Hamster wheel

Keeps on spinning

Couple of days ago I purchased a new bike for my son done a couple of stuff to improve the ride of bike but there are things I cannot do myself. Namely truing the wheel, and messing with the headset, luckily ULYBY bike shop just around the corner to do the dirty work.

Still a dog but it now rides well

Kid just learning the seat slammed so that he will not have any difficulty putting his foot down to dab, the front brake also works now with minimal effort to engage, steer tube set to the lowest position to aid EJ in steering and visibility.

Cool night ride

Got the bike on Tuesday and immediately tested it on our favorite spot. At first EJ was still adjusting, coming from 12 inch bike that he can easy man-handle and throw around from a 16 inch that is a tad big for him my son felt the difference right away. I noticed that he was over correcting the handlebars and balancing from mostly his legs I gave him a simple advice to just pedal and not fight the bike. Heading to my advice it only took him minutes to adopt and ride like he been doing it for years got a little teary eyed watching him circling the area.

Ah the joys of father hood.

Ernest Hamster

Hamster wheel

Keeps on spinning

"I'm fast, faster than you"

Yesterday we went to nearby mall to eat waffles and browse the "sh*t pile" toys on sale. The missus already scouted the displays the day before so I was not expecting much. Until one of the sales rep offered me a bike at cost. It had all the boxes ticked, 20 inch 16 inch wheel size my son could use this for years, rims; tires are standard (spokes, tube), non of unnecessary crappy accessories present, and it was dirt cheap. Sure it was a pig on purchase but with a few minor touches I could turn the bike to something my son can enjoy.

EJ new steed last night

Instead of going home EJ wanted to test the bike. So we went to Blue bay, nearby family friendly place to eat and hang out. He rode that thing still with training wheels until he dropped.
When we got home I immediately tinkered with the bike removed the training wheels, angry bird race plate, decals. Adjusted the saddle, tightened bolts, re-aligned the front brakes was rubbing the rim, inflated the tires to 40 psi it was at 10 psi when we got it, flipped the front wheel orientation the thread pattern of tires was on opposite direction, adjusted the BMX handlebars to EJ liking, removed the ugly pedal reflectors, and lubed the chain.

Perfect for the price. Frame paint needs work, next project?

EJ got to rode the bike with proper setup today and told me that he liked it very much. Thank you son you made my day.

Shout out to the dudes of Siglo Siklistas who participated on Nuvali Dirt weekend XC race. Congratulations! Enjoy your after race "bikers juice".

Ernest "Papa" Hamster

Hamster wheel

Keeps on spinning

Tough decisions
November is the month of BONUS. For many this signifies the start of a hobby, for most it signals an upgrade, for some lucky dogs a new bike maybe? But one things for certain money going to change, parts are going out of the shelves, bikes are going to roll out shop showroom into the road and mountain.
Once upon a time you have a choice of hardtail or a full suspension mountain bike, steel or aluminum, 80 to 200mm of travel.
Add 29 and 27.5 wheel size NOW. Options are a double edge sword, What you want most of the time really NOT what you need. So in spirit of giving friendly advice I will give you couple of tips to follow (or not) in buying, upgrading a bike.

Know your options...
26 the standard.
27.5 the new kid on the block which will (?) replace the present standard touted as "wheel size with same agility of 26 er, with roll over of a 29 er" .
29 wagon wheel. The big foot of the group roll's over everything, holds momentum well.

What riding are you planning to do?
"I would like to go touring, XC, trail thrown in now in then"
Get a 29 er

"I would like to go trail, XC, roads on some occasion"
Get either a 29 er, or 27.5

"I would like to go trail, pump track, couple of jump sessions"
Get either a 26, or 27.5"

"F*ck this dirt jump, urban freestyle, pump track where it's at"
26

"I would like to exclusively shuttle my ass to the trails, and on occasion go big on mountains"
26 or 27.5

"Downhill"
26

A bike can do it all if you want to, but it will excel on what it is intended to.
80mm-100mm touring, XC, light trails
120mm-140mm trail, all mountain
160mm-180mm all mountain/enduro, free ride, downhill
200mm downhill

And lastly invest more on skills, legs, ride your bike dammit! You will be faster in the long run than blowing a wad of cash on upgrades.

