We just added the Paul Component Engineering Funky Monkey to the storefront. After trying most of the currently available stops, and a few vintage offerings it became clear that the Funky Monkey is hands down the best bang for your buck. The extra long arm drops down to prevent brake cable housing from bending too tightly and binding up, and the arm sticks out far enough to clear most headsets. A barrel adjuster is included to make front brake cable adjustments quick and painless.
Everything about it just works they way the component should, no fussing, no BS, just works. Bonus points for looking good, matching the aesthetic of the brakes and being made here in California.
Keep an eye here and on the storefront. In the coming weeks we will be adding a few more components for building out your Rambler to the online store front
Pocket Knives September 19 2013, 0 Comments
Today I was packing up a decade old daily companion for a trip back to its makers for a refresh.
This had me thinking about my pocket knives, and other tools that I carry every day. There has been a knife in my pocket since I was about 12 years old. They are one of those things that you will use throughout the day every day if you have one with you. Having carried a huge variety, vintage, new, folding, fixed, cheap and expensive I have formed my own set of biases. There is a place for cheap knives, in general though you get what you pay for, and if you are going to use it every day why not have something well made that will last you decades or more? Really with a budget of a nickel a day and planning for a decade you end up with about $180 to spend. I have thought about bringing knives into the online shop, but held off. There has been a trend towards all manner of “camping” gear entering the bikeosphere, us included. I try to bring things that a different and better in some way than what most people in the cycling or fashion community may be familiar with. As cool as French pocket knives and Swedish axes can be, there are plenty of other fantastic options out there.
So, is there any interest out there in knives that I believe offer a better solution for the cyclotourist? Tools that bring everyday function to the occasional camper maximizing versatility for the weight? The term curator is overused these days, but I could help you cut to the chase and pick tools that I have personally used and put to the test over the years.
So what is in my pocket while the William Henry is out? This is the knife that is usually riding in my Docena, Bark River Pro Scalpel (first production for the collector nerds)
Local Advocacy September 10 2013, 0 Comments
Our town is really lucky to have some passionate bicycle advocates. Aside from making a huge push for great, and ever improving, infrastructure, they have also formed the Ventura Bike HUB. The HUB is a pure community organization, mechanics and advocates that come together to help the community fix and learn to fix their bikes. The mission has been growing and their work is the fuel for our local transporational cycling scene. One of their bigger challenges has been finding a steady storage and working location. In the past few months they were able to secure a space with the City Housing Authority that will serve them and the community well. This past Sunday I was lucky to help them with their move from the temporary location to the new space.
A fully bike powered and volunteer driven event. There new space is awesome and will get them the exposure they need to grow.
The next steps in local advocacy have been a move up to organizing at a County level. The City of Ventura has been doing pretty darn good, as have some of the other 10 cities in our county. The trick will be learning from each other and developing tools that can be used to improve not just all 10 cities but the unincorporated portions of the county as well. There is no reason why Ventura County as a whole should not be setting the standard for human-powered transport. We have tight-knit communities, industry and year round awesome weather.
As a Coalition there has been one official meeting. We all came away inspired, and with a few questions to answer as we define our path. The first is if we should be Bicycle only or “Active Transportation”? After that comes the volunteer based efforts of setting up Web Pages, Mission statements, by-laws, organizational structures, and pushing on to things like County wide maps and governmental activism. All of this would never have made it this far if not for that hard work of Rachel at VCCool, Thank You.
I am reaching out to all of you that have ridden this path before. Any advice or experiences you would like to share are welcome. We will need lots of help, everything from the above mentioned web designers to fundraising, shops and people who work within the city and county infrastructure. The next meeting will be Thursday September 26 6:30 P.M. at the Fillmore High school. I hope to see some of you there.
We did the poll, the response was good, the cool folks at Soma saw value and the C-Line tires are going to happen, better, they are happening this year
The tire is loosely a 700c version of the fantastic and popular B-Line series of tires. These take the well loved Panaracer Pasela and kick it up a notch. The basic guidelines are 38mm wide with the slightly narrower and thinner tread from a 35 pasela, folding bead, Supple casing, no puncture strip (not really needed) and colors. This first run will have both the Tera cotta and Black with Tan sidewalls. This tire is getting a new mold since the existing 37mm pasela is no more and the 35 was not up to the job. Current status is “in production”. Once these are on a container and heading this way I will have the green light to start a pre-sale.
