Visit Wheelgirl.com (The New Site) This Older Blog is No Longer Active

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This is the original wheelgirl bike shop blog, but we no longer actively update it.

Interbike Vegas 2011 New Bike Mechanic Tools by Park Tool

I spent a while in this booth, since I needed to know every new bike mechanic tool Park Tool plans to release. This is one of a few videos. The pegboard was large and covered with new products, like a simple yet effective chain stretch indictor tool made more effective.

Car Companies Collaborate and Brand Bicycles

You probably already saw this posting about car companies collaborating and branding bicycles. But in case you were working on your Halloween costume for the past several days and missed it, see what you think. I haven't had a chance to ride any of these. If you have, comment.

 (Maserati and Montante Cicli, photo lifted from the post. Not sure about a front disc on what could be an uncomplicated fixie? But I like the colorway.)

 (Specialized and MacLaren Applied Materials, photo lifted from the post. Fast is good. Faster is better.)

True, on you way back from a training ride, you could knock on doors, and score some treats by convincing some you are wearing a bike racer costume. But change into a fresh jersey, or the little pirates, painters, and neurosurgeons won't ever think about being cyclists.

Oregon Manifest Modern Utility Bike Challenge and Creative Collaboration Bicycles

If you want to see the bikes constructed by those who took up the Oregon Manifest's challenge of building the ultimate utility bike for modern living, click here.

Here are some of the winners of the competition. Thank you, makers and all concerned, for providing me with some thought-provoking, two-wheeled eye candy.

 

All pixs lifted from the Oregon Manifest site. (Best of Show: Tony Pereira, Pereira Cycles), (Student Winners: Univeristy of Oregon.)

While you are clicking around on the Oregon Manifest site, check out the creative collaboration bikes.

(Peoples' Choice: IDEO and Rock Lobster Cycles)

(Fuseproject and SyCip Design)

(Ziba Design and Signal Cycles)
(All pixs lifted from the Oregon Manifest site.)

If you have a job, you better get back to work. If you don't, and you love bikes, go for a ride. You'll feel better. While you are pedaling, think about what you might create.
(Thanks to Raju for sending me this link.)

Interbike Vegas 2011 Kryptonite Bike Shepherd Lets You Use a Cellphone to Recover Stolen Bikes

At Interbike 2011, I took a bunch of video of the lovely wooden bikes decorating the Kryptonite booth and talked with Kevin. He explained that Kryptonite's Bike Shepherd is a product which allows you to view information about a tagged and registered bike, via your cellphone, and then use social networking to help to return those bikes registered as stolen.  (Watch the video.)

Yes, cats, if i were a bike thief, I'd try to scratch off the tags. Kevin told me that the glue is pretty difficult to remove. But I've peeled off so many bike wheel and rim labels, I'm pitbull relentless at label peeling. Bike thieves are sly, so use your collective urban cycling brains to place the tags in places someone can scan them with a cell phone, but where bike thieves won't immediately see them.  (Suggestion: If you find an excellent and stealth place to stick at tag, don't publish the location online. Bike thieves can read, too.)

Interbike in Vegas 2011 Get out! There's a wooden track by the snackbar?

I'm going to start posting a bunch of random (and somewhat chaotic) videos I created at Interbike in Vegas a month ago.  In 16 hours, I tried to visit as many of the 1000+ bike vendors as possible, and as I stepped into each vendor booth,  I pressed the recording button and began chatting about new bikes and accessories for 2011.  I saw some awesomely cool stuff for next year.

None of the vendors knew I was going to visit. I did not research anything prior to my visits; hence, I'm learning as I'm filming, so bear with me.  I was delighted with how helpful and forthcoming the vendors were with technical product information.  As I edit out the unplanned shots of the floor and my less than generous comments about video camera batteries,  I'll post them.

(I only shoot video once a year at Interbike, which is wicked loud. I bought an open box video camera on deep discount from Best Buy a day before the show. These facts will come as no surprise to you when you watch the videos.)

SF Bike Expo This Weekend at Cow Palace, Look for Wheelgirl in Rohloff Booth

Go to the Cow Palace on Saturday Nov 6th for the SF Bike Expo.

Wheelgirl will have a bunch of choice cycling drive-train and build components, bike accessories and bags, and bike clothing at great prices for you pre-holiday, bargain-shopping cycling cats. (We'll be in the Rohloff booth with CycleMonkey and the Bike Fit Studio.)

Yes, gearheads visit the show and spend your ATM cash. Then, there is no credit card bill. Your true love won't know you're buying him/her yet another highly necessary bike-related item. While gift shopping, you might see something for your own bike...

Learn all about the Rohloff internal hub made for those cats who love to ride and tour in rain, filth, dirt, and mud.

(It should be a most excellent Saturday after this greart week of the SF Giants winning the World Series! GO GIANTS!)

(Lifted from the Bike Expo site.)