Ernest "never saw that coming" Hamster

Hamster wheel

Keeps on spinning

Recently concluded Philippine bike expo was a nice freshmen effort for the organizers. It just goes to show that with enough support our community could organize such event. My only gripe the major brands, distributors was not present. Majority of the expo booth space was  occupied by niche, boutique, and start up brands. That leaves the chunk of cyclist who either do not want to ride unknown brands, and those who cannot afford boutique brands with nothing.

Don't get me wrong I enjoyed all the quirky niche stuff like Phatkat bikes, innovative feel good companies like Bambike, brands yet know to majority of cycling masses like pyga, rocky mountain. Heck even China branded bikes did a great job on their booths.

For me if you love cycling, community and not in it just for the money you will support events like this. Which brings the curious masses to our lovely hobby, lifestyle, sport what ever you call it. The "NO SHOW" of the Major brands/distributors was a surprise but since the expo in my opinion was somewhat a success I am hoping that, this will encourage them to participate on 2nd Philippine bike expo.

Notables
Bike town booth, sure it was small, had zero presentation other than BTC tarpulin inside the booth, but the amount of "I want this sh*t" swag on display wallet numbing. Damn you Ibis ripley...

Bike planet for making me lust over their carbon KEITH hardtails and imagining the torture one will endure piloting the elliptical trainer bike.

Brompton colorful accessories for equally nice and expensive folding bike.

Hitch pro for bringing Niners. Next time get a whole booth for them...and represent.

Pinarello and Cervelo for having on display reasonably priced road bikes along with super bikes like the Dogma.


Quirky stuff
Phatkat bikes had cruisers in all shapes and sizes but the one that caught my attention is the black fat bike cruiser it screams "bad ass".

Big chunk of the show floor was occupied by the Rare Vintage bikes. Rascal and stumpjumper was the head turners along with the RUST is gold 100+ year old bikes. Also spotted a BMW bike with German over engineered suspension, the ISOLINK bike which is the first Filipino designed full suspension mountain bike, and the red WHAT THE HELL is that crank bike.

Innovations
Full custom folding bike for P35k Sweet deal over the NYFTI booth.

Bambike they have travel tours of intramuros. A good way to also demo the bikes if you intend to buy one. Personally I would like to try the bambike 29 er and do a SIGLO ride with it.

Recumbent bike nice to see this available here.

Others
Mars kingdom for that awesome Christmas tree with bike decorations and nice lineup of affordable fat, folding and carbon bikes.

Viper for having a nice booth with matching "roletta ng kapalaran" swag giveaway.

Corratec for the Tron inspired booth.

Dude that entertained me on Stanton, Pyga booth. It was love at first sight with the Stanton Sherpa.

Filipino pride hope it comes into production soon.

Dogma least expensive stable mates

Now it's Cervelo turn P165k

29 er mountain bike, road bike, ladies bike, with bamboo frame panda is hungry.

Until now I do not know how this works

They see me rollin', they hatin'

Ernest Hamster

Philippine bike expo 2014

Bike components and other cool stuff on display

Keith carbon bike frames in 27.5 and 29 wheel size drool peasant!

Elliptical trainer bike, torture and pleasure all in one package

Philippine bike expo 2014

Vintage bikes

1936 Elgin twin bar 20

Philippine bike expo 2014

Folding bikes, cruisers, low riders

Brompton when you need to fold in style

Something different

Philippine bike expo 2014

Mountain bikes, Fat bikes
Now for something right up my baggy shorts Mountain bikes! From XC race whippet, to trail, Enduro the expo was not lacking in Range rover of the bike family.

