Readers, Writers and Wrenches - The Foxcycle.com blog

Service Update

2011-06-20T18:20:00.002-05:00

Due to time constraints and lots happening in my personal life, I am no longer accepting bike repairs for the foreseeable future. It's always been sort of a feast or famine type of deal, but with the little amount of free time I have anymore, I can no longer keep up with the volume.

All repairs that I have taken in as of this week will be finished as scheduled, and I will post an update on the site when I am able to start taking in new repairs/projects again. For all of you who have been waiting on repairs recently, I apologize again for the delays.

Thanks, and happy trails.
-Justin Fox-

Old School Breezer restoration

2010-03-05T15:35:00.003-06:00

I figured the weather is getting nice, so why not start turning some wrenches, right? Actually, this is a custom build for a former co-worker's dad. It's an old Breezer Lightning that got a fresh coat of paint from a local frame builder, and I've been tasked with rebuilding it with a fresh kit. He decided to spare no expense with the component selection, which is full xtr with a Chris King/Mavic wheelset and Thomson/Easton components. I got a couple hours today to get going on the dry fit of the parts, and snapped some pictures in the process. Click on the picture below to view the full gallery.

Cyclist crashes into parked car (ouch)

2009-06-26T14:51:00.003-05:00

Cyclist Slams Into Car During Race - Watch more Funny Videos

Missy Giove busted wtih 400lbs of pot (lol)

2009-06-18T12:23:00.002-05:00

Well, looks like our old spikey haired friend Missy Giove got herself in a little hot water with the authorities (about 400lbs worth of trouble to be precise). Here is the AP story:

Ex-mountain bike champ Giove hit with drug charge

5 hours ago

WILTON, N.Y. (AP) — Former mountain biking world champion Melissa "Missy" Giove was in custody Thursday on federal drug charges after authorities said they seized more than 200 pounds of marijuana from a truck she was driving in upstate New York.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officials said Wednesday that the 37-year-old Giove, of Chesapeake, Va., and 30-year-old Eric Canori of Wilton were charged Tuesday with conspiring to possess and distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana.

Authorities said they seized nearly 400 pounds of pot from the truck and from Canori's home outside Saratoga Springs, 25 miles north of Albany.

Giove and Canori were in the custody of U.S. Marshals pending detention hearings Thursday afternoon in Albany.

DEA spokeswoman Erin Mulvey said authorities learned of Giove and Canori's plans last weekend when Illinois State Police pulled over a woman driving a truck and trailer loaded with about 220 pounds of marijuana. Authorities completed the delivery to the Albany area, where Mulvey said Giove picked up the vehicle and trailer.

Officials said Giove then drove north and followed Canori to his home, where some of the trailer's contents were unloaded.

Giove was later arrested at nearby Saratoga Lake, authorities said. A search of Canori's home turned up more than 150 pounds of pot and more than $1 million in cash stashed in a closet and the basement, the DEA said.

It couldn't be immediately determined Thursday morning if Giove and Canori had lawyers.

Giove, nicknamed "The Missile" for her aggressive riding style, was the downhill world champion in 1994 and won World Cup season titles in '97 and '98, then captured national titles from 1999-2001. One of the sport's first mainstream female stars, she retired from downhill racing in 2003.

For all of you who...

2009-06-05T08:59:00.002-05:00

...who are absolutely blown away by Shimano's new electronic shifting system, let's take a minute to remember Suntour Accushift Plus (circa 1989). From the Suntour Museum -

AccuShift Plus ramped cogs and Power Ring chain wheels improved shifting performance. Suntour X-Press under bar, two lever shifters. Multi Mount control systems allow the shifters to be mounted inboard or outboard of the brake lever. Licensed the Beast front shifting system from Browning. The chain was shifted by hinged gates instead of a front derailleur. Delivery was 18 months late and very few bikes actually used the system. Below are some pictures of the system installed on nickel plated Team Marin frame. It is functional but seems to have a mind of its own some time. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

This is the control box. The signal from the shifter moves the "railroad switch" to engage the tab that hinges the chain ring assembly.

Picture of the hinged chain ring section. You can see the switching tab right below the crank arm.

Pretty simple stuff. "H" for a higher gear and "L" for a lower gear.

Spring is here!

