Bikes Outside: Double Dutch

This Monday's Bikes outside were spotted at last Wednesday's Hartford 2000 First Annual Pasta Dinner. This SoDo fundraiser was held to strengthen community and help fund a sorely needed upgrade for H2K's outdated name. It was a very nice event, full of goodwill and unlimited carbohydrates.

The Amsterdam is Electrabikes' west coast interpretation of the classic Dutch city bike. They took the time-proven design that has served millions of European commuters for a century and made it more laid-back. I ask you, where else but California could people think anything from Amsterdam is not sufficiently laid back? They are handsome machines at any rate. I really like enclosed drivetrains on city bikes 97% of the time. The other 3% of the time involves incredibly vexing rear tire changes.

The super-slack geometry and vertical riding position mean the owners of this his-and-hers pair are upright citizens in more ways than one. The baby seat (and the corresponding baby they walked in with) show that they are city biking family style, which is nice to see.

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Bikes Outside: Pepto Dismal

The dawn of this week finds me sick, so today's Bikes Outside post, slotted in between long-overdue stretches of sleep and home remedies, is going to be weaker than my immune system. This Asylum Street bike outside is the pinkest entry thus far, edging out July's Desert Rose by a vibrant brake cable housing-length. Like the 'Rose, this bike awaits its owner at an extreme angle, though in a different axis, nuzzling a fireplug with its double-wide saddle. The poor thing looks drunk.

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Bikes Outside: High Plains Drifter Makes My Day

As autumn comes and the weather gets cooler, my attentions must turn to battening down the battered hatches of Casa 'Statement before pipe-freezing season. While I am partial to more specialized establishments for supplies (lumber yards for lumber, plumbing supplier for pipes, etc) sometimes time and availability constraints find me begrudgingly shopping at the big home improvement center on New Park. On nearly every occasion, mine is the only bicycle locked up outside, so seeing another is a rare treat.

This Schwinn High Plains retains ties to the day when the Schwinn name, regardless of model, meant you could count on a certain level of quality. The mid-and-downmarket models weren't the lightest things around, but they were plenty solid. This well-preserved bike shares with most of its contemporaries the role of commuter bike in the oughts, and it's well-qualified for urban service. I realize I'm probably in the minority here, but Biopace cranks are an indicator of velo-coolness. My first new road bike rocked the oval chainwheels, and the mountain bikes of that era that I pined for but couldn't afford were elliptically equipped.

The unusual valve stem caps could also be indicators, in that I have seen such devices on cars function as low-pressure warnings. Viewed at very close range, one could also be led to believe that a robot dog has become excited. Perhaps they serve as counterweights for the large reflectors on the spokes. Regardless, the High Plains is getting the job done many miles away from its regional namesake.

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Bikes Outside: Discovered in Hartford

The 2010 Discover Hartford Tour, reviewed nicely here on Real Hartford was just one of three events that brought a bunch of people downtown to Bushnell Park on Saturday. The weather was fantastic, turnout was strong and group spirits were high. As participants trickled in, every tree, railing, post and trashcan in the southeast quadrant of the park began to accumulate bikes of every shape and size. There were plenty of high-dollar race-ready bikes around, oodles of road and mountain bikes as well as more plebeian hybrids and comfort bikes. There were a few nice tandems, some folding bikes, several recumbents and at least two unicycles sitting around before and after the ride as well. There was a little bit of everything to look at, and I didn't get nearly enough time to gawk at or photograph everything that caught my eye. As usual, I did tend to gravitate to the vintage beaters and the oddities among the many hundreds of bikes in attendance. Among my favorites were a flat black ratttlecanned Colnago slumming with a Hercules headtube badge and a home-brewed mostly bamboo bike that appeared to be Raleigh-derived.


The handmade bikes on display from MSH1 Bicycle Works were stunning, if technically ineligible for Bikes Outside. I chatted with owner/builder Matt Klucha for a while and bought some braze-ons from him. Good guy. I'll make an exception for a display bike just this once.


