Tag / bikes

by Adron

Bike Collection & Gear: All-City Space Horse Disc

This is my main ride for almost everything. I’ve got larger tires on for smooth riding in bumpy ole’ Seattle. Good gearing. A reliable and comfortable seat. Solid additional parts like Chris King Hubs, etc.

I have been through short rides, heavy rides, slogs, and distances of over 100 miles a day on this bike. It rides like a dream, and quick to respond, and solid for heavy loads. Combined with my Bill Trailer from Surly and it can carry a formidable multi-hundred pound load without much strain at all!

Specifications

  • Frame: All-City Space Horse Disc w/ fork and gruppo.
  • Shifter: SRAM Apex 2x
  • Brakes: Yokozuna Motor Cable/Hydraulic
    • Rear DER SRAM Apex WiFli (32t max)
    • Front DER SRAM Apex
  • Crankset Arms: SRAM Apex 50/34 w/ Rings
  • BB GXP
  • Cassette 10-speed 11-32t
  • Headset Chris King R45, sotto vocce blk
  • Rims Pacenti CL25
  • Hubs Front Shutter Precision PD-8, Dyno/ISO
  • Hubs Rear Chris King R45D blk
  • Spokes Front/Rear DT Swiss Revolution
  • Nipples Gold w/ ano/green accent
  • Tires: Compass Cycles Barlow Pass 38m
  • Tape/Grips Fizik Green to beautifully match the frame.
  • Saddle: Brooks Cambium C15, black
  • Pedals: Shimano XT PD-M8020 Trail Pedals
  • Fenders: Planet Bikes ALX black)
  • Cages: One bottle, one Salsa “Anything Cage”
  • Front Rack: Jandd Lowrider
  • Back Rack: MSW Pork Chop
  • Lights: Front B & M Luxos U
  • Lights: Rear B & M
  • Charger/USB Charger w/ Luxos U
  • Power Switch w/ USB Charger on Dyno/Light Configuration

Over the years I’ve gotten a new dyno replacement, and changed the cassettes to different gearing. Otherwise all pieces are still in place after a solid 35k miles so far! BOOM!

NOTE: Again, not sponsored by anybody to write this. Just doing to to document the gear I use in case anybody is interested. To check out the Space Horse Disc hit up the product page.

by Adron

Bike Collection & Gear: Surly Bill Trailer

This is the first set of a few short posts I’m writing up detailing the bike gear and rides I currently use on an almost daily basis. This first, part gear and *part* bike, is the Surly Bill Trailer. I purchased this trailer a few years ago and have, over the years I’ve owned it done some of the following.

  • Moved from a location in Seattle to another location in Seattle. It took about 9 loads but it got done.
  • In Portland moved from downtown in the Ladd Apartment tower downtown to Precott & Interstate Avenue. Another moving adventure of about 4 loads.
  • Ikea pickups, ranging from a mere ~30 pounds to almost 260 pounds for the biggest load I picked up. Which, at Ikea, considering much of the stuff is pretty light, 260 pounds is a lot of furniture to assemble!
  • More MMRs (Midnight Myster Rides), other party rides during pedalpalooza, and related events than I can even count a this point.
  • About 15-20 different trips to and from the office with computer gear, music gear, and other related things like guitars and whatever as sometimes I want something at the office, and sometimes I want something back at home – or elsewhere.

All in all, it’s been a few tons of actual weight carried to and from all at a mere price of about ~$900 for the trailer, and it still had years, if not a solid decade or more of life to go!

Specifications

  • Long Bed
  • 16″ Wheels
  • Gray
  • 300 lbs load
  • 37 lbs weight
  • 63″ x 24″ (length x width)
  • 16″ load height

Note: I am not sponsored or paid by any of these related companies. I’m merely writing these up out of interest and a desire to log what I use for reference. For more information check out Surly’s link on the trailer.

by Adron

Krakow – The First Week

I discussed the trip from Portland to Krakow in the previous blog entry, but here’s a few pictures of the trip itself. The trip started out with some familiar sights.

Yello Line Arriving

Yellow Line Arriving

Riding the Yellow Line to transfer to the Red Line Airport MAX

Riding the Yellow Line to transfer to the Red Line Airport MAX

Red Line MAX to the Airport

Red Line MAX to the Airport

That First Flight

That First Flight

Waiting in Chicago (This is the point where my luggage got lost)

Waiting in Chicago (This is the point where my luggage got lost)

The 747-8 that I flew on out of Chicago. Except this picture is in Frankfurt.

The 747-8 that I flew on out of Chicago. Except this picture is in Frankfurt.

CREWBUS in action!

CREWBUS in action!

Krakow from the air

Krakow from the air

Karkow Airport... well, ok, not much of the airport, but I was at the airport at this point.

Karkow Airport… well, ok, not much of the airport, but I was at the airport at this point.

The View Out of the window of My Flat

The View Out of the window of My Flat

The Flat Itself

The Flat Itself

The Old Local Street that leads from the flat to the primary arterial nearby.

The Old Local Street that leads from the flat to the primary arterial nearby.

Here’s the location on Google Maps.

