. He has a real big white beard. His name is Larry, and he is not the man pictured above. Perhaps, when I tell Larry about this great honour, he will allow me to post his picture here on the blog! Won't that be fun?

Rules:
- you must know the child in the picture personally
- I reserve the right to crop/zoom your photo to bring out that special "just kill me" holiday feeling
- pic must be received in the year 2016


Prize:
- A childishly hand-crafted tree ornament commemorating your victory and $20 to the charity of your choice! 

I know lots of people would only have a hard copy photo, but I made the one above by just taking a photo of the photo with my phone. Phun! Email your pic to "rantwick_at_gmail_dot_com". If you want to use Facebook or Twitter or Instagram to send it, that's cool too; just be sure to direct it straight at me or I might miss it. Please spread the word! If you're into #hastags please use the one I'll be using on Instagram and Twitter, #rantwick_dead_eyed_santa


Ho Ho Ho! Hoolleee Contest!
R A N T W I C K

Saturday, December 10, 2016

Are You #%^1n' Kiddin' Me #10

Well, I've been watching TV commercials and getting annoyed again. This time it is a brand that many cyclists (especially the tech gear lovers) know well, Garmin. Here's the commercial:





OK, so where to start. First, the small, personal annoyance: Why does it appear to be effective marketing to paint spouses (wives in particular) as annoying shrews with these "honey-do" lists?


Hey, don't blame me. It's Garmin's commercial.


Even the phrase "honey-do" pisses me off. People seem to like a homonym for something like honeydew, I guess, but that's no excuse. We all have shit to do, for our families, our friends, ourselves and sometimes even, god forbid, for our spouses! WTF is wrong with that? I'll bet you a gazillion dollars that men who feel hard done by because they have chores or errands to do are also pampered little assholes who married clones of their fawning mothers rather than somebody they could respect for doing a hell of a lot more than pulling their own weight, as most wives and Moms I know do. Grrrr. Honey-do. Bah. Urg.

Now, let's turn to the more obvious problem with this commercial. To quote the commercial:

It's an insane amount of stuff, so you can do the one thing you're supposed to do: Drive.

Are You #%^1n' Kiddin' Me? How does an "insane amount of stuff" help you concentrate on driving? Is putting all the distractions of your phone on your dash so you can see them occurring much less distracting? I don't think so, and neither does the cartoon man in the commercial. Where is he looking as he travels along being annoyed by his wife? At his Garmin! Look!


And then he's


Then, at the end when he's supposed to be "doing the one thing you're supposed to do: Drive", he's still not right...


Sorry, cartoon man, but I need to re-arrange your face!


I lacked the skills to turn his head, but you get my drift.

Now as an added and completely unrelated bonus, I took this picture of my TV a good while ago:


All I inferred from this commercial is that people who rush in to Honda sales events are so stupid they don't know how to carry a pizza. So sad.


Thanks for reading! Yer Pal,
R A N T W I C K

Saturday, December 3, 2016

The King of Autumn - 2016

Well, I didn't get around to taking a picture of the King this year until he was starting to go bald, but for what's it's worth, here he is:



For those of you who aren't familiar, I dubbed this tree the King of Autumn years ago. He was the starting point of an annual foliage contest, the Rantwick Autumn Tree Smackdown! That contest is currently on hiatus lazicus (look it up in the rantwick-to-latin dictionary) and may well see a revival in 2017, but obviously I'm to late too do it this year.

Anyway, it was a weird year because many leaves were falling away while the lower boughs were still green. At least the King didn't look like these jokers in the same park...


I mean, what was going on with these weirdos I wonder? When I retrieved this photo from my phone, it reminded me that I had a something else I wanted to write up about that little photo stop. Since it is really just some trivial ramblings, I have just now decided that they MUST be included in this post! 

