Maracski

I do, I really do. I want to ride faster again. I want to trade in my 46/19 ratio for 46/17. I don't want to have to worry so much. I want to ride more aggressively again. I don't want to have to walk down hills, ever.

Dammit, I want a front brake.

So I need a drilled fork. What are my options? Is there a company that makes drilled, track-specific forks that you can buy apart from a bike? I know Surly makes forks, but they're all painted and funny-looking.

I love the way my bike looks and want to somehow preserve the aesthetic. I don't know what the rake of my fork is but I want to keep it close to the same because I love the way it rides. (How do I measure rake?) I just know that I don't want some old fork that looks like a skinny hockey stick. I don't want anything that's painted UNLESS it can be painted to match my frame. (Can that be done?) My bike is fillet-brazed so I would prefer a fillet-brazed fork too. I really don't know where to start looking. Or how to make this happen. So I'm looking here. Looking forward to your helpful advice.

P.S. specifically a threaded fork

orbThorn

Your reasons for wanting a brake are the exact same why I don't want to go brakeless. I could do it just fine and safely but It's not worth it to me to not be able to go at everything as fast as possible, have to take it slow when drunk etc. Respect.

piwonka

what the hell.

nayr497

Um, maybe you shouldn't have gotten a track bike to ride around SF when you can't handle it and can't skid or skip? Just an idea.

Where to begin: sit in contemplation for a number of hours and release all of your obsessiveness about having an awesome and rad looking bike that makes you cutting edge but which you can't control or ride. Forget NJS and the length of your stem. Ride more, learn how to ride fixed gear, get a bike that works for you.

It is just a tad bit silly to get a top-of-the line whip when you can't ride the dang thing and know every little detail about it...except how to ride it.

I just remember the first posting I saw from you on here and I've tried to bite my tongue, but it is clear you were so buffaloed by seeing all the cool kids riding around SF on their track bikes that you had to have one and dropped some serious $ and now a few months later you realize it was silly since the bike doesn't work for you and you can't handle it.

I'm glad you like to ride bikes but there is nothing funnier to me than seeing a person on a nice as Ciocc or De Rosa or Concept track bike who can barely push the gear and teeters back and forth since they have no balance. Why get a high-performance anything if your ability to make it perform is lacking?

dirtyphotons

pictures and brand of your current fork would help. most manufacturers have the specs listed.

fork rake is the perpendicular measurement from the axle to the axis of steering at its closest point. unless you're getting a fork with the exact same length and rake, you're best off concentrating on preserving the bike's trail.

Maracski

I've been brakeless for the last 4 months or so without any major incident (or any real close calls for that matter). But I just wanna have more fun. +100 "when drunk."

obstacle

+1

But, https://www.moyercycles.com/ can make you whatever you want.

Maracski

meanie

I can ride it just fine. Just not the way I want to. Btw, I'm totally not cutting edge, but thanks anyway.

nayr497

And before anyone declares I'm just an awful internet ogre...Maracski...am I correct in remembering that you had an NJS Hatchet saddle (which must have taken time and $ to secure) and then when you finally rode it more than a mile you realized it was awful?

I just don't see how there is anyway someone could end up with an NJS saddle unless they were chasing some sort of idealized bicycle that ends up not really suit their needs. I can't imagine a shop saying, "Oh, this is a great saddle! Everyone loves this one!"

I think your track bike lust is catching up with you...

Just my opinion.

SoreFeet

I have a 1 1/8 steel fork that is drilled straight blade. Send me message if you want it for cheap. I got it on ebay it is columbus steel. Apparently made by blacksheep cycles. Cosmetics arent so hot but a new powder coat for a few bucks and you could have one hot looking fork. Your track bike is probably 1 inch...

Maracski

How many people have bought saddles that didn't work for them?

Not that it matters, but I happened to buy the kashimax for like $60 from a guy who lives 4 blocks from me. Ah the wonder that is Craigslist.

I ain't regretting any of my bike decisions.

nayr497

Oh, this gets better by the response. Yes, people end up with a Specialized or Fizik or Avocet or Selle Italia saddle that doesn't work for them. But, nobody says, "OH LOOK! A skinny plastic saddle with no padding that costs $60! That looks like it would be REALLY comfortable between my legs!" Are you saying you knew nothing of Kashimax before you stumbled upon that saddle around the corner?

