French designer Raphaëlle Bonamy created this column of drawers which integrates the ♥ bicycle-chain ♥ as the pulley mechanism to open and close each compartment. I also love how this totally evokes an image of a tall jewlery box overflowing with necklaces. Check out the video below...
I was pretty thrilled to finally watch the beginning of Downton Abbey's second season last night -- along with many many others on this side of the pond! It was equally nice to see bicycles making an appearance in daily life in England during WWI... from the postman to Lady Edith.
It never ceases to amaze me how often you can spot an improperly locked up bicycle in NYC... or the remnants of a bicycle theft. I spotted that cut Kryptonite cable above in SoHo right after hearing about the same thing happened in Union Square from a friend.
I love this video from Streetfilms in which Hal from Bicycle Habitat does a hilarious -- and very good job -- at running through how to properly lock up. He's been a bike mechanic in NYC since the 70's and knows all the tricks of the trade including one of my favorites, strategically epoxying ball bearings...
Such a fun concept by group of Dutch designers -- who rigged up a record player onto a bicycle's rear wheel! Video below. As they point out, you need a steady cadence to have it properly play... oooh, they could partner up with BBOX Radio and broadcast a show with guests 'spinning' their favorite records!!!
What if you would be able to generate music by the simple act of riding your bike? This project started with that question. We have build the first prototype and thanks to Jeffry Sol and Vincent Beijersbergen we were able to do so in a month. And yes it was pretty difficult, but loads of fun…. the idea is pretty simple; basically, a wheel and dynamo work the same way as a record player. But it was not as easy as it looks. First, we had to come up with a solution for the wheels; how can we change the records? The fork was blocking the wheel. That’s why we changed a 30 year old bike into a lefty bike; and build a construction that would still support the weight and would be strong enough for people to ride on it. The biggest challenge of all was to make sure that the needles would stick to the record and follow the grooves, without skipping too much. Therefor we bought two vertical record players and took them apart, to see how they worked. Also; we wanted our bike to be as low tech as possible; that’s why the only “extra” energy we used was a 9 volt battery to support the amplifier. In order for the records to run smoothly, we also had to change the crank of the bike and the chain. After that, we build our own horn, to have some extra volume, and we sprayed the whole bike black. We had some sponsors like bike stores, handy people and DJ’s and that’s how our dream in progress turned out to be real… Here’s to the crazy ones; thank you guys, you rock. - Merel, Pieter and Liat
This photo is one of the reasons why I bike - just can't get enough of magnificent views and serendipitous moments. For the past few evenings, while biking over the Manhattan Bridge's south side bike path, you've been able to get a glimpse of magnificence... not only of the glowing Brooklyn Bridge and Jane's Carousel (the glass jewel box housing the newly restored 1922 carousel), BUT what really took my breath away was that red glow to the right. It's the view into open air Tobacco Warehouse where the UK collaborative UnitedVisualArtists (UVA) installed a gigantic interactive LED cubic sculture sponsive LED cubic sculpture as part of The Creators Project -- which hosted a bunch of live concerts last weekend in DUMBO. The photo above doesn't it do it any justice so check out THIS video!
This past weekend a spur of the moment visit to DUMBO proved to be VERY eventful with tasty treats at The Brooklyn Local, the opening of Jane's Carousel AND.... a demo of the newly announced NYC Bike Share system launching in Summer 2012!!!
Portland, Oregon-based Alta Bicycle Share, who will be operating the NYC Bike Share, was at the Manhattan Bridge Archway in DUMBO last Saturday with a sampling of their other successful city bike share bicycles from DC, Boston, Minneapolis, Toronto, Montreal, Melbourne, and London. The NYC DOT has not released the official look (colour/graphics) of the NYC bicycle as of yet, but the overall design/style/components will resemble other Alta models. These bikes are really sturdy machines with lots of great components built-in (and theft proof) and was totally excited to see for myself how the Toronto Bixi could handle DUMBO's cobble stone streets...
For starters, what to do with my purse? Easy! The bikes have these front racks with a built-in bungee cord which you can adjust using those little nubs. It was a perfect fit for my purse -- but not set up to bring home a load of groceries. Nor is there a rear rack - well at least currently!
