Michael Markey
Veteran
... and belated happy birthday from me too Cal .
Happy retirement too .
Happy retirement too .
haha, cal... we will have to have a grand finale death march of death marches in the near future. Hey, life changes and all but we are still crazy! As far as friends, some people do not like change at all. I see it with my friends too.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Michael,
Many thanks.
I have a predicted life span of 111 years, so as I age I hope to still do crazy things and not to get boring. 47 more years to go.
The oldest man alive is some Japanese fellow who is 115. I'm a contender to surpass him because I'm a clever "Lazy-Slacker" who also is a skinny bitch. Know that I'm mighty stubborn also. LOL.
My dad an illegal immigrant who was illiterate and poor lived to be 94.
I bought a tiny house (1400 square feet of living space) and I am building out the two-car garage as a workspace studio. I brag that I have a second "Back-Backyard" because the house came with a second building lot, with the Baby-Victorian and two-car garage on the first building lot. If that property is not enough only 3-4 blocks away is a 1500 acre Blue Mountain Preserve.
Doing other crazy stuff like adding a 18 KW generator so I have life support (air conditioning). Pretty much building a bunker about 50 miles from Madhattan on a Hudson River town.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
John,
Boy am I happy that I had mucho obsessive thinking in the past. The "Camera Museum" is pretty vast and I'm glad I still own everything. Also glad that I kept all my retro-junk because that too has proven to be timeless and very valuable.
Kinda crazy how crazy I have been. I'm not boring, and I continue to have an interesting life.
The rescue of a quarter-sawn-heart pine kitchen floor is nearly done. I have to have Jack HVAC come by and remove a radiator, and also have a plumber disconnect the sink so I can remove the ceramic tiles, plywood, and two layers of linoleum underneath.
The kitchren floor is quite a "Trophy" and an award in determination and stubborness. No contractor would rescue a buried hardwood floor, they would demo and replace because time is money.
The house is only a little bigger than twice the size of my old luxury apartment in Madhattan. Just about the right size, plus I have a basement for storage, then the garage as a workspace.
I think I will go mucho crazy with the garage. I'll be adding a heat pump for HVAC. The garage already has a hundred amp service, as much as some old houses, but I want to run the overhead lines underground. Don't tell the city of Peekskill, but I would like to do this all without a permit, but all up to code.
Devil Christian tells me that adding HVAC to a garage should not add to my tax bill. The new gable roof will have an attic that can be additional workspace, but then again according to Devil Christian an attic is "storage" space and is not taxed. Then I want to add a 10x20 what they call in Britian "a conservatory" which is a room with some many windows it supports a panoramic view, but I will present the conservatory as a "greenhouse" for tax purposes so hopefully no tax increase there either. My trick is to avoid calling anything in the garage as living space, even though it when added on is another 600 square feet.
You know me: I'm a gamer who cheats when I can. I still have that 1970's mentality of when I was a kid and could outrun any cop. LOL. Kinda funny now that I'm old. Also funny is how I think why women like "bad-boys." The good guys are kinda boring and predictable.
Also seriously, you know how I draw out the crazies. Perhaps I should of not gone topless all summer working around the house, because now I have a stalker. This is no lie, even "Maggie" took notice. We both call her "My stalker."
My guess she has a crush on a sweaty skinny guy with a boyish body with a bike butt.
"I was just minding my own business," I say... but if I get killed you guys on RFF kinda know already a likely suspect...
Cal
Nokton48
Veteran
Cal,
You could incorporate a skylight into the conservatory level, for photographic purposes. So you have quick access to soft North Light. Consider photography for window placement purposes. With pull back diffusion and shades. Like a turn of the century daylight studio used to do? I'd love to have that
You could incorporate a skylight into the conservatory level, for photographic purposes. So you have quick access to soft North Light. Consider photography for window placement purposes. With pull back diffusion and shades. Like a turn of the century daylight studio used to do? I'd love to have that
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Devil Dan,
Thanks for the great-great idea. I remember Irving Penn's studio and how he used natural light.
