“He’s got bike parts in his kitchen… ”
And? Where else will you find a stiff brush, plenty of hot water and straight washingup liquid for initial cleaning of greasy gritty bicycle parts prior to completing the job with expensive kerosene, stainless steel cereal bowl and pastry brush? It’s not like it’s a 650 Triumph motor on the living room floor. I suppose it helps to live in a single person household.
I’d like to try some of Joe’s Ashtabula cereal, preferably not in the parts wash bowl. Before I started reading Sheldon Brown’s pages several years ago I never knew that a single piece crank is also called an Ashtabula crank after the city not far from Cleveland where they were formerly manufactured.
Does not compute! There is no way that Joe would only have one bike. Everyone knows that the correct number of bikes to own is N+1 where N is the number you currently own.
Even my garage has 4 ( Road Lemond, touring Galaxy,mountain Saracen and BSO for SWMBO) and I’m trying to think up reasons for a folder.
@marcswales- that’s what’s called GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome). Every other thread in this bass players’ forum I used to post on was “what bass or amp are people “gassing” for?”
Unless he’s recently sold off his other bikes to pay the shop’s bills this is completely inaccurate.
Most mechanics’ bikes suffer from benign neglect; that’s because we’re too busy fixing everyone else’s bikes to tend to our own regularly. Solution? Nearly every bike mechanic I know has more than one bike.
For purposes of accuracy, IMHO, Joe should have at least three.
I guess since he has so many bikes at the shop, there’s no need for him to keep any at his house besides his reliable Red Rapid. If he feels like riding a carbon frame or titanium triathlon or cyclocross or fixie bike, he has only to ride to the shop and grab one for the test ride. But leaving any of those at home means they’re not in the shop to potentially entice a sale.
Ashtabula Cereal, highest in natural iron! And if you think bike mechanics have lots of bikes laying around, you should see what the garage of a guy that makes experimental bikes looks like. Between failed bikes, projects in progress, test mules to prove concepts, and completed bikes that were paid for but never picked up (including one where the customer was killed after the final fitting and nobody ever contacted me about the bike afterwards) I have a garage full.
Like Yehuda, Joe seems to have a monogamous relationship with his bike; it is his bike for every ride whether it is the perfect bike for that trip or not. Maybe that is part of the reason Joe and Yehuda can work together.
One bike? Maybe a sign of the times, or the others aren’t shown and this is truly his favorite. My Ruby is fast, my Bowery is fun, but my Road Warrior is my favorite.
Come on, every serious roadie is gonna have at least three bikes his first bike probably ALuminum (originally Sora, but upgraded to 105) his second bike (Ultregra) and his new Carbon bike with Campy…though his second bike might just be a frameset if he went Dura Ace and decided to transfer the groupo to his new Carbon frame.
Recently our local bike racing e-mail group was discussing the number of bikes different people own.
The discussion was won by an older overweight grandmother who had never actually raced.
She had been an avid cyclist until a distracted motorist ended her cycling. Her son was one of the top racers in the state. Several of his cousins also raced. Now she has the next generation is racing. The youngest is a 3 year old who began racing before he could actually walk.
She has in her garage: 1 bike friday, 5 track bikes, 5 top of the line BMX race bikes, 2 cyclocross bikes, 6 road bikes, 2 fixies, 4 mt bikes and three little side walk bikes in various sizes.
And today I am on my way to purchase 2 craig’s list finds of two more BMX bikes to add to the fleet.
I used to have two bikes. I thought I would switch off between the two but found that my mountain bike was more comfortable than my road bike. Thus I sold it and hope that it is being put to good use. On another note, without a second bike, if anything happens to my moutain bike, I’m S-O-L until it’s fixed and then I become caged again.
i think i’ve mentioned my excesses before here, and i wasn’t going to repeat them until i read about the overweight grandmother’s collection. without counting the four or five i have loaned out to friends and family, i have over 30 bikes downstairs. a baker’s dozen of old schwinns and old cruisers and stingrays, plus old race bikes and cyclo-cross and bmx [20" and 24"], tt [my old one has a 24" front--the funny bike style], my mountain bike, gravel bikes, touring bikes, track and fixies, and current racing bikes.
bikes are cheaper than wives, for sure. i have a tool box in the kitchen, zip wheels in the living room, and little bikes downstairs for the grandkids as they gow taller which are not included in the tally.
Interesting. I just noticed: Joe’s bike must communicate telepathically. Joe didn’t say a WORD during the entire comic; he only THOUGHT things, and most of his thinking was done BEFORE he got out in the garage. It seems his bike constantly knows what’s going on in his head…
I can see how that might be annoying from the bike’s point of view. “What most people fail to understand is the need to shut out the bedlam of other peoples’ thoughts and emotions.” – Spock, Star Trek, “Is There, In Truth, No Beauty?”
