Bikes Outside: I like the Sprite in you

Today, the Bikes Outside lens drags itself away from hiatus with a proper steel workhorse. This 1970's Raleigh Sprite 27 shares both the color scheme and solid, overbuilt construction of the Checker Marathons that still ruled the streets of New York back in the day. Given that this one could actually accommodate a passenger, the taxi comparison is somewhat appropriate.


Aside: I was obsessed with Checkers as a child, once asking for a ride in one for my birthday (we almost never splurged on taxi rides). They were increasingly outnumbered by Chevy Impalas by the early 80's, so my Dad's attempts to hail one resulted in an errant Impala stop or two, followed by Dad explaining to an irritated cabbie that his shiny new Chevy was not what he was looking for.

Between the bright colors, the trailer flag and the massive twin horns, this rig should be hard to miss (or hit, as it were) The bright Brit machine was parked at a gas station convenience store on Albany Avenue, making it the first Bike Outside profiled in the Clay Arsenal neighborhood. Read more!

Bikes Outside: Well Traveled, Well Red

With all the snow around Hartford, the bike sightings have been down a bit of late. I was out of town most of the past week, so that didn't help matters on the bike-spotting front (though it was very helpful on the snowboarding front). I have learned that when I'm scrambling for Bikes Outside blog fodder, there are two places where I'm virtually guaranteed to see a bike or three parked. One of these is the library, as last week's Murray demonstrated. Another proven venue for bike-spotting bounty is Park Street. This Monday, we meet at the spot that combines both favorable conditions, the Park Branch of the Hartford Public Library. I have spent a fair amount of time at the Sucursal Calle Park over the years, and the sheltered entryway has proven a popular and convenient bike-stashing spot for me and many others, including the owner of this Schwinn Traveler III.

This is classic bike boom ten speed material here: hi-ten steel frame, steel 27" wheels, and turkey wings activating the front center-pull and rear side-pull brakes. Nothing on this frame suggests anything more detailed than a Japanese origin, but Panasonic is probably a good bet for the role of "Schwinn Approved" manufacturer in this case. I've read that they produced the non-Chicago Schwinns, specifically the Le Tour, during the 70's and early 80's.

I didn't see or meet the owner of this bike, but the slam-dunked nose-down saddle and nosebleed-high stem seem to suggest that this tall Traveler might be a less-than-perfect fit for them. What appears to be a double-thick bar-wrapping job could help ensure the rider's hands are well-cushioned wherever they end up. The bright red paint and chrome fork ends on this bike still look presentable after 30-something years.

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Bikes Outside: Monterey Salt Festival

This morning's Bike Outside was spotted this past Sunday afternoon at the Hartford Public Library. With high temps barely into the teens and stern frostbite warnings on the radio, I was surprised to see two bikes locked up upon arriving for yesterday's Baby Grand Jazz show. This is one of the better bikes I've seen wearing the Murray badge. The componentry is solidly 1970's with some 60's aesthetic nostalgia thrown in, especially the champagne (pronounced in the manner of The Continental, of course) paint and the chainguard lettering. The 3-speed hub was too crusty to identify, but I'm assuming it's a Shimano or Suntour based on the decidedly non Sturmey Archer thumb shifter. The Altenburger Syncron brakes are great period pieces. They have a mixed reputation, but they are credited as the precursor to the dual-pivot sidepull brakes that are the modern road bike standard. They are also setup with the right hand lever activating the front brake, an arrangement more familiar to motorcyclists or European bicyclists.

The very presence of this bike on the roads yesterday called for some teeth-gritting fortitude on the rider's part and some sturdiness on the 40 year old bike's part. That said, I hope the owner is faring better than the salt-encrusted Murray's drivetrain. So very very salty! Had I spotted this bike in motion, I'm sure that I would have involuntarily cringed to hear that poor rusty chain laboring around. I want to take this bike in and give it a hot shower and a major overhaul in front of a roaring wood stove.

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Bikes Outside: Appointed Rounds

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds"

These words, derived from Book 8 of The Persian Wars by Herodotus, have been associated with the US Postal Service ever since they were chiseled above the entrance to the New York General Post Office on 8th Avenue circa 1914. A fine sentiment, to be sure, but I suggest that today's bike messengers have more in common with the mounted couriers of the original text than today's minivan-driving mailman. Maybe Persians making deliveries on horseback during a 50-year long war aren't so terribly far removed (2,500 years notwithstanding) from bicyclists dodging traffic on roads that have become increasingly hostile territory over the past century.

This is Madison number three for the first Bikes Outside bike single model hat trick. I see today's bike around frequently, as I work between two of its regular stops. The working messengers were among the very first to be seen out and about after last week's blizzard, and this bike has the salty layer of filth to prove it. The Ghostship pad shows some regional bike love. The railing in front of the Capitol Annex on Trinity Street is one of the more convenient unintentional bike racks in town.

This week marks the first anniversary of the Bikes Outside series. I've missed a few weeks here and there, but I've enjoyed having another reason to stop and gawk at random bikes.