This also supports the salesmanship of "selling" the conservatory as a "greenhouse." The exterior garage wall is a cement stucco, but on the conservatory, it will be an interior wall to bounce light off of.
Like in your studio I have the mounts for a roll of pa[er backdrops. I'm sure I can do something with what I took with me in the move. I gave away the backdrops to "Mike the Skinny Hipster" who lived in the unit above mine on the 5th floor. He is a working pro photographer.
In my old luxury ap[artment there was a single wall of windows that faced due west. At certain times of the day the light was amazing.
Know that the Baby-Victorian is a small house with 40 windows. The light is amazing, but you might not like paying my heating bill. LOL. In the morning I get the eastern light and in the afternoon the western light. Pretty much I get two golden hours when the sun is out. Because I live in the Hudson Valley we also get lots of diffused light and ground fog, especially over the frog ghetto (marsh in my back-backyard).
Since I'm at the very end of Peekskill, and because I only have one next-door neighbor I could shoot lots of nudes and no one would be the wiser. The conservatory overlooks my back-backyard lawns, a 40-acre marsh, and then a hillside with a forest in the distance.
I have lots of privacy.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Today I ordered more bike parts as mucho excessive thinking has kinda firmed up the best of my crazy ideas.
I also mailed a 50% deposit on that custom Santa Cruz guitar that has mucho upgrades. One of the upgrades is having the actual wood that was harvested back in the 1930's for the back and sides, old-growth Adirondack Spruce for the top, and even a 60-80-year-old neck blank.
Pretty much I have spec'ed out a modern Santa Cruz Model "F" as if built-in 1934.
Wood changes with age, resins crystalize, and old-growth wood comes from trees that grew to be very old, like before man came to the Americas.
So now I have to wait about a year, and meanwhile, I have to find new things to obsess about.
"Maggie" had o head into NYC on the train to visit her PCP to get a clean bill of health from her doctor before getting the Cat-R-ACT surgery. I spent some time playing and comparing the two Santa Cruzes I already own. Kinda like comparing two Strad-a vary-US violins, except they are guitars. Boy am I spoiled bitch, no need for any P.A. or amplifier. I am saying that I might have to wear hearing protection when playing an acoustic guitar. How crazy is that?
The OM is made of Brazilian Rosewood (old growth) and is not really a big guitar. Rings like a bell.
So I already own a Model "F" but it is all mahogany including the top. I bought this guitar used for no money, but the owner paid hefty premiums for figured wood (flamed mahogany) and expensive Snakewood bindings, along with a dark full-body burst. Pretty much a now 11-year-old guitar that didn't get played in for over a decade. How crazy is that. The dealer I bought the guitar from did not mark up the guitar for all the expensive upgrades I received for basically free.
Santa Cruz does these old Marten clones: one is a 1929 spec; and the other 1934. The woods and features are to replicate an old vintage guitar as close as possible, but not on a factory basis. Santa Cruz is a small boutique custom shop.
Anyway, this is as if Leica designed a camera especially for me. Well in fact they did. Leica somehow asked me to be part of a focus group where we helped design the camera that would be produced and know about 3 years later as the SL2. I had to keep quiet for about three years, not an easy thing to do, but I was an insider with inside information.
So anyways, the Model "F" is a Santa Cruz design that they call a "Mini-Jumbo" with a deep body, and I'm having Santa Cruz build me one to 1934 specs. My two other Santa Cruz guitars I bought used, but this one will be custom ordered and built for me.
I'm the best for spoiling myself. LOL. Only the best for me...
Cal
I also mailed a 50% deposit on that custom Santa Cruz guitar that has mucho upgrades. One of the upgrades is having the actual wood that was harvested back in the 1930's for the back and sides, old-growth Adirondack Spruce for the top, and even a 60-80-year-old neck blank.
Pretty much I have spec'ed out a modern Santa Cruz Model "F" as if built-in 1934.
Wood changes with age, resins crystalize, and old-growth wood comes from trees that grew to be very old, like before man came to the Americas.
