Showing posts with label fixed gear. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fixed gear. Show all posts
07/10/2010
19/03/2010
The Ultimate Gear Bag?
Let's get a couple of things out of the way, I'm a web nerd and I am a gear nerd...
...ok, now we have that clear, check out this awesome Maximus 40 duffle bag which I got via a Highsnobiety online competition.
Now I have had my fair share of duffles ( though still wishing a got a limited edition North Face Base Camp duffle I saw in Chicago once ), but this one is the ultimate! After a nuclear assualt, two things will survive...insects and this bag!
It's a simple bag ( as all true outdoor products should be ). It's extremely well built and hardwearing with multiple haulage options. I really wouldn't be afraid of throwing this onto the back of a landrover or off a bus in Khatmandu...and the blue is very distinctive ( which is a good thing ).
So what is the skinny? Well it's made by the new Eddie Bauer 'First Ascent' brand, who make stuff under the 'Guide Built Gear' heading. Check the list of the people they are working with...it's a who's who of mountaineering ( remember Ed Viesturs from the original IMAX Everest movie? ). Now I have only had a chance to check out this one product, but by the look of their website the rest of it looks pretty awesome. Nice clean functional lines, no pandering to the masses...pure mountain design. Unfortunately you can't buy First Ascent products in the UK ( or any Eddie Bauer for that matter ), so looks like when I am back in the States i'll be checking more of their kit out ( looks like May for another work trip to SF ). Just look at the clean lines of the BC-100 ( and liking the blue colour too!)
Anything negative? Well this is only the 40 litre model, which whilst awesome, it isn't big enough for my mountain biking or full outdoor kit...but i'll still be using it a lot. I might even use it as my international travel bag? ( instead of a shoulder strap it actually has a very clever backpack harness instead ).
Anyway, check it out online here
...ok, now we have that clear, check out this awesome Maximus 40 duffle bag which I got via a Highsnobiety online competition.
Now I have had my fair share of duffles ( though still wishing a got a limited edition North Face Base Camp duffle I saw in Chicago once ), but this one is the ultimate! After a nuclear assualt, two things will survive...insects and this bag!It's a simple bag ( as all true outdoor products should be ). It's extremely well built and hardwearing with multiple haulage options. I really wouldn't be afraid of throwing this onto the back of a landrover or off a bus in Khatmandu...and the blue is very distinctive ( which is a good thing ).
So what is the skinny? Well it's made by the new Eddie Bauer 'First Ascent' brand, who make stuff under the 'Guide Built Gear' heading. Check the list of the people they are working with...it's a who's who of mountaineering ( remember Ed Viesturs from the original IMAX Everest movie? ). Now I have only had a chance to check out this one product, but by the look of their website the rest of it looks pretty awesome. Nice clean functional lines, no pandering to the masses...pure mountain design. Unfortunately you can't buy First Ascent products in the UK ( or any Eddie Bauer for that matter ), so looks like when I am back in the States i'll be checking more of their kit out ( looks like May for another work trip to SF ). Just look at the clean lines of the BC-100 ( and liking the blue colour too!)
Anything negative? Well this is only the 40 litre model, which whilst awesome, it isn't big enough for my mountain biking or full outdoor kit...but i'll still be using it a lot. I might even use it as my international travel bag? ( instead of a shoulder strap it actually has a very clever backpack harness instead ).
Anyway, check it out online here
22/11/2009
06/02/2009
21/10/2008
Fixed Gear Bikes - I don't get it?
What is it with Fixed Gear Bikes? Whether it is a new Charge Plug ( which seems to be the media's bike of choice ), or a 1970's Track bike, the whole concept of whipping around the streets with no brakes, no freewheeling and no gears just doesn't work in my head.
Even walking around the Cycle Show at Earls Court, everywhere I looked there was either a dodgy hybrid race/mtb/ugly/no gear commuter bike or some strange distrubutor selling an uber cool imported 'Fixie' from the Far East ( apart from Ninjas, has anything really cool ever come out of Japan? ).
It's not that I don't like razzing around the streets on a bike. I spent years communting on a bike from Harrow to Watford ( the 'Basement' years ) and I have a wicked little fully rigid dirt/street jump bike to keep me entertained when we need something from the local shop. It's just that the original couriers who went back to Fixies ( after for a while all being seen on mountain bikes with slicks ) are proper mental and kudos to them, but now every cool kid is adding one of these steel status symbols to their corridors and that just bugs me.
Now we all know what happens when the cool kids buy something....yep, they create a nice little bandwagon which the rest of us can jump on. Just check out this Kidrobot collaboration
The Kidrobot Fixie - Who was let lose with a paintbrush?
And Kidrobot are not the only collaborators, check out the other bikes on Highsnobiety here. Now there are some very pretty Fixie bikes, the SE Racing Lager looks very slick ( but still doesn't compete with their OM Flyer ),but where will this end?
'The' craze for 2009 - The Clown BikeSo what am I trying to say? Not really sure to be honest. Something inside me tells me these bikes are cool ( but then again all most bikes are cool ), they are the ultimate in simple engineering ( you try bleeding 2008 XT hydraulic brakes ) and they do promote urban madness ( and we all love that ). But then again there is another subculture of Fixie riders who not only have to have the best looking bike, but they also insist on doing tricks....that is what has killed it for me.
This movie pretty much says it all...
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