I doubt it.

I'd be much more willing to offer creative help if you'd just come out and declare that you decided NJS track machines were really cool and you just had to have one...and now you begin to realize that riding one around the hills of SF isn't the greatest or most comfortable thing.

Suttree

For what it's worth I think a front brake is the way to go.
I only have an hour or so a day to ride and after spinning hard
for an hour I don't always have the legs left to stop on a dime.
Plus I ride on rough country roads and in traffic--I'm not trying
to destroy my knees. A mechanic at my local LBS told me his dad was a
messenger in NYC for years and only rode fixed no brakes--now he has
bad knee problems. Go figure.

As for the NJS-thing I just don't get why it is so fetishized as
as something for a street bike--free bearings? Back-destroying geometry?
The beautiful lugged frames of 3Rensho and Nagasawa are all that I just
don't want one for the street.

Maracski

1) I knew the kashimax was hard, but I was riding a hard saddle on my other bike without problems. It's more the shape that was an issue, than the hardness. 2) I decided this bike was one of the most beautiful bikes I had ever seen and I just had to have it. I really like pretty things, it's a tricky habit.

Serendipper 

The same reason people like Porsche GT3's and Ford rat rod dragsters on the street.

Impractical, expensive, hard to drive, and uncomfortable...but cool as hell. Turns heads. Makes you feel like a badass.

I don't think it's for everybody (the day it is, imagine how many regulars would abandon it for that reason alone, ha ha)...but I don't pretend not to get it.

**** is cool when it's dangerous.

After awhile you're like "f*ck, I need a real bike".

sirpoopalot

from reading this post and some of your earlier posts,

it seems like you're regretting your decision to buy a silly clown njs bike, and the gear ratio.

**** njs.

sirpoopalot

oh, to be helpful:



I'm serious. a steady hand, a prick punch, and a hammer and drill with bit are all you need.

Serendipper 

The more you come up with justifications, the more ridiculous you sound.


That's like having Dita Von Teese as a mistress, then backpedalling when your friends ask you "why".

**** with all the "she was beautiful" explanations. Bich is hardcore and wears six-inch heels...what girl do you know that's like that?


If you can't claim your fetish, then it's just a fashion statement.

Everything doesn't have to make sense for you to like it. Get off the train, buddy. Before you fall off.

Serendipper 

**** YOU.

Do what YOU like. The F#cking anti-hip are just as lame as the trendhoppers. You all need some balls.

piwonka

i just can't believe you want a brake so you can "go all out when your're drunk"...laughable man. good luck with that.

Maracski

sure.

queerpunk

so, i would *not* go with a surly fork, cause they have huge clearances, and that's not what you want.

finding something to match your bike exactly will be exceedingly difficult.

www.bikecult.com - bike works in nyc - has a chrome, threaded, drilled, thin-legged fork that many people use. it looks nice.

if i were in your shoes, i'd go with the Soma fork, for simplicity. black matches everything.

you could also talk to a framebuilder to replicate your current fork. many framebuilders, though, don't do small jobs.

you could also get a clamp-on front or rear brake. www.trackstarnyc.com sells a rear brake, i believe.

queerpunk

Translation: "You made a decision that you regret, and I won't help you make changes to that decision unless you jump through my self-righteous hoops. Told you so, and if you don't acknowledge it, you don't get my wonderous knowledge."

You seem like a fun person to be around.

Jeez, she just wants help with a damn bike part - making changes that many people approve of - and yet people gotta climb up on soapboxes?

willypilgrim

That's because outwardly bashing things that are "hip" is it's own elitism.

Seriously, if you like ****, just say you do.

My next wheelset will most likely be aerospoke/deepv or deepv/deepv, not terribly original at all, who knows maybe everyone will completely hate those rims by the time i even get them, but i like how it looks, so who cares.

Although, I do think it's hilarious looking at velospace and watching kids try to be cool by listing every tiny detail they can find of NJS components. Especially the kids with bikes like mine, that have all of two or three NJS pieces (pedals, cog, clips) and feel the need to list NJS after it.

sirpoopalot

just a little correction i beleive the op is a female, so yea. but you may have been using "man" in the neutered sense of the term, just like some use "dude" in the same sense. but yes.