You know how it goes...

A little while ago, i was having some issues with my Park Tool TS-2 wheel jig. Every now and then after building a wheel i was finding it wasn't perfectly centred. Maybe a mm or two at most, but enough that i noticed it. Obviously, i went back and centred the wheel and then adjusted the jig. Then another wheel or two and it would happen again. Odd for it to happen only occasionally. Curiosity got the better of me and i spent a bit of time poking around the web trying to find if there were similar experiences out there and what to do about it. It turns out that there are. The threaded axle that arcs the uprights in and out to adjust for different width hubs is on quite a coarse thread. It seems that a micro change in position at the lower end can lead to enough error at the hub holding end to lead to a wee bit of lateral movement. Of course once you have identified this (i think i was noticing it more because i was constantly going between 150mm all the way down to 100mm OLD hubs) you get the Park Tool 1554-1 centering gauge, consider a rebuild if there is any wear (on mine there was none apparent) and perhaps get a dishing gauge...EVT make a superb one. It adds about 30 seconds to the wheel building process to check that everything is centred prior to truing the wheel.



But, you know how it goes: i can't ignore it. So i get to looking at other wheel jigs. The issue is that i don't build enough wheels to justify what i would really like - a P&K Lie.

Watch these videos for a bit of a description of why it is such a refined tool.





Amazing dedication to making a tool as good and useful as possible.



Slightly less terrifying cost wise are the DT Swiss, and Centrimaster Classic.



Then there is the new one sided Centrimaster.



Hmm. We'll see. Anyone need a well cared for Park Tool TS-2 cheap?

Just in case you were under a rock...

Van Halen have a new album...



I seem to remember DLR being a pretty handy rock climber...



original pic lifted and alterated from All City.

Stood.

Had to file a couple of the holes i drilled into ovals to allow the bolt heads to sit right and not lead to a stress point, but otherwise it went surprisingly well.

And i reckon it is rigid enough - could be prettier, but then my skills are limited. Damn good fun to make something for your self.



Better get back to some DIY...

Landing on my feet.

Chronic indecision or inability to commit? same thing? who knows. I decided for many reasons that, initially at least, i would mount the evt right hand to a wheeled trolley of sorts. Yet again, a huge debt of gratitude to Sean at vertigo cycles for fabbing the carrier for the right hand that allows me such versatility.

I had access to an engine stand, and with a bit of modification and a large lump of wood i had a mocked up stand. This allowed me to decide on the height i needed in the additional upright, and from here the plan was to make the extension to the clarkes engine stand with steel. Hey, its metal right?



Ok.

Next was finding some metal stout enough for the job in question. With some excellent advice, 50x50mm was the aim and after poking around a little i found a merchant in Glasgow. I phoned and was told that they didnt cater to such a small order. Hmmm....more metal?

They did give me a number for a place around the corner from work though, called Scott Associates. Turns out i'd seen a couple of the guys who work there commute in by bike...i popped round and after an interesting chat about the projects they were involved in, including work for the winner of this years Turner art prize, i was able to purchase some off cuts in just the right size.

Good guys and i'd recommend a look at their website - sculptureanddesign.com - once it is back online. They do some bautiful work in many spheres. So, i need to break out the hacksaw, the drill and the ruler. Oh, and the elbow grease.



Todays recipe? an addition to any southern USA meal - Okra in tomato and tabasco. Chop onion finely, fry in olive oil add a tin of tomatoes, and a tablespoon of tabasco. Some salt and pepper wouldn't be amiss. Meanwhile, boil some trimmed okra for 10 mins then rinse and add to the tomato mix. Layer some Manchego, cheddar (mild) and mozarella on top and grill until the cheese has browned in patches. This recipe is adapted from Lupe Pinto's cook book which if i havent mentioned before is a MUST.

What else?

A fat tyred bike project begins...i'll no doubt go into this more deeply as it happens.

Videodrome.

So the sun was shining in the January sky this morning. The RoShamBo was sitting there with that big knobbly tyre on the front. I couldn't say no. Huffed, puffed and schmeared my way around the local woods. Took some video and after passing it through the iMac, here's what i gots....

