Pic taken by Tim while he was riding a keirin bike on a pro track in Japan (known as a 'keirin-jo' in Japanese; by the way, it's pronounced kinda like "kay-ling" or "kay-ring", not "key-rin" - that's the beer). Click pic for more pics from that visit.
Track Quotes:
(Overheard at a party in Dec. 08 by Leonardo Gianola):
When World - class cyclist Christiaan
Van Der Velde was asked "What would you recommend to a
junior rider to get better at cycling", he responded: "I think that all
juniors should ride the track; that is where you learn how to ride".
Frankie Andreu was also in attendance and commented on the same subject: "Racing on the track helps accelerate the learning curve in becoming a
good cyclist. Many of the top pros come from a track background and their
skills are hard to match compared to those who have never ridden the
track." |
You think doing tricks on your fixie is something new? Guess again; check out some guy on a fixie in 1899! (For details on this clip, go to the Library of Congress American Memory Collection and search for "Bicycle trick riding, no. 2")
Pic of the sign at Bloomer Park courtesy of the TripleCrankset blog
One of the many lovely fixies in the FixedGearGallery.com site
This is the logo for the Fixed Gear Symposium in Traverse City, MI!
Logo of the new magazine for fixed-gear fans.
|
Fixed Gear Fever...
By the growing numbers of fixed-gear bikes around MSU you'd think there's a revolution going on! Well, we might actually be behind the trend and are just catching up with the big city culture of fixed gear mania. Below are some links to some sites that might interest those of you into this or exploring getting into it.
We now stock most of the smaller parts for converting bikes to fixed-gear (track cogs & 1 spd. frwhls of various sizes, lockrings, 1-spd. chains (in various colors), conversion kits for 1-pc to 3-pc cranks), fixed/fixed wheel sets (silver & gold w/ more colors coming), bull-horn h-bars (Origin8), rubber track grips, lockrings (for both track and for doing the cheap fixed-gear conversion to a road hub), chain tensioners/ chain tugs, 1 spd conversion kits for free-hubs, and track-style pedals (Origin8). We can also special order anything (no shipping if you wait til we place our regular orders with our vendors). For those DIY’ers, we’re now stocking more tools too (pedal & crank wrenches, chain-whips, chain tools, etc.).
We also get a stack of every issue of Urban Velo magazines here in the shop that you're welcome to for free.
Fixed-gear News:
4/09: I'm (tp) one of a small group of volunteers organizing a vintage track & road event this summer at the Bloomer Park Velodrome, July 11 & 12th called the "Americane' Vintage Track & Road Bike Festival". The 11th will be primarily track-focused with vintage track racing events throughout the day in between top national-level pro track racing, the UIV/ NAS-TRACK INTERNATIONAL 3 DAY event. The 12th will be primarily road focused with a TT and road events being planned. Go here for more info. on the official Bloomer Park velodrome schedule. The official press release is here.
4/30/09: The 4th International Fixed Gear Symposium is on for August 5-8, 2009 (Wed thru Sat) in
Traverse City, Michigan, USA; " A Celebration of Cycling Simplicity - A Gathering of New Friends". It's organized by the guy behind the FixedGearGallery.com ; over 7,000 inspiring pics of fixies and tons of other info. Hope to see some of you there!
More Info:
- Check out this video of Lance Armstrong riding the ADT Velodrome in Dec. 08 dialing in his TT riding position and other key factors to help him regain his position in the lead of the pro peloton.
- Ride the real thing 90 mi. from E. Lansing: ride your fixie where it's designed to be ridden, on one of the newest and best velodromes in the USA: the Velodrome in Bloomerpark, Rochester Hills. Talk about a rush; the banking on the 200 m track ranges from 13° on the straights to 44° in the corners. The riding season starts in early May thru late September. If you don't have your own bike you can use one of their lovely loaners (newer Trek track bikes) for no charge your first time, then $10 thereafter. Beginners have to take their "Intro Riding Class 101" offered Saturday mornings.
