March 20th, 2009 by Matt · No Comments
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Bike Hacks is no stranger to featuring ghetto moose mitts. We have seen the mitts made of t-shirts and an old cut up rain jacket. Although temperatures are warming up, there is still a chill in the air - a chill that one delivery rider is cutting with plastic bags and duct tape. Me thinks this might not be the quietest option, but then again, NYC is not a quiet place.
Filed Under: culture, modification
Tags:
bag, chill, cold, duct tape, gloves, handle bars, hands, plastic, warm
March 19th, 2009 by Andrew · 3 Comments
In Oregon, its turning out to be quite an interesting year so far. First it was Oregon House Bill 3008 (the $59 bi-annual fee for cyclists), now its House Bill 2690 which some refer to as the Idaho Stop. State Representative Jules Bailey (D) is introducing House Bill 2690, which embodies some similar characteristics to Idaho bicycle law. 49-720.1 of the Idaho cycle law reads:
A person operating a bicycle or human-powered vehicle approaching a stop sign shall slow down and, if required for safety, stop before entering the intersection. After slowing to a reasonable speed or stopping, the person shall yield the right-of-way to any vehicle in the intersection or approaching on another highway so closely as to constitute an immediate hazard during the time the person is moving across or within the intersection or junction of highways, except that a person after slowing to a reasonable speed and yielding the right-of-way if required, may cautiously make a turn or proceed through the intersection without stopping.
Thus the term the ‘Idaho Stop’. Pretty much anyone who rides a bike or who has ridden a bike has (safely, of course) blown through a stop sign…or not come to a complete stop at a stop sign…or blinking red light at some point in time. The proposed House Bill 2690 for Oregon reads like this:
Permits person operating bicycle to enter intersection with specified traffic control device without stopping, provided that person operating bicycle slows to safe speed and yields right of way to traffic or pedestrians. Permits person operating bicycle to turn without stopping at intersection with specified traffic control device, provided that person operating bicycle slows to safe speed and yields right of way to traffic or pedestrians.
Now, of course there’s a little gray area there because it would be up to the officer writing the ticket to determine what a ’safe speed’ really is…but the ticket (if the bill passed) could cost you up too $360.
Filed Under: admin
Tags:
commuting, culture, politics, portland, riding
March 19th, 2009 by Matt · 2 Comments
I thought New Yorkers had cornered the market on being ballsy (interpret as you will - arrogant, self important, outspoken) but it seems that I was a bit short sighted. In an article published by the New Haven Independent, a local New Haven pastor appears to have called a bicycle cop an asshole for riding his bike on the sidewalk.
Here is a snippet from the article (Ed Stueckle, the pastor, is pictured below - photo from New Haven Independent):
After Ed Stueckle saw a bike cop riding on the sidewalk, he told the officer that he had his “head up [his] butt.” Matters deteriorated from there.
The encounter — of which Stueckle and the officer offer different versions — was the latest flashpoint in an ongoing, often confusing debate over who can ride bicycles where in New Haven.
Yale Police Officer James Yacono was pedaling by on a Chapel Street sidewalk when Stueckle took the opportunity to tell him that, according to the municipal code, he was breaking the law. He also, according to Yacono, called him an “asshole.”
Maybe it’s just me, but it’s probably not the best idea to address an officer of the law by comparing him or her to a body orifice, even if it is deserved.
There is firm evidence, on many fronts, to suggest that bicycles are only going to gain more prominence in the news in the future. Talk of licensing bicycles and holding cyclists accountable is proliferating for sure. It’s just sad that it appears to me that the size or propulsion method of a vehicle does not limit the effect of road rage.
Filed Under: commuting, culture, safety
Tags:
law, license, police, safety, sidewalk
March 18th, 2009 by Matt · 1 Comment
So you park your ride outside and you don’t want someone to jack your quick release seat. You remove it and take it with you but there are dark storm clouds on the horizon. How do you ensure that your seat tube does not fill with unwanted rain water?