Pink Rohloff Speed Hub and Components

You are not going to see too many of these pink Rohloff Speedhubs with matching anodized pink Chris King, Hope, and Velocity components decorating a Lynskey Performance titanium frame this summer. Email Cycle Monkey if you've had it up to here replacing drive train parts on your touring, downhill, or mountain bike, and you're ready for a Rohloff.

Wheelgirl is crazy happy to be working with Cycle Monkey, the North American Rohloff Service Partner. Contact them for a consultation; ship them your bike; and they get the Rohloff conversion done quickly and accurately. I just met a bike touring cat from the UK who put 20,000 kilometers (12,427 miles) on his trouble-free Rohloff this past year of touring.

(Photos by Wheelgirl)

Phil Wood ISO Extra High-Flange Track Hubs With Bolt On Phil Cogs

The Phil Wood ISO high-flange track hubs have wider 3.5-inch flanges. Phil's current high-flange track hubs have 3-inch flanges. The news is that just like a disc rotor, you can bolt on your rear fixed cog. No lock ring wrenches, my greasy cats. No possibility of stripping threads, cross threading a cog, or gouging a lock ring. The rear hub includes the necessary bolts, which take an allen (hex) wrench. And you can buy the bolt-on cogs in the sizes you prefer. Oh, how nice will it be to change cogs with a wrench that fits on my key chain? Front hubs are 100mm standard spaced.Rear hubs are available in 32H and 36H with 120mm spacing. "The hub is offered in a single-fixed, double-fixed, fixed-freewheel, and
fixed-freewheel (White Industries freewheel-specific) configuration.
Cogs are available only in 1/8″ and in 16-20 teeth." According to Phil, use their bolts, so the bolt and thread fit is golden.  These are solid and weighty babies. (Two hubs and a Happy Birthday to all Gemini twins!)

 

(Photo by Wheelgirl and silver ISO High-Flange Track Hub pix lifted from Phil website.)

Spring is Here, Bike Touring, Velo Orange, Soma Stanyan Frameset

Your hours have been cut. You are out are out of work. Four-hundred people are competing for one really boring, poorly paying job. My cats, don't despair. It's time to go bike touring! Go fill yourselves up with happy cycling chemicals for a few weeks. We just got Velo Orange as a vendor, so take a look at their site  or their blog. If you fancy yourself as a randonneur or cyclo-tourist, this is the fun place to browse for gear. (Or if you do have a job and are chewing up your work trousers in your single-speed chain ring teeth, check out the single-speed chain guards.) If we can help you choose and order components and accessories, let us know. We've got quite a bit of collective bike touring experience at Wheelgirl as well as many great stories of how we and our customers have irreparably damaged expensive work clothing and shoes via our bikes.(Snapped derailleur hanger caused by the sleeve of a lady's cardigan sweater? O yes we've seen it.)

The Velo Orange site is filled with shiny, pretty, classic bicycle bits and bobs. But you can also bike tour on a chipped-paint commuter with a pocket knife, a tarp, and a garbage bag filled with cans of baked beans bungeed to your rear rack. Remember: It's all about attitude and the stories you live to tell.

Cyclist and employee Daniel just built up his custom all-around bike for commuting and touring. We carry the Soma Stanyan frame, a nice steel platform designed for his hand-picked reliable components and comfortable bike touring. (I'm a sucker for chromed lugs.)

 

Photo by Daniel of his custom Soma Stanyan all-around commuter/touring bike.

VO Alloy Polished Chain Guard lifted from the Velo Orange website.

Foot Straps from R.E.Load, A Twist on Power Grips, All-In-One Toe Clips & Staps

For you cats who break toe straps and like to ride wider BMX pedals on your fixies R.E.Load has come up with a toe strap design that is going to please your destructive selves. They're called "Lockdown Foot Straps" and work along the lines of Power Grips straps. But you have more flexibility in your choice of pedal manufacturers, and you don't need any hardware. You don't need pedal toe clip drillings or cages that are perpendicular to the pedal axel. The Lockdown Foot Straps look bombproof and come in a ton of colors, just like Reload messenger bags. Check out  Reload's site for more info. and material specifications. Yes, they are pricey. But add up how many cheap toe straps you've ripped and clips you've snapped to see if they make welcomed sense to your purse or wallet.

The photo shows them on an Odyssey Twisted pedal. I ride these Odyssey pedals on my fixie commuter. They are really very good for the money, and you can get them in safety glow-in-the dark and colors. They're inexpensive and wide enough for your fat sneaker feet. They are loose bearing and not smooth like butter. The axles are made of steel fitting for a thrift store hammer. But for a commuter they are dependable. I have yet to bust, crack, or mash the resin cages. (I've tried.) My feet never slip, due to the platform molded grip nubs. So no perforated shin skin as of yet either.

If you're riding with the Reload toe straps, put up a post to let us
know what you think.

(Lifted from the R.E.Load site.)