It's back...

My Kelly Ro Sham Bo was my first 29" wheel bike. Over the years it has been pressed into duty in many roles. Most recently it saw time as a fixed gear/fat front bike....then a commuter for a while. Now, the fat front fixed is back...yeah, it looks special....but i'm looking forward to walking those cranks over slimey rocks and letting the Nate do what it looks like it ought to do so very well....

This Dial goes to 11.

From the inimitable Roman Dial.

South Shore bikepark.

A bike park? in Dorset? Mike Davis' blog post explains all...but this needs a bit of internet crowd action...go to it...and yes, thats Mike Davis of Whatmtb and Privateer etc.

Ptarmigan.

A little while ago, i rode/carried up Ben Lomond, turned tail and dropped down. Despite suffering numerous punctures as i plummeted over the sharp rocky trail i had a great time. It was very clear and sunny at the top and, for the first time, i saw the Ptarmigan Ridge trail in sharp relief. This was a little bit of a surprise because i have been up Ben Lomond quite a number of times - by bike and on foot.

Needless to say, the idea of riding that trail has been worming around in my brain for a while.

Whereas the main trail up the Ben has been worked on in order to be sustainable given the presumably large amount of footfall, the Ptarmigan Ridge trail is 'natural' for the most part. As such, it is way less impervious to Scotland's famed precipitation.

Same old same old: tired, unwell and busy. But just just as the cold, low, cloud cleared on occasion as i ascended the mountain, the will and the opportunity coalesced and i had a window to go for a ride. I like my local trails, but at the moment they are sodden and i'm pretty sure we are doing a fair bit of damage as we ride them. I'm philosophical about this...you would never ride in Scotland if you avoided commiting rubber to trail in bad weather. I also have issues riding the same trails time after time. So i dropped Daisy off at nursery and then loaded the car - it's been a while, so i had to find my 'further afield' kit - and after much delay i headed off to the Ben.

Although it was a bright, clear day at the bottom, as i cleared the first portage section i climbed into cloud. There were myriad, amazing frost patterns on the windswept grass. After the plateau-ish area i was into the second portage: it was here i hit boiler plate ice. It was tricky to get to the top, and lets just say the scramble down to the Ptarmigan Ridge from the summit area was interesting. At one point i slipped and mashed my knee into the fork so hard i thought i might actually be out the game. After a bit of massage and cussing, that saw me cooling rapidly in the biting wind, i knew i needed to get moving. Limping along, a sling to attach me to the bike in case of slips, i came to the point where i could ride.

This trail will not be for everyone. In places i was on the limit of my abilities and was having to display some serious cojones. In other places i needed accept my limitations and get off and walk - and not just for ice. This will be a test piece for sure, but it certainly isn't for everyone.

Of course, i wasn't helped by a contaminated front brake on BA. Seems my hose/banjo crimp joint started leaking and dribbled some oil into the caliper. Needless to say it was noisy and sketchier than it needed to be. Despite the odd light, i got some snaps. Maybe a bit too processed, but i think it gives an idea...here you go.

Cunningham.

It's no secret i am a massive fan of jacquie phelan and charlie cunningham and, indeed, wilderness trail bikes in its original incarnation. The mix of environmental awareness, focus on a low impact lifestyle, technical and design acumen and pure functionality was and remain second to none.

Anyway, i found this video...short but well worth a view. At any stage in the history of mtb that bike would be fantastic, given the year of its construction it is nothing short of genius.

Charlie Cunningham - "Racer" from Steve Banks on Vimeo.

So, you know, just cos...

I have an interest in bicycle related tool chests. A quick search on flickr showed up some rather controversial groups but none i though really relevant. So i started one...bikes and tool chests...enjoy.

A *long* time coming.

Of interest.

(pic is Sean's)

As the water level continues to rise around these parts, thanks to colossal rain fall over the last couple of weeks, off-road riding is little and infrequent. As i mentioned before, plans are afoot to build up something with a bit more float that may allow me to not plough too deep a furrow when i do get out.

Sean and Ricky are taking this to the extreme.

