BikeHacks

Bike Month - We are Not Alone

I am all in favor of raising awareness of issues, topics, causes, etc. through visual or participatory acts, but sometimes such campaigns cause me to roll my eyes.  It is not the best comparison, but when I encounter the "holiday" isle in a store I just have to laugh.  For example, Halloween might be on the horizon so there are lots of costumes for sale, but at the same time Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations might be on the same isle at the same time. 

At times like these I laugh inside and think that some day every single day of the year will be a holiday.  Maybe not a holiday you get off from work, but a holiday that leads to companies producing ridiculous plastic knickknacks that you can buy to "celebrate" . . . and then later discard into a landfill.  Someone else obviously feels like me because this picture made the rounds a few years ago and pokes fun at the phenomenon I am describing.

How is this topic related to bikes and cycling?  Astute cyclists of all shapes and sizes I am sure know that some people came up with a seemingly successful plan to declare May as National Bike Month.  I guess I should be happy since organizations try to show their support for cycling by organizing events and running promotional campaigns, but overall I find myself feeling a lack of excitement.

Maybe this is due to the fact that this is not truly "our" month - we must share it.  I like to share and all, but when your realize the long list of causes "we" share it with, it seems to lose some of its luster.  Check out the list of May observances from blendradioandtv.com: 

May - Month
Allergy / Asthma Awareness Month
Arthritis Awareness Month
Breath Easy Month
Correct Posture Month
Digestive Diseases Awareness Month
Hepatitis Awareness Month
Melanoma / Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month
Mental Health Month
National Barbe-que Month
National Bike Month
National Egg Month
National High Blood Pressure Education Month
National Physical Fitness and Sports Month
National Salad Month
Neurofibromatosis Month
Older Americans Month
Osteoporosis Prevention Month
Stroke Awareness Month
Trauma Awareness Month
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

Suddenly "our" month seems diluted.  You can imagine then how my sense of delusion increased when I received the following message on May 18th -

It is funny that nowhere in the message is there any sort explanation as to why the event was cancelled.  I am a curious sort and so I went to ilovethebronx.com to find out why BIKE TO WORK DAY was cancelled.   There was no information, just what I am sure was the original announcement:

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and Transportation Alternatives invite everybody who lives or works in the Bronx to take part in National Bike to Work Day. This short ceremonial ride down the famous Grand Concourse draws attention to the health and environmental benefits of biking. Afterwards, join BP Diaz for a free power breakfast at Lou Gehrig Plaza. Jurors are especially welcome to pedal to jury duty.

I would hope that something important would cause the cancellation of such a monumental ride of a whole 6 kilometers (for the American audience this is the equivalent of almost 20,000 foot long hot dogs laid end-to-end).   I can imagine getting bumped by Arthritis Awareness, but let's hope that the ride was not cancelled because it was National Egg Month and an egg toss is taking the place of the bike ride. 

My proposal for President Ruben Diaz Jr. next year is to link as many of the "May" days together that are in some way related to cycling.  It just so happens that riding a bike in NYC can cause Allergies to flare, Arthritis to act up, and can be taxing to your Mental Health and an overall Traumatic experience.  There, you have five of the "May" days all wrapped into one ride.  After the ride bring in some Salad, Egg, and BBQ Vendors for the after party feast and you have three more tie ins. 

I'm sure a creative way could be found to include all of the May "awareness" topics into the Bike to Work Ride . . . and man I would love to see the logo promoting the event =)

Cork and Denim Bike Hacks

As a bike oggler of the obsessive kind, I am blessed to live New York City.  It is hard not to pass bikes while walking around the city and many have great little hacks that I find very cool.  I do not always see a need to use them myself, but there are some creative folks pedaling around the city.  I passed this whip the other day and saw one familiar hack and one hack that had me scratching my head, but I think I figured it out.  Here is the said whip -

The first hack was one I have deployed on one of my bikes before, the old cork in the handlebar steeze.

The second thing I noticed had me puzzled for a short time.  The rider had wrapped the undercarriage of the seat with a strip of old jeans.  Take a look for yourself.

I was trying to figure out what the purpose was and I only figured out what I think this is all about when  I stood up and viewed it from this angle -

It's a rare day that I ride in clothing that I care much about, however I do see some people that ride around in their work clothing or what I would consider to be "nice" clothing.  You can see that the bolt securing the seat appears to stick out a little, and if you were wearing a pair of pants or shorts you really cared about, damage might be caused by the end of the bolt rubbing against the fabric.  This leads me to believe that the rider pulls the denim over the bolt so that clothing damage will not occur.

