Burningman!

This passed burningman festival (2010) I took the opportunity to clear out my shop a little bit. Fortunately, I live in the bay area, so all I really needed to do was post a craigslist ad 1 day before the start of the festival and sure enough 4 cheap, but working "burner's" were headed to the desert.


This was once my main bike, when I was 15 I got it at a garage sale for $15 and i had kept it up rather well. Just an inexpensive 20 inch BMX with a beefy steel frame... The Diamondback Joker. I sold it to a guy for $60, and it hurt.


This is a Magna 24 inch MTB that i made into a single speed. I was basicly given it as a wrecked bike with another wreaked bike that I did pay for. This baby got dusty for $30.


This bike had one of the best names for a bike I've ever come across. It's called: "Giant" "Attraction"...from the Giant bicycle company. It's a very small framed 26 inch MTB with a hefty steel frame and wheels. A woman picked this one up on her way for $40.


This Diamondback Sorrento Was given* to me by a good friend along with the above "attraction"... I took the descent components for my parts bin and made a single speed out out it. It sold last minute to a grateful guy going for his first time for an easy $60... It's a good frame and he told me he would like to set it up for touring once he got back.. I encouraged and we talked bike for a while, to bad i didn't have my business cards at the time.

Next year, life permitting I may Go to Burningman myself...

Homemade Jansport Backpack Pannier

Note the straps are still attached, you can still where it is a backpack, although it's not the most comfortable... but better then i would have said, very useful!


This has been an other one of those customizing projects (that I really enjoy). The reason I'd make something like this is simple; panniers are expensive, and who has EVER had a Jansport pannier (I couldn't fine one). I just figured that the "right pack" (the classic Jansport backpack) has a 35 year track record as a tough, simple, and well thought out pack so it would naturally make an awesome pannier. It uses a pare of 1/4" mahogany plywood frames (one in, one out) with big holes cut in them for less wight, they are bolted together at the corners, in the center, and at the hook mounts, and screws keep everything tight. The bag attaches with two galvanized steel hooks to the top rail of a bike rack, and has a hook at the bottom to keep it close in to the side of the rack, and finally a bungee mounted in two places mid-bag, hooks onto the racks bottom hook, keeping it from bouncing around. The plywood was sanded and lacquered for a weatherproof Finnish. It's about the same wight as my store bought panniers (with the holes cut out), it holds on more secure too, and i think it's just a little bigger:) The only downside is that the way I have the hooks mounted the bag only works on bikes with longer chainstays for foot clearance reasons. Also the hooks themselves, being made of steel tend to scratch whatever rack they touch. However, after careful consideration of the new scratches on my aged $20 rack, I have realized that I don't give a shit... At the moment it's my main commuting bag (highly versatile) and I'm thinking of making one for the right side as well, i would trust them to some fair weather touring without reservation!

Mina's Bianchi (the Pilgrim)

back in 2005 a friend of my fathers had a garage sail where my dad picked this awesome yet very small bianchi up for $10. I tryed to adapt it to be used by someone my size, being to green in the ways of bikes to know any better. I put old schools drop handlebars and dia-compe levers, it came with full suntour like my trek and my sisters Miyata. And as with those bikes, that gear is still working smoothly to this day (with some new things here and there)

This bike, however say unused in my shop until my good friend Mina saw it and just had to have it. After she road it during the last part of her time at UCSC she spent 9 months abroad during witch a further restored and upgraded the Bianchi. Ever restless on here return she took this bike 749 miles all the way down to Mexico (with the milk crate). she plans to tour more with it and I'd be trilled to ride along.

Schwinn Varsity "it's so yellow.."

Before:

After:


This was a cool little project I was given by a friend of a friend. The frame is around a 55cm. The bike was in almost original shape when it got to me (ceca 1970's) it had been worked on by someone that should have just let the bike alone.... he removed the chain grad but failed to note that other then keeping the chain on, that grad (when it had one) acted as a spacer for the large chainring (that bolts to the smaller/inside ring witch is fixed to the crankset). this made it so the bike would be very...very creaky when you road..... other then that one of the friction shifter bolts was striped however, i have worked on my share of old Schwinns (like this one) and I had a schwinn shifter bolt in a parts bin. The seatpost bold was striped too, so i scavenged one from my bike purgatory. I gave it a new chain and in the process swapped the rear derailleur from Schwinn approved to suntour ARX :) I don't think anyone other then me will notice, but that's just fine. new cables, housing, tubes and tires (kenda Gum walls just like my sister's Miyata) and sweeet yellow bar tape and it's awesome...35lbs of awesome.

