Velib- Two years later...

July 15, 2009, marked the two year anniversary of Paris' Velib bike share program. The Paris program in unique in a number of ways, not the least of which is the headfirst plunge Paris took in implementing Velib. Paris installed 1500 velib stations and 20,000 bicycles. A large investment for sure, but one that pales in comparison to many other transportation projects.

Hopefully Chicago will follow Paris' example and really pursue a full throttle institution of our bike share program rather than a small an ineffective pilot program.

See Velib links here:

Perils For Pedestrians in Paris. (The second half of this video is a very in depth look at Velib)

You Tube video

Chicago's Bicycle Share Program - First Look

This morning Chicago bicyclists took a first look at Chicago's planned bicycle share program at the Chicago Bike to Work rally. The bikes will initially be available at Bike and Roll rental locations, but the plan is to implement an all out citywide bike share program.

Apparently the scope of Chicago's bicycle share program is still being negotiated. Originally it was intended to encompass an area just outside of downtown- with the northwestern point being North and Damen, but negotiations are in the works to expand the program citywide and beyond.

The Bcycle three speed seems to be intended for urban use. The bicycle has clearly been designed to minimize the external components. It uses standard 26x1.5 size tires, a good choice in my opinion for city use. They run full drum brakes. The steering is springed (because of the basket), and the rigid fork has a weird design around the headset. Alex Wilson, of West Town Bikes and Ciclo Urbano says, "In my experience the triple tree configuration tends to rattle the headset leading to all sorts of headset problems." It may be that this fork design was used specifically to accommodate the large front basket.

The front basket is a popular design but, I question it's practicability in this instance. Cargo loads are more stable when carried as low as possible, and there really isn't a way to get the cargo load much higher than to carry it in a front basket. Also, cargo weight added to the front of the bike tends to make handling much more difficult and unstable as compared to carrying cargo on the rear of the bike. I can't help but suspect that the front basket was chosen for only aesthetic reasons rather than functionality. I anticipate that if they had just put the basket low on the rear (where it is more appropriate to carry cargo), they could have avoided the need for the complicated fork/headset and springed steering, while making the bicycle more stable.

Cables are routed through the frame, another aspect that gave Alex cause for concern. "I wouldn't want to be the one that has to recable this bike," Alex pointed out. While I'd agree that routing the cable through the frame makes the mechanic's job a little more difficult, it exposes less of the cable and housing to the elements and damage.

I totally approve of the use of the Shimano dyno/drum hub (I didn't even know that Shimano made a dyno/drum combo- I am only familiar with Sturmy's dyno/drum). The hub powers lights, so people who use Bcycles won't have to worry about lighting issues at night.

Drum brakes are a reasonable choice as they reduce exposure to outside elements. They should be more dependable in all weather conditions and less susceptible to the elements. Besides not requiring the constant maintenance of brake pads and adjustment, drum brakes don't wear out rims. Note the unique axle nuts and fender bolts, undoubtedly intended to reduce theft.

Overall I'm impressed with the Bcycle. Other than the front basket, these bikes seem well designed for urban use. I'll be excited to see how Chicago's bike share plan is implemented and how the Bcycles hold up under the test of hard urban use.

Check out Bcycle.com for more info on Bcycles.

Dura Ace Electronic Shifters: DI2 Technology

This is nutty stuff. In case you don't already know, Shimano has introduced an electronic shifter. No shift cables on these babies, just a thin electronic wire. I guess the new Dura Ace electronic system boasts a number of advantages including automatic trim on the front derailleur, depending on the position of the rear derailleur. Although I always thought shifting to be a more or less effortless endeavor, these shifters apparently operate at the soft press of a button. They also claim that since the derailleurs are not cable actuated there is no friction, so the shifts are super smooth.

What's the catch? Batteries. Imagine saying, "No, I can't go for a ride I have to go home an plug your bike in." While the batter is detachable and charged via a dock, you still have to deal with another battery.

One might as the question, "Why not go wireless?" Apparently the wireless setup would be heavier becuase of the need for more power and thus, more or heavier batteries.

See the electronic setup on a TT bike below. I couldn't find the battery... Apparently it mounts to the frame.

I dunno... It seems like the equipment I use works just fine, and it doesn't require the added hassle of batteries.

This stuff isn't for the small pocketbook either. The price is hefty: $800 for a rear derailleur, $750 for the front derailleur, over $900 for the shifters, not to mention $100 for the battery...

Andrew Bird's Heron Bicycle

If you look at page 25 of the July issue of Bicycling Magazine you'll see a picture of Chicago's very own Andrew Bird straddling his beautiful lugged steel Heron touring bike in front of the Hideout. Now let me think... Where have I seen that bicycle before? Perhaps here.

Here's a picture of Mr. Bird's beautiful Heron just before it left Boulevard Bikes. Since then it's seen the addition of a set of hammered aluminum fenders and a rack. Note the care taken to preserve the vintage feel of the bike. I don't know for sure, but I suspect that might be some Brooks leather bar tape on Mr. Bird's drops.

Want to get a Heron for yourself? Good luck. They're out of business due to difficulty finding a stock of good lugs. Seems like lugged steel will only get harder to find.

Rock stars have all the style...

Fatal Hit and Run on the South Side.

According to the Chicago Sun Times, "A 39-year-old off-duty Chicago Police officer has been relieved of his duties after allegedly striking and killing a 13-year-old boy on the South Side in a hit-and-run crash early Friday near the boy’s Gresham neighborhood home."

From WGN's coverage:

Brian D. Jackson and a friend said they were among a group of people standing outside a night club near the intersection of 81st and Ashland. The boy was riding his bike south down the second lane from the curb when a black Dodge Charger came up from behind at high speed, striking the boy near the intersection.

"The car never slowed down," Jackson said. "He didn't even have a chance to hit the brakes."

The collision threw the boy into the air, flipping him over several times before he hit the ground in front of a gas station more than 50 feet away, the witnesses said. Another young boy was riding his bike alongside Booker, they said, but he fled after the accident.

The driver continued south, swerving and still driving at high speed, as a crowd gathered around the boy's body, they said. The boy appeared to be dead upon impact, Jackson said.

A couple cars in the northbound lanes of Ashland turned around and tried to pursue the Charger, Jackson said.

Another witness, who declined to be named, said the stoplight had turned red before the accident occurred.

From ABC's coverage:

"To hit a child, somebody's child, and keep going? What type of person are you? What type -- I mean, I'm not understanding that. That's still what got me shocked," said Aletha Coaks, the boy's stepmother.

"I think for you to hit somebody and try to keep going, I think you are a dirty dog. That's dirty. That's dirty. And you'll get yours one day," said Terrence Booker.

Ride of Silence

Chicago's Ride of Silence will be held this evening. The Ride of Silence is a group ride wherein all the riders ride in complete silence in memory of riders who have been killed or injured. It is intended to bring awareness to cyclists rights to use the roadways.

From the Chicago Ride of Silence Website:

The Chicago Ride Of Silence will gather at the Eternal Flame in Daley Plaza at 6:45 PM and depart at 7 PM.

The 10-mile route will pass the sites of crash victims. Many sites are marked by Ghost Bikes, which are powerful memorials to fallen cyclists.

UIC Bicycle Seat Study...

Every male who rides a bike has probably heard rumors of bike seats causing problems down under. Although I know of no one who admits to such problems it seems worthwhile to medical exploration to either debunk the theory or deal with the problems posed to men on bikes.

The University of Illinois is conducting an experiment that will study the restriction of blood flow in the perineum caused by bicycle seats. Subjects have to make two trips to UIC. One to have an ultrasound performed, and the other to ride their bike on the lakefront. If you want to participate please see the conscent form located here. (Thanks CBR)

Ciclo Urbano Grand Opening

West Town Bikes is moving from its North Ave alley location to a storefront on Paseo Boricua at the corner of Division and Campbell. West Town Bikes will continue to offer a variety of mechanic classes and events for adults and children at the new location in addition to opening Ciclo Urbano, a full service community bike shop. All sales from the shop will support West Town Bikes’ larger mission of providing bicycle education for Chicago youth.

I was able to see the new space at their grand opening party this weekend. The new space is a step up, to say the least, from their old space in the alley behind the gas station.

My understanding is that the new bike shop, Ciclo Urbano, will be a more or less regular bike shop offering sales and service. As any regular of the former West Town Bikes knows, sales and service is a new thing at West Town.

Horrific attack on a cyclist...

