Drew at Milwaukee has been saying for years “we need to make a road version of the Orange One” and I always agreed with him. But where do you get it made? Taiwan? Sure, you could. It’d be cheap and you’d be able to sell them in bulk. But that’s not always the answer. With Milwaukee’s relationship with Waterford, they decided to go local. Waterford already makes Milwaukee’s Cream City so going with a road model was painless.
I received my frameset a few weeks ago and finally got around to building it up yesterday at Fast Folks. Check out more photos of my Milwaukee Bicycle Co. Orange One road below!
After posting their Critical Film Teaser, e r t z u i ° film has released the final Critical Film, a documentary on Critical Dirt. Here’s a background on the video:
A documentary about a very special weekend of cyclocross racing. It only took 126 km of dirt, gravel and cobblestones devided in 4 stages between Dresden and Leipzig, 80 racers, 9 hours, 35°C, 600 liters of water, a ton of food, a world cup quarterfinal and many many enthusiastic souls, to make this an unbelievable experience.
Check out more info at the Vimeo page. Anyone else itchin’ for some cross? Maybe I should de-towniefy my Nature Boy.
For the last three weeks, I’ve been getting out on the road bike at least 4 days a week putting in between 30 and 50 miles each time. Yesterday, Harry from NY Bike Jumble and I met up at 5 Leaves promptly at 8am to ride to Piermont. Sitting outside 5 Leaves was this KHS Aero Track; everyone’s favorite low-pro track bike from the 90’s. This one’s well-ridden and has an unbelievable amount of character.
Check out how the rest of the morning unfolded below.
Prolly is Not Probably’s Top 10 Doom Albums of 2009
As promised, here’s my top 10 Doom Albums of 2009, as a continuation of the Top 10 Metal Albums of 2009 post I made earlier in the week. There were tons of albums to choose from. A lot were weeded out for one reason or another and if your favorite doom album didn’t make the list, let me know in the comments!
Get ready! Here they are, the Prolly is Not Probably’s Top 10 Doom Albums of 2009.
Hailing from Missouri with production at Super Rat Machine in Kansas, Tree was one of the first companies to make a splined BMX sprocket. The Tree Lite splined sprocket was what saved BMX cranks on fixed gears for me. I know I’m not alone on this either because half of Tokyo is also riding these sprockets. Anyone I know who has switched to a BMX drivetrain is also riding one. It’s probably the simplest solution for the complex problem of riding a bolt-on sprocket; make it splined!
Pic by Andy T.
I’ve had mine on since July and it’s given me zero issues. The last set up I had with the Profile race cranks and Volume Krull looked nice and performed well enough, but I felt that the Tree was a more elegant solution.
Pic by Andy T.
Since I ride a larger bike, I like the way a bigger sprocket looks. Currently, the Tree Lite on my Bruiser is a 42t. If I had a 30t on, it would probably look dainty on the bike; don’t be mistaken, these things are beefy. It’s made from 5/16″ thick 7075 aluminum and with a unique cross-section, the Lite sprocket looks like a piece of art. The splined version weighs only 96 grams for a 30t too. Not bad.
Most people are riding more compact tooth count now, partially due to the scarcity of the 42t sprockets; Milwaukee sold out in hours! With a 33t ring up front, you could easily ride a 12t ot 13t cog in the back and with 38c tires, come in around 74 gear inches or so.
The only negative thing I can say about the Tree Lite sprocket, isn’t really a bad thing as much as it is the nature of being a small company and funding your own production; availability. Dans Comp usually has some 28t sizes in stock, but the larger sizes are really hard to find. Maybe it’s possible to have your LBS contact Tree directly? I don’t know but if you can get your hands on a higher-tooth count ring, do so because it’s a legit product.
With other companies like Profile making their splined sprocket, it will come down to the aesthetics and design of the sprocket itself. That’s another thing Tree has going for it, the design of the ring is nicely proportioned. Hell, they know all about sacred geometries, as seen by their older Flower of Life shirt.
Tree certainly innovated the BMX industry with their design and now the fixed gear community has another re-appropriated product to use. In the future, more companies will follow suit with the idea and it’s all thanks to Tree. I commend Tree on their innovation and look forward to see what else they come up with.
