Here’s a great idea — add an option to Google Maps to show bike paths and directions in the same place you’d get driving or public transit directions. It ain’t so yet, but it could be if this petition can catch the attention of Google’s map teams. There are tons of online city bike maps, some already mashed up into Google’s maps like this New York City map. Seeing how nicely it plays puts other city bike maps to shame (Portland, Seattle — warning: Big downloads). Having bike routes available in online mapping apps would be a great step forward for many cities, and a big encouragement for those who might just go by bike with a bit more information.
I’ve read the Aeloian Ride website a few times now, trying to grok it, after getting a tip from Zannestars and think they’re def onto something; especially, if the inflatable suit is combined with Aero corduroys (no, I don’t make this stuff up)!
Inspired by a love for bikes, city cruising, critical mass, costumes, sillyness + things that inflate, i decided to make a free, mass participatory event with a sense of humor. It excites those riding as well as delights those watching, all the while transforming the landscape into a playground of windfilled shapes.
That looks like lots of fun and I pinged them to see if they can make it to SXSW.
The P. I. proclaims the immanent demise of bike messengers in today’s issue. It’s true I’m sure that the number of messengers are down, but I doubt Messengers are the urban buffalo of the late part of the first decade of this millennium. The reports of messenger death are greatly exaggerated from what I can tell — check the following:
Transportation Alternatives from 1996 (The industry is too squeezed to pay messengers in NYC);
The Economist from a decade later;
the Sydney Morning Herald and BCBusiness from just last year.
Meanwhile, if you like your media closer to home, check out Pilder’s blog, of one of the messengers in the PI article.
Just 2 years ago, fixies and messengers were hip and now sadly described as a dying breed; well, I don’t trust media predications anymore than anyone else and messengers will always have a place in Portland and in bad-ass races like this one in NYC.
Update
As noted in the comments below, after posting this entry, I was tipped to the Tour of Chicago death and read the news about it.
What was intended as a snappy post title now means more and our regrets and sympathies go out the Chicago cycling community. The video itself is legendary, anyone riding like that I think is “bad ass,” but I wish the timing had been different and feel very sad about what happened.
Super-advanced, aero (16.4% lower wind resistance that regular pants), horizontal cords are reported to look great on the bike and in the office! If you need bike pants and want to impress your bike geek friends with some tech that ain’t lycra or soft shell, check Lindland Cordaround.
I was down at the beach walk at Lincoln Park this lovely weekend when I ran into not one but 3 separate folks on trials bikes, perfecting their skills in the area.
The photo’s of KC who hails from Denver. He rode trials back in CO for quite a while, but hasn’t been so active since coming out to the Pacific North West. No better excuse than a sunny Saturday to take your seatless wonder down to the beach and practice side hopping on some old beach logs.
Apparently Seattle’s not a hot bed of trialing activity, but our neighbors to the north in Vancouver seem to have it going on. Mike Bentham ‘s great video featured a while ago is just one example.
More details about KC’s ride, riding and trials inside…
Meet at the Susanna Dickinson House — map — North end of Brush Square Park, at the corner of 5th and Trinity Street.
Saturday, March 8
1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
In the Seattle Times today, there was a report about a guy who conned a string of NW bike shops into letting him take wicked expensive bikes out on test rides that he intended to be…let us say…extended. Basically, he posed as a medical professional who was ready to lay out some serious cash for a top dollar bike, and the shops blissfully let him ride out the door on multi-thousand dollar carbon bonbons with little more than his (fictitious) first name and his reassuring smile. But in the end, he got caught.
I was riding in Maui, near Napili when this bike zoomed out, across the highway and ahead of me. I wouldn’t have caught it if she hadn’t stopped to get her mail. Later, she wrote us and said
“It was fun meeting you yesterday here on Maui.I just started riding my electric bike to my business, West Maui Wellness Center, and I have to be so careful. The issue here on the island is the lack of bike lanes. The lower road here on West Maui not only is sketchy, there aren’t sidewalks for the pedestrians and the bike lanes come and go. Everyone drives over the speed limit here, too.
