Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Backward Bloc


NO CASSETTES PRESENTS DONALD ARRODONDO from FonsecaFilms on Vimeo.

Singlespeed/Fixed Frames

Also From Urban Velo

Eighth Inch Scrambler - $140
Pake Track* - $259
IRO Mark V - $269
Volume Cutter* - $350
Rawland Olaf - $350
Misfit Dissent* - $385
Traitor Luggernaut - $389
Swobo Sanchez - $399
Surly Steamroller - $420
Alien Frameset - $449
Milwaukee Bicycle Company Orange One - $500
FBM Sword* - $525
Salsa Casseroll - $550
Condor Potenza - $562
Masi Speciale Sprint - $589
Steelwool Sweet City LTD - $650
Civia Hyland - $650
fbm swordGorilla Hattara - $720
Brooklyn Machine Works Gangsta Track - $775
Soma Delancey - $795
Giant Omnium - $900
Planet-X Pro Carbon - $949
Van Dessel Drag Strip Courage - $999
Specialized Langster S-Works - $1100
Tonic Supernaut - $1150

Urban Velo's Lists of Complete Fixed/Single-Speeds

Great Resource for people looking to jump on and ride!

View Here

Windsor The Hour - $300
SE Draft - $310
Schwinn Cutter - $330
Republic Aristotle - $344
Torker U-District - $349
Nashbar The Bike Fixie 1 - $399
Oso Bike - $419
Sun Uno - $420
Redline 925 - $500
Felt Brougham - $529
IRO Mark V - $569
Raleigh Rush Hour - $600
Trek Soho S - $600
Jamis Beatnik - $600
Giant Bowery - $650
Redline 925Kona Paddywagon - $679
KHS Urban Uno- $699
Charge Plug - $710
Surly Steamroller - $720
Swobo Sanchez - $739
GT Gutterball - $770
Fisher Triton - $770
Masi Speciale Commuter - $795
Volume Creedence - $800
Bianchi Pista Flatbar - $819
Specialized Langster - $830
Salsa Casseroll Single - $845
Cannondale Capo - $859
Cinelli Mystic Rats - $940
Masi CommuterTraitor Luggernaut - $988
Condor Potenza - $996
Van Dessel Country Road Bob - $999
Marin Ignacio - $1110
A.N.T. Light Roadster - $3,235

Thursday, March 12, 2009

New Deep V's? B-43!



From Prolly

"We are working hard on getting this rim to market. If all goes as planned, they should be readily available this spring. It is called the B43, because it is 43mm tall, making it 1mm taller than our very worthy and formidable competition.

It's hard to compare it to the Deep V. The B43 will be heavier than the Deep V, it's hard to say how much yet.

As for multiple drillings of the B43, we do plan on that, you guys doing tricks have been evolving and you're at the point now where you are doing some rather insane manuevers. We were not thinking of going down to a 28h though. Less spokes is usually indicitive of some one wanting light weight, the B43 will not be light.

It is a work in progress, we have actually received two different batches of extrusion and we are not quite satisfied yet. We are seriously considering modifying the design again and making the B43 wider. Can you imagine a 43mm tall rim by 24mm wide with 48 holes?!?! I'd say that would be just about bullet proof.

We definitely plan on doing a variety of drillings, at least 32h, 36h, and 48h. 650c will happen eventually. A variety of colors too. While they won't be the lightest rim on the planet, they shouldn't be a boat anchor either. The final product should be somewhere between 710 to 730 grams. We could make it lighter, but durability is our main concern.

As for price, it looks like we'll at least be competitive. Making good rims is not a cheap endeavor, sure we could source them out and have them made in China, but that would be selling out in my opinion."

From Velocity USA

"THE NEW B-43 COMING May OF '09 :We've heard what people were asking for and it’s exactly this. We started developing this rim about 2 months ago, doing some research, talking to you and hearing what you had to say. The next step was convincing our main man Tom Black, el presidente and rim roller for Velocity Australia to take up the challenge. He stepped to the plate and got right on it. He had to re-outfit our manufacturing facility with new rollers, and drills, all while in the process of moving into their brand new facility. Its going to be a triple walled rim to make it bomb proof, nuke proof, which is why we named it the B43, after a Nuclear Warhead, and the city it is made in. We were going to call it the Brisbane 43, because the aluminum is mined there, extruded into the form of a rim, then hand rolled, drilled, and anodized/powder coated in Brisbane Australia. Brisbane is the home of some of the best Aluminum mines in the world, some of the hardest workers and our world headquarters hence the name the B43. And so there you have it."