2009-05-03T21:59:00.002-05:00

Spring is here people, and it's about time. I've been very busy with work and getting my house back in order (I didn't realize all the work I was in for when I bought a 50+ year old house). Sorry to everyone who has contacted me about bike work lately, I know I've been slow to respond, but rest assured I still want your business! Things are starting to level off a little now so I'll be getting back in the swing of bike builds and repairs soon. There are a couple cool projects coming up that I"ll keep you posted on. One is an original Croll mountain frame that I'll be doing a full XO-1 conversion on, and the other is a vintage Santana mountain restore.

If you need a spring tune up, just mention the secret phrase "Monkey Brains" when you get ahold of me and get $10 off a tune up or wheel build (I hear it also works to get free sandwiches at Subway). Keep it real and I'll see you soon.

Fox

Pretty sweet video

2009-04-21T09:08:00.000-05:00

The Bikelophone

2009-01-28T14:55:00.002-06:00

Bikelophone: Originally constructed in June 1995 as a side instrument for The Lyle and Sparkleface Band, the bikelophone has evolved into a palette of sonic exploration.

With magnetic pickups attached to amplify the sound, anything connected to the bike becomes amplified. The current configuration includes - bass strings, scrap wood and metal, metal bowls, telephone bells, a mechanical foot pedal and a touch sensitive tone generator.

The bikelophone produces sounds ranging from tranquil bliss to cacophonic terror. Using a loop-based recording system and outboard signal processors (reverbs, delays, pitch shifts, etc.), sound compositions are built in layers. These compositions become the foundation for additional solo meanderings using - vocals, tone generators, plastic wind instruments, or anything that makes a sound. Visit the inventor of the Bikelophone’s website for more sounds and info. [Thanks to Marc Garrett.]

Custom Bianchi Castro Valley Single Speed

2008-08-21T19:41:00.005-05:00

This is my latest build, a custom 55cm Bianchi Castro Valley, in a single speed cyclocross/road configuration. Part of the reason that I built it the way I did was to give as many options to the owner/rider as possible. The Castro Valley was designed as a commuter/cross bike with a full array of braze on's for racks and fenders, plus this particular year was setup as a full 2x9 drivetrain, meaning there are two cable stops on the downtube (previous years were a 1x9 with only one stop).

It has a lightweight double-butted cromoly steel frame/fork, 105 hubs laced to Mavic CXP22 rims, a Sugino cyclocross crankset w/44t messenger style ss ring (capable of running 2 rings), a 16t cog in the rear with a Wheels Manufacturing Single Speed kit (one of the best kits out there), Thomson Elite seatpost, 110mm x 7deg Bontrager Race stem, Bontrager Select bars, Cane Creek SCR5 brake levers, Avid Shorty 4 cyclocross brakes, Sram PC-1 chain, and 700x25 Bontrager Race Lite AC tires.

Instead of custom building the wheels using 1x1 hubs and getting a dedicated track crankset, I decided to adapt the existing cyclocross components and use traditional road wheels to give whoever winds up with it the option to easily convert back to a fully geared bike. I did this partially because I'm not nearly as strong of a rider as I used to be, and there is a good chance I may keep this guy for myself ;-) It rides like a dream, very compliant and fast like a good steel frame should be. It's capable of a million different configurations depending on it's intended use and the size of your pocketbook. I will consider offers, but I'm setting the price as of now at $800.

Click here for the full gallery

U.S. cyclists apologize for wearing masks at upon arrival in Beijing

2008-08-06T17:47:00.002-05:00

Apparently a group of American cyclists from the Olympic team offended China (as a whole) for showing up at the airport in Beijing wearing smog masks. They've apologized, but I'm not exactly sure why. I mean, we're talking about a city that had to order cars to stop driving and factories to shut down for weeks to even have a shot at "cleaning up the air" enough for the Olympics to even take place. I guess I would think it's sort of a personal decision that you wouldn't need to apologize for, but hey, that's me. I wonder if anyone showed up to the Olympics in Mexico City with Smog masks on??

Full Story Here

Shimano's All-Electric Gear System is Like F1 Paddle Shifters For Your Bike (from gizmodo.com)

2008-07-31T22:59:00.002-05:00

Gear and derailleur mechanisms in high-end bikes are among the more impressive feats of engineering around, which makes bike madman Eric Hagerman's report in Wired on Shimano's new ultra high-end all-electric gear shifters pretty interesting. While other companies have dabbled in replacing rickety lever and cable shifters with all-electric mechanisms, Shimano has taken the tech much further than most. And while it may seem like bike-dude geekery at best, hearing the pros talk about the difference makes it sound like an amazing rig to try.

