...oh yes

I might as well add that Rapha has begun offering their fine cycling clothes in the female fit-way. Don't worry ladies, they aren't bedazzled in flowers and hearts like every other "women specific" cycling item is... (on that note, I can't believe that companies do that... it's like if all men's cycling shit came emblazoned with bulldozers, soldiers, and muscular dogs...oh wait...)

Check out the lineup here.

...the [two-week-long] madness (installment 13)

So after assuring you that I am officially back to tending the weedy garden that is this blog, I feel somewhat obligated to explain my rather lengthy hiatus from it with what few readers I may have left.

As I had mentioned some time ago, in an extraordinarily good turn of fortune for the firm I essentially embody one half of, we managed to finally secure paying work and as such all available time and efforts were directed at accomplishing our directive to a T.

Coupled with that daytime craziness, I also did two other things which are of some interest to this blog and pertain (at least loosely) to Cycling and/or New York City: First, I moved all of my worldly possessions out of my former residence and moved back to the ghetto.

Now don't get me wrong, Bed-Stuy has it's upsides; twenty-four hour liquor stores, bodegas-a-plenty, and "low rent" to name a few. However, it also sucks in many other less immediately-noticeable ways, like the consistently crummy meat selection among the pitifully few choices of supermarket.

At any rate, I'm staying around the corner from a G train stop now and have had one opportunity so far to witness the hipster (read: white people) inundation of Bed-Stuy firsthand... You see, when I first moved here some eight years ago as a naive college student, most of us knew that going north of Classon Avenue by any means other than taxi or subway was a pretty bad idea. Then two years later a few friends and I moved right to the technical border between Bed-Stuy and Clinton Hill (though real-estate agents like to consider it Fort Greene sometimes) and watched as we went from being an anomalie in that neighborhood to being the old hats that were 'cool' with the locals. Of course the barriers between race, religion, or status of brooklyn's denizens haven't disappeared, they just moved north a ways.

So I feel strangely comforted living here again, I know the 'hood and my new house rocks: pool table, laundry in the basement, backyard, dishwasher, cool peeps; you name it.

I also have a miniature bunny bernard to keep me company:


The second thing that kept me without time for the bloggin' was an architecture/design competition I entered into with some cats from the school days. The deadline hasn't yet passed, and the work doesn't belong to me solely, but if everyone is fine with it, I might do a post later this week with some of the images and a description of the system we designed. I can, however drop something I did that didn't end up getting used in our submission booklet:


A new idea for the massive shortage of physical bike-storage infrastructure in places like Copenhagen is to merely delineate an area of sidewalk or curb-space for amorphous bike parking. Our submission proposed a lit piece of 'intelligent' infrastructure that would keep watch over bikes in it's view...

Working on the project was a lot of fun and I always enjoy getting the creative juices flowing, though I have to say, working in a group has never been my thing. I'm one of those people that wants either complete control or a minimum of responsibility. Of course, that's a secret I'll never let any of my past, present, or future employers onto.

I kind of feel like one of those dogs that keep running their legs after they've been removed from the ground; my brain still operates like there isn't a moment to lose, but my hands can't find things to work on at a complementary rate.

To fill the void I've again taken up working out a complete portfolio for professional marketing (shoot me now), and cycling.

I had felt a little miffed because along with the very-seasonal weather this autumn, my schedule prevented me from putting down the miles I normally would over the weekends and in the evenings... I think my most recent weekly total was on the order of 70 miles, due largely to the fact that my new residence is a good mile and a half closer to work, shaving three miles each day and fifteen miles a week off of that total. Now that I'm a hop, skip, and a jump away from everything I give a damn about in Brooklyn, most of my trips by bike are less than a couple of miles.

Though not all is bad on the cycling front; now that I take the Williamsburg bridge on my commute in, my legs are getting beefier and beefier from climbing the south-side ramp as a shortcut toward Manhattan each day. Also, riding that particular bridge affords me the opportunity to observe hipster 'culture' "on the ground," as they say in journalistic parlance.

But hipsters are known to be skittish of other cyclists and bikes, particularly those with both good bike handling skills, multiple gear ratios, or uncoordinated 'colorways'; so I decided to disguise my road bike by outfitting it with this bad boy in the carbon materialway:


Yeeeeah, thats right; that's a HED3. on my bike. for real.


