Anyone else seen this?

Uploaded by shaderlab | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

What’s your fav well-worn jacket?

still haven’t ridden in san francisco, but it’s on the list …

Uploaded by shaderlab | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Hey, Bren here. I'm participating in the 2008 Relay For Life. Cancer has hit my family pretty hard over the years, so I'm committed to raising funds to fight it. I'm trying to raise $100, and I've only got a little more to go. If you can help, visit my donation page. Thanks!

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As much as battery technology has improved, I just have never trusted any battery system more complex than a set of rechargeable AAs. Honestly, I think this goes back to my humiliation in university courses in circuits. All those diagrams just seemed like Sanskrit to me. Give me Physics 1 or Statics…stuff I can see. I intuitively feel better about relying on a small powerplant built into my hub than the alchemy of li-ion or metal-hydroxide battery packs.

Give me a power supply that is always ready when I ride. Something like the Shimano Alfine dyno-hub, or if you are flush with money you can get the Benz of generator hubs, the Schmidt. Planet Bike is adapting their excellent 1W Blaze LED headlight to the generator application, bringing the high performance and dead-on dependability of modern LED technology to a market that largely still relies on halogen-type systems.

It seems like the light itself is almost ready to go, but Downs’ group was mulling over mounting options. Visually, it’s a 1W Blaze with a wire exiting the rear, and so far the graphics on the casing are the same as the regular version. Look for the generator-powered Blaze next season.

This one goes out to all the moms out there with their kids at races, kids on their bikes, riding bikes, giving kids bikes, and just being moms.

When I was young, my mom let me ride my bike all day long, periodically handing me sandwiches, and then riding some more.

Also

• Three Generations
  
• Bicycle for Two
  
• 1939 - My mother on her bicycle
  
• F-0032.jpg
  
• imperial bicycle
  
  Uploaded by omnia_mutantur | from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

From the Private Collection: A History of Erotic Photography 1850 to 1940. Published by Other Criteria. Related article from the Telegraph.co.uk

Notes:

• Suspended seat
• Toe clips
• Dropbar
• Stick holding the bike up

Day at the Office, posted by Pseudothoughts

The first year is rather easy, because all the industry players already know what they’ll be serving up for 2009. The only question is if the manufacturers, particularly component manufacturers, can meet their deadlines and quotas, but if you listen carefully you can get a good picture of what’s coming.

First, I can tell you something that is guaranteed: prices are going up. This has to do with labour cost in China, the continued fall of the once almighty dollar, and transportation costs among many factors. To you the consumer this means a likely 10% increase in retail prices of complete bikes in 2009, and it could be worse for some items, particularly out of Europe.

The 29-er mtb will continue to become a viable alternative within the mtb market. This has to do with the proliferation of manufacturers making products catering to the 29-er segment. Besides the obvious tires, rims, and frames, the introduction of top quality suspension forks with geometry selected to enhance the handling of big wheels (ie increased rake) will validate the 29-ers.

Personally I wonder if the upstart 650B mtb will disappear into the widening chasm between the traditional 26-in and the new 29-er. As the 29-er asserts its presence and gains momentum, I can’t see that there’d be that much of a demand for a stop-gate solution like a knobby 650B. The mtb market has shrunk somewhat in recent years. Striking out into the 650B realm makes sense as a way to create a new market niche, but modern mtb design consists of a large number of manufacturers contributing subsystems to each rideable unit. In other words, it’s gonna take more than 3 guys building knobby 650B frames and another guy to hand-make the tires to get knobby 650B off the ground. The big component manufacturers aren’t going to make tires, rims, and forks for 26, 29, and 650B.

For road bikes, I predict that over the next two years the entry-level and mid-range will be strong. I think that we may see a move to more versatile bikes in that range, as more people feel the teeth of the imminent economic recession and rising fuel costs. Some people are gonna notice that they could save an assload of money by giving up the gym membership and riding a bike to work. By “versatility” I mean rack and fender eyelets will return to performance bikes after two decades of being unstylish.

“Steel will make a comeback.” Up until now, that statement would only come from a retro-grouch in serious denial. But there are some signs. The messenger cult has elevated handmade Japanese frames to holy status and the proliferation of small handmade builders, as well as the media attention they have garnered, hasn’t gone totally unnoticed. Meanwhile, the demand for vintage Italian road frames echoes the rise of vintage motorscooters a few years back. Take a look at other industries. Volkswagon introduced a new Beetle to massive fanfare, and Vespa scoooters both old and new are fashionable as ever. Bianchi already has solid plans to return steel bikes to their US offerings.

