I haven't been posting as often as I had been a few months ago, mainly because my classes are bigger this year and, it seems, falls into one of two categories: those who need more and those who demand more. I guess that's just part of being in the current economic situation.
And so is Occupy Wall Street. I've gone to it three times and learned that bicycles are becoming an integral part of their protest, movement, or whaotever you want to call it. That's not surprising, really, when you consider than in much of the world (and, increasingly, in some parts of the US), bikes are transportation for the "99 percent." And, as a form of recreation, it's far less energy-intensive, and less expensive than other activities.
However, bikes are an important part of OWS for practical reasons. Some of the protestors got there, or come and go (as I did) on two human-powered wheels. Some of those who've stayed are transporting food and water (which, interestingly,they're getting from the taps of local homes and businesses) on bike-towed trailers or tricycles.
But what I found most interesting of all can be seen in this photo:
Yes, this young man is powering his cell phone and laptop computer with power he pedals into a generator. Someone at OWS started rigging up these bicycle-powered generators after police seized the gas-powered ones they'd been using. Now, in addition to making power for cell phones, laptops and other electrical and electronic devices, the generators are being used for a variety of milling and grinding purposes, including the making of compost, which they are using themselves in Zuccoti Park and giving to farmers who are selling fruits, vegetables and other foods in nearby markets.
While I'm on the subject, Crowdrise, Times Up and other organizations are accepting donations of bicycles, as well as tires, tubes and other parts--and, of course, money to buy bikes and parts--for OWS.
If OWS turns into a full-blown revolution, will bicycles be credited (or blamed)? After all, what revolves more--and is therefore more revolutionary--than a bicycle wheel?
New York City may well be the "Frankenbike" capital of the world. Even if you live here for a couple of decades, you'll see permutations of bikes you simply won't see anywhere else.
Today I'm going to show you two "Frankenbikes" that were parked near a train station in my neighborhood.
Until I saw the first, I never realized what, exactly, my commuter bikes have always lacked:
They are mountain bike "bar ends," which were very much in vogue during the mid-'90's. I used a pair myself. There was a good reason for them: Mountain bikes, at least as they were configured then, didn't offer a variety of hand positions. That could be very tiring on a ride of an hour or more. So, bar ends like these were made to clamp on the ends of flat bars. Most, like these, used a wraparound clamp; a few had ends that inserted into the handlebar, much like a bar-end shifter or brake lever.
Here, the person mounted them on the middle of the handlebar to get an "aero" position. That's exactly what the owner of that bike needs.
It's a Schwinn Suburban from, I'd guess, the early 1970's or thereabouts. Essentially, it was a Varsity or Continental with upright bars, fenders and a single rather than a double chainring in the front. Like the Varsity or Continental, it's a tank. At least the "aerobars" can help its rider lop a few seconds off his or her commute.
The bike also has a generator lighting system. I wonder whether it works. Lots of people buy or inherit used bikes like that one that have generator lights on them. Often, the person who buys or inherits the used bike never even knows whether or not the lights actually work, for they do no night riding--or, perhaps, even know how to use the light. Or the person riding the bike may well know that the light doesn't work but simply doesn't bother to take it off.
At least the generator and lights are where they're supposed to be. The same can't always be said for any bike you'll see parked here in NYC:
A headlight in a water bottle cage--on the top tube of a women's bike? In some crazy way, it seems ingenious. After all, the light on that bike is in a less prone position than it would be on other parts of the bike. Plus, it could be really useful for checking runs in my stockings or rips in my pants legs.
No kind of bike paint job is more widely detested, justly so, than the '80's fades. (Some of the most unfortunate samples from that genre were found on Klein bicycles of that era.) However, around the same time, there was another kind of paint job that was as almost as bad, and common on European bikes (or bikes for the European market,at any rate). I call it the tricolored Easter egg look:
The owner of this bike, or the person from whom the owner bought or was given this bike, probably brought it in from Italy or someplace in Europe, as I don't think this model was ever inported to the US. In fact, I think that around the time the bike was made, Atala bicycles were no longer being imported to this country. Some of their better models were rather pretty, but I was never particularly impressed with the rides of the ones I tried. Plus, the workmanship was such that we used to joke that its paint and chrome flew off when the bike was operated at too high a speed.
Anyway, even though these two bikes caught my attention, they're hardly the most mutated bikes I've seen here in New York. Unfortunately, I never photographed the crazier bikes I saw. But then again, I'll probably see others that are just as zany.
No, I didn't buy another Mercian. (Having four is almost an embarrassment of riches, really!) Rather, my "new addition" was installed on Vera.
She, like many other bikes built at the same time (early 1994) she was, has low-rider rack mounts on the front fork. Vera is, if I remember correctly, the third bike I've owned with those mounts. However, I've never before used a low-rider, or a front rack of any other kind.
Had I kept Marianela, she would have gotten a front rack. I've had handlebar-mounted baskets on other bikes but felt they mounted too high, which worsened the bikes' road-handling. Given that most of the bikes I've used as commuters had more relaxed head angles and, hence, less responsive steering, than my road bikes, that was no small consideration.
So, I decided that I was going to mount some sort of fork-mounted rack on Vera. I really wanted to use the lowrider mounts. However, I was willing to consider other ways of mounting the rack.
I first considered the Velo Orange front racks because the materials and construction looked good, and their prices were relatively reasonable. However, the VO Randonneur front rack wouldn't have worked, because the legs are too short to reach the low-rider and are not adjustable. (Constructeur rack legs like the ones on the VO Randonneur mount higher on the fork than lowrider bars.)
I also looked at the VO Pass Hunter. Its struts bolt onto cantilever/V-brake bosses, which Vera has. It's a somewhat larger and beefier version of the old Mafac racks that bolted onto the centerpull brake pivots. Although I would have preferred to use the lowrider mount, I wasn't opposed to using a brake-mounted rack. However, I wasn't willing to do something else the Pass Hunter would have necessitated: drilling out my front fork crown.
That crown is drilled and tapped for 5mm bolts, like the ones used on most water bottle cage and rear rack braze-ons. The Pass Hunter has an integral mounting bolt that's meant to fit in a hole large enough for a brake pivot bolt. I simply didn't have the heart to drill out that nice classy fork crown.
So, that left me with two other options, apart from getting a custom rack. One would have been to buy one of the front racks made for mountain bikes: They mount on the cantilever braze-ons but have an adjustable strap (like the kind found on Blackburn-style rear racks) through which the brake bolt passes. The rack is cheap, and looked sturdy enough, but wouldn't have looked good on Vera.
So, with a sigh, I resigned myself to spending the money on a Nitto M-18. I know, from using other Nitto parts, that their quality is second to none. And, often, their prices aren't, either. However, I was lucky enough to find a really good deal on one from Tree Fort Bikes in Ypsilanti, Michigan, which also matched another retailer's price on another item I bought at the same time.
Still, the Nitto had the same problem as the VO Randonneur: the struts weren't long enough to reach the lowrider mount. Luckily, the struts are replacable with longer ones that Nitto makes. It seems that Rivendell is the only retailer that carries those struts (Even the Japanese retailers didn't have them!), so I placed my very first order with Riv.
The struts are really made to attach to a front dropout.
So I cut them, and within fifteen minutes, I had the kind of rack I wanted on Vera.
It, like the Pass Hunter and Randonneur, is really intended as a handlebar bag support. But I plan to use a basked on it or simply to strap my purse or shoulder bag on it when I ride to work.
