BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Uh, 9. I had to go check.

Counting the rest of the family's, 13.

Counting ones with motors, 16.

Some people think I have a problem. I DO NOT have a problem!

Because I love them.

Three bikes:

1. Kona Smoke 29 commuter. My all-purpose bike.

2. Bianchi BuSS MTB. Because it's fun.

3. Old BMX cruiser for, well, cruising around with the kids.

only two right now..

Novara Divano - road/commuter

Schwinn Hybrid - Winter commuter / heavy hauler

Kona's rock, as bike and as a company.

I'm a spandex geek road rider who also commutes (often in spandex yes) and I own four actually...

*Scott Carbon Fiber/Dura Ace w/11-28 cassette and 50/34 crank road bike--fun fun fun and wonderful for long hilly rides (50 to 100 miles). For an "old" man like me that 34-28 is the ultimate bailout gear.

*Jamis Aluminum frame road bike--now my usual commuter-(the old road bike)

*9 year old Trek mountain bike with super fat knobby tires. I got this for free with the idea of using it to commute in inclement weather. The knobbys make a loud buzzing noise on pavement and really 'grip' the road. I need to get some slicks for commuting, but I'm holding off because I'm thinking about some off season trail riding in the parks.

*A 1977 Centurion Super-Elite with Tange No. 1 steel tubes. I bought it in Los Angeles in 1978 and last winter converted it to a fixed/free flip flop. It's got the original Sugino Maxy crank (42 tooth ring) and original SR stem and bars and seat post. I built the wheels up around hubs I got from Harris Cyclery. I had to buy these new super LONG reach Tektro brakes (I think they go to 75mm) to use with 700c rims. I only have one brake on the front since I was planning to ride it as a fixed gear mostly but I've found riding a fixie (42-19) even harder than I thought it would be. I either need to spend several hours falling over in a grassy field somewhere to get the hang of it, or drill out the rear brake attachment point so that I can add a second brake to be safe on the freewheel side. It's got an 18 tooth Shimano freewheel which is just enough--just barely enough--to get my 188 pounds up Joncaire street. It would be slightly easier if I had a longer stem and I may get a quill adapter and a new stem at some point, but I am fond of the old quill style stem. Donated the old parts to Free Ride-so if you found a Suntour Cyclone derailleur or shifters there in really good shape, they might once have been mine.

edmond, what type of motors?

And there are two others in the house. My daugther has a Trek Mtn bike and my wife a Trek comfort bike on which she commutes to work.

2006 Trek 520 - Daily Commuter, Recreational Riding, Touring

Late 80's Schwinn Traveler (Fixed) - Used to be my daily commuter on less hilly terrain. Sits in our apartment building basement mostly, now

timito, motorcycles,

1973 Yamaha 70cc U7 scooter

1981 Honda 70cc Passport

1968 Suzuki 250 X6 "Hustler"

I blame the motorcycles for getting me to my current fitness/weight condition, so they are just kind of garage ornaments.

--Bianchi Castro Valley, faux-singlespeed. Commuter and errand runner.

--Lightning P-38 recumbent. Brevets, group rides, Dirty Dozen hills out of contrariness (NOT because it works well for such things)

--RANS Rocket recumbent, currently non compos mentis. Project bike to be eventually rebuilt into something more foul-weather oriented.

Cannondale CAAD 8 aluminum road bike- I use it for my hilly commute and otherwise getting around pgh.

Cannondale Bad Boy Disc- trail riding, tooling around back home in Cambria co.

2010 Jamis Ventura Comp -- primary bike

Schwinn "Mountain Bike" from amazon -- used for trails, but its so d*** heavy that I rarely ride them any more. Probably going to be replaced in the next 6 months.

Raleigh Detour 3.0, a lean, sea-foam green street machine. Well, sort of. I strapped a red milk crate to the back and would like to pimp it out with a basket on the front and a sweet bell. As of late, it mainly goes with me to the East Lib. Monday farmers' market and short trolls around Highland Park up Lake Dr.

Since that bike is apparently not meant for hard riding (as I found out the, uh, hard way) I would like to get another bike, but haven't gotten enough money saved up yet. I would like a more versatile trail/commuting bike (a la Trek FX series or something like that...I'm open to suggestions).

