The very good people at Fixed Gear Gallery have returned from last week’s Interbike 2008 Show in Las Vegas. FGG has published a shitload of photos from the show, with real focus on the track, fixed gear bikes and accessories being displayed. You’ll get some new views of the RVCA Cinelli, the MASH Cinelli, and many many other.

But the pure standout to me was introduction of this $299 Schwinn Cutter FG/SS to the market. Thats $299 for a complete bike. The barrier of entry has been significantly lowered by the people at Schwinn and anything that can get people onto bikes is about as important a feat as trying to convince them to convert a road bike or drop $500+ on a style of cycling that takes some time to get used to.

I look at the Cutter’s $299 pricepoint in comparison to the barrier of entry for many electronics. Take for example the 2007 Christmas Holiday season where GPS navigation systems hit the $200 mark. In technology breaking the $200 mark makes technology affordable to the masses. $299 for a complete fixed gear bike has to be relative. If I could have spend $299 when I first got into riding fixed, I would have saved hours converting my (oddly enough) Schwinn Le Tour.*

Clearly when this $299 Schwinn hits the market, it will not come built up from the most premium of components but we know this based on the price. The fact still remains that a $299 bike by Schwinn will be built well enough to get the average user to re-examine a single cog bicycle as a choice. Schwinn is making it easy for anyone to join the cycling masses.

I miss my old Schwinn Le Tour. I sold it on Craigslist years ago. I pray that it remains in good hands.

* As much as converting the Schwinn Le Tour was a bitch, I did take a handful of bike repair workshops at Broadway Bikes during the process. Those hours in the shop learning the ins and out of bike mechanics I would never give up. I highly recommend that everyone take a basic bike repair course if not to teach you how basic some repairs/adjustments are.

I’ve never watched a game from the Green Monster. One hell of a view. Home run balls all day.

I sure spend a good deal of time in the Big Apple but my heart is still in New England. Living in Boston makes it easy to travel not only back and forth to NYC (Bolt Bus - holla!) but also up North into the great State of Maine - Portland, Maine to be exact. 

Portland, Maine is an old time maritime city with its wharf front history and thriving restaurant scene. Its a great half way stop through when heading to the mountains up North or simply to check out  Rogues Gallery at 41 Wharf Street. Being that Boston is only about two hours from Portland and I had nothing to do on a sunny Sunday over Labor Day weekend, so I stopped in.

Rogues Gallery has been around for a bit now and the space celebrates the great history of Portland, Maine and the maritime community surrounding it. Walk into the Rogues Gallery and you’ll be impressed not only by their choice selection of brands (Woolrich Wollen Mills, A.P.C. and Band of Outsiders for starters), but with their own Rogues Gallery Collection for Fall 2008. Its an impressive array of goods for sure.

Their vintage sail canvas totes are pretty killer as well and should be sought out. All in all, Rogues Gallery is helping to keep Portland a major city of interest in New England. If you’re heading this Fall up North to watch the leave change, be sure to visit Portland, Maine.

I have a two bike arsenal in my possession - 1. a Steamroller and 2. a Panasonic that exists soley for the casual ride to brunch, lunch, and bars. Neither bicycle is similar to the other with the exception of the locked cog and the Brooks Saddles.

People question my choice in outfitting the Panasonic with a Brooks. They make a valid point. Brooks are rather pricey saddles, especially when used on drunk rider/loaners; bicycles that gets almost no attention or ride time. The truth is, once I put a B.17 Champion on the Surly, there was no going back for me. I needed a second for the Panasonic and that was the end of it.

But Brooks, like most leather based saddles, need to be treated with care and, if treated properly, will last for many decades. The B.17 Champ that has been on my Surly has been there since I built it back in 2005 started to show some signs of age at the beginning of this year. That’s when I decided to stiffen it up and make it more like its mature brothers, the Swift or Swallow, which are both built for road riding/racing (they’re cut stiffer and sleeker). When the bolt at the front just will not tension the leather anymore, you turn to lacing.

Over the last year, I have been stopped by many folks who see the lacing and ask about it. Once I tell them how easy it is to do, they balk at actually attempting the technique themselves. So, when DYKC asked me to give him a hand lacing up his new B.17 Standard, it became the perfect time to pull out the old SLR and document the process.

If you have a leather saddle and its getting a bit banana’d, this process may bring life back to it. If you have a new B.17 and want to make it stiffer without cutting the sidewalls, this will do it. Disclaimer: I take no responsibility if you fuck up your saddle. This is only a guide as to how I do the dirty work. It definitely takes some patience and some time, but in my opinion, its well worth doing if you want a stiffer ride out of the B.17.

The idea with lacing the saddle is to bring in the sidewalls of the B.17 in (or closer to the mount rails) which stiffens the overall ride of the saddle. DYKC squeezes it for the effect before I hack this shit apart.

First thing is to measure and space out the eyelets. I personally like an 8 hole setup. I set mine with 1cm spacing between each.

Now, the next step is a contentious one. What you should be using to open the eyelets is probably a leather awl or some heated up metal poker, but honestly, the Bosch (best power drills on the market hands down!) and a small bit will do it just as well.

Looks something like this when your done. To proper align the other side, simply take an index card or paper against the holes and punch a pattern. Hold it to the other wall, mark the eyelets and drill again.

Now we get into actually lacing this thing. Leather shoelaces work best but any strong string will do the trick. You lace it like a pair of kicks: start both ends of the lace from the inside and loop it on the outside. Now, this may look easy but it can be a bitch. The hardest part is keeping it tensioned. In the case of the saddle above, you’ll notice the zip-tie keeping the nose nice and snug while we pull each section against the rails. The choice of stiffness is a personal one. Tension it as far or close to the rails as you like.

Finished product! Shit looks good! Right, DYKC?

Hells yes!

For some perspective, here’s DYKC’s brand new laced B.17 against my old beat to shit B.17 Champ. Looking back at it now, I would re-lace the mine much higher up the side wall. The good thing is some fresh new punches will fix that.

Work your Brooks and keep riding.

Here’s hoping you love it

- Jeff