cool stuff for ya tech nerds

It is every cyclists dream to ride a custom bicycle; whether steel or titanium, campy or shimano, road bike or townie, everyone would love to have their own personalized steed. For us tinkerers, the dreams lie deeper into building your own. Fortunately for us, there is a free frame building guide. Most of us will never use it to its full potential, but its one step closer towards or dreams of sweet steel. http://www.timpaterek.com/tpmanual_pdf.htm

New Azfixed Kits!

For only the second time in history, Azfixed has new kits. The kits, made by pactimo are available with bibs,two differnet short sleeve jerseys, a long sleeve jersey, arm warmers, bottles, and even a cycling cap. not bad for a local forum! peep em here:(more at azfixed.com)

Don't Worry- You're Going to Look Dumb

While new cyclists naturally have a number of questions when getting started, there is one that sticks out above the others. "Is there any way to not look ridiculous?" Simply put, no. We roadies try to cover this simple fact up by adding sweeping vents to our helmets, color coordinating our bikes, and wearing shield-like glasses, but the simple fact is that we look- in a word, dweebish. Often times, these borderline metrosexual get ups only dig us further into the realm of nerdom. Next time you leave your house and wonder how you rate in terms of the "cool factor," remember that you are a cyclist, and this is all you can ever hope to aspire too...

Grab your girl pants and fedoras; we're running late!

As Lance famously once wrote: its not about the bike. No, no matter how cool, practical, light, or fast your bike is, your bike alone can not make you worthy to stand in the presence of a true hipster. Do yourself a favor, and take some notes:

Quick glimpse of life. With the roommate's new bike all tossed together and the nishiki still hanging around, we now have four bikes total in the room at all times. That is not including the nights of races/ big rides where the tool kit comes out... then we get 6 or so bikes floating through. It becomes kinda sad when a simple t-shirt is the most accurate descriptor of my life....

Successful Slaying

Despite big shoes to fill coming off of this past May's Kill Mill, Hot City Destroyers pulled off another fantastic race at last months Central Slayer. The sprint, which drew 78 registered participants and a number of bandits, led racers about 5 miles straight down Central ave. in downtown Phoenix. Despite a couple spills, the race was off without a hitch, officially kicking off a winter starting to fill up with races. more pics at Azfixed.com

pure class

Some things are just plain and simple classy. They have a timeless nature about them that makes them irresistably pleasing to the eye. One such masterpiece is the brooks B17

need some rubber fast?!

There is nothing worse than getting a flat the night before a big ride or race and getting to the bike shop just a little late. Short of keeping a stash of spare tubes, there ain't much to do bout it. That is until now! Continental has a vending machine-like contraption that provides tubes at all hours of the day and night. This seems to be a clever concept- can't wait to see them come to some local shops!

a new way to ride a bike

The Roommate recently acquired a great lil start up fixed gear frame to scoot round on (all the cool kids are doing it). Unfortunately, due to a lack of space, I currently have but a skeleton of my full bike workshop with me. Due to this unfortunate fact, and the lack of a motor vehicle, we had to ride the new frame down to the shop to get the headset pressed. This is when you love your chrome sultan, which typically sits in the closet waiting for an oversized load

all the cool kids are doing it!

Last year at interbike, it seemed as though all the hype was on the companies offering fixed gear bicycles. This year, anyone who didnt have a fixed gear bike in their 2009 lineup joined the bandwagon. As a consequence, the "hipster" stigma of fixed gears has only been fueled by the marketing big-wigs of major bicycle manufacturers; case in point: Felt. Felt has developed a complete line of fixed gears based on the trendiness of singlespeed road bikes. The top tube pads, flashy color schemes, and PBR inspired bottle opener/wheel wrenches serve only to further this. A clear manifestation of this pandemic can be seen in this image, pulled straight from Felt's website: http://www.feltbicycles.com/Resources/Image/Photo%20Shoot%20Felt%20020_1000x390(1).jpg

next race in phx: central slayer...an extension of the kill mill series.

dont slam it in your pants! holster it!

One of my problems riding is transporting a u-lock. If i have one of my bags with me I can toss it in there, but then I gotta fish it out lata. I could sling it in my pants/belt, but have you tried riding with a u-lock in your pants? Luckily, small company outta new york has created a solution: the U-lock holster. Made in the good ol' USA, the holsters are made of recycled car seatbelts. They cost $10 and come in an assortment of sizes for different U-locks. Check it out at www.fabrichorse.com

Races heating up this fall the Valley of the Sun

We've got a number of races going on in and around phx this fall. in the mean time, check out this series being put on by them boys up north!

C'mon, use your head.

I recently got an email from my sister about a pretty ingenious little invention. The Photojojo store has put a new camera mount on the market for use folks with tight wallets. For $23 bucks or so you can have a webbing and buckle attached holder for your click and point camera. Can't wait till I get mine in the mail! check it out @ http://photojojo.com/store/awesomeness/helmet-camera-mount

Renew, Reuse, Recycle!

What happens when you have a carbon fiber cage and a can of PBR? Well if youre Garrett, a bit of a staple in the phoenix fixed gear community and creator of Azfixed.com, you make PBR carbon cages. What better way to transport your hipster beer of choice than via a weight weenie carbon fiber holster of sorts; feast your eyes: