Front end of Marlin's Cargo bike

Basement projects at Calhoun Cycle cover a pretty wide array of bike related interests. Marlin is a mechanic at the shop that recently learned how to use the torch and was looking for a fun, practical project. This cargo bike project is Marlin’s take on a practical load carrying bike that you can ride around all day without feeling as though your driving a bus, or a tank.

The frame is a  steel 90’s Fischer mountain bike frame that had a oversized (1-1/4″) headset. To convert the front end to fit a 20″ front wheel he got a 1-1/8″ headtube that happened to fit nicely inside the original headtube and used the new headtube to extend the headtube down. This allowed him to put a large, heavy duty (yet lightweight) rack on the front of the bike.

The rack is brazed onto the frame of the bike and thus when you turn the bike, it does not move with the fork and handlebars like you’d expect a front basket to. The fact that the rack is quite low (this is the reason for the 20″ front wheel) means that the weight on the rack does not throw off the handling of the bike much at all. When there is not a load on the rack you don’t even notice that the bike is cargo-minded.

Nice work Marlin!

Take a Look Mirrors are well designed, highly adjustable mirrors that attach to your glasses, helmet visor or your helmet using the stick-on helmet adapter. The mirror itself is a glass mirror of good quality and the components of the mounting hardware are stainless steel with brass sleeves. I have found the mirrors to be very durable and due to the brass sleeves being used as pivot points they are extremely adjustable. These are the best glasses/helmet mounting mirrors on the market.The designer of this product was a dentist and his first attempts at creating a cycling mirror was to tape a dental mirror onto his glasses.

The mirrors re sold in 3 versions:
>Original
>Compact
>Original with stick-on helmet mount
The original has larger mirror (1-1/2″ x 1″) and longer reach (over 3″ from the front of the mounting clip to the mirror). This mirror tends to work when mounting to a helmet visor or to the stick-on mounting adapter for helmets.
Being that the Compact model has a smaller mirror as well as less reach it tends to be best for those that are going to use the mirror with glasses. When attaching the mirror to glasses it will tend to be closer to your eye and thus the smaller mirror will suffice for seing behind you without blocking too much of your forward view.

Take a Look Original mounted onto a helmet visor.

Over the years I have moved between handlebar mounted mirrors and glasses/helmet mounted mirrors a few times. Thus the excellent selection of mirrors at Calhoun Cycle.

The last couple of years I have been switching between a few different bikes and am finding it easiest to have a Take A Look mirror attached to the visor of my helmet and thus I’m always prepared with a mirror. I am currently using the Original Take a Look attached to my helmet’s visor. I actually have drilled a tiny hole in my visor and used a little zip tie to permanently attach the mirror my visor. I did this after losing a couple mirrors because I set the helmet down and accidentally knock the mirror off the visor…

Take a Look Mirror Mounted to visor with zip tie.

I also ended up putting a bend in my Original mounting bracket model to optimize the position. Being that I switch between a laid back recumbent and an upright bike I feel that I have to play around with the mirror position a little more than I would have to if I was riding one or the other. The used the mirror for a while without the bend and then did my tweaking which has worked out very well.

Customized Original (bend ahead of mounting clip)

I wouldn’t recommend customizing your mirror until you have used it for a while and have gotten the hang of adjusting it. If you do choose to customize your Take a Look mirror be sure to make the bend on a stainless steel (silver) section of the mount. The brass sleeve is a softer metal and will be the first part to bend if your attempting to do this without a good grip (tools) and then the brass sleeve will break later as it’s not thick enough to be bent. I used 2 needle nosed pliers to hold the stainless rod securely as I “formed” it.

Schwalbe Kojak Tires on a Brompton M6L

The speedy, yet durable Schwalbe Kojak now is available in a 16″ x 1-1/4″ (ISO 32-349mm) tire to fit Brompton folding bikes! The Kojak is a bald (yes, like its’ lollipop lovin’ namesake) high pressure tire with a puncture resistant layer (kevlar belt). This will no doubt be a popular tire on Brommies as many are using them to go some distance and the Kojak can do that oh, so well (see Kojaks on my Double Century bike  here ).

While the 16 x 1-3/8″ (37-349mm) Schwalbe Marathon Tire will continue to be the most durable, longest lasting 16″ tire on the market, the Schwalbe Kojak will no doubt prove to be nearly as durable with a more performance oriented edge. At a 1-1/4″ with a pressure rating of 115psi the Kojak will add a bit of speed to any Brompton. A supple sidewall gives the Kojak a nice feel on the road (not as harsh as you’d expect for a 115 psi tire). Both the folding and non-folding have a nice, supple feel. Though the folding model is more supple.

