Down with Skelly?

what I wore

2012-01-06T09:44:00.005+11:00

yesterday morning was -10ºc

i think this is the coldest i have ridden in but i came prepared and i think i have it nailed.

this is what kept me toasty.

my marino Rapha jersey, year round the best piece of clothing i own
Specialized thermal full leg tights
lycra arm warmers
thin uniclo cashmere jumper
chrome shorts, more for modesty than warmth but they keep a bit of the wind of my legs
angora sox ... thanks KT
sidi diablo mtb shoes, i think these are the most expensive shoes i own but have goretex and winstopper layers and the shit in cold weather
extra woolen gloves, pulled up to the elbows
new king kog jacket, thermal, wind proof and mean looking
marino cap with ear flaps
lid
wind, water proof thermal gloves
skull mask, this created condensation that froze in my beard but protected my neck and chin from the elements
riding glasses (not in picture)

cranksgiving

2011-11-20T13:58:00.003+11:00

rode my first alley cat today
slightly lost on 3 of the 7 stops and i think i picked abit of a dud route
heaps of fun and bought heaps of food for poor people

http://cranksgiving.org/2010/

ouchage

2011-11-12T04:20:00.000+11:00

put my bike into a fence, it's getting better now but this is how my hand looked 4 days later

new toy, it's got breaks ...

2011-10-30T08:00:00.003+11:00

... and gears

white gloves

2011-09-06T12:17:00.002+10:00

rode out to fort tilden, was not a too sunny out but ended up scorched complete with crochet patterned knuckles ... ouch

big in japan

2011-07-28T07:18:00.004+10:00

google translation of skelly on a Japanese blog
http://fixedgear.naturum.ne.jp/e1256482.html

street view

2011-07-06T04:45:00.000+10:00

nokier+skelly

2011-07-02T07:33:00.002+10:00

skelly and nokier sent in from germany ... hot

new wheels

2011-07-02T07:01:00.001+10:00

hard-ano h plus son formation face rims built onto my phill hubs

also replaced the seat with a my san marco regal off greenie and a new set back tompson post to get some extra length out of the frame

4 boro loop

2011-05-29T13:03:00.003+10:00

sunny saturday ride, trough brooklyn, queens, bronx and back down the west side highway
40k (felt like 60 over these shite roads) ... also ended up with some bizare fingerless glove sun burn

yok on the walls of 5 points in long island city

mighty ducts in astoria

Jeff Soto in chelsea

post ride snack at Crif dogs ... tube steak with cheese and onion and a tsunami dog wrapped in bacon with pineapple and spring onio

a map

ave a bike workshop

2011-05-04T12:57:00.000+10:00

switching bars on the floor outside our apartment

skelly + ny bitches

2011-04-25T10:16:00.001+10:00

skelly, gaga + indie on mulberry

yonkers

2011-04-11T23:21:00.003+10:00

60kms pretty much straight north on broadway with a lap of the park, through harlem and the bronx to yonkers at the start of the hudson valey

1 car crash
1 guy getting arested
cricket
show jumping
rain
3x rivers
2x police road blocks
1 presidential motorcade

i knew this sign existed and is where i was headed, when i got there i discovered that you could only see it from new jersey so here is a photo taken by someone with a boat

rock rock rockaway beach

2011-03-21T02:57:00.002+11:00

61km return to what i just found out looking at the map was not quite Rockaway beach

Rills park just west of Rockaway...

it wasn't untill i stopped here that i noticed the gale force wind that had been blowing at my tail the whole way in... it's going to be a long ride home

this plaza is set on the beach, the flag pole in the center is aligned with the empire state building (that's that little lump in the back between those trees)

also just read that this beach and bathhouse is another Robbert Moses site from the late 30's, he planned it as the peoples beach. he cops alot of shit for being pro car and anti people but the man knew how to build a public space.

pothole

2011-03-18T00:43:00.002+11:00

the DOT had just finished pulling a small mini van and 3 live sheep out of this pothole when i took this photo

2011-03-12T07:48:00.002+11:00

Matt Furie

monday loop

2011-02-23T07:37:00.001+11:00

nice loop that took in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan, 3 bridges and some park

not spring just yet

2011-02-23T02:41:00.004+11:00

so it was t-shirt weather on friday but we got 4-5 cm on sunday night and the bridge had this 5mm layer of compact powder when i went for my ride on monday, a bit slippery and really good for skids.

