i am currently living in kansai area (wakayama prefecture; southeast japan)...1.5-2hrs south of osaka, and a further 30mins to kyoto and/or kobe. i am here on the JET programme, which is kind of like ESL, except it is in the public school system (rather than the ubiquitous private orgs). the job is fantastic, the weather is mild, the riding is splendid, and i plan to finish up three years here before eventually making my way home. gokiburi knows a little about the my area.

Unfortunately, I'm not able to make this one either. I have a teleconference at 8:30. If possible, I'll try to be there for at least part of it.

And with a 90's frame, I'd wonder about the orientation of the dropouts.

what the hell!? 3 flats since friday afternoon? one of them happened over night while my bike's hanging on a hook in the basement? i think i've narrowed it down to rim tape. if changing that doesn't work i think i'll throw a temper-tantrum.

i went by pedlar yesterday and noticed it was closed.. funny that you mentioned it now because i was wondering if anyone else had noticed. when did it close? that place has been around for ages (i remember their old location on the SE corner of ave/dav) though and i think it's one of the worst bike stores in toronto by far. did spinning wheels (carlton/parliament) succumb to a similiar fate? flies will be buzzing over my dead corpse before my business goes to places like that.

That is weird, although not surprising. I don't think I've ever been in a bike shop with a more overweening attitude.

"overweening"? that's a new one. :)

I have a keirin-berlin sticker that I got through the spoke-card secret santa this past holidays. The guy that sent me a card lives in Berlin. I can't remember his name though.

Jeremy: I got a flat while my bike was sitting in my office last fall. I was in a meeting and on my way back to my desk 3 or 4 people said "hey wes, you got a flat". Pretty funny. Apparently it was a sudden blow-out type deal with a popping sound and then a WHOOSH. Everyone in my section of the office heard it. :P

cam, please try yer darndest to hit the ride for silence. i've, er, got some stuff to give you.

friday evening i head an explosion coming from the basement, i thought a pipe had bust or something and i didn't realise it was my tire until sunday when i went to get my bike out and the tire was flat and there was a 4" gash in the tube (which was brand new and changed the day before). so this morning i go to get my bike out and blamo, flat tire. new tire, new tube. it must be the rim. i'll play with it tonight. maybe get some rim tape first, perhaps pay a visit to cavernmech at lunch time...

peter brunsberg? (http://www.bagjack.com/)

Name doesn't sound familiar, but it could be. I think the guy that made mine is Swiss but living in Berlin. The envelope was post-marked from Switzerland, but I think he was just home for the holidays.

As for wacky tubes, I bought a few spares at Urbane a while ago and just used one for the first time a couple weeks ago. The stems are smooth! Once I started getting them up to "operating pressure" the head of my pump kept flying off! :P What's up with that?

you mean those Kenda branded ones? That's the kind that blew off the rim. i've never seen one without the screw before. must be a crazy dutch invention...

Speaking of flats-every time I do the donut ride I get a flat. I'm 3 for 3 now-all glass. Maybe my bike is trying to tell me something. To be honest, sometimes I like it, gives me a chance to ride alone for a while and check out the scenery, instead of a 100's of lycra clad a$$es.

Your pump sux0rs?? The smooth ones are the best, don't have to twist it so hard to get it (pump head) off. No Jokes kthx.

Come out to next saturdays FFL ride, starts at kipling station 60km.

Tire getting too worn out?

that seems true; it was just discocerting to have the valve head jerking around in the hole while i'm pumping it. the set screw seems to hold it in place. i guess old habits die hard.

just got back from urbane and picked up a pair of these babies to mount on the pink bike:

http://ucycle.com/images/124_2.jpg

the ones on the very bottom. i'm thinking maybe streamers on the ends?

By the way guys, this just in: Skype calls free to anywhere in Canada and U.S until the end of the year.

In a nutshell: call anyone from your computer without paying anything in long distance charges. WIN!!!
www.skype.com

Edit: Ask for my skype username, not that anyone ever calls me

Nice. My gf and I used Skype a bunch last year for the month that she was living in Sweden and before I got there.

FFL?


It's only got a few hundred km on it. Not even broken in yet.

"Friends for Life" ... the Bike Ride that Somna and I are going on (check the sigs). Last ride Operator, Sweep242 and Gboy came out for the weekly training ride as well.

I just back from having more back scans I might not make the ride myself.

Route map for Sat. http://www.bikerally.org/trainingmap...kville_rgb.pdf

I'm all for a bikeforums paceline. And whaddaya know, i've done this route before too :D

*currently working a 60k solo route up and down the shore of Lake Huron + through Chemical Valley for this weekend.

I can probably make it, they (they being meteorologists) are saying the Wednesday's going to be the nicest day of the week. :)

There's a "tall bike" like contraption locked onto the same post as my bike in front of my office right now. Pretty rad. I think I might print one of those "your bike is hot" things and stuff it in his/her spokes..

http://www.yourbikeishot.com/

I've seen a welded-together-from-old-frames-and-a-tv-antenna bike with a car steering wheel parked on the u of t campus a while ago. i wonder if it's the same one?