Actually he will be on something similar by the weekend!

Anyone riding tonight?

In my mind, "Ya right!" was a subtle and deft nod to this: http://youtube.com/watch?v=WyH0qTF9CjY ... which I will now blatently post so that everyone gets a chance to enjoy the clip.

You're out of order!

Well, thought I'd ask you guys - what with your Cervelos and Wiliers - about a bike for this winter. I'll be using it to take the same commute up to Humber that shapelike currently does, right up until December. I'm currently doing that same commute on my Capo and CAAD9, but neither will cut it come foul weather this winter. I've been thinking about a cross bike, but I'm not sure if there's a better choice out there. Here's a short list of what I've researched:

-Jamis Aurora Elite - good frame, decent 'train, crap wheels, & takes fenders
-Jamis Nova Pro - frame is 7005 with carbon stays. 'train isn't as good as the Aurora. Takes fenders
-Devinci Tosca SL2 - nice, but waaay over-priced
-Kona JTS - all'round nice bike. good price. Unsure if it will take fenders
-Steelwool Sweet City SS - nice bike, good price, but unsure of max tire clearance w/fenders
-Cannondale 'cross - another c'dale?
-Specialized Tricross SS - mad-max option. Like the SS/FG option in the winter. Unsure of decent shops which sell Specialized (Cycle Solutions?).

I'm probably overlooking a ton of brands, but the basic criteria seem to be:
130mm spacing
Fender capability w/clearance for cross-style tires
Under $1500

Yeah if you think that's awesome, wait till you see the stein lockring wrench. It's baically a vice grip but with the jaws modified to be 2 pins that fit lockrings.

Painless.

I suppose after all my searching and being confronted with blank stares that Urbane actually has such a marvel in stock? Curse my suburban existence.


BTW, the original paint scheme on my Wilier was a very busy Cofidis team pattern. Current metallic paint and buried decals was done by Noah at Velocolour. Superb.

OK, it's official. After a short toot around the block with the Record crank on this bike, I have an FSA Carbon Pro 165mm track crank and BB (adjustable chainline) to give away (as in FREE and delivered in the city). They are used, but in good shape, with 49 and 46 tooth rings. Instead of first to speak for them, I will draw randomly, but fairly from all interested parties on Sunday at noon to give those who may be away a chance to log on and speak up.

Um. I'll take them. But I'm out of town for a while. I nominate Operator or Canice to get them for me if I win.

YES!

I've had a sit down conversation with Igor once (2 years ago).

He had his beer and classical music playing at the time wearing his "I'm Tired" t-shirt. We sat in Lawn chairs by the side of the street. His idea is that he is a 3rd party holder. Like a bank or a pawn shop.

A person comes to him ... say a fiend with a freshly stolen bicycle.
Igor will give the fiend enough money to put him on his way for his fix.
If you happen to know that is your bicycle (within a couple days), Igor will sell you the bike for the same amount he purchased it for plus maybe some storage fees, overhead and interest.

But his business plan is exactly the same as a bank or a pawn shop. The only difference are his clientele. A slight shadier then the most.

He also is suppose to (he showed me his log book) keep record of all the bikes the come in and go out of his place for the police. Of course I think sometimes he might forget to write in a few.

Anyway. Igor, came from some eastern European country a long time ago, his fundamental values are different than those in Canada.

I'm not saying he's right in doing what he does. He just has a good way of justifying it.

He told me he was a cop in Prague before the collapse of the Iron Curtain. He is a pretty tough character so perhaps there is a part of this that is true.

He can make up whatever confabulated sophistry he wants; he's a fence. A fence sells stuff that is ripped from people who often can't afford to replace things and, in the case of bikes, may be the means to a livelihood or only form of affordable transport. Sorry, no sympathy or empathy here.

There's a special dung heap in a low rent section of hell waiting for that mofo

Totally agree. He's akin to a used car salesman that sells stolen vehicles. I think the best thing the city could do is exercise eminent domain on his property (if such a thing exists here).

mother**** i should have been paying less attention to the movie



i call them if whatshisface (dont know your name, sorry) doesnt like :P

It sounds like he knows how to explain himself, but he doesn't justify a damn thing.

His business is nothing like a pawn shop, except the crooked ones, which are also deplorable. He buys stolen bikes, or steals them himself, and if you're fortuitous enough to visit his shop after your bike has been stolen, but before somebody else nabs it, he'll even sell it back to you! What a guy!