On April 14, 2009 a bicyclist in the UK was attacked by a passing motorist. Apparently the motorist swung a bag of bottles into the face of the cyclist as they passed.

Chris Williams, 35, from Worthing, a former retained firefighter in East Preston, was driving past the scene when he saw the man's bike laying in the road and the victim laying nearby.

"I was shocked by the state of his injuries," said Mr Williams. "His face and head was completely smashed. The amount of blood was just incredible.

"It was quite a vicious attack. I honestly thought he was going to die."

The victim, described as in his early to mid 30s, regained consciousness and told Mr Williams he wanted to go home to his wife and children.

Assaults in Kane County

As Chicago Bike Racing says, "Its that time of year again." CBR reports that a black truck has been harassing cyclists by buzzing and brake checking them on Beith Road near Highway 47 in rural Kane County.

You've got to train yourself to get lisence plate number. Don't let people get away with this type of stuff. Always think, "Get the plates..."

Bicycle Tax Credit vs. Mass Transportation Credit

I have fielded lots of questions about the bicycle transportation tax credit in the last few months. The bicycle transportation tax credit offers $20 a month or $240 a year untaxed reimbursement for bicycle commuter expenses.

The New York Times recently summed it up as follows:

"The law's real rub, especially for New Yorkers, may be that commuters can pick only one tax-free method of travel per month.

For instance, a commuter who rides a bike to a subway stop, locks up at one of the city's fancy new bike parking kiosks and gets on the train or a bus can take a credit only for the MetroCard or other approved mass transit -- up to $120 -- or take the more paltry $20 for cycling. Will cycling New Yorkers give up $100 tax-free dollars a month to make a point about riding their bikes?"

Bob Matter, a local transportation cyclist, utilizes the mass transportation credit rather than the bicycle credit, although he qualifies for both for just this reason. Bob lives in Indiana. Every day Bob rides his bike from his house to the South Shore Metra. Bob takes the South Shore line downtown to his office. Bob elects to take the $120.00 monthly mass transportation credit rather than the paltry $20.00 per month bicycle credit. Even though it is reasonable that one might use more than one type of transportation to get to work every day, only one transportation credit may be claimed by an individual.

For people who only ride their bike to work the bicycle transportation credit is better than nothing. If you use a combination of CTA or Metra it's probably going to be a better deal to take the mass transit credit instead.

The League of American Bicyclists gives details about the bicycle transportation benifit here.

Momentum- Chicago's Regional Release.

Momentum Magazine has announced the release of a Chicago regional issue. Apparently along with the release of the new regional issue, there is expected to be increased distribution (note that copies are available free of charge at Boulevard Bikes).

Momentum, The Magazine for Self-Propelled People, promotes cycling for utilitarian purposes. They are big on using bikes for transportation. They practice what they preach too- Local distribution is done by bicycle.

Blue City Cycles

A new bike shop specializing in bikes for transportation and frame building has opened on the south side. As anyone who lives on the south side knows- they can use another bike shop. Apparently Blue city is a Schwinn dealer, and among other things, you may be able to find that reasonable used bike at Blue City.

Please welcome Blue City Cycles- at 3201 S. Halsted. John Greenfield's interview with Owen Lloyd on Vote With Your Feet is located here.

Others may know Mr. Lloyd as the owner and frame builder for Lloyd Cycles, or you may know him just as "The New Guy - 2008."

Where can I get my bike painted?

We often get people asking, "Where can I go to get a quality paint job in Chicago?" This can be tough because conventional paints will be soft or chip easy, and most a lot of "professional" painting operations are unskilled at handling bicycle frames. It is rare to see good results from a place that does auto painting, becuase they just aren't use to dealing with the tight bends, corners and crevases in bicycle frames. Further, most auto paints don't last long under the wear and tear of normal bicycle use.

A good alternative is to have your ride powder coated. Powder coating is about the strongest finish I've seen for bicycles. It doesn't chip easily, it's hard, and it cam be done in lots of colors and finishes.

Yuval Awazu, UV, has announced that UV Metal Arts has added professional powder coating to it's offered services. For $199.00 you can get your bike frame and fork stripped and poweder coated. UV mixes his own colors too, so you can choose practically any color under the sun. He can do cool effects such fades from one color to another (I also dig the metallic flake finishes). He can coat anything metal, and any type of metal. So if you want extras, such as a crank, stem or matching rims and hubs- UV can do it. See the pretty blue rack he powder coated above. See also the cool powder coated spokes shown here. A picture of the complete bike (build by Marcus of Yojimbo's) is below.