- Sheldon Brown's (RIP) Famous Fixed Gear Conversions page & his "Fixed Gear for the Road" article explaining why go fixed.
- Bootleg Sessions - The Bootleg Sessions Project details the efforts of a globally diverse group of wayward cyclists as they attempt to prove one thing: there is an infinite number of ways to have fun on a bicycle. Ride/Relax. Watch their DVD trailer here.
- Cycle Messenger World Championships (CMWC), was in Toronto, June 13-16, 2008. It's the ultimate urban cycling competition. The strongest, smartest and fastest bike messengers from across the planet converge once a year to determine who is the best in a variety of events that test riders’ physical and mental limits.
- International Federation of Bike Messenger Associations - resources for bike messengers worldwide.
- Fixed-gear Testimonials (courtesy of Sheldon Brown's web)
- Interview with Tomity, a keirin professional (retired?) who has single-handedly brought keirin to the English-speaking world. Great background and FAQ kind of interview.
- KeirinBerlin.de - one of the first keirin-focused sites (shops) outside of Japan (I think). Great stuff, but way over in Germany.
- English Keirin brochure - 3 mb PDF of this quite recent brochure; excellent info., diagrams, charts, etc. (courtesy of TrackMania.de, a Japanese web site even though it has a German web address - go figure)
- Retro-Keirin pics, by yours truly (Tim). See where these fixed-gear bikes were meant to be ridden! Taken from my archives and collection of my in-laws. More coming soon.
- Pics of Tim's Visit to a Keirin-jo in Otsu, Japan (Aug. '08). Where fixies are meant to be ridden!
- the 'drome -tons of great pics and links to other tracks around the USA and world as well as other track related stuff.
- English translation of an official 1996 Japanese Keirin brochure - everything you wanted to know about keirin.
- More English info. on Keirin (courtesy of Keirin Berlin)
- Japanese Keirin ~ Sprinting Across Culture - November 11th, 2008, in depth article about keirin by Jonathan Woodroof.
Buying Track Stuff
- MSU Bikes stocks a lot of the small parts for your fixed gear conversion; we can also special order just about anything you might need.
- NJSFrames.blogspot.com - very active (looking) site for buying NJS/ keirin gear.
- sashae-framebank - this guy is all about Keirin (mostly) bikes; if you're lucky you can buy that ultimate fixie that no one else in the country will have from this guy.
- KeirinCulture.com - source for used keirin frames in the US. Their links page rocks; has most of the best fixed-relt'd sites out there.
- No Brakes, Atlanta's Track Bike Boutique - servicing the tracksters that call the Dick Lane Velodrome home.
Magazines
- COG Magazine - this awesome new magazine is all about the fixed-gear world and is just a work of art. It's large format, full color throughout and has great photos. We've got some samples of it in our shop; well worth getting your own subscription to help keep it going.
- Fixed Magazine - new magazine out of the UK; their first issue is available for free download (11 mb PDF). Comment from Bootleg Sessions blog: "The Fixed Gear London guys did an amazing job with this mag, I am blown away by how well it turned out. Lots of really good stuff in there about people who are bent on pushing the fixed format to the limit."
- Urban Velo - "Bicycle Culture on the Skids"
Videos
• So, you think you're daring for riding down Grand River Ave. at rush hour? Guess again! Check out the helmet-cam work of Lucas Brunelle in these amazingly crazy bike messenger videos.
• Amazing Bike Ballet - Amazing bicycle ballet quartet from Germany all on fixies.
• An incredible ballet-like dance of a German woman on a fixie
• Tokyo Skids - great video spoof on Tokyo Drift featuring some incredible fixed-gear riders in Tokyo.
• Watch the Bootleg Sessions DVD trailer here.
• "MACAFRAMA" - A new outrageous fixie movie is launching this summer. Thanks to COG for featuring this on their site!
