Columbus Rides Bikes!

FUBi the bicycle reinvented Introduction The basic idea with FUBi was this: a foldable bicycle that was very easy to store inside due to optimum compactness and at the same time would retain all the functionality and styling of standard full-sized bicycles! In order to obtain this optimum compactness a totally new (and patented) collapsible frame was devised where the aim was to reduce the volume of the folded “package” as much as possible. I.e. optimum compactness! The compact folding This is really what Fubi is about : Compactness!  The frame is so small that it fits into a tennis racket bag. This optimum compactness makes things that have been impossible before into a reality. FUBi fits in most small places like under bed, in a car, in a storage looker and even in a kitchen cabinet. With FUBi its is your imagination that sets the limit [Fubi]

/ TOROTNO STAR FILE PHOTO Cyclists have a self-righteous possessiveness about bike lanes, writes Rosie DiManno, even though those lanes must sometimes be used by others. Some would have you believe there’s a war raging in Toronto between automobiles and bikes, motorists and cyclists. I, Pedestrian, am having a one-woman guerrilla war with both. Frankly, those who drive and those who pedal can wipe each other off the face of the city’s streets in this mutual roadkill rush to attrition and Toronto would be better off for it, leaving behind an urban Shangri-La for ambulatory bipeds. As it stands, both are rivalling to land me in an ambulance, pile of broken bones. Cars have always given me conniptions. As a downtowner who doesn’t drive, my antagonistic view towards vehicles is that they’re all variations of Christine, the supernaturally possessed ’58 Plymouth Fury in Stephen King’s horror novel turned TV movie — a homicidal maniac on wheels. Automobiles — and worse, ...

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ryb indiegogo oct2-nov17 from RYB Denim on Vimeo . Why Are We Making These Jeans? *Most jeans wear through in the seat and saddle area, usually very quickly after you start riding in them. *The standard center seam placement in the seat makes them uncomfortable to sit on. *The back rise is generally too low and can expose you lower back..and even your butt..not good! *There is not enough room designed for the movement of your thigh and calf muscles, and your knees. *They lack other features that are benefits as you ride, like deeper pockets, a lock holder, a key holder, pocket placement, and reflective seam piping. RYB Denim Solutions The RYB Denim jean design came about after talking to friends and fellow cyclists from around the world. *The RYB jean has a one-of-a-kind, unique, double-reinforced seat gusset specifically designed to eliminate saddle wear. *The seat gusset design also removes that uncomfortable center seam *A swooping waistband to increase coverage an...

A rendering of traffic on the Hampline planned for Memphis' Broad Avenue. The most interesting bike project in the country just keeps getting more creative. It wasn't enough that Memphis's Hampline, a combined on- and off-street bikeway through a redeveloping arts district in  the country's poorest major metro area , was pushed by a  unique cast of private foundations and for-profit retailers  and visualized with a  spectacular one-weekend live demonstration . As the $4.5 million project heads into the final stage of its fundraising, it's also become what seems to be  the first American bike transportation project that'll be paid for in part by crowdfunding . [Keep reading at People for Bikes]

Stylish pocket-sized guides to the major cycling cities of Europe Providing locations, destinations and experiences for travellers on two wheels, Rapha have collaborated with publishing house Thames & Hudson to create a collection of pocket-sized guides to the major cycling cities of Europe. Stylish, covetable, locally informed and fun, every guide is illustrated by individual artists to give each book and city a unique aesthetic. With additional maps and functional layouts, the books are easy to navigate to help you explore each metropolis by bicycle. The collection is presented in an exclusively designed slipcase and features the following eight cities: Amsterdam Antwerp/ Ghent Barcelona Berlin Copenhagen London Milan Paris Key Features: Exclusive slipcase 115 × 175mm (Rapha jersey pocket sized) Four-colour print with additional spot print Fully illustrated [Order them at  Rapha]

(CNN)  -- Hotels have introduced all sorts of fun amenities over the years, from iPads to pet goldfish. One of the features that seems to be growing in popularity is bicycles, which are no doubt a great way for guests to discover a new destination. While some properties charge for the privilege, many don't, such as these 10 hotels across the globe that have free loaner bikes so their guests can get out and explore everything the area has to offer. So strap on your helmet, stretch out your quads and start pedaling. Hotel Monaco  (Portland, Oregon) Back in July, Kimpton announced that all of its hotels would now offer free loaner bikes. This Kimpton property happens to be in Portland, one of America's most bike-friendly cities -- boasting miles and miles of well-marked bike paths, including the esplanade along the scenic Willamette River. In addition to a fleet of 18 beach cruisers, city bikes and road bikes for guests to tool around town on, the hotel has a special ...

As we noticed some cyclists making a mess out of chain positioning on chainrings and sprockets, so we wrote an article about how to correctly use the bicycle’s gears. It’s true, when you buy a new cassette or a new crankset, you get them with instructions telling you how do it right, but just to make sure, we came up with our own drawing in this article. Keep in mind that chainrings are attached to the right crank arm, while the sprockets can be found installed on the rear hub. [Keep reading at Bike Advisor]

An SFBC rendering of the bike counter coming to Market Street's eastbound approach to Ninth Street. San Francisco will get its first bicycle traffic counter within the next month. The SF Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors sealed the deal yesterday on a bike counter for Market Street between Ninth and Tenth Streets. The Market Street bicycle counter. Image: SFMTA Bike counters, which have been installed on major cycling streets in cities like Copenhagen ,  Portland , Seattle, and Montreal, help the city get an accurate count of bike traffic and promote bicycling by showing that number on a digital display. Every time someone bikes by, the number ticks up. SF’s bike counter will show daily and annual counts of how many people have biked on eastbound Market approaching Ninth. “The installation of this innovative bicycle barometer comes at a critical moment in San Francisco,” said SFMTA Director Ed Reiskin in a statement. “As more and more San ...