Spokeless Bike Wheel Star-Trek Style

An engineering class at Yale decided to prototype a spokeless bike wheel as a class project. They prototyped  the rear wheel only, given the one-semester time constraint and the rim manufacturing costs. How cool does this look! Now, I wonder if it might be quieter and lighter with a direct drive belt? See the Wheelgirl post on the chainless bikes of now and yesteryear. Cat on two wheels:Time stays still; we're the ones that move. Read
about the Yale makers and see all the photos

Photos lifted from the Readit Site  for the Yale tech post. Yes, I like the implicit visual of bike building as a creative outlet.

Saw it on --Readit--> -DesignBoom --> PedalMafia
Scroll down on PedalMafia and check out the Mayer Hawthorne video Maybe So Maybe No. Take out one earbud and sing a little bit today on your commute.

Tool of Angel or Devil, U-Lock with 15mm Fixie Axle Nut Wrench Built In

Maybe I am just a bit too urban in my initial ponderings. When I saw this u-lock my first thought was some wicked cat is going to use his/her u-lock to take off my back fixed wheel; do a switch with their spent rotten hoop, and then lock my stolen rear wheel to the their bad and wrong fixed gear with the convenient satanic 15mm device. However, I do really like it, and the idea of carrying 1 item which can address safety and repair scenarios.  So, well done for the streamlining of accessories. My gifted engineering cats, please build on this good general idea, and figure out how to add to the design a discreet set of tire levers and a perhaps a red flashing LED light. What about a bottle opener?! (O that constant question!) Look at your bike, young cats thirsty for bottled root beer on the road, and figure out how to do that without an unnecessary dedicated device. Suggestion: Always wear your thinking caps on under your helmets.

Photo lifted by MonkeyLikesShiny --> CorpusFixie  --> Trackosaurus Rex --> Wired  It' gorgeous out. When you are not riding in the glorious weather, go click around on these sites, and gets some new ideas to address your two-wheeled aesthetic desires.

Lynskey Now Making A Titanium Fixie Frame

OK, my urban cats, tired of hauling your decent but boat-anchor heavy steel fixie up and down the BART, apartment, and workplace steps at least twice a day? Want something as light as aluminum that doesn't make your shoulders and spine cry for their mamas? Titanium is here for you. Lynskey is officially making a house-blend fixie frame. The fixie frame in the photos is a show bike, which was ridden around the United Kingdom, so it has a special etched design on it.  Here's the info on the fixie  if you want the skinny on basic pricing, geometry, and finishes.(I just got the official photos today from Lynskey.) If you love Google, but go to Bing.com each day to check out the daily photo,and pretend you are somewhere other than a polyester-covered cube farm, try clicking around on the Lynskey site's bicycle photos. (Suggestion: Be stealth. There's enough oh-so pretty metal on the Lynskey site to make you get yourself busted and fired.)

I ride a custom ti track bike that Lynskey made for me. I rode a steel fixie before. It's all good. But the Lynskey is feather-light rocket that feels like you're on a cloud. If you are tired of jarring your fillings loose on surface-of-the-moon asphalt, it may be time for a Lynskey's ti frame. But isn't the fixie riding experience supposed to be hoop-d messed up crazy ride that hurts? No. It's supposed to be simple and fun. Painful and ugly isn't ever the point. If you still have a job, are commuting on a bike more then in a car, and you've established that you love riding fixed, cancel your gym membership, and start thinking about getting yourself a frame that is going to last a lifetime and not beat you daily to a right pulp. (Oh, and rodent lovers, happy Ground Hog Day!)

 

Photos sent to Wheelgirl from Lynskey today.

Wheelgirl Bike Shop Holiday Bonanza Food & Gifts, Sat. 12/12 & Sat. 12/19

OK, my cats who are holiday broke, nervous, crazy, riding around this winter in the dark with frozen hands on stretched chains and bald tires. You're not buying your holiday gifts at Walgreens.Take that Sharpie and write Saturday Dec. 12th  and Saturday Dec. 19th somewhere on your body or sneakers, so you remember to stop by the shop on both of these days and attend the Wheelgirl Bike Shop Holiday Bonanza 11-6 rain or shine.

We are going to eat cupcakes, at the cupcake bake off on Sat. Dec. 12th; drink free coffee, deal on all bike components, and buy all of our cool artsy and craftsy holiday gifts for $10-$30. On Sat. Dec. 19th, we are going to eat food made with Stonehouse Olive Oil, drink more free coffee, and buy more inexpensive and unique gifts.  Sure you can go stand in line all day, in the dark, away from oxygen and sunlight, on the cement floors of Costco or Target, to buy her/him yet another thing with a plug. But why?

Makers of Arts & Crafts: If you want to be a vendor at the Wheelgirl Holiday Bonanza, send an email to service@wheelgirl.com. (Look to the left under the logo, and click on the email link.) It's $10 each day for a 4-to-6 foot table and we'll figure out how to make your table of treats fit. We like supporting makers. Kind of late notice. But I'm kind of a cat of the moment. You've got a week to get it together. We'll keep your veins filled with coffee.Bring it!

