Does riding a bike really help the environment? Mr. Green at the Sierra Club says don't over think it, but a couple of folks trying to measure the energy cycling uses aren't quite sure. There are plenty of excuses for not to riding your bike, but is there a rationale? If you want a go at calculating this yourself, here's a handy guide to the variables.
posted on May 14, 2008 - View this thread

Viktor Schreckengost who died last year at the grand age of 101, was regarded by some as the father of industrial design. Every adult in America has ridden in, ridden on, drunk out of, stored their things in, eaten off of, been costumed in, etc… and there is no going past his gorgeous pedal cars. Some of his work can also be seen online at The Cleveland Museum of Art.
posted on Apr 28, 2008 - View this thread

Many European cities have instituted bicycle sharing programs, with mixed success (Amsterdam, Lyon, Cambridge, Paris). Now that many of them have worked out the kinks (including vandalism and outright theft), cities in the US are taking notice. San Francisco (previously on MeFi), Portland, and New York are among the cities with plans in the works, but it looks like Washington D.C. will be the first when 120 red three-speed bicycles become available next month for members who pay an annual fee.
posted on Apr 27, 2008 - View this thread

If HF3849 becomes law, I think I’m going to move to Minnesota.
posted on Mar 25, 2008 - View this thread

The Love Affair of Bicycles and Coffee.
posted on Mar 11, 2008 - View this thread

The '...is your new bicycle' meme is your new bicycle. I like bikes.
posted on Feb 21, 2008 - View this thread

BikeIcons isn't the best site, but it has the best bikes!
posted on Nov 27, 2007 - View this thread

"Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of mankind" - H.G. Wells
posted on Oct 31, 2007 - View this thread

Suddenly, a man in a vintage hat rides up, hip-hop blaring from a glowing Plexiglas container shaped like a tropical fish set above the back wheel of his bicycle, control lights flashing. Fossil Fool, a rolling rapper from San Francisco who rides the college circuit preaching the benefits of peddling, grabs his microphone, cranks up the volume and starts to rap. Paul Freedman, aka Fossil Fool, is one of the founders of Rock the Bike, which makes Soul Cycles -- bicycle-based, often human-powered hi-fi and PA systems -- for "playing clean, powerful, uplifting music at street festivals and off-grid parties." RTB recently made a mobile DJ booth for Austin's DJ Manny; here's how. Attention, party-throwers: In 2008, you may well be able to rent or borrow a Soul Cycle for your own shindig.
posted on Oct 28, 2007 - View this thread

Bike Hacks! Bored with your generic two-wheeler? Check out this collection of funky bicycle modifications. My favorite is the grocery cart.
posted on Oct 18, 2007 - View this thread

Jason Lewis has become the first man to circumnavigate the Earth using human power alone. It only took him 13 years: he set off from London in July, 1994 and ended his expedition in October, 2007, having travelled 46,505 miles (on foot and by pedal boat, roller blades, kayak, and bicycle). [via QI]
posted on Oct 12, 2007 - View this thread

David McCallum's Warbike, which chimes away as it passes by (and detects) stray wifi signals. Torontonians can ride the Warbike for free until the beginning of December as part of Interaccess.
posted on Oct 10, 2007 - View this thread

"A Ghostbike is a junker bike that has been painted stark white and afixed to the site where a cyclist has been hit or killed by a car driver."
posted on Oct 7, 2007 - View this thread

Fueled by Rice - Five recent grads from the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's Unviersity recently set off from Beijing to bike across Asia and Europe. The goal of their bike trip is to spread international good will on the local level and advocate reducing carbon emissions and living slower-paced, more enjoyable lives. Along the way they will bike through rural areas and play music in villages. As they travel, the group is posting photos, a blog, and will attempt to get a podcast up and running. They've even got the site up in Chinese, though the site seems to be blocked for most folks in China.
posted on Sep 17, 2007 - View this thread

Meet JANO, the beautiful bicyle built out of wood. This hybrid bike is the thesis project of Roland Kaufmann and is designed for both the very active and every day cyclist.
posted on Jun 13, 2007 - View this thread

Japanese Bicycle History Research Club With a nice gallery of photos, illustrations, and ukiyo-e of vintage bicycles in Japan.
posted on Jun 2, 2007 - View this thread

Pedicabs are a common sight all over. In the pedicab business, there can be success, personal enlightment, and failure. Pedicabs come in countless styles. This style is sleek and modern, and this man is trying to bring them to Detroit (warning, only the sparse main page is finished). Here is the mandatory YouTube video.
posted on May 19, 2007 - View this thread