After a harrowing crash into a hasidic child last weekend, I completely cleaned and fixed the bike so it's tip-top again, and this tri-spoke looks killer on it and is the perfect addition to my ride.

I must admit that while I really wish I did, I didn't actually purchase this wheel; I'm borrowing it from a friend who seems to be delighfully unconcerned that I'm zipping around on something that costs nearly as much as the bike itself.

Maybe after a week or so of riding the HED I'll have a better idea of it's pros and cons, but after a couple hours on it so far, I can see why people drop serious cash on carbon wheels; the ride is remarkably supple and yet the steering is incredibly snappy and responsive. The only downside I have yet percieved is that the wide spoke blades catch cross breezes like theres no tomorrow and since its so damn light, a strong East River gust could put you off course if you're not careful.

I think my favourite part of riding with this wheel is that it makes cool and intimidating noises depending on the air movement around it; in a crosswind going very fast it sounds like a muffled helicopter, though still quite audible (thp-thp-thp). With a headwind the chopping noise gets a little louder until you reach a certain speed where you can literally feel the wheel begin to knife the air in two.

Literally... that's not an exaggeration, this thing cuts the air like marshmallows get mugged in Bed-Stuy -

fast-n-easy

...Bike Porn (decisions decisions)

Like all people "into cycling" I've recently come to the realization that I have far too few bicycles in my 'stable'. So scouring craigslist, ebay, and local shops for a new frameset, I became increasingly confused about what sort of bike to build [first].

As the winter months approach, I know a beater bike would be ideal considering the amount of salt, snow and grime brought on by foul weather riding.


My initial thought was that I could get a crappy Panasonic or Myata, ride it through the hell that is New York winters, and then repaint the frame and build it up into a nice ss/fixed bike for the springtime. Something like this maybe (disregard the 'colorways'):


However, I frequently fall victim to my own good taste and end up only perusing frames costing way more than I can reasonably afford or ones unfit to be ridden in anything but the nicest weather, like this one I recently saw on the 'Bay.

Also, growing up in a mass-produced generation, I salivate over rare or custom things so I was elated when I found this website, that boasts a gallery of vintage bikes (of course, all exquisitely lugged, pantographed, yadda, yadda, yadda...) and a thorough history of the racing bicycle.

Now I want this 1979 Colnago Pista




yeaaaah, zero fucking clearance to the crown.

Or how about this Vintage Chesini X Uno:



Alas, I'll probably never be able to even come close to affording a bike like either of these, but fortunately, there are a few frame builders that make not so commonplace frames at more mass-produced prices.

I've been looking at Leader Bike a lot recently, And I think I'm going to settle on the 725TR as a base for an upcoming track setup. I know a couple of people with Leader frames who are quite satisfied with them, so hopefully I'll succeed in building a track monster that, while maybe not being the rarest bike on the road, won't fall into what I like to call the "nike bike" category.


I knew this was a good choice because upon opening an image of this frame on my monitor, Mr. Bernard stuck his ears up straight and gave a nose-wiggle of approval before hopping onto his throne.


While one should always have decisions blessed by a miniature bunny, I can't say I'll definitely get the Leader; who knows, maybe I'll find something good on craigslist one of these days...

...Illustrative Friday Fun

This is to give you an idea of some of the art I've been checking out recently. Good stuff for the most part...

You may have noticed that I've started to put forth at least a minimum of effort in citing images and work on this blog. While I'm personally of the mind that things like art and technology are created 'pro bono' as they say in legal parlance, and are for common benefit, credit should be given where credit is due.

I've been slow to accept the garish 'colorways' that seem to dominate contemporary painting, graphic design, and illustrative fields; but I knew one day I would chance upon something that would pique my aesthetic sensibilities more than the crap the 'stream poops out.

(image used without permission from Francoise Nielly)

(image used without permission from Matt W. Moore)

(image used without permission from Gianluca Fallone via thecoolhunter.net)

(image used without permission from Kenji Hirata)

...SHIMANO!

Amid all the loud, annoying nonsense this weekend past, I staved off extreme boredom by buying more new shit!

I had noticed that my chain was wearing down after the daily abuse I put it through, so on Sunday I went and got a Shimano Hyperglide chain as a replacement for my previous stock one.


Again, after consulting the late Sheldon Brown, I came away with a deep understanding of the finer points of drive train maintenance and theory. One of the most profound statements I've ever heard regarding shift quality is that your derailleurs don't do the shifting, the chain does. At first this seems a little odd, because surely the sole function of a derailleur is to shift gears right?

