Project Sette Reken - It is Alive
As mentioned recently, Racer Boy Ian has outgrown his current mountain bike and required a replacement. As per my plan to keep him rolling on race ready gear for low dough, replacement means frame only, moving everything possible from one frame to another. And I do declare, the plan has been a success. Project Sette was bolted together and brought to life this very weekend, by yours truly. That be me, ex bike shop guy and all around goof ball.
For any and all interested, some Pics 'N' Words describing the build. Grab a Snapple and pull up a chair. The tour begins...
As to not repeat myself later - though probably will - except where noted, I moved all the old school XTR goodies, LX crankset, wheels, Fox fork - almost everything from the Performance frame to the Sette frame. A very low cost build up, especially considering the majority of components have now lived on four bikes. My Ellsworth Truth and Cannondale hardtail, then Ian's Performance Access and now Sette Reken. Shimano and Fox make some quality stuff, no doubt.
Shimano XT front derailleur that lived on my Cannondale for two years and still looks new. The XTR Ian was running didn't fit the thinner seat tube on the Sette. No problem, XT works just fine. Water bottle cage from used Redline 'cross bike we picked up last year. Reusing parts is the way to go whenever possible.
Beefy welds and gusset on the Reken frame. Race Face headset from eBay for $35. I didn't pay attention to the stack height and lucked out, everything just fits with two thin spacers on the precut 2004 Fox Talus fork. Sette stem and 'bars pulled from previous build, but originally came on my Sette Razzo 29er. XTR v-brake grabs Mavic ceramic rim, that spins on XTR hub. Older stuff that still gets the job done.
Old school XTR derailleur that still, uh, derails on command. The SRAM cassette and Shimano chain still usable. I did need to buy a Shimano pin to reassemble the chain, none to be found in my Pile-O-Parts. The Sette frame features a replaceable dropout, a must on the aluminum frame.
Looking pro like on the bike stand. New Panaracer XC Pro tires mounted, looking quite red. On sale from Price Point for $20 each. I also replaced all the cables for the new bike feel. Picked those up local from REI, retaining the budget build theme.
Nice looking welds in the BB area with plenty of mud clearance to boot.
To match the front, XTR v-brake and Mavic ceramic rim. Rear brake cable required full housing, since it shares mounts for the disk brake cable. Zip ties through provided slots keep cable in place - handy.
Nice Fizik saddle moved over from previous frame. Originally arrived on my Ibis Silk Carbon road bike. My butt prefers the old school Flite saddle, so I removed the Fizik - glad I saved it.
Sette branded seatpost pulled from garage stash, originally arrived on my Razzo 29er though never used. 27.2 size required for this frame. Really cool to pull stuff outta your Pile-O-Parts to keep the build rolling.
With Ian's Reken added to my Razzo 29er, we now appear to be Team Sette. Blurry photo as proof.
Overall, the build was a snap and went together with ease. I dig building bikes up from a bare frame and really enjoy projects like this. I also get a kick out of seeing my son ride something that I assembled. Doing it for low dough that doesn't require guilt factor from the family budget is also a plus. I hope it inspires other folks out there, riding and racing decent bikes doesn't have to be expensive.
Stay tuned from future Project Sette rides, races and updates...
Wileyx Romer II - Glasses Review
For cycling, sunglasses are more then just a fashion statement, they're a piece of gear. I rode for decades without eyewear, now can't imagine riding without 'em. Protection from the sun, bugs, branches, and wind. And yeah, they look cool and depending on the model say "Look at me, I'm a cyclist". Nothing wrong with that.
I only own one pair of shades at a time, so used on the bike and general street wear. They must have changeable lenses, since I use the clear lens for mountain biking and rainy day commuting. For many commutes here in the Seattle area, I'll use clear for the morning commute and dark lenses for the ride home. I'm also picky on the look, I don't care for the newer square styles. I dig the bigger rounded styles, which are getting harder to find.
For a few years I used the Rudy Project Ekynox model, now discontinued. They also proved a bit fragile and after snapping my second pair of 'em, didn't go for a third. While searching for a replacement, a fellow bike blogger recommended the Wileyx Romer. I never heard of Wileyx and checked 'em out online. I picked up a pair locally here in Seattle and put 'em into service.
Me testing the Romer shades and living my motto: Look Pro. Go Slow.
