One of my winter projects was to rebuild my fixie, finally giving her the care and attention that she deserves after serving me loyally for over a decade and a half. As such I stripped her bare and sent her off for framework (adding bottle bosses and the removal of pretty much all braze-ons) and custom paint. She’s now in the shop awaiting a new headset, and quite possibly a new bb/crank. We’ll have to see how the funding plays out before I go replacing an otherwise perfectly fine crank for a cooler one.
The other night however, it dawned on me that in restoring my commute bike to showroom status, I’ve now lost my rat bike. I used to ride her to the pool, and lock her up without (much of) a second thought. The spraybomb job I did with Home Depot acrylics did a lot to make her look like she wasn’t worth much, and I’d kind of like to see some punk try to steal her and then realize that he can’t coast. However, I’m going to be hesitant to leave my newly refurbished bike laying about anywhere out of sight, and even if security isn’t a major concern, some dumbass scratching my new paint is. I think I need a replacement rat bike.
My first thought was to turn to CL or OCB and pick up a cheap ride to convert. I also have that road frame I bought by accident on ebay - but building a bike, even a cheap fixie will cost me some money. A couple hundred bucks minimum I’d guess, mostly in wheels. Then there’s the stuff you always forget (bar tape, chain, pedals, etc) I’ve since become aware of the fact that I can buy a Windsor “The Hour” track bike - complete, for $300USD with free shipping. I don’t know that I’d be able to beat that by much if I were scrounging around for parts! Sounds like a sweet deal that I should pounce on, right?
The problem of course, lies with facillities. I don’t know where the hell to store another bike! n+1 fails to take into account storage logistics. I’m thinking I might need to get one of those ceiling mounted pulley systems. I don’t know - but I need something! Does anyone have a storage solution for me? Maybe I can convince my LBS to let me keep a bike or two there…
Merry Christmas, Bro. Are you storing your bikes in the garage or the apartment? MEC have some neat hook types holders that can be mounted on the wall and the bikes hung from the front wheel (not the best way I think) but the better way would be to mount them upright with the toptube sliding over two arms. That might be a better option in the apartment as they only come out from the wall as far as the width of the bars.
I’m off to a 10 mile TT now so will post some pics later.
I recently faced a similar dilemma. We just moved over to Amsterdam from the states. In the states we had a 4 bedroom house with a 2 car garage for all the toys. We now have a 3 bedroom apartment in the city.
Upon arrival I was forced to put the bikes out on the balcony under a tarp. After a couple of weeks of persuation (mainly complaining), I convinced my wife that we should give up the only closet in our apartment and convert it into bike storage. After a few minutes of pulling stuff out and installing a couple of large hooks, the bikes now hang down from the ceiling by their rear wheels.
I know that this isn’t the ideal set up, but it beats keeping them outside all the time. My wife gets to keep her nice apartment in the city without looking at the bikes, and I get the bikes inside.
Just do what I did in College- Buy a cheap pink Huffy from Walmart. I never had to worry about that thing. It’s “storage” was whatever balcony I could lock her to. And talk about a workout! By my 3rd year with it the back brakes were locked shut. I had quads of steel!
Jodi
PS When do we get pics of the newly refurbished ride?
Just do what I did in College- Buy a cheap pink Huffy from Walmart. I never had to worry about that thing. It’s “storage” was whatever balcony I could lock her to. And talk about a workout! By my 3rd year with it the back brakes were locked shut. I had quads of steel!
I thought you went to school at Univ. of Wisconsin in Madison? Don’t they have some sort of “Red Bike” thing going on over there? They are public bikes that you can just take and ride to different places, or something like that. All 3 of my sisters went to Marquette Universty (2 still live in Milwaukee) and one of my sisters went to UW for Law School.
I think at the time it was a yellow bike thing. I never really knew the deal with them, but they were funny looking- even the tires were painted! My luck, if I had rented one of those it would have been stolen.
That reminds me of orange man. There was this weird guy who would ride around on a blaze orange bike with orange clothes and orange painted hair. He turned into running man in the winter. That guy must have run 30 miles a day!
That reminds me of orange man. There was this weird guy who would ride around on a blaze orange bike with orange clothes and orange painted hair. He turned into running man in the winter. That guy must have run 30 miles a day!
My sisters would probably know exactly who you are talking about (depending if you are talking about a denizen of Milwaukee or Madison)! I am a little familiar with some of the more common odd-people of Milwaukee as that is where I have visited my sisters most often. So far my favorite is the guy who cruises up and down the lake shore “roller-blade dancing.” He seems to do this endlessly as I have seen him everytime I have visited morning, afternoon, and night. He must have a thing for my sister because he pretty much ignores me when I am by myself, but if I was running with my sister, he sort of does some circles and “boogies” with her. Kind of creepy.
One of the key problems is that I have no wallspace. I’m seriously considering one of those ceiling mounted pulley systems, but am kind of scared to store several thousand dollar bikes hanging from, or sitting under a $9-$30 rack.
Does anyone have experience with any of the following?
Just do what I did in College- Buy a cheap pink Huffy from Walmart. I never had to worry about that thing. It’s “storage” was whatever balcony I could lock her to. And talk > about a workout! By my 3rd year with it the back brakes were locked shut. I had quads of steel!
Sorry darlin’ - I just can’t do it. Storing a bike outside is hell on the drivetrain (not to mention the frame!) and even my rat bike has to be in good working order…
One of the key problems is that I have no wallspace. I’m seriously considering one of those ceiling mounted pulley systems, but am kind of scared to store several thousand dollar bikes hanging from, or sitting under a $9-$30 rack.
Those are my two reasons for not liking the idea of a hoist. Although you could replace the hooks with something more substantial I would still have reservations. If walls are out ofthe question what about one of the floor to ceiling “trees”?
Bro, we have the same problem. We currently have 4 bikes and I will likely pick up another two in a month or so, so 3 road bikes and 3 mountainbikes, ugh. We will likely convert our “den” into wallmount storage for the bikes and some built-in cabinets for the rest of the gear + clothing. Should be a good challenge. Let me know what you end up going with. AP
Edit: Looking at the pulley systems, I think we could get the roadbikes up on a pully no problem, then do some sort of two-arm-under-toptube thing for the mountain bikes… there goes about 4 feet of room-depth. Sigh.
Yeah, the track bike will go to live @ the 'drome once she’s finished. That still leaves me with… uhhhh… 4 “real” bikes and a couple of toys. With a new rat on the way.
That looks pretty cool, bro. It may be stupid, but somehow I feel better about trusting a $200 mechanized version of the same $9 pulley system. Is that retarded?
I don’t think it sounds strange. I looked at it and thought it loked a lot more robust there is obviously some form of clutch on the raising gear which would lock in position, the fitting and fixings look far more reliable than a piece of rope tied around a hook. It also appears that you can get a harness to put two bikes on it securely.
