The world's worst bike lanes according to readers of the Guardian. [more inside]
posted by Toekneesan on Nov 5, 2009 - 43 comments

Ride the City maps the best or safest urban bicycle route from point A to B. Presently featuring multi-lingual maps from New York, Chicago, Austin, Louisville, San Diego, and Seattle. Their blog posts updates about new cities added to the grid, or other topics relating to urban bicycling.
posted by netbros on Oct 29, 2009 - 16 comments

A better way to get kids to learn to ride - a single training wheel. The folks at bikecommuters.com liked it too. Available December 1.
posted by ObscureReferenceMan on Oct 8, 2009 - 46 comments

David Byrne has just published a new book about bicycles called Bicycle Diaries. A long time rider, Byrne muses on how the world looks and works from the vantage point of a cyclist. It's getting pretty good reviews. To launch the book, Byrne is touring the US and arranging public forums. Each event features a civic leader, an urban theorist, a bicycle advocate, and Byrne himself speaking about bikes in cities. Here’s a schedule of the upcoming events. He’s also designed some bike racks for his hometown of New York City. [more inside]
posted by Toekneesan on Sep 27, 2009 - 28 comments

In part because a gender gap persists in urban cycling, women are considered an “indicator species” for bike-friendly cities. [more inside]
posted by lunit on Sep 25, 2009 - 106 comments

Putting heart and muscle into the term "bespoke," Josh Hadar creates hand-crafted metal sculptures that double as functional bikes. He describes his process in a recent interview with RocketBoom. Intrigued? A bicycle custom built to your whims could run from $12-$35k, or if you live in NYC, you can try your hand at welding and metal sculpting at his Burn Clinic. (via bioephemera)
posted by madamjujujive on Sep 4, 2009 - 14 comments

Two girls, one bike. SLYT, SFW. One bike starts at 2'25".
posted by unSane on Aug 18, 2009 - 71 comments

Bicycle Inflation in Paradise? Freakanomics looks at used bike prices in Portland. Interesting reading.
posted by fixedgear on Aug 17, 2009 - 135 comments

Bicycle Snobbery - whether "mustache handlebars", silly tattoos, "mankinis" or other male cycling fashion statements, brass knuckle bicycle grips or celebrity brokeback pie-plates, NYC's Bike Snob casts judgment on all he surveys from one high gear
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Jul 6, 2009 - 43 comments

The Vélocouture flickr pool. Over 1600 photos of stylish (and, uh, "differently-styled") bike fashion, from the hipster to the formal, the casual, the young, the old old-timey, the new old-timey, and much, much more. There's also a blog.
posted by dersins on Apr 23, 2009 - 37 comments

Bike fanatic Didi Senft, who's been building crazy cycles for years, shows off his latest "angular" bikes.
posted by rageagainsttherobots on Mar 27, 2009 - 19 comments

someonestolemybike.com Videos of folks who have had bikes stolen. Kristy chased the thief down and got hers back.
posted by fixedgear on Feb 12, 2009 - 30 comments

Portland's got white ones, Austin has yellow ones, Vassar has them in pink. What are they? Community bikes. Colleges, universities, even whole cities are seeing the benefits of offering their students and citizens an alternative to cars, fossil fuels, and parking lots. Want to start a shared bike program in your community? Here's how. (previously)
posted by Toekneesan on Oct 21, 2008 - 42 comments

62 year old emergency physician John Hall and his wife Jane took off on a Bike Ride Around America to promote cancer awareness. They started on April Fool's Day, and completed their 12,000 mile journey around the perimeter of the country just today. Along the way they encountered hundreds of towns and thousands of friendly people, and a few not so nice. All in all, a pretty amazing accomplishment in my book.
posted by netbros on Jul 31, 2008 - 21 comments

Igor Kenk was arrested for bicycle theft in Toronto on July 17. Here's an audio documentary that includes an interview with the man himself: Steal This Bike (be warned, a lot of profanity, and a little pretentious). [more inside]
posted by Chuckles on Jul 29, 2008 - 46 comments

Steampunk recumbent. That is all. I'm speechless but awed.
posted by fixedgear on Jun 16, 2008 - 92 comments

If Wile E. Coyote entered the Tour de France, this would be his ride. Brought to you by some guy who always wanted to be a human missile. No word if he's going to move from eBay to Acme one day. (The bike running briefly at ear-shredding volume. The slightly more elegant European version. And, of course, Jeremy Clarkson on a jet-powered bike with a pretty basket in front.)
posted by maudlin on May 28, 2008 - 25 comments

