tandem pedals is an art

max and maggie are going on a bike date this friday, so Max asked me to fix the tandem. sometimes trying to get the pedals perfect drives me crazy. I will probably have to re-chain it too because max is of the opinion that the pedals should be synchronized, but I think it's better to have them going opposite. either way, the tandem needs a complete tune up! At least it's got me working on bikes again, thanks Max.

posted on kanye wests blog

max sent me these pictures today, I like them tons:

maybe fixed gear is too trendy now

uo

slc article

we love mayor ralph becker. I hope the love and passion spreads down toward this valley soon. read this article.

cool

This is my new favorite product, finish line citrus degreaser for bikes. Not that I'm expert when it comes to bikes at all, I'm definitely checking sheldon brown's website every 5 minutes to see if I'm doing stuff right. But you've got to start somewheres!!! Anyways, I am liking this degreaser... I went to a bike maintenance class last week, and the dude (who was a pretty old conservative bike maintenance guy) swears by this stuff. Well, I'm swearing by it now too... look at this derailer! It's shining again! And it smells good!

"dumpster" bike

This bike was found at a dumpster in American Fork, behind Rick Albrecht's State Farm Insurance office on state street. Thanks to Amanda for telling me to go take a look at it. I love everything about this bike, the frame, the headset, the basket... it's all wonderful.

I finally started working on it tonight. I decided to fix it up for my friend Natalie, and she doesn't want a fixie... but I'm still going to blog about it on this blog, just because.

Orphaned bikes are the funnest to fix up, it's like they are crying to be loved again. I see them, and then see so much potential. I envision this the perfect Natalie bike when it's done.

o r a n g e is p r e m i u m

h e a r t s

I love bikes, and this bike loves me back.

check the befores.

spring is here again

this blog might be a year old now. crazy to think it's garage sell weather again. A year ago I found my blessed frame and bought it for only 5$. That is amazing.

Luck struck again about a month ago when a good friend called me up and said that there was a bike abandoned at the dumpster downtown. I went to look at it that night and threw it in the back of the truck. I'll post a picture soon, it's perfect. So that it is my newest project... building a bike for miss perkins.

I hope to find many more garage sell jewels this season, and hopefully make/convert more bikes. There is something so rewarding about giving these bikes a second life. Plus it's fun taking stuff apart and putting it back together.

So far life on my fixed gear is awesome. I bike it to work as much as possible. I love it. As soon as I take some good picture of the finished product I will post them, it turned out so great. I love my bike so much.

For those of you who aren't in the know, I found the coolest thing surfing blogs the other day: yard sale treasure map powered by mapquest and craigslist.

wa la:

plan your yard sell trip so you know exactly where to go. Just download the garage sells in your area from craigslist... and the work is done for you! So cool. So so cool. Thank you internet Gods!

art

found this print, I love it

ooohhh, my bike is almost done

so let's see, it was back in May when I bought my bike to fix. It's now October, and my bike is a day away from being completed. Thankfully, my friend Mary told me about some of her friends that run this fantastic bike shop in orem called urban downfall. They did her bike for her, and since I am not really working on my own bike, I decided to turn it over to them. Jamison just called me and told me the paint job is done, and they will start assembling soon. I honestly can't wait, and have been waking up to dreams of my completed fixed gear bike all week long. Then in my inbox today REI had sent me 5 reasons why I should bike instead of drive:

1. the average Joe loses 13 lbs by biking

2. pedaling is better for the planet

3. you'll save major cash on gas

4. parking is free, so no more tickets

5. fresh air is the ultimate rush

So, yes, it's october, but I still plan on biking as much as possible, even as the weather gets cold. I love riding bikes. 

i <3 my hearts!

So last saturday Nathan found his frame, it was very exciting (I'm sure he'll blog about it himself, as soon as he realizes this blog exists). But we spent all saturday playing on our bikes. It was great because my mom even made us lunch and I felt like I was 6 years old again.

One of the coolest discoveries of the day was while Nate was stripping his bike down and I was sanding mine...

wa la! hearts!

Yes, those are hearts! I have hearts on my frame! I don't know how we missed them before! They make me so happy! I can't wait to paint my bike and ride it around... oh, if only my student loan would get here!

What color should I paint my hearts...

garage sell reject

I found the frame for my bike two weeks ago today at a garage sell across town. I was lucky because it was the only bike I found all morning that was even close to what I was looking for. And it was only 5 bucks!! It was a miracle! I had begun to think it hopeless trying to find a used road bike. Especially since the day before Nate and I had driven to every second hand store in the valley looking for good frames and didn't find a single one.

This bike is the prefect size... when I saw it standing all alone and sad at that garage sell, I knew I had to give it a home.


So that following week Nate took the whole thing apart:

This is when the brake was cut. Sha bui!

This is when Nate was happy he got that thing off.

This is when Nate was done.

Now I'm just dreaming for an awesome paint job and cool components. And thinking of ways to get money to make it happen as soon as possible.