kalavinka and giro tomorrow

I've got an almost new Kalavinka and a Giro coming tomorrow. after that I'll have 9 Bridgestones and a Level.
Sorry I didn't have a Black Friday sale like some other places. I'll save that for WalMart and Best Buy.

Solution BMX Skate Shop has a new blogspot

Solution BMX Skate Shop in Muncie, IN, just started a new blog. They sell track stuff now, too. You can see that their main business involves bikes that are actually built for doing tricks on, and therefore the tricks look a whole lot cooler.

Hoppy interviewed on fixedgearfever.com

Check out this interview of Jeff Hopkins on fixed gear fever. He's now retired from racing and working at Dick Lane Velodrome as well as a few other gigs like coaching and bike fits. I'm hoping to bring him up to Keirin Culture for a couple of days of fits next year. He knows his stuff. My favorite part of the interview is Scott referring to Jeff's track bike as a "rather basic steel bike." It's true. Just like road racers, track racers are super-obsessed with equipment even before they physically get to the point where that extra money will make a difference. On both fronts road and track) I'm all about the working class race bikes, and next season I'm sure a lot more people will come to my side. With the economy tanking I think some of these bike companies are going to regret pushing only $6000 bikes and neglecting the folks who can't afford that. The guys on the pro team I'm sponsoring will be riding a light aluminum Kazane frame built up with Kazane wheels and SRAM Rival. The whole bike will come in under $2k complete. Having a bike like that won't slow you down but it might free up enough cash to actually get to some races. Back to Hoppy, maybe more track racers should forgo Teschners and BT's in favor of something more affordable and use the money saved on a coach like Jeff.

whoah!

Track Cocaine is coming! I sure hope these bikes don't suck because I want to be friends with this guy.
Update-
I just did a Who Is search to find out the owner of this site and it seems to be this guy. This is just getting weirder and weirder.

sweet seat angles

So a "Leading" ebay frame company has an $800 lugged steel frame. I think that's fine. Just kind of funny that they brag about their track specific geometry. Apparently track specific geometry means too steep of a seat angle for endurance events, plus a top tube of almost 57cm for someone who is 5 foot 9. Also, Kazane frames suck (not mentioned by name) because they are made of 4130, which happens to be the most popular tubeset for keirin frames (an upgrade from 019). I guess Dolan, Look, and Teschner must be wrong about seat tube angles, too.

snow

it's snowing here in roanoke, and in richmond. that's where my road team is based. the kazane team consists of 3 current and 2 ex-messengers. they have to work in the snow and can't afford $269 all weather jackets inspired by messenger culture. they also ride geared bikes and don't wear flat-brimmed caps.

silence is goldie

YBN chains are the real thing. I sell them on keirinculture.com in 4 models. This is the 747SL gold. Hollow pins and links, the works. It looks good on a gold crankset (mate it with a gold Kazane cog and lockring). This is on an IRO I built up for a guy I know in Richmond. Yeah, I sell IRO at the shop. For the money they're solid and you can build one up to spec for the same price or less than a Pista.

finally

Finally a keirin culture bike made it on bikesnobnyc. It has nothing to do with the bike. It has more to do with the naked girl riding it. Here's the original story.

For proof here's a picture of the bike taken in the basement of my old apartment (formerly known as Keirin Culture World Headquarters, or the Pain Cave:
Unfortunately there were never any naked girls riding rollers in my basement. I'm happy for the new life that this Reminton went on to live. These frames all started as race bikes but after they go to their new homes in the US their stories are as varied as the paint jobs. Before I saw this, I thought the best thing that could happen would be that the frame returns to life on a velodrome. More often than that I'm asked to write up an insurance estimate because the bike has met an untimely end. At this point, though, I feel like a proud father watching his son's first DP scene in a porno movie.

vintage national frame

Before Panasonic there was National. This one is a little rough but doesn't have any dents. 52.5cm. I have some parts that I'll post soon, too.

another day

October is usually a good time to take a vacation in the bike industry. Here it's a little different. Most of my time is spent behind the computer at the shop. A lot of time has been spent on the design of the new road frames that the Premier Sports Partners pro team will ride. The geometry is done so now it's time for the graphics. I'm also working on some new colors for the track frames for next spring. A few of the current colors will come back, especially red and pink. Any input on that is welcome.
I'm also working on getting in new stuff to have available in the retail shop. Roanoke and Blacksburg are both starting to get fixed scenes. Kazane bikes tend to get a little expensive so I'm bringing in IRO to have an affordable custom-built fixed gear.
Next on the schedule today is to work on a page on the website that features the shop. Hopefully I can get it done.
-sd