Another cool event poster by cyclist and graphic artist Dalton Crosthwait. Photo of recycled bike part jewelry designed and created by employee and cyclist Bryan at the shop. Yes, copy cats, Bryan took all the pins out and paired the linking plates.  Check out Dalton's other work at design + motion at  www.monstrodesign.com

Wheelgirl 2009 T-Shirt Design Contest Winner

We received fewer designs this year, but deciding on a winning design was not an easy task. There are a several designs that would make really great t-shirts. In the end, the judges chose Stephen from Irwin, Pennsylvania, USA. His design makes me remember the happy times when energy bars looked like a cellophane pack of mini donuts; cycling jerseys were any shirt you owned that had short sleeves, and energy drinks consisted of water bottles filled with lukewarm coffee and Coca-Cola. (Yes, it is kind of gross, but it does work.) Congrats, Stephen, for creating this year's winning Wheelgirl Bike Shop "Bike Love" t-shirt design. You win an Chrome Citizen messenger bag! Check out Stephen's other artwork.
Keep your eyes peeled for another t-shirt contest this year. I really love to see the creativity and talent that exists in the bike community. Here are the designs from this year's participants. Well done to all of the designers who entered!
(*Quick completely unrelated note: If you are in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco today, check out the Purple Skunk All Skate Jam.)



(All graphic design and photos by Stephen of Irwin, PA USA. Stephen's art site:  www.fatherofodin.net

Bike Swap at Wheelgirl, This Sat. Oct 10th, Donuts & Coffee, Bargains!

We are having a bike swap from noon to 5pm this Saturday. You are invited. Bring anything bike-related that you want to swap, sell, or trade. If you need to build up a bike, this might be the place to find some sweet deals on components and accessories. Items in the bike shop are on sale. And of course, it isn't a party without free coffee and donuts! We'll also announce the winner of the Wheelgirl 2009 T-Shirt Design contest.  Email the small poster jpg file to everyone you know who loves 2 wheels. (Jump if you need directions for emailing images.)

(Wheelgirl Bike Swap Poster designed and created by local Bay Area, Graphic Designer, Dalton G. Crosthwait  Thanks Dalton! )

Directions for emailing the bike swap poster to your bike friends:
1. Right click on the image.
2. From the Right Click menu, select Save Image As (or whatever that command is for your operating system.)
3. Select your desktop or a desktop folder or directory in which you want to save the image, so you can find it leasily later.
4. Rename the file as:  WGBikeSwap.jpg (The name the system gives the file is way too long.)
5. Don't change the image type. It should say JPEG.
6. Click the Save button.
7. The image is now copied from the web to your computer desktop. So, now you can open your email of choice; address the email, and attach the WGBikeSwap.jpg file. Now your pals can meet you for coffee and donuts at the bike swap and not text message you a million time this Saturday because they can't remember the address.

Paul Racer Brakes Let You Convert 27-inch Bike Frame to Accept 700c Wheels

You have an old vintage Raleigh, Roberts, Dawes, or Peugeot steel frame with 27-inch wheels. It has semi-horizontal dropouts, and you decide to re-purpose the frame into a single-speed or fixed gear. You want to run 700c wheels, since there are way more choices in 700c rims, tires, and pre-built wheelsets. However, when you put the 700c wheel (smaller) in a road frame made for 27-inch wheels (larger), the brake on the 27-inch geometry frame don't reach the 700c rim braking surface.  Suggestion: Spend the money on a center-pull, long-reach Paul Racer brake.  And you can reward your faithful old steel bike with a nice piece of modern bike component jewelry.

Yes, the Racer brakes are pricey. But you can then keep that old and still-good bike, which you used to ride around town in cut-off jeans and tube socks, out of the landfill. (I know lady cats, you didn't wear tube socks, but you did you did sew the legs shut on your old cut-offs and make purses out of them.) The cost of the brake is about the cost of a BART ticket for a month. The Racer brake is available in braze on or center mount models. So you can buy a model that fits on 26" mountain "V" brake-style frame brazeons or 27-inch and 700c center mount road frames. The Racer brake also allows you to put 650B wheels on a frame made
for 700c wheels. But according to the tech spec from Paul, it "will not fit on cantilever brake studs."  Click here for the tech spec. (Jump for more details.)

 

 

(Photos taken by Wheelgirl.)

We have a Racer brake in the shop if you want to take a look at it. It
comes with a set of good brake pads and the straddle cable. It will work on
converting 27-inch-to-700c road geometry as well as straight up 700c
wheel geometry. It also allows you to put 650B wheels on a frame made
for 700c wheels. So, even though it costs some coin, you are getting an
excellent manufacturing and engineering quality, and you have the
option of moving the Racer to another bike in the future.

If your fork
and rear mounting set up is an older style that isn't drilled to accept recessed nuts, make sure to pay a bit extra, and get the longer
bolts. The brakes works in the range from 59mm-73mm, and the center
mount model weighs 157 grams per brake. It is 78mm wide, so you can fit a wide tire and fenders.The brake we have in the case is
anodized silver, but Racers are available in anodized black or silver, and
silver high-polish finishes. Stop by the shop, or go to the Wheelgirl store and order one.