The scene was similar at each of the two rest stops on the 25 mile route, though each time I saw more bikes that I hadn't noticed before. Seeing so many people out on bikes in Hartford really made my day. Thanks to Bike Walk Connecticut, all the volunteers who made it happen and all who participated.


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Bikes Outside: Raleigh 'Round the Neighborhood

In observance of Labor Day, this week's bike outside was pushed to Tuesday morning. Today, we look at a former British subject leading an active life in Frog Hollow. It is a rare trip I make down Park street that I don't see this bike parked or being ridden. If memory serves, the mix of older and newer fonts on this particular example place it around 1970, give or give a year. The tall head tube indicates a 23" frame (the other available size being 21")

This particular Raleigh Sports (see what I did there?) some interesting aesthetic choices. The decorative spoke beads are a youthful contrast with the stodgy old school machine. The bobbed fenders enhance the sporting look and ensure that important components like the brakes and lower headset bearings are spared the flung muck of foul weather riding, without depriving the rider of his fair share of road spray. A brush repaint at some point carefully skirted around the original decals. The bike is cared for, in a very DIY sort of way.

I'm especially fond of the Raleigh Sports model, as my Dad had one, purchased new (along with a matching ladies' Sports for my Mom) at Hogie's Cycle in Hawthorne, NJ around 1975 or so. His had the 21" frame in metallic chestnut brown with a proper leather Brooks saddle. It was sold at a garage sale years ago, sadly, but I'm always on the lookout for its twin. The crisp ticking of a Sturmey-Archer hub is aural comfort food for my cycling soul.

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Bikes Outside: Pratt Still Lacks Racks in Fact

I've seen this hardtail on Pratt Street dozens of times. It's one of the regulars at the ornate iron fence in front of the late, lamented Tanuki Japanese Noodle Kitchen. It's still not a proper bike rack, mind you, but it is one of the prettiest improvised bike racks in town.


Circumstantial evidence points to bike messenger usage though a derailleur-geared mountain bike with disc brakes is a bold departure from messenger orthodoxy. It's not a bad idea, though, as there is plenty of off-road goodness to be had near downtown Hartford. What better way to cap off the workday than a knobby-tired happy hour?

Here's mud in your eye!

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Bikes Outside: Mad About Uconn

In the spirit of spending more time in different neighborhoods, this Monday marks the first time I have featured a Bike Outside in the West End. I don't spend much time in the fancy-schmancy part of Hartford. I like that it's fancy, mind you, but sometimes I find it uncomfortably schmancy. This Schwinn Madison was tethered to the rack at Uconn Law School. I'm pretty sure this is the first Madison I have seen that hasn't been messed with (outside of new one at a bike shop). The color-matched rims are still there and the bike has intact drop bars and two, count 'em, two, brakes. This, plus the near-mint condition and cheesy clamp-on reflectors make me think it is a recently-made purchase. Is it just me, or was there an excessive amount of mid-paragraph dash-usage there?

The Madison is a good-looking bike. I'm a sucker for chrome on bike frames, and the part-chromed fork and rear stays win points in my book. Schwinn has been mining its aesthetic past for a while with a variety of retro models. As it happens, they have a long and storied past full of many handsome machines, so that plan has proven reasonably successful. Schleppi's Jenny was parked at the same rack for a double-dose of old-school at the law school.

The Madison seems popular with the cicada set as well.


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Bikes Outside: Political Asylum

Connecticut's primary came and went this past week. The barrage of robo-calls has had a brief lull, and a sense of impending underwhelm has enveloped the promise of the next few months and terms to follow. A candidate or two that have occasionally kind of recognized the existence of bicycles won. A bike-friendly candidate lost. It's all very bothersome, and I found the best way to get away from all of that is to go for a little ride, which I have done on some new (to me) local routes over the past few days. The best parts of these rides have been quiet and semi-remote, but the paved approaches have been peppered with bike riders aplenty.


