With most airlines charging well over $100 to bring your bicycle aboard, JetBlue has decided to let bikes fly free–waiving their normal $50 fee–to celebrate the Tour de France.
While they typically allow folding bikes on free of charge, let’s face it, not many people actually ride those. So, if you’re heading anywhere by air for the remainder of July 2010, head over to JetBlue to book your flight.
Once the promotion is over, I’d personally suggest shipping your bike UPS or FedEx if you have a destination location with someone to sign for it. I used this method last April when I went to NYC for a week, and it was about $45 each way–cheaper than JetBlue’s typical charge, and far less than other airlines.
21-year-old British inventor, Kevin Scott, is showing off his new creation, a bicycle that can bend itself around a street lamp.
The bike can be ridden like any other, but when it’s time to lock it up and leave it on its own, you simply flip a lever on the seat tube, and the frame–the top and seat tubes, in particular–become bendable, allowing you to wrap it around a street post and lock it to itself. Whether or not it’ll actually keep the bike from being stolen is debatable; personally, I just think it’ll attract even more attention to itself, thereby becoming more of a target. Either way, Scott is currently showing the bike off at the New Designers show in London, and hoping to find a financial backer so he can take it into production.
The new design of the opening incorporates a flatter shape that’s both wider and squarer with a 24 percent lower profile, not to mention lighter. It also has integrated arms that swing down to hold the bladder open during drying. My old method of stuffing a wadded up paper towel inside works, but this should do much better. The screw top has also been improved, now requiring only a quarter turn to tighten. The screw top on the Omega has always required a strong hand to keep it from leaking, and my wife usually needs my assistance to help her open hers. The quarter-turn top should hopefully eliminate this.
One issue I’ve always had with CamelBak’s Omega bladder is how poofy it gets when filled with water. The Antidote has an internal baffle that attaches the front and back of the bladder, keeping the stack height much lower. This means less bulging of the bladder, so you won’t feel like you have a giant water balloon against your back as you ride.
The Omega has always used friction to keep the hose attached to the bladder, but the Antidote does away with this weaker design, now incorporating a quick connect/disconnect feature, meaning you no longer have to put any effort into taking off the hose. It also auto-seals the opening on the bladder where the hose attaches, so that water doesn’t gush out when you take the hose off. In the old design, if you needed to take the entire bladder out of your bag for filling or cleaning, you’d have to back the hose out of the bag’s routing system. Now, you just disconnect the hose with a single click, and leave it in the backpack while you take the bladder out.
Having the quick connect feature also means you can run in-line add-ons, such as taste filters.
Check the following video from MTBR.com to hear Seth from CamelBak tell it himself, as well as reveal a couple newly re-designed bags.
SEDALIA — Several hundred cyclists traveled across Missouri on the Katy Trail to celebrate the path’s 20th anniversary.
The Sedalia Democrat reported that more than 300 riders from 30 states traveled the 225-mile hiking, biking and equestrian path in five days. They slept outside and stopped in cities along the way. Their ages ranged from 6 to 81 years old.
I love sensational headlines, and nothing beats this freak-out story being reported by all the bicycle blogs.
Basically, Trek has decided to end the Gary Fisher sub-brand, named after one of the sport’s most influential–and odd dressing–characters, Gary Fisher. The reason why is pretty simple: as its own brand, Gary Fisher Bicycles is not as widely distributed around the world as Trek. By ending the line as a separate entity, they have basically increased the distribution of Gary’s bikes eight-fold.
“This makes sense. I love this strategy,” says Gary Fisher in a press release. “I’ve been working with Trek on the Fisher Brand since 1996, but this puts me right in the middle of the best team of bike people. I can now bring my ideas to Trek, number one bike brand in the world. Better bikes and more people on those bikes. I love it.”
Now instead of buying a Gary Fisher-brand bike, you’ll be buying a Trek, with "Gary Fisher Signature" painted on the frame. Same bike, different strategy, nothing as severe as killing the entire brand.
Okay, so technically I’m not that lazy. So far this year, I’ve logged ~1,900mi on my bikes, the vast majority of them on my singlespeed. Unfortunately, most people haven’t gotten anywhere near a bike, and the most walking they do is from their SUV to the snack isle in the grocery store and back.
Considering how many trazillions of dollars the government wastes on b.s. every year, I think this relatively small amount is well spent. My city–Columbia, MO–benefitted greatly by a government grant a couple years back, and they’ve used that money to add additional bike lanes, and for maintenance on existing trails. I’m hoping that as my city grows, and bike lanes continue to be added, it’ll encourage more people to ride, or at least make it safer and more accessible for those of us who already do. With this extra money being thrown around, I’m hoping other cities benefit the same way mine has, and helps cycling (or walking, if you must) continue to grow.
Good work, Obama. I don’t like or trust your politics, but this was a good move.
In a convoluted way to get cyclists off the road, Blackhawk, CO, mayor bans all bicycles on roads because of "a state law requiring drivers to give bikes 3 feet of clearance when they pass." Bike-hating aside, the mayor sounds like a real piece of work.
This looks like an excellent option for riders who are commited to their Thomson posts, but would like to shave some weight with I-beam saddles. Let’s hope this adapter makes it to market.
Rock Bridge has officially opened a new trail… the first major new one since I began riding the park in ’98.
It’s basically a connector trail for Sinkhole and Springbrook trails, with moderate hills and curves. At about a half-mile in length, it makes for a great, flowy ride. Roots and rocks are at a minimum, so even beginners could ride without much trouble. Personally, I prefer much more technical trails, but this is a great addition to the park.
Click the map below for a larger view. The connector can be seen in red, and is not straight, as I’ve portrayed it. I just wanted to give you an idea as to it’s location, but it’s actually a pretty windy trail.
I found this article from a local paper discussing how many people and families are turning to bikes for fitness and to save money on gas. It’s definitely worth a read, but I wonder if it will still hold true in a few months. It’s easy to have great intentions when the weather is nice and the sun is up during the morning commute, but once fall and winter arrive, will most people just go back to driving? My guess is, yes.
Another issue with bicycle commuting in my community (and many others) is the vast distance from home to work. I live exactly 3 miles from my work, with very little hills in between. However, that’d involve riding along a busy State highway for about a mile. The alternative route would increase the distance to about 5 miles and be much safer, but mid-West weather is totally unpredictable, and we don’t have many dry mornings that also lead into dry afternoons. Oh, and the distance between work and home for me is quite small; most people in this town live much further from work, and most aren’t dedicated bike riders.
Will is work? Maybe, at least for a while. But I think weather, congested primary and secondary roads, and large distances to ride each morning will keep the trend from growing much.
"Delta 7′s Arantix bike frame is see-through and weighs just 2.75lbs but is so strong there’s no rider weight limit. It’s made of Isotruss, a material consisting of carbon fiber strands bent into a wide mesh to emulate the sturdy geometry of steel truss structures. That tech ain’t cheap: Expect to pay $7,000 when it ships next spring."
