Rides and Races - Toronto Fixed

I've never wobbled on a bike but I've wobbled on a skateboard and street luge and neither is fun. On a bike it should be easy to avoid if you break at all. On a skateboard you just have to touch the board to change the vibration frequency and your good. I wonder what kind of speed you'd have to be hauling to see it on a bike.

I wonder what kind of speed you'd have to be hauling to see it on a bike.

this fast

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdceaZMT8E4

Once I get to about 25kph (estimated speed) no hands it seems to start wobbling. Not always though which is strange.

Happened on my Bianchi around 65kph. Annoying.

whew.. finally past the page of death (444).

If you know what 444 means, then you must be Asian. :)

High speed shimmys are fun.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/shimmy.html

Shimmy shimmy yaw, shimmy yeah, shimmy yay
gimme the mic^H^H^H wrench so I can take it away

mic^H^H^H

...

Shimmy shimmy yaw, shimmy yeah, shimmy yay
gimme the mic^H^H^H wrench so I can take it away

...Off on a natural charge, bon voyage
Yeah, from the home of the Dodgers, Brooklyn squad
Wu-Tang Killerrr Bees on a swarm!
Rain on ya dollar's a$$, disco dorm!

If you know what 444 means, then you must be Asian. :)

Sez who? :lol:
I got 8's loaded up in my phone#

I've full on speed wobbled myself to pebbles embedded in my chest on skateboards. Would love to try luging.
I had shimmy on a bike years ago, though it didn't really present a problem in the handling. More annoying than anything.
Kinda interesting it would manifest itself on a fixed though.

Operator were you speed wobbling or shimmying at 65?

If you know what 444 means, then you must be Asian. :)

Or fresh from China

How you feeling these days GBoy? Healed up nicely?

Yep, all better and raring to go on a CV ride!


nope! i wasnt downtown at 4ish today!

u ride around that are a alot? <3

Yep, I live in the St Clair/Duff area now, so that's my base of operations.

rant/ Speaking of which... drivers here are the craziest bunch (an unholy mix of suburban and urban drivers vying for supremacy on a collapsing four-lane narrow road with crumbling street car tracks situated in the centre of the roadway and the worst offenders are guys with souped up ****-boxes racing to a red behind a TTC bus.)

\rant

Just today...


Riding my bicycle westbound at around 6:45 pm on St Clair, just east of Dufferin, I was harrassed repeatedly by a CAA Emergency Road Service vehicle following behind me. Due to the nature of the road surface of that section of St Clair and my ability to keep pace to the legal speed maximum, I thought it prudent to take enough of the lane to disuade motorists from passing me unsafely. Unfortunately this did not stop the tow-truck driver from passing me dangerously close and then braking abruptly in front of me numerous times. His agressive driving, while towing a customer's vehicle (with license plate starting with ACEW or similar) attached, reflects poorly on CAA in my eyes and harms the reputation of CAA in the minds of customers, not to mention that it goes against the traffic safety that CAA espouses.

I did not have the ability to record the pertinent details of his vehicle as they were obscured by that of the customer's vehicle; in lieu, I request an apology from the local CAA office. Please train your franchisees more diligently in regards to traffic safety and courtesy.

Sincerely,

Grisha Boyko-Vekin

Report the tow trucks license plate!

I may...MAY have some wakestock passes come into my possession tomorrow morning. These would be four day passes, well three. Interest? 2...maybe up to 4. I'll know more in the morning, if a client hasn't snapped them up. If the client takes them all I apologize for workin' you up.

Anybody here goes to wakestock and talks about it on this board, I'll pop a cap in his ass.

R O F L

I think that would be more angst-rock than my body can physically withstand.

Having said that, I've become so numb ...

Anybody here goes to wakestock and talks about it on this board, I'll pop a cap in his ass.
I will hold arms securely behind back....you may administer the beating.

:lol: Jees you'd think a bike was the only way to get the adrenaline flowing. I've been told. Maybe I'll use it to go see a couple musical acts and go skate the park they're building. Pooh on you lot, so rigid you sound like roadies... :lol: Diversify. Cavit8, I giggle with the mental image of you popping caps into a posterior.