Without the awesome team at Merry Sales / Soma Fabrications this tire would have never happened. My persistence and their willingness and capital are making it real. Things like tire molds and importing are what they do best. They see the upcoming swing in growth of out niche and are putting the money into it on the front end. The best we we can all say thank you will be to buy, sell and ride the hell out of these once they get here.
I will keep you all posted as things progress.
Worked in the semi regularly scheduled Farmer’s market ride this Sunday. Bonus points for being able to start the “testing” on some new kerchief material you will likely be seeing in our online store in the near future. The weather is about as close to perfect as one could hope for. Enjoy Summer weather while it lasts.
Daddy Days August 30 2013, 0 Comments
Friday is still daddy day for the moment, there is plenty going on, and things have always been busy, but never like this. That said, we took some time this morning to squeeze in a ride before she gets too big for her current seat.
Say Cheese! Loaded with everything from the pocket kite, to the strider camera gear, supplies and her toy lap top in case she needed to do so work, we cut out across town to the favorite playground.
Met some friends, turns out there are more dads then you would think hanging out at the playgrounds these days. Just when I thought she was worn out, it was time to pull out the Strider and jam on the little hill.
Super stoked that she is rocking it with her feet up. That is a new development in the last week or two, and today was the first day covering significant distance. I am pretty sure she was showing off for Toby and Maverick over by the swings in the background. A perfect morning, and catching up while she is completely crashed out.
A perfect morning to take a break outside. The fog finally pulled out to sea for the morning. It is going to be a good day.
Coffee Gear August 27 2013, 0 Comments
The most frequent question I get regarding the coffee outside routine is “what gear are your using?”. While getting my kit ready for tomorrow I took a few minutes to make some pictures and prepare some notes.
The contents of the kit reflect my preference for pour over style of brewing. I have tried everything from cowboy coffee to a small french press, and for me, the best results have been pour over. My usual stove and cook pot for boiling water has been the Caldera Keg Kit. The kit is super light, compact and has everything I need to boil water quickly. I brew the coffee into a 600ml titanium mug that replaces one end of the keg kit’s container. I support the paper coffee filters with a William Bounds Sili coffee cone. after testing out a few options I find it hits a sweet spot for function, weight and portability. The kit is rounded out with a bandanna, lighter, grinder and occasional breakfast snack
The latest addition to my kit has been the Porlex portable grinder. It adds a bit of weight to the whole package, but the quality of the brew jumps way up with beans ground at the time of brew.
This was an awesome birthday gift this year from my wife and her parents, and has seen daily use for a few weeks now. The bur grinding mechanism is robust, easily adjustable, and provides an incredibly uniform grind. It holds the perfect amount of beans for my large mug. Thus the increase in brew quality and ability to carry the fresh beans justify the added load.
All spread out it looks like a bunch of gear
but most of the components nest into the stove caddy and it is travels quite compact in the handlebar bag. I was pleasantly suppressed to even fit the grinder on the inside of the kit.
Over all weight is still respectable as well considering how much utility is crammed into that little space.
It is that simple, under two pounds and you have all the tools needed to brew a better cup of coffee than most people will at home, and you can do it just about any where you would like. True coffee/bike nerd stuff.
Keeping all the plates spinning in a small business can be exhausting some times, all in a good way of course. Being creative, hands on and analytical often feels like a pack of trapped squirrels trapped in my head all fighting for time and space. This morning I took pen(s) to paper, dusted off an old creative project and restarted the art for T-shirts that need to happen soon.
And yes, it is amazing how much you can cram into a two car garage to get a business going. Time to pack some boxes and ship some of it off to other folks garages.
We just added the Paul Component Engineering Funky Monkey to the storefront. After trying most of the currently available stops, and a few vintage offerings it became clear that the Funky Monkey is hands down the best bang for your buck. The extra long arm drops down to prevent brake cable housing from bending too tightly and binding up, and the arm sticks out far enough to clear most headsets. A barrel adjuster is included to make front brake cable adjustments quick and painless.
