Mr. Unworthy Thief Has Stolen Customer Anne's Fixie

Customer Anne was getting ready to ride home from the gym Tuesday evening when she had her Lemond fixie ripped out of her hands by an unidentified thief. He rode away, and she was not harmed. This happened in the Mission in San Francisco, CA. A police report has been filed. She has posted the stolen bike description on Craig's List. If you see the whole bike or pieces of the bike for sale around SF, contact her via email. 

Wheelgirl bike shop built the bike for her, and I built the wheels. I hate to think of someone who can't even spin 52T, finish two Ironman Triathalons, or win the Women's Cat. 4 2007 Berkeley Bike Club Team Time Trial cruising around on her ride.

You cannot possibly be worthy of that bike, Mr. Thief. You will certainly be getting a lump of coal this holiday season.

Photo by Wheelgirl of Anne with her Lemond Fixie before her bike was stolen by Mr. Unworthy Thief.

Bring the Bass: Stereo Systems on Your Bike

OK, I love to listen to music on my bike. I've been commuting to work lately on a fixed Nishiki Colorado with a $9-dollar Sony transistor radio in my coat pocket, and it makes me really, really happy. There is something to listening to music through the air versus through ear buds.

Here on the West Coast, I've seen Soul Cycle Slim bikes and Soul Cycle Mobile Audio bikes sporting their down low glow neon under lights around the Oakland, Berkeley, and San Francisco streets and at Bay Area bike events. (They also make bikes that can power blenders.)  The music usually contributes to the up-beat atmosphere of the two-wheeled festivities, and the neon glow coming from the bike means everyone can see you at night.

But these guys from Queens, NY, take listening to music on your bike to a new level of complication. Like the extreme music car hobbyists who push car stereo systems to rocket launcher decibel rates, the stereo bike guys, with Guyanese and Trinidadian backgrounds, bring the bike & music hobby from their respective countries to Queens. One guy had his bike stereo system measured at 150 decibels. (According to the car stereo decibel drag racing hobbyist article, "a 747 taking off on a runway 300 feet from you is about 120 decibels".)

 

Photo 1 & 2 of the Soul Cycles lifted from the RockTheBike site.

Photos 3 & 4 and text lifted from the New York Times Online:

(Photo 3) "The motocross bicycle of Stephen Sonnylal, 17, at left, bears a 200-pound system with a 50-CD changer. It has 3,000 watts of power and cost $800. "People say, 'It's the next best thing to having a system in a car.' But it's better because you don't even have to roll down the windows," said Nick Ragbir, 18, right."

(Photo 4) "Mr. Samaroo's sturdy Mongoose supports a system with four 12-inch speakers that can handle the 5,000 watts. He's co-owner of a business called Legal Intentionz that mounts stereos on bikes."Photo: Tyler Hicks/The New York TimesArticle and more photos Photo: Tyler Hicks/The New York Times

Aleutia E1 Solar-Powered Computer for Bike Touring?

Aleutia has an off-the-grid solar computing solution package that is getting a bit of attention. It runs on 200MHz x86 CPU on Puppy Linux. The graphical user interface is a Windows type. And there is spreadsheet and document writing applications on it. So, basically, you can create, modify, and save Excel and Word from the get go. You can listen to MP3s and make PDF files (portable document format). Everything is preloaded. More photos here.

The E1 portable computer needs 8 watts to work (11 watts when the CD writer and the hard drive are working.) And with the display (monitor) it needs 18W of power.  The 10.4" LCD TV (800x600 resolution) uses 10W of power. If you read the fine print on the bottom of your laptop, and you multiple Volts x Amps = Watts, you can get an idea of how much power your laptop needs.

The Aleutia E1 has a 14-hour battery. Size wise, it is 11.5cm (Width) x 11.5cm (Length) x 3.5cm (Height). So that is 4.5 x 4.5 inches. It weighs just over a pound. (That is the PC part. I don't have the weight on the other stuff.)

Basically, you can create a solar-powered solution to many UMPCs (ultra mobile personal computers), since they don't require high wattage. (Check out the Wheelgirl post on Chippy's solar-computing solution for bicycle touring.) But the Aleutia E1 is being marketed with a solar-power solution.

