Friday, June 25, 2010

Um, whut?!


Well now that's just silly!

Unlike this which is no joke when it comes to custom work:


Fucking racks are sweet!

Seen via Julie Racing Design's blog


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Thursday, June 24, 2010

Summer Slacker Group Ride Series This Sunday June 27th! Abandoned Power Plant Photo fun, Picnic, BBQ and DUNE!

I had a bit of scheduling conflicts the last few weekends but now this ride is FINALLY going down!

Up next is going to be a lovely ride up the Henry Hudson River Greenway for a Photo Safari and Picnic at the old abandoned Glenwood Power Plant:


Date: Sunday June 27th

Meet time will be a NOON at the one, the only, DONUT PLANT located a few blocks SE of the Williamsburg bridge on 379 Grand Street. We'll load up on a fuck load of sugar and Bialys from Kossars next door for the ride up there and then we'll be leaving PROMPTLY by 12:30!

I know that there'll be a few uptowners on this ride. A good meeting spot would be at the park along 125th by the Fairway Market or somewhere by the GWB. Email me so we can discuss timing, exchange numbers and consider donut options..

Need: Bicycle, helmet, lights, and a conquered fear of leaving your own borough!

Optional: Snacks, fireworks, :beer:, :smoking:, :snort:

I'm not very familiar with that section of Yonkers but I'm sure we'll do just fine if we wing it by the seat of our iPhones. It looks like there's going to be a few riders who've done the route before with us so that'll also help. We'll locate a deli or some such along the way for picnic foods. For those that are TRULY adventurous, we could follow up the ride by hanging at my place in the Jerz (no big hills I SWEAR) and having ourselves a kick ass BBQ in my backyard..

Also:

The DIRECTORS CUT of David Lynch's 1984 classicly amazing DUNE will be screened :metal:

Afterwords getting back to the city is a sinch by either heading back over the GWB or taking the PATH train from Hoboken. There's also the ferry from Port Imperial but it's like 8 bucks with your bike. Fast, pretty view, expensive..

Lastly, this will be a medium pace chill ride. There's a few places where it's fun to open up and haul ass but leaders should always make it a point to hold up further ahead and wait for the rest of the group to catch up. Bring a sweet bike out if you want. I'll undoubtedly take some photos..

Here's the Approx Route..

I've never been to the Glenwood Power Plant but it's one of those things I've been DYING to do for a while now. This should be a wicked fun day so try and make it out for this one if you missed the last ride to the Russian Buffet and Rockaways. We'll do that one again soon tho- promise!


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Wednesday, June 23, 2010

SLAYER PINBALL?!!

Um, AWESOME!!


Normally this sorta shit annoys me to no end. However in the case of SLAYER, they can pretty much do anything they want and still be awesome. As opposed to Metallica which haven't been awesome since ..And Justice For All..

Check out the iPad demo here..

Seen on the ben's cycle blog..

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Monday, June 21, 2010

I'm sorry but they're called 'skate' parks for a reason!

I just saw this over at Prolly's page:

Don't get me wrong because I totally dig BMX and post rad videos whenever I can but literally, EVERY SINGLE public skatepark I've EVER skated that allows bikes, steel BMX with pegs specifically, are completely fucked up MUCH faster than they would be if it were only skaters..

The fact is that they're just two completely different sports. The speeds and lines taken by each vary considerably and unless you engage in both, it's really hard to anticipate one and other. ESP in a tight transition park like the new Henry Hudson park pictured in the flier above. Not to mention you know, getting hit by someone riding a steel bike with worn down jagged pegs would really fucking suck balls! Furthermore, public parks such as these rarely get any maintenance after they're built. There just isn't any funding for that sort of thing..

What really got me was this quote on Prolly's blog about it:

Hey dudes, we are trying to get every bike rider in the area to come out on tuesday to talk with the president of the hudson river trust about changing the no bikes allowed rule in the skatepark and others through out the city. the more people on bikes, the better chance we have of making a difference, so please spread the word. this tuesday at 630pm, at the battery park city library, 175 north end ave. thanks dudes.

My favorite part being:

'the more people on bikes, the better chance we have of making a difference, so please spread the word.'

