PROLLY IS NOT PROBABLY

Product Review: Search and State S1-A Riding Jersey

The amount of minimally-branded, high performance, made in the USA cycling jerseys are on the rise. Companies know that people don’t always want to look like moving billboards when they ride and that black is a good, safe tone for a kit. Since I first talked to the guys at Search and State, I knew their S1-A riding jersey would be a smash hit.

Why? For starters, they’re hand made in NYC from a two-toned quick dry microbial fabric. This material has a nice feel to it, is sleek and is milled in the USA. All that aside, these jerseys are durable and quick drying, two essential qualities for a jersey you’ll want to wear just about every day. I’ve put it through the ringer over the past few months and it’s become a staple, alongside my other jerseys. Add in sun sleeves, a merino wool base layer and you’re good to go, even in warm conditions.

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Product Review: Carradice Barley Saddle Bag

And it makes a great place to rest your helmet.

Andy from FYXO and I were joking about product reviews when we finished up our walkabout. He said something to the extent of “if that bag survived our ride, then it’s worth a review”. There’s nothing pretty about a saddle bag on a road or cross bike but sometimes you need some extra cargo room. Since I was carrying my camera gear and food in my backpack, I wanted to be able to throw my clothes and other gear on the bike somewhere.

Blakey had this Carradice Barley Saddle Bag and Bagman Sport Support quick-release rack in Melbourne, so I borrowed it. Initially skeptical, Andy and Dan looked at the bag and implied that I’d know how secure it was after the first day… But alas, all weathered fine.

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Product Review: RiderPipe

Sure, this may look like your average “bubble” or tobacco pipe but RiderPipe is cut a few notches higher than the rest. I’d mark this under a luxury item, more so than a staple: it’s for the connoisseurs of bubble blowing. These unique pipes are CNC machined in the USA from grade 2 commercially pure titanium and modeled after the Cook Bros. cranks of the 90′s. I got my hands on one at NAHBS and have been using it since.

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Van Winkle and the Rapha Grand Tour Shoes

Look, I’m going to be honest. Rapha gave me these shoes and sure, doing a write up was part of the “deal”. I’m a journalist in many ways and part of that is promoting products. But I’ll never pump up the hype on something I’m not into. Like nice cycling shoes, a nice bottle of bourbon needs no hype. While, going for a cheap bottle can result in a great night, you’re better off going for the good stuff if you’re into enjoying the evening. That doesn’t mean you can’t buy cheap bourbon and not have fun.

Hell, Fighting Cock is a great $15 bottle and Bookers or Basil Hayden’s is a good mid-range, coming in at $30-$40. Jim Beam is out of the picture, leave that shit to the sports bars. Makers is perfect for a bourbon and ginger, as is Buffalo Trace but Van Winkle Special Reserve, like the Rapha Grand Tour Shoes are just a step up from the rest. Giro‘s line of cycling shoes are like bourbon: there’s something for everyone. It just so happens that the Grand Tour shoes are the Van Winkle of the line. The bourbon’s good to go but how have the shoes been holding up?

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I Couldn’t Resist

So there I was, looking at the Jack Brown tires, thinking I wanted some gumwall action on my Geekhouse Woodville touring bike. Because, you know, nothing’s classier on a purple touring bike than gumwalls. The only problem is, I have this bike, with all this clearance for tires and fenders, so I wanted to go bigger than 33c. I looked over in the corner of my office and there were the two Resist Nomad skin tires I had on my Bruiser. 45c, big, fat, round, gumwall tires. I couldn’t Resist.

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Cookin’ Up Some New Wheels With Profile Elite RC Hubs

I have been salivating over the idea of a Profile Racing road / ‘cross hub since Christian first spun the cassette in the phone to me over a year ago. I like a loud hub and having ridden White Industry, Phil and Chris King, I’m very excited to try out the new Profile Elite RC hubs this coming ‘cross season. When the UPS delivery man dropped off the box today, I had to fry ‘em up and see them glow.

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Beautiful Bicycle: Affinity Kissena Street Track

Yes, steel is real but traveling with a bike on some airlines is too rich for my budget. Knowing it would cost me over $100 to fly back and forth from NYC with my Icarus, I emailed Jason from Affinity and asked if he had a loaner bike. He replied, saying I could ride a Affinity Kissena Velo Fund bike. As he handed it over, I realized I could come under fire for riding, wait for it… aluminum! Truth be told, I raced a Felt TK2 at Kissena and while I prefer steel frames, I’m not gonna pass up riding a mean racing machine like a Kissena as a loaner in NYC.

I won’t get into why I don’t like aluminum here because the purpose of this post is to thank Affinity for all the support over the years. The Kissena is a racing machine and it’s fun to ride on the street, especially with a spinny gear and wide risers. How many of you own these bikes? What do you think of them?