I think there is a huge difference between being a mechanic and a bike shop owner. The owner of our shop owned just one or two bikes at a time. They were the best, but not a lot of different ones. Also, I never knew of a mechanic that could just take shop bikes as loaners, or owners that would choose to do so. They needed that inventory to sell and riding them meant things could happen that would make a sale less likely. Mechanics tend to be in love with bikes and will buy whatever, as often as possible whereas owners tend to be a just a little more on the responsible side.
I have around (I’ve lost count) 15 bikes. Everything from an experimental SWB ‘bent to a very BOBish Bridgestone. And a few of them I grabbed because there’s no way something like a S-A equipped Hercules should go to the landfill. Oh, my Norco is now a moped, so it doesn’t count in the inventory.
S-A equipped Hercules just brought a smile to my face. Old roadsters (some yanks call them “English Racers, but they are anything but a racing bicycle) will always find a welcoming home in my garage, even if mother doesn’t approve of the number of bicycles which are currently residing there.
He should test ride a bike in those categories so he can be more accurate in his description when selling them.
He’s got bike parts in his kitchen…
Is that a picture of a PENNY FARTHING on the wall?! I thought Joe disdained all “obsolete” cycling technology.
You don’t have hubs and spokes in your kitchen? Weird.
Isn’t that why people HAVE kitchens?
Joe and Yehuda have more in common than they let on…
“He’s got bike parts in his kitchen… ”
And? Where else will you find a stiff brush, plenty of hot water and straight washingup liquid for initial cleaning of greasy gritty bicycle parts prior to completing the job with expensive kerosene, stainless steel cereal bowl and pastry brush? It’s not like it’s a 650 Triumph motor on the living room floor. I suppose it helps to live in a single person household.
I’d like to try some of Joe’s Ashtabula cereal, preferably not in the parts wash bowl. Before I started reading Sheldon Brown’s pages several years ago I never knew that a single piece crank is also called an Ashtabula crank after the city not far from Cleveland where they were formerly manufactured.
Does not compute! There is no way that Joe would only have one bike. Everyone knows that the correct number of bikes to own is N+1 where N is the number you currently own.
Even my garage has 4 ( Road Lemond, touring Galaxy,mountain Saracen and BSO for SWMBO) and I’m trying to think up reasons for a folder.
he should have gone with the tarck
@marcswales- that’s what’s called GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome). Every other thread in this bass players’ forum I used to post on was “what bass or amp are people “gassing” for?”
First mechanic I’ve seen without access to shop’s test bikes…
Peter & marcswales:
Try living the perfect dream/nightmare – 5 motorcycles and 9 bicycles in the garage. And then try to carve out enough room to do necessary wrenching.
Lugged steel? One geared, and one SS. All the bike you need.
#John A. Ardelli
yeah he has them for breakfast
it’s joe’s grandfather on that penny farthing i guess
anyway, what is Ashtabula cereal?
His bike has three chainrings — he’s such a loser!
Tobi
Unrelated to this strip but another bike comic for today that made me laugh.
http://www.arcamax.com/zits
@winyo. Ashtabula, Ohio is where the Kellogg Company is located… the largest cereal manufacturer. Clever, Rick!
Joe rocks! I like to see that even the owner of a shop doesn’t always need the newest and fanciest bike.
@d2mini – Kelloggs has been located in Battle Creek, Michigan since 1906 (its still there too).
Unless he’s recently sold off his other bikes to pay the shop’s bills this is completely inaccurate.
Most mechanics’ bikes suffer from benign neglect; that’s because we’re too busy fixing everyone else’s bikes to tend to our own regularly. Solution? Nearly every bike mechanic I know has more than one bike.
For purposes of accuracy, IMHO, Joe should have at least three.
I guess since he has so many bikes at the shop, there’s no need for him to keep any at his house besides his reliable Red Rapid. If he feels like riding a carbon frame or titanium triathlon or cyclocross or fixie bike, he has only to ride to the shop and grab one for the test ride. But leaving any of those at home means they’re not in the shop to potentially entice a sale.
Ashtabula Cereal, highest in natural iron! And if you think bike mechanics have lots of bikes laying around, you should see what the garage of a guy that makes experimental bikes looks like. Between failed bikes, projects in progress, test mules to prove concepts, and completed bikes that were paid for but never picked up (including one where the customer was killed after the final fitting and nobody ever contacted me about the bike afterwards) I have a garage full.
