Taiwanese Treasure Trove

Now there are bike collections and there are bike collections.... This Taipei man cave is what you call a Collection.

http://wearefactoryfive.com/blogs/factory-five-blog/19055655-the-worlds-most-amazing-collection-of-bicycles

Drawings: HK Man Cave Mk.III

The process of going from my mind's eye to the above (get it drawn), then to the below (get it built) is always a fun one. In this case the 'brief' was to provide a two in one partition wall that would split our rather odd spare bedroom into half bike room and half utility / helper's room. Without fixing into the floor, walls or ceiling...

This brief dictated some a slightly slimmed down bike storage footprint (if I was to maintain the workbench from man cave Mk.II), which all led towards suspending my bikes vertically from the partition wall to both save space and use the dead weight of the bikes to stabilise the wall against an effective ground up trussed cantilever. A bit of a gallows aesthetic allows me to lift two bikes up suspended from hooks and stagger in elevation. The other three are then secured with back to back angles fixed one tire width apart with their back wheels on the ground. This allows me to fit five bikes in a space three road handlebars wide and one bike deep, with an extra row of wheels up top / some spare frames above the door. Trust me when I say it is better to work these things out on paper first before committing the saw to wood.

The extra good news is that I did all this for less than 1000HKD (about £75), and it only took two weekends to build, with time for riding either side. I make that less than one of those silly Topeak poles that only store two bikes on top of each other, and I got a free partition wall in the process! Vive la DIY / forza mia man cave.

In Progress

Always nice to get the power tools out and get cracking in the man cave.

Poetics of Man Cave

One's Paris room, inside it's four walls, wrote Paul Claudell, is a sort of geometrical site, a conventional hole, which we furnish with pictures, objects and wardrobes within a wardrobe. The number of the street and the floor give the location of our conventional hole, but our abode has neither space around it nor verticality inside it. The houses are fastened to the ground with asphalt, in order not to sink into the earth. They have no roots and, what is quite unthinkable for a dreamer of houses, sky-scrapers have no cellars. From the street to the roof, the rooms pile up one on top of the other, while the tent of the horizonless sky encloses the entire city. But the height of the city buildings is a purely exterior one. Elevators do away with the heroism of stair climbing so that there is no longer any virtue in living up near the sky. Home has become mere horizontality. The different rooms that compose living quarters jammed into one floor all lack one of the fundamental principles for distinguishing and classifying the values of intimacy.

If this is Parisian living then what in God's name is Hong Kong? Gaston Bacelard's 'Poetics of Space' hasn't been the lightest holiday reading, but passages such as the above do have some resonance. On the one hand, I rather enjoy living on one level with no stairs to run up as you realise you left your jumper in the bedroom on your way out the door. On the other, I do miss the concept of cellar retreats and man cave hideaways. Intimacy is one thing, but identity is another. Perhaps this is at the root of the true meaning of metrosexuality?

HK Man Cave Mk.II

I might have a little way to go to reach The Ultimate Man Cave, but I'm getting a little closer. This weekend was a good weekend for me to get the bike room sorted a bit tighter.

I'm quite a stickler for keeping my nuts and bolts nice and tidy (ahem), but the bigger job of getting my bikes off the floor a little and arrange the random bits of furniture has taken a little time. Not least because getting a hole drilled in these walls has proved just about impossible.

And so I had to improvise a little. Using some sawn off benches turned on their side, adapted with some shelf brackets and a few bits of wood cut / glued / sawn into the right shapes, I managed to get the track bike up and high with a few wheels on the side- stable enough that even the most adventurous cat won't be able to dislodge. Happily, this also provided a nice little spot for that crucial man cave component- some workshop tunes.
























Every man needs a vice. And I have two. Someday I'll look to upgrade to a nice full blown workshop affair, but in the meantime these are very handy.


















And yea, this is the best workbench I'm ever likely to have here in Hong Kong. I remember one of the hardest things about moving here was going back to just the basics tool wise, and the frustration of always relying on bike shops for stuff I knew I could fix myself with the right tools. And working on the floor, rather than with a bench. But slowly, surely, I've built up a decent collection once more. Sure, I'm missing a headset press, but it's not bad. Happily, the friends dining table turned work bench has now acquired the hue of WD40 and Finish Line, which somehow makes a man cave seem that bit more genuine.

A man cave should adapt and evolve- just like a man's bike collection.  I'm also not sure if it should ever really be 'planned'. Every action should have a reaction- be that making room for the a stablemate, or re-arranging the boxes on the shelf to store more Campagnolo.

But at some point it is nice to take stock and reflect on things a little. 3 months into our new flat, I feel this set up is pretty much sorted, and pleasingly, I've done it with freecycled wood, the odd old bit of furniture and a bit of graft here and there to saw sh*t up. I won't have this man cave forever, but with each set up you learn a little and bring it forward to your next man cave. Until, one day, you have the Ultimate. Which might just look very different to how you originally envisage. And then you probably move house, and start it all again anyway.