So, in your techno-centered holiday party conversations, you can add some chatter about the solar-powered Aleutia E1 in addition to the low-energy using in-the-news OX lap top from give one, get one OLPC (one lap top per child) and the sold out Asus eeePC  (photo in link of family computing in snow white clothing on the eeePC is a little too The Island).

(Photos lifted from Aleutia: E1;  Laptop.org: XO;  Asus: eeePC)

Aleutia E1 from notcot to dvice
to gizmodo

Problem Solvers Give Everyone a Brake

At Interbike, I talked with Jim and Josh at the Problem Solvers booth. Problem Solver fitting and components allow you to design a custom bike for cyclists who have unique or non-negotiable needs related to using brakes. And Problem Solvers also make adapters and bit and bobs to address irritating mechanical and bike build situations. And if your fixed gear frame is drilled for brakes, you can throw on cable stops and a rear wheel with an internal hub and go cycle touring in the hills with your pals.

• Problem Solver brake levers allow someone who can't squeeze both brake lever the ability to use one lever to control the function of both the front and rear brakes. So, if you have lost an arm or the squeezing function of in one hand, you can still activate both brakes and stop your bike safely. The single lever comes in both left- and right-handed versions.



• There is 1:2 brake cable setups allow you to control the front and rear brake with 1 lever. And they have a 2:1 brake cable setup that allow you to use 2 traditional brake levers to control 1 of the brakes, either the front or rear brake. (For example, if you want to stop your bike with the front brake only, but want to be able to use either hand to squeeze the lever and perform that action.)

(More about helpful metal bits after the jump.)

  

Photos taken by wheelgirl at Interbike in Vegas 2007

The metal bottom bracket cups offer a replacement option for the plastic cups that come with many sealed bottom bracket cartridges.

The water bottle cage bolt spacers are offered in silver and black,  so the cage can be spaced above the frame and not rub off your paint job and invite Mr. and Mrs. Rust over for a visit.

The locking headset spacer ensures that your headset can't work itself loose.

The Backstop cable guide allows you to add brakes and gears to a round-tubed frame without braze ons (available in 1-1/8”, 1-1/4”, 1-3/8” and 1-1/2” inner diameter).

Travel Agents let you use STI and Ergo brakes with linear pull brakes, for example, V brakes.

The Inline Travel Agent allows you to use STI and Ergo levers and any specific mechanical disc brake. (Use them with cantilever or STI and Ergo levers and linear pull brakes when the Travel Agents don't fit, for example, if you have an extra-small frame.)

The Centerlock Rotor Adaptor lets you use center-lock splined disc brake hubs with 165mm diameter standard 6-bolt rotors and disc brakes. So, you can take your Shimano XTR, XT, LX, Deore and DT center-lock hubs and make a standard 6-bolt ISO rotor mount and use any 6-bolt rotor/brake combination.

Bottom bracket metal cups, water bottle cage bolt spacers, locking headset spacer photos taken by Wheelgirl at Interbike in Vegas 2007. Backstop cable stop, Travel Agent, Inline Travel Agent,  Inline Travel Agent,  Center Lock Adaptor photos lifted from the Problem Solver site.

Jeff's 32H Phil Wood Gold Track Hubs on Velocity Red Deep Vs

• Phil Wood gold 32H High-Flange Track Single Fixed 120mm rear hub



• Phil Wood godl 32H High-Flange Track 100mm front hub



• Velocity Deep V 32H red rims (non-machined)



• 3 cross pattern



• Sapim DB 14/15/14 stainless steel black spokes and black Polyax nipples
  • Spokes for the rear drive (fixed) side = 16 x 280 mm
  
  
  
  • Spokes for the rear non-drive side = 16 x 281mm
  
  
  
  • Spokes for the front  = 32 x 281mm



• Velocity red Veloplugs = 64

Holiday Shopping Tips & Coupon on Google Maps

If you are not a shopper, but you promised to accompany a loved one to the 4th Street stores in Berkeley for holiday gift shopping, print out the Wheelgirl coupon on Google maps, and stop by the bike shop.

Think of your shopping experience like a 5-hour mountainous climb.

• Hydrate and don't forget to eat: You can drink coffee at Peet's, and eat a bunch of different foods at the cafes and restaurants on the street.



• Set a rhythm that works for you: Look at books at the 4th Street's Builders Bookstore and Cody's Books in between nodding approvingly at Crate and Barrel place mats and seasonal house-ware items decorated with penguin and reindeer.



