Headset Tutorial

Hey, y'all. Thought I'd try my hand at a mechanics tutorial since we haven't had much content to post lately (but hey, if you only posted original content how often would you post?). Heres the first in what may become a series -- how to overhaul a threaded, unsealed headset.









Note: I posted this on a popular online bike forum and asked for some feedback and have a couple things to add.

1. The orientation of the ball bearing cage isn't always necessarily ball-side-down, the ball side should face the bearing race, which is almost always down for the bottom race, but can be either way on the top race.

2. When tightening/adjusting the top nuts of a headset, use two wrenches, one to hold the bottom nut in the correct position, and the other to tighten the top nut.

3. Some people suggested that the amount of cleaning of the ball-bearings was overkill. Indeed, if you regularly maintain your headset, all thats really necessary is a wipe down with a clean rag and some fresh grease. This headset (like a lot of "track" headsets, which have no grime seal on the bottom) was thrashed, so it needed a lot of cleaning.

4. I wrote "biodegradeable, please" about what degreaser to use. I was informed that "bio" degreaser is no longer bio-degradeable after it has grease and grime entrained in it. So I'll take the opportunity to say this, use as little degreaser as possible and dispose of it responsibly. Degreaser should be landfilled or taken to a solvent disposal site, not dumped. Regardless of what jerks on the internet say, I still think citrus degreaser is better for the environment than a solvent like tetrachloroethene.

5. The frame (not mine) in the photos is busted, you can see damage in the paint/tubing where the headtube meets the top tube and down tube. If your bike is damaged in this area, its not too safe to be riding hard, and you should keep a close eye on the damage to make sure it doesn't get worse.\

6. Finally, this Park Tool page has everything you could possibly want to know about threaded headsets.

Thursday Night Ride

Ok first off wanna thank everyone that came out last night, shit was super prime, hella good weather, had a good ride all around town.

For anyone who hasnt been in awhile, come out next week, the weather has been perfect for riding, something we have all been waiting for, as this winter was pretty brutal.

Meet 7pm @ Folsom Field Buffalo - on campus

May 27th, Thursday night

Free Chrome Bag Repair

There’s been some underground Chrome bag repair going on and Baphomet Cycles needs your help before going public. We need to do a few more repairs and get some testing done before setting this up as a fee-based service. While there have been quite a few successful Strap replacements, we need to do a few more before we feel 100%.

So here’s the deal:

A) If you have a thrashed Chrome bag seatbelt/strap, we’ll do the labor for free and you only pay for the price of the strap (about $5). Send me an email to make an appointment, and we’ll even have your bag back to you in less than 24hrs.!

B) If the “waterproof” plastic/rubber part of your Chrome bag is cracked, wrecked, destroyed, and no longer waterproof, we’ll fix if for free, and you only pay for the price of the chemical (about $5). Send me an email to make an appointment, and we’ll even have your bag back to you in 24hrs!

bama@baphometcycles.com
baphometcycles.com

The Mythical Thursday Night Fixed Gear Ride

A long time ago, in a land not too far from my "place" a group of youngsters used to mob up and ride bikes. Oh the times they had, evading the law, frequenting parks and hollering at people at Pearl Street on any given Thursday.

But then, tragically, they disappeared. Rides became limited at first to only a few individuals, often riding directly to do some loops, then breaking apart to go their separate ways, riding into the dark alone. The ride was falling apart.

We lost our way. With the onset of school, for most, and jobs, for all, the rides were overlooked, shoved under the rug, put on the back burners. What we need the most, the freedom, the release was left unaccounted for.

Then came the discrepancy between our riders. FGFS or not. Stunt? As groups of kids began to dabble in the newest craze, the few rides that came together became segregated by style. Stunting was no fun for Tri-Spoke enthusiasts and who was to blame them.

In the past year the Revival Premier showed just how many kids there were out there that loved to ride bikes. We shared a night of reflection on just how far we had come, and how much there still was to learn and experience.

So, I propose to you now. Begin again. Bring your bikes (whatever style), enthusiasm, and youth and come ride again as we once did. Stay updated as our rides will be posted here as they are decided upon.

As always-Ride Your Bike...HARD

Korean Keirin

The keirin race is kind of an obscure track event. Not obscure in the traditional sense, but obscure in that, until recently, it was not very common outside of Japan. In fact, it would not even be an Olympic event had the Japanese Keirin Association not bribed the UCI $3 million to have it included.