Laura”
The bike is a Tidal Force with a Wavecrest Lab’s electric motor hubs. Googling the bike resulted in news that it’s no longer imported into the USA, but from talking with Laura it sounded like it was new.
Add another mode to the Modal and that’s performance. When it was built, both Mark V and Bill Davidson commented that the Modal would perform, if needed, and perform well. In my previous trips, I was either riding it in singled-speed mode or geared and just touring. I rode to Hana with a Carradice seat pack last time we were in Maui and mostly just rolled it, but did observe
“The Modal in geared mode performed as expected — very well. It’s built for performance riding and adept at climbing, cornering, and all-day riding … I’ll adjust the sliders for more road clearance and swap cassettes to a 27 next time.”
This time, with racing starting next week, I came here to train harder and added some intensity. For the past 5 days, I’ve ridden Upcountry in the hills with lots of rollers and climbing; bombed down descents over very rough “Roubaix roads”; rolled roleur style, staying on top of the gear with a tailwind; added fast tempo, sprint intervals, a recovery spin; and a bonus trip over the lava fields.
I’ve been seeing a lot of tributes to Sheldon Brown, lately, as one would expect on the passing of a figure of such magnitude. Most featuring his helmeted, hawked head (that eagle’s got a name, ‘Igor’ — who knew!). Sheldon has a posse shirts. Sheldon ‘Obey’ badges (some background on the OBEY campaign here). My favorite printed media to date: Sheldon is my co-pilot. It’s great that Sheldon has a posse, but I’d much rather think of him riding along side. Speaking of riding, some cities seem to be having Sheldon rides. What’s your favorite Sheldon tribute? Are you riding for Sheldon later this year (or have you already?).
My wife always gives me a hard time about being drawn to a new bike shop like a kid drawn to the candy store. I’m sure there’s nothing new or all that exciting in the shop, but I always have to go in, kick tires, check out the latest bike stuff. Imagine my excitement when I got to go to Seattle Bike Supply to return some bikes and take a quick tour. That place is HUGE. Wall-to-wall bike stuff. 6’ stacks of just anodized rims. Big boxes with the words “Shimano” and “SRAM”. It was great. I’ll have to do a formal interview with Tim Rutledge (he’s our contact down there) once he gets back from the Tour of California, but in the mean time - I’d wanted to give you a little perspective on what goes on at this cool place.
Austin Yellow Bike Project has confirmed they’re coming to the BBQ with 4 bikes, a wall of tools (to adjust bikes), and a whole lot of Austin bike community goodness. Anyone can ride the Yellow Bikes, just show up and ride one. Then, ride it back for the next person to ride.
I think I’m as disillusioned as anyone about the sport of cycling and professional racing, but when Pam found Versus on cable here in Maui and we watched Stage One of the Tour of California, that was still entertaining and made for a good ending to a day of riding. It also reminded me that
With full props to Roll, I wish he we would just do featurettes and it was all Phil and Paul narrating.
The TOC obviously doesn’t bring the prime time camera crew, the angles were so far out, I couldn’t tell who was who at all — and the circuit camera was dizzying.
Are ultimate fighting men (or rather men in a cage, locked together on the mat, until one says, “Uncle”) really more popular the cycling? And Rodeo? That just makes me sad.
I’ve mentioned them before, but when ever I wear them I get questions and comments so it’s time for a bit more coverage.
Glo gloves are simple, reflective over-gloves which will help you survive your night time rides. Here’s a good review by the Gadgeteer, but you won’t need too much convincing once you understand the value of the gloves.
These are the same gloves you see police officers directing traffic with, although there are 3 models, only one of which has the ‘stop sign’ on the palm. You can get this model online or at uniform stores here in Seattle and elsewhere.
We’re back in Maui for Winter Break, training, and riding the last batch of big miles before racing season starts. We rode yesterday and unlike the last trip, it didn’t rain on us — woohoo. We also discovered a new bike path!
I’m riding a new set of Hed wheels while here and will report on those later.