2011-02-19T02:20:00.002+11:00

rode in this morning with no hat, no gloves, no jacket and my summer shoes ... bring it on (until tuesday)

gereral filth

2011-02-12T04:51:00.002+11:00

caked up dirt grit and salt exclusively from of riding on the road... fiilth

more snow

2011-01-30T10:15:00.003+11:00

bike throw at Astoria aquatic centre

skelly x2

2011-01-30T10:13:00.001+11:00

lost my shit over this 4 eyed skelly in Astoria, Queens

australia day hat

2011-01-30T10:12:00.000+11:00

australia day

2011-01-27T03:03:00.002+11:00

outside our apartment mid blizzard just before leaving for work.
sketchy in spots where the snow had been compacted by cars, turned this weird texture that kinda grabs your wheels. also a couple of deeper drifts on 8th ave that were above my rims but was powdery enough to just glide through.

get down

2011-01-22T08:31:00.001+11:00

13th street

2011-01-13T01:28:00.002+11:00

looking up 13th street before leaving for work this morning.
pretty much all soft powder, even the brown bits hadn't turned to slush yet so my tyres pretty much cut through to the road for the most part.
think i would only want to ride fixed on this kind of day, could ease over the sketchy stuff and actually stop which was good because my front break pretty much iced up and stopped working by 3rd ave.

summer

2011-01-11T08:35:00.001+11:00

an old photo stoled from kt of our rides parked out side a bff event last year

prospect

2011-01-04T14:50:00.002+11:00

it wasn't my planned ride for the day but some how i ended up doing laps back and forth across the meadow at prospect park today ... did 3 crossings over the snow, ice and mud.
fell of in a drift that was deeper and softer than the rest and did a lot of wheel spinning but i think at least some of my fear of snow is gone

brakes gummed up with snow and mud

salt stains from the ride to the park ... it's going to be a messy winter

winter bike lane

2011-01-04T14:43:00.002+11:00

are really hard to ride in ... good news though is with the lanes this fucked up cars don't get so agro when you ride on the road propper

grin

2010-12-09T03:41:00.001+11:00

rugged up on howard street about to climb some bridges
photo: KTJ

sheeps head bay

2010-12-06T08:52:00.002+11:00

feels like the first time i've been out and not wanted to take my jacket off ... hat with flaps, neck warmer, wool jersey, arm warmers, gloves, jacket, calf length shorts, knee high sox and still too cold.
frozen fingers and toes by the time i made it to the water and then turned for home into an icy headwind and cracked the sads. only made it to ave y before heading for a train station.
snow is forcast for tonight so it's only going to get worse so i'm starting a new shopping list

- windstopper booties or anything to save my toes
- ear flaps or a better hat
- leg warmers

rogue skelly

2010-12-05T13:30:00.003+11:00

spotted this in lower east side this arvo. one of my bones stickers pealed off where i left it and transferred to this bike ... might have to go back tomorrow and add some more

central park after dark

2010-12-01T10:00:00.005+11:00

back in ny and back on the streets, i forgot how insanely loud it is, police with whistles, crazy people yelling at each other, movie sets and so many car horns.
rode up to central park for a wet lap at dusk (4:30pm)

2nd ave around 45th, note the wobble in the motion blur from the shithouse road not drunken camera skills

buller part 2

2010-11-20T16:52:00.003+11:00

(click for google maps)

my favorite part of this map is the scribble around the 12k marker where we did laps of the bike skills park and the fact that it took us 4 hours to ride just under 20k

map courtesy of aron!

buller

2010-11-20T12:03:00.004+11:00

hired 2 new very capable dual suspension mountain bikes from mansfield and hit the trails and bike park at mt buller.