Switching to servos and batteries is like moving from an automatic transmission to F1 paddle shifters, says one engineer Wired talked to. "Mindblowing—you just touch the button and it shifts," says Tour de France vet Frankie Andreau. And all in all the set is actually lighter than Shimano's current top-of-the-line components, which is a must before pros are even going to go near it. No price yet, but it's pro gear. Big bucks—well over the $2,600 you'd drop on next year's conventional Dura-Ace group. It was on a few riders' bikes at this year's Tour, and it will become available to the public in January of '09 More at: [Wired, Thanks, Joe]

Latest Project

2008-07-29T17:16:00.002-05:00

This is a Bianchi Castro Valley frame that was designed as a Cyclocross/Commuter frame. There are a couple people that may want it built up for them, but in the meantime I'm going to put it together as a single speed road bike. I'm still up in the air on the wheelset. I was going to do something similar to Paul's Surly, but it would make a really nice geared bike as well. So instead of lacing up 1x1 hubs, I may use a traditional cyclocross or road wheelset with a single speed conversion kit on the freehub body along with a Surly Singleator chain tensioner. This way, if I do wind up keeping it for myself I have an easy option to switch to a geared commuter.

Did anyone else catch.....

2008-07-21T21:33:00.002-05:00

..the huge penis on the road during todays stage of the tour? If you didn't, here's a poor screen capture.

Custom Surly Crosscheck Single-Speed

2008-07-16T22:06:00.002-05:00

I just finished building this Surly Crosscheck singlespeed for Paul Martinez. I built the wheels using Surly 1x1 hubs laced to Velocity Deep-V's with DT Revolution spokes. The rest of the bike is comprised of parts from Miche, King, Syntace and Thomson.

Click Here for Full Gallery

Wow, just wow (from velonews.com)

2008-07-11T17:06:00.002-05:00

When Ron Peterson and Christian Stoehr heard the honking behind them, they knew the routine — get single file. “As we singled up, the driver came up on us, told us to ride single file and then started yelling,” Peterson recalled.

The two cyclists were part of a Fourth of July ride that had climbed Mandeville Canyon Road, a popular cycling destination in Los Angeles’ affluent suburb of Brentwood. They had stayed behind the rest of the group to care for another cyclist who had fallen, and once he had been picked up by paramedics, began the descent together. Peterson, for his part, says he yelled back, but neither cyclist was prepared for what they said happened next: The driver pulled ahead of them as they descended the canyon road and slammed on his brakes.

Peterson went through the back window of Dr. Christopher Thompson’s burgundy Infinity sedan. Stoehr attempted to steer around the car but clipped the bumper and went over the bars, landing in the road in oncoming traffic. Thompson, a former emergency room physician, got out of the car, but rather than render aid, he continued to berate the two cyclists, according to witnesses.

Stoehr had a separated shoulder. Peterson’s nose was broken and nearly severed from his face. At the hospital he would require more than 90 stitches to reattach his nose after the broken bone was set. Both will go under the knife for corrective surgery in the future.

Thompson was arrested at the scene and charged with suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. He is free on $30,000 bail. Attorney Peter Swarth, who said he was representing Thompson, told the Associated Press that the incident has been mischaracterized.

"We deny there was any road rage incident," Swarth told the AP. "It was a very unfortunate accident."

Word spread rapidly through the local cycling community thanks to e-mail lists maintained by Cynergy Cycling (for which Peterson and Stoehr race) and Velo Club La Grange, a Los Angeles-area cycling club with more than 400 members. Gruesome photos of Peterson and Stoehr gave the e-mails a gross-out factor that added to their rapid spread.

As the cycling community traded notes, people began to question if Dr. Thompson was the same motorist who had a run-in with two cyclists in Mandeville Canyon in March. A member of both clubs forwarded Patrick Watson’s account of his experience to Peterson. The vanity plate, “TCH MDX,” matched, as did the description of the car. The experience was almost identical.

In the March incident, the driver sped ahead of the cyclists then slammed on his brakes. Watson rode into someone’s yard while teammate Josh Crosby veered into oncoming traffic; Watson said the driver made a second effort to hit them and then sped away.