• Conserve energy: Do not go into the red.  You think shopping means parking, walking into a store, getting an item, paying for it, and walking out all in 10 minutes? You better think again, my friend. Three hours is nothing to a holiday shopper. Pace yourself. If you blow up, you can't recover. You will be standing on the street yelling at a parking meter, and you will have to give up another entire Saturday to redeem yourself.



• Visualize reaching the end of the climb: Close you eyes and see the stores closing and the employees going home.

Photo lifted from the Trento Bike Pages. (I couldn't find the photographer's name.) Check out the Trento site, which looks to be a very good resource if you are planning to bicycle tour through the Americans, Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe.

Reach out to those teammates if you need a little moral support: Stop by the bike shop. Each holiday season, there are a bunch of well-meaning, over-stimulated non-shoppers wandering around the Wheelgirl bike shop like deer in the headlights. Sniff the rarefied air of finely machined alloys and welded titanium. Calm yourself down with a little mantra like, "I am not weak. I will not give up. You cannot beat me. I can only beat myself." Bond with total strangers over conversations about tire pressure and wet versus dry chain lube. Help someone who thinks that giving a partner a garage door opener as a holiday gift is the best idea yet.

Finish the race:  Get the heck back out there for another 3 hours of shopping to show your love and support, and sleep well that night knowing you achieved your personal goal.

American Classic Seat Post Allows You To Tilt Saddle

At Interbike, I visited the American Classic booth, and I got a chance to pick up a seat post I had read about before the show. (I haven't used this post. If you have, write a comment. Make sure to state your yearly mileage, so we have a reference point on amount of use of the component.)

The clamp on the seat post is designed so that it will hold the saddle firmly, but you can tilt the saddle to lower one side. So, if you have one leg that is shorter than the other, you can tilt that side of the saddle a bit lower. And, then, since the saddle is lower, you don't have to place a shim (special piece of plastic) under your cycling shoe to raise your hip higher. (Many athletes who are now avid cyclists, broke or dislocated a leg, ankle, knee playing football, basketball, soccer, etc. On the bike over tons of miles, small differences in leg lengths created by an old injury add up to lots of discomfort. So this seat post let's a cyclist address leg length discrepancy by lowering the hip, instead of raising the level of the foot.

If you read this and think, "Oh, I busted my leg in high school, maybe that is why my hip might be killing me on long rides!" You may be able to solve your issue with a few books on bicycle fitting, a pizza pie, and a riding buddy to give you feedback about your position on the  bike while you are experimenting with new settings. Or you can go to a certified bike fitter. Books and measurements don't work for everyone. And riding long miles in the wrong position can damage your joints. (Think about playing soccer for a season in the wrong-sized cleats.) Shimming things when you don't know what you are doing can cause other problems. Cleat positioning on your cycling shoes, and the height, length, and angle of your body in the best relationship to your handle bars, stem, fork, frame, and bottom bracket are what a fitter determines. The people who know what they are doing when it comes to fitting usually (not always) but usually have spent a large part of their career fitting people with unique physical characteristics and a history of a past injury. They are pricey. But if you are experiencing discomfort on the bike, before you buy this seatpost, make an appointment for a bike fitting. (Specs after the jump.)

Photo taken by Wheelgirl at Interbike Vegas 2007. Other photo lifted from the American Classic site.

This is taken from the American Classic site.

• Two different types of posts offered by American Classic:
  
  
  • Road post
  
  
  • Mountain post


• Both designed to work with industry standard 7mm-round saddle rails


• Both have set back of 25.4mm (1 inch).


• Length: 
  
  
  • Road 235mm
  
  
  • Mountain 350mm


• Both are 27.2 in diameter.


• Both are offered in black.


• Weight:
  
  
  • Road is 150gms.
  
  
  • Mountain is 200 gms.


• Both seat posts can be reversed to create an offset position.

Kindle eBook Reader from Amazon: Excite or Burn?

Amazon released its eBook reader, Kindle Um, I can't really say I like the name. Given the historical associations of bonfires and books, it forces a jump in my brain to "kindling". Also, I can see most people in a shopping frenzy checking around for "Kindel" the eBook reader. (Amazon has anticipated this by including the incorrect spelling in its online ad campaigns. But if this holiday season, grandma gives you a wingback chair from 100-year-old heritage-style furniture maker, Kindle, you have been warned.)