Keirin racing is strictly regulated in Japan, a lot of state revenue is made off gambling on races. Frames and parts must be approved by NJS, a governing body which sets standards for equipment so that no rider has an unfair equipment advantage over another. When someone mentions keirin, I think of Japan and NJS bikes & parts because used keirin frames are popular here in the US.

To my surprise, I recently learned of a similar keirin racing organization in South Korea when I stumbled across a blogspot selling used Korean keirin frames. I'd seen these frames on eBay occasionaly in the past but didn't think much of them, just thought they were plain Korean track frames.


The blogspot has some sweet frames, but its hard to tell what exactly they are. This Corex for example is made of Columbus Keirin tubing and built with Nagasawa parts.

But its not really clear if they're made by Nagasawa, or if they're made by someone else building with Nagasawa parts, does Nagasawa even sell their frame parts?

This Cello Kalavinka looks pretty sweet.


This particular one has been repainted and had Kalavinka decals applied. You wouldn't know the difference if they didn't say it was a Cello. Is it a Cello or is it a Kalavinka? Does anyone know?

Even more confusing: Cello 3Rensho Now I really don't get it.



Can someone explain this builder-branding system to me?

Sick Colnago Pursuit

Yahoo Auctions

Fluid Dynamics

CETMA Racks

This is Morgan. He hooked me and my buddy G-Rad up with 1/4 oz of recreation herbs couple summers ago at the Cycle Messenger World Championships in Toronto. See that rack on the front of his bike, its CETMA rack, they're rad. I recently got one (after 6 months of waiting). Expect a full, detailed, review soon.

Velospace Super Users

If you haven't heard of velospace, its a popular social networking site for bicycle (mostly fixed-gear) enthusiasts (your bikes myspace page). Velospace should not be confused with FixedGearGallery or Crappy old 10 speed gallery. The difference between them is somewhat significant and usually boils down to build quality.

Most fixedgeargallery submissions look something like this:

Whereas velospace is a place where you see bikes like this


Anyways, I thought I'd make a list of my favorite velospace users, dudes who have huge collections of wild bikes.

Ceya, a dude from NYC with a lot of track bikes with huge saddle-handlebar drop. I remember there being more bikes on his page at one point but velospace servers are notoriously bad at keeping/organizing/storing photos.

Ceya's Gianni Motta:


Hrrundel, a guy with more C-record equipped track bikes than an Italian velodrome in the 80's.
Some of Hrrundels bikes:





campafreak, a serious collector specializing in East German bikes from the 80's; campafreak.com
Some of campafreak's bikes:





kdh747, a guy from Japan with some crazy bikes; owner of PedalMafia.
Pretty much defines Tokyo tarckx bike style






dustin, a guy who owns a used camera store and tarcks out lots of old pursuit & time trial frames. Also, the owner of a gold plated Cinelli.
Some of Dustin's bikes:





Insomnia, another serious collector, specializing in late 80's/early 90's time trial bikes.
Some of Insomnia's bikes:





Finally, as an added bonus for making it this far, The failest BMC evar

Zipp Wheelset on Boulder Craigslist

If you're into carbon fiber, live in the Boulder area, and have some disposable income, you may be in luck.

Some guy is selling a set of Zipp 404 track wheels on craigslist for a modest $500.



Remember, you can buy speed.

Trick Video

I don't usually post trick videos here, mostly because I assume that most of the people who come by here probably visit more than one fixed gear related blog regularly, and most other fixed gear blogs post videos all the time.

That said, I think this one makes the cut, its just a quick clip of popular Seattle based fixed gear rider Keo Curry being steezy as fuck.


And if for some reason that got you thinking of the olden days of smooth tricks on track bikes rather than the current FGFS phase of jumping leader bikes with 26" wheels off of ledges, I suggest you watch the following:
Cadence Introduces Keo
Macaframa - Keo
MASH Extra Footage - Mike Martin
MASH Extra Footage - Gabe Morford

Phil Wood Factory

Cycling photographer VeloDramatic posted a few teaser photos of the Phil Wood machine shop. The feature will be in Embrocation issue 4, due out late summer.

Check out his site and portfolio for more road and racing-related photography.