While details have not been finalized, the NYC Bike Share (like other Alta city bike share systems) will just require a credit card which you can pay-as-you-go (for something like $6 a day) OR get an annual membership (for approx. $100) which would give you a key/card - that red thing above - and allow you to access any bike for 30-45 minutes easy-peasy. You'd just have to insert your key and the docking station releases the bike which you slide out and ride off -- and be just be charged for additional time.
Oh, and note those little red hexagons icons with a wrench... upon swiping your key and realizing you got a bike in need of a maintenance check of any kind you simply press the button on the docking station and it lets the system operators know it can be fixed -- it also keeps the bike locked into the docking station/rack so that someone else won't come along and get the pleasure of borrowing a problematic bike! In general, I was told at the demo that all the bikes get a maintenance about check every 5 weeks.
The moment I hopped onto the bike I totally felt like I was on a motorcycle - more then a bicycle! The handle bars had a lot to do with that -- they are wide and really easy to handle. It is also designed in such a way that it feels like you have a dashboard in front of you with a bell (!) on the left side and 3-gear (internal hub) shifters on the right side. The brakes could have been a little more responsive, but they did a fine job.
The bikes are fully loaded with features that make cycling in the city easy rain or shine... fenders, chain guard, grippy pedals for all types of shoes, skirt guard, and really wide knobby tires that could handle our cities largest pot holes with lovely reflective sidewalls! I've also heard that they'll have integrated front and rear lights - serious essentials.
I have to say, it was a smooth ride. Next time I'd like to have more time and test ride the bike over the Manhattan Bridge - but the three gears seem to give you a good range even if most of the city is flat as a pancake. If you missed last Saturday's DUMBO demo, there are many more demonstrations, open houses and workshops scheduled to take place this fall so you can test them out yourself!
NYC Bike Share will consist of 600 stations, 10,000 bikes in Manhattan and Brooklyn, potentially stretching to Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx. It will be privately sponsored, privately launched and privately operated, with no public funding.
It’s more than just a different way to get to work. 54% of all trips New Yorkers make are less than two miles. Bike sharing is a great mobility choice for short trips that are too far to walk, but too short for a cab or subway ride.
The idea is really to help you out from point A to B. The bikes do not come with a lock which means you'd have to find a docking station to both pick up and drop off the bike -- hence the idea that there will be 600 stations in the city and the DOT is taking your suggestion for station locations. While there will be no doubt some growing pains associated with such a large scale addition to the city streets -- I CAN NOT WAIT for more NYers to open their eyes to the world on two wheels...
And check out this ARTCRANK video -- about their awesome mission of throwing poster parties to raise funds for an organization that uses bicycles to make a difference in communities, help people live better lives, or just make the world a better place...
Oregon Manifest, the design build challenge which has engaged a number of super interesting designers and constructors, just put out this lil' promotional video (via Treehugger). This is one fun real-life factor competition seeing that the judging is not solely based on looks NOR just performance -- the criteria for entries includes urban necessities like anti-theft devices, fenders, lights, load-carrying capability, and some sort of stand while parked!
And in case you haven't already been following the action, Core 77 has been, and continues to, document three team's design process -- IDEO X Rock Lobster Cycles / Fuseproject X SyCip Design / Ziba Design X Signal Cycles.
Looking forward to the road testing 'race' in September - when each entry is put to challenge and ridden 50 miles of all crazy types of terrain!
Minimalism is essential for lots of urban cyclists who stick to bikes without baskets and racks -- but really who doesn't want to carry less, travel light, and streamline. The fantastic SanFran bike shop, Mission Bicycle, held a Bike to Work Fashion Show last Thursday at which they debuted their exclusive US product release of Hiplok: the world’s first bike lock designed to be worn on the body by London-based designers John Abrahams and Benjamin Smith.
Hiplok is the first bicycle lock developed specifically to be worn around the waist. Hiplok's integrated and fully adjustable belt fixing allows the rider to tighten the lock around the waist without actually locking the device, offering a level of portability, comfort and versatility never seen before. Due to it’s unique design, Hiplok is never locked into a loop while it is attached to your body, and it remains fully adjustable and quickly removable at all times when being worn.
and my favorite colour combo (love that white buckle detail) but comes it lots of options...