:lol: Jees you'd think a bike was the only way to get the adrenaline flowing. I've been told. Maybe I'll use it to go see a couple musical acts and go skate the park they're building. Pooh on you lot, so rigid you sound like roadies... :lol: Diversify. Cavit8, I giggle with the mental image of you popping caps into a posterior.
hey T.J....give me a call at the shop...I need to discuss something with you ASAP.

Heres a heads up for all the budding alleycat racers out there. Just announced today, the latest incarnation of the Global Gutz worldwide alleycat race. The basic idea of this event is to have simultaneous races all over the world. These are arranged so that everybody is racing at the same time worldwide!. So as you are tearing it up around Toronto, so are all the other folks all over the world. The date for this will be Sat Sept 9th. More details to follow.

Bring out my "Team DFL" jersey. *cues theme music*

Heres a heads up for all the budding alleycat racers out there. Just announced today, the latest incarnation of the Global Gutz worldwide alleycat race. The basic idea of this event is to have simultaneous races all over the world. These are arranged so that everybody is racing at the same time worldwide!. So as you are tearing it up around Toronto, so are all the other folks all over the world. The date for this will be Sat Sept 9th. More details to follow.

Are you gonna come out of retirement to own the newbies in the Toronto chapter alleycat?

:D

Are you gonna come out of retirement to own the newbies in the Toronto chapter alleycat?

:D
Sure....as I am organizing the race here and will be the only one to know all the checkpoints I think I might have a chance. ;)
Sadly my involvement in this capacity precludes me from participating in a competitive nature. I will however be participating in the upcoming 20th anniversary Toronto alleycat on Halloween.

...

That was just for you.. :)


Heres a heads up for all the budding alleycat racers out there. Just announced today, the latest incarnation of the Global Gutz worldwide alleycat race. The basic idea of this event is to have simultaneous races all over the world. These are arranged so that everybody is racing at the same time worldwide!. So as you are tearing it up around Toronto, so are all the other folks all over the world. The date for this will be Sat Sept 9th. More details to follow.

Damnit.. I'm likely going to be out of town that weekend. Maybe there'll be one in Ottawa too.. although I don't know how much point there is to race in a city I don't know the layout of. :P

ps. Keith, I'm gonna drop by the shop today after work.

That was just for you.. :)



Damnit.. I'm likely going to be out of town that weekend. Maybe there'll be one in Ottawa too.. although I don't know how much point there is to race in a city I don't know the layout of. :P

ps. Keith, I'm gonna drop by the shop today after work.
There will certainly be one in Ottawa. Just find a guy who is racing for fun and ride with them. Out of towners are usually accommodated in this way. I will be here till at least 7 tonite.

Ottawa locals are great for that regardless of the sport.

There will certainly be one in Ottawa. Just find a guy who is racing for fun and ride with them. Out of towners are usually accommodated in this way. I will be here till at least 7 tonite.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking.

Sweet, My mum flew in yesterday with a belated brithday present for me: a Skoda Tour de France maillot blanc. Its by far the least obnoxious of the 4 jerseys and it actually seems to be a pretty good shirt (unfortunately made by nike :( ) Don't tell the other under 25 riders I'm wearing it :D

Sweet, My mum flew in yesterday with a belated brithday present for me: a Skoda Tour de France maillot blanc. Its by far the least obnoxious of the 4 jerseys and it actually seems to be a pretty good shirt (unfortunately made by nike :( ) Don't tell the other under 25 riders I'm wearing it :D
Should you really be wearing something so white and pure?

Should you really be wearing something so white and pure?

lol

Reminds me of a bit from the late tv show The Critic (which I just dug up the quote for on imdb.com):

Dressmaker: We dressmakers have a very strict code, so I need to know. Do you deserve to wear virginial white? Because if you don't, you'll have to wear an off white, what we call a "hussy white". So which will it be? White white?
Margo Sherman: Yes... um, except for the gloves.

How else am I going to immeditely ruin it by getting chain grease all over it?

[QUOTE=somnambulant]lol

"hussy white". QUOTE]
That sounds more appropriate. :D

Would this be Dino?

yes it is i.

who would this be?

Operator... I took a page from your book.

I needed new turtle light, so I got two for the front like I saw on your ride. I like it.
With blinking on they fall in and out of sync, neat effect.

yes it is i.

who would this be?

