Category Archives: Bicycles

Quoc Pham Fixed Shoe

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I just heard about these from Prolly via his blog.  I checked out the Quoc Pham website, and while the only version available currently are the black leather ones, I liked these tan ones the best.  They are reasonably priced at £90 (about $130 USD) and I plan on picking up a pair when they get more colors in.  Check out the full review from Prolly, who got a tester pair recently and seems to like them.  I hope they also consider making versions that accept SPD cleats as well, like the Dromarti shoes.  I am loving the resurgence of classic cycling attire these days – I think it’s a lot nicer than high-top Nikes and a Kid Robot hoodie (soooo two years ago!).

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Dromarti Sportivo cycling shoe

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Dromarti is an Italian maker of fine handmade bicycles and shoes.  The Sportivo is their SPD-compatible shoe, and there’s also Race and Storica shoes compatible with other types of foot retention.  While the Sportivo carries a pricetag of $215 USD, I think that’s completely reasonable, even low-priced considering that this is handmade Italian leather!  They have so much class – hopefully I’ll get my hands on a pair one day.

Alien 53cm fixed-gear custom build

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I have waited nearly a year to build this bike: I first ordered the frame from Alien Bikes as part of a group buy last October, receiving it last May.  Despite the ridiculous wait, the frame is gorgeous and well-made, especially considering the low $350 pricetag for a hand-made lugged steel frame.  I used wire brushes to remove most of the phosphate coating from the tubes, exposing the raw steel and bright gold flux around the lugs.   The inspiration for this build is a classic Italian racer, something that looks like a throwback to the 1940’s or 50’s, but built from a mix of affordable modern and vintage parts.

Click “Read More” to see a hi-res gallery pf photos.

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Kicks for fixies: the 661 Filter SPD shoe

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Recently I switched from riding in clips and straps (MKS GR-9 pedals with Toshi double straps and Soma double clips) to clipless pedals.  It was an amazing difference; easily the best upgrade I have ever invested in for my bike.  Within minutes I could do stuff that had always eluded me with clips and straps – I can skid, even while seated, and can ride no-handed.  Handling and power transfer is superb.  But I still had a problem: when I wasn’t riding, walking around in fancy road shoes and cleats was pretty lame!  They don’t look cool, they were noisy, and at one point they made me slip and fall down a flight of stairs!  (Luckily, I was OK).

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Then at the Bike Jumble last week I bought a pair of these 611 Filter shoes from Continuum Cycles.  They are skate-style shoes with stiff reinforced soles and mounts for cleats!  Perfect!  They are comfortable and solid, holding my foot as well as my road shoes.  The cleat is recessed into the sole, so you have the full grip of the sneaker tread – no more slipping around on bulky cleats.  I am using them with Shimano SH51 cleats and M520 dual-sided clipless pedals.  I definitely recommend these shoes to any urban fixed-gear riders who want the benefits of riding clipless without the annoyance of walking around in road shoes all day.  Check them out at 611’s website or you local bike shop.

CyclingWMD shot my Merckx!

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Alan from the CyclingWMD blog took this gorgeous photo of my vintage Eddie Merckx 7-11 Corsa at yesterday’s annual NYC Bike Jumble.  I was helping out at the Times Up! table, fixing bikes for free and soaking up the beautiful sunshine, cycles, and ladies.  Visit the CyclingWMD blog to see more photos from the bike jumble, especially the awesome pile of NJS track bikes on display.

Also, here’s a bit of cool history I saw on the fixed.gr/NYC bike photo thread today: a period photo of the 7-11 Team’s stable of Merckx Corsa and Supercorsas.  The difference is that the Corsa has the rear brake cable running on top of the tob tube while the Supercorsa’s is internally-routed.

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Red vintage singlespeed build

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Here’s a new single-speed build I completed recently.  I started with an old lugged steel 58cm road frame that I stripped, primered, and   re-painted.  I also removed the braze-on wire guides for a cleaner look.  I added a 1960’s-era Ashtabula chrome track fork and a new Tange headset, which gives this build a unique and distinctive look.  The bottom bracket was replaced with a 103mm Shimano cartridge and Bulletproof cranks.

The stem is a 120mm Specialized quill with silver chopped risers and black rubber grips, a chrome BMX brake lever and new Tektro front caliper brake.  A pair of 700c wheels and a black saddle finished off the build nicely.  The gearing is 42×16 which is my preferred “cruising” setup for commuting around NYC.  The whole build took me about 8-10 hours of work; I’m pretty experienced at this point so the only tricky part was making the fork work.  I had to cut the steerer tube down, re-chase the threads, and neck down the quill slightly as the steerer tube was a non-standard diameter, slightly narrower than the usual 22.2cm.

I sold it this evening for $250, so I’m glad I got pictures this morning.  Check out more pictures after the jump…

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OSTRO Torro track bikes

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flickr image by FelixvonPlaten1

It’s been a while since I’ve posted about bikes, but the Ostro “Torro” track frames have me intrigued.  Handmade in Poland, they are rarely seen in the USA.  Their design reminds me of Koichi Yamaguchi’s gorgeous Kilo / Pursuit bike, with the distinctive “triple triangle” seatstays of the  GT Gutterball and curved seat tube of the mid-90’s KHS Aero track frames.

The welds and chunky rear fork ends make the Ostro look like it would be as at home on the streets as the track, though.  Bike Mielec in Poland shows a similar frame in their gallery, I’m not 100% sure that they are the manufacturer of Ostro frames, or if they merely copied one.  I am considering have a copy of this frame built in the USA by Gene Spicer, as it’s probably cheaper and faster than sourcing one from Poland.

Check out the gallery of Ostro’s after the jump.  Note that the geometry differs between bikes – some have the very steep angles and saddle-to-bar drop associated with a pursuit frame, while others like the one pictured above have a horizontal top tube.

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