The Volpe is undoubtedly the most versatile bike in Bianchi’s lineup. It has lots of tire clearance, plus rack and fender mounts, giving it the potential to be a commuter, a touring bike or even a cyclocross racing bike. It comes standard with all terrain tires and a triple crankset, so you can literally take it just about anywhere. And that’s what makes the Volpe so much fun.
When the Volpe arrived back in October, my first inclination was to cruise across town to Frick Park and hit the dirt and gravel. This became a recurring theme all winter long. While it’s not terribly fast on the road with the aforementioned WTB 700 x 32 All Terrainasaurus tires, it’s not unbearably slow, either. And all that extra rubber is certain stave off a few pinch flats and punctures, too. Even if you were to install some bona-fide slicks, you might want to hang on to the stock tires for winter riding, as they’ve performed quite well in the snow and ice.
I’m constantly impressed by the latest entry-level drivetrain components. The 10-speed Shimano Tiagra shifters and derailleurs are nothing if not smooth and crisp. Ride after ride, the drivetrain has performed with little maintenance. Having the FSA Vero Triple (50/39/30) really encouraged me to find new routes, secure in the knowledge that I can crawl back up out of any valley.
Continue reading ‘Bianchi Volpe Review’
It feels like this sometimes doesn’t it?
This is actually very touching, but also fun to watch. Well done sir, well done.
Retronaut has a cool little collection of photos depicting early attempts at rocket powered bicycles.
Trash Bags is a small messenger bag manufacturer out of Minneapolis, run by local courier Andy Larson. Started in 2008, Trash Bags has a few years of bag making under their belt and many miles of testing in some of the harshest winters around. I’m in town for the Stupor Bowl alleycat, and figured a visit to the shop the created this year’s prize bags was in order. By tomorrow afternoon we’ll know who will be rolling around town with the pictured prize bags on their backs.
Trash Bags is a small shop, housed on the fourth floor of a downtown building, you enter through the first floor hardware store and make your way up to the roughly single car garage sized space housing a few sewing machines and lots of fabric and thread. Besides their messenger bags and backpacks Trash Bags has started to develop winter riding gear for the all-day, sub-zero riding that courier work in Minneapolis entails throughout the winter. Their wind and waterproof cordura Trash Picker Mittens are out there now, keeping hands warm with their removable Polartec fleece liner. Potentially too warm for anything but the coldest of days, when you need them you need them. Same with the as yet nameless winter hat—cordura outside, insulated inside, with a buckle to keep the ear flaps tight against your head. While it looks thick, the hat is remarkably thin, enough so to fit under your normal helmet. Overkill on all but the coldest of days, and potentially a recipe for a cold sweaty head if it’s not cold enough outside, but this hat should help you to continue riding even when you’d otherwise just not be able to. The mittens retail for around $70, the hat is expected to go for roughly $50. See more or inquire about ordering your own at www.trashmessengerbags.com
Have you ever considered reupholstering your bike seat with multiple images of bike seats?! Me neither, but apparently this isn’t such an absurd idea thanks to the custom fabric print site Spoonflower. Aspiring cyclist textile artists are now able to easily design their own patterns and have them printed and sold through Spoonflower, who use a digital inkjet printer configured to print onto fabrics, offering greater detail and color options than screenprinting.
As evidenced by this page of their site, bicycle prints aren’t lacking. So for us two-wheel oglers, we have one more opportunity to sit and stare at various bike images more than we normally do. Make a pillowcase, reupholster your lazy boy, hang some curtains, sew yourself a tie, decorate your panniers, etc. Whatever you do, never be able to turn 90 degrees without seeing bikes!!!!
Prices vary by the yard and types of materials to be printed.
This article from BBC Magazine isn’t really about bikes, but it does feature a sweet photo of a 1920’s stroller bike:
You were born into the most dramatic population change in UK history. At every age throughout your life, you stood out for sheer numbers.
But you were not born in the 1960s, or the years immediately after World War II, the groups usually thought of as the “baby boom” generations.
Read more.
So what if it came out two years ago, Velo, Bicycle Culture and Design, looks to be a stellar aesthetic compilation of the many facets of our beautiful two-wheeled world. Published by Gestalten (see last week’s post on Dzine), Velo showcases imagery of frame builders, professional racers, bike culture in advertising, and so much more. You can check out a sampling of the book on the Gestalten site. My guess is it’s infinitely more striking in print.
The book sells for a discounted price of $30 through their shop and that sounds like a steal for a full color, 240 page book! I don’t know who is on the inside at Gestalten, but judging by some of their projects they certainly have an appreciation and fine eye for bikes and bike culture. I’m looking forward to future releases.
“Custom” is such an enticing way to describe bicycles these days, to the point that what defines “custom” is becoming watered down. Call me a curmudgeon purist, but I always associated “custom” bikes with handcrafted frames not only painted to your individual aesthetic tastes, but also built with measurements spec’ed out solely to your body. I thought a bike built around your biology is what REALLY defined a custom bike.
Enter companies like Villy Customs, who sell you bikes, cruisers to be specific, that are built to your liking by choosing color options on nearly every paintable piece of their bikes. Through a process on their website you are able to pick frame styles, racks, fenders and a couple other options, then also able to pick the colors as well. To the right of your selections you can see your selections by price adding up to a total purchase. Admittedly, there is certainly an element of customization to this process, but I can’t help but feel this paints a grey area between stock and custom. Again, I’m probably just being a self-righteous purist, but I do so in defense of my frame-building buddies.