Available in both a folding and non-folding models. The folding version is a bit lighter weight with a kevlar bead and higher threads per inch, while the non-folding version costs a bit less. The higher thread count on the folding model makes for a more supple and lighter casing. We measured the tire on a stock Brompton rim and the tire measured 30mm wide and 26mm tall. See all of our 16″ (349mm) tires here. All our 349 tires will fit a Brompton except for the Greenspeed Scorchers (a little too chubby for the Brompton Frames).

Here are some details on the 16″ Kojak:

SIZE: ISO 32-349 mm (16 x 1-1/4 in.)
PRESSURE: 115 psi
WEIGHT: 175 grams, or 230 grams for the non-folding
BEAD: Foldable Kevlar or Wire Bead
CONSTRUCTION: RaceGuard; 67 tpi, or 50 tpi on non-folding
Website Links: Folding Kojak here, Non-Folding Kojak here

Schwalbe was out in front of the pack several years back with a number of tires specifically designed for recumbent bikes and now we meet them again at the corner of the folding bike market. It’s always good to meet old friends in new places.

Panaracer has come out with an urban commuting tire that uses Protex Shield Technology. This is a lightweight and supple protection layer that we will likely see on more tires in the future. A supple tire is a nice, smooth riding tire while a more rigid tire can be harsh. The combination of highly supple, yet lightweight make the RiBMo (Ride Bicycle More) special.
We have it available in 700 x 25, 700 x 28 and 700 x 32. Check them all out on this webpage.

Here’s some info from the Panaracer website:

Protex Shield Technology

RiBMo is the first Panaracer tire to utilize the all new Protex® Shield. Protex Shield is a revolutionary and proprietary tire and tube puncture protection component. The Protex Shield fabric layer creates a tire that is three times more puncture resistant than an un-shielded tire of comparable weight. This also applies to tires with other currently available casing reinforcement systems. Super light-weight, Protex Shield provides sidewall to sidewall tube and tire protection. A perfect urban warrior, RiBMo is available in the following sizes for your cycling joy.

RiBMo, the first tire with Protex Shield

• The Protex Shield fabric layer is over 3 times more puncture resistance for a tire of comparable weight than other currently available casing reinforcement systems.
• Super light-weight, Protex Shield provides sidewall to sidewall tube protection without compromising the weight and performance of the tire.
• Protex Shield offers twice the pinch-flat protection of a Kevlar® belted tire.
• RiBMo is the first tire available with Protex Shield in 2008. Other road and mtb models will be available during the year incorporating Protex Shield technology.

Panaracer RiBMo Tire

Interbike is a North American Bicycle Industry Trade Show that takes place every year. It has been located in Las Vegas for the past several years (you know…cycling…Las Vegas…it’s a no-brainer : ( Whatever! I’m going to be there even if sin city is the location of choice).

This year the show was spiced up a fair bit by the reality that urban bike culture and practical cycling essentials (like a rack and a grocery pannier!) have become a viable segment of the industry sales. This is a sign of hope (for the industry and the world).

Momentum is a fun, hip magazine that focuses on North America’s Urban Cycling Culture. This year at Interbike Momentum put on a Cycling Fashion Show. This was a highlite for us as the people at Momentum put on a fantastic show that was a blast to watch. Very upbeat and inspirational.

Here is a video of the Momentum Fashion Show:

   

The first wave of racers begin their 2 lap race

The Brompton World Champioship was 10 days back on the 28th of September. I’ve had a chance to take a look at some of the pictures and read blogs of the event and it looks like a fun time that I’d love to participate in. While I’m tempted to think that I would one day do an insane event like the Paris-Brest-Paris (1,200 kilometer race…not in stages), I am probably more inclined to jump onboard a fun and whackey event like this.

What's not to LOVE about this?

Not to say that there aren’t some people taking this event seriously. A former Tour de France rider and three time winner of the Tour of Spain Robert Herras rode hard and was the winner of his group, but the start wasn’t a mass start and it turned out that the next group of riders had a speedy rider in Alastair Kay who is York Cycle Work’s Premier Calendar rider. The winners podium was a chaotic place to be when Robert Herras’ name was not called as the victor (oops, it seems he forgot to look at the results and walked up to the podium thinking he was the victor).

Tejkan Pettinger has a report and some great pictures on his Cycling Info blog.

