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)

If You Still Have a Job Buy Yourself a Lynskey Cooper Titanium Frame

If you still have a job, you might want to think about getting your bike dialed so that if you get laid off, you can ride away your work fat and your crying-broke stress during your months of almost assured unemployment. I really like titanium as a bike frame material. My new favorite frame for the money is the Lynksey Performance Cooper Ti frame. Lynskey is offering these all-titanium frames for $1295 + fork. Sure, if you can afford to get a completely custom frame, go wild crazy. But we have built two of the Coopers recently, an extra large and an extra small. And if you can fit correctly on one of the variously sized life-time guaranteed, never rusts, never fatigues, made-in-the-USA titanium Cooper, buy one. Ti is really comfortable to ride. And the titanium tube set for the Cooper is shaped and flattened. The down tube is bi-ovalized. This is not your grandma's thin-and-round-tubed whippy ti bike frame that click,
click, clicks every time you are climbing and the front derailleur,
chain, and crank are kissing from the stress. The ride and price of the Cooper is reigning supreme.

Oh, and I'd put one of those Lynsksey CNC'd  ti shamrock dropouts on a chain, and wear it around my neck to dinner and a movie. Lynskey does the dropout CNCing and the frame fabrication in-house in Tennessee. Go click around on the Lynskey site while you are still getting a payday. (Jump to read more and more about the Cooper.)

  

(Photos of Lynksey Titanium Cooper taken by Wheelgirl. Photo of the shamrock dropout lifted from the Lynskey site.)

I test rode the gift for his Dad spec'd by customer Ronan, an XS Cooper with a WCS Ritchey and Ultegra SL build kit.
(Ronan, a kind Irish lad, is giving his Irish Dad in Ireland this sweet ride with the CNC'd ti shamrocks.) The bi-ovalized and flattened
diamond-shaped down tube and the rear triangle felt good.  Adam the Mechanic test
rode the extra large build (too big for me, think 6-foot 3-inch
customer Dana), which was build up from a 9-speed Ultegra groupset
moved from Dana's older Lemond steel frame.  Adam, also in the tall guys who ride hard club, was nodding when he returned from the routine test ride. (We also recently built up a Lynskey Titanium R230 for customer Joanne. I'll write about that one soon.)

Freaking out about money or the lack thereof is not a good thing. So, we often suggest moving your current group set to a new frame, if the group set is in decent shape and at least 9- or 10-speeds. This way, you can improve your bike over time with less stress on your wallet. Then, as you earn your new components by wearing out your old components, you can slowly upgrade out of need, not want.

This summer if you want to attend events like the Italian Festival in North Beach, San Francisco and eat a grilled Italian sausage on a baguette, grilled corn, a banana and cherry Italian ice, a free tiny bag of Potato Pop chip samples, chocolate cookie samples, Bare Naked granola and yogurt samples, some amazon rain forest drink, and then, walk 11 miles around the city of San Francisco before sipping an iced coffee and chomping a few bites of Frog Hollow apricot and raspberry cobbler before you put away a bowl of Japanese udon, you better have your bike sorted. You need to train hard during the week to get the most enjoyment from the weekend San Francisco June food festivals and events.

Call for Food Recipes from Cyclists and Cooks

We've got a ton of customer who love riding bikes and cooking. And as you know, Wheelgirl sells Stonehouse California extra-vigin olive oil. Why? Because most of our cyclists like cooking and eating good food. So, this is a call for recipes. Your culinary creations have to fall into these categories:

• Appetizers & Snacks
  


• Soup & Salad
  


• Entrees For All
  


• Desserts & Sweets

Also, I want a photo of the final creation. Don't send recipes that you steal from others and pretend they are yours. Make up your own. Your name and credit for the recipe and photo credit will appear with the delight you create. We are going to publish a Wheelgirl Cookbook eventually. If your recipe gets picked, you will get publishing and photography credits as well as a Wheelgirl t-shirt.

(Jump to see the format for writing up your recipe, so we can make the recipe you've invented. Or you can stop by the shop, 1400 San Pablo, and pick up a recipe form to fill out by hand.)

