MetaFilter posts tagged with bicycles

Lock your bike

overleaf — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 17:40:35 -0800

Have you been looking for bike locks that work? Will only the best locks do? Perhaps you just need a secondary lock?

Park Tool's bicycle repair help and education pages

cog_nate — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 13:58:23 -0800

Major bicycle tools manufacturer Park Tool maintains a neatly sorted bevy of repair, maintenance and technical information articles. Their lead mechanic Calvin runs a video channel that includes -- among many other things -- on-the-road bicycle repair tips. Even more bike info (new bike assembly procedures, road and mountain bike positioning charts, thread concepts, drive train troubleshooting, etc.) is available on the miscellaneous topics page. Don't forget to check out the bicycle mechanics language spreadsheet!

Helmets make a basically safe activity seem really dangerous

Obscure Reference — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 10:20:45 -0800

Back in New York I strapped on my helmet for a weekend bike ride in Central Park. But I’m not sure I’ll do the same two years from now if I’m commuting to work on a mature Citi Bike system. (SLNYT)

Don't Leave This Bike Out in the Rain

barnacles — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 05:46:56 -0800

The Alfa [bicycle] weighs 20lbs, yet supports riders up to 24 times its weight. It’s mostly cardboard and 100% recycled materials, yet uses a belt-driven pedal system that makes it maintenance free. And, maybe best of all, it’s project designed to be manufactured at about $9 to $12 per unit (and just $5 for a kids version.

"It's strong, it's durable, it's cheap"

quin — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 05:38:08 -0800

After reading about someone making a canoe out of cardboard, Izhar Gafni went to his shed and started cutting up old boxes. This eventually led to his absolutely amazing cardboard bike project. The cost to build is less than $12 and he hopes to have them retail for between $60 and $90 depending on the configuration. [via]

Hell on Wheels

box — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 06:27:21 -0800

In Praise of Mutant Bikes (Life magazine photos from 1948, via Urban Velo. Bonus link: Early Tallbikes)

Meditation At Gunpoint

The Whelk — Mon, 14 May 2012 08:46:48 -0800

Cartoonist and Essayist Tim Kreider on the soothing effect of dangerous situations. (NYT)

Reckless Cyclist May Face Charges for Fatal Accident

Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 14:10:26 -0800

On March 29, San Francisco web entrepreneur Chris Bucchere was returning from a group cycling ride when he struck and killed a 71-year-old pedestrian while "bombing" his bicycle down Castro street and through a crowded crosswalk—at 35 MPH, according to his STRAVA app. "In a nutshell, blammo," is how Bucchere described the incident in a (since deleted) posting to the Mission Cycling Club website. While he noted a "RIVER of blood" from his victim, Bucchere ended his post with a jovial ode to his own "late helmet." As Bucchere tries to scrub his online identity, including posts about fixed-gear bikes, some cyclists are questioning whether riding a fixed-gear bike without brakes may have contributed to the accident.

Bike Parkour

quin — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 09:14:42 -0800

Urban Trials Riding in Melbourne looks a lot like bike parkour; amazing and more than a bit insane.

If you like the way your bike rides, it’s an awesome bike.

barnacles — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 07:38:41 -0800

Got questions about your bike or bicycling in general? Surly bikes' Skip Bernet has answers to just about any bike forum post ever written.

Early 20th C. Australian Bike Culture

zamboni — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 13:35:34 -0800

While digging through the archive of the State Library of New South Wales, I came across these stunning public domain images of early 20th century bike culture in Australia, equal parts sweet (all those tandems!), inspirational (a record-breaking ride from Sydney to Melbourne in 3 days and 7 hours!), and scandalous (NB: Annie is wearing trousers!)

A Bicycle Built For Food

artof.mulata — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:25:51 -0800

Food blog Edible Geography reveals the history of the New York food cart. You know, the ones that look like reverse rickshaws with big boxes full of ice cream or hot dogs up front. In a related post they cover a scandalous controversy involving cart substitutions, stolen holograms, a criminal bureaucracy, and the olde 19th century rent-a-vet licensing scam.

