Rides and Races - DC Pirates' Pillages and Plunders

Anyone have any thoughts on saddles? I am in the market thanks to the insurance company. I have been looking at the Selle San Marco, but really have no idea.

i got my first brooks last month.
for two weeks, i hated it.
now, i love it.

break in took about 400 mi.

i got my first brooks last month.
for two weeks, i hated it.
now, i love it.

break in took about 400 mi.
Which means you ride 200mi each week. Nice average...

so whats the plans on saturday night?
any parties?

party at reds... duh

I got a Brooks B.17 just last week, myself. I've ridden about 50 on it so far, and it's already conforming to my buttocks like the gently cupped hand of an angel. Not quite that soft, actually, but it's reshaping more quickly than I had been led to expect.

You can get them for $50something off lickbike.com, too.

My roadie's got a Selle Italia Prolink for now, the ones below I've ridden about 40 miles each...
Fizik Arione - comfy, but I was getting numb.
Specialized Toupe - really minimal padding, I'd use it for climbing not for long spinning flats ... hotspots, suck.
Specialized Alias - On the road bike for the past year, I think it was good, but the stitching messes with bike shorts
Selle Italia Sugino - felt good but there wasn't any way to mount a seat bag to it cause of how the rails are setup
Terry Fly Tri - too much padding



Anyone doing anything tonight?

Peter just got a used but well loved professional at the warehouse the other day.

The brooks, or any other leather saddle (they are the same) brooks has just survived the dwindling market for leather saddles. ( I believe they also make holsters, tack and shoes etc) are great for some folks and rough on others.

Used ones are great, just dab a little leather oil on the underside, slacken the nut about a quarter turn.
and go ride. (don't forget your plastic bag). I like the burly kryptonite ones from citybikes.

( I used to work at this neighborhood shop when I was a kid, it was family owned and Pearl, the owner knew all the old school bike stuff (sewing tires, breaking in saddles etc).

Paul at citybikes is a great resource for this kind of stuff as is larry black.

I really like the terrazza by Serfas? I see some around town, I know citybikes has one. It is the only saddle I ever got on and was wowed immediately by the fit. (track bike too, so the stakes wuz high.

I think they have some more brooks at the warehouse so we can ask there.

Maybe peter has fallen out of love with his?

Spud,
Glad to hear you are feeling better. No broken bones, wheaoo!!!
I need to focus a little bit on safety. Brakes, helmets, lights and flec gear. They could be the diff. between hilarious and tragic. If we are gonna be role models (wapost) then we ought ot set an example for others.

I have some gear at the house, would anyone like to order a roll of reflective tape?


Spud, I hear you need a new lid.
Pick one out and I will pick it up a city.

"Splurge, youv'e got a discount"

Me or chris or noah, 30% off.
Orders 50% OFF.

Look forward to seeing everyone at the party.

There are some shindigs tonight but it would be fun a get a little after-work ride in.

Anyone up for it? Maybe East Potomac park or somesuch?

202-491-4707

-Ben

Anyone have any thoughts on saddles? I am in the market thanks to the insurance company. I have been looking at the Selle San Marco, but really have no idea.

My B17 required exactly zero break-in to be perfectly comfortable; rode it once or twice, then did a century.
The Professional is really nice, too. A little narrower, but still comfy.

OMG SPUD! Hope you recover quickly. Facial scars are so tribal!

Oh, I've also got a Selle San Marco Trans Am Max Flite saddle, but the faux-leather gets kinda sticky in the heat. Good for when it rains, though.

HOLY CRAP!! DUDE!!! :eek:

It's sure good to see you smilin'!!!! Dang... Feel better man...

Oh, and will somebody please tell spud it's a grapevine beetle...
I know it's a burning question in his mind ;)

cool thanks for the info. and good to see you have a lot of riders in the Palm Beach Pirates.

pirates of the carribean looking mother f*cker
i hope you heal up soon

http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/movie/pirates_caribbean/06.jpeg

haha, nice one dave.

Its my first post here, and let me say first off, sorry spud. I hope you get better soon.

