Evening Bike Shop Sale & Musical Event With Art and Great Food

Today begins the Holiday Bike Sale with 10-20% off of selected items. Oh yes, this is the weekend to pick up some sweet deals on bikes and accessories. We are kicking off the sale with an evening event at Wheelgirl tonight, Dec. 13, 2008 from 4:30pm-7:30pm.

When you are done with your late afternoon ride, stop by the shop for amazing food treats provided by Berkeley's 4th St. Eccolo Restaurant, Bette's Oceanview Diner, Tacubya Restaurant, as well as Acme Bread, and some sort of crazy good dessert from Spenger's Restaurant. Oh yes, there will be beverages in the form of wine (think small cups of holiday cheer my thirsty bike-riding rock stars), as well as bottled water, and soda.

In addition, Thomas Viloteau, a world-class classical guitar player will be performing from 5:00pm-7:30pm. He is a phenomenally gifted young musician visiting the Bay Area via Paris who commutes on a Redline 29er 1x9 bicycle.

Hope
to see all of you cats tonight. If you see a bunch of dog head
paintings on display, you are in the right place. (Jump for more.)

 

Photo by Wheelgirl. Still sunny the second week of  December in Berkeley.

Thomas is on this month's cover of Guitare Classique Magazine,and between giving concerts in Asia, Europe, and the US, he will be playing jazz and classical music tonight
at the Wheelgirl Bike Shop. So put down your iPod; tape that Comcast movie on
your DVR, and get yourself and your friends to the shop.

 Thomas's CD
, recorded after he won the 2006 Guitar Foundation of American
competition a couple of years ago, is available on the Naxos label (a super fine classical guitar label.) For those of you who dp not follow the classical guitar scene, the GFA cometition is a big, big deal. It draws the best-of-the-best international classical guitar players and rewards the
winner with a CD contract, a bunch of money, and a concert tour of the USA.

Canstruction for the Creative & Helpful Metal Heads in the Peleton

I was in NYC for the November holiday break. And what to my wondering eyes did appear, but this free and great Canstruction Exhibit!  If you are a creative metal-loving  bike maniac with a tender heart, and you don't have the resources to build a frame this winter, get your cycling pals together for a few days this holiday season and build your own canstruction. Pick the guy or gal who is still obsessed with Legos and not constantly talking about bottle openers you can put on a keychain to be the team leader. Design and build something insanely multi-colored of shiny tin. If you are on the West Coast, go visit the Canstruction Exhibit in the South Bay.

The Canstruction exhibit has been going on for years. Architectural and engineering firms design and create giant sculptures from cans of food. And after the builders have enjoyed themselves engineering and architecting the canstructions, and people like me have marveled at their 2500-pound creative acts, at the end of the exhibit, the canned food is donated to social programs that feed people who are homeless and hungry.

Make sure you have a reinforced floor. Or better yet, get out into the front yard, and make your neighbors shake their heads in disbelief. (Post a link to your canstruction so we can enjoy your metal-loving mind.)

Check Your Rim Braking Surface or Maybe Visit This Daymare

There are tons of beginning cyclist articles on the web telling you to check for tiny rocks and / or bits of metal embedded in your brake pads that can wear down or tear your rim sidewall. Yeah, yeah, yeah. These articles also tell you to replace your brake pads when they wear down, so you don't damage the rim. Right, right, right.  And then, usually, there is a tip about checking for rim wear. Some rims have wear indicators (little cuts in the rim that let you see how far you have worn through the alloy). Oh, tell me something new, you are thinking. I know all of this. My wheels are fine. Or are they?! (Check out the photo.)

If you hold a ruler parallel against the bicycle wheel rim's machined sidewall  and you see a small bit of light between the rim and the ruler, you are usually OK. Some cyclists, however, try this exercise and say to themselves, "Wow, I certainly feel a giant valley of alloy worn away in the middle of the braking surface, and when I hold a ruler parallel to this rim I see a fat-as-a-hog  half moon of light between the straight edge and the machined sidewall of the rim!" If this sounds like you, mileage beast,  you are skating on thin ice this holiday season.

The brakes can wear through an alloy rim braking surface until the alloy is paper thin, and then the braking surface on the rim can rupture, tear, and basically fail. The customer who owns this wheel didn't crash. He had just completed a long ride (with hills)and was putting his bike back on his car bike rack to go home. Lucky guy. Take him to Vegas. Suggestion: Check your rims, dear focused and bike obsessed cats. Plates of Holidays cookies are easier to hold and eat if you are not wearing a sling.

 

Photos by Wheelgirl. Hello Mr. Michelin Man. Happy Holidays.