wheeee.

(photo c: thanks Branch!)Invitational/Unis = good times.

Podiumed for DFL in the Invitational,

3rd to last, 18 something.  Trevor kept the 

DFL honors in the hometown after stripping

his fixie hub dropping thru the WV gnar.

Timmy R took top dog 6 Packer with a 

smokin' 6:30ish run.  Dizzam!

I think I won Uni's, depends which lap you count. Qwik pre ride with Tim and Pat, not quite able to finish my HopDevil before the group parade lap.  Then a qwik splash of SPARKS! to top off the the tank before we all longingly look at each other and Thomas says Go! 

Tim winds it up and I jump onto his wheel.  This is gonna be fun!  Rippiin' pace into the start/finish chute, happy when Tim checks up a bit before the plunge, hold about 2 bike lengths back, perfect trusting buffer.  Hear scrapage and voices behind, herd is thinning.  Just watch Tim.  

Never had the pleasure of following Tim fixed before.  We rode a bit in passing during his fixed hundo, but not together.  Now I can only wait until he makes a mistake, which I doubt will happen.  Plunge to the park border, slam the left and into the rocky chicane.  Pick the 

line that matches the pedal stroke.  Hear more noise behind, then the sensed presence isn't there.  Off the front now.  Hit some open pedaling, Tim answers the question of how hard are gonna ride this thang?  OHhhhh, we're hammering this shit, ok.  

Time to hold on.  Just ride smooth and keep on it.  ride that 2-4length gap, adjust the pace for the mo and flow, and the loop turns up-ish.  Hit a torquey fast corner and Tim's bike makes noise, his pace drops to zero and I see slack chain.  Damn, reallly hate seeing that.  "Come on, get it and let's go....."  I huff out.  

Hold the pace steady gunnin', come thru the chute solo for the start of lap 2.  Hammer down,  keep that pace rolling. Pick the prefered line, or the option, it's all about where the feet will fall.  You recognize the height to avoid.  You can see where your unavoidable steps fall in 2, 3, maybe 4 strokes out.  Pick the line and adjust, constantly, improvise.  Sometimes you gotta just slam that pedal and take the hit, just keep pedaling.  Hit the climby bit again.  Vurp up some odd combination of Spark's and Hop Devil, yummy.  

Pedal harder.  Avoid the race ending step up and ride the ledge instead, wuss.  First coherent thing I hear is Aimee say "One. more. lap." as I hit the start/finish.  Number of race laps wasn't quite firmed out at the start, anywhere from 3 to 6 was possible.  But this was only lap 3,

so it's countin' for sure.  Thru the crowd, the pelting begins, empty cans, a splash of Old Mil to the face, refreshing.  

Counting the pre rides, this is lap five, the loop is dialed.  Options A & B are now known for either left or right approach to the pedal banging bits.  Focus and pedal.  Hit the fast open corridor, past the shwoopy, breezey pine slap to the right shoulder, then four pedal strokes and into a right hand turn.  Four inch barkless log in the apex, slimey.  Kicks me a bit to the right, eyes down, wrong.  Look up, where's the trail?  shit, wtf? where? shit, someone's getting close.  what? shit damn, who is that? backtrack, how'd I blow that turn? dumb ass, get back on it and ride perfect....  FOCUS!  damn, who's that coming?  JB?  he's got the motor for sure, but it's his first time fixed...don't look back, just GO! be perfect.

Here comes the Sparks again, urrmm, give it~! urp.  Into the trees, tight to the barbed wire, drop the left then take the safe ledge option again, sorry Marty, and sit up thru the cheering chute.  "Is that it?"

"One More Lap!" they chant. ok.  was that it?  Mumbles catches me as I soft pedal past the crowd.  Not sure if we're still racing, he latches on and we ride mostly at barely conversational pace...."are we still racing?"  I hear.  huff, "I'm not sure...." huff.....  Now it's an understood 'honest' pace. Work it to keep each other honest, not quite racing at this point, but no gimmee's either.  Work the mo and the flow and keep the stomach contents where they belong, keep an ear open to judge the gap, then we hit the spot where Tim dropped a chain.  Shhhhwuopff, and I carelessly dump the front end.  Sweet grind, but the leaf covered rock eventually took me down.  Step off while still moving forward and debate the cost/benefit of being a dick about letting Chris by.  Are we still racing?  Does it matter?