John's Trek

Before I helped John build his Raleigh We had set him up with this, a Trek 830 "Antelope". It has it's full stock component group, shimano Exage 300 LX, other then the shifters witch we updated to trigger finger generic shimano 7 speed indexed. He went and got these awesome Michelin city slick tire set for it, they are really big and think 26x 1.85"! I was so impressed by them that I run them on my motorized bike. this bike is an ideal expression of the commuter convention. And other then some minor shifting problems at the start it has been a rock salad workhorse. (I absolutely LOVE making this kind of bike)

Electric Marin

Other then being a rolling punn for Marin county , this Was, and still sometimes is my school and work commuter. i put well over 100 happy miles on it so far and like always I GOT IT USED! It's a 57cm Marin larkspur hybrid bicycle with 700c wheels, and flat bars. The shifter for this bike's whole life has been this shimano Acera, and I am officially impressed, the shifting has never had any problem at all! (a first for me)The Non- stock part is the electric drive system. This bicycle had it's original suspension forks swooped out for stiff chrome ones so it could accept the massive 250w front hub motor witch is more then 15lbs alone, Powering it is a 37v 10amh lithium polymer battery witch once gave me almost 30 miles, however it's don't to 20 now. This bike cruises at 20mph, awesome for a bike, and i can push it to 25mph, any faster the bike needs to be off... i had a rather bad crash in witch the front alexrim (shitty) was tacoed, i rebuilt it with a stronger weinmann rim. The nex step for me in electric bikes will have to be Bionx. although with a new battery, this ride will keep on truckin' for years to come...

4 stroke honda bicycle

This is my commuter for school and other long trips. Yet again I use the good old Hardrock. This one is a smaller frame then my touring bike at 17" rather then 20". The kit is from an American company called bikemotorparts. The website will give you all you need to know about making one of these bike for yourself, and how much it costs. I'm using the recommended Honda GX35 (35cc) 4 stroke OHC motor, and i run the smaller/ faster drive roller for speeds more then 30 mph and a flatland cruising speed around 27 mph. I added a box ($15 at Big 5) to the other side's motor mounts with some angle iron, I can't say if they still guarantee the kit if you do this sort of thing but, it helps to balance out the motor and, I've put 700 miles onto this box. the bike it's self has now just over 1000 miles. And I can say that it has been amazing! The only issue is that wet weather can make you lose traction with the drive roller, so i tend to keep it to dry days.

One man's trash

In the neighborhood adjacent to mine there are often dumpsters, in witch you can sometimes hit the jackpot!

A friend saw thing really retro 80's fab 5 speed Schwinn "Cruiser Supreme" in the dumpster at the top of his street. On the hole nothing was wrong with it, just needed some tires and tubes,and a bunch of cleaning, including rust... I put a big butt seat on, replaced the bars with more cruiser style ones, and cleaned the chain/ re-lubed it. I sold it within a week on craigslist for a song and had a nice lunch...

Hardrock

It is my opinion that one of the best bicycles ever sold in the world has to be the Specialized Hardrock, specifically the ones from the time before carbon, aluminum, and suspension. For example, this is my touring bike:

An early 90's Specialized Hardrock. The original mountain bike when i got it (well used at that, end of the road for most bikes) I wasted no time in replacing everything from the bottom bracket out, the frame although scratched and tarnished was in perfect alignment and crack and dent free. it now has a 60mm road stem drop handlebars, old school dia-compe drop levers, and shimano ultegra bar end shifters. the front derailleur is original and going strong but the rear is XTR, along with the rear hub and cassette (8 speed sis) witch is laced to a nice mavic. The bike is 3x8, has a 55cm frame, and 26x1.5" tires (armadillos, always). i swooped the crank-set out for shorter 170mm ones and I've replaced the headset. there is undoubtedly more... but here are a bunch of shots from the bike's 1200+ miles with me so far... including a 250 miles tour.

John's Raleigh Technium

This has been one of my favorite builds! My very good friend John had been looking for a nice road bike frame to build up for some time. It was hard but, eventually i found a frame to fit his rather tall stature. It's a 63cm Raleigh Technium from 1986 made from "aircraft aluminum" (it's amazingly light for the era, lighter even then my Bianchi...) we got it for $85, and John was given most of the parts by a friend, making this a very cheap build. This beautiful bike rocks: shimano ultegra front and rear derailleurs, but only the right/rear ultegra STI shifter, on the other side it's the original down-tube shifter (suntour), a shimano 600 rear dual pivot brake, a shimano nexus front dual pivot brake (From eBay), and a nice shimano 600 double crankest. The gearing is 2x9 although we may upgrade it to a tipple.... updates to come.