Now, I can totally understand what that person was trying to get at with a statement like that as it pertains to avoiding getting run over by a garbage truck or some shit and adding bike lanes extra parking spaces, but you know, the last time I checked CARS WEREN'T ALLOWED IN SKATEPARKS!!!

I mean, seriously, enough already. I get that BMX kids are dying to hit that shit but this is NYC and there's a FUCKLOAD of spots to ride out here all over every single borough. Shit I can even show you like 20 spots right across the river in Jersey that trump just about any spot you can find in NYC. Not to mention the fact that stacking pallets and plywood makes any shitty spot into WAY more fun. It's called HAVING AIR IN YOUR TIRES. I've been skateboarding a long time and last time I checked we weren't able to ride terrain that wasn't really smooth. You can ride just about anything on a BMX. That's what makes it such a rad sport!

I think the thing with cycling enthusiasm and 'the cause' dare I say is that it really knows no bounds and seemingly no argument can be made against it. God forbid you do cause lord knows gang fucking your twin sister with your dad would be less taboo! From what I've seen a lot of the people involved can get so tightly wound up about it that they fail to see that they're no longer helping or are wasting their efforts better spent elsewhere..

I guess what I'm trying to get at is that despite their occasional misgivings, skaters get along just fine with BMXers and don't have a problem with sharing the various parks and spots. However, the BMXer's out there really shouldn't take it personally when the skaters want one place, JUST ONE, out of aaalll the spots in and around NYC, where we can enjoy ourselves and the smoothness we require to have a great time..

Now shut up and just go over to Owl's head wouldja?!

Unless of course you ride a razor scooter or don a fancy pair of fruit boots in which case the lot of ya SHOULD GO GET A FUCKING CLUE!! That or go hang out with those douchebags riding their mopeds around Brooklyn calling themselves a 'gang'.. Christ.. Take that shit back to the 80's for fucks sake or at least stay in Europe..

Oh and p.s. - No self respecting BMX'er would ever make a fuss about something like this. They would just go ride that shit anyways regardless of what anyone else said, Park service included..

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As incredibly stupid as this is..

..I thought it was TOTALLY worth a post:










lulz @ widdly scuds!

Sometimes I really love how stupid the internet is :-)

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Friday, June 18, 2010

Bike fart and farting around on bikes in the dark..

So I went downtown to the Dash Gallery and checked out the bike art show last night after work:


The funny thing about bike art shows is that whenever I go to one I always wonder: How come no one has ever asked me to contribute to one of these and why haven't I ever made more of an effort to get involved in one before? Then I realize: Oh, right, no one really gives a shit about what I do and two, because 90% of the art at those shows is horrendous at best and I don't want my name anywhere near it. Like, wow, great job people! It's always amusing to see just how badly the 'rents college money they spent their lives saving for was wasted..

It's as if the organizers believe that having an art show solely based on the topic of bicycles is enough on it's own as a unifying subject. However they are sadly mistaken. Your entire sense of cohesion and balance you'd like to expect from a gallery show is completely lost the moment you walk in the door. There's bikes and photos and paintings and sculptures and things and films with no sound even when there are people talking and it's like, WTF am I supposed to take away from this experience? I mean aside from being annoyed at the crap haphazardly arranged throughout the space, the typically long line to get to the bar and the floating effervescence of cannabis in the air. The latter of which I wouldn't complain about if there was enough to go around for everyone.. or at least myself anyway..

Every single bike art gallery show I've EVER gone to literally looks as though the 'curator' said to the artists- Okay, yeah, it's a show about bicycles. Oh what should you do? Just do whatever! and truth be told, that's EXACTLY how the shows turn out. They're just.. whatever.. I understand that one of the main reasons why bike art shows are just a big slobbering curmudgeons of random stuff is because there really just isn't enough people making bike art (good or bad) to fill a large room. Hence the filling up the gallery with whatever. It doesn't help that artists can be fucking lazy and when it comes to things of this nature. They'll either make any excuse to rehash something they've already used multiple times or better still, halfheartedly slap something together that they never used before (for good reason) and be relieved that the pressure is finally off so they can get back to working on shit they actually do care about..

