A new paper by John Pucher, Jan Garrard and Stephen Greaves titled, Cycling Down Under: A Comparative Analysis of Bicycling Trends and Policies in Sydney and Melbourne is now available in PDF format.

Melbourne fared much better than Sydney in the report, with double the bike mode share, better integrated bicycling infrastructure, and more extensive bicycling programs, advocacy, and promotional events.

The researchers found Sydney to be unusually bike-un-friendly, with Pucher quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald as saying, “Whether I was a pedestrian or cyclist I found the level of the hostility of Sydney motorists worse than I had seen anywhere in the world.”

Considering the above, it’s not surprising that the researchers found bicycles are predominately used for sport in Sydney, whereas they’re generally used for a wider range of purposes in Melbourne.

The paper is to be published in the Journal of Transport Geography, Vol. 18, 2010.

Cycling Down Under →
Sydney Morning Herald →

I was perusing the Dahon website and the Mu Uno caught my eye. There’s something about the stripped down simplicity of this ultra-minimalist folder that I find appealing. It’s a single speed with a coaster brake, no cables, no gears, and nothing else to get in the way. At 22 lbs. it would be easy to haul up a flight of stairs or onto a bus. If I lived in the city, I’d use it for getting around the downtown grid at times when I didn’t need the hauling capacity of a utility bike.

Dahon Mu Uno →

Canadian bag manufacturer Arkel launched their new website this week. I’ve been a fan of their bags for many years, and I use them on a daily basis for commuting and cargo hauling. Now that their new site is up-and-running, I realize I never much liked their old site; it was difficult to navigate and I often found myself hunting around. The new site features a simpler navigation layout, zoomable photos, and an e-commerce check-out system. Great work guys – much better!

Arkel →

The Seattle Bicycle Expo takes place this weekend at Smith Cove Cruise Terminal 91 on the waterfront in Magnolia, just north of downtown Seattle.

More information →

The Third Annual Sunday Streets Season kicks off this weekend in San Francisco. This Sunday’s event takes place on a 3-mile route along the Embarcadero near Fisherman’s Wharf. From the Sunday Streets website:

Sunday Streets S.F. →

We’re moving to a new e-mail notification system. If you’re currently subscribed to the EcoVelo e-mail notification list for site updates, your e-mail subscription is about to expire. If you’d like to continue receiving once-daily digest e-mail notifications, please go to the following page and enter your e-mail address to be added to the new system.

http://www.ecovelo.info/subscribe-via-e-mail/

This new-and-improved system delivers higher quality notifications and should eliminate some of the issues we had with the old system.

Thor at Thor USA sent me a link to photos and a description of a custom Dahon Mu xl Sport they modified to accept a Gates Carbon Belt Drive.

View the belt drive Dahon at Thor USA →

[Photo copyright Thor USA]