view from the actual picnic table half way back up misty twist... not to be confused with the flat area at the top of misty twist that is called 'picnic table' but has no tables to speak of

aron hitting one of the seesaws and the step down board walk thing in the skills area

muddy p.3

2010-11-17T19:24:00.002+11:00

muddy p.3 after a trip round yarra trails in kew.
a single speed in such a low gear, 2.7cm tyres and soft soft forks were a real shock to the system but so much having the feeling that you can ride up or over anything

pre ride lunch

2010-11-16T20:49:00.003+11:00

post ride cough'n'spu

at the car wash

2010-11-15T23:14:00.001+11:00

turning up the pink with the high pressure hose

pinkie in melbz

2010-11-09T19:11:00.002+11:00

spin into town for a beer and a snag, checked out some lanes and got a slurpee to match the grips

bones at hell motel

2010-11-09T19:09:00.000+11:00

back fence

2010-11-09T10:49:00.000+11:00

looks like it needs a fresh coat

13th street bike workshop

2010-10-10T04:58:00.001+11:00

No room to work inside so I set up shop in the street. Some boxes for a bike stand and bins for a work bench worked surprisingly well.

Fresh tyres for winter - specialized armadillos ... 23 front, 25 rear
Clean and lubed drive train
Adjusted and cleaned front brakes

skelly + unisphere

2010-10-05T05:25:00.004+11:00

i am totally fascinated by the unisphere. designed by a landscape architect built by bridge makers and payed for by a steel company. it's 12 stories high, weighs 400 tonnes and has complex foundations to stop it from sinking into the marsh land.

unisphere

2010-10-05T03:13:00.003+11:00

sunday afternoon ride to flushing meadows to see the unisphere from the 1965 worlds fair, was an even 32km ride that felt alot longer because of the headwind, traffic and nasty road

Another bike lane

2010-09-30T23:36:00.000+10:00

Didn't know how to make a sign out of this so here's the photo
Truck parked over the lane, scaffold on one side and the 2 lane on ramp to the bqe on the other ... Extra points for the puddle of filth

dumbo

2010-09-30T13:25:00.000+10:00

white sox

2010-09-30T00:34:00.001+10:00

after lap of central park in the rain ... was covered head to toe with little grains of new york

1st and 14th

2010-09-15T23:15:00.002+10:00

i passed this on my way home after i had been drawing my signs

pile of boxes
another delivery truck
verizion doing some work

a skate boarder also came past (going the wrong way) as i was taking this snap but he cam out all blurry

century bike tour

2010-09-14T01:27:00.004+10:00

up at 5:30, on the road by 6, home by 12
ended up being about 100k, tons of fun, a little rain and sore legs

map

shit rule

2010-09-11T00:40:00.004+10:00

another nyc road rule to ignore

nyc bikelane signes

2010-09-10T05:29:00.008+10:00

i made some signs to help the department of transport label their new bike lanes along 1st ad 2nd ave

bars on

2010-09-04T08:17:00.003+10:00

allen keys. wire cutters, hair spray and a little grease and skelly is now a flat bar machine.
did a couple of laps around central park this arvo fo a test run and it rides like a dream, breaks actually work (although looking at this photo i noticed that one of the pads is upside-down... oops) and the extra 10 mm on the stem save my back some pain, now just need gloves ... ouch

more bits

2010-09-04T08:11:00.003+10:00

for the flat bars

eastern grips and plugs (panic purchase ... shit colour and too spiky)
soma brake leaver (left over from kt's bike... wrong side, wrong size, doh)
paul e-lever, really pretty cnc'd 1 finger lever
shop soiled oury grips (snap)
kraft nuts peanut butter (air mail via choppy)
multi tool
cold coffee
junk mail

ready to go

flat bars

2010-09-03T08:09:00.002+10:00

flat bars for winter (getting ready early) ... lino bars and black nito pearl stem (90mm) from the boys at chari.
will be a shame to put a break and leaver on these guys

photo from the billy-berg bridge because it looks better than my kitchen table

put a break on it

2010-09-03T00:57:00.002+10:00

starting the winter setup ... got a break again, and way too much cable, the return is kinda shonky but is better than nothing as far as safety first goes.

