Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Fred,
I still have all my retro bikes.
My steel IBIS Mountain Trials dates back to 1989 and is a vintage mountain bike.
What year was your Salsa. I assume that your Salsa was built in California like my IBIS. In many ways IBIS and Salsa I kinda considered sister companies from California. Both made great steel bikes and offered a lot of style. In fact I own and wear a Salsa beret.
When I think of Salsa I think of their "High Rise" stem that was all the rage back then.
Is that the Robert Moses Causeway Bridge going to Fire Island?
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Close, but that man does not win the cigar!
Fred,
I quit smoking when I took up biking. One addiction for another. No cigars for me. LOL.
One summer I put more miles on my bike than my car.
What's the smut on the Salsa. Bike geeks want to know, especially about retro bikes.
Another retro bike of mine is a Ti Basso mountain bike (really a rebranded Litespeed). This Ti bike pre-dates the development of suspension and is a rigid mountain bike. This bike I actually had to get warenteed because I basically wore out a ti frame which is suppose to be indestructible and last a lifetime. I cracked the weld at the head tube, likely from my many famous crashes and aggressive style of riding.
Litespeed actually recycled the rear triangle and created a new front triangle using oversized tubing. Funny thing is that I only weigh 150 pounds and am not a Clydesdale. Anyways now this non suspension ready frame features none period correct oversized tubing to make it a one off and even more special.
Glad I kept another part of biking history. Not just another 25+ year old bike. Also know that the ti Basso is all tricked out with Grafton, Cooks and all these retro boutique parts. Lots of loud purple anodize. LOL.
Cal
robert blu
quiet photographer
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
...
robert
Robert,
Cycling culture has its own brand of fashion and its own models.
My friend Mike and I were biking in the Hamptons, and this BMW convertible is driving slow along side us. We look at the two beautiful stylish girls; they smile at us brimming; then they say good morning before speeding off. They drove along side us for a good while, and I felt like I was Brad Pitt.
My friend Mike says, "Take two of those; go to bed; and call me in the morning."
Anyways the girls looked like twins. Am I the devil?
Wonder if the those pretty girls said the same thing when they sped off.
Cal
lamefrog
Well-known
Is this it , from the Randalls Island side?:
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7975356,-73.9166286,3a,75y,46.56h,91.72t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1shW22MAjOiwlMaj9m0o9r8A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Anyways , great thread. Its getting me motivated to go out and shoot in the city this summer.
Philippe
Yes, that's it Phillippe. Except that it is open now. Here's part of it... forgive the hippy:
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=a2c26e5e963e83ea174ec11e42dee92a&oe=57A716AA
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=a2c26e5e963e83ea174ec11e42dee92a&oe=57A716AA
Prest_400
Multiformat
Bike NYC
Hey guys,
Gotta love the biking conversation. I have to say that I have become a bit of a fan towards classic mtb's. Use to ride with my dad on weekends and he loves the latest. For longer and more intense use I like my 29er but for visiting friends around town (3mi) the old bikes are more unconspicuous.
Plus for the budget strained, decent 90s bikes are as cheap as mass made crappy ones. Good components continue to be good. Though I'd really like a Ti bike! Anyways, I am better off improving my feet than the bike!
Cal I did think about renting some bike to ride around Madhattan back in December but damn, it is mad around the streets and avenues.
I thought I'd ride more these last months. We did a 30mi trip down the coast after new year, but given that my part of the Mediterranean is a resort It'd be crappy to do now, they block off the paths. My mate did have an idea to tour for a few days, but he hit a job in a gym and the heat is on.
I live on a wide valley down the coast and might think about getting through in the interior. Good thing to have railways that get close to home!
EDIT: The old bike my dad has and I kept is quite well speced but is unbranded. Last week I was surprised to discover it has an Ovoid crankset, talk about the hype there was about them.
Hey guys,
Gotta love the biking conversation. I have to say that I have become a bit of a fan towards classic mtb's. Use to ride with my dad on weekends and he loves the latest. For longer and more intense use I like my 29er but for visiting friends around town (3mi) the old bikes are more unconspicuous.
