the vehicle for my triumphant?!? return to cross racing, after a 7 year absence. still needs paint and some parts, but come the 2008 season... fully intended to be a visual pukestorm, as since im out of shape, out of practice, and will refuse to train, i need another angle to preserve my traditional mid-pack finishes, so... psychological warfare! think bright magenta, turquoise, primary yellow, and splatter paint. yeah. as soon as its painted, therell be pics.
some time back, matthew at kogswell, inspired by the bikes shown on my pages about paris courier races in the 1890s-1960s, decided that for his next project, he needed to recreate this type of bike, or at least a frame that could be built up as a porteur or a randonneuse, or anything inbetween. jan heine, from bicycle quarterly, helped with the geometry and design, and i ended up with a proto. my housemate ira ryan made the rack, and voila - i had myself a porteur redux. this bike is now my primary work bike, and im loving it.
as flawed as this design is, its the only long john style cargo bike generally available in the us, so you take what you can get. i long for the day when someone puts a redesigned long john into production - one that trims the 10 or more pounds of excess weight that this one carries around thanks to overkill design. a friends done it in prototype, so i know its possible to bring the weight of this bike sub-40 lbs and actually *increase* its load rating (hpm says "200 lbs", but ive carried 400 on one of these - it aint pretty, but its possible). between the overbuilding and the poorly designed cockpit (too short to allow for a position similar to my mountain or road bike, too long to be fully upright unless you use different bars, which creates a bar/leg conflict when turning), this can be a very frustrating bike, but again, where else ya gonna go? no one else builds these to this pattern this one originally had drum brakes, but ive switched to disc for the increased stopping power. ive switched from flat bars to upright nitto "gentleman" bars, which has made it far more comfortable (except for that occassional leg/bar issue, but thats no worse than toe overlap with fenders, really - you get used to it). someone *please* build this bike right! (and provide anything resembling customer service or timely delivery, which hpm seems to be incapable of) please? ant? bilenky?
fairly standard geometry, but with - yes, you guessed it - a radically sloping top tube, reynolds 853 tudeset, and those nice paul horizontal dropouts with the tension adjusters. wtb classic hubset, bb and saddle, ti bars, sycip 5-piece fork and custom stem, ird seatpost (+ hite-rite!), 180mm caramba double barrel cranks, and my beloved '86 deore cantis and '93 xt levers (a few of the, oh, 4 or 5 shimano parts i like).
for 8 years and 125000 miles, this was my work/travel/general purpose bike, until the kogswell came along. it was deposed, it just needed a rest. for the time being, thats what its doing. it may get stripped, checked for alignment, and resprayed, or it may just get stripped and retired. its earned some time off, if you ask me. this bike was the accumulation of all of my thoughts about what i want in a messenger bike after riding the kona for 3 years. the changes? 700c wheels, wtb roller-cam brakes up front, slightly steeper head and seat tube angles, shortened chainstays, a slightly higher bottom bracket and a shorter seat tube, as well as the addition of a sturmey-archer 3-speed hub. oversize mountain bike front triangle/oversize track rear end, gussets behind the head tube on both top and down tubes. massive custom fork, with 6-point mounts for a custom 12" x 17" front cargo rack. s & s machine bicycle torque couplings allow the frame to be broken in half for travel (the whole bike fits in a special suitcase) without paying oversize charges. interloc widget rear brake, topline cranks, and the seatpost is now a interloc type 2 quad, replacing the old interloc post that i broke a while back. also currently has old shimano brake levers, replacing the suntours that finally slopped out all to hell.
once it was my work bike. then it was my single-speed mountain bike. now it has risen again as the house loaner bike...
first year kona cinder cone, found at the local used bike place as a frame, gradually getting built up with a mix of parts to be a 6-speed spare work bike. will likely get a custom frame-mount cargo rack for midweight load-carrying.
one of the older taylors ive seen. respray by the taylors sometime in the 1980s (im usually a stickler for original finish, regardless of condition, but a respray by the builder i could accept on a bike this early). has the look of a rough-stuff bike. this will get built up to close-to-period (its a 1949 build, but i think im gonna go for anything period to 1949-59) spec. anyone with thoughts on appropriate components for an english tourer in that period, your input is encouraged!
couldnt resist... needs some parts, but itll make a stylish loaner for when my friends children start getting to be bike-riding age...
display only - this bike has taken a good header, and has severe steerer tube damage from being built up with a bearing trapped between the steerer and head tube (how does one not notice that?). looks purty though...
a friend totally sold me taylors years ago, and this is the first one i was able to pull together. its got its flaws, due to an accident in the 80s sometime, but despite being a "curved tube super tourist" because of a big ding in the top tube, it still rides beautifully. ill get the frame aligned eventually, and maybe even get the dent rolled out...
found several years back in jacks attic, and saved for me. built up now with a mix of modern and retro components, just basically my own special mix of parts i love. my rando bike.
one of the last batch of 10 trailers norman built, circa 1993-94, post-works.
not as fancy as a herse or singer or goeland, but cool all the same - mavic-esque wraparound mudguards, "ideal" drum brakes front and rear, half-enclosed chainguard, soubitez lights, and of course, the rack. 650b wheels. needs some work, but that will come with time.
another bike from france... these are just so damn cool... couldnt resist. turned out to not be rideable, but a beautiful frame all the same.
a freebie from a friend which, from talking to andrew at the yellow jersey and koichi yamaguchi, its safe to guess was built sometime in the mid to late 80s as a show bike.
this is now at the top of the list, period. ive had about 5 of these dangled under my nose, and been poised and ready to buy with money in hand, only to have the bike disappear, and its getting frustrating. classic mountain bike of the mid/late 80s - unique frame design and a great ride... theres got to be one out there somewhere... ive wanted one of these since they came out and i was a teenager. 18"-20" frame, any color, with mantis fork would be ideal, as would rollercam/ubrake mounts. id wet myself if i found one in the old team paint job of every tube a different color... and no, i am *not* interested in a sherpa, an xcr, or (especially not) any version of the elevated chainstay valkryie. no flying v, no profloater, no screaming v. an x-frame, and only an x-frame. please? :) ive even started to accumulate parts! wtb classic/mavic rando m4 wheelset; wtb drop bars; ird u-brake; ird rotary brake; cooks tubular steel cranks; campy barend shifters; shimano 600 short cage rear derailleur; ird seatpost, ird remote seatpost q/r...
another crazy mountain bike frame design with crossing tubes. frame or complete bike, size large, original woods bike only.
ideally a taylor, of course. something in the 23" range, and with those long long track ends that older british track frames had... im hoarding parts already. so far, ive got a sturmey-archer tf 2-speed fixed hub, several airlite hf hubs, and an assortment of cranks, cogs and chainwheels to consider.
ok, so ive got the motobecane up there, but i still want a nicer one, more race-y, something singer/herse/goeland/etc or such...
into if-i-win-the-lottery fantasyland here, but someday... i dont quite know what it is, but something in me decided i wanted a bike from this era of the first racing derailleurs, or flip hubs - and somehow i came to the conclusion that a dei was the maker it had to be from. trick is finding one in 57-59cm... track model is preferable, but i think id settle for a road bike...
any of a number of models that were available then... id prefer a low frame to a high frame model though - all the things i like now, just 100 years old... preference given to a white, or to any makes originating on the pacific coast.
who wouldnt want one of these? wicked, wicked fast.