UV's shop is in located at Bubbly Dynamics, in Bridgeport.

If you would like to see and example of UV's work you can check out the new custom Llyod Cycles touring rig in the front window of Boulevard Bikes.

Cascade Couriers

As the velorution continues I notice more and more people recognizing the benefits and advantages of local cargo delivery by bicycle. In Bend, Oregon, Cascade Couriers is leading the way with a fleet of cargo trailers.

Besides offering cargo delivery services, Cascade Couriers offers composting service. When a Bend resident signs up for composting service a Cascade Courier stops by their house and drops off a composting container and a supply of compostable bags. Then they stop by on a regular basis to pick up your compost and deliver it to local farmers, where your discarded vegetable waste is used to grow fruits and vegetables. Daniel Brewster, of Cascade Couriers, says that there has been a learning curve as the business has grown, but public interest and cooperation with the local farmers has been encouraging to say the least.

Cascade Couriers uses trailers from Bikes at Work. They have a traditional truss frame Model 64 and a new and improved Bikes at Work Model 64 with I-beam construction. As I am a proud owner and user of the traditional Model 64 I was curious as to the performance of the new trailers. Brewster reports that the new model 64 actually has the same capacity as the old model 64, however, they are of the belief that for some reason the old model 64 feels faster. Weird, huh?

Kill a Cyclist?

A woman driving a pickup truck in Tucson killed an off duty police officer who was riding his bicycle. Apparently she struck him from behind. One would think they would issue a ticket or two in connection with such an event...

Crappy drivers caught on video.

Jeff is tired of being harassed and passed to closely, and he's trying to do something about it. He outfitted his helmet and bike with cameras to catch crappy motorists.



See Jeff's blog here.

Problems with Paris' Velib bike-share program.

After a year and a half, problems are starting to surface with respect to Paris' bike-share program, According to BBC almost half of the original Velib fleet has been stolen, many have been vandalized and, of course, many have required extensive repairs.

Below is a video "Velib Extreme," wherein some Parisians with apparent BMX experience test the capabilities of a few Velib bikes.



See the original BBC article here.

Montreal's Bike Share program.

Montreal's Bike share program is in the works. See a slide show here.

I will reserve judgment on the bikes. They were apparently designed to be rugged, with as many internal parts as possible. They were also clearly designed to be difficult to steal or useless to part out.

Note that they are equipped with generator hubs. I think that would be an absolute necessity for any bike share program in Chicago since bicycles are required by law to have a front headlight at night.

Even Tulsa has a bike share program...

In July I blogged about Paris' bike share program and Pensacola's less official bike share program. Yehuda Moon is trying to start a bike share program. Now, even Tulsa has developed their own bike/share program.

See Tulsa Townies here.

Doc pleads "not guilty" after teaching cyclists a lesson.

In a follow up to an entry in July of 2008, a California physician, Dr. Christopher Thompson, who allegedly injured two cyclists last summer by slamming on his car brakes in front of them plead not guilty on January 15.

See the article here.

Apparently this wasn't the first time either. Four months earlier, another cyclist allegedly got into a scuffle with Dr. Thompson. Patrick Watson testified that he and a friend were cycling down Mandeville Canyon Road in March when they heard a fast-approaching car behind them. Watson said he moved in front of his friend to get out of the way. "The car was so close to me I had to jump the curb. I thought it was going to hit me." Watson said he veered back onto the road to avoid a drain, and then the car's driver "slammed on his brakes . . . directly in front" of him and his friend. Both cyclists avoided running into the car.

I am always interested in the comments to such articles...

My sympathies are with the doctor. Far too often I see pretentious idiots wearing tights who think they are Lance Armstrong riding bicycles recklessly. This incident is an excellent example. How fast does a bicyclist have to be moving to generate enough force to ram their head through the rear windshield of a car.? The fact of the matter is that these bicyclists were riding way too fast and were a hazard to everybody on that road. By their own admission when the doctor told them to ride single-file (AS REQUIRED BY LAW) they hurled profanities at him and made threats. I'll bet they were chasing the car and thought they could catch him at the bottom of the hill.