Use this template for creating your recipes.

Recipe Info.

• 
  

  Name of recipe

  
  


• 
  

  Is it for omnivores, herbivores, or can it be adapted to suit tastes?

  
  


• 
  

  How much time does it take to make?

  
  


• 
  

  How many people you can feed with this recipe?

  
  


• 
  

  List equipment & utensils you need to make it and serve it.

  
  


• 
  

  List you name and the name of the person who took the photos.

  
  


• 
  

  Attach two-to-four photos for the website, not more.  (Make sure they are only JPEGS or JPGS  and no more than 650x650 pixels at 100dpi (dots per inch).

Ingredients:

• 
  

  List all of the ingredients and where can usually find these ingredients

  
  


• 
  

  List the amount of each ingredient. For example, "a pound," "1/2 teaspoon".

Directions:

• Temperature settings
  


• Step-by-step explanations of preparing and cooking the food
  


• Presentation ideas or tips

The Bike Kurt Built to Ride From Berkeley, California to Tierra del Fuego, South America

Bike mechanic, racer, and world touring cyclist, Kurt, is leaving on the cycling trip of his dreams. He designed and built his touring bike and wheels to be bombproof and reliable under any conditions. He started with a somewhat damaged XtraCycle frame, a welding torch, some Halo downhill rims and a Halo rear hub, a Schmidt generator front hub, his Jamis frame, some Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires, a Shimano Shadow rear derailleur, XT cranks, a nose-less saddle. Then Kurt, with his formidable skills as a bike mechanic, constructed the bike that is up to the job of making this dream come true. He plans to ride from Berkeley to the tip of South America and, perhaps, onward from there to some other spots on the globe.  His last trip included 12,000 miles through 18 countries in 10 months. For this trip, he has not set a return date. Best wishes and a safe journey to Kurt on his adventure. If you see him during his trip, do me a favor and keep him supplied with giant cake mixing bowls of pasta or breakfast cereal and lots of coffee. (Only black coffee, no flavored coffee, well-meaning lady cat barristas.) In the bike shop, I've also seen him have a "little snack" consisting of a gallon container of orange juice and an entire box of Wheat Thins. A few dough nuts, I've found, also usually produce a grin. We'll have a link on the Wheelgirl site to his his trip-of-a-lifetime stories and photos. (Jump for more photos of Kurt's touring bike.)

 

(Photos by Wheelgirl. Amazing touring bike designed and built by Kurt.)

Here are more photos of the touring bike Kurt designed and built up for his trip:

White Industries Urban Platform Pedals with Tapered Spindles Are Foxy on Your Fixie

Take a look at the White Industries tapered stainless steel extra-foxy spindles on their newer Urban Platform pedal. No more meowing about your fat work shoes hanging off of your teeny track pedal platforms. It was kind of hard for me to put these in the case and not straight onto my ride. These pedals are not available in giant quantities, yet. But we do have a black-and-silver set in the glass case if you want to see what the fuss is about, and we will be getting in more pedal sets in silver, hopefully. The CNC'd engineered aluminum platforms, exacting touches, and thoughtful hardware, like sealed-bearing cartridges and brass acorn nuts, make them unique and  pricey. The platforms accept all standard toe clips and single or double toe straps. The tab the you step on to align the pedal with your foot is much wider than most and not easy to miss. The platforms kind of look like an electrical outlet face plates to me when I allow my mind to wander. Check out the photos. (Jump for the gear-head specs.)

(Photos by Wheelgirl.)