Let’s be fair though. These are bikes for riders more likely to purchase Dwell magazine than the Rivendell reader.
So, if cruisers are your thing and you’re dying to have every piece of your bike a different color, or the same for that matter, then you have a fun way of designing such a monstrosity through Villy Customs.
Bicycle themed jewelry incorporating repurposed bicycle parts is nothing new, but neither are bicycles themselves. VeloGioielli has been at it since 2009, and has a selection of various affordable items at their Etsy Store.
So far this season we in the northeast USA have been more or less blessed (cursed?) with a mild winter. While there has been some cold weather and snow, it’s not been nearly as persistent as in the past, making winter riding and commuting that much easier for people. For the past two season, when it has gotten cold I’ve pulled on the pictured lined merino wool cycling cap by Pace Sportswear. It is 100% wool, giving it all of the reasons that people are coming back to wool performance garments—it doesn’t hold odors and it remains warm even when wet. It is marked as machine washable, but I’d say it’s a better idea to wash it in a bucket of warm water and light detergent, letting it air dry as I do my other wool garments. The one size fits most cap has a light bit of stretch to it, and is constructed to be reversible, though I’ve never used it other than black side out. Unlike some similar caps I’ve used, the ear flaps on these extend plenty far down to completely cover your ear lobes without constant readjustment. Available for $57 from Pace Sportswear.
Film-maker, Sasha Perry, and registered dietician, Matt Ruscigno, have been creating a series of documentary films on the efforts of vegan athletes, of which the first 3 of 5 videos involve cycling. The series is called Day in the Life and exists to show that if athletes, who have some of the most demanding nutritional needs, can be vegan than anyone can. (Cue irate comment section).
The two just completed a successful Kickstarter campaign to raise money for travel expenses in order to highlight even more athletes around the country. Their most recent video follows an ultra runner completing an 100 mile race while previous videos show training rides with one competitive cyclist and follow another as he wins the Death Valley double century bike race. The current catalog of webisodes can be found here.
Now, before you go all Ted Nugent on us and light up the comment section like Jamaican bike messengers on 4/20, just know these videos aren’t all PETA preachy as can be the case. They simply showcase great athletes and offer sound nutritional advice that is valuable no matter what diet you adhere to.
The True Love Health blog, that hosts these webisodes, also has some pretty awesome ride reports.
From The Village Voice:
Forced by a looming Freedom of Information Law deadline, on Friday the New York Police Department finally told the mother of Mathieu Lefevre what it knows about the cycling death of her son last fall.
The documents released directly contradict the initial version of events put out by police, and suggest an investigation so sloppy that the likelihood of getting justice for Lefevre’s death is scant.
Read more.
From America Bikes:
On Thursday, February 2, the House Transportation Committee will vote on the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, a bill that eliminates crucial funds for biking and walking.
This long-awaited multi year transportation bill eliminates the two largest programs that fund biking and walking infrastructure—Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School. Without these programs, communities all over the country will lose resources to build the sidewalks, crosswalks, and bikeways that make biking and walking safe and accessible in communities across the country.
Read more.
You asked for it, so here it is. The completely unofficial, absolutely incomplete list of 2012 steel road bikes and frames. Cooler than carbon, better than bamboo, al…al…neater than aluminum, steel is where it’s at for neo-luddites, custom junkies, homeless wanderers and, well, just about any cyclist who craves something simple, timeless and repairable. Please, do some of the footwork for us and add your own suggestions in the comment section.
FRAME ONLY
Pake C’Mute – $259
Soma Smoothie – $399
Traitor Exile – $699
All-City Mr. Pink – $789
Gunnar CrossHairs OS2 – $900
COMPLETE BIKES
Bianchi Pista – $729
Schwinn Slicker – $770
Masi Strada – $895
Mercier Galaxy – $995
Genesis Flyer – $1082
KHS TR-101 – $1099
Fuji Touring – $1119
Salsa Casseroll – $1199
Surly Long Haul Trucker – $1399
Trek 520 – $1429
Raleigh Clubman – $1471
Motobecane Cafe Noir – $1499
Kona Sutra – $1499
Rivendell SimpleOne – $1900
Felt Road Race – $1965
Jamis Eclipse – $3400
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The Volpe is undoubtedly the most versatile bike in Bianchi’s lineup. It has lots of tire clearance, plus rack and fender mounts, giving it the potential to be a commuter, a touring bike or even a cyclocross racing bike. It comes standard with all terrain tires and a triple crankset, so you can literally take it just about anywhere. And that’s what makes the Volpe so much fun.
When the Volpe arrived back in October, my first inclination was to cruise across town to Frick Park and hit the dirt and gravel. This became a recurring theme all winter long. While it’s not terribly fast on the road with the aforementioned WTB 700 x 32 All Terrainasaurus tires, it’s not unbearably slow, either. And all that extra rubber is certain stave off a few pinch flats and punctures, too. Even if you were to install some bona-fide slicks, you might want to hang on to the stock tires for winter riding, as they’ve performed quite well in the snow and ice.
I’m constantly impressed by the latest entry-level drivetrain components. The 10-speed Shimano Tiagra shifters and derailleurs are nothing if not smooth and crisp. Ride after ride, the drivetrain has performed with little maintenance. Having the FSA Vero Triple (50/39/30) really encouraged me to find new routes, secure in the knowledge that I can crawl back up out of any valley.
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