I'd suggest following along....a build thread is on the go on empty beer.

Chili verde.

Have i done this before on here? dunno. If i have, it's worthy of a repeat, because i have refined my method.

First, grab a highball, put 4 ice cubes in there, stick 4 fingers of decent silver tequila a wedge of squidged lime and a few slugs of decent oj. Sup.

Next, wander over to your iMusic station and toggle through 'til you get to Mastodon. Crack the Skye is ideal, i'd recommend Quintessence is a good start.

Ok. Grab your pile of pork. I went for 500+g of pork belly, 2 loin steaks and a fillet (tenderloin). Also a few hundred grams of lardons to start off with. You want 3-4 onions finely chopped and you want to cook all this down in a BIG pan. Olive oil over a pretty fierce heat initially. Of course in an ideal world, this would be done over wood chips on the bbq or in a smoker, but it is a wet winter in Scotland, so we'll make do. Add some liquid smoke if you have it (if you don't, mail order some from Lupe Pinto's now, that goes for chilis too...).

Once this lot is showing signs of being cooked, add about 3 tablespoons (not a typo) of dried oregano, and you want 8 cloves of finely chopped garlic. Yep, thats not a typo either. Add 500ml of good quality (i can't stress this enough) chicken stock.

Cook for a bit. Meanwile, in a frying pan, soften 2 green peppers, that you chopped to smithereens. Hold on! you are supping your teq and oh, right?. Turn the volume up.

You want 3 or 4 poblanos. Tinned will do (...Lupe...) and a small handful of chopped marinated green chill and rajas and then i add 8-10 pickled chopped serrano's.

Then you want 1 or two tablespoons of flour...you want it to thicken up, but not become a paste. Go easy and stir.

Cook the bugger for as long as you can but keep on top of the fluid level - i'd err on the sloppy side.

If you were in new mexico, you'd probably get this with tortillas and or beans. Id say go for rice. It should be fiery plus plus plus, mmmm'kay? not for the baby or for newbie chili eaters....aim for endorphins and you won't go wrong. Ok go.



Buying fresh chili's in Glasgow might just have become a little easier....Wholefoods is now open in Giffnock. Check it...'Tthebitttt!' says Daisy...

When the going gets weird…

A few days ago there was another fresh snow fall to the west coast of Scotland. That led me to commit to a course of action. Riding a normal bike in slushy, waterlogged or snow covered woods is ok once or twice but loses its appeal. Several years ago, I took my Kelly RoShamBo and mounted a jones/vicious fat fork and Paul Whub/uma drilled 50mm front rim with endomorph. Initially my thinkering led me to believe that a 26” rear wheel (with a maxis minion tyre) would balance out the geometry (the fork is 5mm shorter and has more offset than the RoShamBo was designed for, and the endo on a 50mm rim has about ½” less radius than the 29er wheel it replaced. Those frames already have a steepish head angle and I didn’t want to pitch myself too far forward - hence dropping the rear with the smaller wheel.. Of course due to the rim brake frame, that meant going either front brake only, or fixed. Fixed it was. Cue loads of fun. The front wheel had precious little lateral grip in the mud and snow, but careening about pinballing off rocks etc was great fun. Before too long, the low bottom bracket and super relaxed (floppy!) handling made me try a 650b rear wheel. Helped by the excellent Neo Moto tyre, it worked really well. The sun ringle 27mm wide rim was just enough despite pretty low quality material and construction. The bike even survived a strathpuffer…amongst other things.Eventually, the bike was pulled apart to lend things to other projects.

But it is time.

This iteration is going to be a bit different. Surly nate. Is there *anything* else? Maybe the Husker Du’s when they arrive? But meantime flotation and grip will be paramount. Again, the rear will be 650b, but I’m going to lace up a velocity p35. It is the widest rear rim I can find and with a dh tube, should allow me to run stupid low pressures mitigating the imbalance between the nate up front and the skinny rear.

Fixed or front brake only? Saint Franken mech or singlespeed? To be decided….

Unexpected.

So it seems when you have a post that is save as a draft, when you go to publish it, it slots in when you started it, not when you finished it...hmm!...so: if you want, scroll down for that one.

