Behold the Foltis

Here it is, Swobo Otis components on a Folsom frame. Dubbed the "Foltis" by Gene and Brauer at One on One.

You may be asking yourself, "How much more black could that bike be?". The answer is none. None more black. It's like a pastel black - its easy on the eyes.

I'm really digging the 3 speed hub. I've only used first gear twice. It feels almost identical to the 34x18 on my Karate Monkey. Third gear is pretty close to the 43x16 on my Cross Check (maybe a 42x16 or 17) and second gear is right in the middle.

Swobo was kind enough to stamp the bike's serial number on the head badge for easy viewing. It was there I learned my frame was assembled by Satan.

Yes, it ends in 666. The Foltis is destined to rock your ass straight to hell and back.

brake update

Turns out that coaster brake hub was spaced for 120mm dropouts with a 150mm axel. My Surlys are 135mm. That's pretty funny if you understand dropout spacing. If you don't, here's a joke.

Two guys walk in to a bar. The third one ducked.

I am the alpha and the omega of comedy. All SRAM coaster brake hubs in the US are sold out through summer, so I'm eying one of these fellas. Next week is bike to work week!

Spring brake - or - the circle of bike

When I first learned how to ride a bike, it was on a steel-framed, single speed bike with a coaster brake. You know, the kind of brake kid's bikes have that engages when you pedal backwards.

I soon moved to a bmx bike with a coaster brake and hand brakes. Then it was a 10 speed roadie with a freewheel and hand brakes. Over the next twenty-odd years, I progressed through 12 speeds, 27 speeds, front suspension, full suspension, aluminum, carbon fiber and all sorts of other fancy crap only to arrive back at this:

That is a Shimano coaster brake hub that I'll be using on my steel-framed, single speed bike. Ahh... the circle of life.

It came with a 20 tooth cog, so I'll need to up my chainring size and add some links before I can use it. I'm very much looking forward to stopping in a timely manner.

But mostly, I'm looking forward to locking my rear wheel up and laying down some rad skids.

spring break... well, fracture technically

My St. Patty's day got off to an eventful start. I fractured a rib this morning! Luck of the (one quarter) Irish indeed.

I crashed my bike, and I didn't even make it off my block. My toe kicked my fender, which snagged a stud on my ice tire (which is bigger than a standard tire and has carbide studs sticking out of it) which locked the front wheel and sent me tumbling. I tried to tuck and roll, but I sort of tucked and went splat. I even knocked the wind out of myself for good measure.

So, I dusted myself off, drove to work, and by 10:00 it was clear I wasn't going to just walk this one off. Off to urgent care I went, where they took 3 x-rays. Tonight I'm sporting a new back brace from Target (the hospital version costs $70!) hiked up to my arm pits. It functions somewhat like a push-up bra. My ribs may hurt like hell, but I got a sexy rack to show for it.

I wish I could have at least cracked a rib in a cool way. Being run down by jewel thieves in a Audi S8 on the run from the cops would have been killer. Instead I was sabotaged by my own big feet. Lame

a comedy of errors / a tragedy of gravity

I kicked my week off with a bang. Actually it was more of a thud, followed by a short slide.

Sunday night I set my Cross Check up in winter mode - changed the 46 tooth chainring to a 43, swapped the 16 tooth freewheel for a 15 fixed gear, tightened all the bolts on my fenders & rack, swapped clipless for flat pedals and greased the hell out of everything.

My Monday morning commute was cold but uneventful. No bonehead drivers cut me off, there weren't any slick spots to avoid. Everything went fine until I was literally 70 feet from the office, when all hell broke loose.

I cross a good size bump as I leave the street & enter the drive that leads to the parking garage. It's a 2 inch lip where the concrete meets the pavement. 99 times out of 100, I ride right over it. One out of 100 times, my pannier gets ejected from the rack & lands in the sidewalk.

Yesterday, my pannier ejected. Since I'm riding fixed now, I can't coast. My left foot came around & knocked the pannier in to the rear wheel. It buckled a support for the fender, which caused the support to snag a spoke, which caused the fender to roll up inside itself & lock the rear wheel.

Right about this time, I found myself momentarily free from the confines of gravity. I was adjusting my glasses when my fender revolted, so I only had my bad hand on the bars. With flat pedals instead of clipless there was nothing holding me to the bike. Thus, I achieved a low orbit for about a half a second...

...followed by a rather harsh landing on my right shoulder. Ouch.

I walked away mostly unscathed. Unfortunately, my rear fender was torn to shreds. The back tire won't spin because of it, so tonight I'll have to take it off & pop a new one on before our next bout of precipitation.

Not to self - keep both hands on handlebars at all times.

hit & run

from the Strib: Bicyclist killed in hit and run near Lake Calhoun.

Find the person responsible. Do not call the police. Call me. I'm coming over with a pair of pliers and a blowtorch.

good morning

I've decided to say good morning more often. On my daily bike commute I see at least 50 other bikers, most of them on the Midtown Greenway. If I make eye contact with an oncoming cyclist, I'll give them a nod. When passing aanother biker, I say "on your left".

This morning I passed a woman on the bike superhighway & she said "good morning". It actually took me by surprise. I sort of stammered out a 'good morning' in reply.

Which got me to thinking, why don't I say 'hello' or 'good morning' to everyone? There I am, out in the fresh air instead of stuck in car, on a beautiful summer day, and I'm ignoring everyone I see. Strange.

I have noticed that cyclists and runners (myself included) act different if the weather sucks. The worse the conditions, the friendlier we become. The last time I rode home in a thunderstorm everyone was saying hi. I was chatting with other bikers at stop lights. Last January I ran 8 miles on a 15 below zero morning. Runners were practically shouting 'good morning' from 50 feet away. It's like an "I'm crazy, you're crazy, let's be buddies" type of thing.

Anyway, I'm going to say good morning more often.

commuterriffic

There's a good story in the Strib today about the increase in bike commuting in the Twin Cities.

I can definitely tell the difference. Last year I'd see 15-20 other riders in the morning, now I see close to 50. Good stuff.

Now lets get some ZPG patches on those bike commuters!