It be John, morning commute.
Happy to hear you got a new(fixie) ride.
Cheers

Operator... I took a page from your book.

I needed new turtle light, so I got two for the front like I saw on your ride. I like it.
With blinking on they fall in and out of sync, neat effect.

i had a rear blinky from mec and it got dim pretty fast and when it was working, it wasn't as bright as i'd have liked. i replaced it with one of those multiple LED monster lights from cateye and a triple LED front from mec. spend a few more bucks and get something bright and longer lasting. the only thing i like about the turtle lights is how minimal they look when on and that the entire assembly can be quickly removed.. but if that compromises visibility and battery life, i say forget em.
the cateye has a cool knight rider setting too. :D

Yeah, it's quite hard to mount any sort of anything on airfoil section bars. Well at least I can still adhesive velcro the small turtle lights.

:|

I did use to have the 4xAA Cateye micro which was fabulous, but made lots of rattley noises.

The clear-LED turtle light for the front is an amazing deal....$3.50 at MEC and what I like about it is that I can use it on any of my bikes without having to install the clamp that most LEDs require. Previously, I used a Cat-Eye that is very good but it was $8.50 and I had to buy one for each of my bikes because of the clamp; that gets expensive when you have 4 bikes. I wish I'd found the turtle before I'd spent the money.

The brighter the light the better. With the number of random lights all around at night I want my lights to stand out almost as much as car headlights because it seems thats all that cars look out for. Those turtle lights seem like a waste of time to me. Do you have to throw them out when they run out of batteries?

I only have one set of lights but if I want to ride a different bike at night I take the rear light off and put it on my belt and then unclip the cam buckle on the front light and switch the whole thing over. It usually takes about 5-10 seconds.

A bud O' mine found a place you can get batteries for 1.50 per i think it was.
I still prefer that belt light I have, same as the jacket that lights up, but I don't always have it with me.

Nah, the batteries are easily replaceable and cheap in bulk. They are surprisingly easy to see in flashing mode. I wouldn't really bother with the steady as it'll get lost in the sea of lights.

I'm the only person usually gun running in the middle of the night in R.H. Cars act like they've never seen a flashing headlight on a bicycle around here.

The easy take on/off ability is a super plus.

Why does this bike look so familiar: http://toronto.craigslist.org/bik/192676830.html

I'm the only person usually gun running in the middle of the night in R.H.

If you are gun running in RH we need to speak about your business plan

The MEC turtle light's i like a lot & use all the time got one for my seat post, bag & bars i keep them in my bag well not the one on my bag!
Not a big fan of bolting extras on my bike well maybe just lights.

Lots to do this weekend here in the big smoke and I’ll be working Sunday & running around on Saturday.
Cheers

cavit8, where did you say you were last night?

http://tinyurl.com/kv5qh

cavit8, where did you say you were last night?

http://tinyurl.com/kv5qh

Well it’s a good thing the owner of the bike won’t face charges, fines or jail time.
Goddamit this is crazy.
But good for him.

not sure if this has been posted already:
http://www.howtoavoidthebummerlife.com/weblog/archives/2006/08/judge_finds_fault_with_fixies.html

excuse me, did you say no-handed one foot manual backwards circles?

http://bikingtoronto.blogspot.com/2006/08/google-video-of-bike-stunts.html

I know I'm being "sold to", but the Roubaix video on here is awesome:

http://cdn.specialized.com/bc/microsite/movies/

excuse me, did you say no-handed one foot manual backwards circles?

http://bikingtoronto.blogspot.com/2006/08/google-video-of-bike-stunts.html

I know I'm being "sold to", but the Roubaix video on here is awesome:

http://cdn.specialized.com/bc/microsite/movies/

yes, but can she do a an ollie impossible?!?!

j/k ;)

[QUOTE=somnambulant]excuse me, did you say no-handed one foot manual backwards circles?

http://bikingtoronto.blogspot.com/2006/08/google-video-of-bike-stunts.html

QUOTE]
Those artistic cycling folks are awesome. The same kind of bike they used in the trick sequence in Quicksilver. Notice no rake on the fork? That makes it much easier to pull off that stuff. That is a UCI sanctioned World Championship event.

Artistic fixed gear cyclists vs. flatland bmx riders: the final battle.