“Get comfortable. You’ll be spending a lot of time practicing.”
Roughly an hour after walking into the shop on the first day of class I had a welding torch in my hand, sloppily sticking thick pieces of metal together. I knew that building a frame within a normal work week wasn’t going to be easy, and this confirmed it loud and clear.
NAME: Stoned Tone!
LOCATION: New York City, NY
OCCUPATION: Bike Messenger, Alleycat Organizer
Where do you live and what’s it like riding in your city?
I live in Brooklyn, but I spend 85% of my time riding in Manhattan, from Wall Street to Dyckman. There’s so much energy breathing off these evil NYC streets that you have to stay on point with everything… even dodging cops trying to get you for red lights.
Last October I was invited to attend “Fijate,” which was a historical event for the Puerto Rican urban bicycle scene. The rider pictured to the left is Luis Rafael Robles, a native bicycle messenger who’s largely responsible for the fixed gear movement in Puerto Rico.
Climbing up grueling mountain passes in China to reach the edge of Tibet. Communicating with smiles and sign language for food and shelter. Picking up strangers on the back of a tandem bike and touring new terrain in the company of newfound friends. For eight years, this was Jamie Bianchini’s life.
Touring the world on a bike is a dream for many, but few ever really get to hit more than a few countries in their lifetime. Jamie is one of those few, having pedaled his way through more than eighty. Perhaps his success is because he wasn’t doing it just for himself. From the very beginning—now more than a decade ago—Jamie wanted to send the world a message.
Italy’s now legendary L’Eroica draws riders from all over the world eager to test themselves—and their vintage steeds—on the rough, gravel-shod roads of the Tuscan countryside.
Money. It changes everything. It can’t buy you love. It’s the root of all evil. It doesn’t grow on trees. And a fool and his money… Well, we all know how that goes.
When it comes to bikes, unless you’re a sponsored pro or a member of the vilified 1%, money is seldom no object. It determines not only how many bikes you can own, but in many ways it factors in to how well they perform, how good they look and how long they’re likely to last.
Where we call home in the northern hemisphere, we are more or less in the midst of the cycling off-season. Even the most die-hard commuter inevitably puts in fewer miles come the colder, darker months. Now is a good a time as ever to start making plans for the next year. Let your bicycle take you places you’ve never been.
Nearly every city has less populated roads within a long day’s ride, some more than others. We’re blessed to have seemingly endless rolling hills through progressively less populated suburbs—choose the right roads, and you can find farmland within an hour. If you’re looking to sleep under the stars we have direct access to the longest continuous trail system in the country connecting some 325 miles between Pittsburgh and Washington DC. Serious woodland and miles upon miles of crisscrossing forest roads are but a day trip in a car away.
These are some of the people who helped bring you Urban Velo #29. Check out their websites and let them know you like their work.
Antonio Bigarini – www.antoniobigarini.com
Takuya Sakamoto – www.newyorkbikedreams.com
Hugo Yoshikawa – www.luckyriverstudio.com
Roger Lootine – www.residuecomics.com
Brad Quartuccio – www.randomprecisionphoto.com
Jeff Guerrero – flickr.com/urbanjeff
Contents Include: L’Eroica 2011, One Tandem, Eighty Countries, Photo Gallery: Puerto Rico, A Bicycle Framebuilding Crash Course, Residue, Product Reviews & News, Stay Loose and I Love Riding in the City. Download it for free, or order a printed copy online.
Here’s a look at some of the I Love Riding in the City contributors for issue #29.
We want you to represent your city. Click here, and don’t forget to attach a high-res photo. A “high-res” photo, for those who don’t know, is typically 300dpi or greater at print size. If you’re not sure, try sending the unedited photo file that comes from a digital camera.
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Readers are soon going to notice a new name contributing to the blog, that of long time city cyclist and friend of Urban Velo, Scott Spitz. I first met Scott through his now defunct city cycling zine Leapfrog roughly a decade ago, which to this day I cite as an inspiration for what Urban Velo has become. He was riding a track bike way back then, and when we first met in person he had the worn out cycling cap and staples in his head from a recent wreck to prove his mettle. Years later he gifted me his entire bike zine collection, contributing a significant amount to my personal bike lit library. Commuting, touring, kid hauling, couriering, mechanic work, sales, advocacy, fixed, free—Scott has had his hands in it all over the years. He’s been sending me links that you’ve all seen on the blog in the past, and now we’re excited to introduce Scott as a more formal regular web contributor.
NAME: Aya 高恩雅
LOCATION: Beijing, China
OCCUPATION: Model/Actress
Where do you live and what’s it like riding in your city?
I live in Beijing. It is joyful to ride in this city! You can see many old lanes that give it character.
在京城骑车能够看到各种有历史的建筑物，是一种享受。
What was your favorite city to ride in, and why?
Of course my favorite city would be Beijing, because we have spacious roads and lots of bike lanes. Also Beijing has a beautiful night view.
我喜欢在北京骑车的原因是因为北京的路很宽敞，而且有超多的自行车道。还有就是北京的夜景很漂亮，所以我比较喜欢在北京的晚上骑车
Nominally there are two widths of bicycle chain on the market—1/8” and 3/32”. This number refers to the interior width of the chain, with the wider 1/8” chain used on single speed and internally geared bikes, and 3/32” width chain on multi-speed deraileur bicycles. But when it comes to 3/32” chains there are a number of different external widths available, usually referred to in marketing terms by the number of rear cogs or speeds that the chain is compatible with. The narrower 3/32” chain is necessary for deraileur bicycles as the cogs are thinner to provide space for multiple gears, and as manufacturers have continued to add more speeds to drivetrains cogs and chains have continued to lose some from around the middle, even if only by tenths of a millimeter at a time. This has all brought up some compatibility concerns worth having a working knowledge of to prevent shifting problems and incompatible component purchases.
Most days of the week, you’d need to be crazy—or have a death wish—to venture into Jakarta’s rush hour traffic on a bike. On Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights, though, you’d be in good company. Two days a week, for a few hours at least, the city’s endless traffic jam turns into a fixed gear bike jam.
For fixed gear enthusiasts, Jakarta is an urban playground. No one seems certain how the psychedelically painted single-gear bikes became so popular in Indonesia’s largest city, but Dian, one of the Jakarta’s early adopters, says there are now over 1800 fixed gear owners in Jakarta and at least 4000 throughout Indonesia.
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