There's no better way at motivating an artist with a proper challenge they can get into. The whole idea of that is to give the same challenge to each participating artist and see how every one of them takes it upon themselves to meet their own expectations while staying within the relative boundaries of the situation they're presented. Only through challenges can an artist truly excel in their chosen medium. I think that's where these shows fail the most. It's not enough that it's about bicycles. No one gives a shit about bicycles aside from the real nerds who fawn over custom builders. The average person wants to hear stories and vicariously enjoy quirky, complex and fun expeirinces through the artists narration. The art they're viewing should convey that story all within the time span between heartbeats. The way things are these days with all the instant gratification that the ever illustrious internet provides, you're be lucky if you can hold someone's attention even that long! So whatever it's gonna to be, it's gotta be tight and snappy..

Having said all that I'm sure there's plenty of effort and various other quantifying factors involved in putting together an art show. I'm not saying you shouldn't go or support them or anything, I mean, they do have free drinks and a host of cuties on hand most of the time after all ;-) I just have yet to see one I could truly appreciate art wise..

Jeez, enough with the cunty art ranting already huh?!!

To make up for it be sure to click here before reading the rest of this post..

Afterwords I had Pies and Thighs with some pals and then we went over to Peels to watch kids jump over stuff:


50mm/1.4/160th/6400

That kid must've done like 10 backside 180's over that shit box kicker..

The light under the BQE fucking BLOWS at best and I didn't have my flash with me for some reason. Ehh. Something tells me that with the amount of non-forgotten flashes I saw going off you'll have some better shots to look at elsewhere by now. Anyways, here's another shot before and after just to give you a better idea..

Lulz at Krillz and a few other dudes playin' dice up against one of the pylons! Wish I got a shot of that so hopefully someone else did..

Also, I received probably the grandest of grandiose compliments today from a dumpster diving prone friend of mine:

'i found a pie in the trader joes dumpster on tuesday and it made me think of you.'

This was also pretty great and semi pertinent:

'OMG last night at the art show there was this dude that was dressed all in white and thick white glasses and he is like prob 40-50 years old with thick european accent and he is a regular diver at trader joes! so we were talking. his name is benji. it was funny'

Tomorrow is the Bike Film Festival Street fair which I'm thinking of scoping out for a little while:


Should make for an awesome afternoon!

Oh and Alex, here's that snap 1 & 2 I was talking about. Nice meetin' ya man! Start that local San Antonio blog when you get a chance..


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Thursday, June 17, 2010

Now this dude KNOWS how to get the most out of his CF roadie!



I know, the soundtrack'll make you want to commit suicide but TRUST ME, watch it til the end!

via Hipster Nascar..

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Wednesday, June 16, 2010

I'm not sure why but..

..something about Ben's Cycle's latest post about their new MKE Polo kits and these street hockey gloves reminded me about this episode of Max Headroom where they showcase probably the RADDEST sport that doesn't actually exist-

Knife fighting via motorized skateboards!:



Skip to 3:00-4:20 and 5:20-6:10 for the 'action'

I mean come on how GNAR is that?! Two dudes in a huge concrete bowl wearing Freddy Kruger style gauntlets carving transition while trying to carve each other up- AWESOME! I would GLADLY pay money to see that shit. Granted the footage from the show leaves much to be desired but the idea is pretty awesome in a not so completely unrealistic way..

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Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Full NJS CAMPAGNOLO Group set!

I saw this beast of a group posted to the bay last night for no reserve at a $1. About 18 hours later and it's already up to a G+! Curious to see how much it's going to sell for..


I would LOVE to have a group like this for a couple of my rides. The NJS thing is cool but ehh. I't just going to end up raising the price WAY more simply for some extra stamps on the parts. Anyways, if anyone's got some good cond. Sheriff Star hubs and Campy Pista headset FS let me know. I need them for the Mercian re-up. That or buy this frame off me so I can take the parts for myself :-)

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Monday, June 14, 2010

Awesome Jack Taylor 'Tourist' TANDEM frame along with a few other tantalizing tid bits!