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Bikes Outside: Electro-Luxe

The first Bike Outside of 2011 is the bike of the future, at least according to some bike industry types. Electric assists are supposed to be the next big thing in cycling as baby boomers lose leg muscle and resolve to parasitic nanorobots activated by the musical stylings of Jethro Tull. I may have misheard a detail or two as the industry type/ E-bike apologist was explaining this (he was a tad dull) but that's really the gist of what he was saying.

I've never ridden an E-bike, though I do get asked about them periodically (usually by Baby Boomers, actually). I visited a shop that specializes in them during my Portland sojourn. The staff and customers were all very friendly, and really, really excited about electric bike power. I would have been unsurprised if one of the shop customers handed me an E-bike tract and attempted to convert me on the spot.

While I confess to desperately longing for an electric assist during my ill-fated journey to Coventry this past September, I'm normally not particularly drawn to them. That's neither here nor there, really. The important thing is that it got the owner of this particular bike out and about in the wake of Hartford's first decent snowfall of the winter. The owner of this step-through Schwinn seems to be a regular at the Behind The Rocks shopping center where I spotted it, as the security guard who rolled up to see what I was doing knew too much about the owner and the bike to have retained it all from a single conversation.

The front hub motor seems like the most popular setup in the E-bike universe. It kind of makes it look like the bike has a drum brake up front. (especially some of the larger ones). The few I've seen (including this one) have been equipped with rim brakes, but I feel like a hub that large ought to have a brake built into it as well. I'd like to build an electric motor hub into a 20" wheel (perhaps for a Cycle Truck or an unnecessarily ungainly folding bike) The giant hub-to-rim ratio with tiny spokes would end up looking like the front wheel of an old racing Norton, which I consider to be a good thing. I'm not holding my breath for people to beat a path to my door for custom e-bike wheels, but with MSRP's for bikes like this Schwinn in the $2,000-$3,000 range, I can see the appeal of retrofits and DIY conversions.

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Bikes Outside: Swede Ride

This morning's Bike Outside is my first since November due to an extraordinarily busy stretch at my job. Thanks to Schleppi for filling in some of the missed Mondays for me.


Today's handsome example sports a classic frame from Crescent of Sweden. It appears to be a late 60's-early 70's Crescent Stainless Mark (something or other) The differences between the Mark IX, XI and XX models were in the components, so the current parts offer no clue as to its original spec. Whatever it was, it's still a really gorgeous frame, and the Brooks saddle looks just right. For me, a set of polished old school high flange hub/ box-section wheels would set it off beautifully. The mismatched deep-V rear looks as incongruous as billet rims on a Volvo Amazon. I would be happy to own both this bike and an Amazon wagon, come to think of it.

This past week's Downtown glimpse was my first sighting of this particular bike. Did one of our usual messengers add another bike to his stable or could this belong to someone new in town?

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Bikes Outside: Fuller Wheels

Alfred C. Fuller was hardcore. According to several online biographical statements, the founder of the Fuller Brush Company -- what was the Hartford factory location is now the CT Works Center -- did not play around. His philosophy for running a business can be summed up in his own words: "There was no loafing on the job, no fringe benefits that encouraged idleness." Thus, it is appropriate that the largest number of bicycles found on the University of Hartford campus were located around the building named after this man.

The Fuller Music Center houses the Hartt School, which is where some of the hardest working students on campus can be found. Besides working hard, they have a lot of schlepping to do, which might explain the number of bicycles.


It's also likely that students majoring in the performing arts have longer commutes to their classes, as the new Handel Performing Arts Center is located off of the main campus, down on the corner of Albany Avenue and Westbourne Parkway. Biking sure is better than waiting for a shuttle bus.

There was also a giant menorah on campus. No bikes were locked to it.
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Bikes Outside: Bike Ballet

Exhibit A: Genderfuck bicycle. Note the bold fuchsia paint job that is paired with a deep blue crate.

Exhibit B: The font is bubbly, script, and ultimately, girly; yet, the tires say "move out the way before I run you down."


Exhibit C: Bicycle parking itself at rack where light pink ballet slippers are tied.

Verdict: Awesome. One fewer student in the Blue Hills neighborhood using a car to transport him/herself across campus.

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Bikes Outside: It's Lonely at the Summit

This morning, Bikes Outside takes a field trip to a near-flung corner of hard hittin' New Britain. There, on the grounds of CCSU, Bike Walk Connecticut held their first Bike Walk Summit this past Saturday. When I arrived a little early to help with check-in, mine was one of only two bikes in front of the already-buzzing Memorial Hall. I braced for another embarrassingly sparse bike turnout at a bike event, but a few more bikes did arrive in time for the official start of the event. By the time the first break rolled around, there were eight bikes locked up outside including mine. Two more attendees rode their bikes and parked them inside on the stairway landing. While this disqualified their pampered rides from Bikes Outside immortality, it did bring the observed ride-in total to 10. While this is an improvement over last March's rainy annual meeting, it's still pretty underwhelming for an event with an estimated attendance of 160, and no, I don't think (m)any of the other people walked there. The weather was really beautiful this time, too.


