All Bikes R Cool

Atlanta Alley Cat Photo Shoot

2009-06-22T10:49:00.000-07:00

A great set of bike culture photos from Atlanta. They set up 7 checkpoints with real photographers, who shot this interesting cast of characters--an excellent idea that could be used again and again. Love the DIY wheel cover on the bike below. I did a bit more Google research and came up with Boston Bike Polo how-to on creating your own wheel cover.

Things are getting very intersting in my little college town

2009-06-18T19:50:00.001-07:00

Bicycle Design: John Hobson Wooden Frame

2009-06-16T21:16:00.000-07:00

Bicycle Design highlights John Hobson's wooden frame bike design. There are a number of wooden and bamboo bicycle designs. This latest example led me to an insight. Why not cut out the main tubes of a bike frame and replace them with wooden poles. This, of course, is a way to hack at cheap bike frames until I learn how to weld. In other words, I have no problem cutting metal tubing, and crafting wood, but I sure can't weld at this point. Additionally, I might try to see if I can use this method to make a cheap extended rear frame bike in the style of the Xtra-Cycle.

Yojimbo’s Garage Custom Lockring Tool at Urban Velo

2009-06-16T21:13:00.000-07:00

Urban Velo has an interesting post on a DIY lockring tool built at Yojimbo's bike garage in Chicago. Now this is interesting to me for not only as I'd like to create a DIY lockring tool, but also because Yojimbo's is news to me and sounds like a pretty interesting bike shop. Yojimbo’s Garage Custom Lockring Tool at Urban Velo

Water Bike

2009-06-14T20:34:00.001-07:00

It's about at this point that one realizes that the bike is essentially an infinitely unlimited mechanism, which begins very simply, and, like a very good melody, can support endless variations on a theme. Amazingly, there is likely any number of new variations that are revolutionary and world-changing yet to be seen. Of course the water bike isn't likely one of them, but it's a nice variation.

Panorma Shot of Champaign Cycles Bike Repair Area

2009-06-14T20:20:00.000-07:00

My Kodak digital camera does in-camera panorama shots. Here's one I took of the Champaign Cycle bike repair area. Note the curved tool wall peg board and work bench. Not easy to make and very cool.

Bike Adverts from Chicago Printers Row Lit Fest

2009-06-14T20:11:00.003-07:00

Went up to the Chicago Printers Row Lit Fest, which was really cool. I bought a few books, but the real find were these old bicycle advertisements.

Bike Rack Finds

2009-06-14T19:48:00.000-07:00

Checking out the interesting bikes at the Urbana Library.

An old trooper: a 1950s era frame with a serious metal rack. Essentially a tank--designed to withstand a Soviet Nuclear Attack.

A well-worn Xtra-cycle, with what looks like a DIY rear wooden deck.

Hey, that's My Trek FX, with my grocery getter paniers.

That is a highly visible old school Trek road bike.

A really nice Schwinn Varsity with Brooks saddle, beveled fenders, and green dice for valve caps.

Great Photos From Portland's Pedalpalooza

2009-06-14T07:58:00.000-07:00

The Portland gang has a great set of Flickr images of a recent bike ride, Pedalpalooza style. It would be great if Chambana could pull something like this off. I believe if we really worked hard we could find just as many colorful characters, one-of-a-kind-bikes, and funky clothing. It would take some serious work to be this funky and fun.

This looks like another DIY style bike, taking a regular mountain bike and lowering the front fork to create a front rack transport bike. This is one I'd like to imitate and try to build myself.

Looks like a home-made, DIY xtra-cycle.

Baby you can honk my horn, and baby I love you.

The "hamster cage" bikes!

This looks like a variation on the Sears Tote folding bike; I've got one of these I'm going to fix up, and add a wine box to the back of the bike.

This one is for my brother Brett, a big E.T. fan.

New Globe Bikes

2009-06-11T12:29:00.001-07:00

Specialized is developing a new series of bikes called Globe. Here is a flickr set of what they are up to:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/huggerindustries/sets/72157619563678928/show/

[Caption]

DIY Rear Rack Spotted at Champaign Library

2009-06-10T11:41:00.000-07:00

I was coming out of Champaign Library yesterday when I spotted a neat DIY rear rack on this mountain bike. Interesting in that it looks stylish, almost like motorcycle rear storage cases, but I'm wondering about the functionality, since it doesn't add any space to the standard metal rear rack underneath. Perhaps there is some protection of anything in the rack. Note the needed cut out for the rear brakes.

