Self Portraits

Recently, I was leant a set of pocket wizards (3x receivers and a transmitter) from a friend who no longer had a use for them since having lost his trigger finger in a terrible sniper accident. Ok, the sniper part is bull; but he hadn’t been using them and thought I could really benefit from them. The other day I decided that I would start practicing with them; coupled with a SB800, 2x SB26 and enough batteries to send Marty back to the Future I started snapping off some self portraits. Overall the experience was enlightening (pardon the pun) in regarding light placement, intensity and diffusion but more than anything else I learned that I had alot to learn.

Miguel Fernandez – Affinity Cycles pt.1

By the time I made it over to Affinity Cycles in Brooklyn to buy my much anticipated Lo Pro frame, I had built it up in my head so much I was convinced that I would be disappointed. I thought for sure, I would walk in to the store to be confronted by a group of unapproachable fixie/cycling hipsters, but my prefabricated opinions couldn’t have been farther from the truth. I strolled in about 10 minutes after opening, my Gimme Coffee mocha keeping my hands warmed on the drizzling New York winter morning, the store was in an orderly and unpretentious disarray. At the counter I was greeted by Jason Gallagher while directly behind him Miguel Fernandez worked methodically on that mornings project. I could tell immediately by his work ethic and focus, that once he had serviced your bike, you could rest assured in the mechanical sanctity of your ride. He didn’t say much, preferring to nod occasionally when he agreed with Jason or chime in to explain the convoluted  technicalities of NYC bike laws.

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Special Prize

The new year has brought with it professional redirection, a handful of resolutions, and what at the time seemed like an insurmountable amount of work piled up on my desk causing a regretful hiatus. Having dug myself out, I now have the opportunity to present a little prize I’ve been sitting on since New York. As we all know I capitalised on my trip to New York by sourcing the parts for my dream build but what you may not be aware of was that I took advantage of the situation to interview my favourite NYC bike shops. Over the next 4 weeks, I’ll be posting a series of interviews focusing on past, present and future of the fixed gear sub culture and those responsible for putting some of the nicest rides on New York streets and possible the world. A big thanks to Jason & Miguel at Affinity, Dave Perry at Bike Works, Joe & Ken at Brooklyn Machine Works, the boys at Grove St. Cycles, Jahoon at Chari & Co and last but certainly not least Fritz at Continuum for their patience and accommodating me and my questions.