“I had a gut reaction to get the guy’s license number and entered his license number into my phone,” said Watson.

Neither rider was injured. Despite pressure from La Grange’s Public Policy Director, Jeffrey Courion, Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley declined to prosecute the case; Watson was told it wasn’t a winner. “I’m a little bitter because this happened before, but no one took it seriously.”

La Grange created the Public Policy Director position so that the club could more effectively lobby public officials. Courion and others have been effective in working with city officials and CalTrans to note road hazards and other issues. Attorney Charles Mostov often assists Courion with advocacy issues. Mostov said, “It provides an opportunity to put the issue in font of public officials ... to educate them on the rights of cyclists and lobby for safer roads and more bike lanes.”

Motivated by their outrage for the situation, local cyclists inundated the local media outlets with the story.

“People are coming out of the woodwork to show their support,” said Peterson. “It’s not just the cyclists but their support networks reaching out as well.”

Mostov, the attorney, said, “What I’m trying to do is be a clearinghouse of information and a calming influence. If we can speak with one voice then it’s going to be more effective than if everyone vents their frustration and anger that these sorts of events keep happening.”

Why WD40 sucks for bike chains

2008-07-10T23:17:00.002-05:00

We (as mechanics) have preached this for years and people still don't understand that WD40 is a terrible chain lube. In fact, it's not a chain lube at all.

Trek testing bike parts vending machine (crunchgear.com)

2008-07-10T08:20:00.004-05:00

For the next few weeks in Madison, Wisconsin, Trek is testing out a new vending machine aimed a bikers, called “Trek Stop”. The vending machine sells basic bike repair parts, water bottles, and energy bars. It also has an air compressor so you can put air in your tires. People are reporting that it also has a kiosk with how-tp videos to help you fix your bike.

With the increasing number of bike riders in the America this vending machine is a no brainer. So far Trek is just testing the waters and there is no word on when we could see these in other cities. If I had to guess I would say we should see these in more places next summer.

(thanks to Jay C for the article)

Um....?

2008-06-21T23:41:00.001-05:00

17 Reasons why bicycles are the most popular vehicle in the world today (from Eco Worldly)

2008-06-16T14:28:00.001-05:00

Bicycling it isn’t always easy. Busy streets, honking horns, and inadequate city funding for bike lanes and paths can make bicycling an uphill battle. However, with green in the news, the economy in a slump, and summer on its way, it’s getting easier to find reasons why there are some 1.4 billion bicycles and only about 400 million cars in the world today.

This week, EcoWorldly authors from six continents contributed articles on bicycling in their country. With exerpts from those articles and others in the blogosphere, here are seventeen very good reasons to bicycle no matter where you live. Click the headings as you go to read more.

1. The number one thing on most carowner’s minds these days is the price of oil.

“The popularity of bicycles as gasoline prices hit the roof is on a remarkable rise in many US cities,” observes Kenya correspondant, Sam Aola Ooko.

“During the week of 3 June to 9 June,” writes Sam, “in San Fransisco, the price for a gallon of regular is now US$ 4.73, in Washington, DC it is US$ 4.21 while in Wilmington it is US$ 4.40. But how much does it cost to ride around these days? The answer is zero, as it has always been.”

Associated Press Writer, James Macpherson, agrees. “Bicycle shops across the country are reporting strong sales so far this year, and more people are bringing in bikes that have been idled for years,” he writes.

2. Bicycling can make you healthy and hot… er… hotter.

Bicycling with even light effort (10-12 miles per hour) burns 400-500 calories an hour. To shape her legs for the Miss Universe competition, Miss Korea, Lee Ji-seon, started getting her workouts on a bicycle. Apparently, Miss Universe 2007, Zuleyka Rivera of Puerto Rico, is of a similar mind. She cycled through Mexico City in support of replacing cars with bicycles.

EcoWorldly’s UK correspondant, Pem Charnley, connects bicycling with solving the obesity problem in England: “I think, in all honesty, that the UK has come to the realisation that we’ve collectively reached critical mass around the waistline. Every time the news reports that we’re the most overweight in the European Union, pride and roars of approval sweep the land. It’s all we have left since we gave Hong Kong back.

“Devon is an incredibly picturesque county,” he adds, “and it seems an absolute waste to be constantly watching soccer on the TV, when outside lies the undulating greenery of England.”