At least this is my guess. If others have input or have used beverage or clothing items to hack their whip, comment or give us a shout out so we can post. 

Bike Rack for Bike Trailer

It is quite common to see bike racks on cars.  It is not so common to see a bike rack on a bike.  In this case reader Stephen, who runs a blog under his own name, came up with a hack to give his daughter a choice to pedal or not to pedal.  Children have it so easy man =)

Take it away Stephen . . .

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I made this a while back. To allow my daughter to go on longer bike rides I got a bike trailer. Of course she would like to ride on the easy parts, so I added a bike rack to the bike trailer to carry her teeny bike. Its made with 1x1 ash, a couple of u-bolts, and a few nuts and bolts.

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If you have a bike hack meant for little people, send it along.

Shoe Mudflap

Grime, dirt, and water can all be enemies of a cyclist.  There are many ways to play defense, however reader Rob came up with a solution that is truly unique . . . and stylish.  You may have seen beer can mudflaps, but a shoe mudflap?  I highly doubt it.  Take it away Rob . . .

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I needed a mudflap for my fender, but I didn't want to make an ugly one out of black rubber for my beautiful old Raleigh. Brooks sells a leather one for $40, but I am not spending $40 for a tiny piece of leftover leather.

Then I remembered I have a pair of thrift store wing tips that I don't wear anymore. First I tried cutting out the tongues, but they were too narrow. Then I tried cutting out the toes. Presto!

Rather than drill holes, I attached them with two tiny document clips and slid  out the shiny metal handles when they were on. Now I have a wing tip mudflap. I rode through some water today and it worked just fine. Best yet, when I took apart the shoes I realized they were actually pleather. Even better. For mudflaps, not feet.

Have you found a creative way to fight grime?  Feel free to let us know so that we can post for the benefit of all. 

Bike Racks Taken Hostage

Way back in May of last year I posted an entry on how disappointed I was with a contest to design a new New York City bike rack.  The design that was chosen, in my opinion, was a huge dud.  The main evidence is that rarely do I ever see bikes actually locked to them.  Maybe it is because the average cyclist can not identify them as bike racks because they are not labeled like the ones in Prinecton. 

A while ago reader Ian submitted some photos showing that some people are taking advantage of the racks, but perhaps not for the intended purpose.  Take it away Ian . . .

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I came across your post "NYC Bike Rack Verdict: Back to the Drawing Board." I work at Queens Borough Hall, where city DOT installed two of the new circular racks. They were used regularly in the summer... to chain up motorcycles!  These motorcycles' owners may just be the most enthusiastic users of the new bike racks!

This may already be on your radar, but DOT is actually still installing the "old fashioned" U-shaped racks. Several have been installed on and around 36th Avenue in Astoria/Dutch Kills. Sorry, no pictures.

 

Interestingly enough, The Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), which manages Queens Borough Hall, still doesn't allow employees to bring bicycles inside the building. I lock my bike to a railing behind the building.

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Shopping Cart Cargo Bike

There are some hacks that are kind of fun to look at and think about, but when the proverbial "rubber meets the road" you wonder how practical the hack might actually be.  Take this shopping cart hack that I remember running into a few years back.

It's a cool idea and all, but the wheels on that cart actually handling what a typical road might throw at you?  This hack would not last one block on most Manhattan Streets where some potholes can swallow small children. 

We did post this trailer back in April of last year and it is moving toward a more practical hack that I can actual imagine working. 

Image from No Tech Magazine

And then there is the person who completes a hack that is both awesome and practical.  Reader Laurent sent along the following pictures for posting.  Laurent noted that he would have difficulty detailing the process in English so you will not see text notes on the process, which in this case is not really a problem because a picture is worth a thousand words.  Merci Laurent!

Just one comment from me, the tire bumpers are awesome!

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Frisbee Chain Guard

Let me start off this entry by saying I am not one to point fingers.  I like to observe and share my observations, but I do not think that I am some arbiter of bike culture, if there is such a thing as bike culture.  I try to be funny on this blog occasionally and rarely achieve what could be categorized as success.  I also wear a helmet mirror and I think that probably takes me out of the running of being invited into any "cool" group of cyclists.  I do like to be among living cyclists and a helmet mirror helps me to know if 2,000 pound missiles on wheels are bearing down on me. 

