07 March, 2008

Miscellaneous Bits


Here are a few things that I thought were worth sharing.

Chain Guard Envy: You've all seen hammered fenders, but what's even cooler are the old French fenders which had an embossed crocodile scale pattern. I can't remember the name of the manufacturer or even find a photo at the moment. Can anyone help? I've always wanted a set and still have not found one, but I did find a NOS matching chain guard.

Constructeur Tail Light: In about two weeks we'll have some custom bullet-shaped LED battery lights that mount on a stud behind the seat tube. It's about time!

Porteur Chaincases: We just got more in with the 110mm opening.

On Cars: A letter to the Financial Times from a car designer (via Velorution):

“Absurdity is when a 70kg adult commutes alone in a 1,400kg car, meaning that for every litre of fuel he or she buys to transport him- or herself, another 20 litres is purchased to propel the vehicle. When the vehicle in question is a 3,000kg sports utility vehicle, absurdity becomes an obscenity.
“Even if we can make cars totally emission-free, running on sustainable energy, if their profusion causes constant gridlock they are no longer a means of transport, merely destructive, wasteful and expensive items of vanity.
“Sadly, particularly considering the pathetic return on investment associated with carmaking, the majority show depressingly little inclination to change themselves from being merely manufacturers of cars to being complete providers of mobility."
UPDATE: Jim found some photos of "Croco" fenders taken by our friend Lesli while she was in Paris. Thanks!

And Mike sent us some photos of snake skin fenders. Thanks also!

14 comments:

darren said...

That chainguard is beautiful, and i can only imagine how nice fenders might look.

The seat-tube mounted rear light sounds great, but i'd love to see some more stylish options (or any options, really) out there for battery-powered fender mounted rear lights.

Anonymous said...

Can't wait to see the taillight!

The only benefit of waiting for my VO frame is all the great new stuff that will be available a year from now.

jim g said...

Croc-print fender -- I knew I'd seen one somewhere!


http://www.flickr.com/photos/archivalclothing/196707587/

jim g said...

Also

http://www.flickr.com/photos/archivalclothing/196707614/

Anonymous said...

I'm not as crazy about the alligator pattern. There are some nice chainguards on eBay now that might be worth copying. The one I think is nicest is this one.

benfidar said...

I was racking my head for any idea of what taillight to put on my Honjos or just under my constructeur rear fender. Nothing I saw appealed in the least. Can't wait to see it.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, this is the proper link.

Anonymous said...

There will be a time, which none of us will see, when people refer to cars etc much the same way we do when we talk about the days when everyone got around by horseback. This is just a blip in time.

Adam A. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Comme Lefol Practique, n'est-ce pas? see: http://cgi.ebay.com/gehaemmertes-Aluminium-Schutzblech-Lefol-NOS_W0QQitemZ270215728135QQihZ017QQcategoryZ420QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Lesli Larson said...

Apologies for the low quality snaps. I was just randomly collecting bike snaps with an old sd-10 digital camera (looks like a digital voice recorder). The blurry view kills me but it's worth posting for the "croc" logo.

Anonymous said...

Well, we know that PETA has a problem with even fake fur, saying that it promotes the acceptance of wearing real fur. I think that means the owner of the croco fenders can look forward to a little red-paint shower when out buying groceries some time. 'It's as if he had CROCODILE SKIN fenders...'
m burdge

Anonymous said...

mmm. furry fenders.

mr.-antimagnetic said...

Salut , Eric here from Germany . Do you have still the Croco Chainguard ? I have a full Set of Fenders and matching Lights ..