Saturday, October 29, 2011

150 Laps

Annual 150 lap ride at Kissena Velodrome is happening again tomorrow at 10:00 AM. Keep in mind this is not a race; however, track rules may still be in effect. That means no risers, brakes and wearing your fucking chain lock. Might be a good idea to gear down and ride your steel frame. Let's hope the snow stays away. This year's ride will be in memory of Robert Olivera.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Boogie Nights | Fixed Gear Bike Race | Week 3 Recap

We had a 5-lap points race on tap last night and man, was it strange. First, the cops pulled up and I thought they might try busting up our program. Instead they told us to be on the lookout for a missing 10 year old boy. As you can imagine the park was swarming with cop cars.

Then as I line up at the start line I realize my front tire is flat. Fawwk. Last week I break a chain and now this. Emily helped out with her handy hand pump. I managed to get it 'not flat' versus asking someone for a spare front wheel. Later on while having post-race beers at Walker's I discovered I was riding on 50 psi. Quick lesson - bring a spare.

We got off to a pretty quick start. Double points up for grabs for first three across the line on first lap. As we approach the big downhill part of the park, I hear Walker yell, "Go man, go!" Cadence picks fast on my 47x14 gear. I see Walker and Evan spinning like crazy up in the front stretching everyone out. Then out of nowhere I see a big fucking raccoon walking across the road! 

Raccon jumped out in front of track bike racers at Boogie Nights


The thing stops right in the middle as we hear slow motion screams of "OOOOHHHH SHIIIIIITT!" I come around the right of it and immediately anticipate the loud noise of carnage as animals and bikes get slaughtered across the pavement. Fortunately to my surprise, there were no casualties. Everyone kept the rubber side down. There were a few other close calls with walkers, mountain bikers, and police vehicles everywhere. Just a bizarre energy at the park. That's good ol' unsanctioned Boogie Nights racing for ya.

Later I find myself sitting behind JT's wheel shortly after crossing over the line on lap 3. Thinking this might be a good time to recover as we approach the false flat near the Lincoln Rd entrance, I see Brett attacking on the far right. The chase begins and I lose steam at the top of the hill and get dropped. I'm fighting to get back on and see the pack getting further and further away in the distance. Then as things began to look bleak and thoughts of pulling out bounced around my head, I hear Aaron's voice yell, "Come on Gil, let's catch them!" First question was, "how the hell did Aaron fall behind with me?" Then Aaron did all the work and pulled me around the park. We finally caught the pack as we approached the bottom of the big hill. I'm thinking "how the fuck did he do that?" Thank you Aaron, you fucking rule. Then I got dropped again after cresting the hill and pulled out after that.

Al and some other guys also pulled out early due to sketchy conditions at the park. JT mentioned almost hitting the missing 10-year old boy 7 times during the race. All in all, it was another awesome night.

Emily, Pavel and Alex with a close eye on the line


Dave Perry and Bike Works NYC representing well at Boogie Nights race in New York
Sebastian, cycling legend Dave Perry and Bike Works NYC crew supporting and participating in Boogie Nights.

Ryan, who recently had his locked up NJS frame sawed in half by bike thief scum, managed to make it out last night on a friend's bike. Good to see you man!

K-Tel raced his track bike well at Boogie Nights in Brooklyn New York
K-Tel

Nick Foran raced well at Boogie Nights in Brooklyn New York
Nick returns from Toronto to race Boogie Nights again this year.

Fixed gear track bike racers line up at Boogie Nights in Brooklyn New York
Walker, Pedersen and the rest of 'A field' on the start line

I think Al Barouh took the first lap

Jun in front of me and behind JT

Alex giving it

B field on the start line

Ariel coming across the line in lap 2

Pavel showed up on the sidelines last night. I think we'd like to see him get on a track bike and join us next week.

Emily holding it down! Big thanks to her for taking all the finish line photos and lending me her pump!

Alex

Jake and Paul - Magnum

Jake and Joe

Mattie sporting Ignis cycling jersey at Boogie Nights in Brooklyn New York
Mattie with the proper evening attire


Mackie came down to show some support. He also let Mago borrow his Bianchi Pista Concept last night.

Pedro, Mackie and crew

Taka

JUICE!