If you think it through, what the derailleur does is move the chain so that it can shift gears by hopping up or down the cassette to an adjacent sprocket. Thusly, the chain is where all of the actual shifting of gears takes place, and verily, it is frequently the culprit of many of the discomforts of a well-used bicycle.

Taking this advice to heart, I bought and installed the highest-end chain available; which at a measly $45 is one of the best places to spend the extra buck on your bike. I immediately noticed a profound improvement in my shifting thanks to Shimano's latest technological advances.

Their brilliant engineers have developed a kind of chain that can shift very quietly and smoothly under full power, as opposed to having to let up a little on the pedals as in older drive train setups. In order to further facilitate smooth shifting, they also developed Hyperglide cassettes with oddly shaped sprockets that appear to be broken or missing teeth, though are carefully engineered to quietly accept the chain as it moves from sprocket to sprocket.

This is probably one of the most overlooked aspects of bicycles since chains are usually grease-covered pant-leg enemies, though many similarly discreet advancements have been made by Shimano and have since become standard fare in bike componentry.

Having read up on the curmudgeonly Campagnolo and their famed snootiness, I have developed quite a bit of respect for Shimano as a multi-national corporation. Most innovations in any technical field are introduced in the "top-down" manner, where the latest improvements are available only on the most ridiculously expensive components until they gain notoriety. These improvements then eventually trickle down to the lower end components that regular people like me can afford until they are proclaimed "industry standards".

Shimano worked in the opposite way for many many years, where they focused on using heavier and cheaper materials to focus on improving the basic functions of drivetrains. If the innovations caught on (and they did) they would bring it to their more finely crafted and expensive products to cater toward those concerned with outright performance.

Using this marketing strategy they've introduced and continue to manufacture the very best in modern cycling equipment such as Shimano Total Integration (STI) brake/shift levers, Shimano Pedaling Dynamics (SPD) clipless pedals, Shimano Linear Response (SLR) brakes, Freehubs, etc...

Basically everything that you take for granted while riding is thanks to Shimano and their egalitarian business practices.

Then again, some people like to paint themselves as 'purists', rejecting anything that dares challenge the good name of Campagnolo. Personally, however, I am a staunch Shimano customer and Campy parts are as welcome on my bike as Obama is in middle-American classrooms.


(Oh yeah, I just discovered that true-to-form, Campy is copying Shimano's new electronic shifting with their own version... way to innovate, huh?)

...the farce of the green colorway

It's been a while since I've gone on about the goings-on in local bike culture, so I thought I'd take this wet, cloudy day as an opportunity to reflect on some of the wackier developments in bicycle design and such...


Not only have people been rethinking the weight capacity of bicycles, but as with any reasonably useful invention, people have been modifying and redesigning bikes to more and more utilitarian ends. The above example (which is found here and designed by Kevin Cyr of Boston) is a painting (by Cyr) of a so-called camper bike, featuring an RV-like ambiance and boasting all the comforts of a pedal-powered mobile home.

I think its a neat idea in a "salt of the earth" sort of way; being at once poetic and laughably annoying to use. I doubt I would ever have the determination to ride one of these cross country, my personal belief being that I can travel further faster on an unencumbered bike, though perhaps forgoing the comforts of RV life.

Though many do not share my sentiments for lightness and efficiency (like the pointless bike-powered water purifier that I mentioned a last week) and aren't content riding unencased.


This fringe group of anti-social cyclists has existed for almost as long as cycling itself has and still people are coming up with new ways to tackle the relatively simple problems day-to-day cycling presents... Like today's rain, for instance. Typically cyclists aren't too chagrined to don rain-pants, fenders, or to just ride in the rain and deal with being wet later. However not all cyclists are typical and a recent entry in the James Dyson Foundation design competition is a case-in-point:


Bike tents are no new concept, but somehow people can't get it through their thick skulls that approaches to peripheral cycling devices like this create more problems for the commuting or recreational cyclist than it solves. Sure, you may be able to keep your torso out of the rain (which is reasonably fresh water, by the way) but the severely hindered movement of air within the vinyl enclosure essentially guarantees you will arrive at your destination drenched in sweat (which isn't the freshest) unless its really chilly outside.

To be sure, much of 'design' these days is concerned with the packaging of things; people, products, and ideas are wrapped in strange enclosures, rendered to elicit emotional responses such as shame, fear, or libidinous thoughts.

