Product Review: Sofus Francisco Double Straps

photos by Metha

So I was lucky enough to get a pair of the Sofus Francisco Double Straps courtesy of Kristian over at fixedgear.dk. My old double straps were super ratty so naturally I was stoked to get a pair of these quality looking straps for my bike. First thing I noticed as soon as I got them out of the box was the attention to craftsmanship and quality of the straps. These bad boys are handcrafted by Jonas Normann (owner of Sofus Francisco) and the attention to detail is evident. The leather is top notch, look very durable and the brass buckles used to make the strap adjustments are damn near bulletproof. From what Kristian passed on to me, the leather and material is hand picked and great care is taken to pick only the strongest and best quality leather for each pair of straps. They are perfect for daily, heavy duty use and from what was passed on to me, the messengers in Denmark are using them on their bikes and the straps are holding up beautifully to the abuse of daily riding and the Danish weather. Here's a few pictures of the black ones I received.







Installation was a no brainer, fit perfectly with my GR9 / Soma Double Cage setup that I'm currently riding. I've had issues in the past where I've had to pull the straps through with a pair of pliers but there was no such problem with the Sofus Francisco straps. Once they were on, it was just a matter of adjusting them to fit my foot and I was off. They felt amazing (not too loose, not too tight) and I didn't feel any bit of slipping while I rode which is a huge plus. I'm sure this is due to the buckles Jonas used to address a very common problem I have had in the past with other straps. Since they are actually buckles as opposed to some kind of pinching mechanism, I didn't feel the slightest bit of slipping when I had to brake/skid hard. If you have dealt with this crap before in the past, these straps are the answer...

Overall I was highly impressed with the product and I highly recommend them. IMO, they are comparable to other high quality straps in the market and are well worth the money. If you see me out and about, stop me and check them out. Great straps from a rider owned company which cares about their products. A big thanks to Kristian and Jonas for the double straps and a big shout out to Metha for taking these pictures at a moments notice...

Links: Sofus Francisco -- FixedGear.dk

Orlando Bike Kitchen Project

Greg Leibowitz asked me to pass along some info about a cool new project he has in the works. Feel free to contact him if you can help out in any way.

The City Arts Factory (29 S Orange Ave) has invited me and several other artists to be a part of their upcoming (Aug 19th) group installation art show. The show is titled 'What moves you?' and the theme for the show is transportation.

The project begins with sending out a call to action throughout Orlando asking for used and unwanted bicycles and bike parts to be dropped-off at various locations around... Orlando, one of which is the Stardust Video and Coffee bike rack.

The project will then be installed in to the City Arts Factory as a defacto bike kitchen where bicycles will be piled and worked on for the duration of the show. Volunteers will sign up for shop hours, workshops will be hosted for people to learn how to repair their bikes, and finished complete bikes will be painted orange and given to communities in need.

Ideally this project will continue outside of the gallery setting and transition to a permanent centrally located space with grants, yearly memberships and low cost complete bike builds.

I am currently looking for old bikes, volunteers, and bike related tools.

Greg.Leibowitz@gmail.com for further info.

Related Links: Daily City, Orlando Weekly, Orlando Sentinel

407fixedgear : Ronnie

407fixedgear : Ronnie Govoruhk from Antimo on Vimeo.

Oh Snap! Hanging with Ronnie was a blast. I hope he kicks it well in Philly for the next few. Thank you Elle for driving us around that week too. Rat Race edit right around the corner! Stay tuned.

RR3 Long Jump Contest Results & Pictures

1) JJ - 144”
2) Cody 104”
3) Newberry – 81”
4) Jarad – 78”
5) Antimo – 76”







Good times, good times!

Pictures from the end point

Metha posted up on his flickr stream a few pictures from the end point @ Wills Pub. Here's a few:

Check out the full photo set here! Antimo is collecting footage from yesterday and we should be cranking out a short edit of the race in a little bit. If you have any pictures from yesterday, drop me an email!

ez!

Rat Race 3 Results

It was one wet affair yesterday due to the weather but 32 people still signed up and put their navigation skills up against the course. The format was a little different than previous races here in town. The racers began at a start point and had to ride to a designated package pick up spot. There they grabbed a package, their manifest and then broke out to hit the checkpoints. There were no maps provided like in previous races and the racers could hit the checkpoints in any order they wanted. 23 miles was the milage based on our route but after hearing a few the stories yesterday, some of you may have rode in excess of 30 miles. Not much we could do about the rain and because of the monsoon that chose to hit right when the race started, quite a few people got lost because of shredded manifests. Jeremy (JJ) won the high jump contest with style and I'll post the results to that once I get them from GL. Much respect to those who made it and hope you had fun! A big shout out to all the sponsors and the volunteers for the time and effort you guys put in!

Race Results
1. Nick Patton
2. Ben Bridgeon: 1st outta towner St. Pete
3.Garret Zelard
4. Josh Hood
5. Anthony Positano
6. James Mitchell
7. Steve Willis
8. Greg Leibowitz
9. Todd West
10. Ryan Alexander
11. Mandy Prothero: 1st Girl
12. Michael McGovern: Best Package ; )
13. Eric Vanlexton
14. Bradley Stufa
15. Karla Quinones
16. David Castrillo
17. Min Park
18. Ray Collshyly: DFL

The Lost
1. Sal Blanpuet (Flat)
2. Michael (Got lost. NO MAP!!!)
3. Dan (Manifest got destroyed)
4. Kathe Gover (Retarded)
5. Pete “Ninja Warrior” (“Not all there“ and wallet popped out of his Ninja leotard. Still lost.)
6. Chuck P. (Lost manifest)
7. Juan Barredo (Mead Garden checkpoint was hell)
8. Jordan Shin (Followed Juan… and got lost in Mead Gardens after putting on lipstick. whatever you say guys LOL )
9. Rachel Wong (Ran out of time.)
10. Brandon Wong (Flat)
11. Donavin Drummead (Lost)


Epic journey to get to the race story:
Ben and Sal came from St. Pete and got a flat on I-4. They put the car tire on Ben’s back and rode bikes down I-4 to the next exit. They had the tire fixed, rode back to the car and install it. They show up at registration 4 minutes before the race starts. Metha tells Ben, “Hey man sorry no maps.” Ben says as he scans the crowd, “No problem. I’ll just follow a local.” Two seconds later, “Got it!”

Boom! Ben comes in second. Awesome job! Hope the ride back to St Pete was uneventful!