Surly Long Haul Trucker built up with parts from a Trek commuter for commuting, errands and every day

Kona Paddywagon single speed, my fun fast city bike when I in the mood

Specialized Stumpjumper 29er for riding in the woods

ok,

1971 Raleigh "Twenty" three spd folder, most recent coolest catch, previously owned by Miss Porters school for girls in Connecticut.

Sears/Puch three spd upright, age unknown, back alley find, rebuilt with alloy rims and a giant 23 tooth cog.

1969 Bottecchia Special that I've had for 35 years.

recent Airborne Valkyrie titanium w/carbon fork, climbs hills like a chainsaw eats wood.

2008 Kona Kapu road steel frame, mmm, my love.

Mongoose Pro dual susp mtn, good enough for my skills.

Huffy 5 spd beach cruiser for the baby seat, babies on their own wheels now.

1984ish Basso steel road, now a fixie, it's purdy.

'70's Fuji mixte, with doggie basket, was moms, mom rode centuries back in the day.

'60's Schwinn ladies single speed, purple, one cool ass boat anchor.

Every last one ready to roll.

santa cruz v10 because dh is THE most fun per mile you can have on a bike

santa cruz vp free for screwing around on local hills, but soon to be sold

santa cruz chameleon in dj/park mode because thats the second most fun thing you can do

this is also my winter/foul weather commuter

dk general lee 24" for playing around in the neighborhood and at the skate park (even though i SUCK at bmx)

se premium brew pimped out fixed commuter (it has a front brake though!)

soon to be adding a transition trans am for xc and trail fun, and i am eventually going to get my giant tcr back on the road.

-Some 80's Panasonic fixed conversion

-a 90's Novarra Randoneur

-Kona Ute

-90s Gary Fisher Gimme Guchi (set up urban, the guest bike)

-Homemade tandem

-old trek mountain bike converted to SS

-various tall bikes, choppers

Steelwool Tweed, now fixed with a front disc, has spent most of its life geared.

Surly Karate Monkey. Mostly a foul weather commuter these days, now set up geared, but will probably go back to a SS MTB bike soon,

Xtracycle longtail. Currently running an older Fisher steel frame, will be replacing with a Thick Bikes modded Schwinn MTB frame.

Schwinn Criss Cross-bronze bomber. Picked out of the scrap heap at West Liberty cycles, rattle canned with "Make it Bronze" spray paint. Built up with years worth of others peoples cast-offs, ton's of commuting miles, and two races across the state. Currently in transition from a drop bar tourer to a Albatros bars.

Torker Cargo T-Heavy, ugly, super functional. So nice to have a bike I'll never ever want to put clipless pedals on.

Old KHS FLite Road bike. Has components from 4 decades installed. Stripped the ugly red paint and clear coated it, now it is a blend of rust and shiny brushed steel. Super flexy skinny steel tubes, feels so nice blasting over cobbles.

Huffy Elderado cruiser- My uncle's bike from the 50's. All stock, including the tubes and tires for the first few months after getting it running again. Currently needs some loving.

Currently in the test stable: Mellon Slice Folder, Rocky Mountain Altitude 29.

Trek 400 from the late 80s--fast and light! my first real bike for city riding, but no chance of a rack on this one.

Planet X Kaffenback--purchased from a bike pgh member on this very board, i love love love this bike. it can do anything. trails, streets, potholes, tours, heavy groceries, snow, rain, its the best.

sears freespirit (?) from the 70s--internally geared 3speed, $20 at kraynicks for quick trips and groceries. needs some more love though, i havent been able to ride it for a while

want: some sort of sports utility/wide load bike. maybe a folding bike.

have:

mid 80s bianchi rekord frame (oem parts in a box, worn but serviceable). bought used ca 1989, was my "special occasions only" bike until I bent the fork of my daily rider in 1998. Since then, everything but the front wheel, the headset, and the brake calipers has been replaced. Campy Ergo 9speed brifters and gears, Racing-T front stuff. Nice and fast for long rides, not too pretty to ride around town, and geared low enough to haul a trailer with my custom hitch bracket... though I don't have the trailer anymore, so that's moot.

2000-ish Santana Sovereign tandem. This is fast, but I have not been able to sort out my saddle problems with this bike.

wants:

I like the Trek Soho, except for the front drum brake.

I have always wanted a traveling bike, either a folder or S&S couplers in a "real" bike.

Holy cow, amazing collections.

Eric, I looked up Steelwools because I hadn't heard of them, really, really nice, then I figured out that was what the guys in the Bike Film Fest movie "Where Are You Go" were riding. Did you see that? Freaking amazing.