“Made in Taiwan” will become a sign of quality. Western Europe and Japan have become too expensive as locations for manufacturing below the premium level, and even then most of the subcomponents likely come from Taiwan. China, Southeast Asia, and Eastern Europe are the new sources for budget parts. Taiwan has become the place for carbon fibre production and most forged aluminium. Taiwanese quality control is pretty tight nowadays. The reputation of Chinese products has suffered in the media as of late.

The rising fuel costs and (hopefully) improved infrastructure for bicycles should theoretically pave the way for growth in the industry. But hard economic times won’t leave cycling untouched. Of course, there is a feeling in retail that the rich buy their toys and tell the plebes to eat cake, so I don’t really expect much change at the very top level. As long as $9k Colnagos are still cool, there will be buyers. Yet when individuals and families have less disposable income, retailers will see decreases. But if more of the public sees a bicycle as more than just a toy, cycling could rise to greater heights

The wheels of progress never stop turning at SDOT, who managed to get some green gravely material down in a couple of locations this week after months of anticipation. We’ve posted about the green lanes before, it’s great to see they’re making their way into the real world. I rode down to take a look this morning, and I can confirm it’s really, really green.

My ride this morning showed that the schematic’s spot on (including the fact that the bike lane ceases to exist for the first half of the next block on Stone Way). The new lane is designed to help cyclists transition from the right hand edge of the road, across a lane of traffic into the proper spot (the new green wedge) to start from if you’re proceeding forward. The wedge serves pretty well here, clearly indicating where you should be.

The approach to the wedge is still a bit paltry. It’s a simple green dashed line crossing the existing lane of traffic. I was really expecting a full green lane that indicates the bike lane crosses traffic here, but that’s not to be apparently. No arrows, or other markings that I saw to indicate this is bike territory (but I could have missed something).

Also, the lane change is quite close to the intersection. Unfortunately this is one of the longest lights in Seattle and traffic tends to get backed up. I couldn’t actually ride the new marked changes because it was already underneath a car. I can imagine markings big and bold enough that cars wouldn’t stop on them.

The green of the wedge is made up of what seems to be tiny, green rocks glued down to the roadway. Think green pop-rocks and you’ve got the size and texture right. Definitely not slippery, which has been a complaint about roadway markings from cyclists in the past. I’m sure it’s very durable, but the top layer wasn’t entirely secured and now there are little green pop-rocks migrating around the intersection.

I’m all for facilities improvements, and good on SDOT for getting this done. I’d much rather see bike boxes and full on blue green lanes that cross intersections. Maybe these will come in the next round of improvements.

BikeHugger is sponsoring a group ride the day before WebVisions (in Portland, OR). The ride starts at the Convention Center and ends at the Lucky Lab pub on Hawthorne (right across the street from CleverCycles, and a couple of blocks down from BIkePortland world HQ!).

I’m not sure I’ll be able to make the ride, but I’ll be aiming at it. You can check in at the Upcoming page for the ride, if you’d like to let the ‘Huggers know you’re gonna make it.

Shoot, maybe someday BIkeHacks will have to sponsor a group ride through the Yamhill County wine country…  :-)

Hey, Bren here. I'm participating in the 2008 Relay For Life. Cancer has hit my family pretty hard over the years, so I'm committed to raising funds to fight it. I'm trying to raise $100, and I've only got a little more to go. If you can help, visit my donation page. Thanks!

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Hey, Bren here. I'm participating in the 2008 Relay For Life. Cancer has hit my family pretty hard over the years, so I'm committed to raising funds to fight it. I'm trying to raise $100, and I've only got a little more to go. If you can help, visit my donation page. Thanks!

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Hey, Bren here. I'm participating in the 2008 Relay For Life. Cancer has hit my family pretty hard over the years, so I'm committed to raising funds to fight it. I'm trying to raise $100, and I've only got a little more to go. If you can help, visit my donation page. Thanks!

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People are always claiming that NYC is the “greatest city in the world.” You never know what measurement people are using. Is it the dirtiest? The noisiest? The most congested? On all these accounts, yes, NYC certainly is the “greatest.”

Mass transit is a major part of NYC and it’s very clear that the mass transit czars have zero commitment to encouraging the integration of cycling and mass transit. Almost every major city I visit features buses that have bicycle racks on the front. Just by the vintage nature of this picture you know that Portland has been leading the way for a long, long time. Dude is rocking a full on Styrofoam helmet and those are sooooo last century.