Plus for the budget strained, decent 90s bikes are as cheap as mass made crappy ones. Good components continue to be good. Though I'd really like a Ti bike! Anyways, I am better off improving my feet than the bike!
Cal I did think about renting some bike to ride around Madhattan back in December but damn, it is mad around the streets and avenues.
I thought I'd ride more these last months. We did a 30mi trip down the coast after new year, but given that my part of the Mediterranean is a resort It'd be crappy to do now, they block off the paths. My mate did have an idea to tour for a few days, but he hit a job in a gym and the heat is on.
I live on a wide valley down the coast and might think about getting through in the interior. Good thing to have railways that get close to home!
EDIT: The old bike my dad has and I kept is quite well speced but is unbranded. Last week I was surprised to discover it has an Ovoid crankset, talk about the hype there was about them.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
For everyone: the hippy in John's shot is AKA "Homeless Jeff."
Way back when I saw a first shot of Jeff who was smoking a cigarette or joint, and I asked how John got so remarkably close to this homeless guy. Then John explained that it wasn't a homeless guy, but his friend Jeff.
John eventually told Jeff what I said and he liked his new knickname; "Homeless Jeff." LOL.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
J,
Today the bikes resemble motorcycles with suspension, and the physics of large wheels on 29'ers smooth out the bumps better than the retro bikes.
For my style, or lack of style, the old mountain bikes are better suited, where the wide bars of late would not fit through the skinny narrow hiking trails that I weave through. Also for climbing a rigid has advantages. First off the smaller wheels accelerate faster and act less like big flywheels.
I only own three ti bikes. The Ti IBIS Mountain Trials is a mountain bike with a front 26 inch wheel and a 24 inch rear that was designed especially Moab and slickrock. The wheel base is only 40 inches and the steering very fast. It requires a lot of skill to ride, and if you don't have skill the bike will throw you. Understand that I have scars on my shoulders from "bark burn" from scrapping trees at speed, and I have narrow handlebars under 20 inches so I can fit inbetween trees.
My experience is that good bikes remain good bikes. When I pull out my bikes that are over 25 years old know by definition they are considered antiques. My Ti IBIS is my newest bike that was made in 2004, and know that it was built in California by one of the Godfarthers of mountain biking, and Gary Helfrick (the Godfarther of Titanium bikes) was involved with Scot Nichol (the founder of IBIS).
An interesting story is Gary Helfrick had a full scholarship to MIT, but when he had the opportunity to be a roadie and go on tour with Aerosmith, guess what he did. Then he was involved with building bikes working with Chris Chance of Fat Chance fame.
I really liked the story of how Scott Nichol convinced Gary to locate to California by paying the freight costs to move CNC machinery cross country. Basically the deal was that Scott would pay for shipping, but Gary had to load the freight car. Gary overloaded the freight car by a factor of two, but no one got kill, although there were moments where it was scary as the overloaded freight train headed west at high speed through a major city.
Cal
The funny thing about that is that Jeff has a friend called Homeless. To Cal, my friend looks homeless. To Jeff, his friend looks homeless. In reality, neither do...
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
John,
My second oldest brother, although Cantonese resembles Pancho Villa. He has sloped shoulders and walks as if he was pushing his body through water. Perhaps this is leftover from his days from being the Nuclear Operator on an attack submarine.
My brother is a millionair, but could be mistaken for someone homeless. He wears frumpy clothes and does not convey any real style. At one time he bought a red Toyota that was a bank repro, but the previous owner beat the hell out of the car with a baseball bat to dent every body panel before the bank got to the car. "Its still a new car." he said.
When I worked at Brookhaven National Labs this Radiation Safety Officer, Doran (who was a giant who looked like a hill billy wrestler) asked if I had a brother named "Sunny." When I told him I do, Doran asked, "Does he still drive that beat up old red car?" LOL.
Meanwhile I get mistaken for some rich guy due to profiling (buying some luxury items) and I get "A" listed when really I'm just a humble hose bag. LOL.
Anyways my brother has the wealth, but I have the rich life. BTW I'm known as the crazy one in the family. LOL.
Cal
lamefrog
Well-known
Thanks, John. I go up there sometimes to shoot. Port Morris, Hunts Point. It's not that interesting though. Everything is so clean and tidy. I wish I had been around 40 years ago when the south Bronx was burning..