This bike hacker has the solution . . . stuff a plastic bag in the open hole and you are set!
Filed Under: commuting, culture
Tags:
dry, rain, seat, theft, tube, wet
March 17th, 2009 by Matt · 1 Comment
This news gets filed under two categories for me:
1 - Why didn’t I think of that!?
2 - Even if I did think of it, my wife would nix the idea =)
Major props to Jack Wilhoit for coming up with the idea of using bicycle frames as art frames. Via Quad-Cities Online and Worldly Views Studio comes the following:
Jack Wilhoit, known as “the Door Guy” has been using bicycles to frame his bicycle photos. In the past Jack has used old doors for framing his door photos, so why not re-cycle and use bicycles for his bike photos.
The bicycles he uses are old thrown away ones he picks up at sales, junk piles or from individuals who give them to him. The bikes range from Trex, Schwinn, Raleigh, and Huffy only to name some of the manufactures. Jack uses mostly men style bikes as they are easier to work with due to the cross bar. Jack”s photos show bicycles from many different countries to include, China, Greece, France, Ireland and the USA only to mention a few.
Photo and quote credit to Quad-Cities Online
Filed Under: culture
Tags:
art, frame, painting, photo, wall
March 17th, 2009 by Matt · No Comments
Another snow related photo for our LED Reflective Cycling Vest Contest. This comes from Sean -
I ride from home to the train everyday. This greeted me one winter evening on the way home. This is my bike waiting for me at my local Metra (Commuter rail) station.
Date: 12*16*2008
Where: Chicago, North Side
Filed Under: commuting, culture
Tags:
commute, contest, photo, snow, train, winter
March 16th, 2009 by Matt · 6 Comments
Andrew’s post last week on a proposal to charge bicyclists in Oregon a registration fee got picked up by the New York Times Freakonomics blog. The NYT post has garnered over 51 comments.
Meredith Sladek, NY Bicycle Transportation Examiner who writes for examiner.com, also published a two part article recently on the impact bicycle registration might have on cycling in NYC. Her article is actually a response to a proposed plan by the Mayor of Seattle to require cyclists to license their rides. I guess it’s not too hard to figure out which way she leans as the title of her post is, “Bicycle licensing short-sighted and discriminatory.” I would have to agree with her assertion that requiring licenses for bicycles would further discourage people from riding in New York City.
People are always quite fascinated by my CycleAware helmet mirror. It sticks out a bit and it’s a great conversation starter because whenever I ride around and run errands people ask what it is. Of course they cannot see the mirror when they are looking at me so I can understand the curiosity.
I always respond by telling people that it is a “Taxi Defense System.” Last week when getting some Pinkberry (for those in most of America it sucks for you that you don’t have one) and the clerk said, “What’s that on your helmet?” I explained it to her and to quote her directly she responded by saying:
“I grew up in NYC and I am scared to death to ride a bicycle here. As far as I’m concerned you have to be crazy to ride in the city.”
Unfortunately she speaks the truth. Riding in NYC is anything but safe and it takes some skill and attitude to ride here. I consider myself to be a decent rider who is not too aggressive and I have been hit twice by cars and doored twice in the past five years of riding here.
In her articles Meredith makes five great points and makes it clear that cyclists do need to ride responsibly. But she also points out that it is a somewhat losing battle in terms of expecting those who drive cars to actually respect cyclists on the road. She sums up her article by stating the following:
I think my major argument to this question is if licensing cyclists is really going to earn riders the respect and consideration they ask from drivers. I don’t think it will. By the arguments presented and the tone set by Mr. Myrick, it seems as though many drivers aren’t after equality; they want to be unburdened. Many express concern about cyclists’ safety, but at the same time neglect to look at their own behavior while operating a motor vehicle.
