how is putting risers on a track bike "butchering" it? boss moniker, the OP isn't doing anything irreversible to the bike. s/he's just making it comfortable to ride. i mean, damn, the OP is 17 years older than when s/he bought it.

Keep the tubies. Lots of guys ride around on the streets of NYC w/ tubies. And post pics!

my flock is growing everyday!

S/F,
CEYA!

For the streets, I've had good experience with using Continental Gatorskin Tubular Sprinters with some Green Slime injected in as a backup. I got one flat, the first day I was on them, but it self sealed with the slime and all has been good for a long while now.

Regarding risers, I find that they're really great and comfortable being on them in the city. Get you up a little bit higher than with bull horns or drops, and yes, its completely reversible. Ride it and enjoy, Its good to hear about someone getting back in the saddle after a couple years out.

Butchering?! Um...handlebars are swappable. My back isn't. Tell you what. Do a couple large scale disasters as a First Responder, and then you can begin to have an attitude about how my bike looks. And it isn't any more a bit of a back problem than 9/11 was a bit of a disaster. You might want to take one GIANT step backwards, apologize, and stop with the condescending attitude. Oh, and bull horns and road drops don't give you the same positioning as risers. These are inches that matter to my comfort. If you care so bloody much about how a simple (and utterly reversible) swap of components to my classic bike looks (that I bought new and have personally kept in good condition, mind you), then I hear by give you permission to buy me a nice new steel lugged fixed gear from a comparable or better frame builder. In return you can have my Track 4000 to restore as you see fit. Seriously, the next time you want to play down somebody's 9/11 injury and condescend to them, don't. I'm being relatively nice in my response to you.

I was a mechanic, I know gear ratios. They haven't changed. I also know my knees.

Totally untrue.

Unless it is you that is the one crashing. Seriously, have you ever actually ridden sew-ups? Or are you guessing. Tell you what, I'll ditch my perfect good tubulars set up for a month to compare. All I'll be needing is for you to send me a clincher system to use. I certainly can't drop an extra $300 for no good reason.

Okay, now I KNOW you have never used sew-ups. Fast Tack. Duh.

This is patently untrue, Clinchers are great for certain applications, but sew-ups will out corner them every time.

You assume wrong. I have ridden new clinchers. I'm not to old to remember good clincher rims, kevlar folding clinchers etc. I choose to use sew-ups on my fixed gear having rode clinchers.

You are aware that people ride sew-ups on cobbles, grass, mud, and snow, right? I've ridden sew-ups on a fixed gear over New England fire trails. But once again, if you want to give me a second set of clincher wheels, I'll take them. As it is, these are training wheels for me. I have Ambrasio and Sun tubular rims I can build up when I am more flush and want something even lighter.

[/quote]Just some opinions.. of course you're free to do what you want.[/quote]
Might want to watch how you express those opinions in the future.

Thank you to everyone else for a number of helpful hints and words of advice.

Any opinions on Brooks saddles BTW (from people that have actually used them). Thinking about a b-17 or b-17 narrow.

Just ordered some Conti Gatorskins and then read this response. Glad to know it might be a good tire for me. I also ordered some Tufo resealer to fill them with.

Uh, simmer down.

hey cold spoon, ive been reading this thread and am looking forward to seeing your bike.

I have a b 17 and i really like it. I broke it in pretty fast by switching it to whatever bike i was riding that week so my butt was constantly on the seat breaking it in. Although it broke in much faster that way than by just leaving it on one bike you need to be careful because a brooks seat can be pretty uncomfortable if it isnt positioned correctly. with switching it out often you have to take extra care to reposition it in the proper maner. I love my seat.

A b-17 narrow was a bit too narrow for me and although it is slimmer than the regular b 17 and looks better, i figured id be covering up the seat most of the time anyway when ridding so id just rather get the fat one that provides more support.

i never liked the idea of tubulars (never tried them) because i didnt know you could patch them. But all the talk about them lately has made me want to try out a pair. I can get a front tubular wheel pretty easily to try out, would i notice a differece if i ran one in the front or would i only be able to tell a difference if i ran a set?

i would for sure go with risers, especially if you have a back problem. If you end up riding for long periods of time and find one hand positon painful, just get some cheap road drops and try them. and you can flip and chop them if you want to try something different. but for now risers would be good. i switch my bars out depending on what type of ride im gonna take, its not a big deal i like switching parts around on bikes.
good luck.

Obviously you missed the part where he opened his reply to my post by condescendingly playing down my 9/11 injury. My response was me simmering down.

While the rest of his post was 2nd hand techno babble from a kid with no first hand experience, his first statement was beyond the pale. While I'm glad to have walked away from the WTC with my relatively minor injury as opposed to having been killed or maimed, this kid has no place commenting on his take on a First Responder's injury or the severity of it. You have to walk the walk if you are going to do that. And I've walked it enough times. This is all I'm going to say on the matter. I shouldn't have to say more.

