Chester › Comments

Didn't exactly set the world on fire: "One technology innovation they claim is the "integral braking system" in which the the front brake is built into the fork blades; the rear brake is shrouded. They claim this innovation began in 1987" - Chester from Bookmarklet

Integrated braking systems on a TT bike might make aerodynamic sense, here they just say hard to maintain and costly proprietary parts that may .not be available in a year or two. - Tim Keneipp

Best read of the week... "My loss is your gain.  I am selling everything I own that involves cyclocross.  I had the car packed and was headed to Bend for cyclocross nationals.  The weather report and course conditions sounded brutal.  I searched deep into my soul, and I have become too soft to finish my 2009 CX season.  This sport has broken my heart and crushed my dreams for possibly the last time.  Everything must go.  Everything is included.  If you win this auction you will have everything you will ever need to race cyclocross, and look like a complete pro.  I have decided that I enjoy buying cyclocross stuff more than racing it.  So do me a favor and buy it all.  Unfortunately for me I will probably buy most of it back piece by piece on Ebay later this summer when my mental stability and optimism return." - Chester from Bookmarklet

Cro-mo w/road geometry, 5-speed Sturmey Archer IGH, drum brakes front and rear, and fenders and chainguard included...for $500. Nice commuting package. - Chester from Bookmarklet

One dude's hand-made, one-off lugged steel commuter with Gates carbon belt drive and Alfine internal gear hub (shifting via Jtek bar-end shifter)...more or less my ideal commuter rig. Most interestingly, he's used an S&S coupler on the drive-side seatstay to allow for belt installation/removal...instead of engineering a break-apart drive-side drop-out. Super crazy fucking rad. - Chester from Bookmarklet

Very nice! I would enjoy this as a commuter bike as well. It sure would be the hybrid I am riding now. But what about winter? What size tires could I get on this beast? 28s? 34s? - Tim Keneipp

Hard to say...it's a custom build, so i assume he built it to take whatever he wanted. I agree, though...in a townie, I'd want a bike that could accommodate up to, say, 32s and fenders. - Chester

Seems to be a singlespeed Milano, with slight arc bars, and a nauseous-green paint job...and clown squeeze-horn. I don't get it. - Chester from Bookmarklet

Seriously considering this guy as my next nice townie...the one that I'll cry over when it, ultimately, gets stolen: lugged steel, Alfine 8 IGH, 'stache bars. But will have to trade out for curved fenders, switch off the faux-leather sprung seat, and get that nifty Jtek bar-end shifter so I can ditch the trigger-shifter. - Chester from Bookmarklet

"The goal of VeloBase.com is to provide a comprehensive database of vintage cycling knowledge for reference during everything from restorations to general maintenance to researching the cycling history through the equipment of the time" And how. - Chester from Bookmarklet

Unspeakably ugly and a ricockulous proposition but, somehow, seems cool as hell to me. Totally not worth $1000, but if I could get one at $600, I totally would. - Chester from Bookmarklet

I don't know what's wrong with me, but I find this ridiculously cool. Really, I just wish there were distribution of "mini velos" here in the States. Don't need it to fold, like the Dahon, but the idea of a smaller, lighter commute bike is appealing...to take up less space in a small apartment and to lighten the load when lugging it up stairs. - Chester from Bookmarklet

Open directory of JPG scans of a slew of vintage bike catalogs of all makes... - Chester from Bookmarklet

Anyway...wanted to add my anti-endorsement of OnGuard, based on my own personal anecdotal experience. The one that was broken open was a Pitbull that allowed too much room for leverage attack...but the reason I went back to that lock is because the Pitbull Mini I had replaced it with had developed a jam in its locking mechanism, rendering it unopenable. Added to this all was a Bulldog combo lock that somehow did not take the combination I set it to, which I found out only after I locked up a cheap MTB to a parking meter. Back to Krypto for me... - Chester

For great route maps: http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes... - Spidra Webster

The potential group is in Ottawa, Toronto and Fort Erie -- we want something we can drive to. - Brian Sullivan

Welded steel, throwback jack-of-all trades for $400 (frame/fork): runs canti brakes, 650b wheels, short horizontal drop-outs to allow for SS and internal hubs, dual bosses on front and rear for fenders and racks. Will take up to 44mm tires. Been considering this to do a new townie build, but am stuck on the idea of getting a lugged frame. - Chester from Bookmarklet

A sample build: http://velo-orange.blogspot.com/2009... - Chester

"A homeless man was charged Wednesday with a string of stabbings against women and children as they rode Muni or walked the streets of San Francisco. Bobby L. Brown Jr., 30, faces four counts of attempted murder, four counts of assault with a deadly weapon and seven other felony charges stemming from the unprovoked attacks, including one Monday. District Attorney Kamala Harris said all four attacks - and two more that are being investigated as potentially involving Brown - appear to be random, targeted at vulnerable people and committed with no motive. "We are ending tonight this defendant's reign of terror," Harris said Wednesday night. "We've got our guy, and he's off the streets." Harris said Brown faces 72 years to life in prison if he is convicted. Rachel "Ty" Brown, 24, who is not related to the suspect, was stabbed on the J-Church streetcar as she slept on the way to school. Prosecutors say Bobby Brownattacked her with a corkscrew found in his pocket when he was arrested... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