The '...is your new bicycle' meme is your new bicycle. I like bikes.
posted by fixedgear on Feb 21, 2008 - 44 comments

BikeIcons isn't the best site, but it has the best bikes! [more inside]
posted by snsranch on Nov 27, 2007 - 17 comments

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 by GrammarMoses on Oct 28, 2007 - 9 comments

Bike Hacks! Bored with your generic two-wheeler? Check out this collection of funky bicycle modifications. My favorite is the grocery cart.
posted by brain_drain on Oct 18, 2007 - 17 comments

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. [more inside]
posted by myopicman on Oct 10, 2007 - 18 comments

"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." [more inside]
posted by ardgedee on Oct 7, 2007 - 74 comments

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 by pithy comment on Sep 17, 2007 - 11 comments

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 by The Deej on May 19, 2007 - 13 comments

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 by dead_ on May 16, 2007 - 59 comments

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 by buriednexttoyou on Apr 30, 2007 - 171 comments

A wee bit of a problem More mistakes come to light in the French lab that screwed Floyd out of his Tour win
posted by cccorlew on Mar 15, 2007 - 23 comments

Hailed as the first major development in bicycle design for 150 years, ladies and gentlemen, it's the Sideways Bike.
posted by flapjax at midnite on Feb 19, 2007 - 41 comments

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 by fenriq on Dec 22, 2006 - 27 comments

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 by fenriq on Dec 13, 2006 - 21 comments

Nutcracker suite played entirely on bicycle parts [via createdigitalmusic].
posted by subtle-t on Nov 29, 2006 - 18 comments

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 by centerpunch on Oct 1, 2006 - 159 comments

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 by bigmusic on Jul 23, 2006 - 73 comments

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 by fixedgear on May 12, 2006 - 36 comments

World Naked Bike Ride (NSFW) Yes, it's that time again.
posted by fixedgear on Mar 13, 2006 - 25 comments

How to build a bike. Much more inside.
posted by fixedgear on Mar 5, 2006 - 18 comments

Sticker causes panic. This bike is a pipe bomb sticker causes Ohio University officials to call the bomb squad. Pic here.
posted by fixedgear on Mar 3, 2006 - 104 comments

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 by RockyChrysler on Jan 10, 2006 - 14 comments

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 by madamjujujive on Nov 28, 2005 - 15 comments

The treadmill bike. "Take your favorite gym workout outside! Be sure to watch the video.
posted by fixedgear on Nov 23, 2005 - 31 comments

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 by sjvilla79 on Nov 9, 2005 - 48 comments

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 by RockyChrysler on Nov 7, 2005 - 7 comments

Were these the original mountian bikers? Forget about Marin County in the late 70's. The real pioneers were members of the 25th Infantry Regiment who did a little riding in Montana. They are also the subject of a book titled Iron Riders and a PBS documentary called The Bicycle Corps.
posted by fixedgear on Oct 20, 2005 - 14 comments

Freddie Hoffman is a geek. He's ridden one million miles on a bicycle, and he's still at it. More here (pdf).
posted by fixedgear on Sep 17, 2005 - 31 comments

Try this with your recumbent bike. Big (~40mb) mpg.
posted by fixedgear on Aug 26, 2005 - 29 comments

Huck This!
The internally geared GT IT-1 solves many a mountain biker's problems in one elegant way.
Also, not to be missed, the Rohloff SpeedHub 500/14, a 14 speed internally geared masterpiece.
Via
posted by fenriq on Jul 18, 2005 - 44 comments

Watch the bike disintegrate. The Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter published the story of a bicycle that they abandoned on a bridge in Stockholm. The author then took pictures of the bike during its lifecycle that spanned from September 27, 2004 to June 13, 2005. Shockwave flash move, set to Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Brought a tear to my eye. Via Bike Log.
posted by fixedgear on Jun 21, 2005 - 38 comments

Bite me!
posted by dg on Jun 2, 2005 - 22 comments

L I V E W R O N G : is right. The purveyors, or perpetrators, of LIVEWRONG suggest you represent what you want, when you want, how you want. Buy a bracelet. It is what it is. The creators of the LIVEWRONG armband do not oppose any person, pet, or living thing that have cancer, nor do we oppose any charity that supports a cure for cancer.
posted by RockyChrysler on Apr 26, 2005 - 47 comments