Saw this on the bay last week but spaced on posting it- so rad!


As for other interesting things, there's this, this, this, this, this and holy shit this!!:


I would SO be all over that shit if it wasn't so freaking tall. Accompanying it would of course be a matching sherbert group!

Then there's always this which begs the question: Are bolt on tire covers really the answer..?


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Friday, June 11, 2010

Velo Orange Threadless Grand Cru BB: AHM LOVIN' IT!

Got one of these for the Concept due to my BB threads issue:


That issue being that the threads are worn to the point that the BB would actually have play in there if you moved the crank arm back and forth. Nevermind the sound while pedaling. I know, long story.. But yeah, fucked in other words. I talked to a few friends about what I should do about it and the two options were to have the BB rethreaded italian or, just get a threadless BB. At first I thought the idea of retapping the BB would be great but the idea of skimming a little meat off there left much to be desired. The only threadless BB I could think of out there was the old Mavic one. Which are not easily had and certainly not cheap. Then I remembered that VO had recently come out with a new one. JIS taper too- SCHWEET!!

I got it in the mail a couple of weeks ago along with some other tasty treats from Ben's and tossed it in there. By 'toss' I would more closely compare the installation of that fffffucking thing to pushing a car by yourself three blocks uphill to a gas station.. not that I've ever had to do that before.. certainly not more than once..

Right, so after all that and I was finally able to get the bike out on the road for the first non creeky time in a while, I was super stoked! The BB is totally solid in it's shell now and spins great. Easily compares to the Dura Ace BB I had in there before..

I've been riding the Concept for a good 5+ years now and it gets the most mileage of any other bike I've got by a long shot. The fact that VO's BB was able to help me save my trusty ol' frame without having to make any major modifications or cost is amazing! At $60 bones, it's well worth the price..

THANK YOU VELO ORANGE!!!


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Thursday, June 10, 2010

Mind fuck of the day..

From a Private collection in either France or England:











It's the last image that really slays me- I mean, DAYUMN!!

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Tuesday, June 8, 2010

White Nagasawa Track frame for sale ONE LAST TIME!

I tossed the White Nagasawa 07' Track Frame, Fork, Hatta HS/BB and Nagasawa Embroidered Kashimax Saddle on ebay again..

Retail: A FUCKLOAD - For you fuckers:

$1700* FIRM + Shipping..



Full build pics for EXAMPLE ONLY:


If no one buys it this time I'm keeping it and interneting it out ;-)

Frame size: 56cm CTC ST, 55cm CTC TT

The Frame is in THE BEST condition I HAVE EVER SEEN outside of a new Nagasawa frame. The ONLY marks on it is around the drop outs and like, two or three pin pricks on the chain stay. Since I've owned it I MIGHT have put like 200ish miles on it. The saddle and wrap are white so they're obviously not so clean anymore. Super, super sick frame and rides like a fucking DREAM. Only selling it cause I got my filthy mitts on something that fits me better. Tons more pics on my flickr set..

AND FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST PLEASE DO NOT BOTHER ME WITH LOWBALL OFFERS!!

If you're dying for it and would be down, responsible and trust worthy enough to do say a 2 or 3 seperate installment payment plan over the course of no more than a few weeks, I'd be happy to work something out..

*- The $1700 + shipping price is for personal checks or cash in hand ONLY. If you're not wanting to do a transaction outside of Paypal then I'll have to add an additional $50 for paypal fees..

Please let me know if you have any other questions - thetriplec@hotmail.com


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DEATH's 1991 album: HUMAN

Hooolleee shit almighty am I ever stoked on rediscovering this album!


This is one of those bands from back in the day that I completely forgot about. You know, from before the days of the grand old internet when you had to ACTUALLY LEAVE YOUR HOUSE TO GO TO VARIOUS RECORD SHOPS AND LOOK THROUGH TONS OF STUFF TO FIND WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR. Which may sound like a huge fucking hassle BUT AT LEAST YOU WEREN'T JUST SITTING IN FRONT OF A FUCKING COMPUTER ALL DAY. Not to mention all the other rad shit you would find and cool people you'd meet that you WOULDN'T HAVE TO AUTOMATICALLY ADD AS FACEBOOK FRIENDS FOR FEAR OF THEM TAKING IT PERSONALLY..

