Me and my grandpa were sitting around one Christmas when I decided to build a new bicycle wheel. At the same time I had always wanted to make a stop motion of a wheel being built. A cracked out the Gin

So I don't quite understand it. Its not like I am a hulking mass as I tip the scales at a measly 150lbs. Its not like my thighs are the size of some peoples torso (just head to the track and you will see some of those folks, they are called sprinters). Its not like I even pedal in squares, believe it or not I am quite a smooth spinner.

Despite all of what I am not, somehow, through some unspeakable physics that just don't add up, I was able break a chain ring and crank spider on my first fixed gear bike. On bike that had a perfectly straight chain line, a bike that I specifically built too take a beating.

So last fall I was in search of some new gloves. My first mistake was that I went to MEC, the second mistake is that I listened to the sales staff. Anyway, I hummed and hawed for a while because I couldn't find any golves that met my needs. I had a pair of specialized gloves that did me very well (2+ seasons) and I wanted something similar. The selection was either they were too thin for riding all day in the rain, or they were meant for the Iditarod. I ended up purchasing a pair of Pearl Izumi cyclone gloves, which seemed a bit on the thin side, but strangely warm. At first I was quite happy, that is until I actually started to use them.

Today it rules to be me!!! I am not sure if many of you know this, but lately I have been putting in time at MOMENTUM a cool little bike culture/self-propelled culture mag based out of Vancouver. I have been slowly designing the architecture their website (most in development at the moment and soon to be released), as well as I have been writing some gear reviews (i.e. a Cyclo-cross bike review). Soon I will be doing another bike review... The Surly Steamroller Complete:

cyborg

noun
a fictional or hypothetical person whose physical abilities are extended beyond normal human limitations by mechanical elements built into the body.

We have all grown up watching movies that have sci-fi cyborgs. You know those crazy half-man, half-machine characters sporting all sorts of amazing abilities due to the extra hardware added to them. At some point many of us dreamed of being one. Guess what? They’re already here, they’re called a cyclists.

I have seen people do some absolutely amazing things on bicycles, from the track racing pushing 70 km/hr in a sprint, to the single speed nuts doing solo 24hour races, to the city fixed gear riders doing no handed skids and backward circles. All are doing very different things, but all of them are doing things that they would not be able to do otherwise.

Perhaps this is why people often have such strong relationships with their bikes. These relationships run all over the board about it being an extension of their physical selves, about it being a lifestyle versus an activity. I mean how many sports do you know about where people name their equipment? Not many.

While these thoughts are all fine and dandy over a bottle of wine or a discount six pack (choose your poison) I wanted to talk to you about a subject that is near and dear to my heart, bicycle fit. Whether you like it or not how well your bicycle fits has a huge impact on not only your enjoyment but your performance as well.

As I got into frame building, I also got into bicycle fitting. I believe to be a good frame buider you have to understand the relationship the rider has with the frame. Specifically, how the rider moves with respect to the frame and how the frame moves with respect to the rider.

Do “we” really need to have a 3d, static position and dynamic movements documented for proper bike fit?

So about one month ago I switched FG over to a different application yo run the show (drupal). When I did that only 5 user accounts came along for the ride. Since that time another 55 have signed up giving a grand total of 60 one gear lovin' peeps. Yikes! Considering I suspect a large proportion of FG readers are Luddites I am absolutely amazed!

In other news I bought some argyle socks, which I will be wearing at the Wednesday Night Series at the track. I figure these will be my secret go fast socks. Shhhh... don't tell anyone.

So there has been a bunch of discussion on recent rides about bike bling... colour matching and various ways of making your ride that 'little bit more special'... Well after I stumbled on something interesting I thought I'd compile a list of gold bling bikes/bike parts...

It should be noted that I am actually not a fan of gold parts... but it seems like the endpoint of showing off bling (outside of diamond tipped cogs/chainrings... which i haven't seen yet).

The fork legs are 3/4 length GOLD plated, with real gold, NOT gold paint. This was a feature on a limited number of Brian Hayes A.I.S. Track Team frames, to commemorate the Australian Team winning gold on the Track at the Olympic Games. From here...

I created a forum thread for any fixed bikes, fixed friendly frames or related gear...here

Feel free to add to it... comment on it, share it... I have enough bikes (for now) but I know there are others out there who are still hunting.

Let's see how this goes... most regional forums have a Craigslist/local buys thread to keep an eye out for fixed (or fixed friendly) bikes for sale.

People will either be inclined to share for the better good of the community or hoard the deals for themselves... I'm hoping the former!

For starters here's some good links...

Craigslist (duh!) - http://vancouver.craigslist.org/bik/

You could also post any local eBay deals and comments on previous posts.