Though one of the best ways to sell shit to people is to pander to their manufactured desire for "green" crap. I recently came across this bizarre bike that has successfully jumped onto the sustainability bandwagon:


Though I do love wooden things as well as new material approaches to age-old problems, a hollow wooden frame might not be the best solution for a road bike. God forbid you accidentally crash because that elegantly curved top tube is going to pierce you right below the sternum when (not if) that frame breaks. Furthermore, the amount of teak oil one will have to buy to keep this ride from cracking and decaying is daunting, not to mention the three pounds of lacquer they surely used; and nevermind all of the off-the-shelf parts that this wood bike boasts.

Swing and a miss...

In this interview with the "senior manager of sustainable growth" Barbara Chung for FIJI bottled water, we can witness the skillful feints and parries of a seasoned PR mouthpiece.

The dumb, "gettin' to know ya" questions were answered with a long winded (and very obviously rehearsed) statistics-based arguments, while the important ones that got to the root of the problem of calling yourself green and then engaging in flagrantly not-green practices went totally unanswered and ignored.

Though bottled water companies aren't the only ones who like to paint their misdeeds as noble; car companies and energy companies are some of the worst offenders. But picking on them is simply too easy. What really earns my ire is when people congratulate themselves for hurting the environment less than other people do.


The US Green Building Council which oversees the LEED rating and "awards" for buildings is a perfect example of this blindness to reality. Though I can tell you from experience that encouraging clients to spend the extra buck to build with less impact is difficult, rewards such as this are like patting yourself on the back for littering a little as opposed to a lot; the point is your littering, it doesn't really matter how much you do it, it's still bad.

Again, bicycles are a perfect example of this spin-doctoring. Organizations like TA love to tout the bike as a perfectly green solution for commuting, running errands, and generally looking hip; but are bicycles really that green?

Sure, when you pedal from place to place, you aren't using fossil fuels or belching tons of noxious gasses into the air as cars do, but to say that bicycles are good for the environment is a complete misnomer. Think about what bikes are made out of: metal, plastic, carbon fiber, and rubber. While you may not personally hurt the environment in your day to day use of your bike, the manufacturing of it (esp. carbon fiber) and transportation of it to your LBS, as well as the packaging for all the accouterments one will surely be suckered into buying for it does do harm.

So its fine to ride a bike or walk instead of taking a car, bus, or train; but one must remember that they're not actually helping anything, they're merely not hurting as much as they could.

As far as I'm concerned, theres only one cyclist who can lay claim to the title of greenest.

...Video Wednesdays!

I came up with a brilliant post to write this morning on my commute in, but forgot what it was by the time I arrived at work. As I've said before, coming up with new material on a daily basis taxes my vocabulary and humorabulary equally.

As I read through my blogroll every morning, I have come to realize that blogs come in many different color-ways and shape-ways, though the prevailing style-way that I encounter on my daily travels is what I like to call the SPASM (Small-Posts-About-Singular-Matters) blog.

While many notable bloggers utilize this method of abundance (wwtdd, prolly, inhabitat), my personal preference is toward the ODE (Once-Daily-Entry) blogs such as my personal favorite, Bike Snob NYC, and the less verbose Velodramatic. I have nothing against blogs that post new things constantly, but I definitely tend toward the lyrical and paced ones where the writer earns a rapport amongst his readers by consistently bringing quality ideas and material to the fore.

As a man of principle, I take issue with the semantics of behavior; forthrightness on the internet not excluded. It usually doesn't bother me all that much when I see the same invention or idea repeated on more than one site on the same day (you gotta cut the news blogs some slack on this though, only so many noteworthy things happen each day), though it's when there is a several day or week long gap between re-postings that I get a little annoyed. I'm not sure why, but it bugs me to be re-fed images and opinions that have long been old news (or conjecture, the two are easily confused).

That said, I present for your general amusement three videos about bicycle dorks as they are in the wild:

First, the Steam Boat Willy; a hovercraft powered by a recumbent bicycle. Weird, I know...



And this next one is just silly...



I hate to say it, but this seems like a self-defeating invention because the water you purify (mind you using a $200+ CycleOps trainer) would be immediately needed for rehydration, right?

Lastly, this guy is a maniac. You may have seen this before, but in case you haven't...



That's all for tonight folks, ride safe tomorrow...