Just purchased in October

2009 Trek Madone 5.1 WSD Carbon

Cassette changed to give me lower gears

Want to ride road and trails on a nice bike. That was actually fit to me. Had cassette changed to help me in pulling hills.

Pulled out these two this summer to start riding

1974 Schwinn Continental 10 speed

Pacific Mt bike

I got lucky with the Steelwool. It fits and handles perfectly for me. Tange Prestige, lugs, disc mounts, and an EEB that doesn't slip or make noise.

One of these days when I'm ready to repaint it, I'm going to cut the canti posts off. They are pretty ugly with no brakes mounted.

I was thinking of building up a steelwool for touring. Did you get it in the US or have to order it from canada?

Well, neither really.

I tested it here: http://www.dirtragmag.com/print/article.php?ID=1189&category=stuff_reviews

I liked it enough to buy the frame and fork.

They will ship to the US, no problem. No US dealers that I know of.

My only ridable bike at the moment is a fixed gear conversion based on an aluminum "road bike" bought from target on clearance for $30. It has some decent parts on it, so it's nice to ride, but 48x16 gearing, and 700cx25 tires make it less than a desirable ride for my commute, but it's not horrible.

I have eight bikes, but only three are roadworthy.

1) 1971 Raleigh Record (see avatar), bought new in 1977 (last one in the store). I've added a granny gear to help with hills, but need to add a third ring to help further with hills.

2) A Ross. Unknown vintage, 26" men's 10-speed. Picked it up for $5 at a church rummage sale.

3) Huffy 3-speed, picked up for $20 at a second-hand shop. A half-hour later I put $30 into lights for it.

All three of these see at least weekly use, and each has gone on at least one Critical Mass ride. Not so for the rest:

4) Roadmaster mountain bike, a fixer-upper from my nephew. I successfully rode it from McCandless to Braddock a year or so ago, but it developed a serious chain-wear problem on the way back, and I've never gotten it fixed.

5) A women's 26" single-speed, gathering rust and dust. No idea where it came from; it's just been here for years.

6) A women's 27" 10-speed; another $5 buy at a church rummage sale.

7) A Giant frame, missing a front wheel, destined for Free Ride. It's probably the newest of the bunch.

A Mongoose mountain bike frame, probably fixable, also probably headed for Free Ride.

#4, 5 & 6 I'd like to fix, but I wonder who'd ride them. I doubt Free Ride would want them, they're so old.

giant ocr3, that i bought as my road bike in like 2003. it was the cheapest road bike that fit me. i believe it was the previous year's model. it does a little bit of everything - errand running, sunny weather commuting, hill climbing, fast-going. i love it.

i also have a specialized crossroads hybrid. it's my not-so-sunny weather commuter (i.e. it has fenders), but it is currently out of commission. it's just not as much fun to ride.

2009 Novara Buzz V (commuter/rec bike)

2006 K2 Zed 3.0 (XC fun & racing)

Raleigh Passage 6.5 hybrid

Trek 2120 road bike - carbon tubes, alum fork and stays. 105 components. Used from craigslist.

I bought the Raleigh new from the Ambridge bike shop in 2007. I was a few paychecks in to my first Real Job so I decided it was time for my first non-department store bike. A year later I picked up the road bike, and I've become so used to it that the hybrid just feels slow, uncomfortable, and klunky anymore. I'm not big on the upright riding position anymore, and the frame is a bit too small. But, I used it on some of my most fondly remembered rides, so I can't bring myself to sell it. I'll probably take the wheels and some of the components and use it to build up a trucker or a cross check some day.

I've been blessed with many things, one of which is a bunch of nice bikes.

Last year I made a list of all of the bikes I've owned, and shot images of them as they were last January.

http://randomprecisionphoto.com/?p=326

Things have changed around a bit since then—I've sold the Rig, the Trek 'cross is retired, the Crosscheck is more of a flatbar cyclocross bike these days, the Pacer has a flat bar with a CETMA rack, and the Pake is in a state of flux as it has been replaced by a Milwaukee Bruiser for polo and general beating up on.

- Eddy Merckx LXM road bike

- Gary Fisher superfly

- Gary Fisher Paragon

- Redline conquest pro cyclocross bike #1

- Redline Conquest pro Cyclocross bike#2 (pit bike)

- Fort Komet Time trial bike

- Redline 925 fixed gear bike

- Cannondale T500 touring bike

- Surly Cross check flat bar 27 speed city bike

I feel like if i look around the house I will find something that I missed.

