• Props to Fly for openly admitting their Spanish BB2 was a failure. One would imagine, given the ease of installation and the cache of yet another new bottom bracket standard, they could have cobbled something together that would have at least sort of worked, then blamed failures on riders. (Most of them would have wound up on/in unridden Bikeguide bikes anyway.) Now, if they'd just admit the whole Spanish BB concept is the equivalent of Betamax or HD DVD, maybe we'd have something.
*Please do not stuff your headset in your bottom bracket shell.*• When I think "Snafu," I think "cheap." So the idea of an $70 (approximated due to the 4x more expensive than a plastic pedal figure) aluminum pedal just doesn't set right. As it is, there are plenty of options when it comes to expensive pedals, and yet another Wellgo product doesn't seem to be terribly necessary. Not to mention Demolition already ran wild with the "Anorexia" name. Eating disorders are so 2001 anyway.
My favorite part about this release, though, are the smaller versions allegedly designed specifically for track bikes. This is fine, I suppose, if your goal is to die a horrible death. Riding a fixed gear in traffic (or anywhere else, for that matter) with platforms is about as smart as surfing on a 2x4. I could be wrong—there could be provisions for clips and straps—but I doubt it. Good work, fellas.
•••••••••••••••••
I'll get back to the proper song vids when I write a proper post. You should also watch this.
31 comments:
makes me ashamed to even be remotely similar ( two wheels+chain)
There's nothing wrong with the spanish BB.
You've gone too far.
True, there isn't anything inherently wrong with the Spanish BB. However, there are what, 2 or 3 companies in all of BMX running Spanish bearings? Mid is the new American, get with it. At least we're well past the Euro phase...
Cuz BMXers don't wear tight pants?
Real men coast?
I love it, people on little kid's bikes acting tough. Where are the BMX bike messengers? I guess you'd just put the envelope and the bike in the back of your hatchback.
Stopping without toe clips on a fixed gear is kind of asking for it, there is some potential for disaster. Then again, in the hands of a skilled rider, a brakeless BMX is 'safe' and you can stop a fixed gear with both feet on the pedals, can't really do that with a freewheel.
I just received a Kink Roc from Albe's from their 35% off sale. Retail is $540, but it cost me like $350. It's pretty nice.
I was surprised that is made in China. I would have expected Taiwan, but I am impressed with the build quality of the frame. headtube, dropouts, angled cable guides, flared tt, seat/chainstay bridges are all very clean. I swapped over my thomson stem, hombre fiestas, ody linear and avid tridangle. I bought some kevlar 2.25 fit FAF's, velox rimtape, and ody PCs, glow in the dark to match my cable. Bike weighs 25.2 lbs. Not too shabby.
My only complaints are that the fork has safety slots, so you have to use 14->3/8 step washers. I will get some andy's nuts at some point. And they put the hollow plate kmc kool chain on backwards.
Great point about the Kink Roc - I can see exactly where you are coming from in a discussion about BBs and fixies.
I really don't think that BMX has any room to make fun of people as far as fashion goes. Jnco? Morgan Wade's red Levi's? Girl Pants? Gansta Loose Fit baggies?
Shut up and ride your bike. Ride the bike you want how you want to ride it. Don't listen to anyone. Except me.
i have a mohawk with a rat-tail. i wear shitty torn pant and ride a tall-gear fixie, in traffic, brakeless, on animal platforms
http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2008/nov/2/SteveK.htm
its scary as fuck. but i can't commute comfortably on a mountainbike in the city, or a bmx for that matter.
I know the 3/4 length pants look utterly stupid, but it's for a reason. See, when your pants get caught in the chain, the crank keeps turning, tearing half your pant leg off usually.
I go the "yeah I know I'm a dork" look and just roll the right pant leg, I ain't down with the man-pri's either.
posting a link to fixedgeargallery gives you a ton of credibility.
An identical bike with brakes and a freewheel will always be faster than a fixed/no brake equivalent. Comfort or practicality is a retarded argument for fixies, you either ride it because you enjoy it or because you want people to think you are the most cutting edge guy of 2004.
freestyle fixed gear is the openly gay older sibling of 1980's flatland.
I had a bike with gears and brakes and one day a big truck almost hit me then cut me off and i locked up my brakes, flipped the a-hole off and pedaled away uphill. So scary. So scary that it was that day that i said to myself. "I NEVER want to use brakes or shift gears every again in the name of simplicity. i WILL commute to work and throw comfort, safety and common sense out the window from now on. I am trendy from this day forward."
I like my fixed gear, but I'd never ride it with platforms. Clips and straps not only help you stop, but help you accelerate as well. Riding without them is just awkward and inefficient. But hey, if you're just going for style and don't want to scuff up the top of your Dunks or Air Force Is or whatever's in this week, I totally get it.
Also, the companies that use Spanish just need to accept the fact that they've lost and use mid bearings like everyone else. Would it be so bad if there was just ONE press-fit bearing standard in BMX? Yes, maybe Spanish would be better as the universal standard because they're smaller and lighter. But Betamax was allegedly better than VHS too, and we all know how that ended. Sometimes you have to pick your battles.