skelly mcgee

2010-09-03T00:25:00.008+10:00

at new barry mcgee mural on houston at bowery, a similar piece was commissioned in san jose by a local government arts organisation but then removed due to public outcry over tax payer funded graffiti.
really hope this lasts longer

interesting facts:
#1. barry mcgee and keith haring are the only 2 people that have been allowed to paint the water window at the NGV on st kilda road, this wall was once painted by keith haring and has also been a keith haring tribute

#2. this wall is also the spot where obey installed his may day mural, this mural was subsequently trashed by adek among others. the san jose wall contains a shout out to adek, this wall does not

#3. this wall and the os gemeos wall (that is still behind the boards) both have an 'iz the wiz' tribute in roughly the same spot

cloudy with a chance of showers

2010-08-24T23:31:00.002+10:00

that's actually a flat out lie, the weather report was showers turning into afternoon thunderstorm
but thought we would chance it for a ride to prospect park anyway.

the sky opened up when we hit the bridge, here is a vid of KT on the exit ramp on the Brooklyn side

why i like custom things

2010-08-10T06:26:00.000+10:00

fags

2010-08-05T15:02:00.003+10:00

accidentally bought the same tops from the rapha pop up store
oh well, excellent sunday afternoon ride across the GWB to the Palisades with surprise guest Kaleb on his rented 'hummer' bike

prospect park 11:30pm

2010-08-05T05:36:00.002+10:00

iphone photo of a pretty much empty park on my bike vs. train race last night from park slope to east village ... bike won but only by a smidge

winner

2010-07-28T05:38:00.003+10:00

skelly wins the gormley photo contest, here is a shit photo of my prize

http://blog.acehotel.com/post/819520988/gormleycontest-week16

skelly stickers

2010-07-01T09:04:00.001+10:00

just got these from the printers

event horizon

2010-07-01T05:43:00.002+10:00

hanging out in maddison square park with Antony Gormley
awesome exhibition www.eventhorizonnewyork.org

pothole report

2010-07-01T05:39:00.002+10:00

rode in to this one last night, popped out in china and had to catch the red eye to make it back to nyc in time for work

the bike'm not going to build

2010-06-15T07:47:00.002+10:00

here is how the bike i'm not going to build could look
chrome tips, chrome lugs, white bars, red grips

yellow lion #5

2010-06-08T07:28:00.004+10:00

there are so many reasons why i cant do another bike but but an equal amount why this could be so amazing

yellow and chrome frame

red wheels

white grips

black components

tacky voltron #5 graphics allover the place

roa

2010-06-03T23:18:00.002+10:00

back riding again after about a month on the sidelines. Found this roa piece in brooklyn on the way home yesterday... saw his show at factory fresh good to see some out in the wild

stackage

2010-05-15T00:36:00.004+10:00

here

steep ramp (is steeper than it looks ... really) that comes out on a blind corner, foot poped out trying to slow to a complete stop before the road, weight shifted, handle bars twisted and i went over the front ... full flip onto my back.

coulda been worse, was able to ride away and did not have a backpack full of laptop
here is the aftermath

potholes

2010-05-07T01:57:00.003+10:00

first in my collection documenting ny's awesome roads
e56st at lexington

redhook

2010-05-05T13:32:00.004+10:00

full tilt & brakeless, somewhere round lap 4
(note warriors tag in the background... tough)

via

queens

2010-04-27T07:22:00.002+10:00

few snaps from my (sometimes) daily ride through queens

ride'n

2010-04-25T09:49:00.002+10:00

paramount is up and out on the road, still having trouble getting a back brake so for now it's running fixed.
sexy bike, even this Swedish tourist agrees

i can has stickers

2010-04-22T04:55:00.003+10:00

band of stickers to mask/prevent scratches from my locks.
(still taken from a flip cam video shot on 1st ave this morning... more to come)

lumber jacks

2010-04-01T14:43:00.003+11:00

not bike related in the slightest and totally ridiculous ...

