Bike Hugger 

Where to begin? … chained to a plastic newspaper bin, mini velo, bag over giant saddle, oversized produce rack. Wonder who rides this and what they do cause that bike is so funky, it’s cool.

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Before frame builders could weld or glue aluminum, they bolted it together.

You could build a retro frame like this today, copper plate it and call it Steampunk for the Tweed crowd. Your local shop would groan though, like they do when various old French bikes show up for repairs.

Spotted at Elliott Bay Bicycles, downtown Seattle.

Wow look at the polished CNS delight and probably worth as much or more than the bike it’s attached to.

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A full triangle indicates high and an empty one indicates low. We had to pedal hard, but 5 speeds were just enough to get us up the steepest Seattle hills and that’s how this bike is built. It’s got just enough of what you need for a commuter with little maintenance.

Drum brakes, internal Sturmey Archer hub, chain guard, fenders and you could retire with this bike or hand it down to the next generation. All you’ll need to replace is the chain and tires.

The comfortable steel frame and big tires rolled over the roughest road and we had fun riding it. If this bike shipped with a playlist it’d shuffle between Los Amigos Invisibles, Morphine, and Big Pun. A strong backbeat, thick bass, meaninful lyrics, and purpose. Don’t get this bike if you’re in a hurry. Just enjoy the ride and know it’ll get you where you’re going.

The Torker Graduate is available from youir local bike ship and MRSP is $499.00. We suggest you add lights and mud flaps. Maybe next year they’ll udpate it with colors that range beyond “battleship.”

Note: Torker is a Bike Hugger advertiser.

Spotted in Downtown Seattle, near Pikes Place Market. They later passed us riding back to West Seattle.

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After much consideration, marketing departments at bike companies decided the consumer trajectory was first being awesome like this

then upgrading to cool with disposable income

and alternatively hip options for the urban areas.

Hat tip to @CtrlFollow for the awesome photo, Mark V posted about Popular Mechanics man earlier this year, and the hip photo is from the photographer Robert K. Hower in the Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection.

RABRAI is a bike tour/party we need to do someday with ten thousand other cyclists. The route is mostly flat, hot, and 442 miles with lots of beer.

Uploaded by kasjun | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Feeling unfit? A package of carbs will get you in shape — goes well with Michelob Ultra.

What do you do if you’re a bike cop and want to pop into a local restaurant to have dinner? Why lock you bike up like a perp.

Book em Dano.

Ignite Bikes is part of the Mobile Social Interbike Remix. The fun will happen at the Urban Legend Lounge on September 23rd, 2010 during Interbike. After Ignite Bikes and the Fashion Show, we’ll ride a roundtrip on the Vegas Strip.

Ignite Bikes

You’ve got 5 minutes and only 20 slides that rotate every 15 seconds, to talk about bikes—what would you say? Around the world, geeks have been putting together Ignites and we’re bringing the format to Interbike with us.

Submit your talk now. We want to hear about some crazy idea you have for a new product, how you’d change the world, or how you already did.

Me talking about Bike Culture at an Ignite last year.