Browsing around I just found that One Less Car: Bicycling and the Politics of Automobility is slated to be published this coming March, after a few years of research and work on the part of author Zack Furness. I met first met Zack seven or eight years ago on my way to a final exam in college and quickly thereafter ran into him everywhere in town through bikes, punk rock and a handful of mutual friends. It’s exciting to see this work come to fruition.
From Temple Press:
Although millions of people in the United States love to ride bicycles for exercise or leisure, statistics show that only 1 per cent of the total U.S. population ride bicycles for transportation – and barely half as many use bikes to commute to work. In his original and exciting book, “One Less Car”, Zack Furness examines what it means historically, culturally, socioeconomically, and politically to be a bicycle transportation advocate/activist. Presenting an underground subculture of bike enthusiasts who aggressively resist car culture, Furness maps out the cultural trajectories between mobility, technology, urban space and everyday life. He connects bicycling to radical politics, public demonstrations, alternative media production (e.g., ‘zines), as well as to the development of community programs throughout the world.
We found the above video on You Are The Engine, a cycling blog from Montreal that you may want to check out, especially if you’re a fellow Canadian or someone who at least appreciates articles about cold-weather riding and the odd Celine Dion reference.
Portland’s First Annual Tweed Ride is tomorrow, January 30th at 11am. Bring out your finest formal cyclewear a picnic lunch and antique or not bicycles for a casual day of riding about. Everybody’s doing a Tweed Ride, we covered Chicago’s in Urban Velo Issue #14.
Veja shoes and the French bike shop Cyclope have collaborated on an eco friendly shoe, furthering the blending of bike culture and everyday fashion. Constructed of co-op grown organic cotton canvas, wild rubber and vegetable tanned leather the construction is about as eco-friendly as a fashionable shoe is going to get, and is at the heart of the Veja philosophy. The shoes are more marketed as urban cycling shoes than their construction actually shows, as the only quoted changes are a 25mm thick sole (typical for a skate-style shoe) and the usual wrap-around toe guard seen on skate and soccer shoes. These shoes are limited to 384 pairs, and priced at $150 per pair securing themselves as more fashion than function. So be it, fashion carried surfing and skateboarding further than could have been predicted and could ultimately bring cycling to the mainstream. Pre-order at Paper Scissor Stone.
It’s that time of the year again… Stupor Bowl 13 is scheduled for Saturday February 6th, 2010 in Minneapolis. Brad will be there, so buy him a beer. More info at Bike Jerks.
Barcelona is hosting the Sexy Polo Beer Amigo international polo tournament March 19-21 with both a formal tournament bracket and time for pickup and “crazy polo.” From the bit of information we have this sounds like a hell of a weekend, with more information surely to show up at Corpus Fixie as it is released.
These days I tend to not travel far from home without a camera or two at hand, usually stashed along for the ride in my messenger bag, by my side if I’m taking the car or slung over my shoulder if going by foot. For any sort of activity that may take me outside, and potentially into unexpected rain, I prefer the peace of mind that a waterproof messenger bag lends to my travels though a full sized one can be overkill or just plain annoying for walking around or heading into a packed show space. Years ago I fell for a mini-messenger bag for most of my off-bike camera toting duties, and was happy to update my worn bag with the Outlaw Earth Derringer a few months back. Made in the USA, the the traditional style 12×8x5 Derringer messenger bag has all of the bells and whistles of its larger sibling bags packed into a smaller package better suited to casually kicking around town than carrying everything you own. Continue reading ‘Outlaw Earth Derringer Messenger Bag’
Cycle Speedway Euro Club Champs final at Glover Park, Leicester, England in 2008. I can’t believe people do this, it looks like great fun. Like high speed foot-down.
As we mentioned in an earlier post, we’ve been testing a few pair of Duro tires since this summer. For the past six months I’ve been running a set of 700×35 Duro Sevilla tires on my Redline 925. Used primarily for playing polo and getting to and from the court, these tires have been taking a beating like none other. Right off the bat, getting to our main polo court involves riding on all manner of rough roads, and the surrounding area under the Bloomfield Bridge is littered with broken glass, thorns and God knows what else. To date, I’ve not had a single puncture flat with these tires. That could be luck, or it could be Duro’s Flak Jacket puncture resistant casing.
I really can’t count how many times people have remarked on the Tru Shine reflective patterned sidewalls. Not only do they garner attention, they shine like daylight in a car’s headlights. I had presumed that the reflective coating would eventually wear off or at least begin to crack or flake, but it pretty much looks like new after six months. Continue reading ‘Duro Sevilla 700×35 Tires’
As some of you may know, Cane Creek has decided to discontinue it’s wheel building business in order to focus on headsets and suspension. They’re selling off their remaining inventory on Ebay. Our first reaction was, “Sure, but what happens when you need a spare part or have a warranty issue?” Cane Creek assures us that won’t be a problem:
If you purchase a wheel or wheelset you can buy it with confidence knowing Cane Creek will stand behind your purchase. We’ve set aside enough warranty and service parts to last well into the future.