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
P,
40 years ago I was a NYC cab driver. One night I found myself alone lost in the Bronx. It was like the road to hell.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
I'm too wimpy to have gone there then...
John,
Back then NYC's Mayor called New York "Fun City."
Part circus, part playground where anything goes, and if you had a hassle it got settled in the street.
To survive you had to be tough or crazy, but it was best to be both.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Fred,
I was building a loft on Grand Street which was the fringe of Soho back then 40 years ago.
As far as wildfires go in the Bronx, with suspected arson, abandoned buildings were mostly left to burn.
At one time an artist painted the plywood covering the windows along the blocks of bordered up buildings that were victims of arson to disguise their abandonment making them look occupied. You could see this driving on the Bruckner. It created a double take upon a closer approach and became sad commentary.
My friend Oscar grew up in the Southside of Williamsburg and is about my age, and he was shot 5 times. He said that half the guys he grew up with are dead. On South 3rd Street by the firehouse basically drugs were legalized. Oscar told me that truck drivers were directed not to stop at the light at the Meeker Street exit coming off the BQE because their cargo would get jacked by a crew waiting in ambush. The driver would be held at gunpoint if he stopped, meanwhile bolt cutters were used to breach the lock, and a full tractor trailor would be emptied into smaller vehicles by an organized crew working an assembly line.
Greenpoint and Williamsburg were two hoods hit very hard in the eighties by drugs and AIDS. These were foresaken neighborhoods that were left for dead. Into the 90's they were places to avoid unless you were looking for trouble. Many young people died.
Back in the day the way drug traffic was controlled was that the police tried to keep drugs out of residential sections of neighborhoods by restricting drug sales from residential parts of the hood and creating zones that were safe for drug dealers. It was like in the HBO series "The Wire." This was the best the police could do.
Also remember going to a storefront in Queens (I lived in the Suburbs of Long Island) as a kid. Basically you put your money through a hole and then your bag of dope was dispensed. You never saw the dealer. It kinda worked like a soda machine, except you were buying drugs and it was a storefront on Merrick Bull-A-Vard.
Alley Pond Park on the outskirts of Queens had the upper parking lot set up as a haven for drug sales. It was like a large outdoor flea market. To get to the upper lot you passed cops hanging out in the lower lots. No one ever got arrested, hassled, or stopped buying drugs, and the cops were basically doormen or gate keepers. Basically drugs were legalized in certain parts of the city and were part of police policy.
Also in the early eighties the lower Eastside began to gentrify after Soho was developed. Walking around there was rather sketchy. One would get solicited openly for either sex or drugs, and if you were not there for either sex or drugs you were immediately profiled as an artist who was gentrifying their neighborhood and were in serious danger of assault.
Chinatown was a place where it was understood where it was controlled by violent youth gangs collectively known as "the long hairs." Before the gangs wore three piece suits and carried 38's members of the Ghost Shadows and Flying Dragons used martial arts, and they extorted lots of money from Chinese businesses.
One time I went to Chinatown to get some lunch when I was working on Broome Street. Back then I had long hair, and I didn't wear it in a ponytail. I got in line to order some food, but the owner came from behind the counter and asked me in English, "What do you want."
When I replied, "A quart of roast pork fried rice," the owner immediately abandoned all his other customers and ran in the back to fill my order. When I went to pay him he looked confused and didn't want to take my money. Evidently he thought I was a gang member testing him.
In many-many ways I miss the old New York.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Fred,
I was a crazy thug back then and basically did whatever. I could outrun any cop back then, but also one had to realize that there were no police to protect you or rescue you. I felt more free and less restricted.
You had to be either tough, really-really cool, or really-really crazy.
I think I had all three.
Life was exciting and we lived like we had no tomorrow. Part of the culture was growing up with the Vietnam War and knowing we might get slaugtered, maimed or killed. In the 70's there was no AIDS.
In the 70's you could rent 2000 square feet of "raw space" in Soho for $200.00 a month. So what you had to build a bathroom and a kitchen. You collected a "fixture fee" from the next tenant.
Cal