Lights have come a long way since I started bike commuting over 20 years ago. In the mid-80s, I used a 6 watt dynamo to power my incandescent headlight and tail lights, supplementing those with the old flashing yellow “Belt Beacon.” Today, a dizzying array of lighting choices are available for the night cyclist. You…
Commute by Bike
Home Bike Storage
A while back we ran a poll to see how you stored your bikes at work. I thought about doing another poll about home bike storage but, let’s face it gang, there are just too many options and too many combinations. There are 11 bikes in my garage at the moment, three of them are…
Commute train
I’m curious, does anybody commute to work with at least one other cyclist? Has anybody ever joined or started a spontaneous group ride during a commute? I’m broke this month so I didn’t buy a train pass. My commute from San Jose, CA to Menlo Park is about 22 miles. This morning, a guy joined…
London Tube Strike = More Bike Commuters
London residents are half way through the planned three-day strike by members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers which began Monday evening. According to the Associated Press: “Hundreds of thousands of commuters struggled to get to work Tuesday by bus, bike, cab and on foot as a subway workers’ strike stretched…
NYC traffic commisioner commutes by bike
Janette Sadik-Khan, the commissioner of the Department of Transportation, rides her bicycle to work. That the head of an agency long associated with car travel is an avid bicyclist symbolizes what might be a new way of thinking about how New York’s asphalt should be used. “It’s invaluable to get on a bike and see…
Dahon urban minibike
Although it was introduced at the beginning of this year, the Dahon Smooth Hound 6.0 made its debut at Eurobike over the weekend where it got some nice attention. Although Dahon puts this bike in the touring bike category, at Eurobike the Dahon reps apparently put this bike square in the camp of urban utility…
Enjoy Labor Day
Get out and ride just for the fun of it. In the mean time: Welcome to Coffee Talk, I’m your host Warren T. Here’s a topic: It has been said that there are old pilots and bold pilots but no old, bold pilots. Discuss. […replacing “pilots” with “cyclists.”] Go ahead, talk amongst yourselves.
And they say cyclists don't obey traffic laws?
How many times have you heard someone complain that cyclists never stop at stop signs? Below is a video that was taken yesterday morning at 8:30am at a point where the bike trail crosses the road. My phone only records 20 seconds of video so you missed the next 4 vehicles (including a FedEx truck)…
How Do You Know For Sure?
There is a wonderful thread over at Team Estrogen asking the question “You know you’re officially a bike commuter when…” So many of the entries ring true. The one that smacked me in the face was “when you drive your car to work people ask you where your bike is.” Grab a cup of coffee…
Sneak peak: Cannondale urban bikes
The website has been “under construction” for ages, but Cannondale gives us a little peak under the kimono of their intentions at Eurobike 2007, where they revealed a concept folding bicycle and the Cannondale Hooligan. The folding bike seems to be based on the Jacknife design. A one sided “Righty” fork and rear wheel support…
Commuting 101: Save Your Night Vision
Earlier this summer my buddy John, my son Peter and I (along with around 1,000 other cyclists) took part in the Lenexa Midnight Bike Ride. The coolest part of the 12 mile run was the 2 miles we spent riding through some industrial caves. As you can see, the caves are well lit. Once you…
Boulder Bike Summit
The city of Boulder, Colorado is inviting area cyclists to the Boulder Bike Summit on Friday, September 7 at the Boulder Outlook Hotel. In the past twenty years, Boulder has made tremendous progress in becoming bicycle-friendly. Now it’s time to craft a vision for the next twenty years. Boulder’s Bike Summit is an initiative of…
Haro Metro Series
While following a link from twentynineinches I found my way on Bike Biz Babe’s blog. Earlier in the day a prototype 29er was found there, when I stumbled across the blog I found some previews of Haro‘s new Metro line. It looks from the photos & pricing to be well spec’d bikes for the new…
Spy photo: 2008 Masi Speciale Commuter bike
Here’s some nice bike porn for the weekend. It’s a flip-flop fixed/SS with front-facing rear fork ends intended for bike commuters (hence the name “Speciale Commuter.”) CroMo of course. More details coming soon. Enjoy! See also the Masi Speciale SoulVille cruiser bike that was recently unveiled. This is a totally different direction for Masi and…
Safe Routes to School National Partnership Launches New Web Site to Promote Walking and Bicycling to School
Safe Routes to School Nation Partnership launched a new website Wednesday (www.saferoutespartnership.org) as a resource for schools, parents, local and state governments and bicycle advocacy groups to, hopefully, encourage more kids to walk or bike to school. The site is is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Bikes Belong Coalition. From their…
Gary Fisher commuter bike spy photo!
Trek World is the big show in Madison Wisconsin for dealers to learn about Treks new products and plans for world domination. Arleigh the bike mechanic and Guitar Ted both went and snapped lots of bikey photos. Dr. Logan noticed this prototype of a Gary Fisher Commuter bike in Arleigh’s photostream. Here’s what Guitar Ted…
CBB Poll: Baggage Options
Around this time every year I start questioning my options for getting my work stuff back and forth. I’ve always used a backpack, but with afternoon temperatures close to 10° F (3° C) and the humidity making it feel 5 to 1° warmer, I’ve got to wonder if another option would be better. So, what…
Fast Boy Fenders
Beautiful, aren’t they. They’re Fast Boy Fenders — “Handcrafted bicycle fenders for you.” I first noticed Fast Boy Fenders on flickr while searching for other, bicycle related photos. One look at the craftsmanship that must go into these and I just had to know more. I contacted Ezra and asked him to tell us a…
Automatic turn signals and brakes
Sue in Chambana, Illinois wants more lightning and turn signals for her bike. This cyclist jacket idea with a brake light on the back and turn signals in the arms might do the trick. See the video below to see this jacket in action. Found via Cycle Dog.
Take action: Transportation Secretary says "Bike facilities are just pork"
(Apologies to Tim for pre-empting his excellent article on the Simple Bike Commute, but this news is too important to delay.) My children and I cross the Golden Gate Bridge bicycle path. When counts were last done in 2002, 1600 bicyclists daily rode across on weekdays. Anecdotally, bicycle use has climbed significantly since then. The…
I guess you could call this a single speed
Now here is a single speed that would get you some attention on your commute. As I post there are only a couple more hours left on the ebay auction for this 1873 Monocycle Replica. There are no bids yet so if you have a spare $13,000 that you want to spend on your next…
Bike commuter legislation update
When the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed the landmark energy legislation about two weeks ago, they also included the bike commuter tax benefit. The Commuter Benefit for bicyclists amends the IRS code to include “bicycles” in the definition of transportation covered by fringe benefits so that employers can receive a tax benefit to provide…
Interesting BOB Uses Part 2
A couple of months ago I posted Interesting BOB Uses Part 1. This post had an alternative energy theme
For this go around I’ll explore the realm of home & garden, Home Depot meets your BOB Trailer.
This is about the coolest lawnmower you’ll ever see anywhere.
2008 Raleigh One Way preview
Carey of Raleigh USA has posted some spy photos of the 2008 Raleigh One Way. Big changes from the ’07 model are a leather Brooks saddle and Brooks leather handlebar tape will come stock on this bike. The model bike is also a nice looking forest green. Carey has posted several more photos of several…