Fenders and Used Clothing

Yesterday evening I figured that I would install a pair of SKS fenders on my bike. They've been sitting in my garage for a while. It didn't take long to realize that the rear supports on my rack are spaced very close together and aren't compatible with the front support stays on the fenders. After alot of frustrating and fruitless effort, I decided that I would just replace the rack. I was going to do it anyway. I'm sure I could modify the fender in some way, but to be honest, I just wasn't up to it.

It seemed like such a simple job.

I stopped by a clothing resale shop the other day with the hope of finding vintage wool sweaters for winter riding, or even a couple of items for an upcoming tweed ride. Unfortunately they hadn't put out their winter clothing yet. I didn't find any tweed either. I did find this Columbia fishing vest. With all the pockets and storage, I thought this might be a useful item of clothing to wear on my next bike camping trip. I can keep all of my frequently used small items in the pockets and free up some space in my panniers. It was under $10 so I snatched it up.

There is a large single pocket on the back of the vest that should be very useful.

I also picked up this practically new Filson hunting shirt for under $10. I learned about this company through Archival Clothing.

Might as well have the best.

Speaking of bike camping, Chandra (GreenCommotion) and Chris (Pondero) have hit the road for a multi-day tour. Check out their photo at Trinity Bicycles blog. The weather has taken a turn for the worse, I hope they stay dry.

New Mussette Bag from Archival Clothing

I've mentioned Archival Clothing before. I'm not a guy who dresses well or who ever paid attention to the fine details of well made clothing. Although I'm usually wearing the finest clothing that Wal-Mart has to offer. I will admit that after reading the AC blog for quite a while, I've developed an eye and a desire for well made, classically styled gear and clothing. I even went looking for a nice wool cardigan the other day.

AC is about to open a web store and their first offering is a basic musette bag, available in tan or yellow waxed cotton. Next month they'll be offering a musette with a flap closure (it's larger with interior pockets) and a canoe style rucksack in February. Their bags will be sewn by a company in Springfield, Oregon and are sure to be of high quality. The AC folks do some cycling, maybe we'll see some waxed cotton panniers sometime in the future.

On the subject of panniers, Brian (LifeCycle) recently inherited an industrial Singer sewing machine and immediately set to work teaching himself to sew. You can see the results of his first serious effort in the photo below.

The pannier looks great. I like the two toned fabric.

He even made a floating liner.

Here's his Singer straight stitch 16-188. This is an old machine, possibly manufactured in the 1920's.

My sewing skills are not developing as quickly as Brian's. While I was off for Christmas I cut up a couple of old Dickies work shirts and practiced making a very simple messenger bag from a pattern I found here. My results weren't too bad but I kept making stupid mistakes like forgetting to reverse at the beginning and end of my straight stitches to keep them from unraveling.

Just in case anybody's interested, here's an informative video from Jenny T. on how to make a sturdy tote bag. I would probably add some wider webbing, folded and sewn in half for the handles.

Raleigh Japan

Yesterday I followed a link from Archival Clothing to the Guu-Watanabe site and spent some time looking at the amazing handmade handlebar bags and panniers that this little shop produces. Next to one of the photos I found a link to Raleigh Bicycles Japan. It was interesting to see the bikes available to the Japanese that aren't available here. That's too bad as I believe bikes like the Club Sport and Club Special would be very popular in the states. By the way, Guu-Watanabe bags can be purchased through Wallingford Bicycle Parts.

The Guu-Watanabe shop.

These are some awesome, classic looking bags.

This is the picture with the link to Raleigh Japan. The bike in the photo is a Raleigh Club Sport.

The Club Sport, equipped with fenders, cantilever brakes, a sprung leather saddle, and a triple crankset. I believe this is an older model, possibly 2006.

2009 Club Sport with a quill stem. This one is also equipped with v-brakes instead of cantilevers.

Club Sport in red.

The Japanese Raleigh touring bikes come equipped with what appear to be Nitto M-12 front racks.

Raleigh Club Special in green. Note the downtube shifters, cantilever brakes, and non-aero brake levers.

Trent Sport with an 8 speed Nexus hub.

RSW Special. I thought that this was a folder when I first saw, it's not. If it doesn't fold, what's the benefit other than a slightly smaller footprint?

