Free Bicycle Purchasing Advice from the Wrong Person.

Pete, creeping me out., originally uploaded by ( kurtz ).

"Can you recommend a nice bicycle for me?"

I get this question every once in a while, so I'll can it here for future reference. As you can see, I do my best to absolve myself of accountability in the face of customer dissatisfaction. This particular response deals with Road Bikes (the last road bicycle I owned was in high school - a Western Flyer 200lb piece of cast iron I won in the local newspaper subscription sales contest):

If I were buying a road bike, I'd look at and try out a few different new frames. Especially to see if i'm more comfortable with traditional or compact frame styles. And then I'd look on craigslist or ebay for that same frame style in a 1-2 year old model (probably more C-list than ebay so i could actually go see the ride in person/test it out).

Because components are so expensive, buying used seems to be the way to get the best gear on a bike (ie, Ultegra vs. Shimano 105, wheel upgrades, etc). Plus a lot of really well off people tend to buy expensive bikes and find out they don't like riding, so they'll use them very little and sell when bike season begins. Their mistakes can be your opportunities.

This, of course is only one way to shop. You can also just buy within your budget New, knowing that a shop will do your tuneups for life (or they should - it would help to ask). And then you can upgrade components as you wear parts out / budget it in.

As you can tell, I stayed away from dropping name brands. I just don't know who is really great when it comes to road bikes. Even with MTB or track bikes, you can really fall in love with a frame because it's what you ride all the time, and the seatpost/saddle/bearing/brakes are dialed in to what you like. But since that's your only reference point, you can't draw from the experience of riding a few thousand miles on a potentially better frame.

Dear Shimano Cycling N America,

upgrade?, originally uploaded by ( kurtz ).

Your website makes quite a claim about the quality of your Dura-Ace products:

"Top of the line performance for serious cyclists... "

Based upon my experience, "top of the line performance" does not include 14T track cogs lasting over 4,500 miles. Maybe I'm not serious enough. Yeah, that's got to be it. Because had I paid full retail for your cog, I would be Seriously heated right now for blowing my investment.

Let's hope this 15T cog from the same line lasts at least 10k miles, considering I'm giving up about 6 gear inches.

"Three key words have emerged as the theme for the latest DURA-ACE system: Speed, Smooth and Strength. '100% Power Transmission' is the goal pursued by the fusion of these three concepts. Lance Armstrong used Dura-Ace to win the Tour de France seven consecutive times."

I'm pretty sure he wasn't riding that same DA groupo all 7 years.

I hope you all choke on your smug sense of self-satisfaction, you jerks.

Sincerely,

- R. Kurtz -Bicycle Commuter

the omega man

charlton heston, originally uploaded by c_theokas.

From Family Guy episode "And the Weiner Is," during a Gun Club's family firearms safety video:

"Did you know Jesus and Moses used guns to conquer the Romans?"

Alley Cat April 12th

Liberty Alley Cat , originally uploaded by ( kurtz )

Race by Wes. More details to come.

13

spoke cards, originally uploaded by ( kurtz ).

Race is based upon "The Clash of the Titans." Checkpoints will be various statues in Norfolk, Ghent, ODU, and Portsmouth. It's called Medusa's Revenge because "The Statue Race" is pretty boring. The manifest will ask specific questions about the statues or their dedication plaques to ensure good sportsmanship.

Winning the race will depend on your knowledge of the Portsmouth Ferry schedule and landing points, which could subtract or add 30 minutes to your time.

13 checkpoints over a minimum of 13 miles (not including ferry travel distance).

The red ones will be single-sided Spoke Cards. The full color will be backing for the double-sided Prize Cards.

And, yes, I did find all 3 prizes for next Saturday.

. . . and here comes pride in the backstreatch

Norfolk Bicycle Race, originally uploaded by ( kurtz ).

That's right. The statue race has a name. Hopefully people will show, and hopefully they will have fun.

Many thanks to David in Portsmouth for all his help.

See you there!

papa's got a brand new bag

papa's got a brand new bag , originally uploaded by ( kurtz ).

(or at least new to me)

my 3 year-old backpack's finally on it's last seams. 12 seasons of biking, hiking, falling, grocery runs, rain, submersion, dragging, and dog-chewing are at an end.

finally, it was time to grab one of those waterproof backpacks I so covet. as always, budget was a big concern, so I searched the Russian Roulette marathon that is Craigslist. friday afternoon, I sent a USPS money order to Portland, OR, and by yesterday, Wed nite, I got my bag back via UPS. a 4 month old, perfect-condition bag, purchased at 50% of Retail. no small feat for a product from a bag company who, based upon my research, never has sales.

i celebrated by new acquisition with a little grocery shopping. afterwards, i tooled around Naro Video looking for an old Cronenberg flick for about half an hour.

by the time i got home i noticed i had been adjusting my posture repeatedly to compensate for the load. obviously, i'm not an Army Ranger hucking 80lbs of gear around 40 hours a week.

so, i checked the difference weight on the bathroom scale: 47 lbs

- bike chain (usually around my waist)
- 3 packets of Kung Pao powder
- can of peanuts
- stick of Pepper Jack cheese
- 2 cans of Campbell's Chunky
- 2lb bag of plain Grits (insert redneck joke here)
- floor mop replacement sponge
- bag o' oranges
- 2.5lbs of chicken breast
- 12 pack of Miller Lite, to replace what i've stolen from Michelle
- 3 dvd's - Hiroku the Goblin, Hedwig & the Angry Inch, The Brood
- 5lb bag of Kokohu Rose Sushi Rice (so much better tasting that long grain, imho)

hopefully i'll get stronger and faster riding loaded down. the bag is freaking huge, though, and i found myself tucking the Wings for the morning commute, to accommodate for the occasional shoulder-check.

i think i'm satisfied, but i do feel that this may be a bit much on the summer morning commute, considering the sweat-in-business-clothes factor. we'll see...

and I get to pose as a bicycle courier, telling tall tales of death-and-traffic-defying mortgage document deliveries. for joy!

back on the horse?

back on the horse?, originally uploaded by ( kurtz ).

It looks like my roommate wants to shoot some Divine-days John Waters-style filthy trash. That means costumes, locations, and bodies. Fantastic.

Also, I just bought a discount calendar of old Pulp novel covers. Hopefully I can do some awesome recreations, maybe with women fighting robots and ninjas to save dudes in peril.

Top pic is a still from Bob Tomecular's documentation of my shoot for ALIVE. Bottom is the resulting frame I shot.

planning

planning, originally uploaded by ( kurtz ).

finally got close to the crane structures on the Portsmouth side of the Elizabeth river, thanks to David, a bike commuter. hopefully i'll be able to re-shoot this at night, with something like a naked savage sneaking up to catch a glimpse of a sleeping god. and not get arrested.

Russians !!!

Russians !!!, originally uploaded by ( kurtz ).

About a month ago, a Moscow woman emailed me asking to print 2 of my photos poster-sized for her home.

I agreed to send the high-res files, in exchange for a pic of the blowups with some sort of Russian publication in frame to show off my new Eastern block fanbase (yeah, i know, anyone can buy a Russian book online - don't poop on my beachtowel, okay?!?).

Here's Sasha, with her copy of Matt, Punching and her husband Joe with a blowup of Roxanne and Matt. I'll be sure to send Matt his Ego Cookie.

Oh, and take a look at this shot in large. This is the biggest print I've seen of a Canon 8.2mp file, and it looks freaking awesome (about 24" x 36" ? ). I can't wait to start printing my own poster-sized prints.

Thanks so much, Sasha and Joe; you made my day!