Wheelgirl.com Bike Shop 2009 T-Shirt Design Contest

Schools back, and we know you need to get your biking self
organized. So take a break from your homework by designing a t-shirt
and winning a Chrome Citizen messenger bag!

The design on the
shirt can be anything you want relating to bikes as long as it's
appropriate for viewing by the general public. The design has to be
100% original. It will be printed on front and back of an American
Apparel t-shirt  in 1 color ink, and it must have the word "Wheelgirl"
and the Wheelgirl logo somewhere on it. You can submit 1 design per
person. The deadline is midnight October RD, 2009. 

Click here to see the great designs submitted for last year's contest.

We will celebrate the winning design with coffee, donuts, and a bike
swap 12pm-5pm on Sat. October 10th at the shop.  Also everything in the
store will be 10% off Saturday, October 10th only! Stop by on 10/10 to
get something special for your ride and enjoy a cup of coffee! (Jump
for t-shirt design submission guidelines.)

 

Here is last year's 2008 Wheelgirl Bike Shop T-Shirt Design Contest  winning design by Greg of Brooklyn, NY.

*Please read all sections. All of the information you need should be
here on this page. If you are new to design contests, take a
professional graphic designer to lunch and ask some questions.

What You Get If Your Win

The winner gets a Chrome Citizen Messenger bag and two t-shirts in the sizes of your choice printed with your design.

What You Get If You Enter But Don't Win

1. All those who enter the Wheelgirl.com 2008 T-Shirt Design
   Contest will have their design put on the site Oct 10th 200 to live
   forever in an album of all designs submitted for the Wheelgirl.com 2009
   T-Shirt Design Contest with your name and email (if you like). What
   does that do for you? Well, we track all of the traffic stats to the
   site. So, if your design gets a ton of legitimate hits, we
   may contact you for future design projects. (Note: *We can tell if you
   and your second cousins are sitting in the family room talking about what bikes will look like when we colonize space and
   clicking repeatedly on your design, so don't try anything sly.)


2. You get to show your friends, family, prospective employers your
   designs in the context of a community of designers who love bikes.


3. Adoring fans who completely dig your design style may contact you for other design projects. 

Deadlines

1. We are accepting entries from now the deadline at midnight on Oct 2, 2009 Pacific Standard Time.


2. Any entries received after the deadline are not qualified to enter
   the contest. We will pick and announce a winning design on October 10,
   2009 and post this info. on the site. So there is no need to email and
   ask who has won. Watch the site, and October 10 you will have your
   answer.

Submission Rules: General

1. The Wheelgirl bike shop services, tunes up, and builds bike of
   all types for males and females of all ages, occupations, and
   abilities. So, the t-shirt design has to appeal to any cat who loves to
   ride any style of bike.


2. The Wheelgirl bike shop logo has to appear at least once on a
   visible part of the t-shirt. Keep reading, and you will see where to
   download the logo. You can size, color, and augment the logo as you see
   fit.


3. The text "Wheelgirl.com" has to appear at least once on a visible
   part of the t-shirt in any size font or as a visual design element in
   any size of your choosing.


4. This design must be completely original. You can't use any
   trademarked logos (except the Wheelgirl logo) or graphics from other
   companies, or you will be talking with Perry Mason and Della.
   Be the star you are. If you use a photo, make sure you are the one who
   took the photo, and there are no copyright /licensing issues.


5. You can submit one complete t-shirt design per person. This
   includes a design for the front of the t-shirt and a design for the
   back of the t-shirt. You can discretely sign your fabulous design in
   the bottom corner.


6. The winning design will be printed in 1 color of ink on differently
   colored t-shirts. For example, we may print white ink on a black shirt,
   or dark blue ink on a orange shirt.


7. By entering your design into this contest you agree to all of the
   Submission rules and give Wheelgirl.com the permission to print your
   design on the shop t-shirts. We will communicate with you via
   email, and most probably, you will be stoked to have your design
   associated with bikes and those who dig your work.


8. Your entry must fulfill all aspects of the all submission rules in order to qualify for the contest.

Submission Rules: Technical

1. You can make the Wheelgirl logo any color, size, pattern you
   want, but remember that it needs to appear at least once on the
   t-shirt. Download the PhotoShop file of a 300 dpi Wheelgirl Logo 


2. You have two areas in which to design: The front and the back of a
   short-sleeved American Apparel t-shirt. The design on the front of the
   t-shirt must fit within a 10 x 10 inch area (25.4 cm x 25.4 cm) on the front of the shirt, and the design on the back of the shirt must fit within
   a 10 x 10 inch area (25.4 cm x 25.4 cm) on the back of the shirt. This
   means your design can be smaller than, but it cannot for any reason be
   bigger than 10 x 10 inches (25.4 cm x 25.4 cm)


3. The winning design must be available as an Adobe Illustrator file
   or PhotoShop file set at 300 dpi in CYMK suitable for use by a
   commercial silk-screen printing company. So make sure you set up your
   file correctly before beginning to design. (If you are new to this,
   trade someone a slice of cake and a cup of tea to check and make sure
   you set up your file format correctly.)