A side effect of the bounty of bike riders is a corresponding dearth of street-parked bikes. They are out there, of course, but trying to avoid bike or location redundancy has made for slimmer pickings of late. Maybe it's a sign that I need to spend more time in further-flung neighborhoods from my own.

I believe today's Bike Outside is the first Asylum Hill contender in the series. I found it halfheartedly tethered to a Willard Street fence. It's a fairly typical beater Huffy, still getting the job done with few outward signs of maintenance. Like virtually all of its quasi-ATB 26" wheeled brethren, it sports knobby tires that help make urban riding that much more of a chore. I had two unexpected off-road jaunts this weekend, both on wide slicks, and it wasn't difficult enough to warrant running knobbies all day for the sake of the occasional patch of dirt. If the lower-end bikemongers would simply spec some street tires on these bikes, it would make riding them a bit more pleasant and cut down on the glut of used 26" knobby tires at our nation's bike co-ops. The Urban League's bike shop program (also in Asylum Hill) had a towering pile of them. It doesn't seem to be discouraging a lot of people from ridng, so I guess it's not all bad.
Have a good week.

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Bikes Outside: Vito Power

Following our recent excursion to to the hinterlands outside of the capitol city, we find ourselves back in Downtown Hartford proper for this week's street-parked bike. It seems I've been around Bushnell Park a lot this year, which is true. I've been sort of a blog slacker of late in the face of other obligations, but I'll try to raise the bar a bit in the future. In the meantime, check out the Rockhopper I saw near Vito's on Trumbull Street.


Specialized no longer offers a full-rigid Rockhopper, which I think is a shame. I'm all for innovation, but don't deprive riders a chance to taste the original recipe. I'm not sure how old this particular bike is-- mid/late 90's? early oughts? It's new enough to have a threadless fork and V-brakes, but beyond that it's a Grip-shifted throwback to the golden era of mountain biking. However many years it has been around have been relatively easy ones, as it's in good condition.

The slam-dunked, nose-in-the-air saddle suggests someone is either too small for their frame or nostalgic for their BMX bike. Other than that, everything here could have easily been as it was the day it left the bike shop. I've been meaning to obtain or piece another mountain bike together, as my latest all-terrain beater is getting commuterized for my neighbor. The "Piece together" option is the more likely and viable of the two, but something like this would suit me fine.

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Bikes Outside: Drum Beat Bike

This week we are crossing a line I had considered with great trepidation and apprehension. For the first (non-postcard or vacation) time, the Bikes Outside lense takes a look at something parked beyond the boundaries of Hartford proper. I've seen plenty of sweet bikes parked in the surrounding suburbs, where the average sweet bike-buying budget per capita is much higher, but felt like broadening the search would make things too easy. I've decided for now that I will allow Bikes Outside the occasional foray beyond city limits for extra special bikes within Greater Hartford.

Today, we find ourselves just two miles from the border established in 1854 by Otto Liebend Blauzurück as "A clear demarcation 'twixt The Spigot and Roger's Package Store, in preparation for the future enforcement of a minimum age for the consumption of spirits." Here, steps from the shopping center that many foolhardy Hartford Advocate readers mistook for a neighborhood in Hartford, this morning's bike was spotted outside of West Hartford Town Hall during the recent MDC public hearing. Aside from its owner being on board for a good cause, this bike has that extra special something that lets it into the rarefied club that is Bikes Outside.

This bike makes the cut because it is a winning mix of elegant lines, quirky components and sturdiness. I always love me some Chicago Schwinn, and the swoopy lines of the traditional American cruiser frame are an enduring form in the bike world for good reason. While seeing a cruiser that isn't a cheap Chinese knockoff is refreshing, it's not enough to land you here, nosiree. This bike goes the extra mile. There's the color: somewhere between coral and brick-house red, dulled and nicked to a comfy patina. There's the front end: a crowned tubular fork (instead of those lame flat bladed ones some Schwinns have) and the massive Wald basket say, "I have arrived, and I brought a 12-pack!" The chrome fenders, random newer stem and springy seat all add to the look, and then there are the brakes!