[Cyclists] seem to want to teach us as lesson. They like to ride during rush hour when parents are trying to get their kids to school on time and others are trying to get to work. They appear to be daring drivers to hit them. When drivers honk or pull up and ask them to move over for everyone's safety, they release a stream of obscentities. Something needs to be done...

I agree with the others. The cyclists are arrogant and ride very dangerously. They ride way too fast and hog the road. Mandeville Canyon is very narrow and windy, plus there is no sidewalk.

The road is for CARS, not bikes. These idiots think they can slow down our roads just because they wear tights that say USPS on it. And why wouldn't you want this man as your doctor? He could be the best doctor in the world and because he proved a good point you people say you wouldn't want him as your doctor? Real smart...

I think bicyclers belong on a freaking BIKE PATH. Roads are for cars -- get off of them, recreational bicyclers. Go do your little riding in the park and stop annoying the rest of us with your ugly outfits and traffic-slowing, two-wheeling ways.

Too often bicyclists use the pretense of being green and fit as a way to deny the rest of us the right of safe passage.

The bicylists were behaving in a predatory fashion, and they got what they deserve, in a sense.

And BTW bike jerks next time you get on someone's butt remember what happened to these guys, and wonder if you are next. I hope you do it to me. You see Officer, a chipmunk ran out in front of me so I attempted to stop.. and that why Lance is stuck to my trailer hitch.

Hydraulic Rim Brakes- An Update

Earlier this year I installed a pair of Magura Hydraulic Rom Brakes on my tractor bike. I had two main concerns:

1) How user serviceable are these brakes?
2) How will these brakes fair in ultra cold weather?

With respect to the first concern I have, in fact, confirmed that Magura Hydraulics are difficult to initially set up, but once you get the proper adjustment they need little maintenance. Swapping brake pads is also a cinch. You literally just pull the old brake pads off and click new ones in. Oh, if only they made cantilever pads as easy to swap... Having said all that, I have yet to have a brake line burst, which has been a problem for a couple friends who run hydraulics. Unquestionably, that will not be something I'll be able to fix on the road.

With respect to my second concern...

This week we finally got the cold snap to really test the function of my hydraulics in cold weather extremes. This week Chicago experienced sub-zero lows complimented by Chicago's signature winds. Despite the extreme elements my hydraulics functioned well. Their return was a bit sluggish, but this did not interfere with their function.

After months of riding under all conditions, I'm still convinced that the Hydraulic Rim brakes are the best brakes I have ever used for heavy cargo delivery. Now I just wish there was a way to equip my trailer with effective brakes...

Man Gets Five Years After Five DUI's and Killing a Pedestrian.

The Chicago Tribune is reporting today that Mateo Ortiz was charged with five years in connection with a crash that killed a pedestrian in August. Mr. Ortiz was allegedly intoxicated and tried to flee the scene of the crash, but was prevented by a motorist who witnessed the crash. According to the Tibune Mr. Ortiz had four additional warrants for DUI.

On-Line Bike Shop Reviews...

Chicago Bike shop Database... "Mechanic actually shouted at me..." June 12, 2008.

Yelp "Mechanic Jim... Fucking red hot stud" November 22, 2008.

Yeah those are both me I guess. What can I say? I get mixed reviews. Most bike shops have their fair share of negative reviews (except for West Town, which only get's rave reviews for some reason).

My problem with posting an on line review is that if you are really dissatisfied with the service an on-line gripe allows you to anonymously lash out, but it doesn't really give the business an opportunity to fix your problem. Most businesses will want to rectify any individual problems- posting an on-line gripe deprives both the customer and the business of the opportunity to make things right.

Smart bikers find a local bike shop that they feel comfortable with, and they get to know the staff. Newbies can sometimes feel intimidated by the "scene" in a bike shop. Just relax. Try out a couple local bike shops, and I bet you'll find one you're comfortable with. Once you start to develop a relationship with your mechanic you'll find you get tremendous personal service.

Justyna gave a pretty good rundown of her gripes regarding on-line reviews on The Chicago Bike Blog.

Headlight Awareness Promotion.

The Active Transportation Alliance will be equipping cyclists with headlights and red reflectors tonight in effort to educate cyclists about proper lighting and reflective equipment.

See the Tribune's coverage here.