If you go to the Japanese site there many pages of scanned posters from various British bicycle companies.

Random Stuff 05-15-09

I can't believe that I actually got to ride today! I decided to keep it relatively short so that I could spend some time with the family. 

This is a nice little creek that is home to numerous ducks and other waterbirds. The water is fresh and clear thanks to the recent rains.

Lancaster Bridge.

Now on to the random stuff:

Jon Grinder: Jon is selling some cool enamelled pins that one of his buddies designed. They're $6 each. Drop by Jon's blog for more info.

Caffeinated Wheelman Association

Rocket Fuel-Vintage Cycling Style: Not too long ago I wrote about the Tweed Ride in Eugene, Oregon.  Susan from Rocket Fuel emailed me about the Tweed Ride scheduled for June 7th in Sydney, Australia. It's amazing how popular these rides are becoming.

Susan makes some great looking cycling caps.

Archival Clothing: This blog has quickly become one of my favorite stops. The two most recent posts are about musette bags. I'm sure this will appeal to some of the folks who stop by here on a regular basis.

Change Your Life, Ride a Bike: Everybody else in the cycling/ blogging community probably already knew about this new blog, but not me. Meligrosa of Bikes and the City Fame and Adrienne Johnson have teamed up to create a blog "for people to share how riding a bike has changed how they see themselves and the world." Take a look.

This photo of Meligrosa was taken by San Francisco photographer Dustin Jensen. Check out his blog for more photos.

Adrienne Johnson

The Everyday Cyclist: Here's another cool U.K. blog that I've been following. It's news, reviews, and insights into Lycra free cycling.

Eugene Oregon Tweed Ride

Check out the post by Archival Clothing on the Eugene Tweed Ride. Be sure to click on the link to the Flickr set at the end.

Random Stuff 04-22-09

Here's some Wednesday randomness.

Velo Orange built up their prototype city bike. The frame is designed around 650b wheels, cantilever brakes, and has short horizontal dropouts to accept internally geared hubs without having to use a chain tensioner.

The Melo Velo blog has some nice photos of the authors easter bike tour along Hadrian's Wall in the Lake District of England.

Trucker in the mud!

I found these while searching for Wald panniers in Flickr. These panniers were handmade by Pilar Garza. I contacted her by email. She said that this is the only set of panniers that she has ever made. That's her personal bike in the photo. I think she did an excellent job, they seem to fit perfectly. She said she can make a pair of panniers using the same type of material for about $65. She can make a bag for a front basket for a little less. If you're interested contact Pilar through her Etsy shop or by email at garza.pilar@gmail.com.

Archival Clothing posted a link to a Flickr photostream with some fantastic photos from an 80's bike tour organized by the Bikecentennial.

Random Stuff 03-11-09

Nothing's better than receiving a nice email from somebody that really enjoys wearing a shirt I've printed. I've had lots of repeat customers on Etsy but I've never bothered to ask for photos of the customers wearing our shirts. I received the pic below from Christopher. He happened to buy one at the Etsy Dallas Jingle Bash last November. The other picture is Dan wearing one of our motorcycle shirts. Dan is a motorcycle coach out in Delaware. I've never owned a motorcycle or know much about them but I really like the old racing photos and thought they might make interesting shirts. Dan is in the process of teaching himself how to screen print. We've exchanged lots of emails over the last few months about inks, emulsion, exposure times. Good stuff.

This is the reason I print. Happy cyclists.

This is by far the most popular shirt in our shop.

This is Dan sporting one of our motorcycle shirts.

I found this photo of nice V.O. mixte on agfachrome25's photostream. I followed a link in the profile to Archival Clothing. I've really enjoyed reading this blog over the last couple of days. It's a good mix of fine men's clothing and bikes. I can appreciate well made articles of clothing but I really wouldn't look right wearing the majority of this stuff. There is no getting around the fact that I'm a Wal-Mart kind of guy.

Notice the shoes.

Bata Bikers.

I did a Google search Bata Bikers and found this on WikiAnswers. It's written (supposedly) by the person that developed this shoe for Bata. 

I  heard about Handsome Cyles on a post at Greater Than Cars. This is their Handsome Devil which was inspired by the Bridgestone XO-1 . I like the way this bike is set up with the single chainring. I believe they'll be selling the frame for less than $400. 

This would make an excellent city bike.