I rode a fixed-gear bike for the first time the other day (after Matt’s photo shoot). I went about 50 yards and it did not weird me out as expected. And there you have my review of fixies. From now on, I can talk about them from experience; with expertise, no less. Yesterday I saw…
This video is getting a fair amount of play on the Internet. You may have already seen it. A thief, caught on a security camera, begins to take off with a bike. Someone, identified as Kristen, runs out and thwarts the thief. Kristen is the employee of a communications company that knows the value of…
Yesterday my Levi’s 511 Skinny Commuter Jeans arrived at work toward the end of the day. These are the ones that have had several bike bloggers salivating. But salivating is okay, because the Nanosphere ® technology on the fabric makes the pants drool-resistant. I ripped open the FedEx envelope, and… the pants were khaki colored. That’s…
I’ve heard inferences, rumors, and hearsay that bike seats are bad for man parts. I didn’t take them too seriously, but nonetheless I made a mental note to look into it one of these days. One Of These Days arrived yesterday morning with the first bike-related thing I read: Standard bicycle seats, it turns out,…
I was happy with how the light contrasted the black and silver in this photo of an Urbana Current Electric Bike. Pete of Electric Bike Report has recently wrapped up his 6 week test and should have a review up on his website soon. With the bike back at our shop, we are getting underway…
The United States Postal Service is ready to again give us our day in line with stamps celebrating bicycling–having already honored The Simpsons, Cinderella, E.T., countless cars, motorcycles, aircraft, trains, plus real and fictional spaceships. (Not to mention the Gambling-Addicted Twin Sister of The Statue of Liberty). The stamps will be available in 2012. Each…
Disclosure: My full-time employer is an independent bicycle retailer, and we sell tires. Lots of tires, in all shapes and sizes, including the tires that are described in this review. I am announcing this fact at the beginning of this tire review because it may lead some readers to believe that I am biased. I…
I was on the Burley Website recently while poaching images to use in this newsletter. When I found this guy. And I thought, I am such a dumb ass. I’m always wondering how to convince more people to take bikes seriously as transportation. Is it the economic argument? Is it the quality of life argument?…
This weekend, we had our 2nd appearance at the Flagstaff Farmer’s Market. For this go around, I had the inspiration to bring out my rollers. People were first perplexed and then entertained to see me balancing on the rollers, not pedaling at all (Ted should have some video up over at Commute By Bike in…
Chris Brandt is a writer, activist, translator, carpenter, furniture designer, theatre worker. He teaches in the English Department and the Peace and Justice Program at Fordham University. Poems and essays have been published in Spain, France, Mexico and the US; translations in The New Yorker and by Seven Stories Press, UC Berkeley, and the Instituto…
Nathan Friedman specializes in living the good life and making it look easy. Mountain biking all summer and skiing all winter, Nate is a rock star of the outdoor opportunities in the Southwest. To get some inspiration on living life to the fullest, check out his blog, Handlebar Sandwich. Chain lube. It seems like such…
What other kind of vacation would inspire a skinny guy like this to flex his muscles in the psuedo, macho revelry of the joy of freedom and accomplishment? Making it anywhere under your own power is always something to be satisfied by in my book. And from the look on our friends face, I’m guessing…
There is a vast array of reasons to commute by bike. People who choose to cycle for transportation do so because, for many, it is the most efficient, enjoyable and sustainable way to travel. At New Belgium Brewery, bikes are a natural part of the company culture, as the Colorado-based brewerys core values and beliefs…
Next up on the agenda for Campfire Cycling is finding the best brands of bike lights to offer up at the new specialty shop that we’ve got under development BikeTechShop.com. There is an amazing variety of high quality cycling lights these days and we’re getting quite excited to wrap our brains around all the options…
We bike commuters specifically, and cyclists generally, like to talk about how being on a bike heightens our awareness of our environment and our communities. But this aspect of cycling remains one of the hardest to communicate to a non-cyclist. Your most poetic description of “heightened awareness” won’t convince sedentary habitual motorist to think, I…
Since he introduced his proposal for the next surface transportation re-authorization bill late last week, John Mica (R-FL) has become public enemy number one in the bicycle advocacy world as well as in many other interest groups that would suffer from this proposed drastic reduction in transportation funding. The new bill calls for a 33%…
This morning I swung by KickStand Kafé all in the name of testing a newly-mounted bottle cage on my Dahon for its compatibility with my commuter coffee mug. While there, I found a deeper purpose to my commute. The building occupied by KickStand used to be a bike/ski shop, and the owners very shrewdly have…
New Belgium’s Clips of Faith was in town last Friday, and even though it was threatening rain, my wife and I went. Clips of Faith is a beer sampling and independent film tour. And even if you’re not a beer lover, it’s a nice way to spend an evening. The whole story is that until…
Here is our ragtag setup at the Flagstaff Farmer’s Market a few weekends ago. Art Babbot, a Flagstaff city council member and organizer extraordinaire welcomed us to set up a booth under the auspice of educating people about Electric Bikes. We were instructed to be low key on the marketing and focus on the educational…
Keith Earickson is a transient who is currently headquartered in Flagstaff, AZ. He writes a filthy, NSFA (Not Safe For Anything) blog at www.spacedriftin.blogspot.com and is enjoying his switch from a crappy, no-name beach cruiser to a fully loaded Surly LHT way too much. He has forgotten how to drive a car. Recently I was…
Following up on a DIY bike trailer project that we published the first phases of last September, Harry sent us these photos of the next steps in the project. It’s done. Total cost: $75 ($50 for new tires, tubes, $25 for velcro). And a lot of time. The fabric is rip-stop nylon (donated by my…
Tom Bowden is a bike commuter from Richmond VA, a "suit" – a corporate lawyer with an MBA, and a conservative "“ You betcha! He is also a board member of BikeWalk Virginia, a pro cycling and pedestrian group in Virginia that raises raises money to promote cycling, walking and active lifestyles. Tom’s lawyerly blogging…
Pete Prebus is the guy at Electric Bike Report, a website dedicated to getting the word out about electric bikes through e-bike news, reviews, guides, and general e-bike advocacy. Pete wants to encourage more people to ride bikes by providing good info about e-bikes and all the benefits (all the time) they have over driving…
This review is by Arleigh of Bike Shop Girl. If you remember, Arleigh was at the helm of Commute by Bike for a good while and will be continuing to review and post commuter articles now that she is back on the bike commuting after her accident with a car a while back. We are…
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