The Desert of Death

If you're going to pedal 330 miles through the Taklaman Desert, known by the locals as the Desert of Death, without stopping for more than a pee and the odd snack, on a single speed, you might as well do it in a Dirt Quake T-shirt, right? Cheers Guy.

Free post on Dirt Quake shirts. Limited sizes. While stocks last. Get yours HERE.

We have a couple left in kids sizes too.

Watch the three-part Our Guy In China on 4OD (if you're in the UK).

Wall of Death!

This makes my knees go weak. Properly crackers. G

Lead suited and booted

'Put on the suit and get on the bike.'

'But pa..'

'Get. On. The. BIKE!'

From Mechanix Illustrated, March 1952 and culled from the entertaining Modern Mechanix blog. Don't miss the Transparent Face Mask. MP

Tour de France x Synchornised Swimming

More evidence has emerged, this time on the official YouTube feed of cycling sports' governing body, the UCI, that most branches of cyclo sport are best enjoyed, or at least conceived, while on drugs. G

Peaty Sheffield

Grass-roots mountain bike jumble for all you pedal heads. Heaps of muddy secondhand parts, some new stuff, a few related commercial companies, and a few oddballs like gravity maverik Baybutt (seen here at the Bristol Peaty's show last year). BP

More info on the Peaty's webite

P.C. Hipsta contd.

More from the excellent P.C.Hipsta. DC keeping them guessing. BP

Rock Hard

I hate gadgets, and I'm tight, so the likelihood of me splashing out on a flashy gold designer bicycle pump is NIL. Especially one that sounds like it's named after Mexican royalty. But that's just what's happened...

Steaming down the local highstreet, I could feel that the tyres on my Moulton were on the squiggly side, making the handling even more squirrely than usual. So I pulled into the nearest bicycle shop to blow them up. Factory rated at 100psi, but I rarely achieve that hardness with my own crappy old column pump. I didn't pay attention to the particular brand / model of pump at the shop, but did take special note of the blingy Snap-It™ valve, which made the the process easy and scientifically successful. Rock hard in just a few effortless pumps. Hmm. I keep a miniature donut ring of BluTac on my Presta valves, so as to maintain an airtight seal, but the two-piece (revolvable) screw-on + rubber o-ring of this baby, means none of the usual hissing of air escaping its vocation. And the airline is long enough that you don't need to park right next to it.

Once you've bought a snazzy bike, there is a whole industry dedicated to trying to get you to spend wedge on the latest fad. The next ridiculous size up of MTB wheel, some new outer space developed lycra wear, or an over engineered titanium tool of debatable usefulness (going on a diet will save you much more weight and money). The Birzman Zacoo Maha IV sounds like a serious contender in such a field. But after a boring evening researching column pumps on the internet, many fingers pointed to his royal highness Birz' IV. It turns out he/she is actually of Taiwanese descent. None of my four pumps - at least one of them manufactured by a reputable brand, do what they are meant to do. And the local garage now charges for the use of its airline, so I thought what the hell, lets go crazy. The Snap-It™ is also Schrader valve compatible, so it should be able to pump up my motorbike tyres too.

Evans Cylces have a great deal on at the moment. The Birz' IV is £24 inc delivery - not a stupid amount of money when its RRP is £37.

The pressure gauge goes all the way up to an eye watering 160psi - what vehicles have tyres that hard?! So my only gripe would be that the dial is not set with more increments lower down the scale, which would be really useful for a flat track motorcycle where you are around the 20psi mark, and a few poofs either way are critical. The Snap-It™ does have a blow-off button for deflating (without having to remove it from the tyre), but you would still need to take it off to use a proper tyre gauge for more accurate low readings.

Birzman Zacoo Maha IV had absolutely no problem of making short work of my flat CCM tyre. Or the saggy Space Hopper in the garden (theres a screw-on adaptor for that and footballs included). I might have go out and pump up the tyres of all the cars parked on my street. Just for fun. BP

Deus Ex Machina, Milan

My trip out to Deus Ex Machina in Milan was a one-night whistle stop, but a lot of fun. I was asked to be one of five judges for the annual Deus Bike Build-Off. This is the first of two or three posts on the trip.

I thought I'd seen so many good bike-clothes-lifestyle boutiquey shops I'd be immune to the charms of the Italian Deus, but I was blown away. It's a great shop with eye candy everywhere. I'd seen the place at it's pre-opening party in November 2012, but it was nothing like it is now. The shop opened in March 2013.

I took my kids (my wife was away with her sisters for a birthday bash). They were happy hanging out in the cafe on Saturday evening and Sunday, and playing with the co-owner's children. The store has its own courtyard and feels enclosed and cut off from the world outside.

The Carby artwork on the walls is the business. If you want to read an interview with Deus' design maestro, Carby Tuckwell, order Sideburn 7.

DMD Rocket with Deus wing paint

Eau Rouge, the Deus x Yamaha Yard-Built XJR1300 is a rare and handsome beast with some tasty, quirky touches.

The attention to detail in the adjoining Deus Cafe is fantastic. If you're in Milan, get over to this place. It's located on Thaon di Revel, a five-minute walk from the Zara underground station.

