The results are in...

... and I didn't even place in the top three this year. Oh well, I got a cool bike out of the deal and there's always next year. You can go here to see the other bikes and the judge's comments.

Bringing Home the Bacon

Well, another year has gone by and another conversion contest is in the books. This is my third year entering a bike in the fray and one of the best builds I think I’ve ever produced. It certainly pushed the limits of my skills and forced me learn a few new ones, as each conversion has. For the path-racer build-off, I bent wood into fenders; last year’s “Re-Cycle” allowed me to walk in my father’s shoes and showed me just how far I could stretch a buck. This year I had to find a way to up the ante again, and I feel like I succeeded.

For this build I was hoping we would be assigned some sort of utility bike; a bike with a purpose. I was quite happy when it was announced that we would be putting together “Grocery Getters”. All kinds of visions started popping into my head. There were racks, trailers and massive cargo carriers buzzing through my brain. It was time to narrow things down and formulate a plan.

A suitable donor bike seemed the best place to start, so the hunt was on. I didn’t have to look far. Tucked away in the corner of my garage was the perfect frame. It was a nice aluminum Schwinn frame and fork from the early 90s that was given to me and seemed to fit the bill nicely. The frame had clean lines, thick stays, and eyelets on the dropouts for mounting goodies. It had also been powder-coated a nice shiny black. Further exploration in the depths of the garage yielded wheels, cranks, bars, fenders and pretty much everything else needed to put a rolling chassis together.

The growing pile of parts was taking on the look of something a little retro, so I decided to run with that. I figured that wooden racks would look nice against the sleek, black framework. I settled on red oak and set about sketching a design. On the back, I wanted something with folding sides to hold re-usable shopping bags and the front would sport a six-pack rack.

Due to the loads the bike would be required to carry, brakes front and rear were a must. I also added a rear view mirror. I figured that turning to look over my shoulder while loaded would be an open invitation to lose my balance and hit the pavement. Lights would also be a requirement. With daytime temperatures reaching 118F here in the desert, grocery runs would need to happen after dark if I wanted to make it home without hard-boiling the eggs!

While assembling the base bike I had a major stroke of luck. The frame did not have horizontal drops, so I figured I would need a half-link to make the chain length come out right. To my surprise, and relief, everything went together the first time with no issues! The 40/16 gearing and chain-stay length worked out perfect and the chain came out just right without any tweaking. Score! The rest of the bike went together without issue and before long I was riding around the neighborhood.

Now putting a working bike together is not really a big deal for me, but cabinet maker is not really high on my list of skills. I’ve done some basic projects in the past, but this was going to be much more difficult. My folding design was inspired by of all things, a folding shelf we used to have in the bathroom of our old house. I set about cutting, sanding, drilling and gluing. After a few struggles and false starts, I was quite happy to see a nice set of racks emerging from the mess pouring out of my garage. I was also happy that I was finally able to unearth all of my woodworking tools and put them to use!

I was now at the point of fabricating mounting brackets, finish sanding and varnishing. I have to admit that I had some help at this stage; my soon-to-be nine year old nephew spent the day with me. As I was working on the front mounting brackets, he was in charge of sanding the slats on the rear rack. We then varnished the front rack together, painted the brackets, wrapped cork on the bars for grips, and called it a day.

A couple of days later when I was getting ready to put the finish on the rear rack, I could see that he had done a pretty rough job of sanding. There were still quite a few saw marks and deep scratches. I grabbed the sander and started to smooth things out, but then something stopped me. By removing the imperfection that he had left behind, I felt like I was removing his contribution to the project. I put the sander down and just varnished it as-is, leaving what I now refer to as “memory marks”.

After final assembly the fun really started. Loading up the bike and going for a ride. I have to admit that I did some of the shopping for the test load in my pantry and made quite a few substitutions. While not exact, I think the spirit of the shopping list (as well as the weight!) was fulfilled. Here’s what I ended up with:

8.8 pound bag of dog food (I feel gypped)

10 pound bag of kitty litter (they didn’t have a 5 pounder, but it makes up for the dog food)

1 gallon of distilled water (we didn’t need the milk)

1 pint of cottage cheese (no use for the half & half)

12 rolls of toilet paper (didn’t have an 8-pack, so I went with two 6-packs)

1 loaf of bread (bread we use)

1 pound of pasta (my wife’s Italian so we always have pasta on hand)

2 6-packs of soda (already had enough beer… did I just say that?)