Getting ready for SXSW and the rest of the blogging this year, we’re updating the blogosphere with Hugga Minutia on Twitter …
While Tim reminds us that racing is coming up, and ghelf advises on what day is better to shower, I’m thinking of tracking the debut of the Brooks basket to all the baskets seen at the Handmade Bike Show.
Despite a threatening weather report we got a very reasonable turnout for last night’s RideCivil — 5 growing to 7 as we recruited a few more riders along the way. We managed to overcome the persistent drizzle around 5:30, and by the time we hit the road around 6:15 the rain dried right up. Our route meandered about 9 miles (props to Kat for the map!) through downtown on several big loops, and ultimately headed south to the Elysian Fields pub for a bit of food and beer before I had to head out. It was great to see folks from many different cycling communities coming together (Cascade, .83, Seattle Likes Bikes, and various commuters) all representing. Next time the Big Boom Box will definitely work.
Next up we’ll have a couple strategy and planning discussions, as well as announcement of next month’s ride. Check back here for future updates.
Need a bike to ride with us at SXSW or just get around town? Well, as part SXSW’s sustainability efforts, they’ve partnered with Bicycle Sport Shop in Austin to provide rental bikes to SXSW attendees. Reserve a bike soon, as the rental inventory is limited.
A bike will liberate you from all the SXSW Interactive PowerPoints — it’s pedals not panels and for all the details and more updates, keep checking the Bike Hugger BBQ @ SXSW page.
Back in the days of Jan Ullrich, about this time of year, he’d show up to races a bit overweight and the sausage and pastry jokes would start. This sausage rug would make a good “got fat in the winter” gag gift and reminded me of simpler times, when the cycling headlines were about Jan’s belly and not el dope.
A 1986 Buick Regal designed by artist Michel de Broin who removed the engine, suspension, transmission and electrical system and replaced them with pedals and gears … later the driver was ticketed for operating an unsafe vehicle.
Showers and a locker room will allow commuters who don’t have facilities at their offices to ride downtown, store their bikes at the shop, bathe and catch a ride on a pedicab or walk the rest of the way to work.
Lance said in the Austin360 article that he wants Mellow Johnny’s to be, “the coolest bike shop in the world … it’s all about bike culture and he wants to see Austin evolve into a place like Portland, Ore.”
Word. I didn’t expect a commuter shop, when I posted about his new shop earlier this week. And when we’re in town for SXSW and our BBQ, I’ll try to get more details.
Barak Obama reminded me it was Valentine’s Day. Barak Obama pumped up your tires before a big race. Barak Obama pinned your race number for you. Barak Obama paced you all the way to work.
Photographer Yohei Morita stopped by my shop last week and dropped off a copy of COG magazine, a magazine devoted to the machines and culture of fixed gear, with a authentic Japanese influence. The current issue featured an article about pro keirin racers and the online edition features a collection of Tokyo messenger portraits.
I swear to God I remember seeing some of these riders last summer when I was in Tokyo. My friends lived in Akasaka, so I’d get food and groceries from Roppongi which was rife with messengers.
Just yesterday I was talking to Lindsay at Crumpler about his Independent Fabrication bike and today a sad email comes in about a stolen IF Crown Jewel. Any bike stolen is a loss, but it’s much worse when it’s a custom, a prized possession, and you’re a college student with no money.
If you see some crackhead or other thief riding this bike, let us know here and we’ll tip Meghan and send her Valentine’s day wishes.
Reports are the Naked Bike is en route to a new bike shop in Austin. I’ve looked and couldn’t find anything about Naked online … the bike is also in this Huggacast video.
Hearing that Lance was planning to open a bike shop in Austin, I was all, “nice.” I imagined Monday night spinervals with Matthew McConaughey could happen there and it’s pretty much guaranteed that the Lance Shop Saturday morning ride would drop all that showed up!
One of the most impressive shops I’ve visited is in Austin — well-lit, shiny floors, and lots of bikes. A shop on the list to visit in Shanghai is LaBici.
From the high end to the hippie, what’s your fav bike shop?
My girlfriend spotted this on Boingboing. It’s 1967 bicycle safety film called “One Got Fat”.
