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Trimming the fat

Author: Dustin Posted: 2013-05-13

A while back, after making a move back to the continent call North America, it was high time to get a new bike...  As much as I missed my fixie (which is now in the hands of some lucky* Thailand resident.  *in my humble opinion), I decided to go for a geared bike, since my new locale is somewhat hilly and so forth.

Long story short (the long story will be for another post), I ended up picking up a pretty retro-styled Schwinn and immediately set to simplifying (i.e. removing junk!)it...  The first stuff to go:

Six, yes SIX, reflectors (1 per wheel, 1 per pedal, one handlebar-mounted and one seat-post-mounted)... won't be needing them!  Sure, they're placed for safety.. but if some dumby in a car can't see a human being AND an entire bike, then a handful (plus 1) tiny reflectors aren't going to save me!

And what about those handlebars...  Wow, they were wide! so, a plumber's pipecutter and a few annoying minutes of removing/refitting the rubber grips, and a few inches of handlebars were trashbin-bound too!

Having grown used to one gear and zero brakes, I still feel like the bike is being laden down with too much hardware, levers and cables... but for the time being I think that's stuff will have to stick around.

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Another reason to wear a helmet: stupidity

Author: Dustin Posted: 2013-05-07

This afternoon, at the very end of my bike ride home from work, I intentionally grabbed a big handful of front brake...

I learned pretty soon after getting this bike that the front brake is surprisingly sensitive, and as a result the rest of the bike is very stoppy-happy.

Today, a nice combination of front brake sensitivity, my overzealous forward leaning (as if I needed to further assist the stoppy effort) with a heavy backpack, my new toeclips, and my general stupidity sent me flying head-first over the handlebars.... pretty great!

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Copenhagenize Bicycle Friendly Cities 2013

Author: OneEyeGoat Posted: 2013-05-02

Every year Copenhagenize ranks all the cities in the world for the most bicycle friendly city.  This year's winner, Amsterdam.

Link: Link Reference.

STOOPIDTALL - CICLAVIA 2013 - La Bike Cult

Author: OneEyeGoat Posted: 2013-04-25

STOOPIDTALL - CICLAVIA 2013 - LA BIKE CULT from Richie Trimble on Vimeo.

14.5ft at the Seat Built in 12 work hours One Huffy beach cruiser, 2" square tubing, 3/4" round tubing, and 1" round tubing 26" single speed coaster brake wheelset 6 1/2 single speed bicycle chains (32.5ft of chain) To bend the pipe i used an upside down shopping cart and a split log. Ghetto, i know, but hey - IT WORKS. My last tallbike was just under 10ft tall at the seat and you can see us featured in 30 Seconds to Mars' music video, "Kings and Queens" - youtu.be/hTMrlHHVx8A STOOPIDTALL, is the inbetween from that one (Kafourki) and the world record tallest bike that i'll be building next this year. Thank you to all the Angelopes who guided STOOPIDTALL through the sea of fellow cyclists! And thanks to all the photographers and videographers who documented STOOPIDTALL's Maiden Voyage! Much love, Richie LA BIKE CULT Music: "Contact High" - Architecture in Helsinki (misspelt in video, DAMN) "Amoebaz" - RUNE!