Right, anyways- I first bought this album probably like a year after it came out on CASSETTE TAPE (which BTW I still totally miss) at Bleeker Bob's if I'm not mistaken. I saw that they were in the metal section and well, their name was 'Death'. At that age that's really all it took to convince me since WE DIDN'T EVEN HAVE LISTENING STATIONS. However it turned out to be an awesome purchase since they are hella wicked fucking good! Which probably has something to with the fact that they're considered by most as being one of the original founding bands of the Death Metal genre. Check it:



Pretty bitchin' huh..?!

Unfortunately I somehow managed to lose said tape a while after I got it. Probably got itself stolen but most I likely lost whilst in a stoney haze in the woods behind my parents house somewhere. I tried to find a replacement and or something else of theirs to no avail. There would be a spot for them in the shops racks but they were always empty dammit! I remember when the internet first came out I tried searching around for it but let's be honest, the internet was severely lacking back then. I mean, google didn't exist yet so you can't even imagine how dark and drab life was. All we had was what, Ask Jeeves and freaking Lycos. Fuck, those STILL suck for christ sake! Not to mention searching for 'death' wasn't exactly going to turn up many positive results dare I say..

For the longest time I totally forgot about my frustrating search until I was recently reminded of them and their blisteringly amazingly, melodicly, mathy, thrash metally, deathly, radness via freaking youtube of all places. I know, I know. Here comes the internet to save the day right? God damn fffffucking internet! I swear it's not much longer til the singularity get's all Terminator on our asses..

Once I found them and knew what some of the song titles and album names were I was FINALLY able to do a proper search. So here's a few more songs:







That last one certainly has the familiar odor of Iron Maiden's Seventh Son of a Seventh Son if I'm not mistaken..

In any case, I was never too super into the more growly/throaty/creepy voice thing but for whatever reason, I dig the hell out of these guys..

aaaannd just to add insult to injury as it pertains to what can only be taken as an incredibly hypocritical interwebs bitch rant now, here's a link to the same torrent I used to download the ENTIRE DISCOGRAPHY even tho I haven't really had time to listen to the rest of the albums. Check em out when you get a chance. They're fucking AMAZING!

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Biggest. Jackson. EVER..

71cm?! Really??!!!


Would certainly make for an excellent mini tall roadie wouldn't it..?

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Monday, June 7, 2010

Okay so this is really fucking stupid..

..but extremely entertaining none the less!

Harlbs seen on interwebz:


Which literally had me in tears due to my unrelenting level of dumbass-ness..

Which I then felt the need to take up a notch:


Awww, yeah and you know I gotst some video too:



I would've mounted it on my handle bar but the clamp wasn't big enough for oversized. Although it's kind of awesome where it is because I can hear it sounding off on the bigger bumps, hehe. Anyways, this was just a BETA test but is sure to find it's way onto a few of my other bikes :-)

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Thursday, June 3, 2010

Something amazing and something AMAZING!

First of all, these dudes are pretty amazing with their putzing skillz:

Tim and Eric - Roger of the Month Mar 2010 - Outro Video from Roger Skateboards on Vimeo.



Then, this dude gives Rodney a SERIOUS run for his money:



The finger flips and primo slides fucking SLAYED ME- SO GNAR!!!

Thanks to Morgan for that last one!

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Cause well you know..

..the plastic bag is worth at least an extra couple hundred bucks:


So super sick of seeing lame as shit like that! If anything I should think that the fact the stem is a 90mm instead of 120mm + like 99% of the rest of em, would make it more valuable..

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Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Philadelphia / NJ Shore weekend snaps..

Right, so this past weekend I decided to head on down to Philly with my lady friend to hang for a day, visit some pals along with a spending some time hanging at the Jersey shore. No not that Jersey Shore! The weather was great so a nice time was had by all..

First, a stop a Bilenky Cycleworks to say what's up to the guys..


Steve and Simon conferring on what's sure to be another lovely creation..


