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weird - i'd've goonishly thought it'd angle down too - will get me a flat bar then and start playing with it - thanks for the advice sir.

hi all i know handlebars spawn endless threads on fixie sites, but just wanted to check before i splash out...
Changing from bullhorn to flat - would diatech dirty harrys work with my tiagra calipers?
what considerations should i give to the stem if i change to a flat bar? At the moment it's totally stick bianchi pista so goes up at an angle...
cheers

aaaaah. Thanks man. That's me doing my best track stand. Prototype your bike is sweet.

I had a great time too - so cool rolling around Marble Arch hcatting with your mates not worrying about getting creamed by a bus/truck.
How do you get photos to display on this forum btw?

I'm going c

http://www.last.fm/music/Okkervil+River/+videos/2811172

Okkervil River - I'd never heard of em til someone on Last.fm recommended them to me. This is an amazing song. Reminds me of Arcade Fire.

(my homepage if you're interested http://www.last.fm/user/Mongrel79/)

Hippy - I commute muswell hill to commercial street, so about 20km a day there and back, with some hills. Plus I go and visit mates round Acton way quite often on my way home which means I do do the odd 40km every week or so. Have done a few longer rides - actually tried to ride to Portsmouth last summer but only got as far as Guildford and pussied out and caught the train. I'm more used to riding fixed now though cos that was when i'd just bought it. Would be a good excuse to get in some proper training.

lpg - thanks for the advice - must be amazing cycling round the continent.

Done a lot of travelling and met a few distance cyclists - one Swedish guy sticks in my mind who was riding from Stockholm to Singapore - I met him on the Kazakh China border and was so jealous of him... Been thinking about proper touring cycling since then but never really got round to it.

Never more than 100 miles in a day... so piece of piss really. pph.

Yeah and when people approach me that sort of thing asking for sponsorship i do feel slightly like I'm paying for their glorious cycling holiday...

would anyone sponsor me if I decide to do it?

It's a serious amount i'd need to raise: £2,400... Chris I promise to carry a bag if you sponsor me £100...

Well the bragging is without doubt the main reason for thinking of doing it - how many people have ridden fixed from London to Geneva? Not many I'm sure.

There's a support vehicle as well, so no need to bring my bag...

yeah that'd be a bit humiliating though when some fatty in first gear spins past me trudging up an alp. Was thinking adding a flip-flop ss in a saner gear ratio might be an idea..

The charity I work for is organising a fundraising cycle from London to Paris and then on to Geneva. I'm considering doing it on my mostly-off-the-peg Bianchi Pista. Madness or doable? At the moment I have a 48x16 gearing which I like on the flat, but struggle a little getting up Archway Road on my daily commute to be honest. The Col de la Faucille heading up into the Swiss Alps might therefore be bit of a nightmare with my current setup...

Also you need to raise quite a lot of cash through sponsorship, so not 100% sure I'm going to do it, but thought people on this forum might be interested.

http://www.crisis.org.uk/page.builder/cycle_challenge.html

I have a Shimano Tiagra which was pretty cheap, stops well and looks really sweet and curvy imo.

I'd love to except i'd get my arse kicked and I'm not a messenger...

Jos - no worries - i AM a journalist after all and am used to initial knee-jerk hatred...

"what's he going to bring for us?"

Well I would've tried to bring a balanced article to national press. I also wanted to focus on the equipment of a courier, just because I think some of the bikes i see while riding into town every day are such interesting machines. Also, having never been to an alleycat I really have no idea what they're about, nor do most people. I think people are genuinely interested in these things because 99% of people can't get involved for one reason or another.

I understand people's concerns with Maxim - on reflection you're probably partly justified - it might have been hard to squeeze an honest angle past the editor, and I would've been gutted if a subject I'm genuinely enthusiastic about had been watered down or the point removed or another added for the sake of sensationalising things.

Plus I can understand people being unwilling to be featured doing something illegal, although I understood alleycats are a legal 'grey area' - my research isn't up to much obviously.

Anyway this is all beside the point as I won't be covering it as have missed the pitch deadline. Will still come down and check things out though (sorta wish I hadn't told everyone what my bike and bag are though - might catch the bus down to avoid recognition...)

Winston as a professional I would've contacted the organisers in advance and not just shown up, but I just wanted to test out the ground really see what people thought and obviously people are less than enthusiastic which is all good - I'll happily do something else.

Also I'm sorry this is my first post and I'm asking for stuff straight off but the opportunity just came up, and this is a subject I'm personally interested in so thought I'd have an ask of a few things and see if people were enthusiastic about the idea. Just some pre-research before deciding to write something.

The fact is mainstream media are going to be picking up on a fixed gear culture that is, like it or not, seeping more and more into the mainstream itself.
I'd just read an article in one of the Daily Mail magazines for fucks sake - the DAILY MAIL. The reason I wanted to look at an alleycat and perhaps speak to messengers involved is that at least these people are verifiably at the forefront and centre of something and can give the reader an understanding of something that is beginning to resonate more widely. That might piss some people off as the culture becomes more thinly spread, widely covered, raped by ad men and diluted and corporatised. Others might see it as a compliment. Or you might just not give a shit.

I would've tried to genuinely reflect what I found at the event - what people get out of, why they do it. I think though I'll cover something a little less hostile though.

man I feel belittled. I'll give it a miss then.

Hi forum
I'm a freelance journalist and shameless fakenger replete with Chrome bag and Bianchi Pista. I was thinking about pitching a story to Maxim on the Got the Knowledge Mate? alleycat, but wanted to check a couple of things to see if the feature'd work.. I need to pitch tomorrow morning so any replies would be greatly appreciated.

I want to go on a 'this is exciting, dangerous, crazy dash through the heart of london traffic' angle and then widen out to have a better look at fixie subculture in general. It'd also be great to get some shots of some bike porn hardcore fixies.

So here's my questions:

What's the legal position on alleycats?
How many racers should turn up?
Will there be good bike porn to photograph?
Is it just a race from A to B or are there tasks and stuff?

Thanks very much in advance