Backed up.

Written on December 14th 2011.

Yesterday I picked up my 20kg and my 24kg kettlebells and spent 15 minutes swinging and pressing. Then I got out the rollers and saddled up the road bike and punted out 15 minutes or so at a pretty high intensity. At least it felt like a pretty high intensity.

Today, I can feel it. Feel the pain in the stabilising muscles and in the hamstrings. That tells me I’m way out of shape. It’s not OK, but it’s ok. There are reasons I haven’t been exercising at my usual levels. I may never be able to again. All in all, I need to change the way I 'do' exercise. What remains is the fact that I feel better when I do a certain level and intensity of physical work. I am committed to the act and the results of training.

I was reflecting on the fact that for 2012 I have no goals. In an idle moment I was thinking of trying to enter the Trans Provence. Following that race this year was a thrill. With one thing and another, I couldn’t fit it in, and felt a tinge of disappointment about that as a couple of friends have had their entries confirmed. Not only would I like to do the thing, i'd like to do it with them. But, you know, I’ve been pretty lucky. Or maybe luck isn’t the right word – I’ve been pretty committed to riding in some amazing places over the years. No reason for that to change.

What really struck home was the number of places I have been that have featured in videos that are doing the rounds at the moment: Rossland, BC, Rotorua, NZ and even our own Ben A’an right here in Scotland. Yeah, it’s been ok. Just in case you have missed any, here are those videos.

House of the Big Wheel Part 2: Hei Hei and King Kahuna from Kona Bikes on Vimeo.

Trail Notes - Official Trailer from Cadre Productions on Vimeo.

Ever decreasing circles...

Illness: 3 of us.
Hard work: here, and there.
Time is of the essence and in short supply. It's not a sob story or a saga. Just reality.



The snow came. For a short time it gave me sanctuary.

In the night, before sleep i am reading of cold, far off places. Kiss or kill: by Mark Twight, and now End of the Earth by Peter Mathiessen. All to soon, if Daisy doesnt wake us convulsing with vomit in the dark hours, the hours that should be occupied purely by dreams, the weak sun fights to break night's hold on the land.

Hope is born anew.

Sublimity and ridiculousness.

At the risk of turning this blog from a cycling-centric monologue into a D.I.Y how-to, the last 24 hours has been all about cast iron and what NOT to do with it.

When we moved house, one of the primary features of the living space was a cast iron spiral staircase. Now, if you were thinking "Oooo! there just isn't enough cast iron stair in my life" at any point, let me counsel you to stop and think once more. Because when you conclude that your decision lacked clarity, and you want to move the beast out of your house, lets just say it takes a fair old bit of elbow grease. Yet again, i owe my dad big time for the efforts.

Then of course once you have done this, stir in a generous portion of your just-well daughter vomiting her guts up 'til midnight. Stir and take it all down the hatch without a scratch.

I should add, i HATE the smell of vomit. I doubly hate the smell of vomit as it is soaking though my clothes. The poor, wee lamb - i could cry for her...i really could.

Ok: other stuff.

New Black Keys album soon.
New The Roots album soon.



The P Phone has ended her incarceration. She went outside for the first time in ~6 weeks yesterday. Her new porthole into the outside wall is perhaps a little snug fitting, but i'm sure its just her winter coat, right?

Talking of which...

Pegboard!

Forever. That is how long i have wanted a pegboard tool board. Yes, yes, yes i keep most of the tools in a tool chest. Doesn't matter one jot. I still want - and now have - a pegboard tool hanger system. Getting pegboard in the UK isn't easy: this was mail order. Still, with a wee bit of the saw, the drill and the screwdriver, i have a perfectly servicable pegboard now. Bliss!



It looks a little like a polka albino monolith from 2001: a space odyssey, but it makes me happy.

I am running up a massive debt of intended posts, i am also so far behind on personal comms it wouldn't surprise me if people disown me. Gah! every 5 minutes seems to have 10 minutes worth of tasks vying for attention. I'll get there, but this suffocating, drowning sensation is driving me nuts.

Onwards...