... its all the same

As promised, I rode up to Nyack this weekend (almost twice), though I'm sorry to report that I failed to bring my camera with me, I swear, I had it in the pile of things to be stuffed in my jersey pockets but still managed to leave it behind. To that end, I'll have to appropriate other people's pictures to illustrate my synopsis.

The ride was nice as ever and the roadies were out in full force (which is to be expected), peddling diligently toward this quaint little riverside village near the Jersey border. There was a street fair happening on Broadway as we rode into town, so we dismounted and walked a block or two through it to the Runcible Spoon Bakery.

After scarfing an egg-salad wrap and a ham, cheese, and lettuce sandwich; I reclined in my seat, pondering whether the egg salad might have been better between the slices of rye that the ham and cheese came on and vice-versa.

After my compatriot finished eating we went outside to fill our bidons and free our bikes from the tangle of bikes on the rack that is so generously provided by the cafe for weary travellers and weekend warriors alike. I like this rack because it proves yet another unsurpassed efficiency that bikes have. In the photo linked above, you can't see the whole series of racks, but I assure you they occupy a space no longer than one car would use, and hold no less than 30 bikes during the busiest hours of the day.

Remarking at some of the fancier looking rides, my friend made the obvious but true observation that at a certain point, it all amounts to dick-measuring. Of course this can be said of anything with a subcultural following, though it is glaringly obvious in cycling and comprehension of it comes in waves of disturbing realization.

Earlier, when riding along the Hudson on a beautifully shaded drive up and down the palisades, I took note of a woman riding a Felt TT past us as we stopped to eat some fruit and take in our surroundings. My first reaction was one of awe and excitement, but that quickly reverted to my furrowed brow of cynicism as I pondered the necessity of a $6500.00 wonderbike on these roads. Certainly the only those who intend on racing in time trials or triathlons could feign need for equipment like this, right?

Even so, if one is out to 'train' on rolling hills, why ride a bike that is essentially useless on anything but the flattest, straightest roads? Being in a TT tuck position is inherently unsteady, as I showed in a recent KIRT post, and the nature of the route prevents one from attaining any appreciable speed where a TT bike would begin to show its usefulness. Furthermore, If you are pro, you likely have a multitude of bikes and are hopefully skilled at selecting the right bike for the right terrain.

This aero/carbon obsession also defies the conventional logic regarding training... Wouldn't it be smarter to train on a heavier bike that has few of the aerodynamic or material advantages of a TT rig? In my thinking, if I can grind up a climb on a 25lb bike, shouldn't I be able to conquer that same hill with much greater ease on a 15lb bike? "Training" on a bike like that will only plateau your fitness goals faster, so why do it?

The only reasonable explanation left to us is the ego massage... As I said before, it's all about dick measuring (which is funny, for one because the rider of the Felt was a woman; and two, she was slower than christmas on climbs); the attempt to impress ones peers with an assumed air of skill and mavenhood. Ironically, as with most subcultural trends, this backfires easily, rendering you a poseur, devoid of any credibility from the peers you so hope to impress, highlighting your hypocracy.

This is important because while other sports (skateboarding, for example) suffer from the same gear-obsessed affliction, none are as seemingly oblivious to the rediculousness of it all as cyclists. Bicycles we see today are as much a product of advancing technologies as they are resulting from clever ad campaigns and manufactured jealousy. Suddenly, the branding of your bike preempts your 'cred' amongst other roadies as does the 'colorway' of your handlebar tabe and tires.

I'm of the mind that equipment must be used to its limit to exact maximum efficiency from it. If you buy an ultra-stiff Roubaix with vibration dampers, you should take it to the cobbles in Soho, or go try to win some field sprints at the local criterium races. If you have a bike that has a really big front wheel and a really tiny rear wheel, are you prepared to don tweed knickers and coif your facial hair? Therefore, one must ask themselves when gazing at the motorcycle-priced carbon frames gleaming in your LBS's window display, "can I fully realize the potential of this bike?"

Speaking of realizing potentials, I missed both stages of the tour this weekend since I was busy critiquing people's logical missteps. I came home yesterday, sweaty and tired, only to find that el pistolero won the days stage in the tour.

Diatribes flow easily from my fingertips when writing about people like Alberto Contador, though that is not to say that I don't feel some amount of contrition for talking smack about talents I don't have and things I can't do.