The full results can be seen on the Brompton Website

There are many photo’s of the event at Sportive Photo (patience, it’s slow loading)

Brompton Bikes have evolved into an amazing folding bike with many very practical and functional accessories. We have seen their growth as a very positive sign of things to come. Stop in and give one a ride and have us show you how amazingly small they fold in about a 10 second stretch of time (wow is right!). Learn more about the Brompton Bikes and accessories (Including the B & W hard case) at our website.

A New Shipment of Airnimal Joeys is in

The Airnimal Joey is one of my all time favorite bikes. I’ve often said that if I had to choose one frame forever thereafter (heaven forbid) I’m pretty sure that this would be it. I think nothing of jumping on it for a run through town or a quick paced 70 mile ride with friends. If I truly was only able to use the one frame, I’d likely come up with a recumbent kit for it so that I could continue to go out on the plus-100 mile rides on a recumbent…

The first of the Joeys to get built up and head out the door was a Joey Explore 27 for Tuan. Check it out here:

Here’s my Joey hanging out back of the shop:

I Love this Bike!

  Bike Club Rides Again!

My good friend Derek runs a great Bike Club at Lake Harriet Community School. Lucky for me he always gets a big enough group that he needs an assistant. This fall he’s got about 50 kids signed up to get out and ride together for an hour after school. Lake Harriet is about 6 blocks away from the school, so we typically ride to the lake and do one loop of the lake after a quick stop at the bandshell concessions stand (mini donuts, popcorn, cookies and more!).

There’s always a lot of fun and smiles mixed with a bit of drama at bike club. At todays ride we got to the lake and through the snack stop, but shortly after that one of the boy’s bikes had a major bike break down (oops, my pedals won’t spin… well son, it appears that your derrailleur fell off). So as I’m looking over the bike to determine if anything can be done (not really, just pretending I might be able to do something, but clearly there are absolutely no options here) the bike club quickly disappears around the corner. Being that I’m on my nifty Airnimal Joey I realize that I can get my seat low enough for this 4th grader to ride it.So I send off my new Airnimal rider to be with the group. I turn back before I took off kickbiking the other direction to see him ride off on my beautiful bike with my Arkel Briefcase pannier fully loaded (Powerbook, cameras (still and video) and many other daily essentials.

Good news! When I got back with the group my rider, bike and pannier were all with them. Whew! That loss would be difficult to explain without me looking like an idiot.

When I got home my daughter who should have been at high school tennis was home. When I inquired about this she pointed out that it totally looked like a storm after school so tennis practice was called off. Bike Club 1, Southwest High School Tennis Team 0!

Great Job Bike Club.

Snack Time at the Bandshell Concessions

Over 20 years ago I got a job at Alternative Bikes in uptown Minneapolis. Jay Erickson was the owner of this upstanding neighborhood bike shop that specialized in selling Bridgestone bikes, skateboards and snowboards (early adopters). Another big specialty was overnight repairs. I worked as an overnight repairman. I learned a lot from Jay. Plenty about repairs and bike shops, and whole lot about myself (working late with the pressure of getting through a massive pile of repairs will do that to you). I worked for the Alt for 2 years and it was the last place that my paycheck was signed by someone other than myself.

Jay’s sons were little kids going to elementary school back then, but now one of them (Jesse) has teamed up with a workmate (Ben) to design a nice quality, highly versatile frame that they are marketing as a Handsome Cycle Co. bike.

 I spotted this frame at the big industry trade show (Interbike). It was being used to showcase some accessories in the Topeak booth. This model was labelled  as a “Devil”. It sure looked like a nice start from which Handsome can grow from. The catalog lying below the bike was nicely styled without being over-designed. Cool.  Good work guys!

Here’s a bike that gets in a lot of miles on the paths around the area. Phil rides a lot and has used a variety of bikes over the years. The past few years have been all about the RANS crank forward bikes. He likes to go fast in an ergonomically friendly position.

Customized riser and handlebar set up

The handlebars and riser are custom modifications that have helped make th bike very comfy on the wrist, shoulders and hands. Instead of using the stock “straight” riser, this bike is set up with a RANS curved riser which brings the handlebars back about 3-1/2″. The handlebars are swept back cruiser style handlebars with Ergon grips with built in bar-ends for a variety of hand positions.

Forza 145mm Crankset with FSA chainrings

The other major modification this bike has are the 145mm Forza cranks. These are a nice, triple crank option that can work for a variety of bikes. The Forza cranks are available in 145, 155 and 165mm lengths and the bolt hole pattern is 130/74mm.

Phil is out putting real miles on his bike. I see him on the trails regularly and he’s always smokin’ down the trail at a quick pace. Looking good Phil!