I used to know a Gulf War vet who installed an automatic transmission and a modern drivers seat in his classic 1960's Mustang after returning home injured from Iraq. I never heard a classic car guy have any issue with this. We should be no different as fixed gear riders. Our sport, which I was taking part in before the poster I took issue with was born, needs to be more accessible, not less. Style is one thing, fascism is another.

Do you mind if I ask how tall you are and what you weigh? It would put your b-17 experience into perspective.

I'd think that a rear tubular would be more noticeable than a front tubular, but I've never ridden a mismatched set so I honestly don't know. See if another rider in your area will swap an entire set with you for a day. That's the best way to find out.

Thanks for the riser wisdom.

Thats hilarious

i am 6 ft, and weight about 165-170lbs

the only time i have heard about someone screwing up a brooks was this heavy guy, maybe 250lbs and about 5-8, just a big burly guy, he said he would keep ripping the leather away from the rivets after a few months, but he always liked how soft they were up untill then. And they were soft cause he would get them used. so who knows, maybe if he started out on a new one they would have been fine for him.

i dont think anyone is dismissing your back injury

i dont personally give a **** if you put risers on your bike

it was only being suggested that you could possibly achieve a similar position with different bars

I have rode a number of used Brooks with no problems (two are older than I am), and I tip the scales at 280lbs (6'6"). I am running normal B-17s and Pros without problems. The Swift I bought used is pulling away from the rivets slightly, but it was when I got it.

My friend, I do apologize.. the wording "a bit of" was not meant to belittle the extent of the injury. You mentioned it in passing (In fact, I didn't realize until you clarified that you got injured as a first responder on 9/11), and in casual terms so I assumed it wasn't debilitating. And I certainly wasn't comparing it with people who lost their lives that day. Again, I feel terrible that you took offense at this.

Additionally the tone of my post, though condescending, wasn't really meant for you. It was mostly meant for the people around here who build beautiful NJS bikes and put risers/flats on them because everyone else is doing it. Annoys me to no end, but really I'm just being irrational and provocational. For you, I ended up putting words in your mouth, which was a mistake. I was aware of this when I wrote it, so I added the "of course you can do what you want", but I guess that didn't help.

Looks like you do know more about tubulars than I do, though I assure you I have ridden them (though I do not own a set.. I am planning on getting some though). I'm not going to argue with you, though.

I hope you enjoy the bike, whatever it may end up being.

I'm still waiting for pictures.

Same here. Does this bike even exist?

Apology accepted. No hard feelings.

Mentioned it three times. Once in reference to the injury itself, twice in reference to a callous, and apologized for, post (scroll up). You're the one continuing this, not me. Geeze if I wanted attention, I'd mention a lot more than what you are taking issue with. My life, thankfully, did not begin or end on that day. I mentioned it at first in the context of it being an injury that effects cycling for me. It really does effect my choice of components and my ridding style. I'm new here, do you get to decide what personal first hand life experiences may or may not be evoked that refer to fixed gear riding? If I've stepped on the toes of a forum mod or censor, please let me know so I can respectfully bow out. Though somehow I doubt that is the case.

Please, let this die. I have. Let's talk about putting my bike together.

I'll post some pictures over the weekend for everyone to enjoy or not.

Today's additions were a short riser stem (found on a scooter I destroyed a while ago), a pair of chopped flat bars (ditto), a MTB brake lever (ditto), some MTB grips, a bell, and a light.

Now I'm just stuck waiting for a shipment of Conti Gatorskin sew-ups to arrive in the mail. Some other toys are coming to...

a back injury, and how it relates to your riding style, is perfectly reasonable to discuss here. where that injury came from is not relevant, and your repeated mentions of 9/11, the WTC, and comments like "My life, thankfully, did not begin or end on that day" seem conspicuously desperate for attention.

and it's enormously hypocritical to tell others what they shouldn't be allowed to say, but going on to suggest that it's unfair to ask you to stop talking about 9/11 on a bike forum.if you REALLY want to talk about 9/11, and somehow i think it's safe to say you do, there is a subforum here specifically for the purpose of political and religious discussion.

Wow, you really are full of misplaced hatred. Angry tinfoil hat wearing hatred. I'm going to ignore you now, as you are obviously off your rocker. You need to get a life and do something constructive with it. And grow a pair, seriously, they need to descend. Because that is so clearly why you are picking this whimpy ass internet fight with me. So that's it, you are now being ignored. Try to measure your dick as much as you like, I have better things to do with my life than sit in on that contest with you.

And to everyone else, I'm sorry you had to be subjected to this trollish asshat's ramblings. I'll be ignoring him from now on and concentrating on my bike project.

interestingly worded.

show the bike !

show the bike !

show the bike !

I'm waiting to get my damn digicam back tonight. Tomorrow, I promise. Though with a LES late night ahead, it could be late tomorrow.