3. Old bicycles can be modified and made into useful tools.

From generating human-powered home electricity to pumping water, modified bicycles have the power to do more than get you from point A to point B.

“The Engineering for Developing Communities (EDC) program at the University of Colorado at Boulder developed a prototype of a human powered bicycle for pumping water in communities where electricity is unavailable,” reports United States correspondant, Nayelli Gonzalez. “Their model was able to pump at a maximum of 18 feet below ground, at 2.5 gallons per minute.”

4. Bicycling builds social groups and better community development.

In Reggio Emilia, Italy, the “BiciBus” brings teachers, students, and parents together for bicycle commuting to and from schools.

“The BiciBus is a ‘two-wheeled bus,’” writes Italy correspondant, Eva Pratesi. “It consists of a group of students who go to and come back from school guided by volunteers by bicycle (parents, grandparents, teachers…). The students go to the route with their bicycles; they wait for the volunteers and the group and go on together toward the school.

BiciBus is preceded and supported by workshops and technical analysis in the classrooms to educate to sustainable mobility, traffic safety and bicycle knowledge. It’s also possible to organize school trips by bicycle an evening meetings with experts directed to the families in order to talk about health, sustainable mobility and safety.”

In Australia, a similar community bicycling program offers a similar program for adults as well. Cyclists can join the “Bike Bus,” a regularly scheduled commute with fixed routes and two commuting speeds: social and express.

San Francisco, California, has a third option. Though not as organized as a community bike bus program, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition can pair cyclists with “bike buddies” to share knowledge and tips or commute together to work.

5. Bicycling may encourage the breakdown of economic divides.

In wealthy countries, cycling has been adopted by all echelons of society. In fact, the word “cyclist” tends to conjure the image of a upper-middle class athletic type with an expensive carbon fiber bike, spandex outfit, and bicycle shoes. However, in poorer countries, people who have adopted driving as a social status often equate bicycling with poverty.

“Bicycling in Chiang Mai, Thailand, like in many developing country cities, is regarded with disdain because it supposedly reveals low economic status,” writes Thailand correspondant Masimba Biriwasha. “Many people are reluctant to turn to bicycles because of the social attitudes that demean human powered modes of transportation, including walking.”

EcoWorldly’s Sam Aola Ooko, adds, “In Nairobi, Kenya where I live, not many of those who drive here switch to bicycles, because bikes are regarded as [being useful only to] poorly paid factory who cannot afford the US $1 daily bus fare commuting to and from work.”

“In order for cycling to become an everyday reality in this city,” concludes Masimba, “the society will have to undergo major paradigm shifts at the attitudinal, city planning and policy making levels.” Perhaps that shift can begin one bicyclist at a time.

6. Bicycles are versitile machines with many uses.

Again, Sam Aola Ooko in Kenya: “In Africa, versatility is everything and depending on where you are, a bicycle can be a large farm truck or an ambulance saving lives deep in the African jungle.”

But, as Sam cautions, be careful to select a comfortable seat and have it properly adjusted by a professional bike mechanic.

7. By reducing air pollution, bicycling instead of driving also reduces rates of asthma and lung disease.

There is a strong and increasingly clear connection between car exhaust and life-threatening lung conditions. In South Korea, where I live, the number of deaths from lower respiratory conditions nearly doubled from 1992 to 2002. Worldwide, the World Health Organization estimates that 3 million people a year die from diseases related to air pollution. And this isn’t just in far-off countries. It includes Americans, Chinese, French, South Koreans, etc. In South Korea, asthma in particular is becoming more common. Currently, 3.9% of the population as a whole suffers from asthma. This number grows to around 12% for young children and the elderly.

8. Bicycling saves Australia nearly a quarter billion dollars in health costs each year.

Australia correspondant, Ross Kendall: “Cycling currently saves the government $227.2 million per year in health costs. The report is called Cycling: Getting Australia Moving and was written by academics from several leading Australian universities on behalf of the Federal Department of Health and Ageing.”

Despite the potential savings in dollars, health, and lives, Australia — like most countries — could stand to significantly improve its support of bicyclists. Still, Ross notes that “big cities have shown increases in bicycle traffic as has the country overall.”

Carectomy’s Josh Liberles adds “2007 marks the eighth consecutive year that bicycle sales have trumped the car market in Australia, with 1.47 million bicycles sold. In addition to the rise in sales, there’s also an increase in the amount people are riding. Cycling is currently the nation’s 4th most popular form of exercise and there has been a 17% increase in participation since 2001. Work commutes by bicycle in Melbourne have increased by a startling 42% in the same time, with a 22% increase across Australia.”

