My recent Nuts ‘n’ Bolts article showed how to convert your old ten-speed to a fixed-gear bike. It seems that “single speed” is the new “fixed gear”, at least here in Los Angeles. Recently, at the Bike Oven, requests for single speed conversions have caught and passed requests for fixed gear conversions. When you think about it, much of the fixie cachet is present with a single-speed. No derailleurs, jockey wheels, shifters, or shift cables and a lot less chain whipping around. However, now you really need that brake (or preferably - brakes) unless you want to wear through your tennis shoe against the rear tyre to stop every time.

At first, the quickest and dirtiest single-speed conversion was to simply remove the derailleur gear and shorten the chain so that it would go around one chain ring and one cog on the multi-speed freewheel or cassette. Now, most opt for the cleaner and lighter single chain ring and single-cog BMX freewheel setup.

My article would be near identical for a single-speed conversion. Except you screw a BMX freewheel onto the hub and omit the lock ring. Watch out that you get the correct BMX freewheel though - get one with English threads and not Metric. BMX bikes use both which are also available for either 1/8 or 3/32 chain, same as fixed cogs. Good prices on these can be obtained from the sources mentioned in the article.

Two types of BMX Freewheel

Another thing to watch for is that some BMX freewheels are non-removable (without a hammer and punch or chisel). Get one that uses the standard 4-prong extractor, Park FR6 or equivalent.

Actually, I find that night riding is quite a bit calmer than daylight riding. Auto traffic is lighter, busses run less frequently, there are fewer trucks and delivery vehicles, and most auto drivers are more relaxed. It is still important to ride confidently and predictably, demanding your share of the road and doing nothing to surprise motorists.

There is one huge difference, and this is the essential difference that can make night riding either pleasant or treacherous. Lighting. Yes, you need as many of those blinkies as you can put up with. Now that 99 cent stores have great selections of these, there are no excuses. Here is what I use, all items bought for 99 cents.

Two red rear blinkies, each with 5 bright LEDs. Complete with seat post mounting brackets, 99 cents each. Alternately clip onto your belt or backpack. I recommend the seatpost mount for consistantly accurate aiming.

One white LED front flashlight, mounted on a quick-release handlebar mount that I fabricated from bits and pieces of scrap aluminum and a plastic handlebar reflector clamp. If you don’t have these parts or don’t have the skills to do this custom fabrication, the 99 cent store LED flashlight can be mounted to the handlebar with a rubber band. Just loop the rubber band over the front of the flashlight, under the handlebar, then up and over the back of the light. You can cut the rubber band from a discarded bike inner tube.

Not shown is an amber LED blinkie (not from 99 cent store) that I mounted on the seat stay. I use this in foggy or rainy conditions for extra visibility.

Over the years of night riding, I have noticed that every time I add to, or brighten up, my lighting, auto drivers notice me faster and from farther away and give me a wider passing space. Contrary to the myth, I have noticed that flashing lights on a bike are better than steady-state because motorists have come to associate blinking lights with bicycles.

I’m beaming. I’m thrilled. I’m filled with Langer’s Pastrami. You see commuting on my bicycle not only made it possible to visit the dentist early this morning (no cavities thank you) but to make a brief visit to possibly the best deli in the world– Langer’s Delicatessen. “Located across from historic MacArthur Park, Langer’s is an important part of Los Angeles’ rich cultural heritage” and situated in possibly one of the worst neighborhoods to park a car. This is where the bicycle comes in– I plotted a route from my dentist to my job that involved riding down Alvarado. Once I passed MacArthur Park, I brought my bicycle inside the restaurant and placed my to-go order of pastrami on rye. In-out in 10 minutes with grub and the purchase of a 60 year anniversary commemorative coffee mug. Damn!

Sure it was 10:30 in the morning but how often can you have what Nora Ephron, writing in The New Yorker described as “the resulting sandwich, slathered with Gulden’s mustard, is an exquisite combination of textures and tastes. It’s soft but crispy, tender but chewy, peppery but sour, smoky but tangy. It’s a symphony orchestra, different instruments brought together to play one perfect chord. It … is, in short, a work of art.”

Ah, the bicycle bringing gluttons like me to food with ease… Wanna learn more about Langer’s Delicatessen then visit www.langersdeli.com.

Hey everybody,

We are reincarnating CMCM with an inaugural ride, Friday, September 28, at 6:00 p.m.

Meet up in the parking lot of Memphis Costa Mesa (2920 Bristol Avenue, Costa Mesa) for a tour of the city.

We’ll wind up back at Memphis for beer and food.

See you there!!!

It is the year 1895, Igor’s great grandad, Ebinezer, pedals his way to the new “Bike Stove” (a community blacksmith shop founded by Ben Ali, a former used camel dealer) where a batch of donated wagon and buggy wheels needs to be converted for use with the very latest craze - bicycles!

A few locals timidly follow this rebelious pioneer to the hotbed of the anti-horse movement. Not visible, on Ebbie’s backpack, a patch reads, “Ban the Bridle” and “Say Neigh to Nags”. A banner over the Bike Stove entrance pleads, “Reduce World Dependence on Hay. Take Back the Streets, Purge the Piles of Puckey.”

The Teamsters Union is fighting back; buggy whips are being stuck into bicycle spokes at an alarming rate. Local sheriffs are arresting velocipedists for scaring horses and scorching through town squares.

Bike Stove regulars were unavailable for comment but are drawing a great deal of sympathy from barkeeps and dance hall girls. Mae West has been seen embracing a Bike Stove ‘Smithy’ and exclaiming, “Is that a tyre pump in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?”

At the peak of the 1970s bike boom, a young lady friend of mine decided that the imitation Brooks saddle on her new Ross UJBBTS (Universal Japanese Bike Boom Ten Speed) was as hard as a rock and she wanted me to mount an el cheapo plastic cushy saddle. She insisted I keep the hard leather thing, she was no longer interested in seeing it. Into a plastic bag it went to lanquish for 3.5 decades, unused.

Here we are in 2007, the Ross leather saddle comes out of the plastic bag and onto the seat post of my Omega Mixte 12 speed (now a 6 speed). At least ten years older than the bike, it still looks period correct.

The leather is still black and shiny. The seat frame and rails are still the color of bright cadmium plate. Its heavy, its hard, but its a riveted leather retro-saddle. All the rage.