Wiki Bikes will be closed Monday November 12 in observance of Veterans Day

The basic fixie can get fancy

For the last five years, this column has avoided covering one of the hottest youth-culture urban crazes in the bike world: the fixie — a minimalist, single-speed bike with a fixed gear and no brakes. Some people like them ugly, others gaudy and others tricked-out with doodads and custom paint jobs. To be honest, I thought these bikes, which have introduced thousands of former non-cyclists to two wheels, were dumb deathtraps (hey, no brakes?) and that the fad would disappear along with the first crash.

Well, fixie-mania keeps growing, and a big reason for it is that the bikes are getting fixed. Riders and manufacturers, responding to public safety laws and common sense, have added brakes, multi-gear hubs, freewheels and fluorescent night-light paint. This makes for safer, more practical bikes that are faster, can coast and are more enjoyable to ride — all while keeping the minimalist and mandatory fixie look.

Click here for the rest of the story...

Vintage bike museum in Ariz. includes work stations

Any grown-up who opens the door to the Oldspokes Classic Bicycle Museum is sure to find a bike that produces a wave of nostalgia.

From the 1940s Monarks to the 1970s BMX bikes, nearly 100 velocipedes in the museum span a century of riding for pleasure and work.

Click here for the rest of the story...

Bikes rise from New York basements

Jonathan Figueroa paused, looking down more than 100ft to the East River below, and panted: “This is new. It’s tough.”

Past him on the cycle path of the Manhattan Bridge – which Mr Figueroa would normally cross on a D line subway train on the way to Hunter College on Manhattan’s upper west side – pedalled a steady stream of cyclists.

Click here for the rest of the story...

Can America Embrace Biking the Way Denmark Has?

It’s a Monday morning in Copenhagen, and I’m tearing down a street called Rolighedsvej on my clunky steel rental bike, trying to make it to a meeting for which I’m nearly certain I’ll be late. As I zip along the beautifully maintained bike lanes, it strikes me that I’ve never had a city biking experience quite like this. Not only do I feel totally safe and secure, but I’m able to get to my destination faster and at a fraction of the difficulty and cost than if I were driving a car.

Click here for the rest of the story...

Bike lanes to be installed on Waialae Ave.

It's a major victory for Oahu bicyclists.  The city made room for them on a busy Honolulu thoroughfare.

"This bike lane on Waialae [Avenue], people that have worked on it for 30 to 50 years -- thank you, thank you!" said Patricia Johnson of the "Red Hot Ladies" of the Hawaii Bicycling League.

Click here to see the rest of the story...

Colorado's new bicycling beast

BOULDER, Colo. — They sweep down steep, rugged valleys and whip up the other side, flying into the mountain splendor. They build up speed, then force their way across a 100-foot-long sand pit, pumping desperately to reach the other side. They dismount, grab their dual-wheeled vehicles and wheeze up a staircase a mile above sea level.

And they bring their kids — sometimes little kids who are just learning to stay upright on flat streets — who can try their young skills on these arduous challenges.

Click here for the rest of the story...

 

From the Department of Redundancy Department...

Cycling is Safer in Bike Lanes

Today in unsurprising news, we have a report out of the American Journal of Public Health, which concludes that bike infrastructure, no matter how rudimentary, cuts down on cycling-related hospital admissions by 50 percent. Just for painting a white line on the road and eliminating a lane for parking, which the city has done this year to some grumbling (also unsurprising).

The study confirms what many cyclists have long know, or at least suspected: Dedicating cycling infrastructure not only makes riders feel safe, it actually makes them safer. Put up all the violent, blood-bath-looking pro-helmet signs you’d like, the thin white line is what really helps.


Click here for the rest of the story...

Wiki Bikes will Be Closed for a long weekend...

We will be closed on:

Friday October 12
Saturday October 13
Monday October 15

Take these days to ride your bike and enjoy the beautiful weather.  See you on Tuesday the 16th!

More bikes sold than cars in Italy for first time since WW2

In a radical departure for the car-mad country, home to legendary marques such as Fiat, Ferrari and Lamborghini, 1,750,000 bikes were bought in 2011 compared to 1,748,000 motor vehicles.

As austerity cuts deepen and petrol prices hit a new high, the purchase of new cars has dropped to levels not seen since the 1970s.

Click here to view the link...

You can't argue with facts...

Bikers for Babies raises more than $600K for charity

Thousands of motorcycle riders raised more than $600,000 for the March of Dimes at Sunday's Bikers for Babies ride.