So much linguistic grandstanding in Harris's statement: "reign of terror," and "we've got our guy." Haven't paid attention to previous arrests, but I'm imagining she's got her future Attorney General race in mind right now. - Chester

"Bicycling magazine called it "the road rage incident heard 'round the cycling world."" - Chester from Bookmarklet

"Thompson was accused of assault with a deadly weapon, reckless driving causing specified bodily injury, battery with serious bodily injury and mayhem. The most serious charges stem from a July 4, 2008, incident on Mandeville Canyon Road, the road where Thompson lives, where he was accused of abruptly stopping his car in front of two cyclists. Other charges relate to a similar incident on the same road that did not result in injuries." - Chester from Bookmarklet

Cool animation using still photographs that also shows how dangerous dooring is. If you're a driver, please look before you open. And if you're a cyclist, stay out of that door zone... - Chester from Bookmarklet

"There were boxes upon boxes, parts upon parts, and bikes upon bikes. It was like accidentally stumbling upon a gold mine. Bob Jackson's, Mercian's, Rivendell's, etc, etc... I've always heard of stories like this but I never expected to be lucky enough to be the one telling it." - Chester from Bookmarklet

If pictures of bikes is "bike porn," then this story is Penthouse Letters. - Chester

Oh my, oh my. Aural lusciousness arrives on 2/8/10. - Chester from Bookmarklet

Close to what I'd picture as ideal. If I spec'd it, I'd go with more traditional frame geometry, a different handlebar, and would figure out a more elegant shifting mechanism than the stock Alfine shifter. - Chester from Bookmarklet

First time I've followed a Twitter feed of someone I do not personally know. - Chester from Bookmarklet

What in the mother-fuck is this? - Chester from Bookmarklet

"A shortage of funds has prompted UC Berkeley to abandon its plan to construct a new Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive downtown. The building, a distinctive and innovative design by Tokyo architect Toyo Ito estimated to cost $143 million, was to replace the museum's present, seismically endangered quarters on Bancroft Way, completed in 1970. "While the architectural plans will change," Cal Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau said after the announcement, "what will not change is our shared goal of building a dynamic, welcoming and seismically safe new museum at the corner of Center and Oxford streets." A defunct printing plant occupies the site of the proposed museum, and the university owns the property. Museum Director Lawrence Rinder explained the decision to change course - taken by the chancellor, the museum's board president, its chairman and Rinder himself - as a consequence of the global economic downturn over the past two years. "It is ultimately the chancellor's... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

I was trying to guess which building based on the description of it being a defunct printing press. I thought it was the old UC Print Services Bldg at Center & Oxford rather than the UC Press building a little further north. I assumed UC Press was still working in that building. - Spidra Webster

Flash-based sub-site by Ricoh to show you all about the nutty GXR now in production but which still totally seems like it's a crazy concept that will forever remain the fevered dream of an eccentric designer. - Chester from Bookmarklet

Official press release announcing Ricoh's bonkers GXR system is out... - Chester from Bookmarklet

I consider the whole "cyclists who don't stop at Stop signs" thing to be a red herring. Cyclists who blow Stop signs when they don't have right of way are assholes and deserve to be ticketed, at least. Cyclists who blow Stop signs after checking to make sure they aren't getting in anyone's way...don't get in anyone's way. The "Idaho Stop" rule for cyclists is something we and all states should have and cyclists who break the letter and spirit of the law should be punished. That's that. The rest is just noise. - Chester from Bookmarklet

To me, the point is that it's perfectly reasonable for a cyclist to treat a Stop sign as a Yield sign. But, yeah, if I got ticketed for blowing through a Stop sign with no other traffic in sight, I'd accept the ticket without argument -- the law is the law. Of course, in my head, I'd also think about all the cars that double-park in the bike lane, joggers who run in the bike lane,... more... - Chester

Nevius's columns provide regular encouragement to all that developmental disorders need not prevent a person from gainful employment. As part of his argument that maintaining Sharp Point as a golf course, he argues that golfers are less environmentally invasive because they walk along established routes, unlike mountain bikers or hikers...ignoring that 1) mountain bikers and hikers *do* travel established routes (they're called "trails") and 2) the very nature of a golf course is environmentally invasive. - Chester from Bookmarklet

Also, this morning, Forum had a show on the Sharp Point controversy: http://www.kqed.org/epArchi... - Chester

A lot of innovative and a little bit of insanity: the lenses switch out *with* the sensor. But if they come out with some really compelling lens/sensor options, this might be able to carve out a survivable niche. Wouldn't count on it, but it sure is intriguing. Hopefully they release a fast pancake ~50mm... - Chester from Bookmarklet

If one were paying attention to sites reporting the leaked rumors, this isn't much of a surprise. But, otherwise, it's a big surprise...the E-P1 came out just a few months ago. Another surprise is how little is different. Seems like Oly is just trying to capitalize as much as possible from Panasonic's problems supplying GF1 units to the buying public. - Chester from Bookmarklet

Looks like Proposition D, thankfully, is going to fail. The main rationale for it seemed to be "nothing else has worked...might as well try this," which is a stupidly low bar to clear. Thankfully people saw past the bullshit candy that was being purveyed by the special interest behind the proposition. - Chester from Bookmarklet