The first of many things that annoy me about contador is the grossly unimaginative victory salute he does whenever he wins, which unfortunately for my aesthetic principles is a lot.


The Finger-gun? honestly? Why would you use the trademarked douche salute on purpose? perhaps it holds some meaning for Al here; it could signify his shooting down of his opponents, but perhaps he's more esoteric than I originally credited him for... Maybe it is intended to be a threatening gesture, meant to strike fear in the hearts of his opponents, lest they get in front of him and be finger-banged from behind. Then again, the most likely explanation is that Contador is one of those whiny people that yearns to be known by some witty nickname like all the other golden-boys of cycling, but noone came up with one for him so he makes up his own and starts telling people to call him that. Sorry dude, it doesn't work that way.

Lastly, Contador's puny bag-o-victory-salutes is contrasted by Mark Cavendish's extensive repertoire of salutes, from which a new one (as reported by BSNYC) will be drawn on the occasion of his 100th career victory (this is all hear-say as I've no hard evidence this is in fact the case, though I hope it is). Being an unbeatable sprinter I can only hope that day is not far off.

Remember, don't be a poseur... ride for your own reasons lest you earn the ire of Bernard Hinault.

...trolling the net

Here's what I've been looking at today:

1. Steel Sheet Tea House by Ks Architects:
   
   
   
   
   
2. Video of bridge demolition set to Opera, via youtube:
   
   
3. A funny web comic about a range of topics. witty and sardonic:
   
   
4. "Pedaling Revolution", a new book about bicycle advocacy and reception in the US. By Jeff Mapes and reviewed By David Byrne for the New York Times. Incidentally, Byrne's own bike-centric prose is due to hit shelves soon under the name "Bicycle Diaries". You can find the article here
   
   
   
   

...the weekend madness

Saturday I stopped by the ICFF in the Javits Center to take a stroll through what I figured would be essentially a warehouse of partially worked-out accouterments to modern living. To my suprise, I saw some really beautiful stuff that re-fueled my lust for fine furniture. I'm not going to spend much time on the focal point of the trade show, "Japan by design", because it was not only unimaginatively curated, but damn-near insulting with the red-on-black color scheme and guzheng music.


A lot of the non-furniture things on display in that area were just stupid, like this one-slice-of-bread-at-a-time toaster. No doubt it was touted as "green design" for being stubbornly inefficient at toasting for any more than two parakeets.

If I want to look at sweet japanese product design, I just head over to MUJI in soho. I own all sorts of muji stuff and suprisingly, I use almost all of it on a daily basis. All those miniature office supplies they make are perfectly suited for bike commuters. Everything that's in my messenger bag and not clothes, bike parts, or an Ipod, is from that store. Now if only I could secure some kick-backs for my glowing review...

While waiting for the woah-man to use the facilities, I spied what I think has become my favorite part of the show.



Bernhardt Design's booth was filled with very neatly detailed armchairs and benches, along with some mediocre couches. Some versions of the chairs had orange suede piping around the supple leather padding, which I thought was a little much, like they were reaching for a prada-esque hipness. Just the plain white leather on wood is seductive enough for me. If you can't see it in the shitty photo above, the armchair is called Atlantic by CuldeSac design collective out of Valencia, Spain. I think it's priced at under $2000 (take that, herman miller) so theres no excuse not to use this in future residential designs.

There were all sorts of other things that at least made me, instead of ignoring them entirely, utter a token "meh" ...For instance, the rubberized coffee table for those of us that require shin-safe furniture in our space stations:


... the bunny desk-chair:


... and we definitely can't leave out the vagina inspired stuff that ironically, doesn't look terribly comfy or attractive:



Of course, what gathering of designer types would be complete without some bizarre approaches to bicycle design?


What is interesting about this bike isn't so much it's exaggerated top tube that looks primed to carry a billyburger's bike polo mallets, but moreso that it's held aloft by a chubby plastic sand pail. There was another of these bike pails holding up one of those dumb fucking Strida bikes. I haven't seen anyone actually ride one around in new york, and I'm interested to see how this mutated p-far measures up given this city's traffic circus.

Bewildered by the questionable utility of the day's sightings, we left to go buy a vaccum from bed bath and beyond. But before we had even crossed the street, I saw one clever fellow who apparently decided he'd had enough of this furniture crap, and re-purposed a foot rail, creating some attractive bar grips that are no doubt of the most comfortable design:


and zooming in for clarity: