Inspired by Lock's post over in a sidewalk cycling thread...
...tell us about your ride. what is it? how long have you had it? what do you like/dislike about it? Have photos of it?
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Posted 11 months ago #
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Posted 11 months ago #
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Posted 11 months ago #
OK, but nobuddy laugh... good for only about 23kph under electric power only:
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Posted 11 months ago #
Here's my ride:
Marin Hamilton 29er, single-speed but not fixed gear with Planet Bike fenders and a MEC pannier. So far so good on this ride. My position is high enough to be above most vehicles, but still aggressive enough for some of the faster parts of my commute.
Duncan's City Ride - That's my blog about cycling in the city of Toronto, natch! -
Posted 10 months ago #
I have two rides. Around town I ride a no-name bike. Never heard of the brand, got it at Cog's for $150 and probably put that much again into upgraded components. Rides beautifully but looks pretty beat up and I like it that way. I want low key transportation that I'm not going to worry much about while I'm inside a store or at a movie.
Sometimes in town, and always when I go on the road, I ride a full-size (26") folding bike, the Dahon Cadenza.
I use it to commute back and forth to client sites when I'm on business trips. Since I bought it I added a set of full fenders to make it a bit more useful for bad weather commuting. Bringing a bike on business trips (and mine can extend for a while. I was in Vancouver for a month, and Quebec City for 8 months) gives me a great opportunity to explore new cities and see how others handle cycling infrastructure.
It fits nicely if a bit bulkily in an over the shoulder bag that I can toss in the belly of a bus or check as luggage on VIA Rail. Before my last plane trip, I picked up a suitcase. It's a tight squeeze, but if I remove the wheels, rack, and bend the fenders a little, I can fit the whole bike in it. I can then check it as luggage. I've only flown with it once, on Westjet, and unlike others experiences with Air Canada, I wasn't charged any extra baggage charge for its being a bike. Not only that, it is slightly oversize and I wasn't even charged for that. When the bike arrived, it was in perfect shape, and within about 15 minutes of arriving at the hotel, I had it all back together and ready to roll.
In my industry, pharmaceutical consulting (for the long explanation, go here, I haven't met any other bike commuters - definitely not ones who bring their bikes on the road. That said, people are surprisingly receptive at client sites after getting over the initial "*How* did you get here again?" shock. Working in the health care industry people can definitely understand the health benefits if nothing else. A few clients also have relatively powerful Health, Safety, and Environment departments. When one heard I was commuting by bike, they found me secure bike parking, a shower on site, and towel service as well.
It isn't always feasible to go car-free on business trips, particularly really short ones or the rare one where I have to wear a suit. That said, I enjoy the challenge of finding ways to go car free on my longer projects.
(Edit: Just looked again - those are the new model of the bike I have. No disc brakes on mine and frame isn't quite as pretty. Still, love the balance it strikes between portability and usability.
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Posted 10 months ago #
Nice bikes guys... and Todd, I love Cogs. Went there for any repairs when we lived in Little India. :)
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Posted 10 months ago #
Speaking of scooters... here's one on King West with a little seat apparently
Google Street View Scooter on King West
Duncan's City Ride - That's my blog about cycling in the city of Toronto, natch! -
Posted 10 months ago #
HAHA! I know all about these... They are "30-day Wonders"... It's wonderful if something doesn't break before the 30 day warranty is up.
These scoots are assembled in the city of Yongkang in Zhejiang China. Yongkang is an interesting burg. With a population of about 1/2million, it has over 300 companies all making parts for and assembling a few models of gas and electric scooters, like that one.
The first fellow that started importing them into North America had the China factories brand/label them as "Dolphin" brand, but the truth is anyone can order a container of these and stick on whatever label you like.
They ship FOB China in containers for about $100 each...
They started out being manufactured in Taiwan, but when China freed up their laws on foreign ownership of companies and land, 80% of the Taiwanese manufacturers moved to China within two years. With Chinas planned economy, this meant Yongkang...
Yongkang has a long history as a manufacturing centre and is called Chinas "Hardware Capital"... It also has a reputation as Chinas capital for amputations from industrial accidents... (When folks buy these scoots I always tell them to check the box for extra spare parts!)
So some of the Yongkang manufacturers assemble vehicles. Some of them make carbon brushes for electric motors. Some of them stamp out kick stands all day. Some pump out plastic forms... Then they all buy and sell these parts among themselves...
Monday to Thursday they might be assembling barbeques, and if Friday is a slow day, they assemble little gas and electric scooters...
Suffice to say, nobuddy in China rides around on these Dolphins! They are made for export! To sell to ignorant Westerners!
Having said all this, the China manufacturers ARE getting better. It is still very much a buyer beware market. There ARE some companies (big ones) that do make only vehicles now. Quality IS improving... EVen with those "Dolphins"...
But they are still a shitty design for Canadian climates, and they are in no way a hybrid, easily kicked or pedaled like a pedal bike. So zero opportunity built in for exercise...
Haven't seen one of those around for many years. Thanks for the memories! It was the Dolphins that first got me wondering what China was up to and how I stumbled across Yongkang. If you scaled Yongkang up to Toronto size (population,) can you imagine Toronto with over 1,000 manufacturers of tiny two-wheeled vehicles?
