Nick’s quality of life index skyrockets

This boxing day, while Vancouverites were clogging the isles of Best Buy, Robson Street clothing outlets, and furniture stores, I headed down to Super Champion to take advantage of some more subdued bike shopping. Subdued, that is, because I was the only customer in the shop (this is winter, remember), and I was able to take some time with Tyler, the owner, to set up my newest acquisition: a Bare Knuckle frame. As anyone who knows me can attest, I’ve been a little bit burdened by my previous setup. A salvage road conversion that has had numerous patchups and modifications over the past 6 months, it left much to be desired in the weight department, as well as being a bit too small and overall, shall we say “low performance”. Wanting a bike that could provide the tighter geometry of a track bike but still be appropriate for city riding, tricking and so on, I had decided some time ago that Bare Knuckle was the way to go. As a step up from the entry level track frames, but still at a decent price point, this seemed like the way to go. Problem was, “decent price point” was still out of my range. Good thing I showed up at Super Champ on boxing day, and with the treatment I got, it felt more like Christmas. Tyler knocked a solid margin off the already “sale” price listed, and set out to make the rest of the build fit my budget. In order to transition my previous setup “Kill Whitey” into the new outfit, I would need a threadless headstet and stem, seatpost and bottom bracket. Tyler was more than understanding about my financial position (I think he’s used to helping out indigents like me), and agreed to put everything at a discount. In the end, my BK got a Miche Primato BB to go with my crankset, a Dura-Ace seatpost, a Ritchey Logic 1 1/8 threadless headset and a cheap unbranded stem (the latter two items will be first on my list to replace when I get a little more $$$). All told, the frame and components came in at about the price the frame was marked at when I walked in the door. Ty even threw in the labour for free, and when he noticed my chain was in rough shape, he threw in a new one free of charge. Class act!

Here’s the BK in all it’s glory:

In exchange for his acts of generosity, I gladly spent the better part of half an hour searching for a coffee shop to get Ty a cup. The reason being that, in his tired state, he cut my fork too short and had to find me a replacement. This came in the form of a Marinoni Evo Carbon Track fork, which is worth an exponential sum compared to the lugged steel fork that comes with the BK. I tried not to act too delighted at my windfall, as it was coming out of his pocket, and instead decided I needed to get him caffeinated for the rest of his day.

Now Kill Whitey is sitting in the back of the shop waiting for me to come get it and decide its fate. I’m thinking, since all it needs is a saddle, bars, cranks and a wheelset, I might build it up on the cheap next time I come to Van, and let it be my Vancouver bike. Either way, it’s not getting any action for the next couple of months.

Since this is going back to Toronto, I figured I better make sure SC gets the credit it’s due:

By the time the bike was ready to roll, I didn’t have too much time to test it out, but I did get to ride past crowds of weary shoppers on Robson St. (Toronto readers: think Yonge St.). The most amusing part of the day came when I heard a woman’s voice yell “nice fixie” as I cruised along Howe past Robson. Turning around, i was shocked to see the words coming from a middle aged woman! I guess fixed gear really is out of control in Vancouver.

My first real ride with the BK was late last night at “Midnight Mass”. Having heard it was a big ride where I’d get the chance to meet lots of serious riders, I was a bit skeptical leaving my house in the pouring rain. Sure enough, only 5 people showed, and 2 of them didn’t stick around long. Camillo and Nick (both messengers and regulars on the Fixed Vancouver forum) gave me a good ride around town. We started at Grandview Park (Commercial), heading down through the East Side to Crab Park, then towards the West End on the Seawall, around towards Yaletown and back to Main where I headed home. I got a couple of chances to really open up and the bike did not disappoint– it certainly felt like I was going faster than ever, even though I had about 10 pounds of water absorbed in my jacket, pants and shoes (jeans were a bad idea– both Camillo and Nick were wearing sensible tights and shorts, with shell jackets and hoods that fit over their helmets). After hours of riding, I was more waterlogged than I’ve been in quite a while, and ready to pack it in. Suffice to say, this is a life change that I am only beginning to feel. Stokesville!