After two years of use, some thoughts and feedback. I dug the looks of 'em on and off the bike. The Romer kit came with multiple lenses - dark, clear and amber. I've never used the amber, but have swapped between the dark and clear a few zillion times. Once you get the knack, swapping lenses is literally a snap. The lenses have also proven to be durable; been cleaned countless times with not so perfect cleaning methods - bike jerseys, cloth towels, shirt and jacket sleeves, etc. Still clear with no scratching and extra bonus of no distortion. The frames themselves have also proven durable - been sat on, dropped, bounced around in a messenger bag, etc. I've never used the protective case that came the kit. So, plenty of real world use.
Just few minor distractions, though nothing serious. The nose pads aren't really adjustable, since they're molded into the frame. On me, the glasses are just a hair loose, though not enough to be a problem. They also fit better with helmet straps over the glasses, a styling faux pas for some roadie types. I've worn 'em both ways, straps over and under - usually under - especially for mountain biking.
Only other nitpick is when stowing 'em upside down in your helmet vents - doesn't really work. The arm design doesn't really grab anything and they slide around, unless I wear a cycling cap under my Giro helmet, which seems to hold 'em tighter against the inside of the helmet. At times, on a long road climb, or if the glasses are sprayed over with muck, I'll do the helmet trick. Maybe you never stick the glasses in your helmet, but I do occasionally.
Unfortunately, this review is also a bit of a obituary - since I lost my pair last week. They're nowhere to be found, could gave fallen out of my car door storage pocket. My theory anyway. I honestly don't lose things, so a rare occurrence, still a serious bummer. I paid around $90 for 'em, not looking forward to dropping that again to replace 'em. I will though, soon enough. Either with the Romer or something similar. Until then, will be riding bare eyed - like the good ol' days.
Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art Jumping!
Congratulations to the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art in Charleston, SC for winning the 2012 Elizabeth O'Neill Verner Governor's Award for the Arts-- South Carolina's most prestigious arts award! The staff and interns show their excitement :) Thanks for sending and keep up the great work, Halsey!
Apple Juice and Honey Glazed Salmon
Apple Juice and Honey Glazed Salmon
INGREDIENTS
2 skinless filets of wild salmon ( half a pound each)
1 bag of spinach
1 lemon cut in half
1/2 cup of apple juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoons white wine
1 tablespoon butter
olive oil
salt and pepper
DIRECTIONS
- preheat oven to 350
- in a small saucepan, add the apple juice and honey and let reduce
- once it's reduced, pour half over the salmon and let marinate for about 10 minutes or so
- heat a pan with about a teaspoon of olive oil, salt and pepper one side of the marinated salmon and heat for 2 minutes on one side
- brush the top of the salmon with some of the remaining reduced sauce and salt and pepper that side
- flip over and sear again for another 2 minutes and pouring the remaining sauce on the salmon and adding the lemon halves into the dish, skin side up
- transfer the pan into the preheated oven and let cook for 6 minutes
- while the salmon bakes, put the butter in another pan and add the spinach, pour the wine over and let wilt
- place spinach on a plate and put the salmon over it and squeeze the roasted lemon over everything
In the Colors with a Milk Swirl
We've been a sick house the past few days. Poor Coltrane was hit with some sort of bug that just wouldn't go away. I think he was just worn out from the Rodeo, mixed in with allergies and never recovering from two previous ear infections, but brotha was sick. I don't do well with being sick, when I'm sick, I still want my Mom to come take care of me. The 1,700 miles kind of get in the way of that... And, I may or may not have cried more than Coltrane did during these few days and may or may not have called the after hours nurse, a pharmacist and poison control within the course of 15 minutes yesterday. Some may call it dramatic but I just consider it passionate.
I'm surprised that the kiddos didn't slap me across the face and say, "Get your shit together woman!" In a way, Coltrane did do something of the sort. Since he wasn't eating, I thought it would be nice for me to try and bribe him with non other than McDonald's. He's like me, a fry guy and I thought surely he'll at least eat some french fries. WRONG. We were in the car and I sort of woke him up and handed him the fries and then went on my way to pick up Kingston from Kyle's work and all of a sudden, I felt something hit my head and then my shoulder and sho nuff, that little bugger threw some of his fries at me! He then went back to sleep and the only fries out of the carton were clinging to my hair.
Of course, thecrazy person that I am, I took some pictures of the poor sookie lookie loo when he was feeling his worst.
Feeling better!