Lock
ps... BTW, if anyone here is looking for work, the Yongkang manufacturers are always looking for fresh blood (funny phrase that)
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Posted 10 months ago #
lOCk, that was probably one of the most informative posts I've read in ages. Thanks!
I used to work in the inline skate industry. Some of the smaller companies couldn't afford to create a whole new skate mold or pay designers to create new liners or shoes. So, they would go to China with a few samples of styles they wanted (usually a pair of Nike shoes, a ski boot liner or hiking boot). First thing in the morning they would talk to a plant manager about what they wanted, show them the samples and then head out. By noon the next day they'd have a complete prototype in front of them. Amazing.
Duncan's City Ride - That's my blog about cycling in the city of Toronto, natch! -
Posted 10 months ago #
Yah, and they'll sell them to you cheap! Because by the next day they will already be mass producing them under a different trade name and shipping them off to other markets on the other side of the world, and good luck trying to sue the manufacturer for patent infringement ;->
North American auto manufacturing is no different, with parts suppliers making components. Except that these suppliers are spread out all over the map. I read of auto parts made in Canada, shipped to the USA to be built into engines that are shipped back to Canada to be put into automobiles that are shipped to the USA for sale... Hugely inefficient...
Lock
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Posted 10 months ago #
To add more clutter to my living room bicycle parking, the nice people over at Specialized Canada have loaned me a new Globe cargo bike to test out for a couple of months.
I'm starting to really take a shine to the upright position and having a few gears to mess around with on hills. I haven't loaded up the back rack just yet, but a trip to St. Lawrence Market this weekend will take care of that.
Here's my loaner:
I've also posted a few more photos of the rear rack and integrated lights over on Duncan's City Ride.
Duncan's City Ride - That's my blog about cycling in the city of Toronto, natch! -
Posted 10 months ago #
*jealous* ;-)
Looks like fun - enjoy!
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Posted 10 months ago #
Looks nice... love to know how it rides.
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Posted 10 months ago #
So far it feels like biking around on a big comfy chair. I feel bigger all around on the Globe, but that's just because of how tall I sit. Maybe I'll strap a mini-fridge to the rack to really get a comforts-of-home feel on the bike... haha.
Duncan's City Ride - That's my blog about cycling in the city of Toronto, natch! -
Posted 10 months ago #
Maybe I'll ditch the fridge idea and just add a blender:
Joe, that looks like your bike.
Photo is from Bike and Roll Grand Opening at the Bikestaion at Union Station, D.C.
Duncan's City Ride - That's my blog about cycling in the city of Toronto, natch! -
Posted 10 months ago #
I affectionately refer to it as The Wench. It used to be an 80s Peugeot racer. I replaced the tires, seat, handlebar, and converted to single speed. LOVE it :)
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Posted 10 months ago #
I was just about to comment on how I'm tempted to take my singlespeed and reverse the side that my cogs are on... then I saw your photo unclegill, but then realized that it's just a mirror image. For some reason I want a left side drivetrain... beats me why though.
Nice bike.
Duncan's City Ride - That's my blog about cycling in the city of Toronto, natch! -
Posted 10 months ago #
Hmm I've seen some bmx bikes on the road that had left side drivetrains and thought it was so that they could pull off tricks.
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Posted 10 months ago #
You are right, Duncan, it does look like my bike... I zoomed in on the photo and while it has the same colour scheme as my bike, it's actually the woman's version of the Trek 7100. They've changed the model a bit in the last 2 years though.
My wife has it in white:
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Posted 10 months ago #
Ah, but THESE are my bike! :)
Here it is larger, from the same flickr set. -
Posted 10 months ago #
Mine is a 20-something-year-old Bianchi Boardwalk. Well, the brakes, derailleurs and the frame are original. Commuted on it all that time.
Madama Butterfly, because she's a hybrid, and Italian/Taiwanese. I love the Suntour equipment, it's not as finicky as Shimano - it's just durable. No wonder the original owners of sunTour went bankrupt! No planned obsolescence, it jst keeps on working through 20 Toronto winters. What were they thinking?
bought from Gary Duke in 1989, IIRC.
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Posted 10 months ago #
Ah, geez, I don't have any pictures, just a list:
Mercier WSD road racer
Raleigh Sport road bike
Trek 720 hybrid
Bianchi Mountain Bike
Magna MTB
Trailmate Cargo Trike upgraded to 3-speed hub. -
Posted 10 months ago #
Here's my Globe bike, like Duncan I get to trial one:
I still need to get some bungy cords to make the front carrier functional, but I'm sure there's lots of solutions. -
Posted 10 months ago #
Very cool. How did you guys score these bikes from Specialized Canada?
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Posted 10 months ago #
Cat's my girlfriend so we simply had to have relatively matching bicycles... of course!
Duncan's City Ride - That's my blog about cycling in the city of Toronto, natch! -
Posted 10 months ago #
Ahhh, okay. :)
Makes sense... my wife and I both have Trek 7100s. They don't match, as we picked different colour schemes, but yeah. :)
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