Anyway, although the general reviews, for what they are worth, were not excellent. There is already a discussion group for the Kindle that you can access before deciding it it could be your device of choice.

Gizmodo has a bunch of reviews and comments about the Amazon Kindle .(You can also check out the Wheelgirl.com site book-related page for more information on eBook readers such as the Sony PRS500 )

What do you do if you don't see an eBook reader you like?  Have an old-fashioned holiday celebration. Give someone a few books that don't require electric power.

All photos lifted from the Amazon site.

Pebbles Says: Do You Want to Ride on My Mercedes Boy?

The new Mercedes-Benz folding bike is expected to ship in 2008. According to the press release, "Mercedes-Benz Accessories GmbH developed the folding high-tech bike in partnership with top German cycle manufacturer ADP Engineering GmbH." (ADP Enginnering makes Rotwild cycles.) You will also be able to get Mercedes-Benz branded helmets, pumps, panniers, and carry bags for the bike.

The folder is a 5-speed with disc brakes, and you can keep the pannier on it when it is folded. Folded up the bike measures 800 x 800 x 280 millimeters. One feature of the bike design is that it can fit in the trunk of an open-top Mercedes-Benz CLK Cabriolet. Also, the folding process doesn't require the rider to touch the chain or pick up the bike. You can roll it on the wheels when it is folded. The bike is designed with 30mm of fork and 50mm of frame suspension for making the ride on bumpy city roads a bit more comfortable.

When they become available through Mercedes-Benz partners worldwide, put on your Bape hoodie or your Banana Republic jacket, get a speaker for your iPod, don't forget you Louis Vuitton wallet, and take a ride on your Mercedes folder to the designer hair salon. Tip the gal reading Vanity Fair or People Magazine to look out the window now and again and let you know if any wicked children who love to make necklaces are trying to steal your trophy folding bike head badge.

Photos lifted from the Autospectator.com website.

autospectator
to treehugger
to gizmodo

googleff601d17f5218080

googleff601d17f5218080.html

IceToolz Frame and Fork Adjuster Reduces Grunting

While at Interbike, I stopped by the IceToolz booth to chat with Alex and Steve. My eyes rested on the IceToolz E261 Frame and Fork Adjuster , and I felt all warm and safe.

A little history: The easy-to-find tool of choice for increasing the space between rear dropouts of a steel frame has typically been a wooden 2 x 4.  So, if you wanted to spread a 130mm-spaced  7-speed steel hardtail mountain frame to accommodate a 135mm spaced mountain hub, you carefully pried apart the rear stays with the 2 x 4. (Sheldon Brown describes in detail the process of cold setting [bending] a frame on his site.)

The IceToolz frame and fork adjuster allows you to cold set frames with much less grunting. You can also use the E261 to spread steel forks made to hold older 91mm or 96mm front hubs to accommodate a standard 100mm front hub. (Remember: Steel has elastic properties. Your aluminum frame does not. Snap your fingers. That is the sound you will hear if you try to cold set an aluminum frame.)

The IceToolz site describes the frame and fork adjuster as a pro-quality shop tool for expanding and compressing forks, chain stays, and seat stays. The tool has trapezoid threads and proves extra power as well as protective rubber pads wherever the tool makes contact with the frame.

(IceToolz is a marketing face of Lifu. Lifu has been around for a couple of decades. If you've been collecting bike tools for years, you probably have some hex wrenches somewhere housed in a drilled piece of blue plastic with the Lifu logo on it.)

One photo by Wheelgirl at Interbike in Vegas 2007. Other photo lifted from IceToolz site.

Sapim

USB Batteries Let Your Be A Forgetful Slob Bike Commuter and Watch Movies

It is dark now. The time change is always a drag if you love to cycle outdoors. You are using your bike lights everyday on your commute home from school or work. If you are powering your lights with AA batteries, USB batteries could be more convenient than batteries that require special chargers, in that USB batteries charge from a USB port on any computer.

Usually the realization that the batteries in commuter bike lights are on their last legs happens on a dark ride home from work or school in the evening. If you are disciplined, you will promptly put the dead batteries in the charger, and then make dinner. If not,  you will park your bike, eat dinner, chat, mess around on your computer, read a bit, watch some movies, and forget completely about needing to charge the batteries, until the next night when you are cheating death on your dark commute home.

