Spoke Spotting #3: In The Wild

One of our favorite places to go in our town is Heritage General store (see our recent review for more details). They make a couple of super cool bikes - right here in Chicago! - all of which you can see in the General store any time you like. But, thus far, we have not spotted one in the wild. Well, that changed today as we spotted this F&*king sweet black framed Chief while we were out and about.

Check out the super sexy head badge - not every high end rig comes with one of these any longer. We feel it is a must for almost any bike.

The tall sleek Schwalbe brown rubber is wrapped around a nice set of 700c rims. Oh and don't miss the flipped handle bars with cork grips, yum.

VO sprung touring saddle and hammered fenders help make this a clean AND comfortable ride. One of our favorite details is the powder coated block chain ring... nice touch guys!

Here is a couple photos so you can get the color:

Spring is almost here...

With the snow melting and the temperature rising we decided to take a few photos under the CTA Brown line to celebrate the coming of spring!

Other great blogs: Why I ride and #bikeNYC

Over the long cold Chicago winter we thought it would be great fun to stop and interview the bikers who were sticking it out during the crappy months. At the Drum winter meetings in Appleton, WI, we came up with the title for these interviews: "Slush Cuff." Alas, things have not yet materialized and winter is now at it's end. Perhaps we will give it the old college try this summer when everyone has their go-fast bike out and about.

Another gentleman by the name of Dmitry Gudkov is on the same page with the kids here at Drum. One might say he's working with the same set of paints... although we do get the feeling his camera is bit better than the one at Drum HQ. The beautiful pictures and diversity of reasons for riding make both Dmitry's contribution to Street Blog and Dmitry's own #bike NYC blog well worth a few reads.

So until we get our collective asses in gear here, check him out in order to fulfill you winter-biking whims.

Spoke Spotting #2: Best rack ever?

A bold statement like this makes one think of high end, artisan made, small batch bicycle racks that are worked by hand in a converted 1770's grist mill that sits on the edge of a crystal clear stream in Colorado. But nay, dear reader, this rack was not made in a converted grist mill but here on the gritty streets of Chicago. And though you may wish to call it artisan our suspension is that it was constructed in a basement during the wee hours of morning with a lawn gnome for a helper. Oh, and what makes our collective hearts flutter is that the material of choice can not brazed nor welded - as it is Wood!

Safety first! Rear reflectors are a must on any bicycle toting a wooden rack!