It is incredible to watch urban cycling culture spread throughout the globe, with People’s Bike reporting on an alleycat in Guangzhou last weekend, a city in the south of China with relatively few foreigners even if a few guys of European descent won this particular race. The urban land area of Guangzhou is estimated to have 9.5 million people residing in it, for comparison Los Angeles has a mere 4 million, this is not a sleepy town. It looks like there is a vibrant bike scene there from the race report, with a few dozen racers making up teams of three for the usual checkpoint style race across town and back. Lots of color matched fixed gears and riders that seem to know how to ride them, if the young people in China catch on big to fixed gear cycling they may be soon driving the market.
Salsa has been known for their stems since the early 80’s. Back then, when you ordered a Salsa frame, it came with a custom stem, handmade by Ross Shafer. Salsa continued to make a name for themselves, eventually offering stems in eight sizes by 1988.
Fast forward to 2010. The Pro Moto stem is no longer TIG welded steel, but 3D-forged and CNC-machined from 2014-T6 precipitation hardened aluminum. The 4-bolt aluminum faceplate is central to Salsa’s new and improved Stiff Upper Lip clamping system. The 48mm wide clamp area distributes the clamping forces over a wider area than many stems, and features rounded edges to avoid damaging carbon handlebars. An interesting thing about the SUL clamping system is that Salsa directs you to completely tighten the top two faceplate bolts before tightening the bottom two to 35 inch pounds (4 Newton metres).
The attention to detail and finishing quality are also nothing to scoff at. The aluminum is bead-blasted and anodized in black, with tasteful three-color painted graphics. The hardware is stainless steel (the Pro Moto Ti stem features titanium hardware) and the faceplate has recessed concave divots that accept convex washers which help keep the faceplate bolts tight over time.
The Pro Moto Stem carries a 5-year warranty against defects in materials and workmanship. It has a 31.8mm clamp diameter and can be flipped for either 85° or 95° of rise. It comes in 80, 90, 100, 110 and 120mm lengths and weighs in at 150–178g. Expect to pay around $45 at your local bike shop. Visit www.salsacycles.com for more info.
Salsa’s Pro Moto Flat Bar is at once a state of the art handlebar and a nod to the company’s past. Salsa’s original Moto handlebar was 4130 chromoly and featured 11° of sweep. It featured a 25.4mm clamp diameter and was taper butted to shave the weight down to a respectable 321g.
The current incarnation is 710mm wide and made from 7075-T6 aluminum. It’s quad butted to keep the uncut weight down to 261g, and is available with 5°, 11° or 17° of sweep. It’s bead-blasted and anodized in black with slick three-color graphics, and has convenient markings for alignment and cutting (though I actually cut mine half an inch shorter than the markings on either end).
The Pro Moto Flat Bar has a 31.8mm clamp diameter, which has been the standard for quite a few years now. Interestingly, I replaced the previous-generation Pro Moto bar (aluminum with a 25.4mm clamp diameter) with the newest version. The larger clamp diameter results in a noticeably stiffer handlebar, which I’m not entirely sure I need. While it is confidence inspiring, I kind of liked the shock absorbing properties of the old, more flexible handlebar.
The Pro Moto Flat Bar retails for $56. For more information visit www.salsacycles.com.
80 For Haiti is a benefit ride for Haiti relief supporting Mercy Corps on Saturday, February 13, 2010. The event will feature an 80-mile ride along Old Hwy 80 in southeastern San Diego County. There will be an $80 entry fee and 100% of the entry fees will go directly to Mercy Corps, one of the most respected relief organizations worldwide. AdventureCORPS will absorb all costs, but food, drink, and support sponsors are being sought.
Although I had seen Raleigh’s Rush Hour Flatbar online and on the tradeshow floor at Interbike, it wasn’t until I unpacked the box in my basement workshop that I really appreciated what a beautiful bike this is. Raleigh has obviously had an eye on the designs coming from the small builders at the Handmade Bicycle Show, and they’ve used that inspiration to create a modern classic that retails for just $820 complete.
The frame is TIG welded from Reynolds 520 butted chromoly steel tubing. Although it sounds exotic, Reynolds 520 is not one of the proprietary tubesets manufactured on Shaftmore Lane in Birmingham, England. It’s 4130 chromoly steel manufactured in Taiwan to the Reynolds standard. And as you might have guessed, the Rush Hour is not welded by a cheeky old bloke in Nottingham, but by a factory worker in China. That said, it’s definitely a high-quality frame, built to take all the abuse the average bike commuter can throw at it (and then some). The frame is drilled for brakes, but has no cable stops or bottle cage bosses. The track fork ends feature simple, but effective, integrated chain tensioners. The only drawbacks to this style of tensioner is that they use a small Allen key and have to be backed out to allow the wheel to come forward in the dropout to be removed. The benefit is they’re super clean looking and easy to adjust. Continue reading ‘Raleigh Rush Hour Flatbar – On Test’
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Browsing around I just found that One Less Car: Bicycling and the Politics of Automobility is slated to be published this coming March, after a few years of research and work on the part of author Zack Furness. I met first met Zack seven or eight years ago on my way to a final exam in college and quickly thereafter ran into him everywhere in town through bikes, punk rock and a handful of mutual friends. It’s exciting to see this work come to fruition. 
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