Fahrradsozialismus

German ridefastmake 1800 speedhaste, Selflive doubleplusgood

Though without full knowledge of the affair about initial agreements & settlements from both sides it is unwise to make any comment, but it is a proud tradition to root for the underdogs regardless of legal & moral correctitude - though one could always argue about what can be construed by the term “underdog” and its specific interpretation under this particular circumstance, but such things should come from the heart, not the mind.

It is not too often (or perhaps it is not often enough) you see such defiance against the currents of globalisation where profit reigns supreme. Of course conditions of the workers in mass manufacturing plants in developing countries are bettered in absolute terms, and the economic progress & social stability implied by such inflows of foreign capital does wonders for market confidence, so that they too can one day become a developed nation, so it all seems like a win-win situation. But without even suggesting the neo-impreialist undercurrent of such mode of development & the inherent condescension of the morality behind it, the smaller manufacturers in the developed world are also direct victims. Call it petty provincialism, but keeping local things local has its quaint charms.

A somewhat less sophisticated online bike building interface than BikeCAD, but it is fun nonetheless, and being Japanese, you’re practically guaranteed some delightful wackiness.

Just in case you get hungry on the way:

There are already many ways showing you how to fix a camera to your bike when you riding, and it couldn’t hurt to have another. The parts are simple enough:

1 x Manfrotto quick release plate
1 x Bicycle light mount with padding

I initially thought about getting a small ball-head and clamping that to the bar, which would allow more control of angles, but decided that it was probably overkill for my purposes, as I doubt that I’d be shooting from the bike that often, and just wanted something small and not too obtrusive. A slight complication rose with the original camera mount screw on the plate which was too wide at the base, and thus could not be moved once the clamp is fastened, so I replaced it with one from an old flash clamp which had a smaller diameter. Haven’t taken the rig out for a extended ride yet, but it seems sturdy enough, at least for little compacts like this one. I’d advise against having the camera mounted for any extended period of time anyway, as I doubt most are designed to withstand shocks for such durations.

One of the major issues of commuting by bike is its relatively small cargo capacity, especially for grocery shopping - until now. Introducing the Cart Bike. Trolley riding shall no longer be the exclusive pursuit of bored drunken students, and the days where you need to battle those energetic geriatrics for the last one is history.

Of course in reality it’d be a rather harsh ride with those wheels, let alone steering & weight issues (a conventional trolley wasn’t exactly designed to be light). Besides, bikes such as these already cater for this portion of the market, albeit at some considerable expense.

A fully featured Java applet that allows you to design your own bike.

Here’s one monstrosity of a Farthing-Penny I knocked up earlier, giving you a pedestrian 9381.9 gear-inches, meaning that for a leisurely cadence of 60 rpm you’d be travelling at a sauntering 2120.6 kph (just under Mach 2) - if you’re superman on steroids.