Tuesday, June 30, 2009
jenniferrrrrrrr
what my fiend jenn found in her mailbox this morning... an envelop with a 2 plastic babies (one black, one white), a plastic dove, and a cross. all wrapped in some beautifully patterned brown paper. sick joke or a hilarious sick joke?
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
rainamobile continued...
freshly painted and ready to go. it really is amazing what a good paint job can do to a frame. i'm doing a lot of the building here at the office cause i spend so much time here so everyone has seen all the stages so far. and seeing the painted frame today, it didn't even register to some that it was the same frame. they thought that i had gone out and bought another one (as if i make that kinda cash..). if you're looking for a new bike, i would seriously consider either finding a cheap old frame to paint of even your current frame if it's in good condition. a little bit of paint adds a lot of snazzz. powder coating is an easy, inexpensive way to get psyched on your bike again. the only thing that sucks are colors. if you want it pronto, colors are limited unless you get lucky and someone happens to be having something painted a crazy color. in that case, they can just add it to that order. but if you want a specific color out than a black or white you're going to pay for it. but it'll still be cheaper than buying a new frame. s'what i did with an old frame i bought for 40 bucks at the community bicycle network. before and after. seeing raina's frame all fresh and clean, i'm considering getting my repainted white or something. stay tuned...
Monday, June 22, 2009
bike locking strategy
by sheldon brown
If you don't have secure parking at your workplace, you should indeed have a serious lock, such as a Kryptonite. The thing is, you should not carry it home every night. The weight of a typical U-lock represents the difference between a $400 bike and a $700 bike.
Just leave the lock at work, locked to whatever you normally lock your bike to. Carry a light cable lock with you for quick errands or emergencies.
If you use both the U-lock and the cable lock at work, you are more than twice as safe as you would be with either of them alone. Either type of lock can be defeated, but each requires a different large, bulky tool which is useless against the other.
Don't take your bike apart to lock it, it is really bogus. The cable lock will secure your front wheel to the frame and any convenient object, and the U-lock will secure your rear wheel and frame. If you have a quick-release seatpost bolt, replace it with an Allen head bolt, and stop worrying about having your saddle stolen.
The best cable locks are the ones that have the lock built-in, rather than relying on a padlock. The padlock is the weak link, easily cut with bolt cutters, the tool of choice for most bike thieves. A new, sharp bolt cutter will cut a cable too, but an old, worn-out one will only crush a cable.
The best U-locks are the smallest. My favorite is the Kryptonite Mini, which not all bike shops stock. The Mini is much smaller and lighter than the more popular models, but just as secure. It may be even more secure, because of the limited room to put a jack inside it. It also gives less purchase for leverage-based attacks.
People tend to buy the big clunky U-locks because they don't know how to use them properly. A U-lock should go around the rear rim and tire, somewhere inside the rear triangle of the frame. There is no need to loop it around the seat tube as well, because the wheel cannot be pulled through the rear triangle.
Some will object that felons might cut the rear rim and tire to remove the lock. Believe me, this just doesn't happen in the real world. First, this would be a lot of work to steal a frame without a useable rear wheel, the most expensive part of a bike, after the frame. Second, cutting the rear rim is much harder than you might think. Since the rim is under substantial compression due to the tension on the spokes, it would pinch a hacksaw blade tight as soon as it cut partway through. Then there are the wire beads of the tire, also difficult to cut.
If you don't have secure parking at your workplace, you should indeed have a serious lock, such as a Kryptonite. The thing is, you should not carry it home every night. The weight of a typical U-lock represents the difference between a $400 bike and a $700 bike.
Just leave the lock at work, locked to whatever you normally lock your bike to. Carry a light cable lock with you for quick errands or emergencies.
If you use both the U-lock and the cable lock at work, you are more than twice as safe as you would be with either of them alone. Either type of lock can be defeated, but each requires a different large, bulky tool which is useless against the other.
Don't take your bike apart to lock it, it is really bogus. The cable lock will secure your front wheel to the frame and any convenient object, and the U-lock will secure your rear wheel and frame. If you have a quick-release seatpost bolt, replace it with an Allen head bolt, and stop worrying about having your saddle stolen.
The best cable locks are the ones that have the lock built-in, rather than relying on a padlock. The padlock is the weak link, easily cut with bolt cutters, the tool of choice for most bike thieves. A new, sharp bolt cutter will cut a cable too, but an old, worn-out one will only crush a cable.
The best U-locks are the smallest. My favorite is the Kryptonite Mini, which not all bike shops stock. The Mini is much smaller and lighter than the more popular models, but just as secure. It may be even more secure, because of the limited room to put a jack inside it. It also gives less purchase for leverage-based attacks.
People tend to buy the big clunky U-locks because they don't know how to use them properly. A U-lock should go around the rear rim and tire, somewhere inside the rear triangle of the frame. There is no need to loop it around the seat tube as well, because the wheel cannot be pulled through the rear triangle.
Some will object that felons might cut the rear rim and tire to remove the lock. Believe me, this just doesn't happen in the real world. First, this would be a lot of work to steal a frame without a useable rear wheel, the most expensive part of a bike, after the frame. Second, cutting the rear rim is much harder than you might think. Since the rim is under substantial compression due to the tension on the spokes, it would pinch a hacksaw blade tight as soon as it cut partway through. Then there are the wire beads of the tire, also difficult to cut.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
the rainamobile
rebuilding and repainting Raina's bike, stage 1. stripped and ready to be painted. we dropped it off at Byers Bush Inc this morning and after a lot of thought and process of elimination we're going with black semi-gloss. might look similar to mine but it'll be much prettier! stay tuned for updates.
and in other news, Smoke's Poutinerie is now serving an Egg's Benedict poutine for a limited time. haven't tried it but it sounds interesting. and by interesting i mean delicious.
and in other news, Smoke's Poutinerie is now serving an Egg's Benedict poutine for a limited time. haven't tried it but it sounds interesting. and by interesting i mean delicious.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Thursday, June 04, 2009
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