Just past the right edge of this picture sat the Rantwick family car containing Mrs. and Daughter Rantwick, who were patiently waiting for me. Just past the left edge of this picture were a couple of young girls doing cartwheels and saumersalts and stuff. Like this:






When I got back to the car my wife and daughter said they were glad I hadn't lingered around or taken too many pictures. You know why? They said a middle aged guy on his own taking pictures in a park anywhere near children was creepy. I don't know what made me more sad, the fact that anyone would think that about a simple tree nut like me or the fact that I saw their point. We live in a fearful and cynical time; I can't claim to know where reasonable caution ends and paranoia begins, but it seems to me that most of us are more afraid than we need to be. Then again, tell that to a victim of somebody awful. Urg. Have I got you completely bummed out yet? I've brought myself down pretty good, gotta say.

On the brighter side, I got to draw thisand this for this blog post, which was fun. As easy as it is to search up an image of whatever you want these days, I still take great pleasure in making things like this from scratch. Anyway, that's it for now and I hope to be posting again soon. Thanks so much for stopping and reading this!


Yer Pal,



R A N T W I C K

Sunday, November 27, 2016

Catching Up

July 18? That can't be the last time I posted here! Holy crap, man! I mean, like, I stopped posting for a while and Donald Fucking Trump got elected President of the United States of America. W T F. PREVIOUSLY POSTED POLITICAL RANT REDACTED.

When I originally posted this I was a little more judgy and ranty than usual. There's plenty of bad vibe political stuff out there and I really don't need to be piling on like that, so sorry. More than ever, I think I need to revert to my usual cycle joy joy ways. Also, I will try to remember that a few beers go a lot further than they used to with me these days, if you catch my drift.


Speaking of things we don't speak of, however, I had a stroke about eight months ago that I swore I wouldn't mention again. I remain committed to not making this blog about stroke, but as many of my readers may have figured at the time, I won't be able to talk about myself (the single most important human ever) without talking about stroke. Mine was a hemorrhagic, not ischemic, which makes me a stroke weirdo, really. Anything I have to say doesn't apply to most stroke victims.

When I went into rehab, my singlemost important goal was riding again. I'm doing it on a regular basis now and have been since mid summer, but it drains me in a way it never did before. That said, I still love it and continue to ride as much as I can, usually to work and back on my new super duper bike of sick obsessive buildy love.

I've got some overdue pics of The King and some video I hope to post soon, but for now I hope it is enough that I've touched base. If you're reading this, I Love  You. If you're reading this and have read this blog before, I Love You Even More


Yer Pal,
R A N T W I C K

Monday, July 18, 2016

A Canadian Bike Commute: Courtesy Gone Wild!!!

I'm not gonna write much for this, since the video does it all. You will notice in watching it that I am much like a small child who repeats something they find funny way too many times. But this is my blog, so tough! I tell that one way too often too! Hah!




Yer Pal,
R A N T W I C K

Saturday, July 9, 2016

The One True Bike - Part 5 - Finished!

You know how I was documenting the building of my latest bike in awful mind-numbing detail? Screw that, the bike is done! I mean, who wants to waste their time reading that shit let alone writing it? Even unrepentant cycle freaks really just want to see the bike and the selected gear. So here we go!

As I've written previously, this bike is an attempt to put all the features I've loved on other bikes into my perfect 2 wheeled machine, the One True Bike.

Now that it is finished, I can honestly say I wouldn't change a thing on this bike. I love it. Period. It rides beautifully, in just the way I had hoped. Wait; I would (will) add a Brooks saddle, probably a Cambium. And a front rack. I'm out of cash for now.

I loved the solid feel and big tires of my heavy Cube city bike. This bike weighs in at 13.6 kg (30 lbs) including accessories, where the Cube was 16 kg. This bike feels super solid although its frame and some other bits are lighter, largely thanks to wide, 40-spoke Sun Rhyno Lites with 38c Schwalbe Marathon Plus (puncture resistant) tires. I got the wheels from a place called VeloMine in the US. Good prices on what appear to be pretty good wheels. In my case they had no-name alloy hubs with cartridge bearings. I know many bike freaks out there swear by cup n' cone hubs for serviceability reasons, but I'm not good to my bikes like that and I prefer cartridge bearings. Anyway, these wheels should be great for handling my considerable weight plus the loads I plan to carry for camping and stuff.