Grind Your Own Corn With A Bike

2009-06-10T08:15:00.000-07:00

Maya Pedal is an organization based in San Andrés Itzapa, Chimaltenango, Guatemala that develops bicycle machines to help the local population develop self-sustainable tools and work practices. Some of these bike machines are very inventive. The one highlighted in the YouTube video offers 6 functions: knife sharpener, grinder, corn degrainer, water pump, blender, and electric generator!

Beater Bikes, the Cheap Workhorses of Cycling - City Room Blog - NYTimes.com

2009-06-10T07:53:00.000-07:00

A great article in the Times about beater bikes, loosely defined as a cheap bike that can still get one around town and back. Besides talking about the New York scene and flea markets; the comments to the article are informative, and a number highlight Chicago's Working Bikes Cooperative. Some of the comments raise the question of why not just buying a new, modern, cheap big box bike from Target or Wal Mart. Now I've been known to buy bikes from these retailers, but more often when it was something unique, like a decent little folding bike I bought for half price. The problem with new, cheapie bikes from big box stores is that most of them are "designed" to capture the attention of a kid or teen, and as such, they have lots of colors and stickers and imitate high-end mountain bikes. In other words, they are more show than go. Also, they are cheap because the components are cheap and some young clerk with little experience has assembled the bike and it's likely not set up properly. Next, test riding is discouraged, as opposed to one's local bike shop, or flea market, or Craigslist bike. Ironically, one of these big box bikes that has been recycled is likely better than the new if someone that knows bikes has set it up and removed the garbage components and simplified the bike. So, the major point, though, is that the "mountain bike" ideal still drives the design of a lot of these cheap big box bikes, and that's why you see people riding around on bikes in an urban setting with big knobby tires, seats too low, all kinds of heavy shocks and crap on them, while others are riding 20 year old bikes that are much better suited (wheels, tires, frame geometry) to urban commuting. If you aren't going to spend some time off-road or actually on a mountain, why the hell are you riding around on an 80$ fake mountain bike, with cool stickers!, from Wally World?

Beater Bikes, the Cheap Workhorses of Cycling - City Room Blog - NYTimes.com: "Beater Bikes, the Cheap Workhorses of Cycling
By Sean Patrick Farrell

There is an old saying in New York bike circles that for the ultimate peace of mind for around-town cycling (and parking), one should get a $100 lock and a $50 bike."

Cleaning out the Garage

2009-06-08T20:39:00.000-07:00

Book Review - 'Pedaling Revolution - How Cyclists Are Changing American Cities,' by Jeff Mapes - Review - NYTimes.com

2009-06-08T10:44:00.000-07:00

Now this is a timely and good book for cycling. I have not read it yet, but will pick this up and review it here at a later date. What I really want to draw your attention to is the fact that this review is by David Byrne, as in the musical genius David Byrne, and, if you catch the tag line at the bottom of the review, the fact that Byrne will be publishing his own bike book--"Bicycle Diaries"--in the fall.

Book Review - 'Pedaling Revolution - How Cyclists Are Changing American Cities,' by Jeff Mapes - Review - NYTimes.com: "Bike Messenger"

By DAVID BYRNE
Published: May 28, 2009

"Full disclosure: I’ve ridden a bike around New York as my principal means of transport for 30 years, so I’m inclined to sympathize with the idea that a cycling revolution is upon us, and that it’s a good thing. Like Jeff Mapes, the author of “Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists Are Changing American Cities,” I’ve watched the streets fill over the years with more and varied bike riders. It’s no longer just me, some food delivery guys and a posse of reckless messengers. Far from it."

Zina Saunders Great Bike Art

2009-06-04T21:07:00.000-07:00

Zina Saunders is a professional artist, and some of her best work and journalism is of the Puerto Rican Schwinn Club, a group of mostly older gentlemen who decorate their bikes in wonderful ways. The Puerto Rican bike guys were the genesis of what is now the wonderful portrait/bio blog Overlooked New York, where Zina captures other "ardent New Yorkers" and "their joyous obsessions." Zina has a very good series on bike messengers as well.

Bike Polo?

2009-06-03T07:39:00.000-07:00

The austinontwowheels bike blog has a short article on bike polo. I've never played it or even seen it live, but it looks interesting. When I was younger, my brother and I and neighborhood friends would get our bikes and play a game that did not use mallets, but it did force careful riding in an enclosed space. We would pick a square of concrete in the road, by that I mean we would use the tar-filled seam lines as the boundaries of our playing court. We'd basically start riding around in circles within the square, with 2 simple rules: a rider loses if he puts a foot down, or rides outside the square. Basically each rider maneuvers around and tries to pin another rider into a corners. Small bumps were ok, but it wasn't a hokey match. It was a fun game for kids. With what I've seen fixed gear riders do with balancing their bikes, track stands, even rolling backwards, I wonder how long some matches might last. Anyway, it would be interesting to try to revive this game. Also, I need to check out bike polo. What about bike soccer?