Walker and Jun


Mago did well again this week.

Erick

Viva Mexico (and Mackie)! If you guys want the best tacos in New York, follow these guys after next week's race. I can tell you, but then I'd have to kill you...seriously.

Andy, Keith, Josh's girl and Josh. Good to see Andy and Josh come through for last night's race. Haven't seen them since Kissena season ended.

Kyle

Erik and Evan chillin post race

I think Evan might've won overall last night. Way to go man

Great to see Heather at the race last night. She wasn't able to come up with a shim for her 31.8 drop bars in time. Hopefully next week we'll see her race with us.

JT on his custom Legor Cicli track bike at Boogie Nights race in Brookln New York
JT post race on his Legor Cicli

As always Chris ran a good show

Chris B, Mattie and Andy

Sebastian

Bike Works NYC and Dave Perry at Boogie Nights bike race in Brooklyn NY
Sebastian, Dave Perry and Bike Works NYC crew

Ride Brooklyn raced well at Boogie Nights in Brooklyn New York
Alex and Grant - Ride Brooklyn!

Miguel and Tijon are fixed gear track bike legends in New York
Miguel and Tijon

Let's hear it for the ladies on the sidelines

Josh and that stache! Yeah Josh!

Jake, who just got back from a nice vacation in Cali, was obviously still in chill mode and didn't race last night. Next week buddy!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Boogie Nights Week 3 Program

Start finish line will be near drum circle between Lincoln Rd. and Parkside exits. Time to gear up for sprint finish.

Friday, October 21, 2011

High End Bike Frame Construction | Torelli

As mentioned earlier, I will never look at a bike frameset the same way again after completing Doug Fattic's framebuilding course. Now I am amazed by how many of the bigger name manufacturers have succeeded in branding their product. I overhear people say, "Dude, the Italian X brand bike frame is way better than the Taiwan Z brand." Or how about, "Yeah the Italian X brand might be made in Taiwan now, but they're still an Italian company so their frames are better." With all these catalogs, logos and exotic tubing stickers (Columbus, Reynolds, Tange, etc), it can all be a little puzzling for somebody looking to buy their first frame or upgrade to something they believe is the best frame they can buy given their monetary resources.

While my first frame may not win next year's North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS), I can share with you how a good frame is built and what red flags to look for upon close inspection.

Torelli Corsa Pista track bike frame bottom bracket
Note the lack of brass penetrating through the bottom bracket. A tiny bit came through the seat tube in spots, but hardly any through the chainstay.

Torelli corsa pista track bike frame bottom bracket weld
See the tiny glob bit of brass placed on the chainstay only in one section. This barely qualifies as a spot braze done from inside the bottom bracket; not total penetration around the entire tube which is achieved by drawing the brass (or silver) down via capillary action from outside the lug down into the bottom bracket shell. Bottom bracket also needs to be reamed and faced.
What frame is this you ask? 

Torelli Corsa Pista track bike frame review
Torelli Corsa Pista
It's a Torelli Corsa Pista - made in Italy. MSRP is $900 for frame only.

In the past, I used to gawk at frames with big name logos like I was sitting at my favorite strip joint, but now that I'm a little older, a lil wiser, I'm more concerned about what's on the inside. I'll continue to pick frames up like a kid in a toy store, only now with a lil more apprehension. Of course this is only one example of construction quality. I don't like committing the fallacy of generalization - what's true of one apple may not be true of the whole bag. Look for more to come soon.

Campagnolo | Bicycle Framebuilding Tools

Campagnolo makes great bike components and they also make some of the finest tools. After completing Doug Fattic's class I now have a huge shopping list to tackle before my next frameset.

Campagnolo crown facing tool and other bicycle framebuilding tools
Campy tool for facing your crown

Ream and face fork crown with Campagnolo bike tools

Campagnolo makes bicycle framebuilding tools for facing fork crown

Brev Campagnolo makes bike fork crown facing tools
Campagnolo makes an H-Tool for aligning bike forks.
Campy H-Tool

Campagnolo h-tool used to align bicycle forks.
Campagnolo tools are meticulously crafted just like their components.
Campagnolo makes a nice wine bottle opener
And can you believe Campagnolo makes a wine bottle opener?

Campagnolo wine bottle opener is beautiful