My gearing choices were informed by how much I like simplicity and how much I dislike grip shifters. The 8 speed Nexus on my Cube was OK, but I didn't like the mystery of it all... I'm not mechanically inclined enough to delve into the guts of an IGH. My fixed gear was wonderfully simple of course, but gears are sometimes nice, particularly when carrying loads. I ended up going for a simple and solid 1X10 setup using Shimano Zee MTB/DH components. My highest gear is 36X11, which with my wheels and cranks gives me 89.4 gear inches. I won't achieve high speeds on this bike, but that was never the point. My low end is 36X36, 27.3 gear inches, which should get me over most hills, even loaded, in my non-mountainous part of the country. The Zee crankset uses the Shimano Hollowtech II system, which I like better than anything else I've ever tried.

I like racks and fenders. I will probably add a front rack soon. For now though, the Axiom Journey rear rack and SKS Chromoplastics are both items I've been really pleased with in the past.

Last, I have become tired of trying to stand my bike up, particularly with a loaded pannier or panniers, so I got a two-legged kickstand and I really like it. It is rather heavy, but weight was not a big consideration with this bike. Both legs tuck up under the left chainstay, which I thought pretty cool.

The rest of the bits and pieces were chosen based on price, aesthetics and availability, or previous experience (like the best mirror I have found). Now, to pics and specs and costs! Oh Boy!



Now, to the money spent. I've included all the boring bits like cable hangers and such because when you are a guy like me building up from bare frame at home rather than in a shop, they really add up and must be considered as part of total costs. Speaking of total costs, here they are, taxes and shipping included. Prices are in CAD. Most components came from UK online retailers, some came from Amazon.ca and the wheels from VeloMine in the USA:


Basic Elements:

Trek 20" FX Alpha Black Aluminum frame (used)         50
Deda Carbon Cross Fork                                           171
Hope Pick N'  Mix headset + star nut and cap             102
Deda Elementi Zero1 Road Stem                                32
Bontrager Big Earl Handlebar (used spare)                    0
Ritchey Logic 2 Bolt Seatpost                                      25
MEC Classic Saddle                                                    22
Shimano M530 SPD Trail Clipless MTB Pedals               38
Ergon GP1 Grips Black, Large, Standard                      38


Wheels:

Sun Rhyno Lite 40 spoke 29er wheelset rim brake       280
Schwalbe Marathon Plus Black, 700c, 38c X2               76
Vee Rubber Road Tube 700c, 38c, Presta X2                7
Velox Rim Tape Cloth White, 19mm X2                        7



Drivetrain:

SRAM PC1031 10 Speed Chain Silver                          28
Shimano Deore HG50 10 Spd MTB Cassette 11-36t      38
Shimano Zee M640 10 Speed Crankset,36t, 170mm    135
Shimano Zee M640 Shadow+ 10 Speed Derailleur       50
Shimano Zee M640 1x10sp Trigger Shifter                  32
Shimano Road Gear PTFE Cableset High Tech Grey      28


Braking:

Shimano MTB Brake PTFE Cableset High Tech Grey      28
Tektro CR720 Cyclo Cross Cantis (Front and Rear)       48
Shimano Ultegra R780 Flat Bar Brake Levers               41
Tektro Seat Clamp Cable Hanger                                14
Tektro Cable Hanger - Fork Mount                              12


Accessories:

RockBros Classical Stainless Bell (Black)                     24
SKS 50mm 700c Chromoplastic Fenders                     42
Foldable Double Leg Kickstand                                   27
Axiom Journey Rear Rack                                          56
Mirrycle Mountain Mirror Handlebar Mount                  19


Misc:

Taxes and Duties charged separately                       150


                                           all-in GRAND TOTAL    1620 CAD
                                                                            1242 USD  

It pains me a little to actually account for every little thing and see how it all adds up. Honesty with oneself is important, though, I think. In addition, I've now got a what I consider a truly kickass bike that suits me in every damn way I can think of. What's that worth?                                               

I know I have mentioned many brand names and retailers in this post. Please know I have received nothing from anyone for writing any of this.

