I’ve taken a brief stroll to the darkside and started to ride a geared bike for awhile. My new ride is a Neil Pryde Diablo that I’ve specially tuned for hill climbing. Gotta say, it’s been fun! Ridin Fixed is still my main passion and I’m building some new road fixed frames that are beautiful! Stay tuned as always -
Ride Hard and Ride Fixed! (well, at least most of the time)
Norikura ‘Shine On’ benefit ride. Holding the trusty Toge Warrior after completing 2 days and more than alot of meters of climbing over several mountains. Only Mikio and I were on fixed gear. We rode in the advanced group which turned out to be a painfest of severe attacks and hairy descents through some of the most beautiful country ever. When you weren’t battling out for king of the hill, you could take a couple of quick breather strokes and see the local charm!
I setup my bike a little differently for this ride:
1) GS Astuto Alpine Fixed Gear Wheelset – less than 1000gr the pair. For sure I had the lightest wheels among all the riders.
2) GS Astuto ergo bar set. Very comfy for climbing – shallow drop and wide top section lets you really sit back and grit hard!
3) 44 Chainring – battling mountain passes all day gets to be a cruncher. So I ran primarily a 44×15, then swapped to a 44×21 when the going got super tough and my muscles were jellified.
4) Brakes! Needed to be legal for this ride – so I installed some old Modolo Kronos levers and Shimano 105 brakes with DiaCompe plates. Used our special compound pads to prevent any issues with the full carbon rims.
This is how you roll on the roads, my friends!
I love the Greenline roads. Full of ups and downs, in the forests and valleys. Pete led out another Greenline ride this weekend and despite the searing heat (40+), and a couple of unfortunate crashes, it was a great ride! We had 3 fixed gear riders to join this jaunt, myself included, which is about as many fixed gear riders as you will see together on any real road ride. Props to Patrick and Mikio for carrying on the tradition of real RoadFixed riding!
Here’s what a typical Greenline Ride looks like from a fixedgear perspective. I was riding my standard gear of 46×15, maybe a bit stiff for this length and grade, but a good challenge and keeps me up on the straights and downs.
The Bike: GS Astuto Custom Titanium
The Cockpit: GS Astuto Bars, Thomson Seatpost, Selle Saddle, 3T stem, Modolo Kronos cheaters
The Wheels: GS Astuto 21mm full carbon roadfixie alpine wheels built up with DT Comps and Novatec / Bitex hubs. At less than 900gr there is not a lighter, stronger roadfixed wheel out there.
The Tires: Challenge Triathlon Tubulars. Real riders don’t let friends ride clinchers!
Drivechain: Truvativ Omnium, SuperIzumi NJS Chain, Dura Ace NJS Cogs.
The summers in Japan come on quick and are very hot and humid. This tends to create a doldrum of activity between July and August where only mad dogs and Englishmen tend to thrive. This year I’ll try to hit shorter rides, earlier and probably look at the return-by-train option more and more. With the logic that I can escape the city early in the morning, ride some sheltered roads, then hit the airconditioned
Well, I didn’t update for some time. Why? cause mainly I have been busy starting up GS Astuto and other small things like actually riding my bike. Which brings me to the main point of this post. Less ‘blather’ and more riding! With that in mind – I’ll be doing the HFC ‘Shine On’ Norikura event which raises some $$ for the Tyler Foundation (how cool is that). It’s classified as a ‘Fun Ride’ – but believe me, anyone with cancer DOES NOT HAVE A FUN RIDE!! EVER! PERIOD!
So – I am proud to play a very insignificantly small part in supporting this event. Family and friends around me have suffered , recovered and died from cancer. Anything we can do to help is good. Even the small things like a smile, or letter ( a real one), help.
You’ll find me in the ‘A’ group – and if you are a REAL FIXIE rider, you’ll man (or woman) up and challenge me to the top with your best effort!
