Sidi’s were always the coolest of cool cycling shoes, Italian leather, classic style, and they fit like a glove. 90’s Sidi MTB shoes were the holy grail of messenger work shoes, hours were spent hunting craigslist and ebay for pairs. Check the ba
The Dominator was the top of the Sidi MTB shoe line, and this model from 1990-1992 was one of my personal favorites. The blue leather, with micro perforations for venting (this was way before lycra mesh) and all that sweet sweet injection molded ne
Unfortunately all that super high tech injection molded neon plastic from the 90’s doesn’t last. By the time I got ahold of them the plastic was cracking and eventually the stitching (!!!) used to secure the right side buckle broke and the plastic
Road Sodas.. were an integral part of every messenger event and for some everyday messenger life. Travis from Freight bags made these road soda holders to keep your hands free while you refreshed yourself. Check that original Freight logo!
This design strapped to your top tube and handlebars, it was a precursor to a lot of the bike packing bags you see now days. Inspired by the necessity of keeping your beers close at hand, designed and built by messenger ingenuity.
Hand made in Petaluma CA by Ross Shafer Salsa stems were considered some of the most durable and stylish stems you could get.
Named after Ross’s love of Salsa the signature gold top cap and world champ strip color way logo set them apart from most other quill stems. It could have been that “made in CA” lore or the slightly boxy and unrefined look but regardless these were
The majority of Salsa stems had more of an MTB geometry (Petaluma was a hotbed of the 90’s MTB boom) so finding ones for our road and track bikes was tough. I think this 130mm 1 inch threadless stem was meant for some MTB, but paired with a set of
The one that got away was the ever elusive two bolt track stem. 9 out of 10 Salsa’s had a single bolt securing the handle bars and most never dipped into negative degree drop. But legend has it that there were a few -6° 120mm stems out there with
All of these things were found stuffed in an old Thomson stem bag, an eclectic collection of …crap. This Salsa warranty paper came with a stem I bought at a swap meet. Salsa sold their name to QBP before I started collecting so there was never an
Campagnolo cranks (more on that soon) all came with a bolt cap that was made out of the softest aluminum known to man. The 6mm hex bolt hole inevitably stripped out and that wasn’t a big deal…till you had to get your cranks off. So when the time c
The opposite of the Campy dust cover is the methodically and practically engineered Shimano DURACE integrated dust cap and crank bolt. Not choosing sides here, just saying that if you include your dust cover on the crank bolt you will never need to
I used to ride the shortest stems (and also the narrowest bars) so finding a 1 inch thread less 90mm, normal rise Salsa stem was crazy.
Although here is the thing with these Salsa stems… is this really a Salsa..? Slightly odd logo, and while yes the welds and paint look very Salsa esq this could very well be a Kelly stem with a Salsa sticker for added resale value. The world may n
This ITM Eclipse stem may not have been handmade in CA, but it was probably handmade in Italy! It shares a lot of the same styling as the Salsa in the collection namely the flush junction of the top cap and stem and the single bolt clamp.
A long time ago, in a land far far away called Portland Oregon I bought my first set of track cranks. I bought them from a shop called Bike Central and the proprietor Dean is the bike shop equivalent of the comic book buy from the Simpsons, endless
So I got these baller Campy cranks, they were anodized black that matched the bike I put them on. A Pake track frame, not quiet the cheapest one you could buy.. but close. Baller cranks, cheap frame, perfect, messenger work bike. They rocked on t
Get weird stay weird, these 3T Mutant stems were exactly that, weird. I had one in bright yellow for couple of years too, but this one stayed around. Looks like it has seen a lot of use because the logo is almost fully rubbed off.
The two bolt face plate was kind of a game changer coming from the single bolt Salsa stems. But the alloy used in these stems was softer than a day old donut and super easy to strip out. I didn’t try it but I bet at least one bolt on this is strip
When I started riding track bikes all the cool messengers road Time ATAC pedals. I was stuck in clips and straps for my first few years but once I moved to SF i decided to make the switch. I really dig the old plastic body ATAC’s (the WC ones are
You can see the little adjust screws for the tension, first things first these were all ways tightened all the way down and left that way. The one thing that Time really blew it on with these pedals were the ends caps. The end caps compressed the
I grew up skate boarding, and I love me some tools, This PIG skateboards FIX STIK is one of the few things that stayed with me from my high school days. Turns out it works great for tightening down 15mm track bolts!
A courier lives and dies by their radio, it connects them to their friends, their dispatcher, their job, and also makes them look super cool… Right? What could be cooler than having your radio go off in a silent office? These are a small collectio
LOCK IT DOWN, the Kryptonite chain lock is one of the most iconic pieces of messenger gear I can think of. All the most badass messengers had one, you can almost imagine them whipping it off in traffic to punish an offending motorist. But in rea
Floating around the bottom of the box was this mixed bag of stuff. Before TCB has business cards we had this stamp, with the lightening bolt switched backwards in a weak attempt to avoid copyright issues with Elvis LOL. Shimano DURACE brake pads w
It is crazy to think how small our phones used to be, these classic phone holsters for messenger bag straps could never fit a new iphone. Bagjack is a german company based in Berlin, they make some of the most technical messenger gear around, I got
More from the bottom of the box! Moving up from the stamp, this is an original TCB business card, designed by Joe Lumbroso in our second year it really added an air of professionalism to our otherwise slap dash operation. I was (still am I guess)
You ever get a cog stuck on a wheel, like “fuck your breaker bar” stuck? Yea me too… And for some reason that is lost in time I just really had to get that cog off. Enter the trusty hacksaw and some elbow grease. Proof that with enough time and d
Kashimax 5 Gold was the unobtainium of Japanese NJS swag. From $100 top tube protectors to $200 straps this stuff was the top! I never owned any 5 gold stuff, but when I found this broken strap end in the back room of the messenger mansion (RIP) I
We give service not excuses! Special T delivery was my longest SF messenger job. After working for a couple of shitty companies (Flash..cough cough) I snagged a spot at Special T, it was mostly old dudes but there were a few young guns like me, Sil
There was a time, too long of a time that I only wore MTB shoes, all day. It just made sense to me because I was on my bike all the time. The first time I went to Europe for ECMC 2009 I only brought my Sidi MTB shoes…for a 2 week trip!! So the ATA
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