Gear-head specs are as follows, as taken from the White Industries website:

• 6061 aluminum platforms


• Sealed cartridge Enduro 1x6901, 1x6801 bearings


• Stainless steel 17-4 tapered spindles


• Brass acorn nuts


• 9/16th x 20  thread per inch


• 309 grams

Ritchey TorqKey Pocket Wrench or Jelly Beans and Sound of Carbon Bars Snapping

During a bike check this Easter Sunday, Cyclist Lee sprang into action by quickly offering his Ritchey TorqKey with a 4mm hex bit. This pocket-sized torque wrench, which fits in the palm of your hand,  worked well during a customary Ritchey carbon handlebar and Ritchey alloy stem check. Torque spec is usually printed on the stem. The TorqKey has one 4mm hex bit and a fixed torque setting of 5 newton meters (5 Nm or 44 inch-pounds), so it works with Ritchey handle bar and stems. When you have tightened a stem face plate bolt to 5 Nm, the wrench clicks, signaling it has topped out, and you can relax knowing you have tightening the stem face plate bolts to manufacturers' spec, and not crushed your carbon handlebars. The alternative, of course, is that under the influence of jelly beans, in a jet-fuel-like sugar coma, you decide arbitrarily to guess what 5 Nm of torque feels like, and with your folding minitool and a few marshmallow chicks for courage, deeply scar or snap your pricey handlebars. We will have the TorqKey at the shop, and you can pick up one for less than a large pizza with two toppings. (Remember we've moved to 1400 San Pablo Ave. between REI and Performance.)

Wheelgirl is Looking for a Few Good Bike Mechanics

If you are an experienced bike mechanic who has put together pricey road bikes for highly discerning (and kind) customers, and you are looking for part-time work this bike season, please send your resume to us. You must also be able to tune-up a faithful 7-speed Stumpjumper or 3-speed Raleigh commuter bike. You must have current bike shop or race mechanic experience with current knowledge of Campagnolo, Shimano, and SRAM bike components to be considered for these positions. That means you have put lots of Campy and Shimano 10-speed drive trains on bikes. Campy 11-speed experience isn't required. Jump to read the particulars of applying.

(Photos lifted from the web.)

The mechanic positions at Wheelgirl are not "learning"
opportunities. We are not able to train you on the job. Slow and steady
can't win this particular race. We need experienced mechanics who can
spin a wrench quickly and accurately. If the service time estimates in
Barnett's is business as usual for you, make sure to apply. If you have
built over 50 wheel sets from scratch, make sure to apply. We will need
you to work weekend as well as week day hours. If you are working at
another bike shop, but have had your hours cut due to the sluggish
economy, feel free to apply. We are flexible with scheduling. And we
will allow you mainline unflavored coffee all day, every day.

When you send your resume via email, (service@wheelgirl.com) please type or cut and paste your resume directly into the email. We won't open any attachments,
so please don't attach your resume to the email (computer virus stuff,
etc.) Show me the money, you say! Your hourly wage depends on your
experience, accuracy, speed, and references. You get what you pay for,
and we are happy to pay for the skill sets we need. Please put the word
"Part-Time Mechanic" in the subject line.

Note: We will contact
you if your experience appears to be a good match for the positions.
Please do not call the shop. There are many hard workers out of work
these days. These mechanic positions, however, are only going to be
filled by those who have bike shop references. So, please do not email
your resume unless you have current bike shop or race mechanic
experience. Thanks for reading.

*Remember: We are now located at 1400 San Pablo Ave. between REI and Performance.

Wheelgirl Moving to 1400 San Pablo Ave. in Berkeley Starting April 11

Loyal customers and cats who like to look at gorgeous bits of machined metal alloy bike jewelry that glimmers in the spring-time sunshine, we've moved to 1400 San Pablo Ave. We'll be on Spring hours starting April 11, 2009 (11am-6pm). The Wheelgirl custom bike shop is now located smack dab between REI and Performance. (Wheelgirl is located 161 feet from the front doors of REI and 1 block from Performance.)

While re-modeling the space, we've meet super nice and welcoming employees from both the REI and Performance bike shops. You want to know where the bike love is? Get yourself over to San Pablo Ave. in Berkeley. Did I hear someone say MTV bike freak block party every weekend in Berkeley?!

Feeling Just A Little Bit Cranky

Customer Julius brought this in to show us. He was not hurt. But after his ride was interrupted, he might have felt just a little bit cranky. (This is pretty unusual.)