So now I have to wait about a year, and meanwhile, I have to find new things to obsess about.
"Maggie" had o head into NYC on the train to visit her PCP to get a clean bill of health from her doctor before getting the Cat-R-ACT surgery. I spent some time playing and comparing the two Santa Cruzes I already own. Kinda like comparing two Strad-a vary-US violins, except they are guitars. Boy am I spoiled bitch, no need for any P.A. or amplifier. I am saying that I might have to wear hearing protection when playing an acoustic guitar. How crazy is that?
The OM is made of Brazilian Rosewood (old growth) and is not really a big guitar. Rings like a bell.
So I already own a Model "F" but it is all mahogany including the top. I bought this guitar used for no money, but the owner paid hefty premiums for figured wood (flamed mahogany) and expensive Snakewood bindings, along with a dark full-body burst. Pretty much a now 11-year-old guitar that didn't get played in for over a decade. How crazy is that. The dealer I bought the guitar from did not mark up the guitar for all the expensive upgrades I received for basically free.
Santa Cruz does these old Marten clones: one is a 1929 spec; and the other 1934. The woods and features are to replicate an old vintage guitar as close as possible, but not on a factory basis. Santa Cruz is a small boutique custom shop.
Anyway, this is as if Leica designed a camera especially for me. Well in fact they did. Leica somehow asked me to be part of a focus group where we helped design the camera that would be produced and know about 3 years later as the SL2. I had to keep quiet for about three years, not an easy thing to do, but I was an insider with inside information.
So anyways, the Model "F" is a Santa Cruz design that they call a "Mini-Jumbo" with a deep body, and I'm having Santa Cruz build me one to 1934 specs. My two other Santa Cruz guitars I bought used, but this one will be custom ordered and built for me.
I'm the best for spoiling myself. LOL. Only the best for me...
Cal
MrFujicaman
Well-known
Gee, does the natural light studio mean I'll have to show you how to make an Irving Penn style floor pod?
steveyork
Well-known
I owned both an F and OM in the mid-90's. I blew through a lot of instruments back then searching for a certain sound. Santa Cruz were and I suppose still are really nice. Very lightly built, and that's why I think they sound so good. They sound played in right of the rack. Back then we wondered how they would stand up to the test of time, given how lightly they were built, but I've never heard of any structural issues. No longer own the F or OM by the way. Ha, ha, wish I kept them, they would've appreciated nicely.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Steve,
The OM I bought used. I was working in a guitar shop when this fingerstyle player named Dan came in with some raw old-growth Brazilian that he wanted resawn. The wood was very dense and had a metallic tap tone that was kinda crazy. My friend Steve convinced Dan that he should have Santa Cruz build an OM for him.
Then the saga began: Richard Hoover wanted to upcharge Dan $3K for a Brazilian upgrade, even though Dan was supplying the wood, and since the wood had an unknown history Santa Cruz would not warrantee against cracking since it was not their wood.
The OM was built with a red spruce top, the bracing was "advanced" like a 1930's Martin, but the braces were made of Sitka for warmth instead of Adirondack spruce (Red Spruce) that accentuates the treble.
The Brazilian is a deep chocolate brown with thick black streaks that shout out old growth.
So Dan was a knit picker and unhappy. Realize that back in 1996 when this guitar was made that Santa Cruz was tiny. Dan was very unhappy with the results, and I kinda understand why. Adirondack Spruce is UBER stiff and requires a lot of time to open up. The guitar needed to get pounded in. On top of this, Dan played fingerstyle with light gauge strings. Dan was angry and sold the guitar, then I tracked it down.
I ended up trading and selling guitars to secure the OM. I'm glad I did because to replace it with a new old-growth Brazilian would cost about $20K today.
My friend Dave has an OM with a Sitka top and Indian Rosewood sides, another friend, Gary, owns a Brazilian OM with what I think is an Engleman Spruce top. Know that Gary is an old school fingerstyle player and this guitar responds to a light touch. One day we got together and compared all three OM's.