Erin's Miyata 310

I'll start by saying that it was an honer just to work on a bicycle as nice as one of these Miyatas, It's high quality, and oh so Japanese! Only reason it belongs to my sister now is dew to it's step through frame. It's a 12 speed (just as my TREK), full Suntuor shifting and derailleurs, original wheels (area) original rear brake and new/used duel pivot front. I put a new chain, cables, housings, and classic gum-wall tires on. And just like that the glorious Miyata is born again.

My Bianchi

This is my new baby, a Bianchi Campione Del Mondo. I got it on CL for a steal (no it wasn't stolen, just an amazing deal)I think it's from 2005, at least the bianchi bottle it came with says 2005. It's classic double butted chromoly steel with a bianchi carbon fork. It's loaded up with Italian goodies: campagnolo veloce brakes, shifters, derailleurs,chain, cranks, and even the hubs. The rims are mavic, and the peddles i got Look Keo Plus (both french) I broke the original bianchi selle italia gel seat but I found an other used at a shop (not as nice, but lighter) the first photo is from right when i got it, and the second is after i "made it mine" New: seat, steam (from 110 down to 60mm), new 700x 25c armadillo tires and tubes, cat eye computer, and 400 miles of troubleshooting:)

Nexus 3 Speed

this bike i put together when the retro direct striped it's hub.. I'll make an other, one day. This build i put a Nexus 3 speed cruiser wheel-set in. Also i put a front basket on, and it sports my amazing yet well used continental touring plus tires. Had to oder the nexus shifter kit, and then go to a shop for the push rod, that i then had to customize to get to work. However, the bike now is really fun, and easy to ride, it's my current loaner.

Jeremy's and Mine, RIP

this is my old Schwinn suburban, after the rear wheel was broken, the frame languished for 3 years, until my sisters boyfriend needed me to rebuild his road bike in a frame that fit him better. the suburban was the answer. it had all the components had previously been on his Gitane (witch i built as well). the one original part is the super strong Schwinn front wheel (that i put with the Gitane) and the solid cranks with the classic 44t Schwinn ring. Erin, my sister, got Jeremy a Brooks B.17 for the bike, and just like a light switch it was "The Schwinn". He got to ride it less then 6 months however, his chain lock was cut by some heartless scum outside the SF farrier building on 9/11/10. The loss is deep for both of us...

My TREK

I got this in May of 2010 for a song on craigslist, It's a 12 speed with 27 x 1 1/4 inch wheels. I replaced the bars with the drops and in's got now, when the wheels could no longer ride I rebuilt the rear one with the bike's original hub and sprocket in a period correct area rim witch matches the front. the bike came with Schwalbe tires, and I also kept the Suntour edge rear derailleur and replace the front Suntour derailleur. I put in a new sealed shimano bottom bracket. and I found Tectro long reach dual pivot brakes for supreme stopping power. And in case it wasn't clear, this bike is not for sale.... It has a 53cm frame making it damn near perfect for me! the bike is from 1980-82 when trek was just coming online, as such it's got no signification, making it: The TREK

Schwinn Varsity single speed covertion

I converted and restored this bike for a friend, it was old and beat to hell. The only thing that got it into my hands was a set of flat tires! needless to say i get them to put $30 bucks in for the parts and we have a sweet little vintage Schwinn, with a re-done BB, new chain cleaned and trued wheels, new tires and tubes, new grip, cables, housing (like all my restorations) and i cleaned rust from everything!

Peugeot 10 speed

this is one of my best finds, picked it up at a garage sale and did a full restore save the BB witch is still holding (knock on wood). It's big for me and I'm off on a tour is a few weeks so i plane to sell it. it rides and feels amazing with new tape, and a seat kept in mint condition by a melting gel seat cover.

Retro Direct!

This bike has a drive train so bazaar and genius, that when i stumbled upon it on YouTube, I simply had to build myself one. Basically this bike has 2 speeds with no shifting, one of those speeds is with peddling forward and the other is achieved by peddle backwards. Don't understand? watch this video I found.

I got my chain tensioner welded by a good friend, 2 new sram chains and i bunch of spare parts from around the shop later, the retro direct "town and country" (i should call it) was born.

Note: this build involved a lot of fine tuning and customizing. Not Practical or easy project. You may need special parts to make it work properly, in other words: I was luck to only have to spend $50 to get it going.