So, instead of 'clumsily' remounting the bike and blocking the line, he gets by and I latch onto his wheel.  No mistakes are made and I follow Chris thru the chute to chants of "One More Lap!"  Out we go for #5.....slightly more conversational pace then before, legs are starting to feel it.  It's getting dark, bouncing off more and more unseen obstacles.  Begin to sense a creaking presence approaching from behind....Jerimiah.  He catches us at one of two spots 

to make a pass.  He passes me, up thru some chunky rocks, it's obvious who's been on a few recent CX podiums....but Chris hhas enough space and holds the small gap is into the trees before JB, door = closed.

end of lap 5, it's dark, the crowd is boisterous, and I drink a lot of the beers that were handed to me, it's a celebration.  Thanks everybody!

Uni's!

The Fixed Gear Battle for the Universe is happening.

Saturday afternoon,
Hillendale Park,
Harrisonburg, VA.

Less coastin',
more roastin'

goings on.

Hope everybody got out to enjoy some fall colors. Not much happening in TomiCog land, winding down from a long season. Sort of looking ahead, have thrown my hat into the ring for some possible summer fun next year, devising plans, paring down the list......more on that later.

Added an easier to find email linky on the side bar, under the new blurb about Chainrings. Also have 22T cogs avail in limited qty. Couple special requests came in, so I have an extra on the shelf and can make more if ya'll want an easier spinning gear.

Get out and ride, snow will be here soon enough! (hopefully)

update.

Cut fresh stock over the wknd,
those 16's ya'll have been waiting
on will be shipping tomorrow, Tuesday.

went for a ride....

clicky make big on all.
longer slideshow on the Smug
good times.

hmmmm.

Ya'll must be getting strong, or a bunch of ya'll are taking it to the streets or something. 16's are a hot commodity right now, and I'm coming up short. This only affects the orders placed since last wknd, from the 13th forward. I'm ordering fresh mat'l today and plan on cutting fresh cogs next week, so your 16t cog should be sent out by next weekend. Probably end up being a bit beyond the 2 week delivery I try to hold, sorry. If you're reallllly in a pinch, let me know, might have a blem laying around that I could offer....

I'm baaaaaack.

Survived an exquisite race/bike vacation out in the greater Tahoe Lake area. One loooong race, lots of fun riding afterwards. Pics are posted over at the Smug.

Digging out from underneath the pile of worked over gear, and throwing down one more race this wknd. So, if you've placed an order over the last week or so, I will be getting it to you. Target is trying to ship this wknd, but that might slide to Mon or Tues.....it's a big dirty pile of gear to sort and store.

pics & inventory

got some more time on the laser:

fully stocked again with all cog sizes.

rings on hand:

(2) 34t x 104

(5) 34t x 102 (XTR)

(3) 32t x 104

(8) 32t x 102 (XTR)

RINGS!

so, uhmmm, yeah......it's been awhile, again.

ok, rings are gonna happen soon, here's the deal.

Until I get geared up with better tooling, I'll be offering the rings in limited batches because of the time involved with beveling, I'm still busy chasing checkered flags and time down in the workshop is kinda rare right now. "Stock" sizes will be 32T and 34T in both four bolt 102bhc (960 XTR) and the standard 104bhc.

For now, I think it'll be easiest if I post up sizes and qty on hand. You email me your interest or leave a comment, I'll shoot off a Paypal invoice to you, then send out the ring once everything is squared away. Cost is gonna be $40 + shipping.

I'll also be offering the option of custom rings, send me your desired tooth count and mounting pattern and we'll see if it's doable. Custom sized rings are gonna be $50, not sure about lead time on these, depends on what I have avail for mat'l, but I'll shoot for a 2 week turnaround on the the customs.

Planning to cut the first batch over the wknd, will post up early next week what I have.

been a while.

Latest news? Been busy with the racing action and all that that involves. Snuck onto the very outside podium spot at the spring 50 in Michaux, 5th in the singlespeeds. Best finish I've ever had racing on the fix. Then had hopes for the Mohican 100, but the humidity got the best of me in Ohio, didn't break 9hours, didn't even break 10, a long slummy day. Then hit up the Stoopid 50 up in State College last wknd. Had a good day other than a flat tire at about the 4 hour mark. Finished it up as 7th place singlespeed, 23rd overall. Pretty happy with that considering the depth of the field. Now parking the Jabberfixy to get in some coasting action over the next couple weeks. Bit of a stage race on tap, plus a ride project here in the backyard, gonna find out what 100 miles in Michaux is all about.

In product news, still piling the miles on the proto ring. Getting reallllly close to the 1000 miles I'd like to officially log before 'bringing to market.' Swapped the crankset over to the Dos Niner so it won't be sitting idle while the Jabber does. Plan there is to offer a handful of 'stock' sizes, then also possibly offer a custom option, you name the tooth count and desired bolt circle and we'll see what can be done.