It has that weirdness that every Sixties-era public service film had and then some. You see, the kids who demonstrate every thing not to do on a bike are all wearing the freakiest monkey masks I have ever seen. It’s kinda effed up. I mean, I don’t like monkeys to begin with, and now they’re riding bikes on public streets. After watching this, I had this twisted dream involving Planet of the Apes and getting scolded by my elementary school principal.
I ride 2 commute routes during a week, pretty much the same roads and the same times every day. I’m amazed at the daily differences. Take today for example: 1st real ride on the new gear ratio, nearly crushed by a bus, got smoked by a single-speeder on the Burke, witnessed seattle’s finest patrolling the path down near the U, and got to talk to a Paris-Brest-Paris veteran on the Bus on the way home. This list doesn’t include the amazing, fantastic sunset this evening. Ho-hum, just another wildly varied daily ride.
For the Hotspur frame, Bill Davidson decided that to use the Feather Tech oversize titanium tubing. The key feature is the custom milling that Feather Tech employs to create external butting on very large diameter (for titanium) tubing.
I took the family on a quick trip down I-5 to see the show. My little guy made it a little “interesting” as he was on a mission to turn every crank and wheel he could reach. At most bike shops, this is cute and fun. At the show…not so much.
I’ll admit it: I’m obsessive about colours on bikes. I know that black saddles are practical, but they so so…boring. I love seeing someone with a white saddle on a black bike. To me, a new white saddle says,”F*&% it, I’ll get dirty but I look good now.”
But how about white with gold, or maybe metallic red? Fizik’s US distributor, Highway2, is offering a custom saddle program through selected bike shops. Expect a wait and an upcharge.
Bike Hugger visits the North American Handmade Bike Show and meets some attendees outside, spots the Kona Ute and its designer; checks a frame from Naked, wood frames from Renovo, and a bottom-bracket disc brake from Sycip.
Here’s a brake configuration that I had never even thought of. Sycip Designs put a disc brake caliper on the down tube which grabs a rotor mounted to the left side of a special White Industries crank. Since the rear wheel is directly linked with no freewheel to the crank, stopping the crank stops the rear wheel. Kinda odd, but you would never have to worry about disc/caliper alignment while adjusting the chain tension and you would use a normal track hub. But I think you’d definitely want a real track hub with a reverse-thread lockring.
Update
We heard from Jay at Sycip and he said
This was just a one off attempt to see whether it would work or not. Its an idea we have had for a few years now and kept on shelving it due to the weak link a normal track hub and reverse thread cog w/ or w/o lock. The White Industries track hub with a spline cog is whats making it possible. We would never in a millions years try it with a threaded cog for obvious reasons.
The crank will never turn fast enough under braking to heat the rotor unlike a wheel and most important its serving as a assisted brake working in conjunction with the riders legs. Lets not forget the inertia or the wheels and riders legs which will continue to turn even under immediate braking.
Isn’t it a fun idea?
I will have to say it works well. Front brakes are the simple way to go and is for sure more effective since it does most of the braking.
I will have to say it works well. Front brakes are the simple way to go and is for sure more effective since it does most of the braking.
Though Davidson Bicycles’ new Hotspur frame precipitated from Bill Davidson’s ideas on what a high performance bicycle should be, Bike Hugger provided the impetus to bring the idea to reality. Bike Hugger had previously worked with Bill on the Modal concept bike, based on some of my ideas about travel bikes. Setting aside the Modal’s unique features, Bill used Byron’s off-the-shelf race bike as starting point for the Modal’s geometry and then tweaked the geometry to improve the fit. Then a funny thing happened when Byron actually got to ride the bike. The Modal turned out to fit and perform better than Byron’s regular race bike.
Which begged the question: what would happen if Bill built Byron a bike designed for performance? This gave Bill the perfect opportunity to pull out some tricks that he’d been waiting to use … some subtle refinements on the titanium materials.
I just missed Lance at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show on the first day, but got some photos, video for our Huggacast, and checked the Hotspur.
Andrew is covering the show today and more posts are coming.
