It basically means that it's been approved for keirin racing use in Japan.

Google is your friend: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihon_Jitensha_Shinkokai

i think i know what keith is talking about vis-a-vis the trendsters on stock track bikes riding avec bandanna in pocket. and that is that i don't want to ride near enough to them in traffic for them to do something stupid and take us both down. i saw one guy in kensington riding a brakeless conversion on flat pedals while wearing flip flops. mmm-hm.

where did you pick up the cruiser? that sounds wicked. on that note, i should post some photos of my "porteur" (in french it rhymes with "pretentious") now that it has the front basket dialed in.

i ask this every year but is there a source online for TDF streaming?

Yes please. That's my latest bicycle obsession.

oddly enough when i showed to to my dad he says "do you have a paper route or something?" i guess it's that old-tymey.

have you seen some of the kogswell cycles builds? i love the idea of those, matching fenders and all...

anything going on bike-wise tonight? the missus is going to the tfc game and so i'm allowed out of the house...

The "unsafe" vs. the "safe" brakeless fixie riders so remind me of the explosion of skating in the early 90's. We'd goto to competitions and while warming up on the kick ramps and sliders, there would always be a crowd of kids/teens out there trying these giant airs off ramps with one clue is to how to approach a ramp, ride a transition, kick a ramp, grab a board, level off in the air, or land for that matter. Some didn;t even have the sense to clear the landing area immediately and got crushed by ppl landing on them. Usually two or three minimum would go to the emerg. with busted elbows, wrists, ankles, and even skulls before the comp even began. I was doing judo airs over Toyotas, when a friend of mine said I wanna give 'er or that kick ramp. Don't do it I said you've been skating all of two weeks and you'll kill yourself, I had been skating about 14years at this point. Of course he doesn't listen, goes up off the top is instantly in big trouble and lands right on his ass trying to stop himself with both hands and CRACK, both elbows broken, casts for the summer.

Remember kids, when you are trying to emulate your local messenger types, they are experienced and generally you are not. Be aware that you NEED to learn the basics before you go ripping it up in traffic at breakneck speeds. Practice practice practice, closed malls create giant empty parking lots specifically for this purpose. I know we all want to be so rad but them's that are didn't get there overnight. Only the most naturally talented can get away with that , and they are few and far between. That said I've watched Tony Hawk mash his face on the street too.

Slept through The Tour this morning yay 8:30pm recoverage!


EDIT... part of experience is knowing how to minimize the damage when something goes horribly awry.

That's pretty much my plan right now, actually. Although I'm a little disappointed that the current run of frames are just plain black. The older, custard-colored ones look awesome.

Don't think there is a streaming option (unless there is a new one this year). What is the good torrent site to pick up the coverage in the evenings? ..Can't remember. I had a very dependable one last year.

hmmmmm custard....

There is a junk dealer near me and he sometimes puts bikes aside and I pay him a few bucks. I like this cruiser but it is a woman's step-through frame so I guess it will go up on CL once I have shined it up a bit.

And I didn't know there was a safety forum! I ride pretty unsafely, I will be the first to admit it but I've stopped going through reds now but I still cut off cars a lot, which is pretty dumb. When I am riding fixed, I am much safer since I feel that my stopping time is a lot lower. I think I suck at riding fixed, truth be known, but I like it and I have noticed in the last few years that I am a stronger cyclist all-around now that I ride fixed.

And yeah, at this time of the year it seems there are a lot of people new to cycling, fixed or geared. I sold a bike on CL a few weeks ago and it was a nice Raleigh mountain bike and the guy who bought it hadn't ridden a bike in 15 years but he wanted to get back into it since gas prices are so nuts. He got on it and rode around a bit (a little wobbley, but he was fine) and we were discussing the bike and I thought one of the strong points of the bike was that it had eyelets for fenders. I went on and on and on about how great fenders are and that you really need them in Toronto because rain can sneak up on you and the roads are really dirty all the time plus with fenders you can ride all winter and this guy is nodding his head during my whole fenders-thing and, as he pays me, he asks me "What are fenders?". I thought it was pretty funny. I shoulda used the term "mud-guards".

Google Street View + the Tour: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2...reet-view.html

i tried google... but my lack of knowing what NJS stood for screwed me over pretty hard.


thanks :)

demonoid

Mike, did you ever sell your Roger?

http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/tor/bik/743074718.html

Yes (and it was a 55cm). Thanks for the heads-up though. Wes, looking to flip your's?

Even if I was interested in flipping it, I don't think I could to someone who requests it in "immaculate condition". Both because it ISN'T and because that's just a pretty lame thing to request for a previously used bike on CL. :P

All the same, I just emailed him to find out how much he's willing to spend.

edit: I still can't believe d0uche is censored.

Unlike prick.

http://www.weemonkey.com/images/sizzlers4.jpg

you can't sensor Prick... because i could prick my finger...


although i do love calling people "Stupid pricks"

and you couldn't "D0uche" your finger... but doesnt that mean 'clean' in french?

[Scene] Taking my bike through finch station, on the escalator, bike shouldered walking up the left side, with 1 other person in front

Suddenly I hear this -

Dickhead: WHY BRING A BIKE ON THE ESCALATOR
Dickhead: WHY BRING A BIKE ON THE ESCALATOR (I think he actually said this twice)
Me: (Stops and turns around with my shouldered bike) You have a problem?
Dickhead: No
Me: You have a problem with my bike?
Dickhead: No
Me: Then shut the **** UP

Let's also ignore the fact that I wasn't

a) inconvenincing anyone
b) to not be a dick, I didn't ride through the station like I could have

Guy must have looked at me and thought I was some idiot who would take ****** comments like that sitting down. Seriously what the ****?

People suck.

I was riding along last night in front of the Drake and I got this:

****polisher-in-car: GET ON THE SIDEWALK!

I was really tempted to kick his side mirror as I passed him 20 seconds later. I would have gotten away with it as traffic was packed but karma-wise, I would have been pooched. Pissed me off though.

NjS certification to hipsters mean everything. Realistically it means jack ****.

I thought it was for two reasons: 1) ensure no racer has an equipment advantage over the other, and 2) equipment meet minimum safety requirements for Keirin racing.

I enjoy the Deathare answer: buy NJS stuff if you need cheap gear. Honestly, there's much nicer stuff out there which isn't NJS than stuff which is. One simple example are framesets: Argon 18 makes a nicer track frame than a good number of NJS builders.

FWIW, NJS only matters in Japan Keirin. UCI is cool with lots more variety of stuff - just not the Y-foil.

Exactly.. I don't think it really speaks to the quality of the part, just that it meets the organizing body's specifications -- which I wouldn't assume means it's "good" necessarily (or bad, for that matter).

Analogy to 'cross: The UCI says that cyclocross bikes can't have disc brakes... are canti's "better" than discs? or vice versa? I think it depends on what your own preferences/needs are, but a cx bike with discs automatically isn't UCI-legal.