PROLLY IS NOT PROBABLY

Posts Tagged ‘PAUL’

Beautiful Bicycle: Lauren’s Icarus Commuter

Any guy will tell you that putting a bike together for his lady can be an emotionally taxing event. Luckily for me, Lauren knew exactly what she wanted when I proposed the idea of buying her a new bike for her birthday. She loved my Icarus and Ian’s work but wanted something practical to commute on here in Austin. I was pushing for a full-on touring bike but she doesn’t like the idea of bigger tires and wanted something zippier.

What we agreed on is a mashup of a few things: primarily a long-reach caliper, lower trail road bike. It’ll fit 28c tires and fenders or 32c without, it has rack mounts on the front and the rear for any sort of light touring or camping we’d do but most importantly, the front cockpit is by no means racey…

She liked the riding position of her Tokyo Fixed Dream Machine build but wanted the bars a little wider and better stopping power than her cantis. After finally wrapping my head around figuring out what she wanted, we met up with Ian of Icarus Frames, who measured her and went through the new frame procedure.

In the meanwhile, I started looking for parts. Rather than going all budget, I splurged a bit and went with a lot of American-manufactured products. Ian was making a stem to accomodate the back sweep of Nitto Albatross bars to which we’d run barcon shifters on. Chris King had these “ox-blood” Sotto Voce headsets at NAHBS, so I picked one up. Then, I consulted my friend PAUL and kinda went all out. Soon, I had purchased Canti Levers, polished Medium Racers, Moon Units, Polished Tall & Handsome seat post, Funky Money cable hanger and it didn’t stop there…

As with any commuter, gearing is a key factor. Lauren had been riding a single speed to work consistently but some of the hills en route to her teaching job were a bit tough. We also want to be able to do longer rides out to the hill country, so I chose the White Industries VBC cranks (46/30) with a mid-cage Shimano 105 rear derailleur and a 12-32 cassette. Shimano 105 hubs to H+Son TB 14s are bomb-proof, budget wheels. Topping the build off are Panaracer Paselas 32c, Brooks B 17 S saddle and tape.

The paint would be from Fresh Frame and the color we chose is an elusive one. Was it blue? Or green? It changes with the light. In the shade, it’s sort of jade but in the sun, it sparkles blue. Whatever it is, the final product is stunning.

While the bike is shown here, sans racks, we’re in the process of tracking down a good front basket and a rear rack for panniers. The bike is light, coming in at just a hair over 19 lbs and it “rides like a dream”. If it were my bike, I would have done a few things differently but that’s the beauty of a custom bike, you get what YOU want and trust me, there are few arguments I’m willing to engage in with this lady. She always gets what SHE wants… who can blame her? Further down the road, I’ll look into new panniers and maybe a porteur bag but for now, I’ve spent enough money on this thing!

Many thanks to Austin Bikes for the build, Bens Cycle for the assistance in the components, Ian Sutton of Icarus Frames and Bryan Myers at Fresh Frame.

Lauren’s New Icarus

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Being the girlfriend of a “bike blogger” has as many ups as it has downs. The obvious down being that I’m on the road a lot but one of the ups is, well, this… Lauren loved her Tokyo Fixed Dream Machine porteur but wanted something more suited for front-loading and longer rides in the hilly landscape that is Austin. Maybe, just maybe, some camping, too.

I chatted with her a lot about what she wanted and we came up with this “sportif porteur”. Mid trail for front-loading, fender / rack mounts, long-range gearing and an upright riding position. She didn’t want big touring tires, so its designed to fit a 28c with fenders or a 32c without. The build is quite reasonable, with higher-end components where they count.

Once we resolve which basket or rack we’re gong to use on the front, I’ll shoot more photos, highlighting Ian at Icarus‘ handywork. For now, this is all you get…

In Stock: Orange PAUL Components Touring Cantis and Moon Units

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Dark Side of the Moon… unit!

I love the PAUL Components Touring Cantis. I’ve had them on my touring bike, my cross bike and just about everyone I know has them on at least one of their bikes. They’re a classic, no-nonsense cantilever brake. Unlike many cantilevers, these arms are angled upwards. This gives the brake a much narrower profile without significantly reducing stopping power.

As a throwback to the 80′s MTB era of bright anodizing, I teamed up with PAUL to produce yet another run of purple Touring Cantis and matching Moon Units.

~~$240 Shipped in the USA, $250 shipped internationally. That gets you a pair of Touring Cantis (front and rear) and a pair of Moon Units. In stock now at the PiNP Web Shop.~~

SOLD OUT

SOLD OUT: Purple PAUL Components Touring Cantis and Moon Units

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They’re back…

As a throwback to the 80′s MTB era of bright anodizing, I teamed up with PAUL to produce yet another run of purple Touring Cantis and matching Moon Units.

