Tag Archives: bicycle

Kicks for fixies: the 661 Filter SPD shoe

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661_filter_spd_bk

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).

filtercleat

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.

7-11-3

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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1985 Cinelli Supercorsa

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This is a 1985 Cinelli Supercorsa 58cm bicycle I restored and sold.  I bought it from the original owner who had it in dry storage for many years.  Columbus SP or SL tubing, Campagnolo Chorus group.  I replaced the headset and seatpost with fresh-out-of-the-box NOS parts, since the original owner had non-Campy parts on it.

Serial number indicates it was the 61st frame of its type built in 1985. Vintage yellow Selle Italia Flite saddle. Rims are Campy Omega Strada XL hardox clinchers with Continental Duraskin tires. Stem and bars are Cinelli, and the bars are Giro D’Italia model. Original brake hoods too!

The bike does have some scratches in the paint and a small dent in the top tube, but is in great mechanical condition with no rust. Check out the pictures in the gallery below. I sold it to a guy down in New Orleans, Louisiana, so hopefully he’s enjoying it.

My first custom single-speed bike build

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side view

This bike started out as a rusty old Royce Union 10-speed, a steel frame Japanese bike from the early 1970’s.  I picked it up on Craigslist as a project to learn how to work on bikes.

I joined Time’s Up, an environmental action bike co-op in NYC, who offer free lessons and a workspace with tools and instructors.  Over the course of 2 months, I put a lot of sweat and even some blood into this build.  I learned a lot (thank you Mark, Luke, and Izumi) and now the finished product rides like a dream!  The steel frame is pretty forgiving of the rough NYC streets, and the mountain-bike style handlebars give it great handling in traffic.

Full story and pics after the jump…

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