Also, as of yesterday, June 18th, I'm out of 18 tooth cogs. Still have plenty of stock in all the other sizes, and I'll still take orders for the 18, just might be an extra week or two until I can send 'em to ya. I will be cutting more once the dust settles from vacation/stage racing travels. Expecting to be stocked back up after July 4, and should have the whole chainring thing figured out by then also.

hope you're out there enjoying the ride.

on to the next step.

Did a tear down of the Jabber, was bit shwooped after the Cohutta abuse and the 2hr 70mph 81N power spray on the commute home. Slapped on a fresh chain, ring looked really good, first 500ish miles on it, and it's still in damn fine shape.

So, I made up some drawrrings, and freshy programs, stayed late tonight, and now I'm looking at needing to find some time to sit down with the file again.....somwhere in between pressing in new rear hub bearings, which is part of another race tune on the Jabber, then prepping and getting ready for go time on Sunday. Could be an interesting race.

Teaser Pic:

TomiCOG Riders Sweep Cohutta Fixed Gear Class.

For Release, 4/20/08: TomiCOG Factory riders, Tomi and Dicky lay waste to the fixed gear field at the 3rd annual Cohutta 100. Torrential southern day long monsoons drenched the Cohutta Mtns and set the stage for a dreary start to the day. Despite the conditions, the early portion of the race found the two stealthy riders sneaking into podium contention, sometimes even helping to set the tempo of the s.s. pain train, wooo wooo! But eventually all trails must end, and the two Quixotic journeymen went off in search of their personal windmill dragons and tales of glory on crazed viking battlefields.

Tomi's long ride ended in nine hours and twenty one minutes, two minutes faster than his previous fixed best at the Wilderness 101! Dicky eventually came to terms with his choice of running a 17, and broke thru the 10hr threshold on only his second attempt! Both riders were quoted as saying at the finish that "It was really hard.....kinda sucked in fact......gotta beer?"

It has been questioned though, whether Dicky's choice of going shirtless from the final CP gave him an unfair aero advantage. USCF/FCC/NUE Basic Rules #6.a-4c states that: Any rider who dares to expose a nipple in order to gain an unfair advantage either thru aerodynamic superiority or as intended to startle the competition will be found to be in violation of Rule #6.a-4c.

2008 Cohutta 100 Fixed Gear Podium: Tomi & Dicky

photo c: Namrita O'dea

season opener.

heading to Cohutta this wknd.
jammed up busy 'til then, last
minute road trip chit, ya know?

hoping to not make a fool of myself.
65mile fireroad loop smack in the
middle, rolling the 32:19 over the
sawtooth profile will be a not so subtle
reminder of how silly it is to race
on a fix, at least my spin will get
a nice fine tune.

then it's only four to go.
neat.

wassup?

springtime is here!

been trying to ride a bunch,
always easy to want more at
this time of year. solid 8.5 hour

session in Michaux last wknd,

totally diggin' the proto ring.

seems beefy enough to handle

those goofy fixed torquey log

moves and incidental rock grinds.

beat.

1/8" hand filed love, 40t x 110 for the skinny tires.took these pics a little while ago,
after this wknd, should have about
500miles on it, happy with the way
it's holding up, intentionally using
a chain whose age is sorta unknown,
I know I put over 3000miles on
it last year, Duffy had it for a couple
years and Harlan before that, safe to
say that it's streeeeeeeeeeeeetched.
Meshing nicely though, it is time for
a new chain, but need a fresh thread on
cog also. figure to log a cool grand to see
how it holds up, then we'll see.

The Mt Exter ring has somewhere
around 25-30hours on it so far,
don't know how that translates
exactly, but it's still looking good,
been running a chain that started
with 500ish on it, trying for a 'worst
case' type testing scenario.

happy so far, not a hiccup yet, beyond
those loose bolts a little while back......

hope everybody is out 'gittin sum!'

Punk

Snuck down to Frederick for a little SS Punk action. Awesome to meet another bunch of fixed freakers and great to see a bunch of TomiCOGs about, thanks for all of the kind words/support. Had a blast rippin' around on the Jabber, that bike has way exceeded expectations. Little slide show of the day put together by Darius:

prototypin'

so, ever wish you could get a stainless chainring for those XTR cranks you cut the outer ears off of?

most recent latest latest.

Got blanks cut for all sizes now,
workshop tonight, to the post office
Saturday morn to ship any orders
that I rec'd thru Thursday (yesterday).

latest latest

18's are also now cut. I'm only running about a dozen of each size this time 'round, unless I see interest really pick back up, then I'll stockpile more. Will have 19's and 20's cut by Friday, if not before, so I should have packages into the mail on Saturday. And if not then, then as soon as I can get back to the post office, my work hours change next week, so I'm going thru a bit of a reshuffle right now....(like I said, major shitshow.)

the latest

real qwik before I head to the ski hill....

just cut a handful of 16's along with a few 17's,
then the cut quality started to go to shit.
So, looks like I need to clean some laser optics.