With a couple of USB batteries, you are always covered. You can ride your bike to work or school the next morning and charge the dead batteries you forgot to put in the charger the night before on your computer.

You take off the green top, which is attached by an elastic string (kind of nutty), and plug them into your computer's USB port, just like a USB flash drive. Like many rechargeable batteries, it takes a while to charge them. And when the lights on the batteries indicate that the batteries are charged, you replace the green cap. They are not inexpensive. But they do offer another strategy for recharging batteries. Click to buy some.

Contact Information & Hours of Operation

Wheelgirl
1717 4th Street
Store C
Berkeley, CA 94710
(4th @ Virginia)

510.524.1400 = Telephone
www.wheelgirl.com = Website

Posted April 2, 2008:
We are in the process of interviewing bike mechanics for the season. This means that the Bike Component and Accessory part of the shop is open from 11am to 6pm everyday except Tuesday and Wednesday begining on April 3, 2008. If you have a mechanical issue, call or email to make sure there is a mechanic on duty during the transition.

Advertisement Policy

I am allowing Google Ads and other types of ads on the site as a way to generate click-through income to pay for the operating costs of the site. Most of the ads are served, so I do not get to hand-pick them.

I can't guarantee your experience with a product or service will be positive. It is always a roll of the dice.

(Bear with me as I frequently experiment with ad formats and placement.)

Anodized Nitto Track B123 AA and Nitto 018 Bullhorn Handlebars in Colors

You may like silver track bars. It is a classic look. And classic means something is always in style.

However, if you find yourself needing a fashionable pop of color to bring your ride alive, Nitto is making their standard silver 018 alloy bullhorn handlebar and their B123 AA track bar (the standard silver alloy version of the classic chromed steel B123 track bar) in the following colors:

• Black



• Blue



• Gold



• Gray



• Purple



• Red

Of course, this begs the question: Are they making stems in matching colors, too? Yes. Stop by the shop to check out both Nitto anodized bars and stems. (Bar specifications after the jump.)

The heat-treated anodized alloy bars are a bit more expensive. Fashion usually requires money. Style, on the other hand, is free, and all about you.

 

• The Nitto B123 AA alloy track bars have a deep drop design at 175mm, with a reach of 95mm. The clamping diameter is 25.4. You can shim them with Nitto shims, so they fit a 26.0 clamp. They weight 325 to 350 grams, depending on the size. They are NJS approved.


• Nitto 018 bullhorn handlebars have a 26.0 clamping diameter, a 148mm reach, and weight 250 gms.

Berkeley Artist Nemo Makes Trick Two-Wheeled Rides

I met Nemo last spring. He visited the shop and told me that he had made a bike, and he was having a hard time finding a matching pad for his front disc brake. He left the one pad, and a few days later, he rolled in his bike.

The Re:Cycle bike he had sculpted was over 8 feet long. The rotor for the disc caliper was a circular saw blade. The fork was made from aluminum baseball bats.  And he had created the rideable aluminum sculpture from just about everything but bike parts. A couple of guys visiting the shop kept saying Nemo, "You should ride that down to Pixar, someone would put that bike in a movie. We are serious."

I thought to myself, "Nemo, every time I see you riding that trick bike down 4th Street, we are all already in a movie."

Now, I am scrolling along in gizmodo, and giz has a post about Nemo's latest two-wheeled art project. You can read more about Nemo's scooter crafted out of old appliances. (Cool bike-inspired art by Nemo after the jump.)

Flip through the pages of his portfolio and check out his sculpture and robots. He has a rare creative talent for composition, proportion, and the incorporation of parts and images related to bicycles in his artwork.

• Materials for Junkyard Dog: Hair clipper, electric drill, cheese slicers, brake levers, teapot spout, magazine rack, furniture casters, spring. (Photo by Larry Strong)


• Materials for Clog: Parts of vacuum cleaner, arm chair, ice cream spoons, bicycle pedal, dining table leg, egg beater. (Photo by Nemo)


• Materials for The Representative: Motor boat motor, film editing machine, grill, lamps, golf caddy cart, oven pan, vacuum cleaners, bike wheel, motorcycle parts, garlic presses, teapot, typewriter, tape deck, motors, LED lights, microphone, speakers. (Photo by Nemo?)

All photos lifted from Nemo's site.

nemomatic.com to boing boing's bbgadgets
gizmodo to wheelgirl