bicycle - Gizmodo

posts about #bicycle more →
Unicycle Built For Two: Cool Design and Sign of the Times
Grace Electric Bike Is Part Motorcycle, Part Race Car and Part Fighter Jet
Remainders: Stuff We Didn't Post (and Why)
Garmin Edge 500 Cycling GPS Tracks Speed, Burned Calories and Heart Rate
Impossible-to-Steal-or-Puncture Bicycle Won't Last a Day In NY
Bottleclip Attaches Any Bottle to (Almost) Any Bike
Montague Paratrooper Tactical Folding Bike Can Survive 1000-Foot Jumps
Revolutionary Bicycle Doesn't Use Wheels or Any Common Sense
Freelock Self-Locking Cycle Concept
Schwinn Tailwind Electric Bicycle Lightning Review

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Bos'un's Mate
12/14/09

In reply to Unicycle Built For Two: Cool Design and Sign of the Times
This actually worked better than I expected.
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njdevil
12/14/09

@Bos'un's Mate: That is the stupidest, gayest vehicle I have ever seen.

And the tandem Unicycle next to it seems pretty bad too.
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Alfisted
12/14/09

@njdevil: Hahaha There's this site called "Jalopnik". Come make yourself at home. You'll fit right in.
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Mikestan
12/14/09

In reply to Unicycle Built For Two: Cool Design and Sign of the Times
Can't wait to see these popping up on Bedford avenue.

Almost as silly as the bike above.
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cd
12/14/09

In reply to Unicycle Built For Two: Cool Design and Sign of the Times
FYI - I did rewrite my post on the construction details! Here it is: [www.corbinstreehouse.com]
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bucho54 approved this comment cd was starred cd was unstarred

Alfisted
12/14/09

In reply to Unicycle Built For Two: Cool Design and Sign of the Times
It think this was just his way of telling the gf to lose some weight.
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NorwoodIsMyHero
12/14/09

In reply to Unicycle Built For Two: Cool Design and Sign of the Times
Hmm....

I weigh about 200 pounds and my wife is about 135....
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Digo
12/14/09

@NorwoodIsMyHero: Well then you better give her a backpack or something.
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BigDogues
12/14/09

@NorwoodIsMyHero: Wheelies!
Wait, can you do wheelies if you only have one wheel?
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OCEntertainment
12/14/09

@BigDogues: Yes. But it is deep magic.
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nutbastard
11/18/09

In reply to Grace Electric Bike Is Part Motorcycle, Part Race Car and Part Fighter Jet
"That's not enough to make it a serious mode of transportation, but if you live in an urban area it might make some sense."

riiight, putting around on a $9k bike in an urban area sounds like a really great idea...
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MeesterBell
11/18/09

In reply to Grace Electric Bike Is Part Motorcycle, Part Race Car and Part Fighter Jet
Too expensive. Why bother to make such a bike? May as well carve it out of solid gold and put it in a museum. #grace
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nexusheli
11/18/09

@MeesterBell: Apparently you haven't shopped for a quality bike lately. The company I work for imports and distributes fine Italian bicycles. We currently offer a model retailing at over $14,499, which can be upgraded to hit nearly $20k.

And no, it has no motor.
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nutbastard promoted this comment nexusheli was starred nexusheli was unstarred

nutbastard
11/18/09

@nexusheli:

i can't believe there are d-bags out there spending that much money on a friggin bicycle.

is it better than my $80 bicycle? i have no doubt. but unless it's 200 times better, why pay 200 times more?
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nexusheli
11/18/09

@nutbastard: While many of them might be d-bags, there are a few that actually have legitimate reasons for buying them. Some people are collectors, and this particular bike is certainly collectible (about 10 were brought into the US). Some are captains of industry and have to have something befitting of their status, and are capable of riding in a capacity to boot.

You're right though, it's not 200x better, but neither is a Ferrari vs an Accord, or a high-end gaming PC vs a cheap Dell. People tend not to 'need' these things, but we're a consumer society and without people buying $10,000 bicycles, I'd probably be waiting tables along with a number of my industry colleagues and entrepreneurs who've started bike shops in the last 5 years...
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fuchikoma
11/19/09

@nexusheli: That's nice... but I bought a "quality" bicycle in that I have yet to meet someone with an equal or better one for $1500.

