Hope & Envy

Here is another quality handmade video that is pretty inspirational. If you listen to what he says, he is basically self taught and builds each frame by himself. Only one person to blame when something goes wrong - that's quality assurance. Hopefully will be seeing more of Horse Cycles in the near future.

ACE HOTEL+HORSE CYCLES = this ... from Matt McClain on Vimeo.

Hope & Envy

Since I have started this whole blog experience and delved deeper into other peoples blogs and the way they live and work and play, it's a fantastic way to keep the inspiration levels very high. Some people like myself are still working day to day but really focusing on the after hours work and one day hoping to make the after hours the real day to day. I sometimes wonder if I watch too many romantic comedies with my wife, you know the ones where they dress impeccably and live in penthouse lofts in a big city and work in marketing or advertising, or my personal favorite where the guy basically spends his time in a workshop/barn building, cutting, welding, etc, and has the beautiful girl (my wife) drive her vintage Porsche into the side of the workshop. Again impeccably dressed and oozes a vibe of pure harmony and happiness. I strive for the day that my wife and son bring me lunch at my shop and check to see what projects are being built, or spending the day with my son building a school project, or just chilling with my impeccably dressed wife by the wood stove as snow falls (however this would not be the way she would want to spend a Saturday night.).

There are a ton of small business videos of really really cool people building and designing amazing quality handmade goods or products. This is one I ran across from Soulcraft Bicycles, a brand I have always drooled over. If you have the time give it a look, who knows maybe this will be a new segment here at the circus - Hope & Envy.


              


FROM STEEL: The Making of a Soulcraft from michael evans on Vimeo.

Can't Wait For These

I hope to see these in poduction sometime soon. Great idea and it looks awesome rolling too.


Project Aura: Bicycle Safety Lighting System from Project AURA on Vimeo.

PURE

If you have ever ridden for a lengthy amount of time then you know the pure euphoria that comes with pushing the limits. If you are passionate about something then push the limit and see how good it feels afterwards.

Try it....

Rapha Continental – The Movie from RAPHA on Vimeo.

Suns Out, So Are Bikes

This gets me fired up for a ride.

State Bicycle Co. - Valley of the Sun from State Bicycle Co. on Vimeo.

Get Ready For Some Tooting!!

Lately I have had some pretty decent projects happening around the casa. Lots of inspiration from some of my favorite blogs, lots of ideas from places I have eaten, and now just trying to tie it all together. My problem used to be that I really didn't have a direction so I would just buy a bunch of crap on clearance that I didn't or couldn't use and be unhappy with the space. I've been hearing people say buy a "WOW" piece and design around that, sooooo thats what I'm trying to do. I'm also getting very jealous of all the nice photos that people take, the right lighting, the right time of day, the right mood, obviously the right camera helps a ton too. This weekends project is to work on getting some pics of the stuff that I have been doing and get it on here. Toot my horn so to speak, it's sometimes hard to do, but hey isn't that why we blog anyway, to virtually toot our horn. Next week I promise lots of tooting and more toot worthy pics and projects.

Until the tooting begins check out these cool videos.


RUSH / skate now from RUSH on Vimeo.


Pedalhard: Sac Town comp. from CHOP EM DOWN on Vimeo.

Welcome To HELLTRACK

I remember constantly nagging my Mom to rent this movie every time we were are at our little country market in the town I grew up in. The kind of market that has a film of dust and stale cigarette smoke smell on everything from old to new. The "VCR" rental wire rack in the corner of the market where they had about 16 Fatal Attractions, 9 Top Guns, and the most glorious BMX/Freestyle movie ever RAD. I remember getting home and after watching the opening and ending credits I would immediately go out and grab my hot pink Torker 280 Air with white Skyway mags and pink matching Tioga tires and ride all afternoon. Trying to emulate everything the pros did in those clips, from the way they dressed to the way they would over dramatically perform a trick. Here's to 80's freestyle at it's finest....CRU is RAD.

I Wanna Put A Bit Of Fixin On It

As I look outside at the 5+ inches of snow the only thing I can do is dream of dry streets and warmer weather. I guess while I wait inside for a month or two I should start thinking about building another fixed gear, or maybe just watch more cool videos like this one.

More Nigel Please -

Rust In Peace

There is something about a bike that looks like it has been through a blizzard while being shot at with paint ball guns. For most a brand new shiny bike catches the eye, but to me a bike that looks like it has been around for decades and rode as hard as possible everyday to and from work, or the grocery store, or the coffee shop, and on and on is what catches my eye. Image courtesy of SKULLBIKECLUB blog, and the quote they wrote is " You can't buy this sort of awsomeness!" So true.

BRAKELESS???

thats right kids, Nigel rides brakeless. The kid is something else to watch. Feeeeeel Meeeeee!


Run 4 Cover (Starring : Nigel Sylvester) from 13thWitness™ on Vimeo.

Riding My Bicycle, Riding My Bicycle

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a love for bikes, although I am not always riding them, I still love them. It started with BMX and progressed into mountain biking (without ever having ridden on a mountain) then into road riding (without all the tights and jerseys and flip up hats) and now has come round full circle to BMX. Could it be my mid life crisis, could it be my quest for being the cool dad, or could it be me trying to show my son how fun it is to ride wheelies, jump curbs, ride with a "crew". However my crew is not as big as it used to be, it's only me and him, but we have two wheeled freedom none the less.

I recently bought a used mirraco that I instantly tore apart down to the frame, cleaned it up, painted it a hipster flat black with light blue bars and forks, greased every bearing and thread only to find it a bit too short for my liking. Alot has changed from my BMX days. The bikes have almost become simpiler by design and parts. Riding brakeless is an option to keep weight down, pegs on one side, low seat height, high pressure in the tires, etc, etc, etc. (before and after pic below)

It's fun, but I get looked at funny, an adult on a BMX bike looks funny to them. "That bike is tiny" they say, "I like your purple pegs he he he" they scoff. To me it's normal, to me it brings back killer memories of the church jump, to me it gives me my engineering release to understand how it all works again, to me it brings smiles. I'm off to shop for a new 21" frame,maybe round up my crew, and.......ride my bicycle.