Tom Vanderbilt, author of the New York Times bestseller, Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us), wrote a piece on motorist/bicyclist conflicts for the latest issue of Outside Magazine. It’s one of the most in-depth and reasoned articles I’ve read on the subject in the popular press. Well worth a read.
Bromptons come stock from the factory with small, hard plastic rollers mounted to the rear triangle for rolling the bike when folded (the “R” models have a second set on the rack). While these tiny rollers work reasonably well on smooth surfaces, they leave something to be desired on rough surfaces. Fortunately, Bromptom offers higher quality rollers called Eazy Wheels as an upgrade. Eazy Wheels are larger diameter than the stock rollers, they have rubber “tires” mounted over hard plastic inner rims, and they use sealed cartridge bearings in place of the stock bushings. They make rolling the bike as a cart much easier, and they add to the stability of the bike when parked. Of all the accessories one could purchase for their Brompton, at $24 for the set, these pack the most punch for the dollar. Now if they’d only do away with the plastic rollers altogether and include Eazy Wheels as a stock item…
[I bought my Eazy Wheels at NYCeWheels. NYCeWheels is a sponsor of this website.]
You might think that testing equipment, taking photographs, writing articles, answering emails, setting up photo contests, processing gallery entries, scanning RSS feeds, and updating software (among many other things) make up the bulk of the work we do here. If so, you’d be wrong. The real work is dealing with trolls, spammers, and plain old testy blog visitors who want to use and abuse our discussion area. All of the physical and creative work is a real joy and a labor of love. It’s moderating the discussion area that causes the most stress and strain and sometimes even makes us weary.
After going to full comment moderation approximately one year ago, our discussion area really livened up with a broader range of participants and more friendly and constructive discussions. This indicates to us that most of our readers prefer a controlled discussion environment where they can express themselves without being attacked by other users. We’ve also been told by our sponsors that they appreciate the positive tone and constructive nature of our discussions.
While it’s been a good year overall, things have deteriorated a bit this winter, with higher quantities of spam and trolling, and more people testing the limits of our discussion guidelines. Unfortunately, snarky comments beget snarky comments (I’ve been guilty of this myself), and once the bar is lowered, it’s not long before the entire tone moves in the wrong direction. We’ve been a little lax lately, allowing too much negativity to slip through, so we think it’s perhaps time to make a couple of adjustments.
A couple of things that are sorely missing on many forums and blogs are transparency and accountability. It’s easy to be flippant and rude from behind the shield of an anonymous login, but we believe most people will play nice when their name is on the byline. You know who we are, and going forward, we want to know who you are. So, starting today, everyone participating in our discussions will be required to enter their full first and last name, and a real email address, with every comment submitted (your email address will remain confidential and unpublished as always). Any comments submitted without your full name and legitimate email address will remain unpublished.
Along with this procedural change, we’ll be paying closer attention to our own discussion guidelines and applying them more consistently. What this means is that a slightly higher percentage of comments won’t make it through moderation. Believe us when we say we’d much rather not moderate comments at all, but after fielding nearly 24,000 comments over the past couple of years, we know this is required to maintain a constructive discussion area. Hopefully these small adjustments will help make our already mostly-friendly discussions better than ever.
According to an article published today by the BBC News, Transport for London is offering £4M to London’s outer boroughs to develop bicycling programs and infrastructure. 13 Boroughs will compete for the funds that will be available over the next 3 years. Among others, possible uses for the funds include bicycle parking, awareness training for lorry drivers, and new bike routes.
From the article:
Ben Plowden, TfL’s director of better routes and places, said: “Biking Boroughs aims to introduce simple, locally focused solutions that encourage residents to consider, for each journey, whether a bike could be used.
“Thousands of short trips made in outer London every day have the potential to be cycled, which is why we will be working with 13 boroughs to pave the way to encouraging a shift to two wheels.”
The Case for Bike Racks on NYC Buses from Streetfilms on Vimeo.
Another excellent film from Clarence Eckerson Jr. He takes a look at New York City buses in particular, but the film also includes interesting information for anyone interested in multi-modal commuting.
[We only had the D3 on loan for a little over a week, hence this "mini-reivew" instead of our usual "mega-reviews"... ;-) —ed.]
PUBLIC bikes are designed in San Francisco, CA and manufactured in Taiwan (not China). Their D3 is a diamond frame 3-speed that, among the bikes in their line-up, most resembles a classic 3-speed roadster. Unlike European roadsters—most of which are made from hi-ten steel—the PUBLIC’s frame is chromoly. Along with other differences in design and construction, this brings it in at approximately 10-15 lbs. under many of its European counterparts (28 lbs. compared to over 40 lbs.). This not insignificant difference in weight makes it more practical for carrying up flights of stairs or loading onto bus and train racks.
Even though it looks like a roadster, the D3 rides more like an American sport touring bike or hybrid. The steering is light and quick and the overall ride quality is lively. The frame is nicely compliant without being overly flexible. I was expecting more of a solid, cruiser-like ride similar to my old Pashley, but I found the D3 to be surprisingly nimble and responsive.
The D3′s cockpit is more stretched out than usual for this type of bike. Some will like it, others won’t. For how I’d use it, I’d want the D3′s cockpit to be more upright. This could easily be remedied by swapping the stock handlebar for an Albatross or North Road bar (I’d replace the stock saddle with a Brooks B67 while I was at it).
The Shimano Nexus 3-speed internal gear hub supplied on the D3 is snappy and quick. The gear range is appropriate for flat to rolling terrain; beyond that I’d suggest the 8-speed model. The supplied twist shifter works fine, but it would sure be nice if Shimano offered a thumbshifter for this hub (this would also allow the use of cork grips).
The long reach caliper brakes perform well, though their surface finish is a bit rough. The 36-spoke wheels, oversized platform pedals, stout kickstand, metal chainguard and fenders, and rear dropout adjusters are nice touches. The remainder of the components are on par for a bike in this price range.
The D3 would benefit from mid-fork braze-ons for mounting a rack and wire basket low over the front wheel. It is also (conspicuously) missing braze-ons for water bottles. A wire basket is a natural for this bike and it’s too bad the proper mounts aren’t in place. The lack of bottle braze-ons is simply baffling; I know this is a city bike, but it’s important to carry fluids while running errands around town in the summer. Roadsters don’t traditionally have braze-ons for water bottles or front racks, but they’d certainly not be out of place on this modern bike.
I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised by the PUBLIC D3. It’s much lighter (28 lbs. on my scale) and more nimble than expected. The bars are a bit of a mystery, and the missing braze-ons are a bit of a disappointment, but those certainly aren’t deal killers. For the most part, the details are well thought out and the overall package is clean and well-executed. Most importantly, the D3 is a fun ride at a good price ($690) that fills an important niche: a modern, good-looking, reasonably-priced 3-speed roadster designed specifically for an American audience.
The PUBLIC D3 featured in this review was supplied by the Hot Italian PUBLIC Pop-Up Shop, in Sacramento, CA. For more information, contact publicbikes@hotitalian.net. The shop’s official Launch Party is scheduled for Saturday, March 12, 6:00pm – 9:00pm, at Hot Italian in Sacramento. Rob Forbes, founder of Design Within Reach and creator of PUBLIC Bikes, will be on-hand for the event.
It’s always fun to see what other people are riding. Many of you have sent photos of your bikes for our Bike Gallery and it remains one of our most popular ongoing features. And of course, you’re all very familiar with the “staff bikes” here at EcoVelo. I personally get a big kick out of seeing what our sponsors are riding. Both Rivendell and Velo Orange have assembled cool photo galleries of their staff bikes; have a look by following the links below.