I was hoping to meet up with everyone last night, but with the rain and my sprained wrist (long story) I wussed out. Hopefully I can meet up with you next time.

thanks, good luck with your wrist. hope you can ride with us soon.

eek. these are not the vibes/events i wanna come home to!

spud: holy bejeezus! don't scare us like that! get better!
chimbly: what happened to thor? i saw the prologue from a hotel in nha trang, and had such high hopes!
tink: glad the baby pirate tees weren't washed away in the flood. ;)
booger: congrats on setting a date. rip iro, we only began to know ye. you get better too.
team codeine: i've graduated to team malarone/gi distress. pho for breakfast, lunch and dinner will do that. but bia hoi (fresh beer...mmmm) is awesome!
waitupforme: whoa! hey there! i have a pirate shirt for you from way back if you still want it!
new peops: welcome and i look forward to keeping awesome with all soon as soon as i shake jet lag.

i wasnt trying to scare anyone. yeah what did happen to thor, not even in the top 20? morrison looks pretty good and healthy and growing, christoph (who happens to specialize in child restraints) did a safety inspection of the Sachs wagon and gave them some tips and showed them a few things about child seats. hey LBK glad to almost talk to you in the ER yesterday, very spotty reception in there; i'm jealous of your soup diet, cant wait to see your vacation photos. yep, new faces are always welcome.

Sweet jesus spud, hope that doesn't hurt as much as it looks. Get better soon!
thanks, it doesnt feel so bad, the stitches were a little painful around my shin, my neck is kind of stiff still and my shoulders are sore. its clear that i faceplanted on the left side of my face, but i dont quite understand how i got the bruising on the back side of my right shoulder. nothing broken, so it'll just be a few weeks to heal up.

damn spud. a handsome man shouldn't do something like that just to level the playing field for the rest of us. Hope you're feeling better soon and back on two wheels.
haha, thats a good one. yeah once my neck feels better and i get a new helmet, i should be riding again. luckily nothing happened to my legs.

i'm so glad you're ok spud.
really, good lessons for all of us there.
(helmets ARE cool)

*hug*
play safe,
julie
thanks, i am too. yeah i still havent seen the helmet, but i'm sure it saved me from some brain damage and more cuts, if not my life. as i was telling dave, i had actually ridden to lunch a mile or two wednesday without a helmet and some volunteers teaching kids how to ride trails gave me a littl elip about helmets and offered to give me one; i'm sure glad i wore one later that night, wish i had put some gloves on too.
anyone know of a site that lists the actual safety rating of bicycle helmets? my tirreno was nice, but i wonder if there are any safer.

Ben thank you very much for your advice today... see you on Saturday and PM me so I know who you are!

Fixed Update: inner thighs burn

spud: arrrrgghhhh if i ever catch that land lover

http://static.flickr.com/76/187817547_c557b4e57f_m.jpg
Glad to hear you're in good spirits and that you're making a full recovery!
When I find that cab...*grin*

thanks guys, yeah i'd like to know what happened, if it was an accident or just carelessness.

Spud,
Glad to hear you are feeling better. No broken bones, wheaoo!!!
I need to focus a little bit on safety. Brakes, helmets, lights and flec gear. They could be the diff. between hilarious and tragic. If we are gonna be role models (wapost) then we ought ot set an example for others.

I have some gear at the house, would anyone like to order a roll of reflective tape?


Spud, I hear you need a new lid.
Pick one out and I will pick it up a city.

"Splurge, youv'e got a discount"

Me or chris or noah, 30% off.
Orders 50% OFF.

Look forward to seeing everyone at the party.

-Ben
yeah more reflectors/reflective stuff on the bike and bag/clothing. thanks for the discount, like i said a few lines up is there any way to compare safety test results of the available helmets; i've heard a lot of the high-end helmets arent as safe with all the holes and mass taken out to save weight. anyone know?

Fizik Arione feels sooooo good on long rides on my roadie. For hopping around the city (5 miles at a time), I wouldn't spend much on a killer saddle....even a Brooks will do

Damnit! Sprained my wrist at work today. one more down.

thanks, i am too. yeah i still havent seen the helmet, but i'm sure it saved me from some brain damage and more cuts, if not my life. as i was telling dave, i had actually ridden to lunch a mile or two wednesday without a helmet and some volunteers teaching kids how to ride trails gave me a littl elip about helmets and offered to give me one; i'm sure glad i wore one later that night, wish i had put some gloves on too.
anyone know of a site that lists the actual safety rating of bicycle helmets? my tirreno was nice, but i wonder if there are any safer.