Like Yehuda, Joe seems to have a monogamous relationship with his bike; it is his bike for every ride whether it is the perfect bike for that trip or not. Maybe that is part of the reason Joe and Yehuda can work together.
One bike? Maybe a sign of the times, or the others aren’t shown and this is truly his favorite. My Ruby is fast, my Bowery is fun, but my Road Warrior is my favorite.
Come on, every serious roadie is gonna have at least three bikes his first bike probably ALuminum (originally Sora, but upgraded to 105) his second bike (Ultregra) and his new Carbon bike with Campy…though his second bike might just be a frameset if he went Dura Ace and decided to transfer the groupo to his new Carbon frame.
With all this soul searching I expect Joe to buy a recumbent. He’s not really happy with his bike.
I’ve got 2 bikes and often wondered if they could “thinK’ would it be “pick me, pick me” or “no, no, him, he want so to go”
@airmoose
This is what i was looking at. Need a job?
http://www.jobcentral.com/jobs/Kellogg_Company/OH/Part_Time_Merchandiser/010407380/job
@barturtle
Even if Joe was 20 years younger, he wouldn’t settle for Sora, even for a first bike.
@marcswales
Take the plunge! You know you wanna…
Recently our local bike racing e-mail group was discussing the number of bikes different people own.
The discussion was won by an older overweight grandmother who had never actually raced.
She had been an avid cyclist until a distracted motorist ended her cycling. Her son was one of the top racers in the state. Several of his cousins also raced. Now she has the next generation is racing. The youngest is a 3 year old who began racing before he could actually walk.
She has in her garage: 1 bike friday, 5 track bikes, 5 top of the line BMX race bikes, 2 cyclocross bikes, 6 road bikes, 2 fixies, 4 mt bikes and three little side walk bikes in various sizes.
And today I am on my way to purchase 2 craig’s list finds of two more BMX bikes to add to the fleet.
@marcswales
You need a reason for a folder?
What I found most funny is that the garage is totally neat with everything hung in its place. But the house… not so much.
Priorities…
I think this best sums up Joe’s bike philosophy http://www.flickr.com/photos/dumpsterdiversanonymous/3298512308/
I used to have two bikes. I thought I would switch off between the two but found that my mountain bike was more comfortable than my road bike. Thus I sold it and hope that it is being put to good use. On another note, without a second bike, if anything happens to my moutain bike, I’m S-O-L until it’s fixed and then I become caged again.
Have we ever had recumbents on the strip? Why not?
@BAW
There was a bike that looked very much like a RANS V-Rex in the shop for service in one strip.
i think i’ve mentioned my excesses before here, and i wasn’t going to repeat them until i read about the overweight grandmother’s collection. without counting the four or five i have loaned out to friends and family, i have over 30 bikes downstairs. a baker’s dozen of old schwinns and old cruisers and stingrays, plus old race bikes and cyclo-cross and bmx [20" and 24"], tt [my old one has a 24" front--the funny bike style], my mountain bike, gravel bikes, touring bikes, track and fixies, and current racing bikes.
bikes are cheaper than wives, for sure. i have a tool box in the kitchen, zip wheels in the living room, and little bikes downstairs for the grandkids as they gow taller which are not included in the tally.
Interesting. I just noticed: Joe’s bike must communicate telepathically. Joe didn’t say a WORD during the entire comic; he only THOUGHT things, and most of his thinking was done BEFORE he got out in the garage. It seems his bike constantly knows what’s going on in his head…
I can see how that might be annoying from the bike’s point of view. “What most people fail to understand is the need to shut out the bedlam of other peoples’ thoughts and emotions.” – Spock, Star Trek, “Is There, In Truth, No Beauty?”
I think there is a huge difference between being a mechanic and a bike shop owner. The owner of our shop owned just one or two bikes at a time. They were the best, but not a lot of different ones. Also, I never knew of a mechanic that could just take shop bikes as loaners, or owners that would choose to do so. They needed that inventory to sell and riding them meant things could happen that would make a sale less likely. Mechanics tend to be in love with bikes and will buy whatever, as often as possible whereas owners tend to be a just a little more on the responsible side.
I have around (I’ve lost count) 15 bikes. Everything from an experimental SWB ‘bent to a very BOBish Bridgestone. And a few of them I grabbed because there’s no way something like a S-A equipped Hercules should go to the landfill. Oh, my Norco is now a moped, so it doesn’t count in the inventory.
S-A equipped Hercules just brought a smile to my face. Old roadsters (some yanks call them “English Racers, but they are anything but a racing bicycle) will always find a welcoming home in my garage, even if mother doesn’t approve of the number of bicycles which are currently residing there.
one reliable, bike that you can trust, and a backup in case something happens to your main