~~$240 Shipped in the USA, $250 shipped internationally. That gets you a pair of Touring Cantis (front and rear) and a pair of Moon Units at the PiNP Web Shop.~~

SOLD OUT

Don’t fret, I heard there may be another color available tomorrow!

19mm PAUL Opener

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The days of the 19mm bolt on PAUL Wacky One-Speed Rear Device (W.O.R.D.) hubs are long gone, so a relic like this is limited to a single use. Dan from Shifter Bikes pulled this out the other day and I had to take a few photos of it.

Beautiful Bicycle: Tyler’s Factory 5 Low Pro Track

Another one of the Factory 5 track bikes that was on the bike tour was Tyler’s. This 61cm frame has quite the component kit on it. Most interestingly, one of five pairs of H+Son carbon fiber wrapped Formation Face rims. The aluminum rims were thinner, to compensate for the wrap, resulting in a lighter rim. They’ll never see full production, because they were a pain to fabricate, but they look great laced to Dura Ace 7600 36h single side track hubs. Tyler’s also riding Paul Royal Flush cranks, which he’s had for over four years in China with no issues.

This is the third prototype of the forthcoming Factory 5 aluminum low pro frame, with smoother welds. The final version will still have a few revisions. Factory 5 has been working on this particular model frame for over a year, revisiting the geometry before making the final version. It makes their motto “We Build. We Ride” even more fitting.

I wanted to photograph his bike after the tour, muddy and all, as a recording of how fucking dirty his bike got riding through China. I’m going to miss hanging out with Tyler. He’s like my metal brother in China…

Check out Factory 5′s current frame offerings here and more photos in the Gallery.

Signal Cycles: Black Gravel Crusher

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You can do gravel rides on a road bike with 23c tires if you’re careful and you pick your lines wisely or you can roll on some 33c Grifos and enjoy the ride a little more. This new Signal Cycles Gravel Crusher looks like a lotta fun, especially with the Mini Moto setup. Check out more at Signal Cycles’ Flickr.

Paul Components: The RHub is Now Available

The wait is over. Paul Components have just announced their new RHub‘s availability. These beautiful, American-made hubs have been floating around their tradeshow booth for about two years now. If you’ve ever owned Paul track hubs, you can attest to their quality and finish. It’s real tempting to pick up a set now, just for the hell of it!

Check out more details at PAUL.

Purple Projects: PAUL Components Touring Cantis and Moon Units in Stock

The first product in the Purple Projects collaboration line is here.

I love the PAUL Components Touring Cantis. I’ve had them on my touring bike, my cross bike and just about everyone I know has them on at least one of their bikes. As a throwback to the 80′s MTB era of bright anodizing, I teamed up with PAUL to produce a limited run of purple Touring Cantis and matching Moon Units.

SORRY SOLD OUT!

The Purple Projects line fully supports Made in the USA components. Stay tuned for more!

*Please note: The anodizing is less blue than shown here, it tends to be more magenta, much like the purple anodizing from the 80′s. It’s hard to get the tone right in these photos.

Beautiful Bicycle: My Geekhouse Team Mudville Cross

Truth be told, I put a deposit down for a 2012 Geekhouse Team Mudville cross bike before my Woodville touring bike was stolen. While I’m planning on racing here in Austin when there are local events, I’m also just stoked to finally have a cross bike to travel with. Over this past year, I’ve come to determine that a cross bike is an ideal travel bike.

You can do just about everything on them: singletrack, off-roading, gravel, road rides and even light touring. Because this bike will be 60% all that and 40% racing, I built it up initially to respond to riding in Northern California and a brevet I’ll be riding later on this month. Hence the double cages, clinchers and Ramblin’ Roll. In fact, I’m heading to Cali right now to partake in some dirt rides.

Enough of the intent, how about the bike? A few things are new on the 2012 Team Mudville models. For one, the ENVE tapered fork and headtube. It’s so big and yes, it really offers a noticeable difference in handling. The tubing selection is a little different on mine than the other bikes. Columbus Life stays ensure my big ass won’t tweak the rear end riding like an asshole or casing barriers.

I honestly don’t have tubular race wheels, so I’ll be using my trusty Profile Elite road hubs to HED Belgiums. The SRAM Force group, ENVE stem, Thomson Elite post, 3T bars all compliment the brightly anodized Chris King InSet Mango headset and matching bottom bracket. A Paul Components Funky Monkey drops the front cable a bit lower and stopping power is provided by Paul touring cantis. After getting everything dialed in, I can say that I’m really enjoying the ride.

Many thanks to Geekhouse bikes for the stellar frame and Ben’s Cycle for the parts!

Enough copy, check out the photos!