Guilty Plea in XXX Hit and Run.

CBR reported that Thomas Lynch struck a plea agreement to avoid trial for seven felony assault counts in connection with a hit and run he allegedly perpetrated last year in which he passed a pace line, swerved in front, slammed on his brakes causing a pileup, then fled the scene. In connection with that plea agreement he will serve two years probation, write a letter of apology to the League of Illinois Bicyclists, pay $3,500 to Alternative Transportation Alliance, and and he is required to undergo anger management evaluation and treatment. He is also prohibited from driving on St. Mary's or Everett roads.

A copy of the letter he wrote to LIB is here.

Anti-dooring...

http://anti-dooring.org/

Some information about doorings and how hey can be prevented from both a cyclist and motorist viewpoint.

Three Feet Please...

Many states have enacted three foot passing laws, including Illinois, however, the education of drivers has proved to be a difficult hurdle to overcome. In response to this problem Joe Mizereck has introduced a jersey aimed at educating drivers. See his web site at http://www.3feetplease.com/

Big Dummy... Xtracycle...

In case you don't know- cargo hauling is one of the new trends in cycling. It's nice to be able to stop on your way home and hit the grocery store and not have to worry about things like your very limited cargo capacity. One possible solution is the Xtracycle or Surly Big Dummy.

The advantage to the Xtracycle or Big Dummy is that you don't sacrifice much in the way of handling or efficiency compared with other modes of hauling cargo. First off, at a minimum, a trailer adds a number of feet to the length of your ride, and it gives you something extra to deal with if you're trying to go indoors. Typically one has to separate the trailer and bike to put things away unless you have the luxury of a roll in garage. The Xtracycle or Big Dummy only adds about 18 inches of length. I also suspect that there are rolling resistance advantages when comparing a trailer and a Xtracycle conversion or Big Dummy. My experience is that the number of wheels you have on the ground plays a role in the amount of rolling resistance. The Xtracycle or Big Dummy offers a respectable amount of cargo capacity without substantially increasing the length or rolling resistance of your bike.

Bob Matter, an avid Xtracycle user, says that the Xtracycle is ideal for cargo use because you always have cargo capacity- and a lot of it at that. Bob says, "Say you ride by a garage sale on your way home and you just can't pass up the table that costs a dollar. With the Xtracycle you just strap it on and ride away." Bob also point out that the weight is carried low, which means that the load is stable and tracks well. Finally, he points out that an Xtracycle is easy to hang on a wall mounted rack or hook, and when stored in this fashion the Xtracycle doesn't take up any more room than a regular bike.

The Xtracycle conversion kit complete costs just under $500.00, while a bare Big Dummy frame costs in the neighborhood of $1,000. Xtracycle offers a complete Big Dummy for around $2,000. That's probably what we could do a custom build for at Boulevard.

One of the things you might notice about the Big Dummy is that this year they were hard to get. We had a customer who badly wanted a big dummy, but every time we tried to order one for him they were out of stock. What's up with that? I e-mailed Andy Courson of Surly to find out.

[LJ] It looks to me as if one of the big future markets of bicycles involves cargo capacity. Surly has answered this call with the awesome Big Dummy, but we have had a hell of a time getting one at Boulevard when customers request them. Why is production so limited? Isn't there demand?

[Andy:] There is demand. Actually a lot of it. The first thing to understand is that although from this vantage point it is now obvious people are responding positively, there hasn't traditionally been a lot of positive history for such items in the U.S. and we have been careful to keep from overextending ourselves. But more to the point, production of these takes much more time and space than normal bikes, and this affects how many can be done, how they are stored and transported, and how their production affects production of our other stuff. The logistics and unique challenges in making Big Dummies make it very difficult to simply subcontract out the work, nor would we want to do this since quality of work varies a lot and we know and trust our manufacturer. We have worked hard to increase production capacity and have committed to Big Dummy complete bikes as an option next year, which should cause a separate and significant increase in demand. This is a calculated risk, and we believe in this idea to be much more than simply another product offering, but it has involved a lot of money and energy to make happen. In short, it's a balance we have to strike.

Sorry for the wait but there's light on the horizon.

Sunday Parkways

The Chicagoland Bicycle Federation is coordinating the second Sunday Parkways this coming Sunday. The inaugural Sunday Parkways was a great success. A great write up of the event can be seen at Vote With Your Feet.