I've got your torreno and Steve and me looked it over last night. Its got scrapes all over the top and the front and there's a crack in the foam right in front too. We were both certain it helped alot even if it has to be retired now.

I've got your torreno and Steve and me looked it over last night. Its got scrapes all over the top and the front and there's a crack in the foam right in front too. We were both certain it helped alot even if it has to be retired now.

thats cool, it wasnt superexpensive, i dont mind retiring it. how do my glasses and ulock look?

Damnit! Sprained my wrist at work today. one more down.
damn, time to put training wheels on Noah and ride one handed? ;)

edit: oh and i have damn near a lifetime supply of triple anti-biotic ointment now; next time someone gets a cut or scraped up let me know.

anyone know of a site that lists the actual safety rating of bicycle helmets?
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/travel/bike-helmets-606/ratings/latest-ratings/index.htm

There are so many different models, I don't think you will find tests for even half of those.

Thanks for all the ideas. I am reading alot about all of them.

Speaking of shopping ... everytime I go into Citybikes I stare at that Redline 925 on the wall ... geez I like that one alot ...

Thanks for all the ideas. I am reading alot about all of them.
I have a Fizik Arione, and a Gobi. I like them.

Spud, I also have your lock, it looks fine. RPC has your glasses, they do not look fine.

So last night I went into city bikes with the hope of buying/ordering everything I need to convert my bianchi road bike into a fixed gear. I was told that it wasn't safe to convert to fixie with my drop outs (see attached pic) because the pressure from slowing down/braking would want to force the axle forward out of the dropouts. I used to ride my friend's fixie once in a while up in nyc, and it had similar dropouts. Was the the advice sound, or overly cautious?

If it is sound advice, what is the best place (besides CL) to pick up a cheap frame/bike (58cm) that I could convert? I am pretty broke and was hoping to spend $300 all said and done (doing the work myself).

Any advice would be appreciated.

reedtimothy, look back a few pages in this thread. Someone else was having this problem last week and got the same advice from CityBikes. You can make your frame work if you want. The shop will tell you no to be on the safe side, and so you don't sue them. Good luck!

go back a few pages...

and everybody on the thread has to promise not to get over the edge anxiety ridden and scream at each other. you all already argued about that once this week, wait at least a month to have that same arguement again. and dont insult the person who gave that advice in any way.

pages 138-140 has most of the talk on conversions

ha ha... here we go again.

Don't feed it and it will starve.

Sorry kid, this thread is not meant to solve world hunger. However, if you need help wrenching, PM

Joel, I think we should set up an experiment and test the theory

if you use a real track hub with real track nuts, and properly tighten/maintain them, you'll be fine, there are problems sometimes with spacers, if your dropouts arent 120, or your hub isnt spaced for your dropouts. so step one would be to measure the width and buy the best hub of that size you can afford.

Joel, just completed the experiment call

Wrench and watching ultraviolet, starting movie at 9

Despite what anyone tells you, it works, if you keep everything nice and tight
Was the the advice sound, or overly cautious?

I am long time lurker and first time poster. I found a spray paint product that goes on basically clear ,but is reflective when light hits it. I am going to do my bike, but it already has a spray paint finish anyways, I am not sure I would use it on a factory finish that you like at least . This might be of interest for those looking to improve their safety. I found it at the home depot on rhode island.

Since it got buried about 3 pages back:

PPTC B/BB Metric from Dupont Circle - 9am - Tomorrow Morning :)

RT.
Booger is quite accurate. It is more or less the pat response, it may seem like a brush off but they field this same question about ten times a day and it becomes the simplest way of hadling it without probing to determine your mechanical aptitude or the bikes potential. Also, as in any walk of life people have their areas of knowledge. Some folks their may give you a political answer, they are not going into details but that doesn't make them wrong.

That said.

Your dropouts are fine and there is nothing wrong with conversions, but you do need to change a few items and make a few adjustments. Chainline and redishing the wheels are fine but the main issue is really the drivetrain. It is under much greater torque than it was designed for and that needs to be taken into consideration. However there are several simple and cheap steps that we can help with.