2008 Kona Ute - the commuter/errand runner

1986 Specialized Allez - steel and lugs, baby

2007 Redline Monocog 29er - White Industries drivetrain

My wife makes fun of me for having more than one bike. I keep warning her there are more bikes in the future. I can see at least two more that I would like to have but I at least my every day riding set with nice bikes I love.

I have enough room in the basement that I've cobbled together something of an armada:

-Surly Steamroller (fixie, good for jaunts, bought as a used frame & cobbled together)

-Union (unknown model Dutch bike, good for riding slowly (or: with my less-bikey friends), bought cheap from a friend)

-Miyata Professionnel (roadie, loose crank issues at present, bought cheap from a sketchy guy's basement)

-Univega Alpina Pro (trailer-tower, hill climber, light tourer, loaner, bought cheap from Craigslist)

-Pro-Flex 756 (high-end mountain bike from a period in the 90s when they though foam suspension was a good idea, from FreeRide)

-Schwinn Varsity (Wisconsin bike)

I'll probably end up liquidating at least some of these once I graduate and can consolidate a few of the bikes' niches. Probably the Univega & Pro-Flex, at least.

@steevo dang.

- 93 bridgestone mb-4

- 08 surly crosscheck

some nice bikes. I like how there's a large variety,

I have to point out though that with even some of the more expensive collections, It's still cheaper to buy five even ten decent bikes for less then one boring car. Plus you don't pay for auto insurance or gas. I didn't start this post so I could say this, I was just thinking about all the different bikes.

BradQ, nice collection. You have a Bianchi Milano! I've wanted one for about a decade, but in celeste, with the 7 spd, and the red seat and grips. mm.

Nice photos, too. You should offer professional stuff cataloging services. In your spare time:D

A fun thread!

The Milano was a new albeit junk frame that was sitting in the back of a shop I was working at. I put the cheapest 26" coaster brake wheels I could buy on it, and otherwise built it out of spare parts around the house. I rarely use it, and have even considered getting rid of it recently. It's a nice loaner bike for travelers though.

I do some freelance photo work, but don't pursue it as much as I maybe should.

I have 1 and a half bikes:

- a Bianchi San Jose single-speed. It's dark green, a little scuffed-up, but it's still quick and awesome. I've been commuting on this every day, hauling stuff on it, etc. for 3+ years and I love it. LOVE IT. It got me into SHAPE!

Recently I decided it's about time that I build a geared bike for this hilly city, as well as for future touring, so now I have a Surly Long Haul Trucker frame which I am building as a touring/commuting bike this winter.

Surly Crosscheck 24 speed with high handlebars.

A BOB trailer.

A Trek bought accidently at a Bike Pgh auction for backup.

A Bianchi Avenue - that is in disrepair. I love that bike, but I'm not sure if it's worth repairing.

A used POS that I bought when the Bianchi started going south.

I need to jsut drop some of these off at Free Ride.

I forgot one.

Up at my Mom's house I keep an old Huffy not-quite-hybrid that I picked up cheap. Saves having to transport my bike when I visit.

1) 2004 Schwinn Fastback - set up as a 1x8

That is pretty much all I use. Sometimes I borrow my parents bikes if I need to use them.

1995? Specialized Crossroads.

1979? Ross 10speeed.

1980? Ross fixed Conversion.

2009 Trek 2.1

I wanted an entry-level road bike for racing, longer rides, and also commuting. I only have this bike, and don't plan on changing that for a while so it needs to be able to do everything.

Trek 5000 road bike

2 Ridley Crossbow 'cross bikes

Fisher Rig singlespeed MTB

Fisher Paragon 29er MTB

Giordana track frame currently set up as a singlespeed

- 91 Specialized Rockopper , heavily used since the day I purchased it in 92

- 87 Nishiki Sport "perfomance equippe" , bent frame and frankensteined setup, still takes me 100+ miles a week.

Some of you have probably witnessed the nishiki around town with it's homemade white fenders that I shitrigged out of corrugated plastic, zip ties, and coat hangers

some nice bikes. I like how there's a large variety,

I have to point out though that with even some of the more expensive collections, It's still cheaper to buy five even ten decent bikes for less then one boring car. Plus you don't pay for auto insurance or gas. I didn't start this post so I could say this, I was just thinking about all the different bikes.

