Columbus Rides Bikes!

The Frankenbike 50 Date:  Sunday, September 4th 2011 Location:   Stoney Creek Rd. Scioto Trails State Park  Start area is at the forest office/maintance area. Time:  HIGH NOON (12...) Cost:  We just ask for a small donation of $2-10 to cover map and sign costs. 2010 Race Map (8.1mb PDF)  We're going to add about 3-4 miles to the 2011 course... What is it? The FrankenBike50 (or FB50) is a bike tour or race depending on who you ask. It's meant to to be a fun test of your overall abilities. It will be about 50% dirt/gravel forest roads, 30% paved road and 20% singletrack. It will have some great climbing, fun downhills and beautiful views of southern Ohio. It will have technical sections, flat boring road sections, long hills, a hike a bike, and it will probably hurt a little. Where is it? In and around the Scioto Trails State park and forest. About an hour south of Columbus, Ohio. Is it a cross race? A mountain bike race? A road race? What the heck? None of the above reall

The purpose of this not-for-profit site is to encourage those interested in enjoying and preserving vintage lightweight "racing" style bicycles of the period from the early 20th century until 1983. These are primarily steel, most often lug built, not welded, injection molded, or glued. Here we are devoted to road and pista machines, not mountain bikes, BMX, recumbent, middle weights nor balloon-tired bikes. Those bikes have merit, but are not "on topic" for the Classic Rendezvous. Our goals are: 1.) identification of makers 2.) publishing images of original bicycles & their components 3.) providing key information about the makers & their history 4.) listing resources 5.) offering camaraderie among the enthusiasts. Please contribute any information or illustrations you might have. Corrections are gratefully accepted. Updates are constantly being made to as new material become available. The most recent changes can be located by the small up

Tokyo Fixed visits Nitto from Tokyo Fixed on Vimeo . Nitto is probably the last handlebar and stem manufacturer of its kind still in business. We all marvel at the gleaming quality and craftsmanship of their products but very few people get to glimpse into the workings of the company. Last year I was lucky enough to visit their factory and office to discuss collaborating on a few handle bar and stem ideas. Here are some videos from my visit.

[From their website] “Everything Popular is Wrong”  - Oscar Wilde Over the last few years we went to what many would consider unreasonable lengths and incurred extensive personal costs to produce a drink that we never intended to sell and were never allowed to promote, just so that we could better hydrate our athletes and friends without making them sick. It’s just that simple. Our athletes compete in events like the Tour de France and the Olympics, and are often paid to use their sponsor’s drink but secretly use ours instead. They’re also our friends and our family – people who want a sports drink based in science that actually works in the real world, not one that is full of synthetic crap. Try X, change your experience, and share the secret. A rogue bootstrapped website is just the beginning. Questions?  info@secretdrinkmix.com

NuVinci ®  Overview The patented  NuVinci  technology developed by Fallbrook Technologies Inc. (Fallbrook) is the most practical, economical and universally adaptable continuously variable planetary (CVP) transmission for human-powered and motor-powered vehicles and machines. The  NuVinci  CVP is ideally suited for applications in many major industries including bicycles, light electric vehicles, tractors, automobiles, trucks, and utility class wind turbines among others. The  NuVinci  transmission uses a set of rotating and tilting balls positioned between the input and output components of a transmission that tilt to vary the speed of the transmission.  Click here for links to a demonstration video Tilting the balls changes their contact diameters and varies the speed ratio. As a result, the  NuVinci  CVP offers seamless and continuous transition to any ratio within its range, thus maximizing overall powertrain efficiency, with no jarring or shocks from the shifting process, and i

The Phenomenal Success of Capital Bikeshare from Streetfilms on Vimeo . [Yes Magazine article]

       PumpTire is commercializing the first self-pressurizing bicycle tire. Imagine taking your bicycle out of the garage and never having to fill up the tires or even check the pressure. Or imagine yourself being able to change your tire pressure on-the-fly with a simple adjustment from the handlebars. PumpTire is developing both of these systems. The self-inflating, self-adjusting technology is incorporated directly into the tire and is compatible with current rims, making it a simple addition to any bicycle. [Pumptire]

It's that time of year when all the hard work of the design and engineering chipmunks becomes real honest-to-goodness bike parts. We're real proud of all the new bits and we hope you'll dig them too. They'll all be displayed at the two big bicycle industry trade shows coming up here shortly: Eurobike (picture lots of faux-hawks, strategically bleached tight jeans, and bike parts) and at Interbike (picture lots of goatees, baggy shorts, dudes saying "Brah!", and bike parts.) We wanted you to have a glimpse first - because we love you and would like a chance to get you in the back seat of our very large Amercian car. So, what's the overall outlook? Sexy! (in the way that a Swiss Army Knife is sexy - or in the way that a really good pair of work boots is sexy). We've got two new frames to show in the Ogre and the Moonlander. The Long Haul Trucker will now have a disc brake option for those of you so inclined. We've got new complete versions

From the owner:    Bikes stolen from E Maynard, and may be in the 150 block of Clinton Ave.  A friend thought that he spotted it last night in the Weiland Park area.  

Fargo Complete The Fargo is our drop-bar, off-road adventure bike. Despite developing a cult of adoring fans, the Fargo remains a bit of a bicycling anomaly: a disc brake only, drop bar mountain bike designed for off-road touring. Now suspension-corrected for 80mm travel forks, the Fargo lets the user choose whether to run rigid or with front suspension. Drop bars provide multiple hand positions for long days on singletrack, path, or roadway. A full compliment of braze-ons on the frame and fork allow for both front and rear racks and fenders. The investment cast chainstay-mounted disc brake mount is conveniently tucked out of the way, eliminating accessory mounting interference. Load as much or as little gear as you choose for your next adventure. Five water bottle cage mounts help keep you hydrated on a long journey. The sloped toptube allows plenty of standover clearance for those fully-loaded starts and stops. The Fargo is designed to take you wherever it is you wish to go. Throw a

3/4 kit. Main Framepack. Seatstay pack. Handlebar System. About a 3/4 kit for an Amazon-sized Surly Big Dummy headed for some South American jungle touring. It’s been a wild Spring… just starting to catch my breath… Scott [The Porcelain Rocket]

BIKE TRAVEL BAG Bike travel bag for trips by plane, car, or train. No matter if roadbike, XC-, FR-, DH- or enduro bike- everything is safely stored ready-to-go within mere minutes. Only the handlebar, the pedals and the wheels need to be dismounted.         1. 100% protection 2. Quickly packed 3. Easy to handle V 280L W 8 600 g S 130 cm x 80 cm x 27 cm (inside: 128 cm x 78 cm x 25 cm) M P 600/D PU coated, Tarpaulin Bike travel bag for trips by plane, car or train Fits all DH-, FR-, XC-, and ROAD-Bikes Full protection, quickly packed and easy to carry NEW: Fits also for 29“ Reinforced axis push-through protection Front GFK reinforcement Including frame cushion pad Details: Reinforced fork adapter: the tubes are supplied with two extra buckles and padding which are mounted on a rigid-foam block; the fork ends are provided with double protection from below by means of a specially reinforced plastic plate. Extra wide carriage: tilt-protected,

Well at least what it cost us. At first, the idea to build our own touring bikes was both exciting and daunting. We researched for days (ok, weeks) to find out what would work for us. We found lists compiled on other tourers’ sites to be a valuable resource along with their reviews of various parts. We gathered all the information we could to pick and choose the components that have worked well for others while building a bike that suited our demands of our touring transportation. So now we have our own list to add, detailing all the parts we used, specific specs. and the price we paid (including tax and shipping where applicable). We hope that the information and cost breakdown provided below can provide some insight for other aspiring tourists. There are also a few points to keep in mind to help explain why we chose what we chose... Read on -->

Capital Bikeshare in high demand after East Coast Earthquake, photo by Camera Slayer, Flickr If yesterday’s East Coast earthquake and the subsequent scramble to get home taught us anything, it may be that there is no better vehicle in emergency situations than the bicycle. As traffic in downtown DC was bumper to bumper at 3:00 in the afternoon, bicyclists navigated fairly smoothly through the jammed streets, smiling and waving to each other. League Communications Director Meghan Cahill helped several people rent Capital Bikeshare bikes yesterday afternoon. Later, “two Australian tourists came up to me at a traffic light and said ‘Where’d you get that bike, we have to get out of here,’” Cahill said, “I explained where to find a station and what to do. They ran off saying ‘Cheers, mate!’” Meanwhile, we keep hearing stories about the grueling experiences so many people had getting home. In all seriousness, walking and biking are often the best modes in unusual situations, in

Brothers Drake Meadery has joined Bike the C-Bus 2011 as a rest stop. You will be able to check out their location AND get a chance to win a bottle of Honey Oak mead and four glasses in the raffle! Thank you for the support! The EARLY BIRD registration has been extended to August 26th, so get registered today and save $5, plus get into the raffle. [Brothers Drake website]

Christian Hansen for The New York Times ON THE JOB  Steve Vaccaro, a lawyer at Rankin & Taylor, biking from his office on Broadway to Midtown to meet with a community organization that has taken a stand against cyclists. [Editor's Note: We have a GREAT attorney fighting for cyclists' rights in Steve Magas] AT the law firm  Rankin & Taylor , everybody’s a cyclist. One recent day, the lawyers there parsed bike-law issues, like “dooring zones” and when is it legally acceptable to ride outside a designated lane, while downstairs, each of their bikes were expertly locked to a scaffold along Broadway in TriBeCa. The small firm is preparing to bring a class-action suit against New York City on behalf of cyclists over summons handed out for what it contends are phantom violations — bike behavior that it says is not illegal in the city. It is another sign that New York’s bike fights are moving from the streets to the courtroom. When it comes to bike law, it seems, the wheels