I haven’t ridden fixed for over a decade and I’d really been missing it. I got the idea in my head that I wanted a track bike again, so I started collecting fixed parts when I came across them. Before I knew it, I realized all I really needed was a frame!
All of my bikes are from Northern California, so I reached to a couple of local framebuilders and started talking about a bike with f/r brakes that’d fit 30s, and geo somewhere between track and road. As luck would have it, a Sycip frame that fit these exact specs showed up on Facebook Marketplace at the perfect timing, and I pounced on it.
I took the frame up to Jeremy’s shop in Santa Rosa and had him build a new fork (with California quarters for top caps), and run internal cable routing for the rear brake.
With a few weeks on my hands while he worked on the frame/fork, I started to think about the color scheme. Having lived in the Bay Area for most of my life, I’m a huge 49ers fan, and when I saw these gold brakes, everything clicked. I tried to spec as many parts from California/USA as I could, and sent a handful of the aluminum bits off for some Niners themed splash ano. While I was looking for a tubing decal, it occurred to me that both the 49ers logo and the Columbus logo feature red ovals, so I had a custom little mash up decal made. I think that might be my favorite part.
Anyway, I know brakes aren’t cool, but I’m in my 40s and live at the top of a steep hill. I spent a decade riding brakeless in SF in my 20s/30s, but at this point in my life, I am more concerned with having a fun ride and coming home to my family, than I am with scoring cred points. Hope you all like it!
by BadicalBlake
1 Comment
Wow. I don’t ride fixie or single speed, but this. This is something special. They say perfection is unattainable, but the color coordination and balance of it on this bike is as close as it gets. Well done man, well done.