In NYC? Not a single bus features such a rack. And people might say it is because of possible delays, but the web site that features the above photo states:

A 1994 study completed through the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) shows that most transit agencies are not experiencing problems with schedule delays resulting from accommodating bicyclists; new designs of bike-on-bus racks have minimized dwell times for loading and removal.

When I visit Portland I happily take the mass transit train known as “MAX” into the city. Visual evidence of the commitment the mass transit czars have to cycling is readily visible.

Once again, something you will not find on a single subway car in all of NYC. Listen up all you mayors around the U.S. Take a field trip to PDX and learn from all those cycle loving Oregon hippies. Portland gets my vote for Bicycle City USA.

If you want to nominate another city, drop us a line or post a comment.

Hey, Bren here. I'm participating in the 2008 Relay For Life. Cancer has hit my family pretty hard over the years, so I'm committed to raising funds to fight it. I'm trying to raise $100, and I've only got a little more to go. If you can help, visit my donation page. Thanks!

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Dude also gets an “A+” for a good job of locking this ride up.

Hey, Bren here. I'm participating in the 2008 Relay For Life. Cancer has hit my family pretty hard over the years, so I'm committed to raising funds to fight it. I'm trying to raise $100, and I've only got a little more to go. If you can help, visit my donation page. Thanks!

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Hey, Bren here. I'm participating in the 2008 Relay For Life. Cancer has hit my family pretty hard over the years, so I'm committed to raising funds to fight it. I'm trying to raise $100, and I've only got a little more to go. If you can help, visit my donation page. Thanks!

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Hey, Bren here. I'm participating in the 2008 Relay For Life. Cancer has hit my family pretty hard over the years, so I'm committed to raising funds to fight it. I'm trying to raise $100, and I've only got a little more to go. If you can help, visit my donation page. Thanks!

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The main man in the videos is Hal Ruzal and I had the pleasure of meeting him once. I had a crank that kept coming loose on me and while in the vicinity of his shop (Bicycle Habitat) one day the crank gave up the ghost and Hal just happened to have one that fit my 23 year old Peugeot. Solid!

So here is the original video. Hal basically walks around and grades bikes that are locked up in NYC (Time, 8:30).

In round 2, Hal is joined by Kerri Martin from The Bike Church and they do the circuit again (Time 5:45). I’m fairly certain Hal is wearing the same shorts.

Hey, Bren here. I'm participating in the 2008 Relay For Life. Cancer has hit my family pretty hard over the years, so I'm committed to raising funds to fight it. I'm trying to raise $100, and I've only got a little more to go. If you can help, visit my donation page. Thanks!

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Act 1

Act 2

Hey, Bren here. I'm participating in the 2008 Relay For Life. Cancer has hit my family pretty hard over the years, so I'm committed to raising funds to fight it. I'm trying to raise $100, and I've only got a little more to go. If you can help, visit my donation page. Thanks!

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Photo by Ken Conley

Kanstantsin Siutsou burned the field today at Brasstown Bald, outfoxing Team Slipstream and Astana, whose team leaders marked each other and let Siutsou escape at 500 meters.

Team High Road takes its 2nd stage win, and now holds two leader's jersey, with Siutsou in the yellow and Greg Henderson the leading sprinter.

This is the sort of stage that Jason McCartney always seems to dominate, and Iowa's greatest climber didn't disappoint. McCartney powered the day's longest break, and won himself the Tour de Georgia's overall King of the Mountains jersey for his trouble, while breakmate Neil Shirley of Jittery Joe's took the day's Most Aggressive Rider award.

Team Slipstream's Trent Lowe rode a tactically smart race -- until that final 500 meters. Astana's activity in the breaks effectively isolated Lowe at the bottom of the climb, but the young Aussie didn't panic. Instead (shades of Floyd Landis 2006) he marked the man he thought was the biggest threat to his leader's jersey, daring Leipheimer to break him and holding his wheel to the summit, where Lowe finally dropped Leipheimer in the final 150 meters. In retrospect, I'm sure he wishes he had marked Siutsou.

Woe to Astana -- their ride looked pitch perfect. They put riders in all the good breaks, and had Leipheimer well placed with Rubiera, Horner, and Colom at the bottom of the day's last climb, but Leipheimer couldn't deliver. The miss leaves Astana without a stage win or a day in an individual leader's jersey, but puts them in the lead in the team competition.

Slipstream can take some consolation from the young rider's jersey, firmly in Lowe's grasp, and sprinter Tyler Farrar, 8 points back of Henderson in the sprint jersey competition.