I haven't paid over $1500 for a car in at least 6 cars...

maintenance, insurance, gas. normally when you buy a car, you still incur expenses. Maybe you can't buy five decent bikes for $1500 but you could buy a few. Most people do spend more then $1500 on a car.

I own one jacked up bike. I call it Frankenbike. I don't know much about bikes nor do I care. When I was looking initially I got disgusted with how expensive everything out there was. Not so much disgusted, I guess, as disheartened. I don't have a lot of cash flow, see, so lack of cash + craig's list = frankenbike: The rear wheel is larger than the front wheel. When I bought it there was a mountain bike tire on the front and a road tire on back. Little girl handle bars (wide set) that i have considered getting pom pom ribbon-y things to trail off of. they give the bike great stability though. single speed but use to be a multi-gear, the guy I bought it off of filed down the other gears to do so. My buddy bought a brand spanking new single speed when i bought mine and i can honestly say that my hodge podge of a contraption out performs his. I have no clue what the components are. the frame has been repainted and i could honestly not care less who made it. He's a mutt and i love him. I bought him new tires and new brakes and we will ride till we die. Total cost-100 bucks. Greatest investment of my life. you figure for a guy starting out with this whole cycle lifestyle, he should start humble. and who wants something flashy and new parading around the city. You go that route and you're looking for the kind of negative attention and envy of petty thieves and vandals. As the adage goes: never make a pretty woman you're wife. my ugly bike makes me happy! woot

bennyh, outstanding. That's the way to do it. Rock the Frankenbike proudly.

And you've kept that much more stuff out of a landfill, that much more iron ore un-mined, that much more energy un-burned in manufacturing, etc.

Keep going.

Timito-- I have 5 decent bikes with maybe around $1500 into them altogether, probably less. I'm pretty sure I'm doing my bike acquisition on the same gearhead model ndromb used for cars: look for older, high-quality models available cheaply, then repair and upgrade as necessary and suitable.

Although I get tempted by the brand new bikes, there are a lot of good, practically unridden bikes, sitting in garages.

Gary Fisher Nirvana (beer-getter)

Redline Conquest (fast commuter)

IRO Rob Roy (fixed/free fun)

I'm afraid to actually calculate it, but I know I've spent over $2500 on bikes and bike stuff.

My car was $600.

the cheapest bike i own is a little over a grand retail, the most expensive car i ever purchased was $500 (i did inherit my current vehicle - worth about $2500-3k - when my wife got a new car)

when we go on big group downhill trips out of town we usually have 5 or 6 DH bikes in the back of my buddies 86 suburban. that makes, conservatively, $15-18k of bikes in a $400 truck.

Although I get tempted by the brand new bikes, there are a lot of good, practically unridden bikes, sitting in garages.

Indeed. My Kona was purchased new (for a whopping $350), but everything else in the stable was purchased used.

80's vintage Motobecane Grand Record, which came new from the manufacturer when the old frame cracked. I paid $100 used for the original in the early 70's. My current commuting bike until I get the following up an running again:

Trek 520- Replaces one of the first Treks (serial #000007) which I bought new, but frame cracked after around 25 years.

Specialized Rockhopper- winter commuter and trail riding- Purchased new a few years ago at 50% retail discount- replaces one of the first Specialized Stumpjumpers that developed a frame crack.

2005 IRO Jamie Roy- my first build from the ground up. i actually bought this to replace an over-sized shogun conversion id been tooling around on, but ended up being unhappy with aluminum (steel is real). it sat around for a while and now its set up as a commuter for my special lady friend. it might make a comeback as a winter beater. as she now rides a trek 4300

2005 IRO Angus- my second build. i usually do my daily commuting and pleasure riding on her.

2007 Redline Monocog- The mountain rig, bought stock and stay stock

2007 Surly Cross Check - the tourer/grocery getter. has a mountain cassette and rear derailleur for heavy hauls up long hills

2008 IRO Rob Roy Group Buy - Foul weather commuter / light tourer

60's Columbia Cruiser- loaner bike, inhereted from my dad.

80's Japanese Soma- currently upgrading drivetrain and converting to an ss

I'm pretty sure I'm doing my bike acquisition on the same gearhead model ndromb used for cars: look for older, high-quality models available cheaply, then repair and upgrade as necessary and suitable.