Gary's guitar was the clear choice for fingerstyle and light gauge strings (12's). Mucho responsive and a pretty guitar, but no old-growth spydering of black lines like my Brazilian that resembles the Formica in NYC subway cars.
Dave's OM had a very thin top that flexed a lot. I took notice of how lightly built it was when installing strings when doing a setup. This OM has a bass that rumbles and clearly was mucho loud. Understand that on top of that Dave has an aggressive attack, but this OM does not get mushy or flabby.
My OM kinda has the "Piano" sound with the bright treble. I think my OM is the most articulate. Not the most midrange, Dave's OM was clearly warmer, but for recording I think many would pick my OM for the clarity and articulation.
So three OM's and no clear best. The moral of the story is if I were more greedy I would want all three, each one is so special. So now my OM is 26 years old. It is still opening up. Red Spruce really needs to get pounded in. It clearly gets louder and louder over the years/decades. My guitar likes 13's, and using a HiFi term it has a "fast-bass" with a bright treble that could be described as scooped because the mids are not so pronounced like in Dave's OM.
Daves tone is kinda throaty but does not have the sheen my OM has on the top end. My trebles have an extended range over either Dave's or Gary's guitar.
So Daves guitar is about the same age as mine 1996 or before. Dave also bought his used. Both guitars had the bridges lifting after about a decade of playing, since then both have been reglued.
My back has hairline cracks as many old 1930 Martens have. This is one of the reasons why Dan was so unhappy. The cracks have not been "cleated" and soon developed in those first 6 months that Dan owned the guitar. Pretty much stable over the past 25 years, and only cosmetic.
So the Model "F" I own is all mahogany including the top. I also bought this guitar used, but over the Internet. I was concerned that I would need to get the bridge reglued, but the guitar is as if new and unplayed, even though it is now 11 years old. It came with the muffled tone that is boxy of a brand new guitar.
I'm convinced that a new Santa Cruz is likely a better-built guitar today than say 25 years ago. I also tend to play aggressively like Dave, so I'm not concerned about the light build. Also I think not only the building process has evolved, but the custom choices and availability of woods have expanded. Santa Cruz has stockpiled mucho woods that are rare or going to become unobtainable, but that will clearly evolve and change.
So I speculate that we live in an age of shortages and a period of high inflation that could last a decade or more. If we look at the "Greenspan" era when cheap goods from China and globalization lasted decades, causing disinflation, and if you understand and believe in "regression-to-the-mean" that his age of shortages and high inflation could likely last a long time and for more than a decade to balance things out.
Eventually hard assets and real estate, both of limited quantity, will not only retain value but appreciate. Richard Hoover's stockpile of the most rarified woods surely will get depleted one day...
So today I'm buying a future treasure. Also, Richard Hoover is pretty old, and I wonder if there will be a collector's premium on Richard Hoover-era guitars. Pretty much what can you buy that will maintain and be a store of value that certainly will appreciate over time? Also not much of a liability like say a vintage car.
Instead of buying gold, I'm buying old-growth wood.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
steveyork
Well-known
I can tell you know your guitars and love them. I find their construction, the woods used, saddle material ect., how they influence tone, just fascinating.
I damaged an ear back in the 90's (hyperacusis or tonic tensor tympani syndrome) that caused ear pain when I played music. During that decade I blew through 20-25 high end instruments, searching for something my ear would tolerate better. Most of them rosewoods out of the Martin tradition, but what an education to go around playing all those guitars!!! Many old and new Martins, some others like Dana Bourgeois, Goodall, but also a Santa Cruz OM (#876), H and F. The latter two I got from a store liquidating stock, and great guitars, but not for me. My OM was like yours -- responsive, lushness of tone, with a deep bottom end, not overwhelming though, solid midrange and crystalline trebles. Ha, ha, it too bothered my ear, which eventually drove me into photography.
Like rangefinder photography, at least the optics, we're probably in a "golden age" of accoustic guitars. So many choices. Even the big guys, like Martin, are making better instruments. They used to be so overbuilt.