My wallet not worthy sir Ellsworth

Philippine bike expo 2014

Introduction, road bikes, and fixie
Deck the halls with the two wheeled contraption we love! Spend a good chunk of late afternoon roaming the expo floor. With ton's of bikes in all genre, shapes, and colors Phil bike expo was like a cyclist candy shop.

Entrance hall let's go!

Hamster wheel

Keeps on spinning

Yay! Got the old crotches out of storage. Left knee not feeling all that great after night ride yesterday, ice pack compress on tow I am hopeful that the pain will subside before Sunday I hate to bring the crotches on 1st Philippine Bike expo here in Manila.

Ernest Hamster blog will be covering the event along with sweet bikes on display.

Fellow cycling enthusiast see you at the expo!

Visit FB page for more details > 1st Philippine bike expo

Ernest "with a limp" Hamster

Bike ride: Longest 8 km

Siglo bikes

Night ride
Started the ride perfectly stuffed myself with home cooked mash potatoes, 2 hard boiled eggs, and ton's of water. Traffic traveling to meeting point was almost non existent, the weather cold with light breeze.
The stars aligning for THAT perfect ride but it started to get interesting right at the beginning.

Murphy  visited.

Start: Manila Paco
Destination: Uncle Moe's shawarma hub paranaque

Food at Moe's Shawarma rich just what the doctor ordered to stay awake and alert during the jaunt back. My only regret not having a bottle or two of bikers juice to lessen the pain I was experiencing on my knee when pedaling with the left leg. Down stroke fine but the return stroke and rotation was like getting punched in the family jewels every freaking time. Honestly I wanted to cry because of the pain but with group waiting I needed to complete the ride.
With drafting support from Anton and patient sweeping from Doc Arvs I survived and we reached last stop before going our separate ways.

Thank you guys.

Alone I traversed Pasong tamo with the ferocity of a turtle usual 10-15 min travel time took me an hour. Only stopping once to eat wife snicker bar that I took from her snack supply it fueled me enough to get home...longest 8 km of my life.

Like the battle of New York from the Avengers flick SHAWARMA for the win!

Ernest "Grab a snicker bar" Hamster

Bike ride: Halloween ride, and Doc BDAY ride

Night ride

Oct.30
This time I finally reached my goal of making my legs numb at 40+km on 100% effort, I did it yey!

Traffic light on some parts of the route with typical build-up on busy streets "exodus" before the coming holidays (all souls, all saints day). Manila, makati, pasong tamo, nichols, sucat service road, alabang, BF homes, sucat road, NAIA road, macapagal ave., roxas, malate, home.
Ride total 39.9 km not including the 9-12km from macapagal to my home in manila. Forgot to turn the tracker ON before departing.

Monsters!
Prior to meeting-up with some Siglo dudes Doc and Aaron did whole day bike shop hopping along Metro Manila finishing with Night ride to the south you guys are truly Mamaws!

After ride late dinner, early midnight snack, along with a bucket of Bikers juice.

Kebab and coffee

Snack!

Nov.6
Something not right? Been a full week since the last ride but I could still feel a little pain on my left leg. Asked Doc about it and I will try his advice next time out.

Traffic surprisingly lighter today than last week. Manila (home), otis, nagtahan bridge, lacson ave. , dapitan UST, quezon blvd. , quezon bridge (quiapo), padre burgos ave. , Quirino grandstand, roxas baywalk, CCP pasay area, mall of asia, macapagal, sucat road, NAIA road, sucat service road, nichols, pasong tamo, makati, makati ave, pedro gil, home.

Capped the endless mashing and sprints with Taco's and couple of buckets of sub-zero bikers juice courtesy of Arvin Happy birthday doc!

EL Chupacabra...oh may alcohol!

YES MALAPIT NA KUMAIN! Photo courtesy of Aaron

Ernest "Bucket of bikers juice" hamster