The Kid’s Wheels – A Breezer Uptown 7

I’m surprised by the number of young people who are not getting their driver’s licenses as soon as they turn 16. Our kids are waiting, and a number of their friends seem to be in no hurry either. Our son, who is 19 and attending college, is not driving yet and he appears to be in no hurry to take on the responsibilities and expenses that come along with car ownership. He’s been getting to-and-from school using a mix of walking and transit, and now that he has a new bike, he’ll be working it into his multi-modal mix. We’re proud that he recognizes car ownership would mean taking on a full-time job, resulting in less time and energy for school and other activities.

We’ll have more on his commuting adventures in future posts.

Our server swap is complete and we’re already seeing greatly improved response and load times. According to tests run at Pingdom, our full page load times have dropped by one half! We hope this boost in performance makes for a better user experience.

It looks as if a few comments were dropped in the transition. If you submitted a comment over the past 24 hours and it didn’t appear on the site, feel free to re-submit if you’d like.

Our friend Tammy Strobel of Rowdy Kittens just completed her first e-book titled Simply Car-Free: How to Pedal Toward Financial Freedom and a Healthier Life. Tammy sent us an advance copy to peruse and we enjoyed it immensely!

Simply Car-Free tells the story of Tammy’s (and her husband’s) transition from a “normal” middle-class lifestyle to a simpler, more intentional way of living. The book is loaded with practical information and tips to assist those who are considering transitioning to a car-free lifestyle. Their story is an inspiration to anyone looking to downsize and simplify their life, and Tammy shares it in an open and honest way that speaks directly to the reader.

From the Simply Car-Free website:

Simply Car-Free goes on sale Monday, March 1. The price is $9.95 for the first 500 people who download the book; thereafter the price will go up to $12.99. The first 3 chapters are available to preview prior to purchasing the book.

Simply Car-Free →

Our EcoVelo caps are back in stock. If you’ve had a cap on backorder, it’ll ship tomorrow. Thanks for your patience!

It must be something in the water; three of my favorite bicycling blogs, Cyclelicious, Bicycle Design, and Bike Intelligencer recently redesigned their site templates (they look great – take a gander). And while we’re on the subject, I’ll mention that we’re changing web hosts soon with the hopes of providing better uptime and faster load times here at EcoVelo.

The Shimano North American Handmade Bicycle Show opened this morning in Richmond, Virginia. A Flickr group has been set-up for those in attendance who would like to upload and share their photos. As of right now there are only a few photos in the pool, but check back and watch the slide show again because the collection will undoubtedly grow as the weekend progresses.

NAHBS 2010 Group @ Flickr →

Mike Flanigan of A.N.T. had his handmade folder stolen while attending the North American Handmade Bike Show in Richmond, Virginia today. From the ANT blog:

More here →

Note: The above photo was retouched to simulate the color of the stolen bike.

From the L.A. Times:

This is great news for bicyclists in the Los Angeles area!

Read the article in the Times →

And finally, the #1 reason to commute by bike (if a sunrise like that won’t get you out of your car, I don’t know what will). Captured this morning on the way to work…

The symbol of the myriad things that are wrong with our approach to transportation in the U.S. is finally falling by the wayside. All I can say is, “Goodbye and good riddance.”

Read about it in the NYT →

In this era of hi-zoot, threadless/integrated headsets and clamp-on stems, old-fashioned threaded headsets and quill stems seem almost quaint. I don’t normally think of myself as a Luddite, but I have to admit, in this case I far prefer the old to the new.

Sure, threadless systems have their advantages; the headsets are easy to adjust and the stems are stiff and strong. The downside though, is that making adjustments to bar height requires purchasing a new stem, an extender, or even a new fork. And, of course, once the steerer tube is cut, there’s no going back.

I have to wonder if the oft-touted advantages of threadless systems are actually of any use to the typical commuter or utility bicyclist. I’ve run threaded headsets for decades and I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve had to adjust a headset. Also, unless someone is racing or riding offroad in rugged conditions, how stiff does a stem need to be? Instead of worrying about stem stiffness, we transportational bicyclists might be better off heeding Sheldon Brown’s advice.

I suspect the real reason the industry has pushed to promote threadless headsets is that they reduce inventory for both shops and manufacturers. With threaded steerers, suppliers need to stock a different fork for every frame size. With threadless steerers, suppliers only need to stock one fork size, which can be cut down to the customer’s preference at the time the bike is assembled. Certainly this is a legitimate approach when looked at from a business perspective, but it offers no real benefit to the end user.

I must admit, I simply prefer the look of quill stems. To me, they’re more elegant and look less industrial than clamp-on stems. But beyond their aesthetic qualities, they also offer the tremendous advantage of being fully adjustable over a vertical range of a few inches. Proper bar height is crucial to rider comfort, and for most people, the ease with which quill stems can be adjusted is likely to outweigh any benefits associated with threadless systems.

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Errand runner, cargo hauler, commuter

It’s the quote heard ’round the world (or at least throughout the transpo bicycling blogosphere). At a recent Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Transportation Committee meeting, Supervisor John Cook, while debating the need for improved bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, made the following statement:

Hmmm, you could have fooled me (and many of our friends and readers).

