Ride Lugged

ok here we go.  my best of list.  that will make this blog more like cosmo or something.

i’d love to see a best of list from everyone, although most people are too lazy.  cory, nick…

Best road bike:   not saying i like the bits, just the frame.  more on bits below

why a sachs frame?  1.  location.  he’s representing on the east coast.  2.  his bikes win races, which not too many steel frames do these days.  3.  He uses panels.  4.  no gimmicks.  5.  consumate craftsmanship.  6.  dont have to waffle over paint choices.

best cross bike:

I dont know.  Too many to pic from.  Sachs again, vanilla if you want a pretty bike, vicious is you want a steel bike thats light as shit, on something of a budget…

Best Mtn Bike for normal guy riding:

ok i have a bias here.  I had a vicious mtn bike, which was great but the top tube was too short, putting me over the bars alot.  It rode great though, in terms of ride quality and general snappyness.  So I looked for a bike with the same tubing, and lo and behold…the 1993 bridgestone mb-1.  that heap up there isnt mine.  but it rides great, its japanese, its lugged, its a horrible white color, its strong, and it cost less than 1/5 of a new vicious on ebay.  and its a fucking bridgestone.  cummon.  I had to complete my collection.  ok its not complete. I still need a RB-1, which I will one day get shaun cheney drunk enough to give me, and an rb-t, which would be super hot, but are super rare.

Best rando bike:

full custom, perfect everything.  no website.  new england based.  maybe brazed my whitcomb.  probally not.

Best loaded touring:

Can I speak french?  No.  Can I afford to fly to France to get fitted?  No.  Does that make this bike less hot?  No.  Any bike that I cant even afford to get fitted for, thats made by someone my grandfather’s age, in Paris, with custom everything, that looks this good, is….  I dont know.  Trump Tight?  Alex Singer…

Best Lug work:

Oswald gets my vote cause his lug work is very clean, very organic, fancy without being over the top ala baylis or hetchins, and unique.  Also, he is from PA, just a few hours from my casbah.  And his work remains affordable, with low wait times.

Best current road cranks:

This is hard.  Really hard.  Almost all my favorite cranks are no longer made.

TA alize cranks arnt made any more, but they are the most modern crank I can approve of, that uses a 130BCD.  Better selection in 110.  You’ll see.  Why it gets the vote:

Ta has a satin finish that no one but sun tour could touch.  And even suntour just barely got it right, in comparison.  Lots of lengths.  Lowish Q.  Square taper.

Best contempoary touring cranks:

Sugino Alpina, not shown with granny, not shown with square taper, although both are availible.  Also:  needs silver rings.  I just learned this is also made in a 130bcd, at least in Japan, so it gets my vote over the TA cause you can still potentially buy it.  Nice enough silver finish, better than the oh so popular xd cranks.  Classic styling, nice blend between a low pro and high pro look.

Best old mtn cranks:

Kooka woulda had my vote, but my broke, so er…  I have a pair of these, in silver, which are light, have an interchangable spider, and look great.  These, on ebay, kinda look beat, but would look nice on a stealth cruiser.

Best contemporary mtn cranks:

please ignore the pedal and the lack of a granny.  Middleburns have an interchangable spider: good.  They have silver arms.  Great.  They have a lifetime no questions asked warrenty against breakage, for everything, trials, dirt jumping, DH…  They are silver.  They are silver.  No one makes silver mtn cranks anymore.  They are made in England.

OK, more later.  oh and we need to start a worst of everything column.