Logo

Phil who runs the blog for Newcastle has kindly designed a logo for Teesside. I am no good at drawing, so I thought it would be best for someone else to do it properly. I'm really chuffed with it and it's how I imagined it to be. I wanted something simple and bike related, plus Ryan (my next door neighbour who rides fixed) suggested that a local touch would be good to have on the logo - the Transporter Bridge. Later when I thought about it I remembered that this year is 100 years since the bridge was built and there's quite a few events going on over this month and next to celebrate it standing strong in the area and even making a tv career for itself in Auf Wiedersehen Pet.

Forum, events & parts!

This hopefully should be the first outing in the fixed gear world. It's the closest event in a while and I should have the bike up and running by then, but not sure if I'll actually enter anything, as I'll be crap. Going up to see Boikzmoind is worth the train fare. But having a ride around and meeting other people is worth it too. Managed to get a forum setup on http://www.lfgss.com/ so many thanks to them again. It should help get more people riding around here and the people that do ride, it gives us a place to talk. Need to get some logos designed and put around the town, let people know and spread the word. Maybe some spoke cards too? In other news - managed to get in contact with a guy I met whilst following the Ardenne Classics this year, who has a body repair shop near to me. He's agreed to spray my frame so I don't have to rattle can it. Can't wait for this to be done, then I can build! Still pondering a colour, thinking matte black or is that just too original? Cranks arrived. Not the most expensive set, but I'd rather get up and running with good solid parts and then they can be replaced over time when I get more money. Here's a picture, just incase you forgot what a crankset is, but I'm proud that my parts are arriving.

Jonah Kessel

Jonah Kessel from Michael Chacon on Vimeo.

This is doing the usual rounds on the net. I can see why.

Frame and others bits!

After waiting a while to get a fixed gear bike, I can say I'm well on my way. Frame/forks/headset arrived after the guy who I bought it off, kindly delivered it to my house so I could get building quicker, which was pretty awesome of him to do. Makes me realises even more that people involved with these bikes are genuine people and actually give a shit. I'll post some pictures tomorrow of the frame. It needs a new coat of paint as it was stripped down by him to the bare metal and the cable lugs sanded down for a nice smooth finish. I have thought about spraying it myself and taking my time or having it professionally done at a local place for £60. I think that is good for a full respray of the frame and forks, using top quality primer and top coat. Gonna sleep on it, but I think I know what I'll do. Since the headset that came with it is decent enough and has new bearings, I'll get the LBS to fit it correctly, just so I know it's done well. Been scouring eBay and other sites to find some bargain parts. So far I've bought a new chain (bit stronger than what I've got now), nice new crankset from espresso, charge bullhorn handlebars & kalloy brushed silver quill stem. Got them for decent prices and still got some more money to come from selling other bits, so purchasing a shiny new set of wheels is next on the list. Still cannot decide which ones to go for.