Women on Bikes!

thewestinggame — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 12:48:29 -0800

In which we discuss a history of women riding bicycles. In 1895 it was important for women to follow proper etiquette. By the 1890s, women bought almost 1/3 of bicycles sold, raced them, and took them on tours. Now, even though female cyclists make less than male counterparts, at least women are serious competitors. Women looking for something less competitive can still find a bike, get riding, and enjoy themselves along the way.

Sending messages before texting/SMS

brianogilvie — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:06:46 -0800

Teenage bicycle messengers carried messages around American cities in the early 20th century, including red light districts. Social reformer and photographer Lewis Hine documented their lives in image and text.

Panama Priti Bikes

Fiasco da Gama — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 17:44:46 -0800

Panama Priti Bikes, by José Castrellón.

The biped robot which rides on a bicycle by Dr. Guero

ardgedee — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:38:48 -0800

Oh hi! You're here just in time for a trifecta of things we love: Cute little robots, fixed gear bicycles, and single-link YouTube posts! I hope you like it!

Papergirl SF - October 29th 2011

busillis — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 09:40:13 -0800

Art thrown from bicycles, paperboy style. Papergirl SF is a mail-art and delivery systems art project. Art is distributed like a newspaper, rolled and bundled, and thrown to random passers-by from bicycles, paperboy style. Papergirl SF will roll out in San Francisco, October 29th. "Papergirl was founded in Berlin by Aisha Ronniger and has been carried out once a year in the summer since 2006. It began as a response to a tightening of German graffiti laws. Papergirl SF is the San Francisco division of the original Berlin Papergirl Project. Papergirl SF seeks to bring art to people in a new, exciting and participatory way; directly and freely by bicycle." And they are taking submissions until October 8th. Art and bikes ...

Gimme three feet, gimme three feet mister

klangklangston — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 11:47:51 -0800

Six animations from Commute Orlando on cycling and pedestrian safety.

Nitto of Japan

rainperimeter — Tue, 24 May 2011 00:08:19 -0800

Do you love beautifully crafted bike parts? Do you love your Nitto handlebars, stem, seatpost or racks? Enjoy this brief visit to the Nitto factory.

Sharing the road

aniola — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 16:01:18 -0800

The economic case for on-street bike parking (they are not just for the folks in Por tla nd).

The cyclotrope

nickyskye — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 03:10:38 -0800

The cyclotrope is a cycle of 18 images that is spun at a certan speed so that the frame rate of the camera filming it gives the illusion of animation. Created and animated by tim wheatley. Like a Zoetrope or Phenakistoscope but using a bicycle wheel. Optical toys Similar idea using a phonograph turntable, Phonographantasmascope Crystal zoetrope Masstransiscope. Bill Brand’s Masstransiscope was installed in the abandoned Myrtle Avenue subway station in Brooklyn, New York in September 1980. It has been seen by millions of commuters for over twenty-five years. The 228 hand-painted panels are viewed through a series of vertical slits set into a specially constructed housing. The piece works on the principle of the Zoetrope, a 19th century optical toy. Previously, previously, previously.

The Cycle of Beer

zamboni — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 13:24:06 -0800

Bend, Oregon is known for cycling. And world class microbreweries. Cycle Pub gives you an opportunity to enjoy these two passions, and create an experience you and your fellow riders will never forget. It's a non-tradtional bike, where you sit and pedal in a non-traditional way, and enjoy non-traditonal features and beverages. For lack of a better description, it's a rolling pub on wheels, that you pedal.

I Love the Internet

sneebler — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 15:31:42 -0800

People fall in love with physical objects. For some reason, this feels more surprising than it should after 54 years of observational experience. Who knew? “A marketer needs to be careful not to judge these people as being weird," says the lead author.

The logical design evolution of the fixed-gear bicycle is the unicycle.

schmod — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 18:00:58 -0800

Does your fixed-gear bicycle have too many moving parts? Well, have I got the solution for you!

Women who are in like with their bikes

fiercecupcake — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 11:32:19 -0800

In the summer of 2004 I [Jason Oliver Goodman] set out alone on my bike to make a photography project called A Girl's Bike. In roughly 4 months I documented close to 200 women and their bicycles around NYC, mostly on the street as I found them. In 2008 it was made into a book published by Partners & Spade. It also toured with the Bicycle Film Festival as a slide show before films and in the art show Joy Ride.