yellow seat

2010-03-29T05:30:00.001+11:00

yellow sued san marco concor saddle complete with world champ stripes to match the decals on the frame, feels like it'll be super comfy too

more bits

2010-03-22T10:44:00.001+11:00

nito pearl stem, nito riser bars and yellow strong-v grips

ird

2010-03-22T10:39:00.003+11:00

reproduced to look like 70's campag by ird these should be perfect for the vintage of the frame

paramount

2010-03-22T10:35:00.004+11:00

here are some better photos of the paramount frame taken by kt, there is some minor chips to some of the decals but otherwise everything is really pretty... the finish, the lugs and drop outs are all amazing

the plan

2010-03-22T10:13:00.002+11:00

the plan has been set, polished silver with some yellow trim

snow + salt + rain + dirt

2010-03-16T13:58:00.006+11:00

spring

2010-03-08T05:56:00.002+11:00

sun is out, the snow is mostly melted, headed out for a saturday spin, the plan was coney island but i was lost before i even left manhattan, headed south through grimy bedford-stuyvesant, crown heights then into super surban midwood and through to sheeps head bay.

such a quick transition between neighborhoods, upper class jewish familys in fur coats and fuzzy hats on the way back from temple and kids playing football in the front yard on block one then a black kid who had just been punched in the face on the next.

hit the water at the end of bedford ave and followed it to plumb beach for a can of fizzy drink, would have liked to get to rockaway beach... next time

map

holy fuck

2010-03-03T12:49:00.003+11:00

cosmo skelly by johnny sampson for gallery 1988's "Under The Influence: He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe" show, to many skelly treats to list

tune ups

2010-03-02T13:40:00.004+11:00

new booties and new pedals

sidi dominator 5
crank brothers egg beater c

time for business, heaps fast and can now do skids with both feet
better photos when the sun comes out

options options options

2010-03-02T09:00:00.004+11:00

3 options ranging in pop, these will all be made with flat bars but this was a better way to get an idea of colour

all light grey bits are sliver

1. clasic
black seat
green grips (this also works with black grips for a more aggressive look)
classic aluminum thin rims
duar ace hubs in a budget free world

2. bit'o'pop
white seat and grips (would also run white cables with this option)
'titanium' grey velocity rims

3. lot'o'pop
black seat
yellow grips
yellow velocity rims

simple guide to 1st ave

2010-02-24T07:05:00.010+11:00

an easy guide to help you through 7 lane one way streets

parked cars
double parked cars
cars avoiding double parked cars
left hand turn from inside lane
long or large vehicles turn from center lane
can also turn from outside lane
con-edison work van working in center lane
cars changing lanes to avoid con-edison
slippery man hole
big sludgy pothole
subway grate
metal plate covering sludgy potholes that got too big

stay between 2 and 7, never between 1 and 2, watch out for 3, 8, 4 and 5, try and avoid 9's and 10's and hold tight over 11 and 12.
easy as pie, home and hosed.

Koons + Skelly

2010-02-16T04:12:00.002+11:00

Sunday loop down to battery park and back via ground zero, stumbled on this super shiny red balloon flower by Jeff Koons

Riding over snow is scary as shit

client brief

2010-02-10T03:56:00.003+11:00

backing up a bit...

katie found this sexy frame and now we have to build it up, everybody knows you can't start work until the brief and job number have been signed off so here is the brief as i see it for client approval, job number is with finance

'classic' not 'pop'
awesome but not audacious
budget minded but not 'cheap'
classic silver components
minimal black
maybe 1 highlight colour
filp flop with focus on single speed
flat or riser bars

yet to determine the 'single minded proposition' or 'audience discoveries' but this should be enough to go off

on to the next one

2010-02-09T14:34:00.003+11:00

soon to be kt's ny ride, found of craigs list, picked up in williamsberg

Schwinn Paramount 1988 track frame
sparkel green 50th anniversary edition
lugged columbus steel
polished chrome suntour dropouts
threaded forks, suntour haedset and bb

finished / roll call

2010-02-08T14:12:00.005+11:00

all done... pretty close to the plan, chain could have been a better purple but i like the pedals better as green than the ones in the plan.

