What's in a name.

The other evening we were asked why we chose Drum as the name for this here blog.  After a moment to gather our thoughts we decided that it was a mulitifacited answer and that putting it down on paper was the best decision.  So, reasons for the name Drum:

1. We have a background in old, nasty, rusty automobiles, and in that subsect of society drum brakes are considered obsolete.  And, for good reason, should be disposed of for the much superior disc brake pronto.  In our time at the Old Speed Shack we experienced the difference between the two first hand and, man, is a fast car SO much more fun when you can stop it before it plunges you head long into a tree.  But for bikes that will see lots of weather conditions and won't be going mach 2 they work just swimmingly.  Oh, and adjusting a drum on a bike is CAKE compared to the rigmarole of adjusting the ones on the shop truck... guess we should upgrade that thing to discs. 
2. "Drum" will look super snazzy on a T-shirts.
3. They are considered by most bikers to be antiquated, if they even know what they are.  Can you see a theme?
4. Some would say we're ornery and like doing things a bit differently.  They'd probably be right... shit are we hipsters? 
5. Lastly it just sounded cool, we could have gone with Coaster but that just didn't have that hard D that'll get your attention when we yell it in the streets. 

Well, 'till next time - thanks for stoping by Drum!

Goings on around Chicago (Nov 2-4)

Going on all weekend, (2-4) the bicycle film festival will be invading Chicago.  And kicking off the festivities is a group ride at 5:30 down to the McDonald Cycle Center (239 East Randolph Street)  which is across from the movie site at the Chicago Cultural Center (78 East Washington).  There are three meeting points for the group ride, and Drum will be in the "Northern" group that's meeting over at the Heritage General Store.   

For more information check the BFF web page.  

Also this upcoming weekend is Renee Robbins' opening at Adventure Land Gallery.  ALG is located in Logan Square at 1513 N. Western Ave.  The new works are titled Amusements and are sure to rock your socks off and even brighten up your gray fall day.  We here at Drum will be splitting off after the BFF group ride to go check it out. 

For more information check out Renee's website.

Chicago or bust

On June 30th 2012 what had been known as "The Old Speed Shack" packed up its tools and started a 900+ mile journey from snowy Vermont to urban Chicago.   The particulars of said Uber Adventure can be found here, but the long and short of it is this:

•  Vehicle: 
• 1974 Toyota Pickup
• Contents: 
• 200lbs of house plants
• Our best friend Steve(He is a 90lb mystery dog by the way) 
• Our collection of records
• Tools  
• Route chosen for trip
• US 20
• Break downs
• 1
• Days on the Road
• 5
• Average temp
• 95+

So there ya go, long trip in an old truck with no AC.  Fun?  Yes, but by the end it was time for a change of pace.  Once we reached the promise land of Chicago we had a two step program to ween us off petrol powered locomotion. Step one, figure out the CTA. Step two, find a bike. 

Step one was pretty straight forward; look at CTA map to see where nearest stop was to point A, deduce if a bus or train would be the easiest/fastest/most enjoyable way to reach point B, and repeat.

Step two was a bit more complicated. See, bikes in Chicago are hoarded like your great aunt hoarded old new papers. People like to own multiple bikes. I'm not sure if we should blame this phenomenon on the poor poor hipsters, but might as well, they are leaders in bike hoarding. And there is nothing wrong with this if it is kept within reason, but this is often not the case.

There are a few different types of bike each true Chicago bike kid needs in her/his arsenal.  First we have your classic Fixie, and there is your band bike, oh and the bike you got so you could pressure your girlfriend(s)/boyfriend into riding whether they want to or not. And parts bikes out the wazoo, as you never know when you'll need that 1972 Shimano derailleur!!!  OK, perhaps we're being hard on the often oppressed hipsters, but in the not so distant past we were able to purchase a decent 1970/80s bicycle for a twenty spot!  Not no more, at least not in Chicago-land.  Any who, back to the subject at hand, lookin' for a good bike.

The main places used in this search were craigslist and garage sales.  Both can be fun, one just needs to keep in mind that they will be dealing with some scammers here and there, and that you will need to be patient to find the perfect rig.   And within a few weeks you to will have your new rig, just like team Drum.

Oh yeah! It was set up as a board track racer!  Neat but not really useful for commuting.