Last but not least, some vanity shots:












Good grief am I loving this thing. I'm so lucky!
Yer Pal,
R A N T W I C K

PS - I started this post saying nobody needs all that tedious detail, and then proceeded to provide tons of it. Hmph. Hopefully you just skipped to the pitchers.

Saturday, May 14, 2016

The One True Bike - Part 4 - Headset

As always with one of these installments, I must begin with a warning. The following is overly detailed bike crap of interest only to the mentally disturbed and me, not that those are mutually exclusive. Continue at your own risk.

I have a real thing for super-smooth and some would say over-priced headsets. My fixed gear had a Cane Creek "Solos" headset (how fitting, yes?) that was superb - the bars were almost too floppy, they turned so effortlessly, without a shred of play when doing the front-brake-on test*. Cane Creek doesn't make the Solos any more and appear to have replaced it with their 100 series.

Headset shopping is a terrible opportunity to up-sell yourself. I confess to falling victim to this again this time, but I take some solace in knowing that I didn't succumb to the "Chris King headset bling" effect. As with the Solos, I opted for something that was supposed to be competitive at a lower if still too high price point from Hope, a well respected UK brand. The thing that sealed the deal for me was that the Hope headsets were offered in what they called "Pick n' Mix" formats: You could buy the top and bottom headset parts separately, which allowed me to be confident I was getting the correct bits for fitting my straight 1-1/8" steer tube into the frame's tapered (different diameter top and bottom) head tube. Here's what I bought:






The star nut and top cap pictured were not included with the headset - had to buy it separately. The cost of all pictured was 101.97 CAD all-in, shipping included. Thus far I have eluded paying tax or duty on my purchases from the UK. I get free shipping for orders over $99 CAD, so I've been keeping the orders value as close to that as possible in the hopes that a lower $ value makes them of less interest to customs. In addition, Chain Reaction has a "regular mail" option which is less likely to get automatic attention at the border. These things combined have helped me so far, I think, though shipping is slower and I can't track the package. Anyway, my family members were mortified that these little things cost a hundred bucks. I guess they would have really freaked had I bought a $200 King!

First, I just took my new parts and dry-fit them to the fork and frame to make sure I hadn't messed up. I had not. Yay!!! Next, I decided to try to be more responsible and figure out how to press the cups rather than whack 'em into place with a piece of wood and a hammer like the last time I did this. I used a couple of videos by RJ The Bike Guy to guide me in making and using a headset tool.



Doing the install https://youtu.be/yAXFyfBJhKU 

I don't see much use in making videos of myself doing stuff I learned from other videos. Things went about the same as they did for RJ, and now I have a bike frame and fork that are attached to each other!






The stem in the picture is a flashy silver Race Face Deus XC that I bought years ago on Ebay for my fixed gear build. I ended up using the exact same stem, but shorter. At 130mm it may well be too long for this build, but I hope not because love how it looks and I don't see silver ones like this around as much now. We shall see, I suppose. As you can see, the fork is still uncut and will remain so until I can play around with bike fit, figure out how high the seat will be, etc. Only then will I make that fateful cut, insert the necessary spacers and install the star nut and cap.

I know I have mentioned brand names and retailers in this post. Please know I have received nothing from anyone for writing any of this.

That's it for this part, except the cost tally:

Used Frame                                            50.00
Headset cup removal tool                         fear (0.00)
Deda Cross Fork                                      171.00
Hope headset + star nut and cap              102.00
Home-made headset press                         20.00
Stem                                                      spare, so "Free"

TOTAL                                                    343.00


Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

* A properly installed/adjusted headset will allow the bars to turn smoothly and easily, and have no "play" when the front brake is applied while attempting to rock the rock the bike forward and backward.