Ironically, I learned later the best sound for my ears is a short scale, mahogany. Ha, ha never thought I would be a Gibson guy. Only guitar I have now is a John Walker Wise River -- a modern, lightly built J45; short scale, slope shouldered dred. Don't play it much; still have the ear problem.
Wonder where your friend Dan got the Brazilian? I understand most of it being sold now is stump wood.
I agree with your comment about finite, hard assets and inflation. Unfortunately. Last time I looked into this stuff even Indian Rosewood was in shorter supply. Wish I had kept all those guitars and Leica gadgets. Good investments as it turns out.
Ha, ha, worse guitar I ever owned was a 1962 Martin D28. Great woods, Brazilian before the ban, Red Spruce top, but a dog. Probably needed a neck reset. Knowing what I know now though, if I still owned it, I would've hot rodded it -- sand down the top, scallop the braces. Lightly built is the way to go.
Always impressed with Santa Cruz. My fave "big" luthier. They know how to build fine sounding instruments.
I damaged an ear back in the 90's (hyperacusis or tonic tensor tympani syndrome) that caused ear pain when I played music. During that decade I blew through 20-25 high end instruments, searching for something my ear would tolerate better. Most of them rosewoods out of the Martin tradition, but what an education to go around playing all those guitars!!! Many old and new Martins, some others like Dana Bourgeois, Goodall, but also a Santa Cruz OM (#876), H and F. The latter two I got from a store liquidating stock, and great guitars, but not for me. My OM was like yours -- responsive, lushness of tone, with a deep bottom end, not overwhelming though, solid midrange and crystalline trebles. Ha, ha, it too bothered my ear, which eventually drove me into photography.
Like rangefinder photography, at least the optics, we're probably in a "golden age" of accoustic guitars. So many choices. Even the big guys, like Martin, are making better instruments. They used to be so overbuilt.
Ironically, I learned later the best sound for my ears is a short scale, mahogany. Ha, ha never thought I would be a Gibson guy. Only guitar I have now is a John Walker Wise River -- a modern, lightly built J45; short scale, slope shouldered dred. Don't play it much; still have the ear problem.
Wonder where your friend Dan got the Brazilian? I understand most of it being sold now is stump wood.
I agree with your comment about finite, hard assets and inflation. Unfortunately. Last time I looked into this stuff even Indian Rosewood was in shorter supply. Wish I had kept all those guitars and Leica gadgets. Good investments as it turns out.
Ha, ha, worse guitar I ever owned was a 1962 Martin D28. Great woods, Brazilian before the ban, Red Spruce top, but a dog. Probably needed a neck reset. Knowing what I know now though, if I still owned it, I would've hot rodded it -- sand down the top, scallop the braces. Lightly built is the way to go.
Always impressed with Santa Cruz. My fave "big" luthier. They know how to build fine sounding instruments.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Steve,
My OM has 860 as a serial number. I think of how old are the three-digit serial numbers and how they may favor collectability.
I have a Pre-Ernie Ball Musicman Stingray bass. Not only is are rare white finish, but not only are the early Stingrays with the slab bodies physically different, but the pre-amps were potted, the tone controls were only two knobs, and the earliest ones are known as "BOO" bass's because the serial numbers started with B00. Also very early versions like mine have "large magnet" pickups.
I also have what is likely the very first Stingrays (1980) that features a fretted rosewood fingerboard. What makes this bass unusual and distinguished is that the body is made from Alder and not ash. Very odd and unusual. Very pretty too because it is a sunburst.
I too have discovered mahogany is my favorite tonewood for acoustics. That's why I'm all in with creating a 1934 version of an "F."
Have you discovered the story about "The Tree" a mahogany tree that was cut down over 100 years ago that was unable to be recovered because it was in some valley in Belize that happens to be the best-quilted mahogany on the planet? How about the western red cedar reclaimed from an abandoned railroad tunnel. This "Tunnel" wood is also another rare find.