On Tuesday, I participated in an historic opportunity, to be part of a pilot project to test roll-on/roll-off bicycle transport service via Amtrak. It is not generally available to the public yet, but Amtrak wanted to see how well their idea would work in a real time situation. Some 20 cyclists were recruited to ride segments of the Capitol Limited between here and Washington DC to try it out. As background, I have been asking Amtrak for years for just such service. For our silver wedding anniversary a couple of years ago, I had hoped to be able to have my bride and I do a day trip from Pittsburgh to Altoona. The plan was to bus our bikes into the city, hop on a train, exit in Altoona, two hours to the east, grab our bikes and ride three miles across Altoona to Lakemont Park to ride the wooden rollercoaster and other rides for a few hours, followed by a short bike ride back to the train station, picking up an ice cream sundae along the way somewhere, hop aboard a train, ride Amtrak two...

Summer bike commuting is pretty easy to figure out - as is winter commuting - when we don’t try to convolute it. If it’s hot, pack deodorant. If it’s cold, slap some extra layers on. It’s the transition period from hot to cold (and vice versa) that can be tricky. When you leave the house with air cold enough to show your breath and you return eight hours later in balmy, flip-flop worthy temps, it’s important to keep your commuting kit versatile. Here are five tips to keep you comfy and on two-wheels even when the weather is conspiring against both. 1. Wool is your friend.  We’re not going to be humble and bury this tip. It’s too important. Merino wool is breathable for warm temps and highly insulating in cold temps. If you perspire or the skies open up, wool will keep you warm even when it’s wet – a health and safety issue in cold weather. Plus, wool bodes well for your semi-annual performance review at work. Even if you sweat on your ride to work, wool’s natural antibacteri...

Unless you're an enraged motorist, there's plenty of good to be found in the current push for big city  bike sharing programs . BitLock is certainly in keeping with the spirit of such initiatives, albeit on a much more localized scale. The proposed product is essentially a standard bike U-lock that communicates with Android and iOS devices -- get within proximity and click the unlock button on an approved handset and the BitLock opens up for you. The device is, thankfully, weather-resistant and has a battery that should last up to five years, according to claims (and you'll get a notification on your phone when it's finally ready to shuffle off this mortal coil). [Keep reading at Engadget]

You’ve heard it ad nauseam:  Share the Road  -  a mantra adopted much by cyclists and not at all by motorists. It’s become a passive petition: vulnerable bicyclists begging for enough street space to not be run over and killed from drivers largely indifferent due the empathy-crushing confines of the metal machines they drive. Even worse, groups like  Be Kind to Cyclists  have taken this kind of Stockholm Syndrome to absurd extremes, using language that would embolden any bully, ceding them power over their pleading victim. The PC urban professional crowd you see on their  corporate sponsored, helmet-required tours will shun assertive language and cling to a vocabulary of non-confrontationalism. For them, reputation and obedience are more important than responding to clueless motorists and their lethal driving habits with equal and opposite force. Whether in the streets or in our ongoing discourse, the tendency is to back down, to let the oppressor def...

Every year someone dies on a bicycle. Cars hit bicyclists every year and every year there are people in our community, friends, family, co-workers that suffer injuries and worse due to being struck by vehicles. There are many instances of DUI involvement and many more of clean and sober moving violations on either parties side. The part that pisses me off the most is the surge of bike hate that causes malicious acts against cyclist for the simple reason of being too slow, taking up space or being presumed to have some superiority. There are bloggers that write about being so angry with the slow moving cyclists downtown that they want to encourage people to spray them in the face with super soakers filled with hot sauce concoctions. Garbage and slushies are thrown at cyclists in and out of bike lanes. Burning cigarettes too. Any cyclist who has read a post about a bicycle accident knows standard responses include "Were they wearing a helmet?" "Were they in their lane?...

Amtrak today allowed 20 bicyclists to roll their two-wheelers onto the Capitol Limited train from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C., in what enthusiasts hope will be a step toward full implementation of roll-on service. "It went lickety-split," said Linda McKenna Boxx, president of the Allegheny Trail Alliance. "I don't think we cost Amtrak a second in dwell time." Amtrak placed a baggage car with racks for six bicycles on the Capitol Limited for the one-day trial. Six cyclists got on in Pittsburgh and off in Connellsville, where six others with bikes boarded. Four bicyclists were to replace them in Cumberland, Md., and four others were to ride the leg from Harpers Ferry, W.Va., to the nation's capital. [Read more at post-gazette.com]

Bike packing style. We're doing a bit more testing with the large size Camargue. Casey is leaving on a 5-day solo bike packing trip in West Virginia today. It involves dirt roads, fire roads, single track and even a little pavement. He'll be riding about 50 miles a day. Casey promises to write a blog post when he gets back. Here are a few shots of his rig and gear taken at VO world headquarters as he was packing this afternoon. [Keep reading at  Velo Orange Blog]