Aaaaaand, it's not the bikes that are the problem. It never is. It's the fucking people who buy a certain bike/car/pair of pants and think that instantly grants them membership in some sort of special club. Buying a $1,500 Pista Concept (or however much they cost) will not make you cool.
Why roll up your jeans for riding? I just tie a bandana or whatever around my right leg, and they haven't gotten caught in the chain since.
I personally find fixed gears on the road to be a stupid idea, but it's usually not my problem if you can't stop in time.
That seatpost is just a fit dld / taiwanese catalogue part with a diferent logo on it isn't it ?
to anonymous: post without a name makes you a wuss-bot
hey beau, thomas edison was trendy in 1899.
Thomas Edison couldn't buy an all carbon fiber, 20 speed,19 pound road bike (my personal non-bmx cruiser) for 1600 bucks. I can put on spandex and ride across the city twice in the time most of the assholes around here can get from their house to the cool coffee house in SOMA, the only thing I miss out on is all the props from the other bros with sweet messenger bags and pink annodized wheels they spen 500 bucks on. By the way the video in question was not Edison riding it was him filming some other pioneer flatlander. Technology was good back then, maybe I will ride a horse and chariot with a toga on through the embarcadero and start the new wave.
Fixed gears are not a faster bike than a road bike, but they do make you a stronger, smoother, faster rider.
Because the cranks spin relative to the wheels rolling, they force you to smooth out your cadence. The first week or so of riding fixed, you notice the pedals kicking at you through your pedal stroke, but you soon even out your spin. Smoother spin is more efficient on every type of bike.
Secondly, when you go fast down a hill or sprinting, you have spin crazy fast cadence. Initially you can't go that fast, but after riding awhile, you get smoother and your leg speed goes up. This translates to sprinting on the BMX and spinning out to MACH SPEED.
Thirdly, when climbing, you are forced to hammer a big gear, which makes you stronger. Not too different than singlespeed, I'll admit, but I do feel that fixed allows you to drive a taller gear up the same hill because the driven crank helps you thru the dead spot in your stroke.
I don't have a fixed now. The last one I had was an '80's hot pink Italian lugged Bertoni that a customer gave to the shop with the most haggard drivetrain I'd ever seen. Crazy shark fins, missing multiple teeth. Stem and post were both seized. Soaked the thing in PB Blaster, redished the rear wheel, repacked all bearings, put new ring, kmc 510 chain, track cog with a BB lockring JB welded on, new f brake cable, cinelli bar tape, and a decent saddle and called it done. I put less than a $100 into it, and it was under 20lbs, super quiet, reliable, fun to ride, and got compliments. I sold it to a friend for $150 a few years ago before the hipster fixie fad. Probably could sell it for $500 now.
Riding a fixed gear makes you faster and stronger? Man someone should have told the thousands of road bike racers/triathletes this years ago, why are they wasting time training on normal bikes?! I really have no problem with fixed gear bikes, but there is absolutely 0 reason to ride them unless it is to have fun, and I don't understand why people have to justify it with some ridiculous reasoning. Maybe it is to not be labeled as a trend chaser or something, but if you honestly enjoy riding it who gives a fuck if other people think you are being trendy.
actually thad is correct about it smoothing out cadence, and improving power delivery. plus professionals do train on them only stationary versions called spin bikes. And they're inexpensive, no cable strech, no spandex, not a road biker.
"Thomas Edison couldn't buy an all carbon fiber, 20 speed,19 pound road bike (my personal non-bmx cruiser) for 1600 bucks. I can put on spandex and ride across the city twice in the time most of the assholes around here can get from their house to the cool coffee house in SOMA, the only thing I miss out on is all the props from the other bros with sweet messenger bags and pink annodized wheels they spen 500 bucks on."
Why does riding a piece of shit inexpensive carbon fiber road bike across town wearing spandex make you "cooler" than these guys?
I was clearly making an argument for being cool, not for practicality. Way to pick up on that anonymous.
Why is a carbon fiber road bike considered practical?
Cheap, fast, light, smooth, comfortable? Serves it's intended purpose of getting from point A to point B under human power better than nearly anything?
"Cheap, fast, light, smooth, comfortable? Serves it's intended purpose of getting from point A to point B under human power better than nearly anything?"
How does it being carbon fiber make it comfortable? How does it make it smooth? Or fast? Are riders fast or bicycles?
Or "cheap," for that matter.
Steel is real!
(Of course I have carbon bars, a carbon seatpost and carbon forks, and my bike was far from cheap, but hey.)
Ride a full carbon setup and you will see why it is comfortable and smooth, it absorbs twice what a steel frame does (though the flexiness is extremely unnerving at first, when you are going 40 and look down and the frame is wobbling like a snake). They are faster because of how slippery they are aerodynamics-wise (jump on a Cervelo P3 and tell me you don't feel the difference). Then again maybe I and every professional road racer are all wrong and someone will show up on a steel frame the next race and destroy everybody.
Post a Comment