Apologies to Bilenky's regarding those awesome 650b bikes. Mark it out to old timers disease. I mentally pictured Bilenky's bikes though I may collectively be referring to the Philadelphia bunch (including Via Bicycle) that rode down to the Cirque'. I'm just jealous of their tour! ... even though I'd driven in air conditioned comfort with my wife with bikes on the roof! (I was just so tickled that Barb came down too.) My favorite bike from last years show was Bilenky's green and brass vibrant/he llenic stayed "Magnum Bogus(?)" fixed gear. And there were some stunners at that show too.
And I have to agree with Tom Sanders about new members. The younger
builders represented at the show really brought some nice workmanship to
the table. The white Ellis road/track bike was beautiful. Barb suggested
it should be a wedding bike. I especially liked their t-shirt "hand built
since 2008". I rode with Johnny Coast for a bit Saturday and thought his
fixed gear was exquisite. I'd heard he'd been building Velo Orange's
randonneurs and when I finally saw them at the show Sunday, was wishing to
take one out for a spin. Speaking of inviting new members, today's Road
Bike Rider's e-newsletter had a nice article about the classic bike, part
1: http://www.roadbikerider.com/
Thanks John for the compliment regarding the Jack Taylor. It was fun visiting Via Bikes that day. The Taylor was a successful collaboration of trying out a cool frame with a cool gearing system and making the sum better than the parts. I'm trying to dream up the best way to build up the Carlton International I just got from Hilary Stone. I'm getting a 40 hole Sturmey FW reconditioned for it, and picked up a close ratio double ring set at the auction to go with a TA pro-vis or Stronglight 49D crankset. That should go well with a slap/suicide shifter (since I've never even tried one yet), and Hilary mentioned something about freewheels being attached to Sturmey hubs. I don't want it to get weird, but I do want to have this stuff to own and ride, and there's only room for so many bikes. I have little in the way of 50's gear, so it'll be a long and thoughtful build. Suggestions anyone? ... And while I'm on that subject, can any of the Carlton experts tell me what normal spacing is for front and rear dropouts on a 1953 vintage frame? Right now the frame measures out to about 90 & 107 mm.
Happy trails and good riding to everyone,
Dan Artley in Parkton, Maryland USA
Archive-URL: http://search.bikelist.org/
>> I especially liked the display the Via Bikes people had with all the
individual maps attached into one long path showing their ride down from
Philadelphia, with three loaded 650b KOF bikes lined up behind and all the
road dirt.
Hey everyone,
John Stehlin here from Via Bicycle and a new list subscriber. To give credit where it's due, with respect to Dan Artley's comments on Cirque, it was the Bilenky crew who had that cool display set up and the mud to prove it. They rode from somewhere near Pittsburgh, more than double the mileage (480 miles or something like that!) that we did and camping the whole way, while we did the 200 miles from Philly in two days and stayed in a motel Wednesday night, hot showers and all. The Bilenky outfit deserve the heartier cheer, for sure.
More generally, thanks to everybody who made Cirque the great event it always is, especially Wayne for hitting the ground running in the new location, and to John P for putting up with us during the auction. A great time was had by all!
Cheers, John Stehlin Via Bicycle Philadelphia, PA
Ps. Dan, your black Jack Taylor curved-tube bike is one of my all-time favorites, ever since you brought it up for Great British Bike Weekend three years ago (?). It is a stunner!