Bob Cave

Not what you expect to see in Egypt! Bob demonstrates how to rack up some shipping costs at xxx's expense with how to do a workbench... more concerning is the slicks on an MTB and that weird whale tail sticking out the back, not to mention the saddle bag attached to road bike. Refer rule 29 Bob. Race number canvas art only gets you so far!!!

SupaShed

I think this is a bit too nice to be a real 'Man Cave', but it is still a very nice shed.

http://remodelista.com/posts/garden-sheds-from-kekkila

Retro Man Cave

Here's a retro man cave from Michael Barry's excellent blog.

http://michaelbarry.ca/2010/11/1970s-workshop/

PS Mancave

It's no secret that I admire Paul Smith on many counts, least of which is his studio cum mancave. This minature model of said mancave was made for him by some architects who vistited Paul Smith's studio as a thank you for him giving them a suit. The mad thing is that the way they managed to wangle the free suit was by saying they were too thin to fit into a normal suit. Having tried on a few Paul Smith suits I can affirm that they are not cut for cyclist's thighs (perhaps Rasmussen) so that must have been one thin architect... a product of spending too long making models in the night? Whatever the end product is very cute!

http://www.paulsmith.co.uk/paul-smith-blog/london-office-model,564,PBL.html

Not sure about the font

But a sign for your man cave is a good idea. Etsy is well worth a browse also by the way.


http://www.etsy.com/listing/48751974/man-cave-sign-blackwhite?ref=fp_feat_10

Glasweigen Man Cave

I got sent this man cave through from my friend Jamie in Glasgow, author of www.glasgowwheelers.com. He made the bench himself to which I say 'a chapeau'. I still think it could be improved upon (a bottle of whiskey here, some hazard tape there) but all things considered nice work Jambo!

Sartorial Man Cave

I love this man cave of the sartorial variety.

http://permanentstyle.blogspot.com/2010/03/cary-collection-manhattan-treasure.html

Every Mountain Biker Needs A Shed

'Every Mountain Biker Needs A Shed'- so read the title in Singletrack magazine. It's not something I'd dispute, but here in HK we're talking one expensive shed! And so we have to make do with other solutions and think outside the box a little. I've just revamped the spare room with two new IKEA bookcases that try to contain all my junk, I mean vital spare parts, tools and clothing. Out of shot are about 5 sets of wheels, my Camelbacks, my other bikes etc. Seeing it all laid out like this I'm actually quite amazed I've managed to collect so much stuff in less than 2 years as I certainly didn't arrive with it all but I'm much happier for it. A man without tools is like a woman without shoes. "Yes of course honey, it's the bare minimum a 21st Century cyclist needs to survive".

RRP £4999.99

Holy Moly - imagine spending £5k on bike tools! Finishing touch to the Ultimate Man Cave>? Nice image whatever.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=37001

Gentleman's Cave

A very Man Cave inspired advertising office I'd say. The meeting room supposedly has the proportians of a shipping container...

http://www.dezeen.com/2009/10/22/headvertising-office-by-corvin-cristian/

Canto Cave

Fantastic Canto Cave on the way down Blue Pool into Happy Valley, and what a Mercedes Benz! Shame about that tat in front spoiling the photo.

Klein Cave

Those pre-Trek Kleins were just so ahead of their time- the integration of components preceded so much of what the big guys, including Trek, are doing with integrated seatposts, internal headsets etc. now. And the finish! A beautiful bike in beautiful surroundings. Then a beautiful bike in a terrible man cave. Orange walls- what was he thinking??? I think he needs one of these.

www.oldklein.com

Container House

Following hot on the heels of the huge response to yesterday's 'ultimate man cave' (well, a couple of emails) comes this container house in NZ. The interior is perhaps a little too 'man cave' (single guy?) but it's actually surprisingly responsive to it's site. Thanks to the smiff for the link.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/petraalsbach/sets/72157594572387467/

Ultimate Man Cave

All this chat about Shipping Containers, Man Caves, and a general nostalgia for countries where space is not at quite such a premium could only mean one thing: Ed's design for the ultimate shipping container 'Man Cave'. Some thoughts / guidelines for such a concept:

- Windows are cheating. This is meant to be a cave. Roof lights may be acceptable.
- Projector will lesson 'cave' feel through images of Alpine environments.
- Walls to be covered in bikes, bike parts, tools & plastic trophies from when you may have been good.
- Red walls will promote masculinity and aggression.
- Rubber stud floors good for spilling oil on. This will add to the aroma.
- Hazard tape optional but suitable if you want a hacienda vibe (add Madchester soundtrack?).
- Chesterfield's will add a nice pseudo gentleman's club ambience (add slippers?).
- 7 bike capacity would seem suitable. One for each day of the week.

Keiren Cave

Keiren Bar, Japan (where else?) & Keiren School, Japan (errr...). Aparently you can order a frame at the bar along with your beer.

Both spaces just awesome - truly abstract takes on the 'man cave'.
God I want my track frame back, God I've got to get to Japan!

Images courtesy of http://hypeinjapan.blogspot.com/