Bike Love and more random photos..

Firstly..just when you thought 2007 couldn't get any worse for riding injuries..Tonic friend Christine bruised her spinal cord and cracked a vertebrae this week riding around town. She'll most likely recover fully, but send some healing vibes to Christine, and be careful out there. Seriously.

Here's some bike love...Tonic Fab friend Greg Melms sends over a couple more photos of his completed bike. Like myself, many people have enjoyed watching this bike's progress. Not bad for a first stab at bike building...


Greg's bike is loaded with interesting details..however here's one of the most important..this bike is meant to be ridden.


A drawer of the Tonic Fab Tool Box. I'll put some tooling photos up soon..


Howie chainstay end-caps awaiting attachement.


Style. Like the supreme court definition of pornography; you'll know it when you see it.



Chaz and P.Funk interpret a scene from the American Cinema Classic "Dumb and Dumber" at Tonic Global HQ.



The Baaron with a little bike love. 20 years ago Chris Moeller wrote about his bike as an unfailable companion. 2 days ago Alfred Bobe expressed the same sentiment. Believe it.


-L

Unauthorized Use / Foot Plant/ Custom / Dirgibles.

Being an global icon can be tough. Just keeping up with all the unauthorized use of our name is a full time job. Here's the latest example the Tonic Legal Team brought to my attention:

Under-Roos bearing "TF" !!!!! Obviously this refers to Tonic Fab.


Fortunately for Under-Roos, we are fans of what they do, and we'll let it slide.


The Foot. What a wonderful thing to plant in the city...PDX thanks you Chaz.


Tonic friend, Greg Melms finished up his custom super-bike, and it looks fantastic!
More photos here.


Serotta tries their hand at a one-off BMX frame. Titanium and Carbon. I'm calling this the Serotta LT-LTF.

Billy Lewis Bike Check

I'd like to show off Billy's new bike a little. It represents an intersection of a few things which we are excited about at Tonic. Having Billy ride for us, having the Howie turn out so well, and team sponsorship we are very proud of. I can't wait for our new website with team page..

For 2008 our team is getting support from:

Profile Racing

Thomson

Atomlab

RST







Spec:

Frame: Tonic Fab Howie w/ Mid BB
Fork: Proto RST Space Air fork. Under 5lbs.
Bar: Tonic All Time High (Available in about 90 days. I promise...)
Stem: Thomson X4
Seat Post: Thomson
Front Wheel: Profile Disc Free 20mm Hub/Atomlab Pimplite rim/Atomlab spokes
Rear Wheel: Profile Single Speed Cassette/Atomlab Pimplite rim/Atomlab spokes
BB: Profile Mid. Orange Hop-up kit.
Crank: Profile Race w/Ti Spindle and Ti crank bolts.
Sprocket: Profile Imperial
Pedals: Atomlab GI

Headset: FSA Impact.
Brake Lever: Odyssey
Brake: Avid BB7 Road Caliper w/ 140 rotor
Tires: Schwalbe Table Top Front, DMR Transition on the rear.
Seat: Odyssey Senior

Looch Gets Busy.

Enjoy these photos of Looch and his Howie. Looks tuned-up for Super Sessions.

Euro at the park.


Looch, cranked. Word-Up.



Tommorow, Billy photos and bike check.

-L

This is Iron Egg Skill

My internet has been down and out for a spell. Sorry for any delays in correspondence..



How about a few cool products?

I first heard about Donkey's Milk soap from a local transmission repair shop. Everyone who worked there had hands like concert pianists. Turns out this shop ran Donkey's Milk exclusively in their parts scrubbing tanks. Cleans like an industrial solvent, but leaves your skin feeling great.


Odyssey Jr. Saddles in Plaid. The best seat on the market is now even more best.


Florida Water Cologne. Like wearing a wreath of scented car air-fresheners around your neck...just a lot more comfortable. Closest thing I've found to a "shower in a bottle." Great Stuff.



Two-Four Ponies. For those about to rock 24's. We salute you.
Actually, we don't care what you ride, just ride.


Now that Charlie has a job, he's going to learn about the "other" kind of bank as well. At least he's got this type dialed. Best street shot I've seen in while.


Nathan is heading down to Supersessions on this very nice, very NW, Fall Guy.


A martial arts training video from HTATBL.

Finally, remember how everyone was doing Vander Rolls this year? Here's yet another variation, this time with an umbrella.





-L

Vote for Pedro / Do Litter

Pedro's from So Cal, but he spent last summer in the NW riding trails and teaching piano. He rides really fast, pulls up really hard and goes really high.

Anyway, he got to ride a few Fall Guys and decided he had to have one. Expect to see him on a Fall Guy soon.







Also, props to Litter Mag. Great content, and this photo of JD Swanaguen is the best.



-L

Hardwood Floors / CXSSWC

Look at the finish on this hardwood floor! Isn't that sweet? It takes a lot of work to get floors looking like that. Shame about parking a dirty old bike on it.


Ian, Tonic Fab's Cross specialist and webmaster, created the website and is helping organize the worlds first single speed cyclocross world championchips in Portland. He'll be racing too. Website here.

-L

Streets is talking. Pt.1

Here's a few pics from the mean streets of Portland. Gracias Chaz y P.Funk.


In some crowds, placing a colored bandana in your back pocket can indicate a variety of things about yourself. What could P-Funk possibly be signaling with these very deliberately placed black riding gloves?




Foot Jam: Free


This a burly line that been in a couple BMX videos. The ledge is a pretty big hop-up and you have to be going Mach speeds to make this gap. Damn Charlie.

Reporting for Duty.

SOOO many good riding photos, but this one of Alfred and his batered Tonic track bike jumped to the front of the line..

New Finish.

Tonic Fab Global HQ has been experimenting with a new frame finish.

It's not paint.

It's a plating process which is used on steel products intended for severe use / outdoor applications, and is corrosion resistant. Because the frame is submerged, the entire frame, inside and out, is treated to this finish. It can also function as an excellent primer, and I think we'll be treating our production frames to this process before paint.

Anyway, enough tech. What really matters is what it looks like.

What do you think? Love it, or hate it? This particular sample has a gloss clear coat, but we could also do a matte or no clear at all of course. Although it looks kind of brown in these photos, the color is definately a gradient of grey to black. The first photo best represents the actual flavor of this finish. I expect fans of the "raw" look to like this. The discoloration around the welds remains visible, but only barely because of the way the frames are cleaned before plating.

By the way, take a moment and enjoy those welds.

Lemme know what you think. Thumbs up, down, or sideways.

-L