Submission Rules: Entries

1. Send your Wheelgirl.com T-Shirt Design Contest entry to this email ( service at wheelgirl dot com.)


2. In the Subject Line of the email, type in "T-Shirt Design Contest, NameOfYourDesign, YourTown andCountryOrTerritory. For example, the subject line might say: "TShirt Contest, Tea with a Wheel and Teradactyl, Berkeley, USA"


3. In the text of the email, enter your name, phone, mailing
   address, fax number. *You can't win if we cannot contact you. So you
   creative cats be mindful of making sure the contact email you give us
   is going to be in service and your mailbox limit is not completely full.


4. Do not send us your fat Illustrator or PhotoShop files. We
   won't open them. We will contact you if we need your fat design files.


5. Instead, save each fat design file (the front and the back
   designs) for the t-shirt as a JPG file that is not larger than 650x650
   pixels at 72 dpi each. These files for all those who enter the contest
   are the ones we are going to put on the Wheelgirl.com website.


6. Remember to attach both JPGs (the t-shirt front design and the
   t-shirt back design) to your email. (Copy yourself on the email, so you
   know that you sent both files.)


7. If you win, we will contact you via email for the original
   high-resolution Illustrator or PhotoShop files suitable for
   silk-screening t-shirts. So make sure to back up your original file. We
   don't want anything to happen to those golden files.

Wheelgirl.com Bike Shop 2009 T-Shirt Design Contest & Bike Swap

Schools back, and we know you need to get your biking self organized. So take a break from your homework by designing a t-shirt and winning a Chrome Citizen messenger bag!

The design on the shirt can be anything you want relating to bikes as long as it's appropriate for viewing by the general public. The design has to be 100% original. It will be printed on front and back of an American Apparel t-shirt  in 1 color ink, and it must have the word "Wheelgirl" and the Wheelgirl logo somewhere on it. You can submit 1 design per person. The deadline is midnight October 2, 2009. 

Click here to see the great designs submitted for last year's contest.

We will celebrate the winning design with coffee, donuts, and a bike
swap 12pm-5pm on Sat. October 10th at the shop.  Also everything in the
store will be 10% off Saturday, October 10th only! Stop by on 10/10 to
get something special for your ride and enjoy a cup of coffee! (Jump
for t-shirt design submission guidelines.)

 

Here is last year's 2008 Wheelgirl Bike Shop T-Shirt Design Contest  winning design by Greg of Brooklyn, NY.

*Please read all sections. All of the information you need should be
here on this page. If you are new to design contests, take a
professional graphic designer to lunch and ask some questions.

What You Get If Your Win

The winner gets a Chrome Citizen Messenger bag and two t-shirts in the sizes of your choice printed with your design.

What You Get If You Enter But Don't Win

1. All those who enter the Wheelgirl.com 2009 T-Shirt Design
   Contest will have their design put on the site Oct 10th 2009 to live
   forever in an album of all designs submitted for the Wheelgirl.com 2009
   T-Shirt Design Contest with your name and email (if you like). What
   does that do for you? Well, we track all of the traffic stats to the
   site. So, if your design gets a ton of legitimate hits, we
   may contact you for future design projects. (Note: *We can tell if you
   and your second cousins are sitting in the family room talking about what bikes will look like when we colonize space and
   clicking repeatedly on your design, so don't try anything sly.)


2. You get to show your friends, family, prospective employers your
   designs in the context of a community of designers who love bikes.


3. Adoring fans who completely dig your design style may contact you for other design projects. 

Deadlines

1. We are accepting entries from now the deadline at midnight on Oct 2, 2009 Pacific Standard Time.


2. Any entries received after the deadline are not qualified to enter
   the contest. We will pick and announce a winning design on October 10,
   2009 and post this info. on the site. So there is no need to email and
   ask who has won. Watch the site, and October 10 you will have your
   answer.

Submission Rules: General

1. The Wheelgirl bike shop services, tunes up, and builds bike of
   all types for males and females of all ages, occupations, and
   abilities. So, the t-shirt design has to appeal to any cat who loves to
   ride any style of bike.


2. The Wheelgirl bike shop logo has to appear at least once on a
   visible part of the t-shirt. Keep reading, and you will see where to
   download the logo. You can size, color, and augment the logo as you see
   fit.


3. The text "Wheelgirl.com" has to appear at least once on a visible
   part of the t-shirt in any size font or as a visual design element in
   any size of your choosing.


4. This design must be completely original. You can't use any
   trademarked logos (except the Wheelgirl logo) or graphics from other
   companies, or you will be talking with Perry Mason and Della.
   Be the star you are. If you use a photo, make sure you are the one who
   took the photo, and there are no copyright /licensing issues.


