Tighten that Crank Arm!

I was pedaling down Fairmount Ave. (because Spring Garden was all tore up for some reason), after Laura and I went to go show off our Cross x checks to Eric and Peter, and my non-driveside crank arm fell off.
I was already pedaling in these:
So it was impossible to even attempt riding with one crankarm with a knee that was less than one week out of being surgically operated on. I was really far from Bike Church so I decided to jam a random twig where the allen key goes and hope the crank arm would stay on until I got to Bike Church.

Conclusion: A Random branch works as well as an Allen Key for ~6 miles.

How many sassy cyclists does it take to put on a gatorskin?

Two.
damnit I hate those wire beaded kevlar-reinforced puncture-resistant tires! I mean, I love them, but damn are they hard to get on. I managed to get the rear one on myself last night when I was putting my fixie back together, but the front proved much harder (I think the Scotch-tape rim tape might have something to do with that...).
When Lenore got there we went at it together. It took the two of us and two tire levers to get it on. Kind of a funny scene, us sitting there with a wheel between us fighting with a tire.
(I know a lot of people are like DO NOT USE TIRE LEVERS TO PUT ON A TIRE! but I do it anyway. Maybe I'll stop when I pop a tube).

Cyclotrons: Story of the Crosscheck v2.0

So about a month ago, I only owned 2 bikes (2006 Jamis Quest and 2007 Jamis Coda). I started riding my road bike everywhere, which is not the smartest thing to do in PHL since the drivers are dicks, the peds are clueless, and a >$1000 bike is not guaranteed from thieves anywhere at any hour. For a general idea about the city of brotherly love from a biker's perspective click here. I hated the Coda, mainly because it was way too small. When I had bought the bike, I didn't know anything about bikes or such a procedure as getting fitted for a bike. But they sold it to me anyway.

I was on the prowl for another bicycle. One that would last me through the harsh North American winters, one that would handle my 22 mile commutes to school, and one that I could do a little trail riding on. So Chris from Trophy chimes in saying, "What you need is a cyclocross bike... Peter's selling his and it'd probably fit you." Every bike mechanic that I know from Trophy has a Surly Crosscheck so I knew their had to be some confidence in it.

Here's the complete Surly Crosscheck if you bought it stock:
My first problem with it is that it has bar-end shifters. Since the price of the geared bike is so close to the price of the singlespeed, it's almost worth it just to get the geared bike. At that time I was also thinking about getting a different fork since it weighs alot. The saddle and tires also had to be swapped out.

Even though I didn't know how to build a bike, I bought Peter's frame and fork anyway. Since I had to get an arthroscopic menisectomy on my right knee, I knew this bike had to be geared. I was also insistent on brake-shifters. So I decided that I should just take off the entire drivetrain from my Quest and put it on the X-Check. In the meantime, my friend helped me gather up an Shimano Ultegra groupo for my Quest. After that, I ordered some Salsa handlebars and stem, and a Fi'zi:k Gobi, which is Fi'zi:k's version of a mtb saddle.

Here it is almost complete (I'm sharing one wheelset for two bikes):
By the way, learning how to build up a bike is not hard. Go learn how to do it, then go teach someone else, and then we won't have to pay bike shops god-awful sums of money because no one ever showed them how to change a flat tire.

Once Upon A Time... (the story of the cross-check)

...I wanted a Surly Cross-Check. But I figured I'd just get one laterzzzzz. Cus you know, bikes are expensive and shit. But then Steve wanted a bike, so I spent many hours not doing work at work to look on craigslist for him. Finding a bike for Steve ended up costing me approximately $650 (probably more but I don't want to think about that). This is because I did not find a bike on craigslist for Steve, I found one for me.

Zack, a nice lad from Bicycle Therapy, happened to have acquired a brand new X-Check that was too small for him. Frame + fork + Ultegra cranks for $300!! OMG!!!111one!!11!
Here it is near my bed. I kept it there because it was so sexy I wanted to sleep with it:I thought I'd let it sit around a long while until I had $$ for parts, but I couldn't just let it sit there so I bought parts anyway, with money I should be, of course, saving. I picked out parts with Peter at the Trophy Garage, because Lenore was getting a X-Check too and told me that he was THE MAN (she did not use those exact words). Actually, I didn't really pick out parts with him. Basically he opened a catalog and pointed to stuff and I said "ok." Then he gave me a freewheel and a chain and brake levers. The chain and the freewheel were not the same size. Silly Peter.

I took the frame and fork back to the Garage to get the fork cut and the headset installed. They charged me too much.

I put it the rest of it together over the course of two nights at Bike Church. Kevin called me sassy while I was there. When I left to ride it I realized the bars, from which I had already cut a bunch off, were still MASSIVE.

Tonight Alex came over, and he cut them off with the crappy saw I have. Before he did so, he rode my bike down the hallway and tried to trackstand but fell into the wall, like so:

Then he cut the bars. Then he bent the saw:Then he cut the grips:Then he put the grips back on:
These photos make it seem like Alex did all the work on my bike. He didn't. He just did all the work tonight. I don't saw.
And then it was done.

[Insert Photo of Finished Bike Here]

THE END.

p.s. it is called Sexy Beast.