9. Bicycles require significantly less space than cars.

Therefore, an urban area developed for bicycles and pedestrians would be able to replace road area with businesses, walkways, and parks. For a perfect illustration, just take a look at this image. Now just imagine the impracticality of replacing every bicycle in China with a car.

Again, EcoWorldly’s Eva Pratesi: “With a population of about 400,000 inhabitants and a traffic density that affects the historical center, Florence is a city where bicycling is not a choice. Every day a continual coming and going of students and workers flows slowly in the city-center riding for kilometers. Cradle of new Humanism under the Medici Dynasty, Florence preserves today the ancient charm that bikers can appreciate moving towards their destinations.”

10. In some places, with a little modification, a single bicycle can be a business.

“Peruvians also are masters at modifying their bicycles in creative ways,” writes Peru correspondant, Levi Novey, “so that they can be used to transport goods and tools for their work and businesses. Fruits, vegetables, construction materials, ice cream, meat, bananas, pets, and countless other items can be transported by bicycle, when a cart has been added. Unlike in the United States though, these aren’t your everyday bicycle carts.”

11. Bicycles are efficient vehicles.

Swiss correspondant, Mark Seall, writes, “A bicycle, I once read somewhere, is the most efficient form of human transport ever developed. Coupled with the fact that bicycles are relatively cheap and trouble free, and suffer few of the traffic problems that dog other forms of transport it’s no wonder that cycling has never been more popular.”

But Mark is quick to add that bicyclists should be respectful of pedestrians. Indeed, it’s important for all cyclists to remember that in most places a bicycles follows the same rules of the road as any other vehicle. Check with your local bicycling group or city government to learn more about the rules of bicycling in your area.

12. Bicycling could save the average American at least $250,000.

According to Motor Trend and the American Institute for Economic Research, the average American car-owner can expect to pay between $240,704 and $349,968 during his driving lifetime. These figures will increase with the price of fuel and the rising cost of the vehicles themselves.

A bicycle can serve your transportation needs for commuting, shopping, and getting around town. Urbanites who are well acquainted with the frustration of paying parking tickets and towing fines will also find that bicycles are an excellent solution. Of course, you’ll still need that fuel: the occasional sandwich or cup of coffee will do nicely.

13. A bicycle crash alone isn’t likely to kill you.

In a sobering perspective on health, over 42,000 people die each year (1 million, worldwide) in the United States and some 2.8 million are injured as a result of automotive accidents. Another 70,000 lives are claimed each year in the United States from medical conditions associated with air pollution (3 million, worldwide). Therefore, for personal safety and the health and safety of others, giving up the car keys is extremely important. As anyone who has experienced a car accident will tell you, car crashes can happen to anyone, not just bad or drunk drivers.

14. Bicyclists breath in less air pollution.

Various studies indicate that bicyclists breathe in less air pollution, making cycling an even more healthy activity. Of course, bicycles emit no air pollution themselves, which ensures cleaner air and better lung health for everybody.

15. Bicycles are zero-emission vehicles.

Bikes get an infinite number of miles to the gallon of gas. Now that’s hard to beat! Bicycling emits no greenhouse, ozone, or any gasses of any sort. Cycling, therefore, is an excellent way for all of us to stand up to Global Warming, ozone thinning, acid rain, and other negative effects of air pollution that come in part from automobiles. If everyone bicycled or rode on public transit instead of driving, the United States could instantly cut about 30% of its air pollution in a single stroke.

16. Bicycling provides a social network.

In contrast to the irritation many car owners feel for other drivers, bicyclists are by and large a supportive community. In many cities, bicycle advocacy groups help to bring bicyclists together. The groups also lobby to add bicycle lanes, improve roads, promote education about bicycling, and support clean air initiatives. These groups generally also offer a wonderful and vibrant sense community for bikers with regular social events and advocacy opportunities. Some examples of bicycle groups such as these are the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, MassBike (Massachusetts), the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, and Bike New York.