The bikes that were representing were of the practical sort. Fenders and racks were the norm rather than the exception. The Kettler Elegance had internal gearing, dynohub lighting, a Trinity College decal and was made from alurad, a lightweight alloy of aluminum and radness (comparable, but not identical to the "aluminawesome" and "alubitchin' "alloys) A Breezer Uptown 8 rocked similar specs. A couple of Trek hybrids that I know well from years of CCBA Bike To Work breakfasts were there, along with a few more bikes, a tadpole recumbent trike and my own cargo bike (not pictured). The summit itself was a success. There was still plenty of bike bonding and policy discussion, etc to be had inside (which warrants another post when time allows), but not enough bikes outside.

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Bikes Outside: Vintage 'Vega

This Monday's Bike Outside was spotted downtown a while back. It's a handsome machine in spite of a glaring case of missing bar tape.

It seems like the vast majority of classic Univegas are either blue or gray in color, and I, for one, think it would be a shame to pass up the opportunities inherent in the symbolism of the two colors. I envision an interprative reenactment of the War Between the States. Picture this: hipsters in mid 19th century garb square off in a brutal, week-long North vs. South bike polo tournament to gain control of the Mason-Fixie line. Such an event would be guaranteed to be [described as] epic!

I'm partial to the versatile 'Vegas of the 70's and 80's, so today I pay my respects at the Church of Univega Universalism.



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Bikes Outside: Road Shareholder

It's been a little while since the Bikes Outside lens has been aimed at the corner of Capitol and Babcock, so it was high time we paid a visit. La Paloma Sabanera has always been a reliable bike-spotting ground, playing host to plenty of bikes and bike people from day one. This weekend they will be hosting some of the Hartford International Film Festival as well. The annual multi-venue festival is fun and well-suited to attending on a bicycle.

This Trek hybrid is an oft-seen bike about town. The bright orange DOT "Share the Road" sticker makes the otherwise ordinary commuter bike easy to spot. Whether I'm at a farmers' market, cultural event or activist happening, there's a good chance this bike will be there. The owner walks the talk, as they say (that could seem like a technically flawed statement, but 'rides the talk' sounds awkward)

I was invited to speak on a panel at a recent Environmental Justice conference here in Hartford. A showing of hands early in the event showed a substantial number of Hartford residents in attendance. The weather was nice. Care to guess how many bikes were locked up outside? Three. Mine, another Hartford blogger's and this Trek. Methinks the early adopters are running a bit late. Come on people! There's plenty of road to share.


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Bikes Outside: My Other Bike is a Broom

Downtown Hartford played host to the annual Hooker Day Parade this past Saturday. The atmosphere was festive, spirits were high, and airborne candy and beads were the order of the afternoon. Bikes were out and about both in and around the event. Hartford Denim Company had a trike, and ostensible fellow Beat Bike Blogger Ken Krayeske rode his trusty Cannondale along with some other cyclists touting his bid for Congress. Also, there were witches.

This pair of freshly-paraded witchy hybrids was spotted at the terminus of the parade, where people socialized while Hartford Police officers worked to herd them off the promptly reopening streets. The sloping top tubes of the blue frame is particularly well-suited to broom-mounting. A larger broom, or perhaps a rake, could look even more intimidating and double as a skirt guard. The handlebar skeleton is a nice touch. I could see how a front rack-mounted reaper, with scythe of course, could be helpful in certain traffic situations.

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Bikes Outside: Ride Me to Firenze

Today's bike outside is a feast of well-preserved 1970's Bike Boom bling. Everything you need to make your own low-budget remake of Breaking Away (and impress the ladies) is right here.

You've got the Italianate name, The snappy paint job on the lugged frame, color coded cable housings and decals, and some fine-looking drilled brake levers (with bonus turkey levers to boot!)

The "Precision Drive 15 Speed" drivetrain (with narrow-range triple crankset) will make you half-again better than the jealous haters on their puny contemporary 10 speeds.

Luxurious foam drop bar grips are the perfect finishing touch to this period piece. They're like little handlebar afros.



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Bikes Outside: Happy Thanksgiving!

Today we celebrate the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday with a street-seen mountain bike from the Great White North.


The Velo Sport brand is new to me (also annoying to research on search engines, due to how frequently "velo" and "sport" are joined together in the bicycling world). It kind of reminds me of the Skykomish, sans the Deore-level componentry. My Canadian bike knowledge is very limited, though I did ride a Rocky Mountain 'cross bike last year at Interbike and enjoyed it quite a lot.

Like my late Quebecois grandmother back in the day, this Velo Sport Banff is strong and sturdy. It also has a fair amount of dirt on it (albeit less than six feet of it, and this is getting uncomfortably weird so I'm going to stop comparing it to my Grandma riiiight about now)

One thing that stands out to me is that this bike has some generously long rear stays. There is a lot of room back there! I kind of want to do another 700c mountain-street conversion one of these days a la the Frankengoose, so I'm more attuned to rear triangle size lately. I was tempted to claim that I "discovered" this bike and claim it on the spot right there on Trumbull Street, but that wouldn't be in keeping with the spirit of Thanksgiving.

Have a happy Monday!

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