SkaroffBlog » Bike

We’re #1!

Josh — Tue, 27 May 2008 19:10:12 +0000

For some reason, it seems like our fair city often finds itself at the top of top 10 lists. Unfortunately, we’re often peaking on lists that you wouldn’t necessarily want to find yourself on. Well, add another one to the list.

The Kryptonite lock company, maker of pretty much the best bike locks around, just published their “Top 10 Worst Cities for Bike Theft List.” Oh yeah, we’re #1.

1. Philadelphia, PA
2. Chicago, IL
3. New York City, NY
4. San Francisco, CA
5. Tucson, AZ (tie)
Portland, OR (tie)
7. Denver, CO
8. New Haven, CT
9. Cambridge, MA
10. Austin, TX

Yup, Iâ€™m shocked, but thatâ€™s what the data tells us. This list is compiled by our proprietary dataâ€¦.input from our regional managers, hundreds of shop visits, input from colleges and universities we talk with, our customer service interactions (both over the phone/email and at events) and data from police in various cities. When we did the compilation, there wasnâ€™t even a city close to Philly. Not even close.

Yikes.

I carry at least one Kryptonite lock on me daily, the Evolution Mini. It’s small enough to easily carry in my bag, in a pocket, or on my Fabric Horse belt if I’ve got that on, but still plenty strong (and actually the smaller size makes it harder to break into). Combined with a cable that I loop through the front wheel and using the rear wheel through the triangle method, I generally feel comfortable locking up for relatively short periods. If it’s gonna be much more than an hour or two I’ll even bring along another Kryptonite U-Lock for added piece of mind.

But this makes me ever more paranoid. Leave my bike alone!

(h/t Cyclelicio.us)

Installed

Josh — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:00:12 +0000

Just got the bike back from Bicycle Revolutions (thanks Bryan!) last night.

Sugino 75 unsealed bottom bracket
Sugino 75 170 mm cranks with 48 tooth Sugino ring
MKS GR-9 pedals with MKS clips and Christophe straps
Izumi 1/8″ track chain silver
17 tooth EAI cog

Even in 30 degree weather it was a fun and super smooth ride this morning. I’m thinking I should have upgraded my pedals (from some cheapo Unions) a long time ago.

Upgrades!

Josh — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 20:07:32 +0000

More often than not these days it seems that my spare time and money is taken up by bikes. Ever since my lovely lovely lady friend crashed my little Honda Civic, forcing me back to regular riding for the first time since I was about 13, I’ve been bitten by the bug. First I went with a used green Schwinn Collegiate that got me around quite well, despite its epic weight. For my birthday this year, I treated myself to a new bike, a wonderful IRO Mark V, and except for a few exceptions I think I’ve ridden nearly every day since. That’s a minimum of 6 miles a day for the weekday commute with occasional detours thrown in to lengthen the ride as well as some longer weekend jaunts. I know it’s not much compared to many riders but I’m feeling more fit (and flexible!) than I have in a very long time.

Like most cyclists, I’m finding it far too easy to drop money on upgrades though. I’m working on building up a beater winter bike that is in need of cranks, a bottom bracket, and a chain so I figured why not splurge and upgrade the main ride, moving the old parts over to the beater? Hence, a fantastic ebay find of a set of new (never ridden, but pulled off a bike) Sugino 75 cranks. These things are sweet and I got them so cheap! Since I also needed a new saddle after a spill the other week, I went for broke and also got a new Brooks Narrow B-17 saddle. Not looking forward to breaking it in, but it’s gonna be slick once I get the new stuff on.

While there really aren’t any regular readers of this blog anymore, for the few of you who do check in, you may have noticed the blogroll is woefully out of date. It’s actually still pulling from my old Bloglines subscription list instead of Google Reader. Maybe I’ll update it. In the meantime, some good cycling blogs:

Finally, for you political podcast junkies, look for some DoubleSpeak news coming soon.

Photos, Bikes, and Malaysian Food

Josh — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 20:24:37 +0000

Looking for something new to eat for lunch, and inspired by Feed Me Philly’s review (found via Foobooz, a must-read for Philadelphia foodies) I hopped on my bike this afternoon and rode over to Chinatown to try the new Malaysian restaurant, Banana Leaf. I decided to go with a classic and order the Chow Kueh Teow. Good enough that I’ll definitely be trying it again.

It was such a gorgeous day that I rode over to Franklin Square park instead of heading back to work to eat at my desk. They’ve done some really great work on the park in the past few years and despite it being in the shadow of the Ben Franklin Bridge and wedged between highways and streets, it’s turned into quite a nice little spot. I snapped a shot of my new bike in front of the fountain on the iPhone.

FYI – Instead of emailing this photo directly to Flickr, I synced to iPhoto and then uploaded. For some reason iPhone emails a lower resolution version of your shots and I wanted to see what the 2 MP camera can do in all its glory. Not bad in the sunlight.

Change of Plans

Josh — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 20:30:01 +0000

I present to you…my new whip:

IRO Mark V 53 cm frame.
Velocity Deep V rims in white with Velocity hubs.
FSA Orbit headset.
Nitto bars.
The rest of the parts are fairly budget with upgrades to come over time.

My Zero Emission Vehicle

Josh — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:05:47 +0000

Yesterday was my birthday and while we dine at Xochitl tonight to celebrate, yesterday I capped off literally months of research and finally purchased a new bike. For the last year I’ve been riding a green three-speed 1980s Schwinn Collegiate, purchased used from Via Bikes. It’s a solid bike with plenty of miles left to go but I’ve been wanting something sleeker, faster, and most importantly, fixed gear. So check out the new ride, a 2007 Schwinn Madison:

It’s a remake of their classic ’80s Madison which was a lugged track bike apparently beloved by all. This bike is double butted cromo but otherwise identical. I’m going to flip and chop the bars for bullhorns and remove the back brake since I’m going to ride it fixed but otherwise she’ll look a lot like this (well until I upgrade the wheels someday). This time I stayed a little more local and went just around the corner to Mike’s Bikes at 13th and Mifflin. It won’t be in until the beginning of May but Mike cut me a good deal on the bike and has guaranteed that they’ll make sure I’m happy. So far I’m definitely a fan of the shop.

More thoughts and pics to come once she’s in my hands.