Friday, April 22, 2016

We Shall Not Speak Of This Again

Hi all! I have the BEST excuse for not writing ever. I had a stroke! Honest to god, yer pal RANTWICK had a scary incident involving a brain hemorrhage in his cerebellum. Your cerebellum is at the bottom, right behind the brain stem, which in my case was in danger from the bleed; I was super lucky to live through it. I am even luckier that a full recovery is likely, although it may take some time.

One reason things look good is that I'm 46 years old, which is young for a Strokie Joe. Strokie Joe is my new nickname around the house. My balance and motor skills with my arms have been affected such that cycling as a rehab goal may be possible by late summer. We shall see. At first my speech was halting and slurred, but it is almost back to normal now, so who knows, maybe it'll be sooner.

I had my stroke on March 29 under the best of circumstances. My wife and I were together at home and an ambulance took me to the best hospital in the COUNTRY for strokes, University Hospital at Western University in London Ontario. The level of competent care and compassion I got there still brings tears to my eyes when I think about it. I was there for 9 days. There was no findable cause for any of this. Scary, right?

I wasn't kidding with the title of this post. I wanted my online friends to know what happened, but I don't want this blog to be about this stuff at all. There are plenty of good online sources of online information and discussion about brain and rehab stuff. If you want to engage on those topics I recommend you try those. If, on the other hand, you have an appetite for the random ravings of an affable bike freak, I'm still yer man. My faculties, while still "special" as ever, have not been affected.

You can expect the next post to be a return to form. It may be about wheels or video or headsets, but definitely not heads. Well, I guess it could be about heads; I never really know. But not my head. Nuh-uh.


Yer Pal,
R A N T W I C K

Friday, March 25, 2016

WTF Attack - This Time Due to Strange People Sounds

Hi all! My WTF syndrome has been re-launched, this time by some sounds I and a co-worker made when she almost hit me with a door by accident:




Normal people might get a laugh, delete the video and that would be the end of it. But not me. Oh no. I heard a mouse and an owl. Once the notion to use the mouse and owl sound we made somehow struck me, WTF syndrome took over, resulting in the following adorable story!






WTF has produced much weirder and less cute stuff in the past, so I'm OK with this in comparison. Happy Easter, everyone!


Yer Pal,
R A N T W I C K

Friday, March 18, 2016

The One True Bike - Part 3 - Fork

WARNING: Unrelenting tedious detail of interest only to mentally unstable bike freaks follows. Read at your own risk of nearly fatal boredom.


Picking and buying a fork for a bicycle  should not be a big deal. Yet, I agonized. I ebayed and online shopped and brick and mortar store shopped and big-used-bike-part-store shopped. I researched, debated and dreamed about forks (honest). That was all before I bought the thing.

Let me back up a bit. I wanted a carbon fork for this bike. That made little sense, because in many respects I wanted this bike to be a very durable. Steel would have been a more rational choice. Thankfully, when building your own bike you can do whatever you want. My fixie had one and godammit I just wanted this new bike to have one too. In the immortal words of Selena Gomez, the heart wants what it wants, y'know***?

That said, there were some pretty great steel offerings; the usual good stuff from Surly (Cross-Check fork) and this lovely chromed thing on ebay (go to ebay and search cross fork):





As you can see, this fork has canti studs and fender eyelets, a requirement for me on this build. The fork pictured above would have been $200 US after delivery, then add taxes and duty. The Surly fork was better, at about $130 US and there are some bike stores that can get me Surly stuff in London now. No matter how I slice it though, the declining value of the Canadian dollar is really hurting me on costs. Canada has almost no good online sources for inexpensive bike parts. The UK has been my best friend for most bike part purchases, and this was no different.

Where was I? Ah yes, steel forks. The steel forks available were elegant and a little retro looking and fully awesome, but somehow I just couldn't see them on this bike. My stolen fixed gear had a similar frame and a carbon cross fork from Nashbar, and I loved that setup:


I was pretty philosophical about the loss of this bike at the time, but honestly, I miss this bike like crazy. I poured myself into that build, obsessing and agonizing over every little thing and loving the result more for it. This build is about making a bike I will love MORE, so I am obligated to torture myself even further. Woohoo!

