Peugot High Fashion Fixies

Agatha Ruiz de la Prada

Kenzo Takada

Jerome L'Huillier

Antik Batik

Our French friends helped us fianance our war for indepence and gave us the Statue of Liberty. Now they're giving us high fashion means of independence. French and international designers have designed Peugot fixies that will be displayed at the premiere of the Cannes Film Festival and then be aunctioned off to benefit ACT Responsible. Happy Independence Day, everybody! And bon weekend!

Preppy Bike

via Bike Rumor

I'm not a Lilly Pulitzer fan, but I'm glad to see that fashion is still smitten with cycling. The Lilly Pulitzer x Van Dessel cruiser is available on the Pulitzer website for $450.

Lessons Learned: Juicy Details from the Maintenance Clinic

Okay I promised more educational matter to people linking from my Globe blog. So here it is: I learned how to evaluate inner tube damage. "Snake bites" refer to two slashes found in the tube where the rim has pierced/slashed it upon impact. This is common when you hit a pothole really hard. I don't have it in my notes, but I'm pretty certain that you ain't gonna fix snake bites with a patch. This is the moment where you're really going to wish you had a spare tube with you.

Small puncture holes could indicate a puncture cause by friction with the rim. Check the soundness of your rim tape. If you don't replace worn rim tape, don't think that a patch is going to do you much good for any significant length of time. You run the risk of another puncture until you get new rim tape.

A ragged hole that looks like it was caused by an explosion could have occurred because you ran over a nail (or something else sharp like that). *Always check the tire for debris. Run your hand around the inside of the tire casing. If you keep the tube lined up with the tire while removing it, it's easier to locate the problem area on the tire. Josh, the mechanic teaching the clinic, did this by removing the tube beginning at the valve area and keeping the valve area of the tube and the tire parallel the whole time that he was evaluating the tube and the tire.

This is all that I know, for now, that I know how to explain. I fixed my rear brake the other day (it's a linear pull brake). It was rubbing against the rim and making a loud noise, but I don't know how I fixed it. I just did what I thought I saw Josh do at the clinic. Sometimes you just have to have someone show you how to do things in order to learn. I hope that there is someone out there with bike wisdom that can teach everything that you'd like to know. Happy riding!

The Silver Lining of Bicyle Repairs

Since the Beginner's Maintenance Clinic, I have learned a lot about bikes. Not just from attending the clinic, but by applying what I've learned. After having Josh, the bike mechanic who assembled BB II, walk me through the hub assembly, I felt much more confident about understanding how my bike works. This confidence couldn't have come at a better time because when I got BB home she started acting funny again. (She must have been on her best behavior for Josh earlier at the shop). Betty ran perfectly as I rode her through parking lots behind Out Spokin' Bikes, but back at the house the shifting problems began anew. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened on the ride outside of the fact that I put my "sister", the chunky Yorshire Terrier, in the basket. I called Josh and he confirmed my suspicion that it wasn't Button's fault. I looked over BB II from the hub assembly to the cable adjustment bolt where I found the issue--there was a tear in the cable. That's my fault--when I was blindly trying to fix my bike before the clinic I tightened the cable adjustment bolt as much as I possibly could and the tension must have ripped it once everything else was in working order. Now I must have the cable replaced, but that gave me the idea to get all the cables replaced with blue ones (as seen below). Do you think they come in sky blue? Do you think I could get a white paint pen and put polka dots all over them (except where the cable feed into the gear shifter, of course)?

Photo of a bike by Public Bikes that I probably got in a press release and forgot about. I think it's the D3.