If anyone isn't busy today and is in the market feel free to swing by the Left Feet Vegan Chili Cook-Off and vote for my buds and I... or just sample some sweet chilis on a cold day, either way. $5 gets you in - all proceeds go to Out Of The Cold

More details here.

Going for a ride and coffee in the am with Wes and whoever else feels like coming. 8;30ish at Jet Fuel. Come one, come all.

My weekend with my wee one (though it was a royal crapstorm getting out to Cambridge today!) so enjoy the ride, I'll have to skip.

Shortly after we left you last night kergin, I ended up busting through my tyre . Luckily I was able to change my tube inside and I booted my tyre:



It got me around downtown for a cruise, then back home along Queen heh.

Ok here is a question!


I have a buddy that lost virtually all mobility in one knee ( he hAs 50* flex in his knee). He wants to get back into riding but he doesn't have A bike. In the spring we will hold some fundraisers and buy him a new bike.

So here is my question. What do we do with his injured leg? It doesn't bend enough to rotate on a normal length crank, and if we shortened the crank, the other leg wouldn't rotate correctly.
And pedalstrike would be an issue if his foot just sat at the bottom all the time...

His injured leg is the left, so nondeive side, and it's a bike that will be used every day on the roads.

And if your up for it a list of parts.

There is no rule agaisnt running different length cranks on either side of the bike. Kids sizes are available in square taper, and I know that Malcom at Biseagal has tapped/shortened Race Face external BB cranks for a little person that bought a Giant Anthem off of us.

I should have a almost complete mtb available by then. Frame, fork, stem, risers, v-brakes and levers. Might have a crank as well. Remind me closer to when you know and I'll let you know for sure. Depends if I can get the khs built for my wife.

Too bad about the flat, but I've done similar with American $1 bills on a set of Rubinos with spotty sidewalls. Holds up like a charm!

Sadly, I'll have to pass on the AM ride today, mainly because it's 2:30am and I like to sleep in...

Stuart, would a recumbent work out for this friend of yours?

The higher his seat can go, the less he'd have to flex his knee. I can't ride bmx bikes for that reason.

This is a pretty neat option: https://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr8dcm9waHQ

edit: the other thing that I did as a kid was I'd literally lift my leg off the pedal at about 9 and put it back when the pedal was at 3. I couldn't bend it any further, so I had to do that. Perhaps the easiest solution, but I don't know whether your buddy would want to do that.

I'd also consider calling a group like Waramps and see what they suggest, they are used to helping out kids with disabilities (and unfortunately, they now have to help a new generation of disabled soldiers too) so they may have some ideas.

remember to tuck those laces into the shoes kids!
had mine get wrapped around my crank/pedal yesterday.
was able to stop before it snapped my ankle!

it's more fun when it pull that little ball lookin ankle bone on the inside of your ankle into the chain/chain ring... which then eats your sock and all the skin at the same time... not that it's happened to me or anything hahaha

On a side note i'd like to get some input from those of you who have worked on your bike. Who do you guys feel the best company to push for is (MI, critical, turn around etc)?? I keep hearing mess-int'l is good, but i want some actual opinions... I may try and pick up a few days pushing while staying at my other job as well and need some input. Also, what are the percentages like now days??

You can't have the seat set up porperly for one leg and have the left leg rotating on a shorter crank, it would mean everytime his left leg( the one that won't bend much) got to 12 o'clock he would have to stand up. Try riding withone leg bending fully and one leg not bending at all.


Thanks ihearld those are sms pretty good ideas.

I'm just trying to set him up so he can use both legs, he wants to go one leg only but I think he will get pissed off with hills, and we are ok looking at recumbant trikes for touring, not sure how recumbants would work in the city( because I know very little about them)

I worked briefly for the messengers. It has both positive and negative aspects. Brian, my dispatcher was very fair and an all around great guy. The owner is a strange man, diluted by false ideals and religion. He is the sole reason why I quit that company. I'd usually start around 8:30 and finish up around 6:00 taking home roughly $100 a day. Another thing about the messengers is the dress code. Bicycle specific clothing is required. No cut off shants or anything like that is tolerated. And god forbid you have any tattoos or obvious piercings. Danhalen would be a good person to talk to about this. That is, if he's still around here. Dan?

I'm probably 90% one leg on big hills, and it's not much fun, but neither is climbing hills on a recumbant, or so I'm told!

fwiw, i had a generally positive experience working at 'the mess' for a couple years; mind you, that was ~5-7yrs ago, so i dunno how things may have changed. frank (the owner), although strange, would sometimes sort out hot snacks (e.g., soup, porridge, etc.) on ****ty days, small bonuses around christmas...at least from my interactions with him, he usually seemed to mean well.

i had dave p. as a dispatch, who was a really solid guy. there were some other good guys there, too. i know sam was also there, but i have not seen him posting in a while...keith might also have some insights. i still get my messenger discount on my personal account i have with them.

curious if anyone knows mars or simone, and, if so, how they are doing?

I never worked at the Mess for the reasons 2wheels mentioned. A number of years ago the owner actually sent out anti-abortion literature with his billings! You could certainly do worse from a $ standpoint tho.

I still see Mars on the road...still at the Mess. Simone is in her 3rd year at OCAD...doing very well.

i'm just curious: is he hoping to rehabilitate the knee or is the mobility gone for good?

if it's gone for good i'd suggest a recumbent trike with some sort of foot rest for the injured leg, or perhaps a shorter crank arm for that leg?

Well i'm sorta still around. This is the first time I've been on here in maybe a month or so. There isn't much more to say about The Messengers that Keith and Colin haven't already covered other than maybe to keep in mind that business for them has been pretty slow for the last year or so (probably true for other companies as well) so you might not be able to just walk in and get work like I did 3 years ago (2 years ago? can't remember). I did some work for them this fall but it was on a part time basis, first as a backup, I worked a week here and there filling in when people went away and then when I started working full-time (at MEC) I just did a morning run for a while as well. I ended up quitting because the money to work ratio just was not worth it at all very different than two years ago. Now in fairness if I was working a full day it would balance out a bit better. Still there were always lots of couriers hanging out in the office and I would often see Brian and Dave looking at blank boards (ie: no calls to dispatch to ANYONE). So take that for what it's worth. Honestly at this point I would say if you want to do it because it will be fun then go for it. It will be fun. But if you want to actually make more money on the side its not the best or most reliable way to do that. It takes time to get fast (I'm talking about having a system not being a fast cyclist which only takes you so far as far as being a successful courier and making decent coin) and make decent money at the best of times. The fact that the industry is kind of dying or at least shrinking will only make that worse. I'm not saying don't do it I'm just saying consider why you want to do it and if you do have fun. *end rant*

Oh and hi everybody. I love you. But especially Colin.

aww shucks Dan.

this too:
https://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/tor/bik/1017401698.html

Yeah, that seems like a decent little deal right thurr. I emailed them when I saw it come online this morning but haven't heard back yet.

Anyone see the posts about Cycle Therapy? Any news there? Mike?

What posts about CT? The ones in the road forum?

Sorry - Craigslist postings...

People were saying that CT was closed on the weekend and there wasn't a sign or anything indicating that they'd be closed so they're wondering if the shop is closing down...

It's February! I know we're not particularly strict on our hours at this time of year...

But... but stuff needs fixing! Honestly, it's kind of unfortunate they had to move downstairs - the shop is barely visible now.

Sunday's ride w/ Wes & Chris was fun:

Oh for ****'s sake ...