Available for US purchase [here] on Mission's site + watch the Hiplok video [here]
This sweet video - titled "Orange" - is brought to you by the design firmLanguage Dept. and commissioned by ♥ Kate Spade♥. Wouldn't you know, it includes two of my favorite things to do -- riding with my hair down (though, under my helmet) + under a summer rain shower!
This past winter presented us New Yorkers with a record snow fall - which spurred me to document my commuter in all its glory. A little belated but none the less I present to you... my first GIF! Thank you to Nesli for showing me the ropes... I think I'm officially hooked.
Speaking of GIF animations, you have GOT TO CHECK OUT these incredible ones by photographer Jamie Beck which Joy posted about yesterday. Real beauties.
If your bike has been out of commission for months -- warm sunny days are on the horizon so it's about time to get organized, cleaned up, and back on the ROAD! Even if you plan to drop it off to a shop for a tune up - here are a few links to some useful tips to help familiarize yourself with BIKE MAINTENANCE 101... and you might get so inspired that you'll save the $ and do it yourself +++ feel empowered!
{AMAZING RESOURCES}
Articles by Sheldon Brown
Harris Cyclery site that contains more information then you may want - but it's really helpful particularly when dealing with older bikes. Gotta love that old school website!
Bicycle Tutor
Has a number of videos on a variety of topics related to common bike maintenance issues, including this basis bike tune up. Thanks, Simon Gallina - via BoingBoing
+++ lots of shops and organizations offer free workshops on the basics. In NYC there are many including Time's Up! and 718 Cyclery -- while Bicycle Habitat has a six week intensive on getting to know your bike intimately.
Know of any other great workshops - in other cities?
Links to DIY maintenance?
Jason sporting a musette as man purse - I photographed in Boston, not Hong Kong
A good friend of mine, former Cat 1 racer, Jason Beerman, moved from Boston to Hong Kong last summer with his wife Jen. In a city with a landmass of 426 sq. miles ( 25% developed with the rest being hilly mountainous slopes, which Jen and Jason also love to climb), population of 7 million, and less then 5% flat roads -- I was thrilled to follow the trials and tribulations of Jason's Hong Kong bike commute...
the two-wheeled Chinese machine
the bike commute-documenting Chinese-American machine
North Point to Sheung Wan on a typical 7pm Thursday night...
I asked Jason to fill us in on the minutiae of his ride...
Are you biking with among all those trams? Or do they just dominate your route?
I ride a lot in the tram lane because the regular lanes are sometimes a cluster with speeding taxis who randomly pull over for fares and buses and bus stops every 20 feet and exit ramps, etc. So sometimes the tram lane offers some protection since it's occasionally cordoned off.
Are those rails difficult to deal with riding on with bike tires?
The tires on my 50 pound, Shanghai-made double top tube bike {the Phoenix} are pretty wide, so they can go over the tracks ok. I still have to be careful though and hit the tracks at an angle however.
Are bike lanes to be found in Hong Kong?
There are no bike lanes and no bike infrastructure whatsoever on HK island. There's simply no room and other than the road I was riding, there's not much flat land; the roads become steep (up to 15% in some places!) as you get away from the harbor. The only people who ride are the occasional produce/fish delivery guys. In the area off the island (which is very densely occupied) nearer to the Chinese border, there are dedicated bike trails and a lot more people ride. But riding on HK island is really rare.
With so many cities jumping on the biking bandwagon, it is always fun to see ways they are going about promoting cycling. While I didn't get a chance to visit Torin while in Italy last month, reader Simone Gallina sent over a snap shot (and video!) of one of the city's newest Metro stations and bike paths. Just so happens that in this instance the bike path leads STRAIGHT into the escalators leading down into the Metro! While this is not to say that all the bike paths in Torin require cyclists to think fast - hopefully this one will be remedied soon...
from the Advanced Style: Age and Beauty video on Nowness.com
I adore the older set - particularly those who embrace colour, pattern, flamboyant accessories, and fun-loving attitude in their 'golden years'. The best place online for a daily fix of the sensational style of fearless older ladies is, hands down, Advanced Style. Thank you ChrisHabana for getting me hooked. The photo above is from this short documentary by Lina Plioplyte and Ari Seth Cohen... which is preceding a 'grand documentary' in the works!
