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: Non-friction at the Library

This Monday's Bike Outside was in good company among a handful of rides locked up at the Hartford Public Library on Friday afternoon. While all bikes in attendance were of the fat 26" tire variety, this particular Mongoose had some key features to set it apart from the rest. You see, this bike is all about taking it up a notch. While some mountain bikes have front suspension, this one has dual suspension. While some bikes are a little beat-up, this one is really beat-up. While many Hartford bikes have one missing brake, this one is missing brakes front AND rear. There's something to be said for that kind of thoroughness, and that something is "Aaaaiiigh!!!! No Brakes!!!!"

I had to dodge a guy barreling down the sidewalk on a brakeless mountain bike as I was walking down Capitol Avenue a few weeks back. I'm pretty sure this is the one, as I recall a flash of white and a remnant of V-brake jutting out. The rest of the moment was obscured by my life flashing before my eyes and fighting an overwhelming urge to give chase and administer a vigorous dope slap. While fisticuffs might have satisfied a certain knee-jerk instinct of anger/self-preservation, It likely would have ultimately made things worse. Not being threatened with immediate bodily harm on Friday afforded me a clearer head with which to seek out a more positive solution.

While I was at the library, I procured a piece of scrap paper and some adhesive tape. I wrote a short note that I intended to tape to the bike, directing the bike's owner to a couple of inexpensive sources for some brakes. Alas, the Mongoose was gone when I returned to the bike rack. I tucked the note into my tool bag on the off-chance that I see the bike again soon.

If the owner of this bike happens to be reading this, I encourage, nay, urge you to go to the Urban League's bike shop at the corner of Woodland and Sargent. They are open from 4-7 PM Tuesday-Thursday. They have a box full of old brakes, some of which will fit your bike. I'll even pay for them if you don't have spare cash on hand (provided you come on a Tuesday). Also, get off the sidewalk. Thanks. Read more!

Bikes Outside: Snow Goose

This morning's Bikes Outside features a Mongoose MGX locked up in front of an apartment building across the street from the Broad Street Community Garden. It was just accumulating snow last Tuesday, but the owner could have been having all sorts of fun riding around a snowy park instead. I have a hardtail Mongoose mountain bike frame that I started making into a ghetto 96er snow bike for that very purpose, but it has been a low priority. That has already been named Snowgoose, but mine is an open nomenclature and I'm willing to share.

Mongoose is a brand that lost their way the past decade or two. There was something solid and straightforward about them back in the day, but more recent models seem to be all about flash and hype. There seems to be a lot of stuff written on this bounce bike's frame--perhaps a bit more than the world needs to know. It's like the bike equivalent of tuner-style cars with Eibach, Toyo,"powered by Honda," et cetera plastered all over. Part of me wants to replace the "Powered by SRAM" decal with "Powered by legs" or some other admittedly prosaic but more accurate slogan. With tubing this large, I suppose designers felt compelled to fill up some of the space, but they could have gone in more interesting directions. How about a series of photos? Perhaps Haiku...

I spent the first half of yesterday at the Dudley bike swap meet sharing a table with Erik. The booth next to us specialized in vintage BMX bikes, so in among the Hutches, GTs and Thrusters were a few of the looptail Mongoose frames I would have liked to own as a kid (not as much as I wanted a "Tri-Power" Thruster, mind you, but neat bikes just the same)

Here's my brilliant marketing idea for the day: I think that if Mongoose, or any of the 1980's BMX superpowers started selling reasonably well-made 26" bikes that were essentially scaled-up vintage 20" BMX bikes, they would sell like hotcakes. The nostalgic force is strong with the thirtysomething demographic, and people have done far more ridiculous things to harken to their youth. A 130% sized BMX bike sounds ridiculous, because, well, it is, but I still kind of want one now.


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