I had $8000, but I used it to buy a brand new Kawasaki Ninja 500R, plates, insurance, and a full suit of riding gear.

I can well understand paying more for a well made bike, but I'm not paying over $3000 for a bicycle unless I have corporate sponsors for racing bikes professionally...
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Edited by fuchikoma at 11/19/09 5:40 PM fuchikoma was starred fuchikoma was unstarred

nexusheli
11/20/09

@fuchikoma: There's indeed a threshold for sanity when it comes to bicycles. Really for me, even working in the industry and having access to these bikes at a reduced price, I still find it hard to justify spending more than just a couple grand on one. And the one I did manage to invest nearly $2500 into was custom made by hand to my measurements, painted by hand, and has a dedication on it to me.

I understand a motorcycle is a bit more practical, but not as healthy or green. But it's just like all of us as gadget lovers, many of these things are impractical, or there are more practical ways of doing things yet we have a desire, need, want or love for these things.

I didn't need a Nikon D90, a D40, or even a Canon G10 or similar would have done just fine, but I was no less grateful when I received that D90 as a 30th b-day present...
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fuchikoma
11/20/09

@nexusheli: I can totally understand that, and I'm not saying you should just get a motorbike instead - just that it becomes hard to justify that much on a bicycle when you could get so much for the same money (but wow, if I could get a good custom bike for $2500 I would have for sure!) It's like the argument of "why buy a $250,000 car when you could have... a house?" I don't know how many you sell in the $8-9k range, but I kind of agree with MeesterBell's sentiment that for that much it may as well be a museum piece, unless the frame lasts through a century of hard offroad use, and no parts ever require maintenance.

The biggest issue for me is that people will steal a $500 bike if they can - even if the value of an $8000 one (or a $14,500 one!) isn't obvious by looking at it, you'd pretty much have to carry it around with you anywhere you stopped to make sure you didn't lose something as valuable as a motor vehicle. Where I live there are often no viable places to anchor the frame to anything, so you kind of have to lock the wheel and frame together and hope no one notices it and walks off with it - or walk several blocks from where you parked it.

So I'd never spend that much on a bike myself - but like your cameras, if I just happened to end up with one, you bet I'd enjoy it!
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hacku
11/17/09

In reply to Grace Electric Bike Is Part Motorcycle, Part Race Car and Part Fighter Jet
$9k for a bicycle? No thanks... you can get a nice used motorcycle for that price that will do 150mph... #grace
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fuchikoma promoted this comment hacku was starred hacku was unstarred

fuchikoma
11/19/09

@hacku: You can get an entry-level sportbike that will do 200kph brand new for that too. Actually, a few grand less, and even a grand or two less than that in the USA.

...but of course you buy a bicycle because you want a bicycle... but if I had one that expensive I'd have to disassemble it and stuff it into a hard case then carry it with me everywhere I went, because leaving it outside would be insane.
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Edited by fuchikoma at 11/19/09 5:46 PM fuchikoma was starred fuchikoma was unstarred

dingus
11/17/09

In reply to Grace Electric Bike Is Part Motorcycle, Part Race Car and Part Fighter Jet
Heeeey... Is that young Henry Winkler under all that hair? Can this bike jump sharks?
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Edited by dingus at 11/17/09 11:19 PM dingus was starred dingus was unstarred

RPMurphy
11/18/09

@dingus: Judging by the long hair and curvy chest, I would say it's a girl. But maybe that's just me.
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dingus promoted this comment Edited by RPMurphy at 11/18/09 12:12 AM RPMurphy was starred RPMurphy was unstarred

dingus
11/18/09

@RPMurphy: I'm concerned about the prominent brow and cleft chin. All I'm saying is that's the Fonz plus a wig and some baloons. #grace
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exoren22
11/03/09

In reply to Remainders: Stuff We Didn't Post (and Why)
Not to mention that windfarms reduce wind and make the surrounding area heat up as a result. #gizmodoremainders
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EBone
11/03/09

@exoren22: I don't even know how to reply to the stupidity of your statement, other than I hope you forgot your sarcasm tag. #gizmodoremainders
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exoren22
11/03/09

@EBone: Well, considering it's a real world problem, I don't even know how to reply to your ignorance, except to tell you to go to San Francisco in the summer time, when they used to have a cooling wind coming down from the mountains.

