Put over 600 miles on the cross check in the last two months. 480 on a tour. First bike I've own since my childhood mountain bike. I'm really stoked that it's getting me places faster in the city than a car can.

Today's bike to work really makes me want to stop biking in this city. Two dudes slowed down to flip me off for leaving 2' between myself and the cars on the shoulder. So I asked the 2nd guy at a red light what's the problem, he fuckin flipped and got out to yell at me, holding up a line of cars at a green light.  Insane.  This coupled with roomie drama has my nerves shot to fuck.  I need a million hugs.

I'm psyched I get to ride my bike again.  I just have a Cannondale mountainbike.  I used to ride it all over Europe, averaging about 80-100 miles a week, but I more or less stopped when I joined the military because I've deployed so much and because I just moved it home to KC.  My wife is getting more into it as well since she's recovering from a knee injury and it's easier on her than running.

I'd love to have the options, but the Cannondale will have to do for now.  Bikes are expensive and my extra money goes right into art supplies and motorcycle stuff.  Steve- you're on my facebook, did you see the custom motorcycle pegs my homie made?  I am so psyched to start working with those dudes.

Cannondale  is a good bike, don't get me wrong. Riding bikes for me, though, has become similar to skating in that I find stuff from certain companies more physically and stylistically comfortable.

I deleted the facebook about a year ago! I'd like to see that though. Can't wait to see you start tattooing again. Actually, when you've got time I'm gonna PM you about an idea for something you might be able to draw. a cambodian naga.

also, on facebook check my homie andrew pequita. dude's a nasty tattoo artist who would be right up your alley

glad to hear you're finally able to settle down a bit with mrs. hate. i find it humorous as well.

those pegs are sick. what are metal are they made out of? I can only do some basic welding so this sort of metal work blows my mind!

thats a sweet ride. looks like you've got brazeons for a rear rack too.

i've got 1930s british 3 speed with the internal hub. that fucker is heavy as hell but it's fun to cruise once in a while.

my brother, who rocks that green Surly LHT i put up a few posts back just had a dynamo hub built. that thing is sick

Oh, fuck, man. That's some beautiful welding. My aunt's husband gets on a level like that with welding down in NC. He had made my mom an amazing mirror that looked like leaves and vines.

Your workshop looks cool. I wouldn't know what to do in there. I love seeing rat rockets and shit get built up though

Got something very similar myself, 3 speed Raleigh Chiltern.  It's on it's last legs though, internal hub is broken and stuck in 2nd amongst other problems.  Time to get something else along those lines, love the upgright bike steez.

My bike last year was destroyed last year by the city. I had an 79 Vitali pista that I rode the shit out of for two years. I had it broken in perfectly broken in and everything. One night I was late for seeing a movie across town, so I locked it up at a train station to make the movie. U lock around the frame, and a chain through the tire and frame to the sturdiest railing at the station. Ended up getting going home with a girl that night and when I went back in the morning to get the bike all that was left was my u-lock stripped down to steel with a bunch of cuts in it.
First I searched around town for a bum with my bike, then called the impound lots. Finally I realized, How could some one steal/Impound my bike if my U-lock was still attached to the railing? I'd pretty much lost hope and was walking to the bar, but stopped and asked a cop who was at the station where my bike had been locked if he had seen anything. He made a call and told me that the city workers were ordered to remove it and when they couldn't hack through my U lock they just cut the frame in half and took it to the dump!! Nothing to be salvaged from the bike. No compensation after months of letters to alderman and officials.
Now I'm stuck with three broken franken bikes and my lock full of hack wounds but in one piece. I'm starting to hate bikes. Cruiser boards will do I just don't leave downtown now.

(I don't have any glamor shots of my bike, but it was an obviously nice italian track bike. Locked for less than 12 hours, at the same station as 2 year old rusted mountain bikes. Yeah I'm still butt hurt about it)

sounds like you've got some mini critical mass going down. right on.


I bought a 1971 Bianchi Milano on craigslist for $150 (i think) a few months ago. It was a bit rust where paint had chipped away but has absolutely NO rot. I started breaking it down today. Cleaned most of the rust off the frame- WD40 and tin foil are the business!- I'm apprehensive about fucking with the derailleurs and bottom bracket just because it's so old, but i'll be getting to them soon enough. I've never seen a derailleur like this, it's super well made and practical. The wheel set has stamped Bianchi hubs with concave rims for sew up tubular tyres, which are a pain in the balls, but if i do a total restore job, i'll stick with them, otherwise I'll sell the wheel set on craigslist and I'm pretty sure they're worth more than I paid for the whole set up. Most of the decals have peeled off, which is a drag, but the head badge/decal is still on as are those on the fork and the color is the beautiful celeste. I'm hyped on having started this today, if you can't tell!!!

this image is NOT of my bike, this one is way too mint. It's the same model though. I'll post some pics when it is done.
http://www.pedalroom.com/bike/bianchi-1971-or-1972-571

Fuck, I'd be heartbroken if that happened to my bike...

^^^I swear that is the main reason why I don't ride my bike more in SF. I've never locked up my bike just cause all the stories I hear and I am not trying to let some asshole just steal my shit when I put almost $1500 into it. Mother fuckers are staight crazy out there though. Like there is no shame in jacking a bike in broad daylight.

You have a Cross Check, right? Mine is seriously the best bike I've ever ridden. I scraped the decals off for stealth purposes but even with the plain brown powder coat frame it's a nice looking thievery worthy bike. Sometimes I like leaving my fixie in front of some bar/cafe and wait for someone to try to steal it. Where i'm living, only a crackhead would steal such a bike and eat shit with no break and the fixed gear. I could laugh and then kick the shit out of them.

 If I want more speed I stick with the Bianchi fixed. The crank still has 2 rings on it and for years i was riding on the smaller/mid ring. I recently put a fatter/longer chain on and have kicked into the big ring. It took a few days to get skid stops back into the mix, but the bike is far faster and not that much harder to pedal up a hill. totally worth it.

i'm friends with these 2 brothers who are bartenders, aged between 50-60yrs. Both of them ride and have sheds full of old gear they let me dig through from time to time. One is riding a 79 Trek that is in absolute mint condition. One of the nicer bikes I've seen in a while.

been doing sort of the same. i've been riding my mountain bike to the ymca, working out then riding back. it's a 5 mile round trip. i really need to get out and hit the trails but that would eat into my skating time so i've kind of picked my poison.