Friend and Rivendell rider Marty are in Tel Aviv and went to an art gallery and saw these neat things:
There are stuffs in the background, too.
and one more:
I don't recognize the feet rings as being from a bike, but this gallery didn't say "only and all bike parts," so we should be thankful for any. I want to know who made 'em and what their stories are. How do you come to do this, and where do they get all the parts?
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We are doing one more run of cash-flow-killing MUSA pants. They'll be dark gray, tailored from waist to knee like Will's favorite Dickies, and more tapered below that for a smattering of chainring avoidance. You still might want to wear a strap, but I don't.
These are a different material for us. A thousand percent polyester with a little stretchy spandex, and although it pains me to type that, holy god, these are nice to ride in, and they're the only riding pants I own that my wife can even stand. I don't like them BECAUSE of that, but I'm just saying--if the olde MUSA pants were too funky for you (in which case I feel sorry for you), these won't be. Two front pockets with mesh pockets that are tough and don't hold water--so if you swim in these longies, you're all set.
They're not cotton because they need to dry fast. They're not wool because we're not selling $200 warm pants that collect weeds. They full enough and slim enough. They're on the long side, but we've made longer ones. If your legs are short you'll want to takem to a tailor or hem them yourself.
I doubt you will find fault with them as riding pants, you can do squats in them, and they look fine in restaurants, too. Will says he'll wear them too, and he is more picky about pants than most people I know.
We're ordering 100 pairs:
S 14
M 36
L 36 minus 3 for me because we might not ever do them again, leaves 33
XL 36
Our cost is $60. That is insane.
We're selling the pants for $90, because if we sell them for less, we can't afford to pay ourselves and rent etc.
They're not like stretch pants, remember those? They have 3 or 5 percent, or maybe 8 percent, I forget, elastic. The stretch is subtly undeniable.
They're on the long side. If your legs are short, roll them up or have them hemmed. They're worth it. They have non-stretchy crotches out of the old fabric, because stretchy crotches that aren't tight can catch on saddle-noses. The ankles are tapered, so for the most part, no need to use a strap. The new waist belt is military-spec elastic. I think these are the best riding pants in the world, and I know they're as good as I'll ever need. They dry fast and aren't hot.
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I've become aware that I throw out lots of links, but I don't do it willy-nilly.
Go, Indianan repubs!:
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/a-republican-suburb-designed-for-cyclists/
Do you remember this pop-chart hit?: It's a 3-minute song that anybody who lives in Indiana needs to hear. It should be the state song.
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Lean Out stuff (a reference that makes sense only if you're familiar with the concept of Leaning IN---an assertive woman thing)
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/10/opinion/sunday/feminism-lean-in.html
White supremacists going after white teen boys
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/12/opinion/sunday/white-supremacist-recruitment.html
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SILVER2 shifter news:
The levers will be here, we're told, by end of November. You can put those on our existing SILVER bar-end PODS and make bar-end shifters; and you could, if you're pretty far out there, mount them on down tube shifter bosses and make down tubers out of them.
But the main use will be as thumbies, and for that you'll want the SILVER2 Thumby mounts, which will be about a month later, dang. I would not do this again, and I'm only kind of glad we're doing it now. Too much time, expense, hassle, miscommunication...but we've all thru the process accepted no compromises, so they'll be pretty special levers.
Here's a shifting thing, a page-in-progress, from our Hillibike brochure:
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In a month or so, I think on the 16th or the weeked of that, November, I'm going to be up at RIVELO, John's shop in Portland, talking about the Hillibikes, and showing at least one of them, but maybe two.
There will be a cheap-prize contest or lottery or both. No harping on it now, because 99 percent of you won't make it, but for the record, that's what's happening then there. I'll be wearing my new sample pants, the only pair in the world.
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Here's some stuff about the hillibikes. I don't want to keep this up for long, because...I don't know, I just don't want to. I'll take it down in a few days. It feels funny to put it out so unfinished. But here:
LINK TO WORKING HILLIBIKE BROCHURE
---Grant