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Best Roll Ever

I’m a Ramblin’ Roll kinda man and while I could go on with a lengthy review, I’ll just say the Yanco and Tracko Ramblin’ Roll is the best ‘roll I’ve had. Head to Tracko for instructions, a review and purchasing information. They’re Flag Hatchet approved!

Edit: OK, I added some more photos below in case you need to see how it rolls up, etc…

Introducing the Rapha Grand Tour Shoes

When I was in Portland, before my tour, the guys at Rapha North America told me about this collaboration with Giro that they had been working on. Their idea was simple: make a cycling shoe that boasts the performance of a modern race shoe, influenced by the classic models from the 70′s. If anyone has nailed that ideology down, it’s Rapha. The Grand Tour Shoes embody the same stylistic approach as their apparel line and by style, I mean simplicity. These minimally-branded, perforated white leather shoes utilize the same technology as Giro’s professional racing shoes and look damn good.

I’ve broken this review down into a gallery, with the captions describing each photo, so take note. See for yourself by clicking the image above or here to open in a new tab.

Tree Bicycle Co: How is It?

This was my first Tree Splined Lite Sprocket, from 2009. Sam was selling a few copper-plated sprockets and I scooped one up, curious as to how a BMX drivetrain would feel on a fixed gear. Since then, it’s the only sprocket I’ve ridden, both on my BMX and FGFS rigs. Recently, I’ve tried out some other brands, which I’ll be reviewing shortly but I just wanted to say hats off to TREE BICYCLE CO for innovating the game and designing the first 48 splined sprockets. They’ve been making these for over 6 years now.

On a related note, check out GetaBMX‘s review of the Tree Splined Lite Sprocket here.

Product Review: Rapha Classic Bib Shorts

Photo by Andy White

So let me preface this by saying there isn’t much of a review here. It’s more about me praising a solid product. Rapha has nailed a very simple, yet complicated garment. Bibs should be easy right? Lycra, chamois, viola? Not always the case and yet the Classic Bib Shorts achieve maximum comfort with no hidden details, no magical, high-tech materials and no gaudy logos.

This Product Review is merely me telling you that over the years, I’ve owned many kits, shorts and bibs. All of which are now in the bottom drawer of my dresser, never getting used. Why? Because I’ve found the best bibs money can buy. Sure, I know what you’re thinking “Prolly gets this shit for free, so he has to write something positive about it”. Honestly, I don’t have to do anything. I choose to give products I love some much-deserved attention and the Rapha Classic Bib Shorts are just that, a product worthy of my praise.

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Product Review: Volume Generator

When Volume first started buzzing about their commuter bike, the Generator, it was a whole different beast. They started out by putting an 8-speed Alfine hub on one of their fixed freestyle frames but knew they had to put more thought into it before pushing it through to production. By replacing the calipers with disk brakes and running internal routing, the Generator quickly became an all-purpose, curb-hopping, around town, bar and cafe bike for people who want a little more fun in their morning commute. I got my hands on one a few weeks back and have been enjoying the ride so far.

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PiNP Week in Review 01.29.2012

This week saw a good amount of fixed freestyle videos, mixed in with some other gems. Check out the PiNP Week in Review:

01. SYD_
I’m in Sydney, doing my thing and this week, I’ll be visiting shops, going on rides and meeting many new people. Keep an eye on the blog and apologies for the strange posting schedule.

02. Wolf Drawn: LBC 2 ATX
Matt unleashed the beast this week, documenting the LBC 2 ATX trip. Unfortunately, now we have to carry a measuring tape with us when we ride.

03. 44RN 144#47 Raidô Contest
In Elder Futhark, an Old Norwegian language, Raidô means ride or journey. This contest wants you to share yours through a photo.

04. Jonathan Davis Into the Unknown
This dude rips it up to none other than Electric Wizard.

05. Riding the Long White Cloud
Our favorite skaters from days of yore got on some bikes for a little tour.

06. Beautiful Bicycle: Gus’ SE 26″ Fixed
SE’s new 26″ fixed frameset has been getting rad underneath Gus for the past few months. I gave it some lens love at House Park while he was visiting in Austin.

07. ILE Inside Line Equipment: Prime DSLR Backpack
The new bag from ILE takes on a smaller package, much like your Prime lenses.

08. Bmore Fixed: Druids Path
Bmore Fixed does their thing in the streets of Charm City.

09. Balhogs Wax
It’s wax, made from the fat of the swine and will turn any ledge into a shredding shrine.

10. Product Review: Laplander City Panniers
After weeks of use, I finally got around to shooting photos of Lauren’s Laplander City Panniers.