So, for many mixed up reasons, I ended up getting a fork much like the last one, but with some nice graphics on it!


The frame has a tapered head tube, but I'm making up for the non-tapered metal steer tube on the fork by doing some mix-n-match top and bottom headset stuff. This is mostly because tapered forks were pretty much all full carbon, which was more expensive plus I worry about my caveman wrenching methods combined with a carbon steer tube. I did however, search high and low for a reasonably priced tapered fork with those damn canti studs and fender eyelets for a long damn time before going with what I knew. Did I find any? I can't even remember now. I feel like maybe Whiskey and maybe one other manufacturer made one, but prices were too high for the likes of me. 

This fork is a combo of strong and sexy, kind of like Snow Face. You don't know Snow Face the ass cameo dog? You can meet him a few places on this blog if you search Snow Face, or, for adorable youtube videos, follow this link!

I bought the Deda fork from Ribble cycles in the UK, to my door all-in for $171 CAD. By the way, if you're looking for a carbon cross fork with canti studs, there's this or Nashbar's carbon cross fork for under $200. After that, expect a steep price jump and trouble finding fender eyelets unless you're willing to try some of those straight from China ebay deals. I like to think my search was so exhaustive that I am 100% on this info, but if I'm not, please let me know in the comments and I will edit this and add some links.

I know I have mentioned brand names and retailers in this post. Please know I have received nothing from anyone for writing any of this.

Now, the cost tally:

Used frame                                                50.00
Headset cup removal tool                            fear (0.00)
Deda Cross Fork                                         171.00

Total                                                         221.00



May Your Steer Tube be Ever Uncut,
R A N T W I C K


*** Google analytics has informed me that 97% of my readers are Russian girls and women 15-26 years old using Netscape Navigator browsers, so that's why the pop culture reference. For the rest of you, please replace "Selena Gomez" with Emily Dickinson for an I'm-so-smart reference or for the more mischievous among you, Woody Allen for a kind-of-ewww reference.


PS - That very same fork is now listed at 215 CAD on ribble. I think I used a coupon code at the time, but that price went up for sure. Maybe they were slow to adjust to the sliding Canadian dollar? Damned if I know. Yay me!

Saturday, February 20, 2016

The One True Bike - Part 2 - Frame

Of the two or three people who still read this blog, a couple have asked for ALL THE DETAILS on this my latest bike project. Be careful what you wish for, losers, 'cause here they come, in as many tediously long parts as necessary!

On my fixed gear bike build, I bought a brand new frame. Nothing fancy, but I wanted true horizontal dropouts and they were hard to find in a local, used frame. On my light tourer build, a used 1980's lugged steel Trek 520 frame, which was lovely. Mutant Winter featured a tough-as-nails Alu Gary Fischer MTB hardtail/dirtjumper style frame. On this, the "1TB" build, I needed a flexible platform for what I am hoping will be my ultimate all-rounder. Most of the bikes I have owned in the last twenty years have been compact and aluminum.

I like Alu mostly for its corrosion resistance since I often ride in wet and even salty road conditions. I like compact frames with their sloping top tubes because they are easier to step over. My physical prowess and coordination leave a lot to be desired, and are, in general, worsening. You know how people swing a leg over and coast in standing on one pedal? I don't do that and never have. In addition, planned rear rack and panniers make swinging a leg over the back of the bike a problem for me.

I needed something with the clearances for bigger tires and mounting points for racks and fenders, and canti studs, because I love those frog-leg style cantilever brakes. I wanted 135mm rear spacing because I was planning on really strong wheels, which are more typically on 135mm hubs. Basically I needed a cyclocross frame. What I found pretty much was one, except for the "cyclocross" designation, since it came from a "performance hybrid" bike.

