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Time to start saving my pennies!!!

Jim Papadopoulos on Bicycle Stability

part 1


part 2


part 3


part 4

OT: Giving Thanks

I've been saying for the past few weeks that this upcoming Thanksgiving is going to be a crappy one: My wife got laid off; my job's future is unknown; and the economy's in the toilet, freaking everyone out.

But something happened yesterday which has put all of that into new perspective: Now I'm thankful that my wife has several months of severance, that I still have a job, that we (at least for now) have a roof over our heads, that we have great friends and of course our families and each other. (I am even thankful for such minor things as shimmying bikes!)

A close friend of ours passed away yesterday, very suddenly and unexpectedly. We are still in shock, angry, and in disbelief. He was relatively young, vibrant, and in good health. I still cannot believe that I will never again have the privilege of good conversation with him and hearing is unique laughter. An amazingly smart and talented man, I will miss him.

Whatever you are doing right now, STOP and contact those you love and are close to, and tell them how important they are to you. You never know when, in but a moment, they might be gone.

STOLEN BIKE ALERT!

Mike over at Black Mtn Cycles blogged about one of his customer's bikes getting ripped off in Golden Gate Park. So I'm repeating the notice here to help get the word out and hopefully get this bike back to its owner!

from http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/bik/924491765.html

STOLEN Steve Potts Mountain bike
Reply to: sale-924491765@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-11-18, 12:52PM PST


Steve Potts 29'r Titanium. Red Marzocci fork, Hellbent Bars: black, SRAM Gripshift, Avid Discs with gold magnesium levers. Thompson Stem and Post: black, Split leather Saddle; black, Chris King "Dreadset" headset: red, yellow, green and black, Black wheelset with Chris King hubs: black with Salsa red yellow and green skewers. Crank Brothers crank: stainless. Reward offered comensurate with parts value recovered.

If you see this bike, kick some ass and take some names.

RB-1 Shimmy, or Another Data Point

Yesterday I had a nice ride on my R(650)B-1. Rode with Greg out to Inverness, stopping at the Busy Bee Bakery for some coffee and a nice cinnamon bun. Of course, once again I totally forgot to photog the pastry for my BikeEats pool. I had a half-full Riv Candy Bar bag strapped to the bars of my bike, and noticed that at speeds of 13-15mph, I'd get a little bit of no-handed shimmy. That wasn't surprising in and of itself; I'd seen that before. Flying down the north side of White's Hill at around 32mph, though, I purposely smacked the side of the head tube with my right hand, and the bike went into a slow, fairly gentle speed wobble, even with both hands on the bars. I've never had this bike do that before. Certainly the loaded front bag is a large factor, and I did have to manually initiate the wobble, unlike my Kogswell which seems to go into self-oscillation automatically.

Just goes to show that any bike can speed-wobble if the conditions are right, I guess! It must be me. Maybe I am the Shimmy Master!?

Tony P. builds a frame

Here's a REALLY nice photo sequence of Tony Pereira building a frame...



Great stuff!

Minor Shimmy Update

Updated handlebars at Mile 17
Originally uploaded by jimgskoop

Just another minor data point: I discovered on my ride this past weekend that, if I grip the handlebars on the tops near the stem during a fast (~30mph) straight descent (Sausalito Lateral, down from the GGBridge into Sausalito for any locals) and go into somewhat of an aero tuck, I can get the bike to speed-wobble at will. Moving my hands to the hoods or the drops immediately stops it.

Kinda weird, kinda scary. Had me seriously lusting after alternate bikes again...

OT: Ohhhhh &@%#$&^%@#$

My wife just found out she's losing her job at the end of December. She's given her soon-to-be-ex-employer over 8 years of loyal service.

- G U L P -

I thought things were supposed to be better now!?

Get Yer KOG on!

Kogswell Cycles now have an official blog and user-contributed wiki. The Kogswell Owners Group (of which I am now a moderator) continues as usual. So go krazy!

In other news, tomorrow I am -- for the third week in a row -- riding to work with the SF2G crew. Let's see whether a) it rains, b) I get dropped again, and/or c) I get accosted in EPA again. Either way it means an early night for me this evening.

GO OBAMA!

NO on Prop 8!

and all that jazz...

Dyno-hub Powered LED Taillight Idea

Here's an idea for a DIY LED tail light...

+ Take one red/orange Luxeon III LED mounted on a star PCB.

+ Mount it directly onto your bike's rear metal fender in an appropriate location using thermal adhesive (Arctic Alumina or similar), and wire it up as needed. The metal fender acts as both a mount and a heat sink for the LED.

+ Mount one L2 flare optic directly over the Luxeon LED, sealing it around the edges with clear silicone. These flare optics have a 10° X 80° oval beam pattern, so they should provide good visibility from the rear of the bike, as well as a bit to either side as well.

+ Wire it into a DIY LED headlamp built using this schematic.