Today in Portland, Davidson Handbuilt Bicycles debuts the Hotspur frameset. In an age of single-season-use carbon frames built built for some Pro Tour rider and amongst the surge in intricately crafted, lugged steel, Bill Davidson makes his own statement: a bike is a rider’s tool that should acknowledge age-old lessons while not ignoring new technology.
Five years ago few people knew the difference between Kirin and keirin. But the traditional, steel track bikes used in the Japanese professional racing circuit have become highly desirable. Rather than comment on the irony of the Japan’s handbuilt bike renaissance following the collapse of its large scale manufacturing and exports due to the so-called “yen shock” of the late Eighties and increasing costs of labour, I thought I’d stir up the brake/no-brake argument about riding those treasured track bikes on the road.
Who would put brakes on their keirin bike?….Professional keirin riders.
Does bike hugger have any reviews or suggestions for an electric bike I could use for my work commute. Thanks.
Bettie is an electric hybrid and we’re certainly down with any form of urban transportation that isn’t a one-person SUV, but we haven’t specifically reviewed an electric bike. We have posted
Well, RideCivil’s taken a bit of a winter break but it’s time to get back in the saddle and ride. Come join us for a civilized ride through downtown, emphasizing the integration of cyclists, civilians and car drivers on our road ways. Route is TBD on departure, but we’ll probably ride for around an hour at a social pace through our fair city. Generally those who show make the ride their own, but the spirit of the ride is light, fun, and cooperative. Hoping to see you there!
Bike Hugger is hosting a bike community event at SXSW this year with rides, a barbecue, and all-around fun times. Of course, you’re all invited!
Besides the free beer, free food, and cool scwhag (yes, the BBQ is free!), you can also discuss the web with members of WaSP, hang out with dudes like Hugh Forrest, and meet the internet famous.
The BBQ is open to all Interactive, Gold and Platinum badgeholder and Bike Hugger guests. To get on the guest list, sign up on Upcoming.
Check below for the ride details and back here for updates.
Don’t know what SXSW is; well, it’s where the various music, film, interactive industries converge and we’re bringing a bike hugga flava to it.
The Seattle Times had a big article on bike safety and infrastructure yesterday. The focus was mostly on the danger cyclists face from traffic turning right at intersections — see collisions #3, #4, and #5 at BicycleSafe.com for drawings. This is the danger that killed Bryce Lewis in September last year. It looks like the city’s taking a few experimental steps to deal with these types of issues, including some Green Lanes, known as Blue Lanes in other civilized portions of the world, at a few intersections. Great news says I, but why so slow?
Note that Pam called me pussy foot and I said, “the rocks were rough” and to “shut up.” And, “ya know I can go like 50 mph+ down a hill, on my bike, eating a bar with one hand and removing my arm warmers with the other.”
A reader just tipped us that Sheldon Brown has died. Very sad news and I paused before writing a post, thinking that someone who’s been in this industry longer than me should post … or maybe best to just share some stories.
I know Sheldon only from his website and reading things like a complete compendium of internally-geared hubs.
Nokon segmented aluminium cable housing has been on the market for a number of years; I’ve used it myself for at least 4 yrs. It’s available in a number of anodized colors, weighs less and costs several times what you’d pay for perfectly good lined cable housing from Shimano or Jagwire. Why would you want it?
I’ve been looking for some new pedals recently and stumbled across Speedplay’s Platform/Quill Pedal museum. They’ve got some amazing specimens, including the Ramsey Swing and the Phil Wood ‘CHP’ pedal (yes, as in CHiPs). The earliest is from 1860, and would look right at home at a lamp or two we have at our place. No trace of the Wellgo’s I’m trying to replace, maybe they’re still accepting donations? They’ve also got timelines for road and mountain clipless pedals, and toe clips and straps. Looks like the site’s been around for a while, but it’s new to me and blew me away.