Joel Gillespie Story on Local Cyclist Tom Carlson

2009-06-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

Get to know ‘em!: Tom Carlson

Posted in CULTURE to I've Got A Bike, You Can Ride It If You Like by Joel Gillespie on Tuesday, June 2, 2009 at 8:00 am

Bikes on Lights Photo Contest

2009-05-28T07:34:00.000-07:00

Winner, Most Creative Category

Light manufacturer Princeton Tec has sponsored a Got Lights on Bikes photo contest. The Swerve bike tail light offered by Princeton Tec offers some interesting features, claiming "a combination of a diffused lens and a collimated focused lens creates a very bright 180° beam pattern that alternates between a wider beam and a narrow beam. Because the eye must juggle these two beams it doesn’t get a chance to relax, and the resulting is a very high level of visibility."

Now, as I sit here and help promote Princeton Tec on this blog, I'm amazed at the success of such viral, web 2.0 social marketing techniques. If you look at the inventiveness and total number of pictures submitted to the photo contest it's amazing. If Princeton Tec, or any company, set out to pay for the work done here, it would be a very expensive marketing/advertising campaign, with less interesting results. Ask people to enter their pix in a photo contest, and they work for free and offer any number of inventive, crazy, work. Now the key, however, to such marketing campaigns is to excite people's imaginations, and, well, that is something that you can't really buy and doesn't always work. When it does work, it points toward a very interesting, global village of hobbyists, do-it-yourselfers, and fans collaborating together around something they love.

You can see the winning photos here.

Bamboo Bikes From Le Batard Bikes

2009-05-27T21:53:00.000-07:00

Great post from Bicycle Design blog on Le Batard Bikes, including this very simple bamboo bike, which seems a composite of bamboo.

The News-Gazette.com: Cyclists honor fallen, promote safety in Ride of Silence

2009-05-21T14:16:00.000-07:00

Cyclists honor fallen, promote safety in Ride of Silence: "Cyclists honor fallen, promote safety in Ride of Silence
By Tim Mitchell
Thursday, May 21, 2009 9:02 AM CDT

CHAMPAIGN – As 21 bicyclists rode together down the streets of Champaign-Urbana on Wednesday evening, the only sounds that could be heard were of bike wheels turning and birds chirping.

The cyclists, many wearing homemade black armbands, rode in silence. A few of them occasionally paused to wipe away a tear or to pat another cyclist on the back."

Lay Down Some Chalk Dust, Dude

2009-05-21T13:56:00.001-07:00

Show me a kid who never laid down a skid mark with his bike's rear wheel and I'll show you a kid whose chauffeur nearly got fired for laying down skid marks with the Bentley. These day, for older cyclists who still have some kid in them, try out Contrail, which lays down a colored chalk trail as you tool about. Now, technically, you can't buy this product yet. It's a prototype idea from Studio Gelardi and blogged about at coolhunting.

Is Contrail for real? Is it vaporware? Is it social engineering? Is it something you could make this weekend in your garage? Keep an eye for pink chalk contrails in your home town.

PicoCool - Contrail: Leave a colorful message

Bike Dispenser

2009-05-21T13:15:00.000-07:00

Ok, if it works for Pez, it should work for bikes, or at least for European bike commuters:

PicoCool - Bike dispenser

And, thanks to my friend Erich Adickes, who shared this with me and led me to all the other great, bike design ideas and products on PicoCool, which I will be linking to from this blog.

Free Giveaway of the Month: Bike To Work Pants » Yanko Design

2009-05-13T10:46:00.000-07:00

You can have little reflectors on your bike, or you and your entire bike can be reflective. "And we all shine on, like the moon, and the stars, and the sun."

Free Giveaway of the Month: Bike To Work Pants » Yanko Design: "I don’t need to iterate the benefits of cycling, you know the facts. However it’s a shame when we hear about preventable accidents because of visibility issues. There are many ways to ensure you don’t become another statistic, but the most interesting and sure fire way I’ve found is with this kitsch pair of Bike To Work Pants from Cordarounds."

Germany Imagines Suburbs Without Cars - NYTimes.com

2009-05-13T06:33:00.000-07:00

Sign me up. This is the only way to roll.

Germany Imagines Suburbs Without Cars - NYTimes.com: "VAUBAN, Germany — Residents of this upscale community are suburban pioneers, going where few soccer moms or commuting executives have ever gone before: they have given up their cars."