12 ounces of honey (that reminds me; I need to make some Meade)

6 cans of tuna (raided the cupboard for that one)

2 boxes of red-beans & rice (I hate tuna helper… it doesn’t help)

Seeing as how I didn’t get all of this at the market today, I felt obligated to load the whole mess on the bike and ride it around the neighborhood for a distance equal to going to the store. I have to say, riding in 113 degree heat with fifty plus pounds of stuff hanging off of a bike is quite the adventure. Actual bulk seemed not to matter as much as weight distribution. Heavy on one side is not a good thing. Redistributing the goodies helped immensely.

My hunch about the mirror was also confirmed. I have a tendency to veer to the left when looking over my shoulder to check traffic; this was amplified by the weight of the load. Using the mirror eliminated that problem. The need for brakes was also confirmed when some bonehead decided to make a left in front of me. The cantilever brakes functioned well in the panic stop, but with that load pushing the bike I found myself wishing I had discs!

All things considered, I really like the final bike. It rides great and meets the intended goal in every way. I also picked up some mad wood working skills along the way and pushed out of my comfort zone again…and I bled a little bit but hey, that’s just me when I get around power tools and sharp objects!

A Good Day on the Bike

The last couple of years I've been terrible when it comes to getting mileage in. My rides have been shorter and the time in between them longer. The main reasons have been poor health and lack of time, but the truth is I just haven't made it a priority. I've built a lot of very cool bikes, but I have been remiss when it comes to actually useing them...

I decided this year was going to be different. I've really focused the last few weeks and the result is that in the first month of the year I will have 25% of the total mileage I logged for all of last year and mileage is what it's all about, right? After today I'm afraid I would have to say... wrong!

Today I had every intention of getting out and doing a major ride, but plans change and I ended up going to Rio Vista Park with Debi and our eight and one half year old nephew, Bryson. The plan was that Debi would knit and read her book while Bryson and I did a few laps around the park, then when he got tired he would hang with her while I cut loose and went for a "real" ride. We loaded up some snacks, the bikes and one child, and headed for the park.

After finding a nice ramada by the lake and parking Debi there, Bryson and I started our journey. He was riding the BMX bike Santa had brought him a little over a year ago and I was on my folding fixed gear. As with our past rides, I had my GPS on the bike keeping track of the distance and recording our track so we could print it out on a map afterward; he likes to have a record that he can show it to everyone.

We cruised around looking at all of the people, the ducks, the other bikes and everything else you see on a sunny Sunday in the park. At first, all I could think about was how many miles I was not going to get in today, but after following him around for a while that feeling started to melt away. We talked about how to cross roads safely and pass people on the trails, we worked on balance and control, we talked about the different kinds of bikes, but most of all, we had a good time.

Now, don't ask me why I though he was going to tire quickly so I could take off on my own; experience should have told me that wasn't going to happen. When we went for a ride on his birthday in July, he set a goal of 10 miles and darned if he didn't do it! Last week he did over 7 miles with me one afternoon. Well, today he blew both of those numbers away; the little sucker cranked out 14 miles and we have the GPS track to prove it! I never got to my solo ride.

So, do I regret not getting in the miles I wanted to today? Absolutely not! Today mileage took a back seat to something much more important. Today I got to share my knowledge and love of the sport with a child; a child that accomplished something that most adults can't do. What can be better than that?

Help! I can't stop building...

Well, I’ve been pretty bad about posting new material on the blog, but fear not, here comes another build. I hope you find this new project worth the wait!

I usually like bikes that make a statement… you know, have a little flash or scream “LOOK AT ME!” at the top of their lungs. This time, I decided to keep it simple, basic and to the point. I wanted a true track bike; something I could ride at a velodrome, should I ever actually make it to one.

I started with a Scattante SSR frame from Performance; a clean, well built steel frame. You can have any color you want as long as it’s black, and it comes without the decals applied; perfect for a clean look. The fork that they sell with this frame has a 40mm rake, too tight for me, so I opted for a Nashbar carbon fork at 43mm; it still steers fast, but it's not twitchy. It also comes with no decals…sweet!


For the rolling bits, I laced high flange Formula hubs to Mavic MA3's with 15 ga. stainless spokes. The bar set up is a Nitto B-123 on a Cinelli XA stem, and finished off with Benotto Cello ribbon. I acquired a well worn Sella Flite From a friend (the one who is now in possession of the Re-Cycle) and clamped it on a carbon post. The no-name cranks I picked up on Ebay are running a 48 tooth ring feeding a 16 tooth cog on the rear. The gearing is a little taller than I'm used to (about 79 inches), but it's lot of fun to ride.

I added a front brake setup that is easily removed; just 2 bolts and it drops off to make the bike track legal. The brake really is necessary for riding in the traffic around here and doesn’t detract for the over all look of the bike.

I really did try to keep this one low key and stealthy, but in doing so, I created a bike that seems to get more looks that just about anything I own. I guess less really is more…