Gear heads are gear heads....

When I look at new bikes it occurs to me that I couldn't build one for what the parts would cost me. I went to the Trek store and they had a brand new commuter, fenders, front and back racks, dyno hub with lights, nexus internal hub, shit even a bell. It'd be hard to build that bike for the five hundred something they were asking.

@Timito Trek (or whomever is making the bike) gets parts way cheaper than you can. It's almost never cheaper to build a bike from scratch.

I went to the Trek store and they had a brand new commuter, fenders, front and back racks, dyno hub with lights, nexus internal hub, shit even a bell.

That is is so cool. Five years ago you would have been hard pressed to find a bike like that in any store in the US. I worried that I had become "that weird guy" just for riding a bike like that.

Mick

Trek has embraced the "bike culture" brand image. They have belt-drive singlespeeds with narrow bars and aero rims and commuter rigs that come ready to go off the showroom floor in addition to the normal endless variations to fill every niche. They can put "green" symbols all over everything that way. It seems like it was a play to capitalize on expensive gas. Hopefully it still works for them.

Definitely agreed on old, high quality used bikes trumping new bikes dollar for dollar any day. It's remarkable what you can put together with a little patience, creativity, and perfect timing.

My rides:

-Lemond Maillot Jaune (pre-Trek, classic Italian steel)

-Giant Nutra (whatever that is) given new life as cross bike #1 after being salvaged from under a porch

-Specialized Crossroads, cross bike #2

-Fuji S10-S, rain bike, commuter, singlespeed with fenders (off the trash heap but in excellent condition)

Aside from the Lemond, I paid nothing for the others aside from incidentals. (Thanks Brad Q for the Crossroads!)

Some of my family's rides:

-late '80s Cannondale (classic blue)

-Specialized Epic

-Bridgestone XO-3 (another trash heap rescue)

-Bianchi Premio (basement rescue)

-90's Specialized Hardrock

Wow, I like the name "Giant Nutra".

don't know anything about the years or components but:

old schwinn world sport ($80)

going to turn this into a sigle speed over the winter though

lemond tourmalet ($325)

the bike i currently ride all the time. need to change the stem to s shorter one though.

Like bennyh, my bike is an amalgam of different parts. To wit:

Cannondale aluminum frame.(m700, I think)

Mavic wheels.

Shimano component set (deore, tiagra)

Kenda hybrid tires, love these.

MongoII headset, Gary Fisher stem.

Bianchi seat with faux leopard accents.

Topeak rear rack w/spring.

Got a good deal on this bike from a friend who moved to Texas. Its name is Frank,bike not friend, so don't worry bennyh there aren't two throw together bikes out there with exactly the same name.

Bianchi seat with faux leopard accents.

I've got the same seat...truly beautiful in its tastelessness...

just got a new bike. It rules.

very nice!

oh why not...

1.Chrome Laguna three speed cruiser that used to be Jerry Kraynick's

2.Eddy Merckx elite track bike that used to be Marty Nothstein's ( and Ian's)

3.Soma Double Cross that used to be Mikey Seamans.

4.Surly Karate Monkey SS that used to be Ian's.

5.Soma Rush Track bike now with philly bars and bondo frame repair.

6.Gary Fisher Paragon 1x9.

7.Scattante xrl cross 1x9.

8.Trek Madone 5.2 (thanks timmy, trek warranty)

9.1x7 polo bike: some surrendered and totally beat ass miyata steel hybrid.

10. my brothers old Kuwahara which never gets ridden and according to Jimmy is THE E.T. bike.

Yo, BradQ. When you did your photo gallery of your bikes, which is super nice, what kind of lighting set-up did you use? Obviously you're a pro, but is it something any rube could do? I'm thinking this might be something I would like to do over the cold dark months with my mess.

I'm hardly a pro. More like a total hack. Any rube could certainly do that setup, but it's the most equipment intensive setup I really use. As in, you can take plenty good pictures without a bunch of flashes, but for that particular look you need a pretty powerful ringflash, it just can't be done any other way. I'm shooting with an Alien Bees ringflash and honeycomb grid, though there are other setups that produce similar results that snap onto an existing Nikon or Canon late generation TTL shoe mount flash. It's a hard flash to master for portrait and whatnot, but those shots were easy with it. Set and forget. Very little technique, just equipment. I just wanted to document them, nothing more.

http://www.alienbees.com/abr800.html