Just a reminder that this weekend is the big bicycle collection event for the Portland chapter of Bicycles for Humanity.
Saturday, April 24 at the old Washington-Monroe High School on SE 14th and SE Alder from 10am-4pm. Do a little spring cleaning and bring down that old clunker you don’t ride anymore! Check the above link and the blog for details!
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| From retail_photos |
This actually is the first retro-direct bike I built. Some folks have been quite interested in these builds so I posted a video of this one as well on youtube
Checked out the event. Very well done. If you’re into bikes it is well worth the $7. Might go back tomorrow to see some of Sundays Dual Stunt event at noon.
Today and tomorrow is the Pedal Nation event down at the convention center. Looks like all sorts of stuff is going to be on display. Numerous events and vendors local and non-local. If I can I’ll be sneaking away from the shop later to check it out!
A couple weeks back Chrome (the makers of the bags) announced that to promote their new line of shoes if you sent them a an old pair of crappy shoes they would send you a free pair of their’s. It was for two days only and after looking at the specs and seeing that they were specifically designed for city riding and using toe clips and straps, I sent an old pair off just before the deadline. Apparently they were overwhelmed getting many thousands of pairs sent to them instead of the few hundred the expected so I’m still waiting to receive mine.
I’m awaiting them eagerly as I very much dislike clipless pedal and shoe systems for daily use. These are the first non-clipless bicycle kicks I’ve seen in ages that are affordable. I’ll post a review when I get them.
Here is a fun little project we put together last week. Two speeds, no shifter, no internal gears.
You can check out a video of it here
A worthy cause is Bicycles for Humanity. Our local chapter is getting ready to do a collection to send to South Africa. The idea is to take unused or unwanted bicycles (fat tires please!) and relocate them to where people usually have only one transportion option: walking. Walking is good for ya but is awfully slow if you have many miles to go. Go here to read about the local chapter of B4H. The collection day is planned for April 24th at Washington High School. You don’t have to wait till then, you can donate money or bikes right now. Follow the above link for the local chapter to see how…
Schwinn Approved! New fork, dual pivot brake, wrap, cable, chain, and more.
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| From retail_photos |
Old style cruiser with modern Shimano Nexus three speed wheel.
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| From retail_photos |
New wheels, tubes, tires, wrap, cables and more!
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| From retail_photos |
If you’ve watched or read any local news lately you’ve probably noticed some stories about the Portland Bike Plan. Yesterday it was passed by city council! Hurrah! The only thing is that it is just a “plan” and plans once approved are not automatically funded. Fortunately things look good for this one as there is a lot of momentum for the plan and Mayor Sam Adams has pledged to come up with a substantial fund to get the ball rolling….
Actually over here in the Foster Road area we know a lot about approved plans that don’t get funded. The Foster Streetscape Plan has been around for quite a while but without any dollars to implement it. About a year or two ago Foster was added into the Lents Urban Renewal Area. This made our area eligable for, and many have made use of, the Business Loan and the Store Front programs. It also meant possible funding for various improvements as well as for the Streetscape plan. No funding had actually been put aside for it until recently. On Wednesday night the Lents URA Transportation Task Force voted to fund several projects one which is the Foster Streescape! There isn’t enough money to do the whole plan right now but it raises my hopes that there is at least some actual money actually committed to infrastructure improvements on Foster!!
For more info on the Bicycle Master Plan check the site
Of course bikeportland.org has good coverage and commentary on this and other bike related stuff
If your interested in the Lents URA check here
To see the Foster Streescape Plan go here and download the pdf from the top list.
Great times at the tweed ride! If you missed out you check it out next year. To see some pics hop on Flickr here
If you live in the deep south east and don’t want to ride to skidmore fountain all by your lonesome, come meet up with meticon and friends to ride to the tweed ride meet up spot.
Finally some new info about the Tweed ride. They have a web site up with a brief description. Just in time I’m finishing up a ‘52 Raliegh Sports with fully enclosed drive train, 3 speed, front Dynohub (with LED’s in place of the original dim bulbs), and front/rear racks. All I need is a pic-inic basket! Time to grow a mustache and bust out the ol’ wool knickers…
While I can’t find any further information than this bikeportland story I’m excited about this tweed ride. It’s supposed to include tea and lunch and and you are encouraged to dress in a “dapper” fashion and to ride old vintage cruisers and utilitarian bikes similar to the Philips bicycle I mentioned in an earlier post. If anyone knows anything new email me please!
Veer, the movie about Portland bike culture, is out on DVD. It’s an excellent documentary focusing on four people from the local bicycle community. Of course myself and the shop are in it for a moment or two so I can’t claim to be unbiased! Check it out for yourself here.
As you might expect we will be closed on Thanksgiving for a bit of feasting. We’ll be open Friday and Saturday as usual.
Added a couple new pages including a how to section and a gallery. Just three articles for now in the how to area. We’ll be adding to that and the gallery in the near future!
A lot of people with flat tires visit my shop. If you ride enough you will inevitably get a flat a two. Fortunately there are many things you can do to reduce the chance you will get a puncture.
1. Tires should be in good shape. Bald, worn out, or tires that are cracked from age are easy for glass and such to penetrate the tire.
2. Tubes must be FULLY inflated. If your tubes are at a low pressure then any minor bump in the road can cause the tire to fold in and pinch the tube! I see this type of flat all the time. The proper pressure is usually written on the side of the tire. Check them about once a week.
3. rim and rim strip in good shape. Rims are not commonly a problem but still while fixing a flat check the rim
4. Do not hop curbs! You are not 60lb kid on a BMX. Any proper sort of commuting bike is not made to take those sort of stresses!
5. Ride in a predictable, smooth fashion. Weaving back and forth, hauling ass around blind corners, while fun means that your less likely to see that pothole/fallen branch/ extended curb/ etc.
6. Don’t ride in the gutter! To be polite to other traffic you should ride towards the right, but not so far that you risk running over all the debris that inevitable collects near the curb.
7. Stay off sidewalks! Sidewalks sometimes have a lot more debris on them than then the streets. The streets actually get swept occasionally as well as passing cars tend to push debris towards the gutter. Sidewalks almost never get cleaned!
There are also lots of products out there that claim to reduce or eliminate flats. Some of them do help. In some extreme situations they might even be necessary. Personally I consider them a waste of money for normal riding. I run the cheapest tires and tubes possible. It’s been three years since I got an actual punctured tube(it was a small thorn that penetrated through a kevlar tire!)! I’ve had two other flats. Both was a result of being lazy, not keeping my tubes fully inflated in one case and in the other I had worn the tire so bald I created a hole in the tire and popped the tube! But still I’m averaging about one flat a year, not too shabby!
I can afford to break my own rules because I always keep my flat repair kit with me and I have a huge amount of practice fixing flats. It doesn’t take me long! If you don’t know how to or have the tools to fix one you are well advised to take care to follow these guidelines! Depending on the shop it can cost $10-$20 a pop (no pun intended) for a flat tire. It gets expensive quick and what are you going to do if it’s midnight and all the shops are closed?