Here’s the bike route into the city core of Krakow.

miejskie przedsiębiorstwo komunikacyjne s.a. w krakowie

miejskie przedsiębiorstwo komunikacyjne s.a. w krakowie

I’ve primarily used transit because it is extremely efficient here. Frequencies of trams into the city core come about every 1-4 minutes. The transit authority in Krakow is called the Miejskie Przedsiębiorstwo Komunikacyjne s.a. w Krakowie (abbreviated as MPK) which basically stands for public transport in Krakow.

Here are a few more pictures from directly near my flat.

Bike Lanes, nope, full on Cycle Tracks EVERYWHERE

Bike Lanes, nope, full on Cycle Tracks EVERYWHERE

Normal at a crossing, tons of cyclists, pedestrians... autos here and there and nearby trams and buses passing by.

Normal at a crossing, tons of cyclists, pedestrians… autos here and there and nearby trams and buses passing by.

One of the fine buses plying the streets

One of the fine buses plying the streets

Some of the new trams in service

Some of the new trams in service

Cyclists at a tram crossing in one of the dozens of transit centers

Cyclists at a tram crossing in one of the dozens of transit centers

I’ll have a full review of many of my observations now that I’m actually on the 3rd week of being in the city. So keep reading, I’ll likely publish that tomorrow.

by Adron

Thoughts from Oakland on Portland, To 2015!

This last week has been a whole host of madness. I’ve tried to kick off the new year with some solid riding, which I’ve been partly successful at. I’ve also started my planning around activism and advocacy for cycling and transit in Portland. There are a number of projects, but the top three I’m aiming to put effort into are as follows:

  1. I’m working with others to begin citizen observation and video recording of traffic scofflaws. Those that ignore diverters and other traffic control devices are on watch. Think of this as a neighborhood watch but with the prospect of actually pressing charges utilizing citizen citations. Those that endanger others through their actions are officially on notice.
  2. I’m trying to figure out a way, and would love any assistance, at figuring out how the city can crowd fund and allow citizen activists to actually help maintain infrastructure amenities. All of those downtrodden bus stops, MAX stations, and other areas that seem to be in disregard – I’d like to find a way that myself and others can volunteer to help out with these amenities.
  3. I’m starting efforts to organize and sustain more regular rides, both cycling and transit rides, that will culminate in various activities that might include: bonfires, camping, hacking (coding), hardware hacking (building cool stuff that does cool things), and possibly hardware build outs (like hacking bikes and building rigs of various sorts).

No bets yet, I hope I’m successful at all three, but I’ll be happy if I can knock out #1 and one of the other two.

Other Network Building & Learning Efforts

I’m also intending to actually meet, face-to-face, a number of individuals that I’ve been aiming to meet for years in the Portland area. Hopefully if I don’t accomplish the later two of my goals above, I can help others knock out a few of their goals for the coming year in activism and advocacy.

For now, cheers, happy new year, and all that jazz.

by Adron

…and a few more, for those that don’t understand biking.

http://btaoregon.org/2012/05/bta-calls-for-safety-changes-at-sw-3rd-and-madison/#comment-17013

Jonathan Maus states it really well,

“Hi. I fully support your request for people to have bicycle licenses and take tests. If we could find the funding and the if we could develop a program that would be able to test people about bicycle laws and best riding practices, that’d be great. That being said, I’d fully support a bicycle licensing program only if it meant that our roads and laws would be significantly upgraded in order to treat bicycle traffic with the same level of infrastructural and institutional respect that we currently offer trucks and other motor vehicles. Also, please keep in mind that the reason we must have a driver’s license to operate a motor vehicle is due in large part because those vehicles can very easily kill, maim and injure innocent bystanders with even the slightest lapse in judgment or operational error. The same simply cannot be said for bicycles.

The vast majority of people who ride bikes in Oregon also have a driver’s license. And I’d be willing to bet that they know the rules of the road more keenly and more accurately than people who don’t bike at all. Why? Because their life depends on it.“

To add to his quote. Keep in mind that EVERY day someone is killed by someone else’s inattention at the wheel. For every person killed 2-3 are maimed and permanently debilitated, often damned to disability for the rest of their lives. Almost always these people are innocent until this happens, then they are innocents that are permanently scarred.

Next blog entry, I promise transit + a more positive note. The people I know that have been killed or maimed by inattentive drivers lately has me on a tear. We need to design better roads, keep drivers under control, and stop giving them a “get out of jail” free card at every turn. The double standard with cars and other dangerous things is ridiculous. If people treated cars like guns, we’d have mass banning campaigns nationwide with millions of people marching against them. But instead the population is generally oblivious and care-less about this fact. Not that I’m saying ban either of these things, but we should work toward a safer and better infrastructure system that isn’t so damnably dependent on automobiles.

In the end, it would be better for ALL of us. It would especially have been better for all those dead. The 19 year old girl that was an art student. The 29 year old girl that was merely riding home from work. The expectant mother who was broadsided by an errant driver. The now dismembered young ladies that were waiting for the walk sign to change on the corner. The young brothers riding together, 9 and 13 respectively.

Let it hit home. Pay attention. Remember what you yield when you’re driving. At least try a little harder everyday to pay attention and not become the next killer.