You know we can't get energy for free, right? Hydroelectric power reduces water flow and causes the destruction of wildlife both upstream and downstream. Solar power has local heating problems that CANNOT be fixed, and massive wind farms destroy the natural heat transfer created by wind patterns. #gizmodoremainders
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EBone
11/03/09

@exoren22: You really believe that the turbine blades take the wind "away"? That the wind doesn't turn the blades and keep on blowing past, over, and around the blades?

I have no words. #gizmodoremainders
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psychiccheese
11/03/09

@EBone: I think he's actually right, but he's blowing it way out of proportion. It's more on the same scale of dumping a bottle of filtered water into a lake to change the pH. #gizmodoremainders
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runamok1001
11/03/09

@EBone: exoren22 is right though I don't know to what degree. Conservation of energy means there is no free ride and no perpetual motion machines. Just like a hydroelectric dam can slow a river to a trickle, wind farms use the wind to do work, thus depleting some of the kinetic energy in that wind. But once again, I have no idea of the total energy of the wind or how much energy is extracted so I could not testify to the effect.
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EBone
11/03/09

@runamok1001: Do yourself a favor and look at an isobar map of the United States. They measure pressure gradients. Wind is generated when air moves from high pressure areas to low pressure areas.

Isobar front lines are hundreds to thousands of miles long. Wind projects don't even show up on the scale we're talking about here. It would be the equivalent of trying to stop the Mississippi River with a 2x4. #gizmodoremainders
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mnerd
11/03/09

In reply to Remainders: Stuff We Didn't Post (and Why)
The wind farm thing really speaks more to how we really need to upgrade our air traffic control to newer modern technology stat. #gizmodoremainders
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Don Nguyen promoted this comment mnerd was starred mnerd was unstarred

70watts
11/03/09

In reply to Remainders: Stuff We Didn't Post (and Why)
Wind turbines really don't kill that many birds in comparison to things like planes, trucks and... trees. That's a common myth.

Here's the google results for that.
[www.google.com]
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Don Nguyen promoted this comment Edited by 70watts at 11/03/09 12:40 AM 70watts was starred 70watts was unstarred

Fractal the Meek
11/03/09

In reply to Remainders: Stuff We Didn't Post (and Why)
Thank you for being a champion for the essence of e-readership! And also, I've seen at least one notably less comfortable bike design.
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curious-character
11/02/09

In reply to Remainders: Stuff We Didn't Post (and Why)
Grandpa bikes excluded (upright riding), a bike seat needs only provide support to the bony part of your bottom while minimizing interference and chaffing with your thighs. This is why racing seats look so terrible, but are actually quite comfortable. This seat seems to give you a choice of supporting your weight on your anus or testicles. #gizmodoremainders
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92BuickLeSabre
11/02/09

In reply to Remainders: Stuff We Didn't Post (and Why)
The obvious solution is to put the wind farms in Manhattan, so they'll kill all these fucking pigeons. #gizmodoremainders
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Gordonium
11/02/09

@92BuickLeSabre: Mmm... Gotta love those post-windfarm mornings, with the surreal pink mist of pigeon guts over Manhattan, and little feet and feathers falling to the streets below... #gizmodoremainders
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92BuickLeSabre promoted this comment Gordonium was starred Gordonium was unstarred

92BuickLeSabre
11/02/09

@Gordonium: Sounds heavenly. #gizmodoremainders
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weatherman
11/03/09

@92BuickLeSabre: a wind turbine of the vertical axis variety, about the size of a water tower, would probably do very well at both generating electricity and getting rid of pesky pigeons. And properly designed it could also have a receptacle for the remains so that they could be put to good use. Then we'd have cheap electricity and we wouldn't have to make soylent green out of people anymore.

PS I'm trademarking the term "squabchoppers" #gizmodoremainders
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seriously, saycarramrod
11/03/09

@weatherman: Plus when the pigeons hit the side of the turbine, it would actually make it go faster. #gizmodoremainders
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92BuickLeSabre
11/03/09

@weatherman: and @saycarramrod: It's exactly this kind of ingenuity that made America what it is today! #gizmodoremainders
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