12 Dutchmen were on a bike...

...on one bike. Check this out:
This and other great old dutch bike pictures can be found on Andre Koopman's photostream.

Bikes for two

A few weeks back we had the pleasure of hosting Laura and Aaron Beese for a few nights. They wrote us through warmshowers.org looking for free lodging. Mostly I was interested in seeing their cool bike. I mean, their bio is a little too earnest and has a too few many mentions of the All Mighty one for the comfort of this typical New York City heathen. But then again, they are for Norman, Oklahoma. If they weren’t a little earnest, I wouldn’t know what to think. And some of my best friends believe in God.

Anyway, they were great. And their bike was indeed way cool. But it was disassembled before I got to ride Zora around Astoria.

This was the end of the first third of their biking trip to see the geographical center of all 50 states. Meanwhile, they’re wintering in Hawaii, picking coffee.

It was great having you two, and hopefully you’ll peddle by New York to see us again sometime!

These are hardly the best pictures (see the link above for better), and my bikes in the background make it hard to figure out. But their bike is already partially disassembled. But basically it's a standard bike in the rear, and a recumbent bike in the front. The front passenger can peddle, but doesn't have to.

Deer on bike

I like both bikes and venison. My friend sent me this picture from a while back. Now *that's* a bike carry.

Bike shop on a bike

A friend sent me this:
You will like this bike-shop-on-a-bike that I saw in Beijing. I also saw barber-shop-on-a-bike, and of course, street-food-on-a-bike.

Bike carry

From today's BBC, another great bike carry:

Great bike carries

I'm always been impressed by what bikes can carry. Someone just sent me these pictures.

Yucatan taxis

I was down in the Yucatan, Mexico, and discovered that tricycles were the most common form of taxi and transport in villiages and small towns. The sad part is they'll probably eventually all get replaced with loud motorized vehicles as they get more money.

There was even the occasional bike path next to some major roads out of town.

Carry a lot

A new way to carry a lot. And you can even get it with neon hover lights.

Xtracycle. It's rear extension for your bike. So crazy... it just might work.

Wicker baskets

Check out David Hembrow's wicker baskets! It's the wicker chainring guard that really makes me happy. Alas, it is only for recumbent bikes. And yes, it says he does ship to the US.

Bag on Back

I took off my rear rack for my ride today. The bike handled great and I just zipped along! City biking and agility go so well together. I guess my final answer (for now) is messenger bag… unless I have so much to carry that I need the pannier bags.

There is some more on this in the comments to the previous post.

Carry on Bike vs. Carry on Back

Here’s the question: Is it better to carry your stuff in a bike bag on your back or a bike bag on your bike?

Carrying heavy things (or anything) on your back is certainly no fun. So I just fixed up my road bike with a rear rack and bags to carry stuff. I commuted a couple of times and, well, the jury is still out. There’s good and bad to both.

Bike bag/messenger style:

Advantages: Be at one with all your excess baggage. No effect on bike handling. Less likely to carry extra shit just because it will fit in your bag.

Disadvantages: You’re a human packhorse.

Bag loaded on rear rack:

Advantages: You’re not a human packhorse. For those who always carry a bag, as most bikers do, you might forget how nice it is not to carry anything while zooming around the city.

Disadvantages: Handling is worse. Not in a dramatic way, but if you’re riding a nice nimble road bike, it becomes more sluggish. A racing bike becomes a commuter bike. Not bad if you’re commuting. But if you like racing bikes, then your commute becomes a little less fun. There’s also the issue of what to do with the pannier when you leave your bike. The rear rack could also get stolen very easily. And the bike is a bit heavier.

Bottom line: It’s not so simple. I expected to fall in love with not having my bag on my bike. And that part is nice. But I don’t like the (admittedly minor) effect on handling. I think I may reserve the rack and bag system for when I know I’m going to have a lot of heavy things to carry a long distance (for short distance I’d just use my heavy one-speed with metal baskets).

There’s probably a simple rule of thumb here: If you want to do something right, look at those who do it for a living. Bike messengers carry things on their back and ride fixed-gears. There’s probably no better way.