5. You can submit one complete t-shirt design per person. This
   includes a design for the front of the t-shirt and a design for the
   back of the t-shirt. You can discretely sign your fabulous design in
   the bottom corner.


6. The winning design will be printed in 1 color of ink on differently
   colored t-shirts. For example, we may print white ink on a black shirt,
   or dark blue ink on a orange shirt.


7. By entering your design into this contest you agree to all of the
   Submission rules and give Wheelgirl.com the permission to print your
   design on the shop t-shirts. We will communicate with you via
   email, and most probably, you will be stoked to have your design
   associated with bikes and those who dig your work.


8. Your entry must fulfill all aspects of the all submission rules in order to qualify for the contest.

Submission Rules: Technical

1. You can make the Wheelgirl logo any color, size, pattern you
   want, but remember that it needs to appear at least once on the
   t-shirt. Download the PhotoShop file of a 300 dpi Wheelgirl Logo 


2. You have two areas in which to design: The front and the back of a
   short-sleeved American Apparel t-shirt. The design on the front of the
   t-shirt must fit within a 10 x 10 inch area (25.4 cm x 25.4 cm) on the front of the shirt, and the design on the back of the shirt must fit within
   a 10 x 10 inch area (25.4 cm x 25.4 cm) on the back of the shirt. This
   means your design can be smaller than, but it cannot for any reason be
   bigger than 10 x 10 inches (25.4 cm x 25.4 cm)


3. The winning design must be available as an Adobe Illustrator file
   or PhotoShop file set at 300 dpi in CYMK suitable for use by a
   commercial silk-screen printing company. So make sure you set up your
   file correctly before beginning to design. (If you are new to this,
   trade someone a slice of cake and a cup of tea to check and make sure
   you set up your file format correctly.)

Submission Rules: Entries

1. Send your Wheelgirl.com T-Shirt Design Contest entry to this email ( service at wheelgirl dot com.)


2. In the Subject Line of the email, type in "T-Shirt Design Contest, NameOfYourDesign, YourTown andCountryOrTerritory. For example, the subject line might say: "TShirt Contest, Tea with a Wheel and Teradactyl, Berkeley, USA"


3. In the text of the email, enter your name, phone, mailing
   address, fax number. *You can't win if we cannot contact you. So you
   creative cats be mindful of making sure the contact email you give us
   is going to be in service and your mailbox limit is not completely full.


4. Do not send us your fat Illustrator or PhotoShop files. We
   won't open them. We will contact you if we need your fat design files.


5. Instead, save each fat design file (the front and the back
   designs) for the t-shirt as a JPG file that is not larger than 650x650
   pixels at 72 dpi each. These files for all those who enter the contest
   are the ones we are going to put on the Wheelgirl.com website.


6. Remember to attach both JPGs (the t-shirt front design and the
   t-shirt back design) to your email. (Copy yourself on the email, so you
   know that you sent both files.)


7. If you win, we will contact you via email for the original
   high-resolution Illustrator or PhotoShop files suitable for
   silk-screening t-shirts. So make sure to back up your original file. We
   don't want anything to happen to those golden files.

Plemon's Leather Double Toe Straps, the Hand-Made Ones with the Birds

Ok, you cats who feel like you are going to fly off of your fixies into space if you are not double strapped into your pedals, Wheelgirl Bike Shop just got in another great looking choice in double toe straps. Plemon's all-leather double straps are hand made in San Francisco, California, and you can recognize them because they look beautiful, and they have a bird embossed into the leather. (Seagull, dove, pigeon [in the dove family and carnivorous], Canadian goose, you decide.)

The label is not so easy to read, so look for the lovely little holes in the straps and the birds. If you are wanting to rock double straps that cost something between the price of Soma double straps and Toshi double straps, you now have a locally made option. The
brown straps are the thickest, so if you know you are a beast when it
comes to breaking toe straps, get brown. (I want a  leather bracelet made to match the brown toe straps.) Suggestion: There are not a ton of white straps currently because they are a new color, so don't cry like a baby cat if you wait too long to decide, and the white straps sell out. (Jump for more photos and  info about these new double toe straps.)

Photos by Wheelgirl

They guys making these double straps with the birds are messengers and urban cyclists. They are a very small operation, but they really believe in their product. They perforate the leather with the old school method of using body weight and a leather punch. They rivet on the brass buckles by hand. The Plemon's guys have been trying to destroy their own double straps in their Beta tests to no avail.

We have them in the glass case in black, brown, and white leather next to the black suede Toshi's. The white model is new. It has a white "dusting" on the outside, so the texture is a bit different, and the white leather straps have not been tested for as long as the black and brown straps. All of the straps are guaranteed 100 percent for 30 days by Plemon's (Their website is a work in progress.) But if you have any problem whatsoever, they are happy to review any product issues, case by case, and make things right. You can also use these double straps with just regular bike pedals without toe clips if you are riding a single-speed bike or a commuter road bike. (See the last not-great photo.)

