Banana On Sports

Yesterday's post turned into a capsule history of the banana seat.  I hadn't intended that; somehow, while under the influence of a Dunkin' Donuts dark hot chocolate, my mind drifted in that direction.

I was thinking about banana seats because of a bike I saw yesterday:

It was parked outside the main building of Borough of Manhattan Community College.  The school is located, literally, in the shadow of the site of the World Trade Center; for a few years after 9/11, I could only pass through that part of town.  However, yesterday, I had business down that way, and spotted the bike--just as its owner showed up to unlock it.  

I didn't get much of a chance to talk with her.  Her name is Julie, and she's a librarian at the college.  I would have loved to ask her whether she bought or received the bike in the state I found it--or whether someone converted it for her.

I know enough to realize that her bike is a Raleigh "Sports" three-speed from the mid-1970's. The particular shade of blue (with a silver panel on the seat tube) was offered around that time, which is when I first began to work in bike shops.

Probably the only more elegant "Sports" models were made in silver-gray.  The paint and panels are, I think, tasteful without being overly formal:  It's not difficult to imagine students as well as professors--or librarians--riding it. 

Like many Raleigh three-speeds ridden by commuters, it has a basket fitted to its handlebar.  However, it has another modification that the chaps in Nottingham never envisioned:  a banana seat!  At first glance, it looks utterly incongruous.  However, as most people who ride the Raleigh Sports--or other English three-speeds--want a comfortable ride, and the banana seat is indeed the idea some people (particularly those who ride short distances) have of comfort, there is a certain weird logic to installing one on such a bike.

The rest of the bike's eqipment seems to be original, except for the tires:  a white/cream Schwalbe on the front, and a whitewall of some sort on the rear.  The white/cream Schwalbes look great on Raleigh three-speeds; I installed them on the last such bike I owned.  I guess two white walls wouldn't look bad, either.  

I'm guessing that Julie has a bike that suits her purposes, although I would never install a banana seat on a Raliegh Sports (or almost any other bike, for that matter).  Anyway, I'm glad she's riding to work.  

Going Bananas

If you are around my age, you may have ridden a bike with a banana seat.  If you didn't, then a friend, neighbor, sibling or classmate did. 

From Nice To Draw

They were popular with pre-teens during the 1960's and 1970's.  The bikes that were equipped with banana seats seemed to be designed for one of two purposes:  doing "wheelies", or emulating motorcycles or race cars.

During the banana seat's heyday, every American bicycle manufacturer offered at least one model equipped with it. Some, like the ones found on Schwinn's Sting Ray series, sported racing stripes, while other bikes--particularly those made for girls--were adorned with colorful, and even wild, flower prints.  And, of course the Raleigh Chopper was a "banana" bike.

More than one reason has been given for their disappearance during the 1980's.  Some attribute their decline to the rise in BMX bikes.    Doing wheelies had become "old hat", so kids wanted to do more original, sophisticated and riskier maneuvers.  They found that the tighter geometry and lighter weight--along with the smaller seats--of BMX bikes made their stunts easier, or even possible.  

What a lot of people forget, though, is that the Consumer Products Safety Commission set its inspectors loose on various products (and lawyers on the companies that made those products).  They took the accidents and product failures that resulted from the most unlikely or egregious examples of misuse to rationalize removing those products from the market, or forcing redesigns of them.  In one of the silliest examples of mandated change, the CPSC said that Campagnolo "umbrella" pump clamps could no longer be sold in the US unless the "umbrella" cutout was closed or narrowed.  Apparently, someone got his finger caught in one.  I never heard about how he managed to do that.  So, the importer began to retrofit the clips with a ring inside the "rose window".


And so it was with banana seats.  As I understand, the CPSC forced them off the market because the rear braces failed on some of them.   The CPSC claimed that the design was inherently unsafe.  I'm no engineer, but I would expect the braces to be structurally sound, as long they aren't made of substandard materials and the attaching hardware is properly attached.  The real problem, I think, is two or more kids often rode on one seat. Even if the braces are strong enough to carry their weight, I would think they would still incur extra stress as a result of the extra twisting and swaying that would result from having two kids on the seat.

Some kids may have wrecked their banana seats due to carelessness or from doing one too many wheelies or other stunts on their bikes.  However, I don't think very many of them could have done so.  Plus, kids on BMX bikes are performing even more stressful (to their bikes) stunts than we did back in the day on seats that make most track saddles seem plush,  perched atop skinny seat posts.

Lately I've seen a fair number of banana seats for sale. Some are vintage; others seem to be reproductions.  I imagine that the latter are made in China or some other foreign country.  But I wonder how retailers are able to sell them in the US. The CPSC still exists; I wonder whether it has relaxed or otherwise changed its policies on bicycle parts.

Apres Sandy, Une Deluge Plus?

There's supposed to be another "Frankenstorm" headed this way.  It will be a bit different from Sandy, though, because while this storm will involve a Nor'easter, as Sandy did, it won't have a hurricane powering it.  Instead, a winter storm from the west will join the Nor'easter that's headed this way.

So, while the storm is exected to bring high tides, it won't bring anything like the surge Sandy brought. (So the weather forecasters say, and so we hope).  It also could bring us a fair amount of snow, along with or instead of rain.  However, it seems like the biggest snow drifts will be well to the north of me, in the Boston-Cape Cod-Providence area.

Still, I can't help but to wonder what this storm will bring.  Will I see anything like this in my neighborhood?

From Utility Cycling

Will this storm give rise to local counterparts of Bud Schaefer?  Will it lead to the use of alternative fuels?