Racing bike/pack horse

The bike supplies arrived today! Always an exciting moment as I pitter-patter down the stairs and then clamber up the stairs carrying my big box.

Included: One seatpost-clamping rear rack ($30). Two clip-on fenders ($45). Two “grocery” packs ($20 each). One rear-view mirror ($18, for the Bluebird, to help get Zora, after the loss of her left eye, get back on her bike).

The rack and bags seem like a great set up. Of course I won’t know from sure until I try it out for a while. And hopefully nobody will steal the rack. I guess I could loop the seat post cable around the rack. But I’m still thinking that I might want to remove the rack every now and then when I’m not using it.

I kept part of my old rear fender setup, to keep the protection for the back of my legs. Here are the rear rack and the rear fender:


And the front fender:


Here’s the bag in the bag:


And the bag in the bag, again!


The bag, for better or for worse, isn’t completely soft. The side facing the back is hard. And there’s a metal frame providing additional support. It collapses. But it doesn’t roll up into something really tidy. But it does fit in my bag. And it also has a carrying strap for solo carrying.

Shameless plug

Need bike stuff in Australia? I don’t. But maybe you do. Blog reader, 650B fan, and creator of the Chocolate Croissant (scroll down to "Good day from Down Under" below), P. Lynn Miller and his Chainring Transit Authority (not to be confused with the CTA) is swinging into full gear. He’s closing his building company and hanging up his toolbelt for good. He’s going full time into the bike biz. But the point of his e-mail is that he can’t handle both jobs right now. So give him a month or two while he get’s thing settled a bit. And then buy a nice rear cargo carrier or whatever else you need.

Carry more versus carry less

I’m not happy with my seatpost rear rack on my bianchi. It’s too much of a hassle to routinely tie my bag to it. It’s kind of fun; I like the knot tying. But it’s a bit of a commitment. And right after I bought it, I saw they make seatpost rear racks with support for panniers. So I bought one.
It can be attached without taking off my seat via a 4-bolt clamp (quick release is vastly overrated—mostly it just makes theft quicker and easier). So I can easily take it on or off if I want to use it or not.

And I got some simple bags that can go on it. I don’t want to load down my bike with lots of accessories. And I don’t want something that will get stolen. I like the idea that I can put my bike bag in this bag, and then put this bag in my bike bag when I’m off the bike. We’ll see if it works. I’ll keep you updated.

I also got some new fenders, and my current rear fender is attached to the rear rack in a rather ingenious fashion (scroll down to “working that rear” below).

All this would be easier if my bike had eyelets for fenders and a rear rack. But I’m kind of happy it doesn’t because if it did, I would have all this shit on my bike. And this isn’t a bike for that. I like this bike to be a nice, light, simple bike. But seeing how this is my normal commuting bike, there has to be some middle ground and putting stuff in a basket is so much better than putting it on your back.

One bike. One lamb. No problem.

We had another lamb roast. The butcher, an older man whose parents are also from Northern Epirus, assured me that though he has sold many lambs, he has never had one carried away on a bike.

A 70-pound lamb seems like a lot when you’re buying a lamb. But in truth, it’s not hard to carry on a bike. But then I’ve never carried anything on my bike that I thought was difficult to carry.

[Well, there was that one time I was zipping along in Amsterdam carrying something large in my right hand. A fan, I think. Or a large box. Somehow (during the day… sober), my bike decided that it wanted to veer right. I couldn’t stop it. My parcel somehow prevented any evasive maneuver. I ran pretty hard right off the bike path and into a sign post. I was going fast, too. Somehow, best I remember, I didn’t hurt myself, my bike, or my special delivery.]

Anyway, the lamb was pretty much evenly divided into four bags. One bag in each basket. One on top. One in my messenger back. Vegetables in hand. I think those are the legs sticking out of the bag. Carrying two lambs might be a challenge. As would carrying one whole lamb. Though one whole lamb on a bike would make such a nice sight. I always have this strange image of a lamb falling off my bike and a small riot starting as hoards of Astorians scamper into the street to claim the pieces.