Check out www.Mirabellaguitars. This is my friend Cris. He is building me an 18-inch archtop. He has wood that he got from Jimmy D'Aquisto's estate. The neck blank is "Jimmy wood" and so are the back and sides. This wood Jimmy saved for a special project.
Because I'm Calzone odd stuff happens to me. Another friend named Dave gifted me a chunk of wood that literally was like half a railroad tie cut lengthwise. I was told it was saved to be a fireplace mantle. I stored it under my bed, and one day I decided to recycle it to my friend Steve's guitar shop, then one day Steve calls me and says he took a plane to the railroad tie and discovered it is actually Walnut.
When we had this wood resawn I kept two pieces that were perfectly quarter-sawn as neck blanks. Right now they are stored at my friend Cris's shop.
BTW "Maggie" thinks I have too many guitars. LOL. She does not see them as investments. BTW she does not know about the new guitar that I just custom ordered.
So I have a retro bike fetish, guitar fetish, a tube amp fetish, and a camera fetish.
Perhaps to add on to this list are parlor guitars. I have an old "Bruno" that is a 12 fret with a 23-inch scale. A very intimate guitar that goes with the style of my Baby-Victorian house.
Cal
MrFujicaman
Well-known
Cal-if you want to see what my " floor pod" looks like, go to Large Format Photography Forum and type in "stable floor mount for 4 X 5 or 5 X 7" The pictures are on the 4th page of the thread.
steveyork
Well-known
Sounds like you own some cool stuff and know some even cooler guys. Never played an arch top. Ha, ha, maybe our OM's knew each other when just wee little baby guitars out in California all those years ago. Hope whoever owns mine now uses it!!!
Not sure what you mean by "retro bike fetish," but I did a lot of cycling in the 80's. There's a story here. Built some really cool bikes -- an Italian Zullo Special (poor man's Colagno) with Campagnolo Nuovo Record, a Cannondale with a Super Record reduced group. Even built my dad one on an early titanium frame (an Alan where the joints were made out of aluminum), with the then modern click shifting Dura Ace group. I was really into it. Grew up around Sommerville NJ, home of the oldest bike race in the country. They call it "the Tour of Sommerville," but it's just a one day criterium. Anyway, eventually damaged a knee, got busy with grad school, my bikes were stored at my parents' house, then got busy with a career, moved out of state, then moved further away. Ha, ha, when my parents finally moved out of Jersey themselves, in the 90's, I found out they just gave that stuff away. More likely they just it out for the trash. There was a lot stuff -- tools, bike rack, the bike themselves, racing wheels. Ha, ha, my brother is still pissed they tossed all his vinyl LP's w/o asking. Moral of the story -- don't store stuff at your parents' house. Ha, ha, to them it was just a bunch junk.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Steve,
Back in the day, I was a wack job and bike bum. I have an addictive personality, so when I quit smoking I started biking. I raced, but I would get spanked badly, buit I took my beatings like a man. I was known for my high threshold of pain, and of course for very dramatic crashes. Pretty much I was like a surfer where I lived to bike and it was a big part of my life every day.
My friend "Iron Mike" kinda saved my life by getting me involved with biking and racing. Mike's story was that he was a fat guy, I went to work at Los Alamos on a Ronal;d Ray-Gun Star Wars Project for a year and a half, and when I came back to New York Mike was this fit and muscular guy who had thick thighs like a speed skater.
All these retro bikes are from the mid to late 80's except the Ti IBIS prototype that somehow through divine intervention I discovered being sold on EBAY when I was bored at work. The Ti IBIS is pre-V-brake.
When I downsized and moved into Madhattan into a 650 square foot "luxury" apartment I had all this valuable treasure, and I could not put it into Public Storage. When Dave and Cris found out I has a problem they volunteered to store my treasures out in Long Island in their homes. They held onto my gear for over a decade.
I have some great friends, but my family kinda sucks.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
MFM,
Thanks. This is helpful.
Seems like "Maggie" is getting involved in some fashion show fundraiser for our school district that provides scholarship money for the kids. She intends on styling some of the girls with clothing in her collection that she is presently downsizing. She is no longer a digital influencer and now is converting herself into a writer. She just got a book contract and an advance.