17. By fostering energy independence, bicycling voids incentives for oil wars.

In countries like the United States, fossil fuels maintain a strong grip on the national economy and psyche. Access to oil is a strong incentive for territorial conflicts and even large international wars. It has been widely suggested, for example, that access to oil was one of the key motivators behind the U.S. invasion of the country of Iraq. Bicycling removes the incentive for these violent conflicts, thus helping to cure what has become known in the United States as an “addiction to oil.”

Brownsville man killed in Matamoros cycling accident (now with pics)

2008-06-02T21:41:00.002-05:00

A Brownsville man is dead and at least five people remain hospitalized at a number of Rio Grande Valley hospitals after being struck by a car as the group, along with other cyclists participated in the third annual Bike Tour Matamoros-Playa Bagdad Sunday morning.

At least two people have been confirmed dead. Alejandro Alvarez, 34, of Brownsville, and a second person both died, the Mexican news outlet Tamaulipas enlinea.com reported in its online edition Monday.

Edgar Omar Castro, 14, Miguel Gonzalez, Alejandro Martinez and Rolando Loriqute, along with another person remained listed in conditions ranging from good to critical at Valley Baptist Medical Centers in Brownsville and Harlingen, VBMC spokeswoman Teri Retana confirmed late Sunday night.

The group, along with others participants in the bike race shortly, were struck by Jesse Lopez, 29, who drove a 1989 Gran Marquis. Lopez was driving drunk and under the influence of drugs, Matamoros newspapers reported in their Monday editions.

The collected bicycle wisdom of JWZ

2008-05-21T12:25:00.002-05:00

JWZ is on the of the original developers of Mozilla Firefox. He also happens to be a pretty avid cyclist in the San Francisco Bay area. Here is a compilation of his collected wisdoms from his blog:

Here's how to begin your adventure as a commuter-bicyclist in San Francisco:

Never take bike advice from anyone who owns bike shorts, clip shoes, a messenger bag, or a fixie. That's like taking car advice from someone who enjoys rebuilding carburetors.
(Update: If you are this person, you need not reply with your indignant "corrections". You are not the person to whom this advice is addressed.)
"City bikes" and "road bikes" are designed for some Jetsons-slick hypothetical future city that I've never seen. Or maybe for the bike paths in Los Altos or something. Here in real cities, roads are shit, and if you want your wheels and tires to survive curbs and potholes, you need a hybrid. They're a little heavier and a little slower. Are you racing? No? Then you don't care.
So, get the cheapest hybrid you can stand. Shocks are a waste of money. You should be able to get a pretty nice brand new hybrid for $370 or so. You can probably get a used one for a hundred bucks.
If you feel like you want a lighter bike so that it's easier to carry up stairs: don't bother. That's optimizing the wrong thing. You'll get used to it (by which I mean: become stronger).
Get a bike that's the right size for you, and has properly adjusted handlebars and seat. The shop will adjust it for you. If they won't, or if they tell you it doesn't matter, go to a different shop.
Get a u-lock. Lock through the frame and the back wheel. Your bike will be stolen, so don't get too attached to it. This also means, don't waste your money on junk like baskets and lights. Just get a backpack.
It doesn't matter how crappy your bike looks: any bike is worth stealing for $2 worth of crack. Your bike is temporary. Accept this and move on.
I always replace my front wheel and seat quick-releases with $2 worth of hardware store bolts, and then bend the ends over. This might have some negligible effect on theft. I refuse to be one of those people who lugs around 3 chains and disassembles their bike every time they park, so that's the trade-off I make.
The bike-nerd at the bike shop will try to give you smooth, high-pressure (110psi+) tires, because they are more efficient. But if you don't air them up weekly or more often, you'll get pinch-flats every time you hit a pothole, which is always. Also, the gas station air pumps often only go up to 60psi anyway. Get knobby low-pressure (60-80psi) tires and they'll last a lot longer. (If you do end up with stupid tires, you might want to get one of these.)
Likewise, make sure the tubes you get have the kind of connectors that the gas station air pumps take. Bike shop nerds like to fuck you with goofy connectors sometimes, out of sheer mean-spiritedness.
Bike maintenance: don't do it, ever. It's not worth your time. Just take it to the shop. Getting them to replace a flat for you costs $20 and takes 10 minutes, including the tube, and you don't get dirty.
It's a good idea to know how to change a flat, but why do it yourself when you can pay someone else almost-nothing to get greasy on your behalf?
Safety: I follow the Zodiac approach: always assume the cars can see you perfectly, and are trying to kill you. If an intersection seems iffy, use the sidewalk and crosswalks. If big streets like Market and Van Ness freak you out, there are always less traficky ways to go, or just stay on the sidewalks.
Do whatever you need to do to feel safe. You have nobody to impress.
Grocery shopping: yes, you really can do it with a single backpack. The trick is, shop small once a week instead of big once a month.
If you try to dangle bags on your handlebars, you will die.
Cross train and trolley tracks at a 45° angle or more, or you will die.
You really do need to tuck in or roll up your right leg. (You probably won't die, but you'll shred your pants.)
You don't need to ride up Haight. Take Fell or Fulton and then go through the Panhandle.
The City is only 7 miles across. Nothing is as far away as you think it is.