I also got some tireflys for my bike. Little blinky lights that you screw onto your tire valve that light up when your wheel is in motion. Except that one of them seems to need more motion than just the turning of a wheel to stay on. But if they worked right, they seem like a great way to be more visible. You can see them if you zoom on the picture. The nice part is there’s no on-off switch to worry about. But that’s also a downside as they’re on even when you don’t need them. The three watch batteries are supposed to last up to 200 hours (“in ideal conditions”).

I don’t know if this bike has been pictured in this blog before. This is my normal cruise-around-the-neighborhood steed. She’s a heavy one-speed with a coaster brake. But she handles herself very well in Manhattan traffic when needed. Many years ago (1996?) I found her abandoned in Inman Square. I fixed her up with a new fork, a front brake, fenders and rear racks, narrower tires, and a paint job. It’s been a great bike. Rides very well and doesn’t complains that it’s not allowed in the house. I like how it looks junky but the astute bike-loving eye can spot a few signs of its inner potential.

More on the Croissant

P. Lynn Miller writes:

The "croissant" is a work bike, I just added a picture to the web-page showing a picture of my work rig.

As a work bike it does not get the care and attention it deserves, so little things like over-long cables do not get attended to. But I do love my front rack with a set of panniers, it just lets me haul things without a backpack or a bumbag. Yes, it can affect handling, but in the case of this bike, the weight seems to improve it handling, making it less twitchy.

After riding the 650B for about a week, I am very impressed. I thought at first that it slowed me down (increased rolling resistance from the fatter tire), but it is not true. It feels like you are going slower because you fell less road noise because of the softer tires. I do not ride with a speedometer, but since I have regular routes that I run, I know how long it takes me to get from A to B. And my times have stay the same or dropped on all routes. So the myth that a 650B is slower is not true.

The biggest thing I like about the 650B is the comfort. I was running a 35mm tire (Schwalbe 590x35) before but unless I kept the tire aired to at least 80psi, I would bottom out on bumps. But with the new wheels and tires (Panaracer CdlV 584x38), I have yet to bottom out and I am only running 50psi. This alone is enough to convince me of the superiority of 650B. Alex Wetmore has taken me to task on this statement and believes this increase in performance is a function of the tire not the 3mm decrease in rim radius. Since the Panaracer CdlV is available in various wheels sizes, I am going to run a direct comparison and see what part the tires and the rim size plays in the 650B phenomenon by running the identical tire on different rim sizes.

I have found that a regular 26x1.90 MTB tube works fine with the 650B, so finding suitable tubes is none issue. There is a lot noise at the moment about the new 650B tire that Jan Heine is bring in from Japan, the Grand Bois "Cyprès" 650B x 32 mm, not a 23mm tire but it is a bit thinner than the standard 650 issue.

Is the 650B a miracle wheel size? No I am sure I will find a few warts as I gain more experience with it, but I do believe it offers viable and real benefits to a cyclist who is looking for high performance and comfort.

--
P. Lynn Miller
Sydney, Australia
www.chainringtransitauthority.com

Nice picture!

There's also something (I don't remember high-school physics well enough) about the smaller wheels putting out more force keeping the bike upright. Because this force is related to the speed of spinning, not the size of the wheel (and smaller wheel spins faster). I think this is something related to "twitchy" issue as well. But I haven't really thought this through or figured it out. But of course there's some miny-max situation as the wheels get really small. But 650 may be more optimal than 700.

I keep my tires at around 100 psi. It does make a harder ride, but I like the (fake feel of?) speed and feel it keeps me nimble. But God knows the streets of New York make me think I should get a bike with suspesion.

And I did ride my one speed recently with very low pressure and rode around like a fool with big grin because of how wonderful and different it felt (it's always good to ride a bike with a big shit-eating grin every now and then). But I did feel like peddling took more work.

A good carry

I've always wanted to make a coffee table book about great bike carries (mostly things carried on bikes, but bikes being carried would be good as well). I figure most of the shots would come from the 3rd world, China, and Amsterdam. It's amazing what you can get on two wheels. Here are some great pictures than were sent to me. If you have any other great pictures, please leave a comment and e-mail them to me!

From the Dominican Republic


bike on bike

driftwood recumbent

couch bike!

check out the peddle system! It works like a stairmaster.