Product Review: Laplander City Panniers

To make her Tokyo Fixed Dream Machine Cargo complete, Lauren really wanted a rear rack and panniers. Now I know I push the handmade in the USA thing a lot here but what I really care about are quality products made by people who give a damn about what they’re doing. When I met Shane from Laplander at the Philly Bike Expo, I was very impressed with these City Panniers.

Laplander makes all their bags in Philadelphia and I opted for the waxed cotton model for Lauren. After a few weeks of use, she loves them. Matched with the Wald rack and they add a whole new level of simplicity to her daily routine.

Check out more below!

PiNP Week in Review 01.22.2012

Numerous readers have sent in one request over the past year: a week in review post. I know I post a lot, so it’s hard to sift through it all. Each Sunday afternoon, I’ll compile a list of the highlights from the week.

01. Matt Spencer Take Over
This week, I unleashed all the photos I took of Matt Spencer while he was here in Austin visiting. After a bike check and a video featuring Pissy’s wreck, we hit some spots. We started on 6th street, checked out a spot, hit a large street gap, blasted some x-ups and we ended with a nice, fast gap.

02. Beautiful Bicycle: My Milwaukee Bicycle Co. Orange One Road
After a series of funky builds, my MKE Orange One is looking good as my only road bike.

03. Giro Makes Great Cycling Shoes
Giro’s line of cycling shoes just keeps getting better. Two models were reviewed, one for road and one for dirt.

04. Flag Hatchet Approved: NME Knife & Tool – BWB-01T
Zodiak branches off into the tool machining market and the BWB-01T is their first offering.

05. 12 Hour SOPA Blackout
Protesting was never this easy.

06. Mission Workshop: Eiger Waterproof Field Jacket
Mission Workshop’s new technical apparel offerings are looking sharp, with a price tag to match.

07. Merckx Mondays
A classic category on the site got some fresh new content.

08. More from Grime in SF
Mike from Grime is in SF, enjoying those Cali vibes and filming for a new edit.

09. AJ Austin is a RIPPER
My boy AJ got a lot of love on the blog this week. His new edit was a hit and his crank arm stall to fakie had the FGFS community buzzing.

10. Condition NYC: Macaframa on the Williamsburg Bridge
Chris caught some of those nostalgic NYC vibes that everyone loves.

Beautiful Bicycle: My Milwaukee Bicycle Co. Orange One Road

This poor bike. It’s been embarrassed numerous times on this blog. It went from that goofy stem to the goofier bar and lever setup. I look back at those photos with shame. What the hell was I thinking? My only guess is that this bike was never a real necessity. I had my Merckx and so I barely rode the MKE. When I sold my Merckx to fund the Bishop, the MKE became my only road bike. I’ve been putting in miles on it and even with the SRAM Apex and FSA cranks, this bike rides and handles a lot better than any other road bike I’ve owned.

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Giro Makes Great Cycling Shoes

I love Giro‘s shoes. I’ve taken my Prolight SLX road shoes across the globe, on a fully-loaded tour and they’re still kicking. When I saw their new line at Interbike, I had to try out their new models, the Privateer MTB and the Factor road.

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Burning Witch Box Set

This marks probably the 10th time I’ve purchased something Burning Witch-related. Over the last ten years, I’ve bought numerous CD releases and a few t-shirts from this Seattle doom band. I first heard them in highschool and couldn’t get over how intense their music was. In fact, it’s one of those bands whose work can’t be appreciated on anything other than vinyl. Which is why when Southern Lord announced they finally got the Burning Witch 4xLP and DVD set together, I sprung for it.

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A Thing of Beauty: Paul Racer Mediums

I’ve been meaning to replace my long-reach calipers on the MKE since I first built it up. They sucked for mud and leaf clearance but I just couldn’t spring for the Paul Racer Mediums at the time. Since I’m bringing this bike to Sydney in a few days, I wanted something that would fit fenders, cross tires or road tires and still have all the braking power I needed. Oh and they had to be black.

The Paul Racer Mediums fit perfectly on this bike. While the center pull can be deceiving, they mount through the brake drillings on the crown and brake bridge. When compared to the long-reach calipers, I was very impressed by their stopping power.

Full bike shots to come.

Garmin: Winter Training 2012 – Christophe Le Mével

Yeah, I know this is just a commercial for a rather expensive GPS that’s big enough to let you check your Facebook status on but I can’t get over how well it’s done. I used the Garmin 800 on my tour and it was extremely helpful. Not so much for the GPS, but for the elevation readouts and virtual riding partner. Every morning, I’d set the pace at 10mph and try to maintain that average.

Now, on my road bike here in Austin, I’ve been using it to do the same. Not that I’m training for stage races but I like to see progress in my riding. This is coming across as a review for a product that’s way too expensive to buy unless you’ve got a way to get it wholesale but I have enjoyed mine. When paired with the heart rate, cadence and speed monitors, it’s the perfect way to stay on top of your riding.