I am hopelessly fond of drum brakes. My first car had drums all around, my gorgeous, snarling 1970 Triumph had drums front and rear. I have stared in awe of the massive finned aluminum drums on vintage racing motorbikes and cars. Adding drums to a neat old bike is an automatic win for me. I fully understand that disc brakes are the most effective hub-based way to decelerate a wheel, but how can you look at those clunky finned beauties and not be a bit charmed? The rear one in this case has a 5 speed freewheel attached, insuring the rider can climb hills in preparation for some white knuckled brake-warming descents. Good stuff.

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Bikes Outside: Think Globally, Park Locally

Fans of Shakespeare, when they aren't dropping clever bardian quips that sail over my head, dream of someday making a pilgrimage to the legendary Globe Theater, just off Park Street in London. As it happens, travel budget restrictions dictate that this midsummer Monday finds us instead on Hartford's Park Street a few blocks west of the under-cherished Lyric Theater looking at a Globe of a more prosaic sort.

Don't take that "prosaic" comment as a slam, mind you, this is a very nice commuter bike. I don't mean to damn it with faint praise. It's both unfair and pointless to compare any bike to a world-famous theater. They serve different purposes with very little overlap (see how informative I am? I'll bet that last sentence cleared up a ton...)

Anyway, today, across from the Park Branch of the Hartford Public Library we find one very well-appointed Specialized Globe, with lights, fenders, rack, bouncy fork and springy seatpost to help tame the urban jungle with maximum efficiency. I doubt it's the lightest thing around, but I'll wager it's mighty comfortable.

If memory serves, this is only the second Bike Outside that rocks a dynohub. I've been thinking about generator hubs a lot lately. I've been itching to build a new wheelset for the cargo bike, and the notion of seeing better at night without using batteries is very appealing. I will have a long time to mull this over, as generator hubs are pricey, and disc brake generator hubs (as the Yuba sports a front disc these days) are jaw-droppingly pricey. As always, I'm willing to help test and review any parts manufacturers will send my way (Schmidt, Shimano, I'm looking in your direction...) Exposure on the Beat Bike Blog can potentially introduce products to dozens of mildly interested cyclists!

Have a good week.
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Bikes Outside: Jazz On a Summer's Day

This Monday finds us remaining downtown for another bumper crop of bikes outside. Friday through Sunday found some of your humble bike bloggers and friends enjoying the Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz in Bushnell Park. This very evening will find us there again for the latest in this summer's continuing Monday Night Jazz series. What's better than four consecutive nights of free live music? How about riding directly to your viewing spot of choice and parking your bike inches away!


I saw a young man ride by on last week's Bike Outside Fuji as I chatted with the proud owner of this old Puch Mixte 10-speed. Not far from this spot were a hardtail Trek and a blue 70's Raleigh Sports 3-speed. There was an early 90's Trek Antelope, which reminded me of a high school girlfriend who bought one partly because of a Phish reference. A sharp-looking balloon tire replica had bebop-era styling while a Next genericruiser left its vendor owner kind of blue. I saw multiple Bianchis, an 80's Shogun ATB and a likely Bikes Outside repeat Breezer last Monday night. Everything else pictured here was spotted this past weekend.

Whether or not you are a hardcore Jazz fanatic, Monday Night Jazz shows are a great opportunity to meet up with friends to enjoy some fresh air and lax open-container policies. That said, if you can't get into hearing La Orquesta Espada and Rolando Matias & the Afro-Rican Ensemble tonight, you might have to check your pulse for possible signs of death. Caliente! Tonight's show kicks off at 6:00.

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