Fortunately, it sounds as if Supervisor Cook is in the minority on the Board, which implemented a comprehensive bicycle initiative in 2006.

More @ The Washington Examiner →
More @ Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling →
More @ DC Streetsblog →

Here are a few of my favorite bicycling magazines…

A to B – A to B covers folders, e-bikes, and many other car-free alternatives. They produce in-depth reviews of unusual bicycles of all sorts. Print and electronic subscriptions are available.

Bicycle Quarterly – Bicycle Quarterly is targeted at avid bicyclists. They produce the most in-depth technical reviews I’ve read. They conduct well-controlled tests that are folded into their bike reviews. The articles may be too technical for many people, but if you like this sort of thing, no one does it like BQ. Print subscriptions only.

Momentum – Urban bicycling from a Canadian perspective. Momentum focuses primarily on lifestyle, culture, and bicycling fashion, with only a smattering of technical equipment reviews (that said, their latest issue is their “Gear Issue”). It’s a fun magazine and a favorite of Mrs. EcoVelo. Print subscriptions and free electronic issues are available.

Urban Velo – The names says it; Urban Velo covers everything related to bicycling in the city. They offer a nice mix of bike culture and technical articles. I really like their blog too. Print subscriptions and free electronic issues are available.

Velo Vision – I’ve been a big fan of Velo Vision for years. VV is the only magazine that truly covers every type of bike used for transportation including uprights, longbikes, recumbents, folders, e-bikes, velomobiles, and more. Peter Eland writes the most thorough and balanced reviews I’ve come across. Print or electronic subscriptions are available.

Do you have any favorite magazines that cover transportational bicycling that didn’t make the above list? If so, please share… :-)

We had a fun time today at the B. Spoke Tailor event at Hot Italian in Sacramento. Nan Eastep from B. Spoke made the trip over from the Bay Area to show off her work and take orders for the upcoming Sac Tweed Ride in March. We enjoyed seeing her beautiful sartorial creations while catching up with our downtown friends and eating some super-tasty pizza.

Nan Eastep of B. Spoke Tailor and John Boyer of Edible Pedal

Exquisite tailoring and nearly endless options

The samples were available for purchase

Every piece is specifically tailored for bike riding

Gorgeous fabrics

Lots of wool, inside and out

Edible Pedal had one of their delivery bikes on display (a Civia Loring)

The Bicycle Business generously donated two bikes for a raffle to benefit the California Bicycle Coalition. Tickets went on sale today and the bikes will be raffled at the upcoming Tweed ride (visit Sac Tweed for more information and to purchase tickets).

The first raffle bike is a Fuji Cambridge; it’s a great looking bike

A very cool Breezer Citizen 3, the other raffle bike

The wild bike racks out in front of the Hot Italian

Many thanks to Sacramento Tweed, Sac Cycle Chic, and Hot Italian for hosting the event. We’re looking forward to the tweed ride on March 28th!

B. Spoke Tailor →
Sacramento Tweed →
Sac Cycle Chic →
Hot Italian →
Edible Pedal →
The Bicycle Business →

The other day I mentioned that I had pant-cuff-strap-envy when I spotted my friend’s Planet Bike BRT Strap (I know, I know, it’s takes a real bike nerd to covet thy neighbor’s cuff strap). Anyway, I picked up my own BRT strap and I’m happy now. As you can see in the photo, it’s a really cool thing that can be used as a cuff strap or strapped anywhere on one’s bike or body to increase their visibility. It glows like one of those glow sticks you see at concerts, except it’s much brighter, it’s red, and it has a flashing option. Now, if PB would make one that accepts rechargeable batteries…

Planet Bike BRT Strap →

Yup, Planet Bike sponsors this website.

Shimano has signed on as title sponsor of the North American Handmade Bike Show (NAHBS) for 2010. From the press release:

NAHBS →

From Sac Tweed:

Date: Sunday, February 21
Hours: 12-4pm
Location: Hot Italian, Corner of 16th and P Streets, Midtown Sacramento

B. Spoke Tailor →
Sacramento Tweed →

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 714 bicyclists were killed in collisions with automobiles in the U.S. in 2008. This number is down 29 percent from 1975. The decline among female bicyclists (50 percent) was larger than the decline among male bicyclists (24 percent).

The statistics in the IIHS report support what I’ve seen in other studies: early evening is the most dangerous time of day to ride, urban areas are more dangerous than rural areas, and major roads are more dangerous than minor roads.

Ninety-one percent of bicyclists killed weren’t wearing helmets. I don’t believe this number tells us much about helmet effectiveness because there’s no way to know if a higher rate of helmet use would have significantly changed the number of deaths. For a controlled study on helmet effectiveness, see Thompson, R.S.; Rivara, F.P.; and Thompson, D.C. 1989. A case-control study of the effectiveness of bicycle safety helmets. New England Journal of Medicine 320:1361-67.

While we already knew bicycling is a relatively safe activity (see here), it’s good to know our streets in the U.S. are getting even safer for bicyclists.

IIHS Fatality Facts 2008 →

The Seattle Tweed Ride is taking place this Sunday, February 21. The ride will depart from Cal Anderson Park at 1pm. Visit Go Means Go for more information.