And then you run into the super commuter. And he wants to race, or at the very least, he wants you beat. Or at the very, very least, he wants you off his tail. Now, normally I don't mind these types of people. Well, I do mind them, but normally I do not let them get to me. You see, one needs to hold on to that little seed of competition, nurture it, feed it little bits of emotion and talent, and then — and only when it is ready — Unleash! But not on commuters.
Do not let these people coax it out of you. Seriously.
Already spent too much time on that one. Speaking of commuting, I may have found one of the nicest commuter, or "porteur," bicycles that I have ever seen. When I went to meet Dan Sharp at Extracto last weekend I saw it casually leaning out in front. I was scared and a little bit shy at first, but after working up some amount of courage I sidled on up and asked if I could take some photos of her. Not a big deal...
Everything about this bike was done right. The colors (a beautiful concoction close to the Celeste), the logo color (Gold), the fork and front rack (cream), the choice of parts - Ultegra - Elixir and Chris King, and even the saddle and grips are tight. Seriously guys, great job putting this together.
Big fan of the off color fork. I think that the days of same color fork are behind us. Can we get together on this one please? Nah, I'm just kidding, but I do like that we're mixing it up these days and the guys at Coat, (I think) did a great job with this bike. Look at that gold sparkle.I have been trying to convince Molly to highlight the Gold in her kit for the next iteration of the PBS team kit. We'll see how that turns out. But I really think that the Gold could highlight each and every one of the members of that team. And by members I mean individuals. Stay gold ponyboy.
Now try to wrap your grubby little paws around this one. The PDW Dapper Dan leather grip. Gee I wonder who that is named after. In fact this brings up a good point. The last time I saw Mr. Powell he again tried to blast me in the face with a beer - ok, to be fair - it was more of a joking replica of the last scenario - but it made me nervous none the less. More awesome grip making, less beer in the face spraying guys. What is this? A Iowa-Grant High School Field Party? Yes? Ok, just checking...
Ten Speed thumb shifter? Sheldon pushed so hard for these, you don't even know. And Elixir? No idea what this is or what it means, but it looks nice and that is way more than half the battle. Especially when it comes to a disc brake.
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TV interlude - Late Night
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Anyone else notice these things?
1) Sci-Fi Channel changed itself to "ScyFy" weird?
2) Carson Daly is better than Jimmy I-Want-To-Jam-My-Fist-In-Your-Ear Fallon
3) Somehow Jimmy IWTJMFIYE Fallon still gets good guests like Sigourney (hot) and Jeremy (Hurt Locker) Renner - fucking rad people - shitty host.
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No rattly fendos with this little guy in place. What a great addition. This is what you get when you hire one of these "Ar-tease-ans" to build your bicycle. And even though it looks like a piece of art, that does not mean that you should not be beating the piss out of this thing.
The non-traditional pump peg is another great addition. Whenever I see people riding with their pumps jammed next to the seat tube, angled in between the seat and chain stays I get nervous. What if you hit a particularly jarring bump in the road? And that little bad boy goes all Breaking Away in the spokes of your rear wheel. - I know that you do this Gus - but it still makes me nervous, no matter how exquisitely PRO you are.
Top this beaut off with a Brooks and some CK hubs. Maybe the toughest built in rack that you have ever seen and you've got yourself a little "porteur" action going on. This is how you do it Grant. A little bit race (which you get with every Ira Ryan) a little bit Gucci (which you get with Gold) and a little bit travel (porteur) and you have a racy sturdy steed that is worth of any wall or showroom out there...Ok, sleep time. The new issue is coming along swimmngly. In case you were wondering. Is anyone going to the NAHBS? Because it is going to be released there. At our booth. Yes, you read that right. At the booth. Stop by.