Laek House makes casual clothing inspired by cycling’s rich history and the realities of urban riding; like getting doored, brushed by a pink-haired-lady on her way to Bingo, and f’ing SUVs. Visibility drove Laek to develop ELVS, a retro-reflective ink that appears grey in ambient light but blasts bright white in focused light. Nice, but wearing a super-reflecto hat doesn’t show too much under a helmet, so Laek also offers a limited edition black ELVS Deep-V.
It looks like the P. I.’s stumbled on one of Seattle’s little secrets — R.E. Load bags. I’m still shocked at the number of people in Seattle riding around with bags made elsewhere when we have great bag makers right here in town. Out in Philly, where R.E. Load originated and still has the original branch, it sounds like the bags are endemic. R.E. Load makes the most unique, most stylish bags I’ve ever seen. Not good enough? Tell ‘em what colors you want and they’ll run you a custom anything. Bags range from huge, professional courier bags to more manageable sizes for those not hauling boxes of medical records around.
Amazingly, you can only see these bags in person at a few locations world wide, so I encourage you to drop by the E. Pike St (I haven’t checked out the Philly Store yet, please let us know if you have!). There’s plenty beyond bags inside — lots of clothing, art and culture that you can’t find on their site. R. E. Load’s just turned 10 years old. Personally I’m looking forward to seeing their bags for many more.
We wouldn’t expect much to blog about during the Super Bowl, but the Amp Human Energy spot got our attention. Like the human-powered, Mion booth we covered earlier, but on a much larger scale, Amp Energy is uploading 30 minutes of power for the Fox Pre-Game show.
I’m thinking that spin classes across the country could get plugged in and offset some carbon or just recharge cell phones. Joking aside, the Amp Energy site has all the background videos and more. There’s a drill sergeant yelling at the cyclist to pedal harder and a Monkey game.
There probably hasn’t been stronger evidence that cycling is ubiquitous in pop culture (like the cycling mom Volvo commercial) than a monkey-pedaling game. Well, ok, a DKNY Neon Orange Bike is pretty good as well.
A reader tipped me to the Crossbeed, a folding bicycle wheel. As our readers know, I’ve traveled extensively with both little-wheel folding bikes and regular-wheeled, S&S-coupled road bikes. There’s also MTB folders, but we’ve yet to try those (we really need to add a MTB blogger). In all those travel miles, I’ve never really thought of a need to fold a wheel; I’ve wished for a carbon-folding bike, just to get the weight down, wished that Brompton was slightly less industrial-age influenced, and that Dahon made a better travel case. But the Crossbreed is certainly interesting and innovative, check the video
From the Telegraph is a guide to the 50 great things to do in the USA. Cycling in Sonoma is ranked 39th; now we’d rank that much higher than say, visiting Dollywood, but still that’s good to see cycling make it in. We’ve ridden in Sonoma, back in the pre-hugger days, and the riding is great.
It also made me wonder what our readers thought were the best places to ride?
Lapierre, Mr. Giles LaPierre that is, was in town last week showing off their latest bikes. Great bikes, but if you live in the states you may not be familiar with the name. Lapierre is based in France, and has been in business for 60 years and 3 generations of Lapierres. They provide the rides for the Française des Jeux cycling team, and are also a leading manufacturer of mountain bikes. Already a major brand in Europe, they’ve decided to raise the level of their game in the US.
The P. I. proclaims the 
Super-advanced, aero (16.4% lower wind resistance that regular pants), horizontal cords are reported to look great on the bike and in the office! If you 
I was down at the beach walk at Lincoln Park this lovely weekend when I ran into not one but 3 separate folks on 
In 
I’ve been seeing a lot of tributes to 
I’ve 
Photographer Yohei Morita stopped by my shop last week and dropped off a copy of COG magazine, a magazine devoted to the machines and culture of fixed gear, with a authentic Japanese influence. The current issue featured an article about pro keirin racers and 
I’ll admit it: I’m obsessive about colours on bikes. I know that black saddles are practical, but they so so…boring. I love seeing someone with a white saddle on a black bike. To me, a new white saddle says,”F*&% it, I’ll get dirty but I look good now.” 
Here’s a brake configuration that I had never even thought of. 
Lapierre, Mr. Giles LaPierre that is, was 