Vintage Classic
“town and country”
Pashley Cycles is England’s longest established bicycle manufacturer. Founded in 1926 and based in Stratford-upon-Avon, our dedicated team design and hand-build a unique range of specialist bicycles and tricycles.
From our flagship traditional Princess and Roadster models to the exclusive Guv’nor Path Racer, every one of our bicycles are built to exacting standards. Our range includes classic and contemporary commuter bikes as well as retro beach cruisers. Adult and children’s tricycles provide stability and pleasure on three wheels, with a range of trikes for those with special needs.
Source – Pashley Cycles
New Year Resolution
“Gran Fondo”
I have done this ride on two occasions, both times I took the train up to Whistler and then rode my bike back to Vancouver. The classic Whistler to Vancouver ride.
Doing the ride in the opposite direction will be interesting.
“One of the most scenic highways in the world. Or a great excuse to see the Olympic cities of Vancouver and Whistler. Whatever your motivation, the Whistler GranFondo is the ride you’ve been waiting for.
This will be the first large scale, fully supported ride along the newly upgraded Sea to Sky highway – Hwy 99– from Vancouver to Whistler. With breathtaking views of Howe Sound, challenging climbs through the Coast Mountain Range and more downhill than you’d expect, this ride will impress and inspire like none other.
The Whistler GranFondo provides a dedicated lane for the entire route giving you the comfort to travel this spectacular course in a style not available at any other time. You will travel from Vancouver to Whistler, or as we like to say, from Sea to Sky!”
Source – Whistler Gran Fondo
Heavy Metal
“Bikes That Deliver”
Think of it as a beach cruiser on steroids—a “Muscle Beach” cruiser, if you will. There’s nothing metrosexual about this Eurostyle city bike—it’s updated from a Swedish army bicycle of the 1940s, and it would not look at all odd with a carbine scabbarded to its fork. Pure, manly utility: steel and plenty of it; big 650B tires for floating over broken roads, debris, and dirt; fenders to keep the “mud, the blood, and the beer” off your blue jeans; and a rear rack you could strap a keg to. It’s 100% at home in the big, bad city: laughs at potholes, sneers at alleys, rolls with the slow grace of someone who knows he’s got nothing to fear. If it were a car, it would be a Checker Marathon, staple of the New York City taxi fleets in the 1950s and ’60s. It’s an old Irish cop of a bicycle, right out of Raymond Chandler. (Ladies, fear not: there’s a women’s frame available as well, for the shorter and the skirt-clad amongst us)
Source – Kronan Bikes
Velo Power
“Glide Along Little Lassie”
The bicycle, according to scholar Donald Zaldin, revolutionized nineteenth-century culture. Its progenitor was the two-wheeled velocipede, invented in 1817 by Germany’s Baron Karl von Drais. The velocipede looked like a bike, but it had no crankshaft or drive train. The rider was propelled along by foot power alone. Then, sometime in the mid-1860s, a French metalworker figured out how to add a crankshaft. Two decades later, in 1885, England’s John Kemp Starley attached gears to the rear wheel instead of the front. Three years later, John Boyd Dunlop, a Scottish veterinarian, improved pneumatic tires and introduced the smooth ride. Suddenly, anyone, rich or poor, young or old, could travel beyond his or her immediate surroundings at no extra cost and with little wear on the body. The past century has seen numerous design upgrades and innovations — the three-speed Raleigh, the ten-speed derailleur, the mountain bike, the hybrid — but the concept remains the same.
And that concept’s irreducible nut is the body defying gravity. Riding is governed by physics, specifically by torque-induced precession. Gravity causes a stationary bike to fall over, but applying torque — using the legs and feet to push down on two pedals attached to a crank — changes the equation. The drive train transfers the rider’s energy directly into movement. The wheels turn and stay upright, and torque allows 182 pounds of human tissue to move on two flimsy pieces of rubber filled with air.
The thinner the bicycle’s frame, the less wind resistance, and aerodynamics only increases efficiency; leaning over the handlebars, especially going downhill, reduces drag and boosts speed. Spoked wheels are almost as strong as solid ones, at a fraction of the weight. Using a derailleur, a transmission system invented by the French in the late nineteenth century, the rider easily switches the chain to a smaller sprocket and — voila! — more torque, more distance in less time. As the rider increases cadence — the number of revolutions per minute — he injects pure power, especially in higher gear ratios. The work is hard but satisfying.