I was told by cyclist Jonny from Plemon's that the "weight" of leather is figured out by how much a square foot of the leather actually weighs. According to Jonny, Plemon's double toe straps are made of 8-to-10 ounce leather. So if you know anything about leather, this will mean something to you. For the rest of us, these straps are thick.

 

 

Photos by Wheelgirl. (In the last photos, the white Plemon's double toe straps are attached to a set of road bike pedals without toe clips. Customer, cyclist, and Plemon's toe strap fabricator Jonny uses these to hold his feet in place on his commuter road bike, kind of like those Power Grip toe straps.)

Wheelgirl Bike Shop Looking for Part-Time Bike Mechanic

It is bike season, and we are looking for a part-time bike mechanic with experience working on high-performance road and track bicycles.You need to have experience installing current Campagnolo Record and Chorus and Shimano Dura Ace and Ultegra SL drive trains. You also have to have experience working as a bike mechanic in a bike shop that sells high-performance cycling brands. The position is for 15-to-20 hours per week. The schedule can be flexible. (Jump for resume guidelines.)

(Photo by Wheelgirl of a cut away view of a Rohloff Internal Speed Hub. [Thanks, Neil!]  You won't ever have to fix these at our shop. But if you are a bike mechanic, you won't be able to avert your eyes!)

Please email your resume to us. Please include your contact info. (email and phone) as well any bike brands and models with which you have expert knowledge. We will not open any attachments. So, please just type your resume into the body of the email. You must have prior experience working as a professional bike mechanic to be considered for this position. Pay is dependent on experience.

Gripping Tales of Cloth Bar Tape

Many fixed gear riders like the positive feel of cloth bar tape. They feel more connected to their handle bars via the thin layer of cloth with an adhesive backing versus a thicker layer of synthetic cork bar tape. Also, the thinner cloth bar tape may be less likely to slip around than the thicker bar tape if you are doing acrobatic fixietrix. However, be warned, if you have sensitive hands or a rough urban commute, the cloth is really thin and not squishy at all. If you smack a pot hole, you may be more likely to feel the road shock and vibration transmitted through the cloth than through fake cork or rubberized riser bar mountain grips. (Some cyclists solve the hand stinging issue by putting a couple of gel pads on their bar tops and wrapping cloth over the gel pads.) We just got a bunch of cloth bar tape in different colors into the Wheelgirl Bike Shop. So far we are stocking cloth bar tape in brown, dark green, dark blue, white, yellow, red, and black. (Remember: We moved to San Pablo between REI and Performance Bicycles.)

Photo by Wheelgirl.

If Forced To Visit Relatives on 4th of July, Pedal ID by PedalMafia

Eat some grilled food, talk about the economy, kiss your great aunts on the cheek, and sneak a hand-held, web-browsing device to your 4th of
July gathering.  I started playing on this site after employee An introduced me to it. An's fixie was stolen, and she was trying to design her next bike. (The thieves cut down the sign to which her bike was u-locked.) An got a inexpensive orange fixie. But what rhymes with "orange"? While you are sitting at the picnic table hoping your Uncle Billy doesn't blow off a finger lighting firecrackers, go to  Pedal ID by Pedal Mafia .

Oh, how I enjoy the labors of creative and smart bike cats. The Pedal ID program is easy. Click here. You will discover colorways for track bikes that mimic those outfits of  late 1970s hair metal bands. Sometimes you will feel embarrassed by your designs and need to reload the tab.  Some tips for new users: To add a component to your canvas, click on the component. To remove a component, click on that specific component icon again, and it will disappear. You can drag and drop any components on the canvas. On the bottom left-hand corner of the Frame page, there is a Pink, Blue, Yellow Frame Paint icon which allows you to paint a frame different colors.

There are about 19 choices you can make from screens for frames, front forks, wheels, wheels bmx (spread the love), chain ring, crank (spider), pedal, toe clip, toe strap, stem, seat post, saddle, handle bar (riser and track bars), tire, tire bmx, grip, chain, exclusive, other (which includes frame pads, Chris King headsets, lanterns, Knog lights.)

No more holding up a component to your fixie and asking every friend you know as well as complete strangers, "Does this look stupid or good?"  This 4th of July, visit Pedal ID, and remember: Lighting paper tubes filled with gun powder inside of containers creates a big noise and shrapnel.

 

(Screens lifted from Pedal Mafia's Pedal ID app.)

Adrian and His Comic Book BMX Components

A guy on a light blue BMX stopped at the bike shop. And I couldn't help but notice his ride. Creative cyclist Adrian had covered his stem, seat, and crank arms in comic book pages. Adrian told me that it took a while and some experimentation to create a coating mixture that works. He showed me photos of another cool looking comic component set he had made. It is summertime; sweeten your rides, creative super cats. (Jump for close ups of comics and more photos.)

(Photos by Wheelgirl. Comic Book Component Created by Adrian)