Yet I digress, as usual. It has been beautiful here, I'm talking in the low 80s with a breeze, but we were cooped up in our house with the bambino. Poor Kingston too - one of the hard parts when one child is sick is making sure the other one is still getting enough attention and occupying his time with fun crafts without throwing him in front of the tv. So, wanting to keep Coltrane out of the pollen/cedar filled air for one more day as a precaution, I reluctantly turned to Pinterest. I'm kidding here, I LOVE Pinterest.
This involves milk, food coloring, tooth picks and dish soap. You pour milk into a tupperware container and then add drops of the food coloring throughout and dip your tooth pick in the soap and then drag and swirl it through the drops in the milk. We did it a bunch of times, at first the boys got overzealous and just mixed everything together so that the milk just turned a weird taupey green color. Once they got the hang of it, they had a lot of fun.
All's well that ends well. In our case, Coltrane back to his normal self threw a fit because I took away the food coloring that he wanted to "hold".
I'm surprised that the kiddos didn't slap me across the face and say, "Get your shit together woman!" In a way, Coltrane did do something of the sort. Since he wasn't eating, I thought it would be nice for me to try and bribe him with non other than McDonald's. He's like me, a fry guy and I thought surely he'll at least eat some french fries. WRONG. We were in the car and I sort of woke him up and handed him the fries and then went on my way to pick up Kingston from Kyle's work and all of a sudden, I felt something hit my head and then my shoulder and sho nuff, that little bugger threw some of his fries at me! He then went back to sleep and the only fries out of the carton were clinging to my hair.
Of course, the
Even though I had talked with a RN, pharmacist and poison control, I was still glued to WebMD... loco
Feeling better!
Yet I digress, as usual. It has been beautiful here, I'm talking in the low 80s with a breeze, but we were cooped up in our house with the bambino. Poor Kingston too - one of the hard parts when one child is sick is making sure the other one is still getting enough attention and occupying his time with fun crafts without throwing him in front of the tv. So, wanting to keep Coltrane out of the pollen/cedar filled air for one more day as a precaution, I reluctantly turned to Pinterest. I'm kidding here, I LOVE Pinterest.
This involves milk, food coloring, tooth picks and dish soap. You pour milk into a tupperware container and then add drops of the food coloring throughout and dip your tooth pick in the soap and then drag and swirl it through the drops in the milk. We did it a bunch of times, at first the boys got overzealous and just mixed everything together so that the milk just turned a weird taupey green color. Once they got the hang of it, they had a lot of fun.
All's well that ends well. In our case, Coltrane back to his normal self threw a fit because I took away the food coloring that he wanted to "hold".
Who Made Your Bike?
The whole bicycle industry marketing schtick interests me. Especially since carbon fiber is now king and most - if not close to all - production frames are constructed off-shore. A few hours of Google searching will score you factory names and who-has-what-made-where. I've joked before that you're really paying for Paint 'N' Stickers. Some stickers appear to be worth more then others. In some cases, a lot more.
I was reminded of this fact after reading an interesting post by Dave Moulton today off his excellent blog. His post with links to interesting articles in Cycling IQ and The Inner Ring. Basically describing how just a few factories in China and Taiwan produces the majority of production frames you'll spot on the bike shop floor.
For the hard core, cycling is a lifestyle or way of life. We like to think some old school racer is hunched over the alignment table, constructing your frame, years of knowledge passing into the very tubes that support your efforts. In reality, for production frames anyway, probably not the case. And it probably wasn't the case back when steel frames ruled the world. Still, the dream lives.
Is there anything wrong with that? Not really. Production frames ride just fine and modern carbon frames quite well. Some are pretty damn fantastic. As long as the price is reasonable, not a bad deal. When you suspect your $4000 carbon frame is not all that different from the $1000 frame, things get a little fuzzy. Like I mentioned, really expensive stickers.
A side benefit-backlash against the attack of cookie cutter carbon frames, has been the surge of small builders, usually working with steel. The illusion of bike obsessed dude hunched over the alignment table is then in fact real. You can even visit his shop and fret over pump peg mounts, seat tube angle, and fork rake to your heart's content. The dream does still live.
Options abound. Go with the incredibly well riding production bike. Or with ridable art constructed by the local craftsman. Many choices and no wrong answer.
Valentine's Day Party
Here are a few pictures from Kingston's Valentine's Day party at school from the other week :)
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