The shop also has its own mini cinema and showed the MotoGP (not the most scintillating race) for the bike builders who entered the Build Off.
You can see the scale of the place. The shot is taken from row 3 of 8 or 9.
The bikes are the Scrambler special editions commissioned by Ducati. These were built by Deus's neighbours on the same street, Officine Mermaid and Mr Martini of Verona. Deus's own Scrambler is the yellow one in the top shot of this post.

The shop had a few of the Deus x DTRA T-shirts that were made using the artwork Sideburn commissioned for the 2013 DTRA x Sideburn Posters. This is the Stevie Gee one.

Umberto works in Deus cycle works. He had a sticker of me, that Chris Watson drew, on his laptop.

I've never owned or even ridden a fixie, but I've always liked the look of them. Especially with a basket on the front for delivery of Sideburns when the fuel runs out (I haven't totally thought this scenario out yet).

Deus are one of the main partners of Marco Belli's Di Traverso flat track school. This is one of the Yamaha SR400 school bikes.

 More tasty Deus Yamaha SR400s.

 The end of the corridor to the toilets.

Good looking shop, good looking staff

One-Off Deus Lego hot rod.

Stay tuned for more photos from Milan... G

0mm off-set

Can any BMX heads please help me identify this flatland 1 1/8" head stem, American I presume? I think the 'H' stands for Hart? or Hurley? I'm flogging it on eBay. BP

Peaty's Bonanza Snaps

Thanks to all those who came by the Sideburn stand to say hello last Sunday.

Kevin Radical spinning 90s classics Bently Rhythm Ace and ilk.

My show favourite, Richard Baybutt's (work-in-progress) gravity bike.

Grey skies and illness did not keep the punters away. BP

Peaty's Bike Bonanza

Remember, we're going to be at this in Bristol tomorrow.

Battle Royale

"Based on a cycle speedway format, Battle Royale will take place on an indoor 180m concrete oval within Circus Street Market [Brighton]. Two teams of three riders will battle it out over four laps. This is a team event so your 'gang' needs to cross the line before the others. First rider across the line gets the cheers from the crowd, but the last rider across the line decides the outcome of the battle. The team with all three riders across the line before the other team is declared the winner......All riders can ride different types of bikes." Looks like argie-bargy fun. Loving this Raleigh Bomber. Bonus points for the old Eveready dynamo lights. BP

Peaty's Bike Bonanza

Advanced warning of a mountainbike jumble in Bristol next month. I am a pedal head as much as a petrol head, and have been invited to have a stand. Beyond motorcycle tyre kickers, Sideburn seems to have drawn troops from BMX and skateboarding disciplines. The cross-over of inspiration is always heathy. There is not a lycra-only door policy. I will have a full range of Sideburn mags and limited stock of T-shirts. If there's anything you specifically want from our stock leave a message. BP

More info on the Peaty's webite

Moo-Tech

Cut-down plastic milk bottle drink rack on my OM Flyer. 50 Acre Wood trails. BP

Hello James

Hello James, one of our Belgian stockists, has now replenished it's shelves with the current and back issues of Sideburn. I visited their Brussels shop in the summer. They have an astute selection of wares and an atelier in the basement where they make their own bespoke leather goods. BP

Full list of Sideburn global stockists HERE

The Ballerina on the Golden Bicycle

To carry on the bicycle madness, it's a long, long time since we announced a new god or goddess, but now is the moment.
Tony Hawk: whatever. Ken Block: meh. Travis Pastrana: is that all you've got?
Check out Lilly Yokoi and prepare to have your frontal lobes spontaneously turn into broken biscuits.
I urge you to take the four-and-a-bit minutes to watch this.

And yeah, there'll be another motorbike post along in a few hours, or there's about 4500 behind this one. December 2010 was a good month on the Sideblog, if you want to relive past glories. G

François Gissy World's Fastest Gas-Powered Bicycle

I'd like to see François go head-to-head with Colin Furze's pulse jet he fired up at Dirt Quake III. BP

La Ruche Moderne

A short trip to San Sebastien in Northern Spain, for work last month, meant I had to fly into Biarritz then drive the 40 mins to the Spanish town. Knowing I'd have a little while before I had to be in Spain I contacted Vincent of Bixente Moto to see if I could visit the workshop I'd heard about, in Anglet, the town next to Biarritz. Vincent gave me the address, but it turned out it was to his new place, La Ruche Moderne. Still, I wasn't complaining.

The painting on the outside was done by ex-pat American Steven Burke who works under the name, Lucky Left Hand.

La Ruche Moderne (LRM) is a multi-purpose building. It has a bar and canteen area, with a BSA desert sled parked in the middle. The canteen hosts corporate events and parties, with enough room for a band to play and a wall for films to be projected onto.

At the back is a small display for Vincent and his wife's men's underwear brand - Hemen Biarritz.
Mrs Inman is stood in the middle, helping give scale. The car in the top left corner helps too.

Also at the back is Vincent's wife's collection of Polaroid cameras. They all still work, he says.

 Above the rusty bar is a store area for Vincent's hoard of old stuff...

 Ancient mini-bikes...

Prehistoric skateboards...

1960 and 1970s Schwinn and Raleigh choppers

 Next to the canteen is a long workshop and bike storage area and garage.

Old Harley, JD, I think.           Old Indian

 Vincent and Ronald.

Vincent's daily rider BSA is always evolving. It raced at Dirt Quake II and thrashes around Wheels and Waves annually.

Read more about this great fella and his bike, in a previous guise, in Sideburn 16 (see below). G