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Ridethecity.com has a free job listing service. Check out their Biking Jobs directory and maybe you’ll find the career you’ve been looking for.
Just a few days ago it came out that Specialized Bicycles is suing upstart Volagi Cycles, which was started by a couple of former employees and produces a carbon road bike that on some level looks similar to Specialized’s offerings, at least in that it’s a swoopy carbon road bike. There are a few suits such as this within the bike industry every year—the Volagi blog briefly touched on the subject but obviously can’t get too far into it.
While the world of cycling used to be a welcoming place for innovation and new ideas, lately it seems it has become easier to sue the little guys than to “innovate or die.” Specialized has developed quite the reputation for sending cease and desist letters or suing a small companies in hopes to inundate them with paperwork and lawyer’s fees to try and effectively eliminate them as competition. It is a shame that Specialized feels it so necessary to attack small businesses such as Volagi, simply because they feel threatened by someone else who happens to “innovate.”
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This isn’t just a battle for Volagi, this is a fight for free market enterprise. We urge you to support and restore fairness and competition for our nation’s small businesses.
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.
The 2012 Bianchi Pista Classica is now available. The retro lugged steel frameset comes in celeste/cream with pinstriping around headtube.
Features include:
• Chromo Lite double-butted, heat-treated tubing.
• Lugged Steel crown Fork.
• Seat pin included.
• 1″ threadless headset included.
• Metal head tube badge.
• Fork is drilled for a brake.
Suggested Retail Price is $1300. There’s also a road version called the Tipo Corsa.
The following is a not nearly exhaustive list of Singlespeed Commuter bikes for 2012, recognizing that it would be a pointless affair to even define a commuter bike. This list, therefore, comprises singlespeed bikes that are often used for commuting purposes, whether that is ripping through the streets on a stripped down fixed gear or hauling loads of cat litter back from the store on a bike with more racks and add-ons than tubing…And maybe even some in between. As in the past, please feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments section.
Trek – District
Giant – Seek 0
Bianchi – Pista Via Condotti
Novara – Buzz One
Surly -Steamroller
Charge – Plug Prestige
Niner – Sir 9
Schwinn – Madison
Jamis – Sputnik
IRO -Mark V
Independent – Super Commuter
Masi – Fixed Riser
Traitor – Luggernaut SS
Raleigh – Furley
Felt – Footprint
Kona – Humu
On-One – Pompino Urban
Fuji – Declaration
Rivendell – SimpleOne
Windsor – The Hour
SE – PK Ripper
ANT – Scorcher
Globe – Roll 2 SE
KHS – Urban Soul
Marin - Ignacio 2
Redline – Urbis
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.
Jay Ryan is a well-known and respected artist in both the poster scene and indie music scene. He has an unmistakeable energetic style and has created posters for countless bands and organizations since the mid-90’s, but he also has roots in bike culture and draws up prints for various bike groups or creates bike-themed fine art visuals. You can see a full catalog of his posters here.
One of his latest posters is this piece for the 2011 Illinois Cyclocross Championships. This is an 18 x 24, five color print and is available on his site for $20. There are only 220 printed and come signed and ready to frame. Ryan has been creating the posters for the Illinois Championships since at least 2008 and you can still purchase each edition.
View all his work at The Bird Machine.
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.
Farmer’s Markets and bikes go together like self-righteous foodies and upturned noses, so the conceptual approach to this cookbook is a no-brainer! That isn’t to say the authors are nose-in-the-air locavores, just that they effectively combined their bike riding and farmer’s market interests to create an interesting cookbook separated by the types of foods you would find at each respective market.
Sarah Chan is a prolific blogger who gives you a look at her cycling life in Edmonton, Canada and Leanne Brown is her co-author and cycling buddy. Together they ride to the farmer’s markets of Edmonton, which spawned the idea for this book. Separated into Chinatown, Little India, Greek Market and more, you are given a number of recipes that use the ingredients from these regions to make delicious looking whole food recipes. The book is peppered with images of food and cycling for fans of both.
You can preview and purchase the perfect-bound, full color book for $20.70 here.
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.
I want to hate these people. I really do. But as someone who is currently in the emotional vortex of the home buying process, I more envy their ability to build a house from scratch to suit their needs. And let’s face it, if we were all One Percenting bike enthusiasts, this is the kind of house we would build for ourselves as well.
Avid cyclists and professional racers, Tim and Sue Butler designed and built this house in Portland Oregon to suit their cycling needs, which are both many and extravagant. The house contains an almost full-service bike shop for their combined 22 bikes, a hot water station, (stationary) sauna and repair space. That’s all really just the tip of the bikeberg though.
It seems quite absurd in one regard, but the barely-scraping-by cyclist in me finds it quite dreamy too. So to you Mr. and Mrs. Butler, I must tip my helmet to your decision to install a 3 room bike garage instead of a gold toilet. At least you have your priorities straight.
For many years I’ve been a fan of simple vegetable-based chain lube. It gets the job done, and you know you’re not doing much harm to yourself or the environment when you’re using it. The downside is that it’s oily and attracts dirt readily, and it wears off rather quickly. So while I’m generally leery of “wonder products,” when my local bike shop told me that they only use Dumonde Tech on their personal bikes, I figured it was worth a shot.
According to the MSDS sheet, Dumonde Tech is a cocktail of proprietary polymer, isoparaffinic fluid, fatty ester and ketone that essentially “plates” you chain with a plastic coating. It’s mildly toxic if ingested, but not terribly bad for your skin. It is hazardous to breathe, so definitely don’t go huffin’ this stuff!
You would pretty much need to be a chemist to understand exactly how and why this lube works, but I’m fairly well convinced that it just does. Thanks to the rather erratic weather this season, I’ve ridden in rain, sleet and snow, as well as in perfectly dry, sun-shiny conditions. I only lubed my chain once in the beginning of December and it’s running smooth and quiet while looking remarkably clean. It should be noted, I did follow the directions.
With this product, a little goes a long way. One ounce is supposed to be good for 10 applications. Dumonde Tech recommends that you wipe the chain extremely well after application and that you wait until you audibly hear your chain, rather than relying on the way it looks or feels.
Although it would seem that this particular lube isn’t the most environmentally friendly option on the market, Dumonde Tech does claim to be a progressive, environmentally focused company. They now offer a biodegradable bicycle chain lube, and they continue to research and develop similar products.
Dumonde Tech also offers a “Lite Formula” and “Bio-Green” chain lube. A 2 oz bottle of original formula retails for about $9, a 4 oz bottle for $16. Visit www.dumondetech.com for more info.
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