in order of appearance:

hand painted velocity deep v rims, rims from abbotsford cycles, paint from villain, markers from melbourne artists supplies
alien frame powder coated at bell powder coaters
nasty head set from alien, they chucked it in for free but is no good to ride... will swap of chriss king or cane creek in the next few days
fyxomatosis chain ring, anodized at Collins Anodic Treatment in blackburn
nitto stem and bars from track supermarket hand dyed and stitched by the legendary mick peel
colony transformer lever and shadow conspiracy half link chain from strictly bmx
odyssey bmx flats from strictly, brisbane outdoor toe straps from miss m and the power of dremmal from aron
sugino 75 bb and cranks from track supermarket
kashimax aero saddle from some dude in adelaide via fixed.org (chomping the shit of my pants ... will replace this with a turbo)
phil woods hubs and wheel build from chari & co ny
dia comp bolt on brakes and thompson elite seat post also from chari
made to order ugly top tube pad (could be longer, might get another one)
black knog lights from knog and purple frog from elenore
tyres, tubes and rim tape from BikeTiresDirect.com

first ride

2010-02-01T12:34:00.003+11:00

rugged up for -2c conditions and took off for a first spin out over, Williamsberg bridge for a 15km loop through Brooklyn. roads are shit and traffic looks mad but is pretty predictable, just gota remember that a sneaky left through a red light puts me into on coming cars
(snaps are from the top of the bridge looking towards downtown)

map

together

2010-02-01T12:22:00.002+11:00

finished and ready to roll, outside chari on stanton

thompson elite seat post (black)
dia comp bolt on breaks

will need to get new break pads to replace the shit ones that came with the breaks and might get a new head set as the one alien gave me as it is a bit clunky

almost there

2010-02-01T09:10:00.003+11:00

so so close, losely chucked everything together so i could wheel down to chari & co for the final construction and a seat post... with any luck i should be able to ride it home

tyres on

2010-02-01T09:09:00.001+11:00

wheels look so good with the tyres on... i never realy pictured how they would look and was so surprised by how amazing they turned out

last bits

2010-02-01T09:07:00.004+11:00

i'll still need a top tube pad but this is all i need before i can ride
(2 x durano plus tyres, 2 x colti long valve tubes, 2 x cloth rim tape and 1 x valve adapter)

Chari & Co.

2010-01-19T01:09:00.003+11:00

i heart Chari & Co ... the friendliest bike shop i have ever been into, none of the regular attitude, awesome range of cool shiny bits and sparkly njs frames and they put my wheels together in the time it took to eat a plate of pancakes and walk around the block

skellys new shoes

2010-01-19T01:04:00.003+11:00

a bit of a shock for these wheels to be together after such a long process. was more of a shock that Chari & Co. had them back to me with in an hour and a half of walking through the shop door.

- black high flange phills
- black spokes and nipples
- 17 tooth 1/8 euro asia cog
- phill lock ring

checked in

2010-01-02T12:51:00.004+11:00

padded, boxed and wrapped in shrink wrap everything made it to ny pretty much unharmed ... hoping that things stay that way, alot of bike carnage here (see the bellow is a pink girls bmx with bent frame and wheels from 1st ave... common sight)

night night skelly

2009-12-24T10:36:00.006+11:00

although i forgot to pack the pedals so said good morning skelly when i got up ... this is really taking longer than it should

reverse christmas

2009-12-22T16:56:00.001+11:00

let the packing begin ...

ahhhhh

2009-12-19T16:42:00.002+11:00

the last wheel has been sitting in a state of almost finished for way to long now so this morning i pulled out the varnish and finished the job, all they need now if to be warped up and send to nyc for the final build. Black high flange phil's, black spokes, radial pattern for front with purple nipples, can't wait to be rolling around on these