Hope to cut a few of the other sizes in the morning
before tearing into the machine, so I do plan to be
able to ship any current backorders on Friday.

going to the show!

interesting happenings over the last week or so. opportunity has knocked in the form of a very gracious hookup with Chris Igleheart, master craftsman of the bicycle art, (thanks Andy!) . so, that means there'll be a small sample of cogs on display/for sale out in Portland at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, and get this.......business cards. who'd a thunk?

in other related happenings, I figure that after the NAHBS, I will be 100% out of stock unless some come back. I'm actually short one or two before before the show came up, I'll shoot out emails once I know who's affected. I'm going to be cutting more blanks over the next week or so, need to look at schedules and piggyback onto the machine, there is a definite window. I expect no more than a two week delay before I'm sending out cogs again, didn't figure on needing more blanks so quick. And really didn't expect the whole NAHBS to happen.....could get interesting.

thanks everybody, hope ya'll are having fun!

time flies.

hey all.

first, finally got around to building up a wheel around the ENO hub that's been sitting on my desk since April. Bolted up a 19 tooth and it feels like cheating. A fixed geard Dos Niner just isn't right. Full suspension fixed, who'd a thunk it? Only a couple rides so far, ski season has turned on, maybe briefly, so gotta get it while it's there.

that said, sorry about the few days lag in getting cogs out, been selfishly playing in the snow 5 out of the last 6 days. but, I am shipping out any order that I had up thru lunchtime today. hitting the post office before heading out for Friday night beer league ski racin'.

enjoy.

hey kids!

just a quick p.s.a.

after you've installed and ridden
your new fixed gear bliss for an
hour or so, make sure to check
all the bolts both at the cog and
the chainring. hate to see ya
strand yourself an hour out from
the car on a 20 couple degree
January night.

glad I heard that odd clunk
and had that tool......

woo hooo!

If you've ordered a cog,
it's now in an envelope
and will be taken to the
post office this afternoon.

Also now have a handful
of each size 'in stock.'
kinda short on 20's though......

the process

ok, the ball is really rollin in the basement workshop, but I've been wrestlin' with thoughts of what the finished cogs should look like, what sort of finish I want to present. I figure I should share this with ya'll, just so everybody's on the same page.

I'm doing this project to fill in an empty niche and I'm kinda feeling a connection with the old school mtn bikers, from wayyy back in the day, cobbling together bits of bike in a garage or basement to make something work. A throwback to the heyday of boutique cnc'd small batch parts. Remember all those funky brakes, lego block derailleurs, homemade barends, blingy quick releases, etc. I'd like these cogs to reflect those bygone days, and retain the character of one off, hand finished parts.

That said, I've decided that I'm going to leave the finish be and send them out raw. Thought about hitting the backsides with a finishing wheel, to put some type of uniform grain into it (a few of the first I sent out do have this look), or maybe polish 'em up somehow, or bead blast, or maybe tumble..... But by doing that, I feel like each individual cog loses part of its character, each one just like the other.

I'd like the cogs to reflect the one at a time, hand finished in my basement workshop heritage. So, I'm leaving them be. When you get your cog, you'll see the surface markings on the back from me deburring each cog with a plain flat file, you'll be able to pick out where I cleaned up the edges here and there. The front side will reflect the handling of each piece from the marks on the raw sheet, to scuffs and whatnot from stacking, then into boxes, to restacking & shuffling and stacking and finally packing and sending.

Each one is unique, and that's how I think they should be sent out. They aren't meant to be a blingy high polished work of art for your hipster coffee shop bike, these are meant to be abused out in the woods, on the trail, thru the muck and yuk. These are about the down and dirty silliness that offroad fixing is, nothing more, nothing less.

peace.

pile of cogs

feeling like George Jetson,

or maybe Mr. Spacely.....

an update

wow! lots of response,
which is awesome. thanks
for all of the interest.

will finish cutting the first
batch of blanks today. need
16's, 17 thru 20's sitting next
to me in a box. still on schedule
to begin shipping mid-late
next week. sent out a handful
yesterday.

A couple of questions coming
in via email, will get answers
to ya'll over the wknd when I
can catch my breath, hold tight,
I'm not ignoring ya.....looks like
everything that's been requested
should be doable.

except for the T-shirts/shwag. no
plans for any of that type of stuff
right now, sorry.

here we go!

well, the shopping cart buttons are live,
over there in the sidebar. went with
PayPal, so, looks like this is a go.

Expect to have 20pcs of each size
ready to ship mid-late next week.

get 'em while they're hot!

oh yeah: right now, here's what I have:
(1) 16, (3) 17, (4) 18, (1) 19 & (1) 20.