Having said all this, over the years the recumbent cyclists I have met have proven to be a unique breed of cyclist.  I guess it's like any small group within a larger culture - there is a bit of an inferiority complex or something that causes recumbent cyclists to talk at length about the benefits of their whip. 

I remember being on a group ride once where I was talking to my wife about a Bike Friday that had just gone by us.  She was asking about the wheel diameter and its impact on riding and I began to offer my comments when  a recumbent cyclist pulled alongside us.  Before I knew it, the recumbent cyclist had jumped into our conversation mistakenly thinking we were talking about his bike. 

I let him talk for about 3 minutes uninterrupted and when there was a pause I said something like, "Wow, that's all nice, but we were actually talking about a Bike Friday."  A blank look came over his face and he dropped back. 

Last week we featured an entry on pie plates and chain guards, and in another entry focused on a recumbent fender hack I noted that we have had very few recumbent cyclists contribute hacks over the years.  Reader Leo is a one man army at present and is doing his best to supply us with some recumbent content and sent along a link to the following picture posted to the Photobucket Account of Poiter H -

I am both not surprised and very impressed at the same time =) 

One man's helmet mirror is another's Frisbee. 

Thanks Leo.  Other recumbent cyclists, your content is always welcome!

Princeton - Land of Confusion

I grew up on the west coast and to me the Ivy League was mythical.  It was a group of schools inhabited by people with extraordinary intellectual abilities that vied for things like Nobel Prizes and were trained to take on leadership roles to guide the rest of us with subpar intellectual capabilities. 

I visited one of the Ivy League schools recently, Princeton, and it only took one second for the image that had been cultivated over decades to be shattered.  What great act would could cause years of previously held beliefs to crumble?  Well take a look at this -

A President (Woodrow Wilson), a Supreme Court Justice (Sonya Sotomayor), a Secretary of State, (James Baker), a top Military Commander (David Petraeus) are examples of the graduates Princeton churns out, consistently . . . and local officials need to label bike racks? 

You can imagine the confusion and sense of dissorientation I felt.  You mean to tell me that leaders such as these would not be able to identify a simple invention to assist with bike security?  I can just imagine this list of great leaders staring, stupified, at a bent piece of metal bolted to the ground and saying, "What possible purpose could that serve?  I wonder what it is meant to be used for?"

As I walked around the now mere mortal shire of Princeton I continued to be my mystified.  I live in New York City so you must realize the horror I felt when every bike that I saw "locked up" was secured with a 99 cent store lock, and most were locked like this -

 

The cheap lock is securing only the frame and the wheels are left completely defenseless. 

 
You want more proof?  Check this out.  Two quick release wheels just waiting to walk away.

It's almost like the people in Princeton hold to some ancient belief that someone who buys a possession should continue to maintain full and unblemished ownership of that possession until willingly departing with it. How crazy is that!? 

New York City is literally a show room floor for bikes.  A lock or locks on a bike are merely an inconvenience for "shoppers."  If locked outside for very long either a whole bike will be taken or it will start to get picked clean like a turkey in the days after Thanksgiving. 

This beauty would not last 5 minutes in NYC.

Some of my faith in the intellectual merit of Princeton students was restored when I learned that they have a bike share program - a true sign of genius.  It's called the U-Bike Program and here is one example of their bikes, a Worksman Cycles model. 

One other slightly depressing thing is that I saw at least 50 bikes in Princeton and not one of them had what I would identify as a hack (except for plastic bag on the seat in one of the above pictures).  I guess it's because people spend all their time studying. 

 

Blind Fender

Fender hacks are some of the most common and we have yet another addition to the long list of materials that can be used to keep grime off.  The following comes from reader Lorena.

I made a fender from a recycle old blind.  I only used a blind, scissors and a couple of screws.  It fits very well to the width of my rear tire. I just tried it during a long ride under the rain, and it has proved to work pretty well!

The Bicycle City

I recently posted about a city with no bikes - Venice.  The layout of Venice does not make it practical or possible to bike, but in many parts of the world there are cities/towns without bikes that can benefit from their introduction.  Reader Kimberly sent along this great little trailer about the introduction of 20,000 bikes into a town in Nicaragua.  Sounds like an Academy Award front runner!  For more information check out pedals for progress. 

The Bicycle City. Trailer from Greg Sucharew on Vimeo.