The 75mph bicycle powered by a jet engine (Gizmodo)

2008-05-19T10:44:00.001-05:00

Check this bad boy out:

Click Here for the full story from Gizmodo.

Dutch Cyclists call for external airbags on cars.

2008-04-24T10:51:00.001-05:00

Engadget has the story here.

Trek severs business relationship with Lemond

2008-04-17T08:17:00.003-05:00

"Trek Bicycle Corp. is dropping LeMond Bicycles from its line and going to court to sever a 13-year licensing agreement with three-time Tour de France champion Greg LeMond, Trek president John Burke told employees Tuesday morning."

Full story here

I think this is the funniest part of the story:

"Trek further alleged that LeMond took inappropriate advantage of his right to purchase bikes for personal use, the former Tour winner had "since 1999 ... made numerous purchases of LeMond bicycles at employee pricing from Trek with a suggested retail value of over $2,500,000. Upon information and belief, Greg LeMond has resold, bartered for value or otherwise distributed many or most of these bikes, harming Trek and its dealers."

Dude...Wait...What?

2008-03-29T16:28:00.003-05:00

Former cycling champion Tammy Thomas seemed to be in the midst of shaving her face when an Olympic drug tester paid her an unannounced visit in 2002, according to testimony Wednesday in her trial on perjury charges.

Full Story Here

Website Re-Launch

2008-03-16T12:49:00.003-05:00

I spent yesterday reworking the site (and blog) to be a little sleeker. With some good pointers and some elbow grease, I'm pretty happy with the outcome. There is still some content modifications to be done, along with some slight layout changes, but overall I think its quite a bit better. Check it out here. There is a new feature that I put in this morning that isn't linked on the site itself yet, which is a photo gallery page here.

The mystery of the "Shop Rate"

2008-03-05T16:18:00.000-06:00

I was a mechanic for almost a decade, and I'm almost positive that every shop I worked at had a shop rate, but I can't honestly think of a time when I charged it. I heard from a fellow cyclist in the cities here that one shop charges like $65 per hour shop rate. I mean come on man, you work on BICYCLES, not Volkswagens. I think there are definitely fair applications of a flat shop rate, especially for odd ball or one off type projects, but generally, I don't get it.

Lets take the case of the bag o' parts guy. For those of you who don't know, this is a guy that buys every single part to build a bike off the internet, but doesn't have the tools/know-how/bravado to put it together; not even a little. So he comes struttin in with his flashy frame from some ultra hip company, along with a full complement of anodized goodness in plastic grocery bags, and wants the bike built. The shop will generally 1) give him a hard time because he didn't buy the parts there (which is a different post for a different time) then 2) tell him it will be $xx per hour to build it, because thats the shop rate.

I'm not going to lie to you, I hated the people that came in trying to price match parts with internet retailers. Yea, you'll pay a few more bucks for an XT derailuer from a local shop, but if you don't know how to put it on and adjust it you're going to wind up forking over the $15 you saved to them anyway and won't make any friends in the process. Back to the issue at hand, how is building up a bike much different than say a "super-duper" tune up where a bike gets stripped down and over hauled? I mean, you don't even have to strip the new one down, and everything is clean and new. Isn't it easier? Why do shops feel the need to not just charge bag o' parts guy for a "super-duper" tune up when what their doing is actually easier? What if the rookie in the back that's been building $200 hybrids gets the ticket and it takes him 3-4 hours because he's slow? Just charging a flat fee for a full tune up seems like the easiest solution. That's the way we always did it and it seemed fair to me. So, next time you decide to take your fresh cache of parts into a local shop for a build, run this by them before agreeing to pay like your transmission is getting overhauled.