Excellent commentary on "hipster" fixed-gear "culture"

http://www.hipsternascar.com/2009/03/traktion-aftermath.html

"I’ve news for you, capitalism is corrupting, but it touches everything, and identities must be formed from within its totality. Maybe those identities are not as explicitly revolutionary as we might like them to be, maybe they’re inherently reactionary, but the point is, they don’t start outside the realm of capital and then get co-opted. They are formed inside the realm of capital. But, even though they are formed inside that realm doesn't mean that they won't or can't seek to move beyond it. An identity or a group or a practice is never one or the other, it’s never outside capital and pure, or inside capital and corrupted. It’s always, to some extent, both. For a theorist like deCerteau, even just walking around the city could be an expression of liberty against the tyranny of the scopic gaze, so why not fixed-gear bikes? Maybe even if the riders are wearing Nike? "

In case you're bored.

Single Track Recumbent riding in Toronto forests.



TRAILS!



Real Alleycat/Time trial

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Brokeland Off the Chain

Tradeshow Edit


Broakland Tradeshow Edit from FonsecaFilms on Vimeo.

Chrome Bags Contest Montage


Chrome Bags Contest Montage from FonsecaFilms on Vimeo.

A Modest Proposal

Bikers, Take the High Road

"NO. 1: How about we stop at major intersections? Especially where there are school crossing guards, or disabled people crossing, or a lot of people during the morning or evening rush. (I have the law with me on this one.) At minor intersections, on far-from-traffic intersections, let’s at least stop and go.

NO. 2: How about we ride with traffic as opposed to the wrong way on a one-way street? I know the idea of being told which way to go drives many bikers bonkers. That stuff is for cars, they say. I consider one-way streets anathema — they make for faster car traffic and more difficult crossings. But whenever I see something bad happen to a biker, it’s when the biker is riding the wrong way on a one-way street.

There will be caveats. Perhaps your wife is about to go into labor and you take her to the hospital on your bike; then, yes, sure, go the wrong way in the one-way bike lane. We can handle caveats. We are bikers.

NO. 3: How about we stay off the sidewalks? Why are bikers so incensed when the police hand out tickets for this? I’m only guessing, but each sidewalk biker must believe that he or she, out of all New York bikers, is the exception, the one careful biker, which is a very car way of thinking.

NO. 4: How about we signal? Again, I hear the laughter, but the bike gods gave us hands to ring bells and to signal turns. Think of the possible complications: Many of the bikers behind you are wearing headphones, and the family in the minivan has a Disney DVD playing so loudly that it’s rattling your 30-pound Kryptonite chain. Let them know what you are thinking so that you can go on breathing as well as thinking."


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Another Good Opinion.

It doesn't have to be this way, though. Some measures that could improve things would be:

1) Legalize the "Idaho Stop" for bikes. Bikes would be required to stop at red lights, but could then proceed if everything is clear. It's not practical for cyclists to be stopping every block because it uses too much energy and slows you down to the point where bicycles are no longer practical.

2) Once the Idaho Stop rule is in effect, enforce it ruthlessly. While the NYPD is at it, they could take it upon themselves to actually enforce the speed limit in this city. Automated speed cameras and red light cameras are a must. The city (and by "city" I mean all 5 boroughs) is not a place to ride flat out. It's too dense and congested for that. The roadies should save their watts for the open road and realize that like cars, bicycles are guests in the city. The city is for pedestrians first and foremost.

3) Continue building out the bike lane network. As bikes are increasingly legitimized over time and are no longer seen as fringe, the bike culture will gradually shift. This will take years. It didn't get this way overnight and won't change overnight. Over time, the demographics of cyclists will change away from those prone to take risks toward a more general slice of the population. And that will be good on many levels - health, the environment, congestion, you name it.