Source – Switching to Glide
Contrail
“Hansel and Gretel Cycling”
Contrail is a tool for developing bicycle communities. As you ride, contrail leaves a faint chalk line behind your bike. The goal is to encourage a new cycle of biking participation by allowing the biking community to leave a unique mark on the road and to reclaim this crucial shared space.
Want to know more?
If you’re interested in receiving periodic updates about Contrail’s progress and availability, please leave us your email address–we won’t use it for anything but sending you breaking Contrail news.
Source- About Contrail
A Cool Way To Get Around
“A Modern Bicycle with a Classical Touch”
Think of it as a beach cruiser on steroids—a “Muscle Beach” cruiser, if you will. There’s nothing metrosexual about this Eurostyle city bike—it’s updated from a Swedish army bicycle of the 1940s, and it would not look at all odd with a carbine scabbarded to its fork. Pure, manly utility: steel and plenty of it; big 650B tires for floating over broken roads, debris, and dirt; fenders to keep the “mud, the blood, and the beer” off your blue jeans; and a rear rack you could strap a keg to. It’s 100% at home in the big, bad city: laughs at potholes, sneers at alleys, rolls with the slow grace of someone who knows he’s got nothing to fear. If it were a car, it would be a Checker Marathon, staple of the New York City taxi fleets in the 1950s and ’60s. It’s an old Irish cop of a bicycle, right out of Raymond Chandler. (Ladies, fear not: there’s a women’s frame available as well, for the shorter and the skirt-clad amongst us)
Source- About the Kronan
Remembrances
“Waiting Patiently”
The bike was a 1950s vintage one-speed, perfect for the seashore’s flat terrain. It had a wide, comfortable seat, sturdy aluminum or steel handlebars complete with a one-chime bell, and wide tires. I rode sadly but hopefully towards the convent by the sea, riding into the wind. It had been a long time since I had ridden a bike, and my legs could feel the steady push-pull of pedaling at a measured pace. Damn, it was tough riding that old bike. Despite not having ridden for awhile, I was an avid, regular walker and worked out with weights several times a week. I couldn’t believe how tough it was just to pedal on such flat terrain. “Oh, yeah, I’m riding into the wind—that must be why it’s so damn hard,” I reassured myself. On reaching the convent, I spied a sister and hurried over to her.
“Sister, I’m having an awful day. Could you possibly give me communion?”
“Well, Father just finished Mass. I’ll see if he’s still here. Come with me,” she offered.
“Come on, sister,” I muttered inside, “we’re in a post-Vatican-II world. Sisters can give communion. Even I could give communion in an emergency. Can’t you just do it?”
“No, I think Father’s still here. He’ll give you communion.” Father gladly offered me communion and asked if I knew what day it was.
“It’s Thursday,” I replied, “the fifteenth of August.”“Quite right, young lady,” the kindly priest answered. “It’s Our Lady’s feast day, so be sure and put your feet into the ocean and say a thank you to Mary.”
Story – “Riding into the Wind” / Ann Bracken
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Photography – Carla Costa
Photo
I just want to ride my bike
Bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like
A Girl & Her Bike
“Bike Logic”
No tenemos mucha más información sobre este corto realizado por Andrea Dorfman, con música de Kev Corbett, enviado al Festival de Cine de Bicicletas de Nueva York 2009 (del 17-21 de junio pasado). Pero está bien hecho, resulta muy poético y vale la pena verlo.
Source: Biking Thoughts
Bike Buddy
“Bike Pal”
Are you lonely tonight? Are you wanting to go for a wild bike ride, or perhaps a leisurely ride around the park.
Well then scoot on over to Bike Pal and find that special person that enjoys the same riding styles as you. Lycra Optional.
By the way you don’t need to have Gucci bike to go riding like this rather lovely looking bicycle pictured above
The Dutch-style bike is out of the range of most of us, at around $3400, and the official product page is very light on information… about such matters as gear ratios or brake technology. But it is stylish.
Source:
Find a Riding Buddyl