Joff Summerfield is riding his penny farthing around the world. Check his progress in his online diary.
posted on May 18, 2007 - View this thread

Nearly 700 cyclists are killed on U.S. roads every year, and more than 540,000 are sent to the emergency room. The annual Ride of Silence was started in 2003 to honor and raise awareness for those tragically killed and injured on the road, and has grown into a worldwide event, with more than 270 confirmed rides planned to start tonight, at 7 p.m. Ride along on YouTube or grab a black armband and join a group near you. [Previously on MeFi]
posted on May 16, 2007 - View this thread

Two wheels, no brakes, no gears... Unstoppable. They're fixed-gear bicycles, and they're an environmentally friendly mode of transportation for those with a sense of style (or a death wish).
posted on Apr 30, 2007 - View this thread

Frank Zappa. Musical Innovator. Actor. Straight man. Dance Judge. Monkee.
posted on Apr 5, 2007 - View this thread

The ShelBroCo Bicycle Chain Cleaning System It is well-known that proper chain cleaning is the most vital and important aspect of cycling. There are zillions of doo-dads and gimmicks out there intended to make this task easier for spoiled, lazy cyclists. Unfortunately, there's no "free lunch" in bicycle maintenance, and all of these existing systems are fundamentally mono-buttocked kluges.
posted on Apr 1, 2007 - View this thread

Beautiful and haunting video of Bike Messengers in NYC.
Not so beautiful and haunting video of Bicycle Messengers.*
*Contains Kevin Bacon
posted on Mar 26, 2007 - View this thread

A wee bit of a problem More mistakes come to light in the French lab that screwed Floyd out of his Tour win
posted on Mar 15, 2007 - View this thread

Hailed as the first major development in bicycle design for 150 years, ladies and gentlemen, it's the Sideways Bike.
posted on Feb 19, 2007 - View this thread

HyperBike! Invented by Curtis DeForest, this sci fi-looking gizmo has its rider standing up between a pair of cambered eight-foot wheels and pedaling with both arms and legs. It can "easily" hit 50 mph and it much harder to tip over than a regular bike (and doesn't kill your sperm count, either). NASA is interested in it for low-gravity environments.
posted on Jan 25, 2007 - View this thread

Fixing a Flat Tire without Hands
A series of photos of a man, who cannot use his hands, patching, repairing and reseating a bicycle inner tube. Why? Apparently its his job.
Somehow my little problems don't seem so insurmountable anymore.
posted on Dec 22, 2006 - View this thread

The KTrak Snowcycle Conversion Kit takes your mountain bike and turns it into a tracked, human-powered snow (or sand) machine, complete with a front ski. Other snow bikes are great at going downhill, like the Hanson Ski-MX Kit or the Winter X Bike Kit, but the KTrak goes up, down and all around.
posted on Dec 13, 2006 - View this thread

Nutcracker suite played entirely on bicycle parts [via createdigitalmusic].
posted on Nov 29, 2006 - View this thread

It's amazing what you can get onto two wheels.
posted on Nov 1, 2006 - View this thread

Floyd Landis' Defense Onilne. Two pdfs of his defense, one zip file with a dozen documents supporting his claim.
posted on Oct 12, 2006 - View this thread

Fixed Gear Gallery.
posted on Oct 7, 2006 - View this thread

Revolutionary twelve pound folding bicycle designed by Clive Sinclair (who previously brought the world calculators--including a wrist calculator--, computers, and an electric vehicle, the C5. Sinclair has had successes and failures, but this new bicycle may change the way thousands of people commute to work. Until now, "folding bicycles" have been little more than conventional bikes with hinging mechanisms and smaller wheels. The well known Brompton and Bike Friday bikes typically use 16" wheels, while Montague makes full-size bikes that fold, and Dahon makes both. Yes, they might fit in your car's trunk. Or you can check them as baggage with the airlines and have your own bike with you on vacation. But they all weigh 25 to 30 pounds, so while the size was a bit more convenient, they were not the breakthrough their makers claimed. The unconventional Strida showed a glimpse of what was possible, but at 22 pounds, still was overweight for easy schlepping. Finally, with the A-Bike it seems that for the many folks that live a mile or two from a train or subway station, it will be practical to ride the A-Bike to the station, then fold it up (26"x12"x6") and carry it along. Short video here, download "A-Bike Teaser Trailer." I want one!
posted on Oct 1, 2006 - View this thread

Although bicycles could be worse for the environment then cars, (pdf) a new motor that could replace the front wheel of a bike could accelerate that trend.
posted on Jul 23, 2006 - View this thread

It's not about the bike: A dalmation rides a bicycle. Way cooler than those Tony Hawk wannabes.
posted on May 13, 2006 - View this thread