One of our friends downtown owns a retail store, one like you would find in Brooklyn, but it is in Peekskill. Brian is involved and somehow in conversation, Maggie's name came up in conversation. Maggie thinks she might get the honor of MC'ing the show. So just when I'm retired I get swept into another project.
For Christmas, I bought Maggie a commuter/urban bike, and today we went to Danny's a bike shop chain that I know from Madhattan to buy her a helmet. The bike as a bunch of parts that requires assembly is expected to be delivered Thursday, so I have another project. Then the idea is perhaps Maggie's daughter who is prego might want to get into biking, and the granddaughter known as "Creature Junior" due to my fascination of Jane Austen novels also I think would like biking.
Your speculation I think is already coming true. We all have health issues if we don't exercise, and I need to keep fit. What I need is time in the saddle.
At the bike store I saw some Shimano SPD shoes that were marked clearance that were my size. $100.00 shoes marked down to $40.00. It was a no-brainer to buy them. Then there was this bike jersey that I really didn't need, but it had the arches of the Brooklyn Bridge and on the rear a graphic of the lowly "L" train. What pushed me over the edge was the "full-zip" feature. You should know that artists by definition are exhibitionists, so I had to get the Brooklyn Jersey in small to reveal that I'm a skinny bitch, and to be the tease that I am. I'll have to hide from my stalker though...
So it seems like I have a plan to get group rides happening.
Some new bike parts expected Friday. A new CNC'ed stem from Paul's Components, and a $203.00 carbon fiber handlebar. I'm sorting through my bike parts stockpile and making out kits to best utilize what I already have. A big shipmernt of tires will I hope arrive soon. This is a logjam for me moving forward on building out the Ti Basso.
Cal
MrFujicaman
Well-known
MC Maggie....
Why did I have a sudden vision of Maggie in a track suit, unlaced sneakers and a Kango hat and 87 gold chains when I read that?
Why did I have a sudden vision of Maggie in a track suit, unlaced sneakers and a Kango hat and 87 gold chains when I read that?
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
MFM,
Because I love crazy women. LOL.
Had a kitchen sink delivered and separately today the bridge facet in oiled brass. Has a retro look. The sink is enameled cast iron. The UPS driver blocked my door with the sink as revenge. LOL.
Expecting a retro bathroom sink delivery soon.
I know from bike parts that some stuff is back-ordered.
Trying to secure an 11-51 cassette and derailleur, both out of stock. I might stick with 11-46T.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
A lot of thought goes into bike building. I need to use my resources (supplies, stockpiles, and parts) wisely as not to be wasteful. Also, I'm into recycling, and I don't want to throw away anything that might be useful, but also I want to be "one and done" because in the end and long-term this is a matter of efficiency and economy.
Sometimes I think of myself as a penis, but other times a genius. Funny how both rhyme and can be true.
On my Ti IBIS, presently built out as a 63 gear inch single speed with slicks that weighs about 17 1/2 pounds, is a trick brake lever made by Paul Components called a "Duplex" that initially was created for setting up a bike for playing Bike Polo.
It so happens that when I discovered this Ti one-off prototype bike on EBAY that it came with heavy wheels as a single-speed set up for playing bike polo, so because I'm a weight weenie I decided one brake lever is lighter than two and I would honor the tradition that came before me.
The sturdy straight 16 gauge spoked wheels now go on the Steel IBIS that is being built out as a truck/Jeep for "Rock Gardening." Because I annoy people I will call my heavy steel IBIS my "Slow-Bike." The first time I called my steel IBIS a slow bike was in the Hamptons and this pretty girl thought I was mighty cute that I had fast bikes and slow bikes.