Come by the party on Saturday and we can go over the details.
Maybe you will even find bars you like.

-Ben

rash freedom, thanks for the note, the stuff looks great. Anyone wanna pick some up so we can try it?

textiles?

Sleepnow, gotaa clean up the yard...

hey red... do you have any aluminum 1" risers in that pile of yours? Save em' for me if you do... I have to work tonight ( shooting Drive by truckers for NPR) so I won't be there till later.

It's a little expensive but does anybody want to get a taem of 3 together for the Tour De LeMond next weekend?

I likem
They are old friends of the mendoza line, this amazing band from Athens, Brooklyn and here.
i'd love to her about the show.

It's a little expensive but does anybody want to get a taem of 3 together for the Tour De LeMond next weekend?

check with ch0mb0, he was looking for a DC rider for his team the other day. hes pretty fast, in the top 5 in the rico alleycat i believe, and a great guy.

Will do. How ya feeling?

Kangaroo laps tomorrow?http://www.flickr.com/photos/baldylocks/

Thanks for the idea Dirty!

still can't get the chain tension to stay consistant on the kalavinka!

Anyone interested in baby sitting an old english 3 speed? Amy left it here when she went off to Peru. someone like to take care of it and give it attention?

Anyone seen Evanyc? I'm driving up to Brooklyn on sunday, if he needs a lift?

pirates of the carribean looking mother f*cker
i hope you heal up soon


OMG, Tink . . . you are one funny dude. :roflmao:

Calling all pirates! I'm a DC college student and have been lurking around the forum for a couple months and would like to get in on the pillaging when I get back in town in a month or so. I was hoping to build up a converted fixed gear over the summer to bring back to school with me, but I've kinda run out of cash for parts and Columbus, Ohio doesn't really have a great bike scene to scrounge for stuff in. I have an old (early 80's) Schwinn world sport frame with long dropouts that I was hoping to use, but thats really about it. My question was if any pirate could point me in the right direction for finding some of the parts I need on the cheap. Drivetrain stuff, especially the rear wheel and a bottom bracket and cranks, is what is really breaking the bank. I know this is off topic for the pirates plunders and pillages thread, so please feel free to PM me. Thanks for the help.

EMERGENCY PILLAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Noah and I were the only ones that showed at Haine's today,(also Christoph, but he left before I got there. Hi Christoph). It's too damn nice not to ride today so. Emergency Pillage as follows: Meet at the Key Bridge at 2:30. Do some trail riding, perhaps with gears even.

C'mon, ya know ya want to ride yer bike! It's lovely outside!

Call with questions 2ohtwoforatenine8onezerouno

mongolians kept me busy most of the day. hope you had fun on the trail(s).

loganrhyne, contact shants hes in your hometown, he should be able to point you in the right direction for parts in Columbus. otherwise we can help you once you get back.

also, ch0mb0 is looking for strong LeMond racers baldylocks has first dibs on joining Team Scramble, if he still wants to race.
http://www.uploadfile.info/uploads/8a9934ac38.jpg

Sweet! Thanks Spud. Mongolians?

Y'all missed some fun on the W&OD today. Long story short, old guys don't know what it means when you say something is "the jam". Oh, and there was ice cream.

thanks spud

Spud, Mongolians?

Great to see everyone last night. We should do it again soon. Maybe a pirate thing.

Baldy, great idea for the scramble. I work on Sundays and it keeps me away from Haines.
Oddly enough, I am selling cheese at the farmers market, Takoma and Dupont.

But, Having a Sunday afternoon option for rides is always a welcome idea to me.

Logan.
The schwinn might work, they were great some years and down on others. So iit would be great to see it. Columbus actually has a great scene but it is mostly messengers so you need to track them down to find it.

There are a lot of cheap conversion options.

There are also a lot of bad cheap conversion options.

simplest is six steps, take off your freewheel, install track cog, install lockring. Shorten chain, remove outer chainring, ride.

There are other strategies that are better. My mountain crank and engagement ring combo is very cheap and actually better than Sugino 75's.

So, in short don't sweat the costs.
There are lots of options. Both here and in Columbus.

Um, and keep the brakes.