The second Sunday Parkway will close the inner boulevard from Central Park at Madison in Garfield Park, south to 24th and California. Parkways will be closed from 9:00am to 1:00pm. Stop by the Hub Housing Cooperative when you're at 24th and Marshall and see bike friendly cooperative living at it's best.

Andy Corson of Surly regarding the Steamroller.

So after scratching my head for some time about the Steamroller and it's lack of proper eyelets and braze-ons I contacted Andy Corson of Surly.

[LJ:] The Steamroller is an awesome bike. I have long touted it's awesomeness as a winter commuter for it's sturdy steel frame and it's versatility in that it has clearance for fenders and wide tires, but I find myself in the same breath criticizing it because there are no eyelets for fenders or racks. Why no eyelets?

[Andy:] First, it's got horizontal dropouts, which can be tough to use with full fenders since the wheel has to come back instead of down to escape the frame. As well, it's designed tough and somewhat outside the track bike category but it's still a fixed gear, stripped down to the bare minimum. We have other models, such as the Cross Check, which can be run as fixed gears but are more suitable to racks and fenders.

I dunno. When I outfitted my Steamroller with full fenders it was slightly more difficult to change a rear flat due to the fender/horizontal dropout combination, but I would just carry a 10mm wrench to loosen the fender eyebolts. The addition of a few eyelets seems like a small addition to make a big change in the overall versatility of a bike that seems otherwise designed to be a sturdy super versatile bike.

Single Speeds - Some Ideal Winter Commuters

Single Speed bikes are a good choice for a winter commuter becuase they require less maintenance. Winters is tough on bikes. since we're reaching that time of year I thought it might be good to do a review of my favorite single speed commuter bikes.

In my experience the biggest problems with winter commuting is dealing with the salt. You have to get the salt off your bike after you ride. If you leave a bike salty for just a few days you'll come back to find rust. Nothing causes a bike to rust faster than leaving it salty. Thus the beauty of a single speed- clean the chain and you're done.

Whatever bike you choose to ride in the winter I always suggest using full fenders. Winters are wet. Even when it isn't actively raining or snowing, there is a lot of melting crap on the roads, so the roads are almost perpetually wet. Fenders keep the wet off your person and parts. That gives your bike and parts a fighting chance so they'll last longer.

My personal favorite for single speed commuting is the Surly Steamroller. The steamroller is marketed as a track bike, and it boasts a track bike geometry. Steamrollers are sold as a fork/frame or as a complete bike. You can see an example of a custom build here (this one cost about $1,200.00). Surly's standard pre-built complete Steamroller sells for about $700.00. I like the Surly for my own nostalgic reasons, as I have ridden one for years, but also becuase it is a fairly versatile bike. It has big clearances so that it is easy to run fenders or wide tires (although there are no brase-ons, so you must get creative when mounting fenders). The downside is that mounting a rear rack to a steamroller is difficult to say the least. When I have seen Steamrollers equipped with racks they are usually custom front racks.

I also like the Binachi San Jose. It comes standard with a flip-flop hub, and full set of cantilever brakes. It has all possible rack and fender brase-ons, and huge clearance for wide tires and fenders. This is probably one of the most versatile single speeds on the market today. The 2008 San Jose sells for $675.00 at Boulevard Bikes.

The Red Line 925 is a pretty solid winter commuter. It doesn't quite have the huge clearances for big tires of the Steamroller and San Jose, but it comes complete with full fenders and full side-pull caliper brakes. It also has brase-ons for a rack. Having built a number of the 925's I can tell you that I'm really impressed with Red Line's attention to detail. They don't skimp on parts where the consumer can't see it, as some other manufacturers tend to do. the word is that Red Line is trying to break into the huge road bike market, so right now they are really building their bikes right. The 925 sells for around $550.00.

You might also check out the Kona Paddy Wagon. The Paddy Wagon comes with a flip-flop hub, and side-pull caliper brakes. It has clearance and mounts for fenders and a rack. The 2008 Paddy Wagon sells for around $650.00, the 2009 is expected to sell for closer to $700.00.

What do all these bikes have in common? They're made out of steel. Steel is the perfect material for commuter bikes becuase it is strong, yet it has good shock absorption qualities, so it provides a comfortable ride on rough streets.