He enables the thieving desperate scum-bags of this city to score a couple hours worth of crack and runs himself a tidy profit, that is, when he's not cutting out the middle-man and stealing the things himself. Meanwhile the rest of us pay for this little enterprise of his, without recompense, at a loss of our conveyance, our toys, our tools, and for a lot of people in this city, our own livelihood.

How is that, in any sense of the word, just? So he comes from a place and a time when people played fast and loose with the law? Woop-dee-doo. Welcome to Canada, knock that **** off.

Put my name in the hat please.

Wow, yeah, put me down as well, that would be a nice addition to my GT. Nice of you to do this, cheers ;)

Just in case I don't "win" the crank, I'll be looking to buy one soon for my new build. Who has what for sale in their shop? Also anyone have a 1 1/8 threadless sus corrected rigid fork they don't need/want to sell either at home or at work? I'm hoping to be able to build and ride the bike soon after I pick up the frame, headset and wheels on (I hope) Sunday.

The problem with Igor is that the city allowed it to happen. Yes, he is the most well-known guy to be doing this but walk into any pawn shop in the city and you will see much much worse. Bikes are small-fry items; power-tools are huge business as there are construction sites where a thief can walk off with $500 worth of equipment in a gym bag. DVDs are the same thing; anyone who has had an apartment broken into knows that the easiest thing for a crackhead to get rid of are DVDs as they never have any identifying marks on them. GPS trackers are stolen from dashboards. Ipods are snatch'n-grabs from kids on the subway. The list goes on.

There used to be a pawn-shop task force in the city where a group of cops would routinely go into the pawn shops and match numbers of stolen items with inventory of the pawn shops. Anything stolen was given to the victim and the shop would often be fined; it was much cleaner back then. In the '90s, this pawn-shop task force was dissolved due to budget cuts and voila, you have the situation we have now----zero accountability. Right now there is some scumbag happy as hell to hear that Igor has been busted because there will be a vacuum of crackheads itching to get rid of stolen bikes and/or parts.

Well, hopefully this marks the beginning of a more serious crackdown. More realistically, however, it's just a high profile sting to make us all feel as good as possible with as little work as possible.

I just got back from watching the police take away truckloads of bikes from Igors and apparently they were going to hit up his other storage spots as well... It was a real sight to behold!

just walking home and noticed igor's place being cleared out.

rennick was in bellwoods and said there was already numerous truckloads removed.


[edit] hahaha he posted too!

my name in the hat a couple times please :D




Someone said the CETMAracks are expensive to ship? Im looking at them for my beater... i found out the hard way i cant put beer, and pizza in my tiny bag, and was looking for a rack (would also reduce the chance of me wanting to buy my parents car off them, if i never have to use it... diesel is expensive tooo). So at some point in the future i want to put an order in for one, and was wondering if anyone else was interested in them and willing to split the shipping with me. Just putting it out there, still saving the pennies.

Im headed to NY soon, so i might be able to save on shipping :P

anybody know where I can get my hands on a good map of the city streets? I was thinking Pearlies or something

insert my name in that hat please...do i get sympathy points for having a nice saddle stolen?

Igor ... hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha, yes you dirtbag , it's a public service you provide. Say hello to my little friend Mr. Kryptonite, now give me my bike back. I heard the same lines as to how he played both sides of the "fence" in order to help the police sort out high end bike thievery, and they would turn the other eye to the cheaper stuff. Well, let's hope wonky justifications aside that this gets him outta bidness. The new Chorus draped Bianchi 928 Carbon, is shall we say quite a piece of bike at 3000 Euros. :drool: Right around the corner from the apartment we are renting. If anyone is thinking of Rome as a destination hit me up when I get back. 350 Euros for 10 days. Sleeps 6, full apt in a non-tourist neighbourhood. That would basicaly work out to 12 buckos a day for each person.

The weather has been great, not too hot thus far, unlike the suffering that Stuart was doing in the heat wave. Thanks for the coffee tips, found a bodum(sp?) hiding this morning....SUCCESS!!! ah coffee.

Trevi fountain yesterday was really impressive, but guys ...100 years to build? I mean fer reals? :lol: An amazing piece of work. Later guys.