So now the Ti IBIS is evolving, and I will keep things intact so that it can be a "convertible" from single speed to a full-blown hardcore 1x11 or 2x11 XTR mountain bike with the option of a front suspension. So a single control for the brakes means for offroad use I need a second brake lever, but I want to keep and recycle the "Duplex" lever I already own, then I discover on EBAY a Pauls Component lever called a "Cross" lever that is used to add a second set of brake controls to the flat part of a set of drop-bars. The only problem is that the clamp diameter is big, then I discover that there is an old narrow version with a 26mm clamp diameter (now discontinued) and a new version with a clamp diameter of 31.8mm, but I need 22.2mm to match the "Duplex" clamp diameter.
So I can use a handlebar shim to allow the retro version to work. The handle of the "Cross" lever matches the "Duplex" exactly, and so does the style of the base. EZ-PZ but a string of research to get facts, history, and data. So the Cross lever has this feature of being able to be placed in series with another brake lever, and that is what I intend to do. I looked at my bike and came up with a smooth design for a cable routing for the rear brake that allows both front and rear brake using the right lever; using the right brake lever alone to acuate the rear brake only; and then "Calzone-Mode" where both brakes can be actuated with not only the right hand, but the rear brake can be modulated further with the left hand.
So this is the genius part of me.
Should be really trick and is practical. Kinda novel taking cyclocross technology and creatively applying it to a mountain bike.
So I am also recycling by buying an unloved "Cross" lever off of EBAY at a good price. This particular one is also in support a charity that donates bikes to disadvantaged peoples.
Anyways this is my new lifestyle where I have time to think, time to do things right, and knowing that rushing is a bad and evil thing that only creates stress and shortens your life.
Cal
Sometimes I think of myself as a penis, but other times a genius. Funny how both rhyme and can be true.
On my Ti IBIS, presently built out as a 63 gear inch single speed with slicks that weighs about 17 1/2 pounds, is a trick brake lever made by Paul Components called a "Duplex" that initially was created for setting up a bike for playing Bike Polo.
It so happens that when I discovered this Ti one-off prototype bike on EBAY that it came with heavy wheels as a single-speed set up for playing bike polo, so because I'm a weight weenie I decided one brake lever is lighter than two and I would honor the tradition that came before me.
The sturdy straight 16 gauge spoked wheels now go on the Steel IBIS that is being built out as a truck/Jeep for "Rock Gardening." Because I annoy people I will call my heavy steel IBIS my "Slow-Bike." The first time I called my steel IBIS a slow bike was in the Hamptons and this pretty girl thought I was mighty cute that I had fast bikes and slow bikes.
So now the Ti IBIS is evolving, and I will keep things intact so that it can be a "convertible" from single speed to a full-blown hardcore 1x11 or 2x11 XTR mountain bike with the option of a front suspension. So a single control for the brakes means for offroad use I need a second brake lever, but I want to keep and recycle the "Duplex" lever I already own, then I discover on EBAY a Pauls Component lever called a "Cross" lever that is used to add a second set of brake controls to the flat part of a set of drop-bars. The only problem is that the clamp diameter is big, then I discover that there is an old narrow version with a 26mm clamp diameter (now discontinued) and a new version with a clamp diameter of 31.8mm, but I need 22.2mm to match the "Duplex" clamp diameter.
So I can use a handlebar shim to allow the retro version to work. The handle of the "Cross" lever matches the "Duplex" exactly, and so does the style of the base. EZ-PZ but a string of research to get facts, history, and data. So the Cross lever has this feature of being able to be placed in series with another brake lever, and that is what I intend to do. I looked at my bike and came up with a smooth design for a cable routing for the rear brake that allows both front and rear brake using the right lever; using the right brake lever alone to acuate the rear brake only; and then "Calzone-Mode" where both brakes can be actuated with not only the right hand, but the rear brake can be modulated further with the left hand.
So this is the genius part of me.
Should be really trick and is practical. Kinda novel taking cyclocross technology and creatively applying it to a mountain bike.
So I am also recycling by buying an unloved "Cross" lever off of EBAY at a good price. This particular one is also in support a charity that donates bikes to disadvantaged peoples.
Anyways this is my new lifestyle where I have time to think, time to do things right, and knowing that rushing is a bad and evil thing that only creates stress and shortens your life.
Cal