I stole this from our sister site just in case you haven’t seen it yet.
If you saw the Cardiel piece from the first issue of Fixed Mag, you’ll remember that his Pista Concept was logo’d with an old school PK Ripper graphic. If, like us, you thought that a PK Ripper fixed sounded like a good idea, then you’ll be stoked to know that it looks like SE are going to drop just that next year.
All the elements seem to be there - the old school looptail rear end, reinforced front end and we’re guessing that it’s going to be made of aluminium. The front end looks like it’s taken inspiration from the original Landing Gear forks and it seems like there’s enough room to spin the bars to your heart’s content. Anyway you look at it, it’s a banger!
This one came from Hardcore100’s Flickr
Fixedgearlondon was founded by Andy and Ted in 2005, riding fixed has since become our lives – and more. This frame is the first that Ted has built from scratch and is Fixedgearlondons’ interpretation of what a Vans fixed gear bike should be like.
The frame & fork…
So here is the frame and fork. The frame was put together by Ted in our workshop. It was built to Teds initial specifications which were… 1. Make it comfortable to ride, 2. Make it fillet braizsed (for strength) and 3. You have to be able to bar spin with a 700c wheel. The fork was kindly donated from Charge bikes, who sponsor Ted for his riding.
The paint job was done at Armourtex, our trusted powder coating specialists. We have been painting most of our bike there for 2 years now. Thank you Steve, see you on Thursday!
The frame and forks were finished with a matte high temperature black, then a gloss black was applied for the details.
This is our vision of what a Vans fixed gear bike should be like and is a complete one off which will never be produced again… (by us!)
www.fixedgearlondon.com
Image-GregFalski©
One of the things that stood out at the Cycle Show was a new chainring by USE, a Brit company better known for their mountain bike components. They’ve developed a new chainring that allows track riders to use the super-light, super-stiff Dura Ace Hollowtech crankset that roadies are raving about.
The chainring is CNC machined from a solid lump of billet aluminium and manages to be super light, and super stiff at the same time. We can’t see too many of these showing up on the streets, but if going left is your thing, you should definitely check these out…
So, the Cycle Show went down this weekend at London’s Earl’s Court and we headed down for a couple of days. The Show is a pretty big affair that take in all aspects of cycling, so we weren’t expecting too much on the track bike front. In the end, our expectations were realistic, but with a few exceptions.
Brick Lane Bikes had a pretty decent sized stand and they were showing off some of the new kit they’ve got their hands on. It looks like they will be distributors for Phil Wood and Velocity in Europe, which is pretty huge news and should allow Euro prices for these items to come down. The were showing some of the new Velocity graphic rims, which uses a tough graphic film application that is heat shrunk onto the rim to give a finish that we’ve not seen before. They’ve also added Affinity Cycles to their roster for the UK, which should help fulfil the current yearning for lo pro bikes.
Tokyo Fixed Gear are now based in London and will be supplying some of the more hard to get items from the exotic Japanese market. The guys have a number of Keirin frames and will be getting a lot more as the months go on. They also offer a lot of clothing from brands that few people have even hear of, let alone seen before.
Highlight of their stand was a beautiful, one of a kind 3 Rensho (we were too scared to ask how much it was), but some of the touches on their clothing lines were pretty sweet - take this ‘Pedal’ t, with a low back to stop your bum crack showing. Nice details.
While it’s not exctly new, Condor Cycle’s Paris Galibier frameset was enough to stop more than a few people dead in their tracks - me included. I’m not sure I totally get it, but I know I want one…
More photos tomorrow!
Earls Court in London has been a home to various incarnations of the cycle show since the late 1940’s and now it’s time for the Cycle 2008. We’re heading down today to check out what’s going one (we’re expecting a huge increase in the number of Track Bikes on show, as Kyle from Tracko said ‘this thing is too big to be stopped now’) and will be back later once we’ve got the shots…
We are slightly behind on the 2nd issue… but please rest assured that things will be happening real soon! Working on fixed-mag has been a real steep learning curve for me… and is becoming more work everyday, which I certainly was not prepared for!! But it’s all good!
The Bicycle film festival is here in London at the moment and the opening night was cool, Macaframa looks so good. Look out for the making of article in issue 2.
Also got to meet the guys from Cog magazine who were very friendly…
more news soon…
Peace,
Andy
…I can’t bear it. Wiggins just won gold in the Men’s pursuit and Steven Burke got bronze… Chris Hoy and Ross Edgar are up next in Keirin. Sorry to all non-Brits out there, it’s not often we have sporting achievements to be proud of and we’re enjoying it while it lasts…
…it’s ON! We’re buzzing right now that the GB team of Jamie Staff, Chris Hoy and 20 year old Jason Kenny smashed their way to gold in the team sprint final, the first track final of the Games.
Make sure you watch the track events over the next few days - this is our roots!
It’s promising to be an amazing spectacle from all the competitors…
…one of the weird results of global warming is inconsistent weather patterns. Gone are the days of sure-fire long, hot summers, replaced by bi-polar environmental conditions that don’t know what they want to do. One days it’s blazing hot, the next it’s a monsoon.
But fuck it, we won’t let it stop us riding our bikes… Polo in the rain, anyone?
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