Heinz Stücke has travelled 335,000 miles by bicycle since 1960. And he's done it all on one bicycle, a 3-speed that weighs 56 lbs. That journey was threatened a few days ago when a thief stole his bike (it was later found by police). He's been shot at, robbed, arrested, and celebrated, embraced and admired in every corner of the planet. Though Charles Veley has the domain name and the top google hit, Stücke is the MAN. "Would I do it all over again? No! I never liked to cover the same terrain I've already conquered. IT'S THE UNKNOWN AROUND THE CORNER THAT TURNS MY WHEEL…"
posted on May 12, 2006 - View this thread

The Bicycle Ride. This animated short, "The Bicycle Ride," is a fanciful depiction of Dr. Albert Hofmann's discovery of LSD. 3:47 video.
posted on May 12, 2006 - View this thread

Need a bike? Want to avoid the fustian salespeople at the mainstream bike shop and don't want to spend a ridiculous amount to get one? Recycle-a-Bicycle in NYC or Bikes not Bombs in Boston can hook you up with a nice, stylish new (used) ride for a reasonable price. Have too many bikes? Donate 'em.
posted on Apr 20, 2006 - View this thread

Free bikes! BikeTown will give away 600 bicycles this year to residents of NYC, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, Dallas, Houston, LA, Chicago, Detroit, Boise, Baltimore, MD (and the Gila River Indian Community in AZ). BikeTown research has shown that, on average, its participants rode 10 miles per week, mostly for pleasure or exercise. But more than 40% rode for transportation purposes, happily trading their car and the cost of gasoline for a bike...
posted on Mar 29, 2006 - View this thread

World Naked Bike Ride (NSFW) Yes, it's that time again.
posted on Mar 13, 2006 - View this thread

How to build a bike. Much more inside.
posted on Mar 5, 2006 - View this thread

Sticker causes panic. This bike is a pipe bomb sticker causes Ohio University officials to call the bomb squad. Pic here.
posted on Mar 3, 2006 - View this thread

Tour d' Afrique, the other Tour. Ninety-nine stages, 120 days, almost 8,000 miles, racing on bicycles riding across the continent of Africa... the long way... from the pyramids of Giza to Cape Town. Registration's still open! Come on, it'll be fun!
posted on Jan 10, 2006 - View this thread

An open letter to Lance Armstong.
Subject: Minor changes to your screenplay. You mean once he starts winning, he just keeps winning? There's never a serious doubt that he'll keep winning? It gets a little predictable, Lance. Think about this for a second: Rocky lost in the first movie, and that's the only one that was any good.
posted on Dec 8, 2005 - View this thread

Calm down. A new, humorous, attempt at "traffic calming". I know, I know, a lot of it was previously discussed. Some think it's a good idea (hey, we've even got some in my neighborhood!). But there are others who disagree. I never thought it would be such a heated topic! (or noteworthy by Wired, even.) Aaaah... the hell with it. Maybe the way to go is NO RULES.
posted on Nov 30, 2005 - View this thread

Bike Kill 2004 - a 5 min QT clip documenting the Black Label Bike Club’s annual Bike Kill in Brooklyn, recently shown at Bicycle Film Festival 2005. These guys party hard. via in case of mishaps
posted on Nov 28, 2005 - View this thread

Pike 2 Bike! You've done rails to trails, how about a bike ride on an abandoned section of the PA Turnpike?
posted on Nov 25, 2005 - View this thread

The treadmill bike. "Take your favorite gym workout outside! Be sure to watch the video.
posted on Nov 23, 2005 - View this thread

More than a BMX - The StreetSurfer is a patented pedal-driven vehicle (think BMX) that you ride like a surfboard in an urban setting. It consists of a normal bike frame, a rear wheel (duh) and four mini wheels on the front. These littler front wheels apparently track the surface of the ground better than a traditional bicycle and therefore give the rider a smoother, more controlled ride. More info via the StreetSurfer's awfully designed website (ugly Flash warning), although there's two chunky videos to download that also help to explain the product in further detail. Via Beyond Tomorrow. …
posted on Nov 9, 2005 - View this thread

Charlie Kelly's Website. Between 1979 and 1983 I was part of the first company to make nothing but off-road bicycles when I joined forces with my former roommate, Gary Fisher, and a frambuilder named Tom Ritchey. Meet Charlie Kelly, Mountain Bike Hall of Famer and one of those who was there in the mid-1970s, astride a converted Schwinn atop Marin County's Mount Tam, founding the sport known today as mountain biking.[via]
posted on Nov 7, 2005 - View this thread