Behold: A used 20" 2010 Trek 7.2 FX compact Alu frame! Cost: $50




It had some pieces I didn't want still attached when I picked it up, like the crankset, derailleur and some of the headset. I removed those and put them in my spares collection, probably never to be used again. Never say Never, though y'know? I was glad to see the bottom bracket was still in it when I picked it up, because it was most likely the original bb, which meant nobody had tinkered with it and accidentally cross-threaded or damaged the bb shell. I am only wary of such things because I have done such things myself in the past, so no judgement there. BB removed, the threads were fine.

For getting the headset cups out of the head tube, I got fancy and made myself a removal tool by using an old seatpost, a vice, and a reciprocating saw. It felt dangerous/foolhardy while I was doing it that way, despite wearing safety glasses. Foolhardy, however, is my middle name and it worked out OK. 

Behold: The Home-made Headset Cup Removal Tool of Destiny! Cost: the fear of losing a finger or stabbing my jugular vein with a flying saw blade or something.




No more hammer and screwdriver method for me, no sir. I was afraid of damaging the inner surfaces of the tube, although my guess is that it would have been fine. Note: If I had it to do again I would have used a tube of thinner metal than that seatpost. My finished product wasn't as bendy or springy as I would have liked. Worked well though.

As you may or may not be able to see, the frame had a few scratches and scuffs, but that is fine with me; I simply don't care much about stuff like that. I may touch it up a bit, but probably not.

That's it for this installment of The One True Bike Build... see ya later. Please feel free to ask any nebulous bike freak questions you may have. I owe you that if you have actually read this far.



Yer Pal,
R A N T W I C K


PS - As with my Trek 520 build, I think I'll keep a running tally on costs...

Used frame                                            50.00
Headset cup removal tool                        fear (0.00)

Total                                                     50.00

Saturday, February 13, 2016

The One True Bike - Part 1 - N+none

In the aftermath of my latest stolen bike stuff I decided to build one up from scratch again! Oh sweet agony! I have discovered over the last couple of decades, lots of bikes and 2 builds that I am not an n+1 guy. Does that get me kicked out of the cycling community somehow? I hope not.

Of course this may have something to do with thieves keeping me at approximately 1+1 status all the time, but I don't think so. I've always had a favourite bike that I want to ride 99% of the time. I've ridden/owned winter-specific mutant, fixed gear, classic touring, and urban practical with an IGH along with all the other typical bikes one rides as one grows up. I have loved them all, because bikes are just awesome.


mutant winter (retired / disassembled)



Summer, fixed gear (stolen)



Highway (still good)




CUBE City Touring with Dyno Hub and Nexus 8 IGH (stolen)


One type of bike I have never owned is a full-on racer, carbon or otherwise, and I'm still not particularly interested in that type.

Each kind of bike, of course, has its own set of pros and cons. Rather than seeking to have lots of bikes for specific purposes, however, more and more I have become fixated on finding / building One perfect bike for virtually Every purpose. I don't know if I'll ever really get there, but goddamn it I'm gonna try.



The bike I build this time will have the features of all the bikes I have loved most, combined just so, for me. It will take me a long time to build, because I am gonna try not to compromise on anything, which means more money than I've got to spend in one go. I have no doubt that it won't seem all that unique or special to anyone but me, and that's as it should be, since no two bike freaks are alike; we're like snowflakes, or perhaps just flakes, because as I write this I am getting so excited about this bike (that doesn't exist yet) that I can hardly stand it.



Right now I have a frame (used), a fork (new), and some wheels (new), each of which I think quite perfect. I know I am completely self-involved and this stuff won't be of interest to anyone, really, but that's OK. That's what blogs are all about, right? Wait, that's not fair. Some blogs are about being useful to others. MY blog is mostly about entertaining MYSELF, because I am the only person who matters. ME! ME! ME! Yaaayyy ME! Hey, look what I'm doing! Watch me dive! 


Thank you, online attention sources! Remember, without you there would still be ME! ME! ME! Yaaaaayyy ME!
R A N T W I C K