Best part of the article:

"Over a period of five days, police recovered between 1,200 and 1,500 bicycles, as well as about 1.5 kilos of marijuana and several ounces of crack cocaine" 1.5 kilos of weed? That's got to get Igor off the street for a while

Right on, Keith!

This **** is pretty monumental - I am under no illusions that this is going to put a stop to bike theft in this city but the amount of exposure this is getting, at least for the time being, is incredible.

I don't think bike theft will go to zero, but I suspect it will drop. If I could know that I'd get $40 from Igor for any bike I stole, it's easy money. Now it will likely be harder.

I know other people could come in to fill the void, but the pure math of Igor's operation doesn't make sense. Assuming he paid $20 per bike on average, that's $30,000 spent and sitting around as inventory in his store or garage. Obviously the weed and crack helped pay the bills, but I wouldn't think starting a business like this (even if it were legal) would make much sense financially.

My sentiments exactly. Thanks for pointing this out. My guess is that somebody in city hall finally woke up and realized that the theft stats weren't just a sick joke anymore, they've actually become an embarrassment to Miller's green mantra.

For what it's worth, this is a quote from the above article I linked to:

</warm fuzzies>

This is becoming quite the epic. I got a link from a friend via the facebook too, more of the same, huge numbers, little bits and bobs of that squirrel-man Igor. Whatevs. I just want my bike back at this point, and hope deeply he had it hidden away somewhere. Though I have to say the coverage is nice, cyclists are people too, and Keith was right on the money with it.

Yeah, what Keith said is true, stolen bikes are barely on the cops' radar. The drugs though, that is another thing, he is going to be going away for at least a couple of years. I always thought he was on meth, now I know it was crack. Crazy.

In the future, I think that bike thefts will never go away but we might stop seeing Brooks getting stolen or front wheels, at least for a little bit. Or, even better, the cops will start to take bike theft more seriously. Or at least monitor Uncle Jacob and the pawn shops in a better fashion.

The Nazi post says he's up for possession for purposes of trafficking marijuana and cocaine.

The guy in red/black who goes up to the fence in an attempt to avoid the pile-up, wow. Dude just rag dolls it all the way down.
I took my biggest spill a week ago, over my handlebars, probably looked a little bit like this. I am recovering nicely though (thanks for asking), but now my front wheel (which hit the curb when I went over) is making a "whoompf" sound while spinning. I'm thinking it's my hub, because it's still spinning true. I was planning on getting a new wheelset soon anyways and had a few questions.
I'm running a no-name set up currently, with a QR skewer that is a major pain in the ass because I use a Kryptonite Mini-U Lock that barely makes it through my frame, the quickly-released front wheel, and the bike lock post. So I'm thinking of ditching the QR for a normal skewer. Any thoughts? How likely is wheel theft and what can I do to prevent it? I'm thinking about getting a longer cable lock and using that to thread both my wheels into the U-lock and around the post as well.
As for proposed set-up I'm thinking of duplicating my back wheel: Miche hub, Alex DA28 rim. Suggestions?

I use an Axiom allen key skewer which is far from theft proof but avoids the casual snatch and grab. Similar a solid axle with nuts but again, if the thief has the tool handy off it goes. You can buy more advance skewers from PinHead or Peter White's pitlock skewers. There was a brief commentary in the thread a few pages back, particularly about the unsuitability for rear fixed wheels. Unfortunately they often seem to be sold as sets although I think you can buy individual pitlock skewers. On my porteur I just put a hoseclamp over the QR but I don't care about the paint job. Changing flats is a pain, though.

Any cable can be cut through relatively quickly so it's a delaying action rather than anything.

Does anyone know if any of the shops in the city sell EAI, Phil, or even Campy cogs?

Urbane just re-did their website and they are lising EAI cogs at $75!

AH, thanks! Those were my first choice. I'll have to make a trip down there this week.

Urbane's new website - sexy time.

That sucks.

Hubs? Still want them I assume?

And speaking of hubs, I'm selling the Iro hubs I bought. With the new bike being a mtb frame I bought a fixed wheelset for the bike, so it seems I don't have any need of the hubs in the foreseeable future. 130 spacing, 36 hole front and rear $40, same cost as the other sets people bought. Anyone wants before I CL them let me know.

http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/tor/bik/764955585.html

I bet if you stripped the paint on this bike you could have a full chromed bike.

That's a nice looking frame. The price has been dropping over the past three weeks or so this guy has been trying to sell it. My size but I have too many bike projects on the go right now. grrr....

He would probably get a slap on the wrist for the weed. Now "several ounces of crack cocaine"...that is gonna get him some jail time for sure. I wonder if the Globe reporter stills gets all warm and fuzzy feeling about him.

The Star reporter didn't even use my choicest quotes. Probably a good thing as I realllly ranted to her.

Campy doesn't make track sprockets anymore....good thing I hoarded while the gettin' was good:innocent: Unbane sells Phil I think.

This guy sounds like a complete scum bag. Its really strange that Toronto Police didn't nab him a long time ago, and not even for bikes, but to stop him as a source of cash for crack heads. I wonder how long he'll go away for possession of crack?

I think it might be a bike-boom bike but it is hard to tell from the photos. I think that if he got some closer photos, we would see that the frame ain't all that.

I got a 16 EAI and an Izumi chain at Urbane, which was all they had. They are backordered on Phil. I have a 17 and 18 EAI on order from them now. I don't suppose you have Campy cogs for sale?

last time i was at curbside they had EAI cogs

If you actually want such a tool, I can show it to you the next time you're in urbane - I don't know how much it costs but I can find out really quickly.

P.S If anyone is in the market for a 16h, slotted for bladed spokes, low flange phil wood hub - double fixed with dual lockrings. I'll sell it to you for what I paid for it. I don't need it anymore.

Stuart, Bikes on Wheels on Augusta has white ourys. I was in there today.

uhm okay, heres a question for you, whats the advantage of an EAI or even campy cog over a Shimano or whatever brand one?

I presume its machined better and probably out of harder metals? But if so, is it really worth what I presume is extra expenditure when the likelyhood of you putting enough kilometers on any cog to wear it to nubs is slim to none? Is it just for the kudos of having a sweet cog under all the road grime?

I dont fully understand cog vs. cog discussion, can anyone explain?


EDIT: im aware i presumed shimano is cheaper than EAI and campy, if wrong, sorry.

If you're trying to tweak your chainline slightly, a switch to a different cog can make over 1mm difference, depending on what you switch from and to. To some people, that can be important. Also, noise is lessened with better cogs (and chains).

You're paying for the finish + bling + precise machining. Realistically you can't go wrong with the $30 njs dura ace cog, unless you use hubs that take campy compatible ones, e.g phil. In that case you're looking at $55 phil cogs.

Because the dura ace cogs are so cheap, there's no reason anyone should be riding anything less on a quality hub.

P.S I was going to come chat with you krusty but totally swamped with work

thanks krusty, that makes a lot of sense =D. and operator, sorry, im slow this week, permafried for a few days now. dont get me wrong, I would totally spring for one of those blinged out ridiculously hard golden japanese cogs (bike porn, from ways back) if I could afford it, because I love well machined objects, but at the same time it made me wonder if theres any real reason besides bling. now I know.

just looking at the 15t cog from my twenty, with its long wideass teeth, older than I am and still barely worn.