"He was born almost three months almost premature. He weighed two pounds, 12 ounces. He was doing great the first month then we found out he had some issues. He spent his first four months in the hospital," Lisa Warner said.

 

 

Click here for the rest of the story...

 

In Bike-Friendly Copenhagen, Highways For Cyclists

Every day, one-third of the people of Copenhagen ride their bikes to work or school. Collectively, they cycle more than 750,000 miles daily, enough to make it to the moon and back. And city officials want even more people to commute, and over longer distances.

So a network of 26 new bike routes, dubbed "the cycling superhighway," is being built to link the surrounding suburbs to Copenhagen.

 

Click here for the rest of the story...

Who left their bike out?

Something doesn't seem normal here...

Two arrests after dozens of bikes stolen from non-profit

Detectives arrested two men they said stole more than two dozen bicycles from a Vancouver non-profit.

The theft happened back on August 9 at the Hough Pool, where the group Bike Clark County stored their bikes.

Officers from the Vancouver Police Department’s “Neighborhood Response Team” took over the investigation and about two weeks later arrested Matthew Robert Smith, 27, and Jory John Aultman, 19, according to police spokeswoman Kim Kapp.

Both men face charges for burglary and trafficking stolen property.

Kapp said officers so far have only recovered one of the stolen bikes. They think the rest are still in the neighborhood somewhere.

 

Click here for the rest of the story...

"Scraper Bikes for Life" Saves Lives in Oakland

On a recent afternoon, the skateboard park was the most populated section of gritty DeFremery Park in West Oakland. In this working class area, with unemployment, crime, violence and gentrification, just under the giant shipping cranes from the nearby Port of Oakland, a dozen skateboard enthusiasts, boys and young men, glided up and down the complicated series of ramps and jumps over and over, without saying a word. The calm was was suddenly interrupted by the arrival of The Original Scraper Bike crew.

This is a neighborhood where, much like boys everywhere, youth spend their summer days gazing at the passing traffic, fantasizing about the car of their future, the car of their dreams. But unlike their more affluent counterparts with stable homes and intact families, a car of one's own may be financially out of reach. After all, how many boys from this struggling neighborhood, in a bad economy, will be able to purchase and maintain a customized automobile, when one week, they may "stay with" their grandma, and the next, at their "play sister" or "auntie's" house? Where "family stuff," spoken with downcast eyes, is the reason given for not being able to stay in school or keep a job?

 

 

Click here for the rest of the story...

Oregon man recovers stolen bike after sting operation

Jake Gillum loves his bike. So when it got stolen in Portland, Ore., while he was on a date, he was determined to get it back.

The quest seemed hopeless, but a week of poring over online postings for his 2009 carbon fiber Fuji paid off when he spotted the road bike offered for sale in Seattle. That sparked an elaborate interstate sting operation last weekend in which Gillum not only got his bicycle back but used it to chase down the suspect before police arrested him.

Gillum documented it all on YouTube under the username Simon Jackson.

Click here for the rest of the story...

Md. couple ditches moving van, uses bikes instead

People move every day. They typically use moving trucks or vans or station wagons or pickup trucks or cars with mattresses strung to the roof, sort of like the horse and wagon days, though without the horse and wagon.

Anthony and Jess Reiss used bikes.

The College Park couple — he works at Proteus Bicycles, she’s an environmental attorney — sold their cars about a year ago. The idea: Cycle or use public transportation wherever they roam.

Click here for the rest of the story...

Bikes For Kids: Detroit Program In City's Osborn Neighborhood

Kids in a northeast Detroit neighborhood known for its high concentration of children spent their summer immersed in bike culture.

The program, which wraps up this week, combines courses in bicycle safety and repair with community service. Along with fixing gears, kids in the program have also helped clean up the neighborhood's Millbank Greenway bike trail and set up a "pop-up" bike shop to tune up bicycles for local residents in a building located near the intersection of Van Dyke Avenue and Outer Drive. It was organized locally by the Detroit Eastside Community Collaborative (DECC) with the partnership of several other groups and made possible by a $12,500 Rails-to-Trails Conservancy grant sponsored by Coca-Cola.

Click here for the rest of the story...

Another reason to buy used, Big-buck bikes are a popular burglary target in Minneapolis

In the hunt for high-end bicycles, thieves have gone beyond lurking around bike racks. Now they're driving down alleys, breaking into garages and loading their increasingly valuable loot into trucks and vans.

In Minneapolis alone, more than 1,000 bikes were reported stolen since January, up 12 percent from last year. The percentage of bikes stolen in burglaries -- typically from garages -- rose from 25 percent in 2011 to 34 percent since January, said Doug Hicks, a crime analyst with the Minneapolis Police Department.