We should all be responsible for our own behavior for sure, but the consequences of one’s actions certainly are relative. Riding a bicycle sure is different than piloting a 3 ton killing machine like a car. It is estimated that cars have killed more people in history than all wars have combined. Need I mention that war has been around much longer than cars? And yet as a society it seems that we do not bat an eye when we hear of yet another auto induced death.
The media goes crazy when one airplane goes down, but every 12 minutes one person dies in the U.S. because of a car accident and every 14 seconds a car accident results in an injured victim (lawcore.com). Can you imagine if one plane crashed per week? The government would step in for sure and probably shut the industry down for a full review. And yet the equivalent of a small jet full of people dies in car accidents every single day of the year. Kind of insane to think about huh?
If you ask me, the government should not ask citizens who ride bikes to pay a licensing fee, rather the government should pay people to ride bikes. Less death, less pollution, healthier citizens . . . sounds like a winning plan to this bikehacker.
Photo posted to examiner.com article, credit to pbase
Filed Under: culture, safety
Tags:
accident, law, licensing, rights, roads, safety
March 15th, 2009 by Bren · 1 Comment
Via Wend comes this sweet looking rocking bike. If you’ve got an old saddle and drop bars hanging around (and, uh, a full-on metal shop setup) your kid can be rocking in no time. I love this idea!
(photo by PavelM)
Filed Under: culture, modification
Tags:
drop bars, kids, saddle
March 14th, 2009 by Andrew · 1 Comment
Fairey and Armstrong, photo credit goes to “Stages”
“Stages” is a collaborative art project between Lance Armstrong and Nike. By bringing together close to 30 of the worlds most unique and diverse artists to create original works inspired by Lance, “Stages” aims to raise money and awareness of Lance’s Livestrong foundation. Some of the artists participating in “Stages” tour include Shepard Fairey, KAWS, Damien Hirst, and Ed Ruscha to name a few. To help draw more attention to “Stages” and its cause, Lance will be riding a few very special Trek ‘art bikes’ while riding towards his upcoming and entirely possible 8th Tour De France win.
Shepard Fairey’s art pieces for “Stages”, photo credit goes to “Stages”
KAWS Trek bike, photo credit goes to “Stages”
KAWS signature Chompers style on Trek bike, photo credit goes to “Stages”
Eventually all art created for “Stages” will be auctioned off to raise money for Livestrong.
Filed Under: admin
Tags:
bicycle, bikes, culture, customization, livestrong, riding, touring
March 13th, 2009 by Matt · No Comments
A reader from across the pond, Dave, contacted us with a great green energy hack for your bike. He installed some speakers on his handlebars and the power comes from a solar panel. Dave’s full description is below. The fenders made of buckets are a bonus. Thanks Dave!
The speakers were originally 2 sets of Packard Bell computer speakers, these were dismantled then had the centre section cut out and the ends glued together (i only used the fronts of the original boxes..these are the pods at the ends) the solar panel is a 6v panel from a house alarm box.. they were glued to a piece of ply with holes cut for the speakers to get a basic template shape.
Then I drew around and cut out the shape from 3/4 mdf, cutting out the inside first to make it hollow,also making sure the inside hole was big enough to clear the circuit boards for the speakers then a back plate the same as the front was screwed to form the finished box. This was covered in solartex, and painted.
The electrics were pretty basic, just a case of soldering them both together and adding an extension for the batterys (originaly AAA’s.. i simply soldered D cells together to make a battery pack) the solar panel wires straight to the battery pack using a diode from the alarm box to stop it discharging the batterys. (use a black diode with silver collar inline on the + wire, with the collar facing the battery) plug your mp3 in an leave in your pocket!
I’ve tried many different ways of holding an mp3, with no success. It gets expensive! I’ve killed loads. It’s easier to replace a wire (if you do a header) then an mp3player.
And the mudguards?… once upon a time, they were a bucket.
Filed Under: culture, modification
Tags:
battery, handlbars, mp3, music, solar, sound, speakers, wire
