Steel is real.

(credit)

So I was walking back from my favourite cheap Japanese place on Little Lonsdale the other day, via Brother Baba Budan, and I couldn’t help but notice there were more vintage road bikes out front that chairs hanging from the ceiling. Didn’t happen to snap a shot, but it was quite an intimidating a mound of steel, rubber and mini-Kryptonites. Of course, there’s a point to this story. Steel isn’t just real, it’s cool.

But I won’t let the recent spike in the Columbus/Reynolds/Tange-dex hold me back, my dream is still to sport a full steel setup on St Kilda and Beach Rds daily. But I’m starting to think vintage will be out of my reach.

Pacer it is.

Winter = Wool.

Check out these Merino wool hoodies from Outlier. I’m in the market for some warmer cycling stuff. Something that I can wear for more than two days in a row and won’t stink up with sweat. They also make some other cool stuff but I’m mainly interested in the hoodie.

Really missing riding while I lose this cold.

Revival.

As new offerings from Colnago and Cinelli demonstrate, steel is far from dead. And not just in that nostalgic polish-it-up and put it on the mantle sense — these frames are made to be built up with state of the art gear and ridden fast.

Both get my vote for looks and authenticity. There’s a built up Master-X at BSC QV, stunning piece of machine. But nothing beats a Llewellyn.

If you need more evidence that steel is real, you need only look at this long list of steel road bikes now on the market courtesy of Urban Velo.

Riding mix.

[Credit: Actualkingdom]

So I’ve rekindled my love of the two-wheeled transport, and being the music aficionado I am I decided it was time I had an appropriate soundtrack. I’ll preface this by saying I never ride in traffic with headphones on — even though a hoon driving a commonwhore with 101db is perfectly legal and cycling while listening to an iPod is not — it’s just not smart.

But some mornings I just need a bit of a beat to get the cadence happening.

This mix reflects my somewhat strange musical taste, so there’s a lot of Chemical Brothers, and recent Cut Copy and Presets, along with some old Death in Vegas which is just awesome to listen to burning down an empty road on 53-14. I’ve tried to restrict it to album versions only (the only remix is Star Guitar by Sinichi Osawa, which is so good it could be an album version). So in that spirit few of the tracks are properly ‘mixed’ ie. beat-matched, mainly just a bit of cross-fade action. I still think it works nicely for the purpose.

Track: Out’ the Saddle (128kbps) – Mix (listen)

Tracklist is, as usual, down below.

Fixed.

I’ve been obsessed with fixed-gear bikes and culture for a little while now. It’s really starting to take off (perhaps a little too much some would say) in Melbourne, plus it’s a global thing — fixed-gear aficionados can be found in almost every city in the world.

For the unitiated, a fixed-gear bike is simply a ‘track bike’ slightly adapted for use on the road. So it’s super-light, very simple in design and geometry and features a fixed rear wheel (no freewheel) and no brakes. Variations include the addition of a front brake and/or a rear wheel which has a freewheel on one side and a fixed gear on the other (flip-flop).

I guess it’s something which started among bicycle messengers in major cities who wanted the direct feel of track cycling, the control of a fixed rear wheel and the agility of a velodrome bike. Plus, like any culture, it gives the rider ‘underground rebel’ status. Riding without brakes is technically illegal, it’s very hard, and if your bike ever gets stolen from out front of your latest delivery you’ll know where to find the guy — plastered to the nearest pole.

Like every subculture, fixed-gear has its discontents. Some road-cyclists don’t like sharing the road with people not running brakes, and it probably annoys them that fixed-gear bikes are much cheaper than their $3000 steeds. That said, I think cycling in general will benefit from the exposure the inevitable explosion of fixed-gear culture will provide. Riders are generally more individualist, not necessarily wearing jerseys in team colours or sporting the latest carbon-fiber thingo, and this likely appeals to would-be riders who eschew the cliched ‘Beach Road clique’.

It appeals to me because of the simplicity of the bikes and feeling of being truly connected with the road. Though I’m a trainspotter at this stage (no bike), I hope to join the club soon.

Cool sites: fixed.org.au :: Shifter Bikes :: Singletracking :: Mission Bicycles :: Allegro Bikes.