Click here for the rest of the story...

Come in for a bike Tune Up, I promise we can do better than this

For This Olympian, ‘Track Cycling Is NASCAR on Bikes’

Adam Duvendeck is a five-time member of the USA Cycling track world championship team who competed in the 2004 and 2008 Summer Games.

Track cycling is the coolest Olympic event you’re not watching. It’s understandable, because the sport is pretty esoteric, even among cyclists.

Click here for the rest of the story...

Amazing cardboard bike lets you go green for only $9

Choosing to eliminate (or even just minimize) your vehicle emissions is a big adjustment for most people.



It can be hard enough to reroute your life in a way that makes bike commuting possible, but then there's the need for the bike itself. If the last time you straddled a bike was back in elementary school, it can be daunting to go about choosing a bicycle that will be both durable and comfortable to your adult frame.

Click here for the rest of the story...

Gates' bid to reinvent the bicycle

"The chain is probably the only element of the bicycle that hasn't changed in 150 years," says Todd Selden. Selden is an engineer who has been with industrial giant Gates Corporation for 25 years and is now director of Carbon Drive Systems, which produces carbon belts for bicycles. In other words, he's in a decent position to judge a perceived lack of innovation in bike parts.

Click here for the rest of the story...

Farmer bikes fom China to London to see Olympics

A Chinese farmer has spent the last two years biking more than 30,000 miles across 16 countries with one simple goal in mind: to see the London Olympics.

BBC News reports when 57-year-old Chen Guanming watched the Olympic flag get passed to London's mayor in 2008 in Beijing he was inspired to attend the 2012 games. He decided to travel the only way he could: by rickshaw. 



Click here to see the rest of the Story...

A Bamboo Bike!



Click here to see all the pictures...

Tampa Police buys 200 bikes for RNC patrols

Fox 13 WTVT reports that during the week of the Republican National Convention, many Tampa Bay area officers will park the police cruisers and pedal while on patrol.


During the last Republican convention in Minnesota, a team of 110 bike officers were on duty at all times. The bikes allow officers to better deal with angry crowds and weave through riots if needed.


Native Bikeworks in Riverview was chosen to provide the 200 bikes as part of a more than $300,000 contract. The RNC will be held in downtown Tampa Aug. 27-30.


Each bike will be fitted with LED red and blue flashing lights and will be used by patrol officers even after the convention ends.

How NOT to repair your bike!

College student bikes cross country for charity

Matt Stoltz isn't earning his arm and leg tan lines while at the beach this summer, but by biking on the side of the road.

Since July 1, the 19-year-old has been on a 1,700-mile bike ride through eight states to raise money for sports equipment for underprivileged children around the world through the National Alliance for Youth Sports Global Gear Drive program. Tuesday's stop in Huntsville marked the halfway point in his trek to NAYS headquarters in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Click here for the rest of the Story...

Europe embraces bike-based urban delivery with new cargo bike lobby group

Portland has made lots of headlines in the past few years for our growing crop of cargo bike based businesses; but all the exciting momentum is coming from the grassroots and from individual entrepreneurs. Ironically, the most energy-efficient mode of urban freight delivery is being ignored by state and federal programs designed specifically to reduce emissions.

In Europe however — where a pervasive car culture doesn't cloud political thinking quite as much as is does here in the states — leaders are moving forward with programs that support the development of a bike-based urban freight delivery industry. According to the European Cyclists Federation, over 30 companies from across Europe came together in Cambridge, England over the weekend to form a cargo bike lobby under the rubric of the "European Cycle Logistics Federation". Their aim is to, "improve urban delivery and act as a lobby group to promote cycle based delivery solutions."


Click here for the rest of the story...

Wellington twins who helped start bike give-away program look forward to doing more

Twin sisters Laura and Megan Kohner wear matching outfits on a daily basis. They sometimes complete fragmented pieces of each other’s sentences. But most importantly, they share the same passions.


Like the non-profit organization they started together as seventh-graders. The Wellington girls — along with their older brother Andrew and his friend, Cody Ellsworth — came up with Bikes for Kidz as a way to “incorporate literacy, learning and physical fitness.”


Click here for the rest of the Story...

Zak Pashak, Detroit Bikes Entrepreneur, Buys 50,000 Square Foot Factory On City's West Side

Zak Pashak had heard a lot of negative stories about Detroit. Still, for some reason, the Canadian entrepreneur felt compelled to check out the city for himself. And after he visited in October 2010, Pashak realized that he really liked this place -- so much so that he picked up and moved from Calgary the following July.