... how you are adored! Could anyone not love this NYTimes photographer (in his 80's) who rides his Schwinn bike around the city wearing a blue worker’s smock photographing both the fashion elite -- and the ordinary Joe? The fact that he is also a fan of Iris Apfel - makes me admire him even more.
Check out their lovely little promotional video which starts out sweet and sentimental "My first bike was a Huffy"...
Based in San Fransisco, Mission Bicycle Company offers simple straightforward steel frame bikes - sticking with the bare essentials - for city riding. Based on your riding style, fit and aesthetic choices you can customize your components and frame finish (from a serious rainbow of color options), choose to have a single gear freewheel/fixie/3 or 8 gear internal hub + they offer a 'build together' option! With a price tag starting at $750 they are pretty sweet street machines.
Jefferson, the store manager, walked me through the bike selection process:
When a customer comes in, we size them up and put them on a bike that we think will be a good fit. We have a demo bike built up in each size... send them for a ride around the block. We can tweak the fit with stem length, stem angle, handlebar style, and of course a saddle which is adjustable in 3 ways.
That's what we do for people that can physically come in to the store. Sometimes people will make a visit to Mission Bicycle a part of their vacation to San Francisco. They get to come into the store, we personal guide them through the whole process. Then we build their bike and ship it back to their home country. Last weekend to women flew up from Los Angeles specifically to build their own bike here. They took their bikes home with them on the plane the next day. We're shipping bike all over the world. Built right here in the Mission.
They crank out about a bike a day and don't think they've built two exactly alike. Just check out their online gallery for proof!
My friend - and brewmaster - Nathan Zeender sent over this link from BBC News this week... 'Helmet Cameras Capture Bad Driving' about a London commuter who recorded getting run off the road by a truck with a mini video camera he was wearing at the time and was used as evidence in a court case against the driver. (The cyclist won.) In the article the UK "cycling organization CTC says the more people cycle, the safer it becomes, as drivers become used to watching out for bicycles. The organization says there has been a 91% increase in cycling in London alone since 2000, while casualties have dropped by a third." Transportation Alternatives in NYC has similar findings. Clearly a huge drivers are just unaccustomed to watching out for cyclists - and they need to. It definitely can't do any harm to share a cyclists point of view.
... while on the topic of wearable cams, I do love watching helmet camera videos and the technology just keeps getting more and more amazing! GoPro’s HD HERO is one amazing video and still photo camera which you can attach to your sport helmet or body. Just watch the video above - highlights from the world's best freestyle bike athletes in Northern California at the 2010 Post Office Bike Jam! (Watch out, the soundtrack may get stuck in your head.)
Even after recently graduating from a graduate program THIS really makes me want to go back to school!
The beautiful video above is by Tim Bishop, MBA in Design Strategy Alum, showcasing CCA's Industrial Design course "Bike Building I:The Frame". The course was taught at CCA's San Francisco campus and gave design students an opportunity to design and build their own custom bikes from start to finish.
Focusing on traditional principles and techniques of bicycle frame building, Nick Riddle led students through the process of researching, designing, crafting, and manufacturing a custom bike. According to each student's individual desire, some of the final bikes were for mountain riding, others were for road riding, and others were purely for leisure. All were conceived, designed, and assembled in just six weeks.
You can check out photos of the final designs and read more about the course [HERE]. Dreamy. Thanks, Tim!
colour crush on fluorescent pink in small amounts... like grip tape
locked up nearby was a custom cargo by Hudson Urban Bicycle (HUB)
- who's bikes were featured in this NYTimes video (and article) a couple months back:
eye-catching custom painted vintage Schwinn
glow in the dark saddle(!) Max snatched up
adorable belt pouch (which holds an iphone superbly on your waist) by Dargelos
loved the look + feel of Rapha's pro team mitts 
colour crush on fluorescent pink in small amounts... like grip tape
locked up nearby was a custom cargo by Hudson Urban Bicycle (HUB)
