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Cycle Cinema: A Boy, A Girl, and a Bike - RIP Honor Blackman
British actress Honor Blackman died last week at age 94. She was perhaps best known (at least in the U.S.) for her role as "Pussy Galore" in the James Bond film, Goldfinger. British audiences knew her...
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A Carry-Out Ride
With much of the state still in shutdown mode, one of the few treats a person can look forward to these days is an occasional "carry-out" meal.Our little theater is closed - along with the salon,...
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Cleaning Up The Workspace
As the economy has been shutdown and we've all been keeping "isolated," it's been a good time to get projects done. While some people have been able to work on new/old bike projects, I had only just...
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Retrogrouch Tool Time: Crank Bolt Tools
If you spend much time doing your own bike maintenance, eventually you end up with a pretty nice assortment of bicycle-specific tools. And one thing I've found about vintage bike nuts (myself included)...
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More Workspace Organizing
With my school year effectively shuttered indefinitely, I had to go in today to pack up my stuff. A couple of years ago I had a post about my classroom, which has a number of my vintage bicycles on...
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Retrogrouch Tool Time: 3rd and 4th Hand Tools
Ever wish you had another hand?Granted, literally having another hand would make buying shirts more difficult - but when working on bicycle brakes and cables, there are a couple of ways to get that...
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Old Is Good: 1950 Mercian
Regular Retrogrouch readers know that I'm kind of a nut over Mercian bicycles. I have a pretty sizable collection of them myself - some older, some not so old. But whenever I see one, I have to take...
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Bike Commuting Wrap-Up: Coronavirus Edition
With our school year drastically "truncated" due to COVID19, and with the announcement that we are definitely not going back before Fall, I suppose it's time for a look back at my bike commuting...
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Bike Safety 101: The Ballad of the Battered Bicycle
Welcome back to Bike Safety 101, where I pick apart old bike safety "educational" films and other materials - most of which would generally leave a person with the idea that they'd be much better off...
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Memorial Day Ride - and RIP John Forester
I got out for a nice Memorial Day ride this morning. Our weather is sunny and unseasonably warm. I left early while it was still reasonably cool, hoping to beat the heat, but by the mid-point of my...
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Retrogrouch Tool Time: Tire Jacks
Ever had that moment when putting a new tire onto a rim, and after you work the tire onto the rim all the way round, you get to the last couple inches, and no matter how hard you try, you can't get...
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Retrogrouch Tool Time: The Chain Gang
When it comes to building a collection of bike-specific tools for doing your own maintenance, you'll find it's hard to go for long without having some kind of chain-breaker tool. Almost every bike has...
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Yes, It's Summer
I know - the solstice is still a couple weeks away. But as far as I'm concerned, the first day of summer is today. I've been done with school for about a week now, but my kids still had school (online,...
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A Better Match
I've been putting a lot of miles on the Sequoia that I finished restoring earlier this spring. The bike has become a new favorite for its superb ride and handling. The frame is well-designed and...
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Fathers Day 2020
Today is Fathers Day, and I spent part of it with my kids, part of it with my father, and a good bit of it riding bikes.Since I planned to spend the bigger part of Sunday with my 80-yr-old father, the...
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A New Bike Boom
Been to a bike shop lately?If you have, you probably noticed a lot of empty racks. If you were actually looking to buy a bike, you may have been told you'd have to place an order and wait indefinitely...
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Retro Raleigh - A New Team Replica
Forty years ago, Joop Zoetemelk won the Tour de France on a Raleigh, built of Reynolds 753 tubing and painted in the Raleigh Team's classic red, black, and yellow scheme. This September, Raleigh will...
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Vacation Biking
COVID19 has no doubt changed a lot of people's plans this year. The most recent plans to be changed for me were vacation plans. Our original (fairly elaborate) plans, which involved airline tickets and...
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Trying Out a New Brooks
Last month I got an email from the folks at Brooks Saddles informing me that I'd been selected to test one of their new saddles. When I got back from my camping vacation last week, I found a box had...
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Portage
Long before Europeans settled the part of Northeast Ohio which is now Akron and Summit County, Native American tribes lived and moved freely about the area, using the rivers as almost a natural...
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