Oh man.. someone get the blue Unicanitor back to the man… he will hook you up with a Zo bag.. BOOM…

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I heard that they remaking the Laser similar to this for the fans again…

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If you remember back in February, we ran into MASH crew in Santa Rosa while they were riding with the TOC. While the project is still in the works, they released this little sneak peak:

Read the rest of this entry…

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New bike day. This time it’s a 1981 Bianchi Super Pista. According to the production decal it was built in January, my birthday month, but it’s a few years my junior. When I picked it up it had a full Superbe Pro Gruppo on it, an excellent group no doubt, but it needed to get back to it’s Italian roots. So off with the SSP and enter the Campy Record Pista gruppo.

It’s a bit of a mish mash era wise, but I built this from a gruppo I had. My plan is to get it back to catalog specs, which means 3ttt bars and panto stem, campy SR panto seatpost and some Mavic OR 10 tubulars. But for now I’m really happy with it- and it rides like a dream.

The lineup includes:

• pre ’78 151 bcd track cranks hand polished and filled with black paint
• Campy Pista hubs in 36 hole laced to Mavic MA-2 clinchers, rear was tied and soldiered by
  Stevie at Freewheel. Torelli Open Tubulars.

• Phil Wood Cog
• Cinelli 2a track stem in 110mm with Old logo mod. 67 alloy bars
• Campy NR Pista Headset
• Campy NR Pista Bottom bracket
• Regina ORO track chain
• 90′s First Gen Record Seatpost (my fav campy seatpost)
• Cinelli Unicanitor
• Campy SL track pedals, Binda prestige straps, campy steel toe clips

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An artistic still life on my living room floor, made by the folks of CycleZine! The chair-base, stem, and bars have each been given to me by my friends, and fellow blog-writers here. A collection I’m quite proud to share: 

The stem comes from William.  Early last spring we all converged on Dolores Park for an impromptu bike swap.  I was unemployed and hopeful, and William made a wonderful gesture by presenting me with the gift of a steel Cinelli Pista stem.  The nice one, the one I’d wanted for — oh, around nine years or so!  The one last touch on my bike that I’d never been able to indulge myself enough to purchase.  It was a nice sunny day, and I was blown away to be handed such a present.

The chair base is a newer acquisition and comes from the collection of our own Sean.  He’s a furniture fanatic with sharp taste and a keen eye and happened to have just upgraded bases for his Herman Miller/Eames fiberglass chairs, and had a spare old Eiffel Base that I was obliged to purchase.  Soon, actually, it will be mated with a fiberglass shell from none other than Kyle of Trackosaurus Rex… yes, quite a piece.

 
Today, Puck showed up with a bag of goodies.  Among them were this pair of amazingly old (50s) french track bars made by the illustrious company known as Phillippe.  They are highly sought after and rarely found, the bend is much like the steel Cinelli bars of the era but the sweep is just a touch deeper and more round making for a svelte and classy resting place for the old palms.  I won’t actually be back on my track bike for at least 6 months, so these and the stem are just eye candy and a much needed goal to work towards.  

There you have it – a collaboration art installation in my living room.  Enjoy a little bit of needless beauty – half finished chairs, bicycle-less handlebars… It’s a nice weekend.

Also among the things Puck delivered today was my Maruishi!  This was my first track bike, purchased from a friend way back in 2001.  I have always held onto it as it holds many wonderful memories, and I’ve recently built it up with a Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub, laced to a pair of old Super Champion low profile rims.  It will have a nice pair of old townie bars from a French Girls bike, circa 1965 (thanks again, Sean!), and will be a fitting recovery bike for a 26 year old with a busted and screwed together hip.  I cannot wait!  
(photos of the Maruishi are by Puck)

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Yes, Damn you, Ray Dobbins.

There I said it. But c’mon, just tell me you weren’t thinking the same thing. Yeah, that’s right, I thought so.

Damn your little details, your ability to strive and and subsequently archive perfection, yes, Damn all of those things.

In fact. Damn your Colnagos. All of them, especially the 1972 beauty that is currently on ebay. Yes, Damn that one especially.

Oh, Pirelli tubulars. Hmm, yeah, been looking for those FOREVER. But it doesn’t matter, ’cause I’m Damning those as well.

I’m also sure I could check out this custom Drillium and make some sort of refrerence to Dante’s 7 circles of hell. But I won’t. Why? Damn them.

Also, I would like to specifically point out that I damn the ingenuity of the little clear cable housing you hid under the cable guides. You guess it. Damn you and the cable housing.

You also may remeber a little post called Ask CycleZine, where I point out how to date an NR derailleur. Well, damn that post and damn Ray for taking a better example shot of THIS 1972 CAMPY NUOVO RECORD REAR DERAILLUER. Maybe you should just write the column. Huh, yeah, I thought so.

Then again, maybe I don’t have to damn you. They say the devil is in the details.

Damn you.

Oh, and for those of you who are bitter (Damn you too). Check out this gallery of g*ddamn nice pictures. Then head over to ebay and buy the damn 1972 Damn Colnago Damn Super that I can’t Damn afford. Damnit.

[mbs slideshow=1]

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