I was originally planning on picking up my Custom Bilenky but it turns out it'll be on display at the Moore College of Art in Philadelphia til the end of this month. I didn't get to check it out since they were closed so if you're in town or a local, def be sure to check out Bilenky's RIDE YOUR BIKE display there and take some snaps for me!

Joel at Via Bicycle sifting through drawers upstairs for some random tid bits for me..


While the tid bits were not found, I did however LOOSE MY FUCKING SHIT when I spotted this:


Right about now you might be wondering why I would be freaking out about finding a Dura Ace 10 Front wheel laced to a vintage Araya tubular rim with tied and soldered spokes? That's because you may recall my purchasing THE EXACT SAME REAR WHEEL at the Brooklyn Bike Jumble a few weeks back. WHAT ARE THE CHANCES THAT I FIND THE EXACT SAME MATCHING FRONT WHEEL??!!! AAAAHHHHH BIKE NERD OBLITERASHUN!!!!! I felt like a robot that explodes trying to figure out a unsolvable question. Also picked up a NOS DA10 15T cog while I was at it..

All I can say is that Via Bicycle IS THE NUMBER FUCKING ONE BIKE SHOP IN THE WORLD (or at least on this coast) and should be considered as a top destination to all super nerdy cycling enthusiasts..

Then Joel let me borrow his French Townie to cruise around with:


yyyyyeeeeoooowww! Fun and stylin'!!

Which also pretty much sums up Bicycle Revolutions:


Brian's pooch was a bit camera shy but I still managed to get a snap:


He had some of these IRD campy retro track cranks which I was pretty stoked on. Very nice work! Love to try some out..


The last time I was in Philly I noticed Brian opened up a boutique across the street. It was closed that time but I got to check it out this time and it's pretty awesome!


Lotsa great shit inside!


This is where all the Philly people get to rag on me for being a cliché touristy douche but I don't give a shit. The Famous Fourth Street Deli is within spitting distance of Brian's two shops, is hella good and the portions are retardedly huge at best..


FRENCH FUCKING TOAST!!!


HAM FUCKING SANDWICH!!!


I slayed half of both of those..

Then we slayed THE BEST rasberry sorbet EVER at the Franklin Fountain:


Since for whatever reason I didn't take any photos for the rest of the day, night or morning, you'll have to just do some imagining in this space. After said fantastic sorbet I got super frustrated with talking to an woman who barely spoke english over the phone about finding a hotel room, hung up on her and then found one myself. Then drove to said crappy hotel by the airport where there were TONS of little kids and the walls were paper thin. I mostly felt bad for our neighbors- mwahaha! Then the next day we checked out this place called Ants Pants Cafe for some brekkies. Shit was wicked, wicked good. There was this cute tattooed waitress that appeared to be in dire need of a good spanking.. Okay so you may want to avoid imaging that last thought cause even I'm a little disgusted by it.. Disgusted in a stoked on being so disgusted with myself kinda way tho ;-)

ANYWAYS.. Saw this HUUUUGE bike mural on the way out of town:


Detail shot here. Just wish I wasn't such a lazy fuck and spun around the block to take a snap of the crank set corner. Shit was awesome!

Hung out on the beach in Ocean Grove NJ for a bit before walking over to Asbury Park to check out how things have changed. Somethings never change tho:


Creepy ass face.. A big part of me wishes it could've just stayed being the greasy abandoned shithole it's always been know for being. So much radder back then. Now it's all like, lame ass wanna be miami beach or some shit..

I was kinda jealz about Uncle Sam's whip:


What is that supposed to be- a set of Lew Racing wheels on an Iver Johnson or some shit..?

Lastly is this photo I'm pretty stoked on of some cotton candy ice cream:


Pretty bizarre huh..? WISH I took that with my MKII instead of my G10. Also REALLY WISH it wasn't set to hi-res JPG instead of RAW for some reason dammit! Eh.. still looks pretty nice tho..

In any case, I spent the rest of that weekend at my place putzing around, BBQing and working on bike shit. Hopefully I'll have time for some more builds pics real soon..

BIG THANKS TO ALL MY PHILADELPHIA FRIENDS FOR BEING SO AWESOME!

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