And once he got here and bought a home in Boston Edison, his next challenge was even more radical -- opening a bicycle manufacturing plant in the city.

Click here for the rest of the Story...

Center city to host state's first bike-sharing program

People who want to ride a bike to work in Charlotte, or just run a quick errand, will soon be able to rent a cycle from one of 20 stations in and around uptown.

Charlotte Center City Partners is expected to formally unveil Charlotte B-Cycle, which they say is the state’s first bike-sharing program, at an event Thursday. The first stations have been installed uptown at Trade and Tryon streets and outside 7th Street Public Market.

Click here for the rest of the story...

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/07/12/3377479/freewheeling-in-the-city.html#storylink=cpy

The OCD Science Behind a Perfect Fitting Bike

The bike fitting was once a mysterious process. You'd get your limbs measured, saddle up, and ride off. But there are so many variables in a bike's fit, and some have nothing to with the length of your limbs.

Fresh ideas on how to measure a rider's needs has given rise to a new breed of bike fitter. One of the most sophisticated labs for this kind of cycling science is at Acme Bicycle Co., a Brooklyn, New York shop run by Jonathan Blyer. Gizmodo visited Acme for a data-driven fitting, and a closer look at how the mix of robots, computers, and motion-capture video come together to find you the perfect bike.

Click here for the rest of the story...

London Mayor Boris Johnson on how bicycles and smooth mass transit can make people happier

London Mayor Boris Johnson is among many things an urban transit nerd.  Since taking office in 2008, he has introduced a new generation of double-decker buses, built a cable car across the River Thames, and has dreams of making improvements to the city’s airports. And when it comes to getting around himself, his favorite mode of transit is the bicycle.

Click here to see rest of Story...

Chicago police train hundreds of cops to patrol on bikes

Chicago police Lt. Richard Plotke steered the bicycle around an obstacle course of eight cones designed to give him an idea of how it will be to maneuver around pedestrians and through narrow gangways.

"I've been riding obviously my whole life, but this is tough. This is very tough training," Plotke said, his voice slightly muffled as he spoke through a gas mask he donned as part of the training. "You've got to know how to ride. You've got to have balance."

Click here for rest of Story...

Arizona fans, sellers seeing more electric bikes

Hal Mansfield bought his electric bike about two months ago and already is seeing savings.

When knee problems threatened to keep Hal Mansfield from riding his bike, he started looking for a solution that would keep him on the road but wouldn't be quite as rigorous.

"I had knee problems so I had to give up my other (traditional) bike," said Mansfield, 80, a Green Valley resident since 2005. "I still wanted to use a bike."

Link to rest of Story...

Muskegon's 'mystery bikes' return for third year

Muskegon's anonymous artist is at it again.


The 'mystery bikes' that sparked wonder and debate around Muskegon are back for the third year, with as little fanfare as ever and no explanation....


Link to rest of Story...

Recycle Bikes For Kids

Any child who rides a bike will be able to tell you about the feeling of freedom and power they get from riding. The rite of passage that is learning to ride a bike is one so important to children and adults alike, and as they say, 'it's like riding a bike -- once you've learnt, you never forget.'

However, for those unable to afford a bike, this childhood experience is denied to children eager to speed through their neighborhoods, as well as to adults looking for a more affordable means of transport.

Link to rest of Story...

Making Way for More Bikes in National Parks

The debate over who should use the roads and paths of the country’s national parks is consistently fraught. In California’s Sequoia National Park, unkind words are sometimes exchanged when pack animals with their wide panniers encounter hikers kitted out with the latest R.E.I. gear on the trails behind Mount Whitney. The code of etiquette and safety governing such encounters is sometimes ignored, And there have been continual efforts to ban horses, burros and llamas because of their impact on the trails.

Link to rest of Story...

Public Bikes Booming in China

For anyone who loves a good bike story, here’s one for you: public bikes are booming in China. “There are 39 public bike schemes in China—dwarfing all other nations,” TheCityFix writes....


Link to story

Brazilian prison incentivizes prisoners to provide pedal-powered energy

Brazil's Santa Rita do Sapucaí prison has found a new source of alternative energy: its own prisoners. The prison has offered to shave time off of prisoners' sentences if they'll charge batteries using special bikes and their own two legs.

Link to Article

What are your thoughts?

Welcome to our Wiki Bikes blog!  Our goal is to get more people on bikes, quality used bikes!  Go Green, Go Wiki Bikes!