Bike-thieves, fuck yourself you bastards!

via bfg

…we from msfixed love Suicycle! So check out their online store to see what sexy goodies the Hamburg based shop has in store for you. How about a handbuilt suicycle track-frame from Hamburg’s no. 1 framebuilder Hagen Wechsel, for example? Or a Giant track-frame from Eric Zabel’s former framepool? There should be something in stock for any enthusiast of individually built fixed gear and road bikes.

There’ll be some special offers in the next weeks, so better be quick!
The webshop just has a few things up, if you are searching for something feel free to drop a line and they will get everything you need.

And whenever you are in Hamburg, don’t miss to visit the shop in the heart of the beautiful St. Pauli, at Wohlwillstraße 12.

Pic from Keirin-Tomity

Those beauties are phlpps new Dura Ace Track Hubs. Fuck yeah!

gesehen bei tracko, mehr Infos hier.

4 Month ago a bike was stolen in the streets of Shanghai and thats what happend to get it back:

I’m proud to announce that last night I not only found his bike, but recovered it as well !

I was on my way home, around 11:00pm, just bolting down Qonqing Lu.  Out of the corner of my eye I catch a really bright reflection from another bicycle, which at first I didn’t think anything of.  A few seconds later, I quickly realized that maybe there could be a new fixed gear in town ! So I turn around, to see a middle-aged Chinese man pushing a bright neon bike across the road.  As I’m approaching him, I realize right away that the bike in question was stolen from my friend Chris 4 months ago . . I’m so surprised, that I can’t even remember how to speak Chinese, so I call up my man Rich.  Rich calms me down a little bit, and I decide to approach this Chinese man.  I ask him in Chinese, ‘ Where did  you get that bike?’ He responds with, ‘ What are you talking about? You don’t speak Chinese. ‘  To which I reply with, ‘ That’s my friend’s bike.  Where did you get it ? ‘  Almost immediately he jumps on the bike and tries to start riding while ignoring my questions.

I begin to follow him . .

At first it’s very clear that he does not know how to ride a fixed gear, especially one that has no brakes or toe clips.  At this point, Rich is still on the phone and is assuring me that i’ll never get a chance like this ever again.  He suggests I run him off the road . . I start to pick up speed to see if this Chinese guy has it in him to ride away, and out of no where he tries to bolt it.  I chase after him for not even 1 block, when he turns into a small alleyway almost killing himself because he can’t stop.  I skid into the alleyway after him, and when he sees me he starts to throw bikes / garbage cans / boxes into the main walkway to try and stop me from following.  It worked, because I had to get off my bike.  Quickly, I threw my bike into the shadows of the alley, and took off after this guy on foot.  He was moving pretty fast, so I was only able to catch him for a brief second around the corner of every turn.  Alleyway after alleyway this guy just kept going.  Finally, I rounded a corner and quickly saw a door close.  I called up Rich again . .

Just as I was about to explain where I was, the Chinese guy came out of the apartment (with no bike) and started to walk back towards the road as if nothing happened.  He couldn’t see me, because I was crouched down and hiding behind some garbage cans.  I waited for him to be out of sight, and told Rich to get on his bike right away to come and help me out. But I realized that this guy could be back any minute, and if I wanted a shot at getting Chris’ bike back I had to do it right then and there.  I walked up to the door, and oddly enough it was unlocked . . Slowly I pushed the door in, and started looking around . . And then I found it. Quickly I tossed the bike onto my shoulder (the guy had put a lock around the wheel), and started to walk in the opposite direction he left in.  I walked back to find my bike, hopped on, and took off out of the alleyways with Chris’ bike on my shoulder.

Luckily, I made it home without any confrontations.

One thing I’d like to mention is that while I was inside snooping for Chris’ bike, I saw other bikes in there too . . And on my way out of the alleyway, there was an old man who came walking in with a big pile of bike rims and tires on his shoulder . . Could I have discovered a small Shanghainese Chop Shop ? Maybe . . I remember exactly where this place is, how to get there, so if anyone’s interested in going back hit me up with an e-mail.  Who knows what we will find . .

That’s one for the biking community, and one less for the bike theives.

- Ty.

source: http://peoplesbike.com/news/stolen-bicycle-recovered/

This might be interesting for all of you (including myself) dreaming of their own custom made,  handbuilt steelframe. Read the illustrated guide to “Designing and building your own frameset” by Richard P. Talbot. I just took a quick look and what i see was very promising. Seen at Fixpatrix’

Another interesting resource might be jerryw62’s flickr album introducing a clean and neat jig for framebuilding.