I recently bought a new (old) bike with the intent to make it a inclement weather bike. I picked up a

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Bicycle Fun

Riding the subway and thinking of bicycles.
Watercolor added at home.
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Columbia Cruiser

This is a bike that I rode around South Bass Island while I was on vacation with my family last month. It was an old Columbia bicycle that was used as a rental bike on the island. I believe Javan said that his father bought the bike from one of the rental places though I cant recall when. Anyway, it was a great old cruiser with a coaster brake, and a chain guard.


It had a great plate crown fork as well and was in quite good shape considering it was well over thirty years old. Javan seemed to think the tires were the same as when his dad bought the bike which seems crazy but I must admit they did appear to be super old. No matter what it was a joy to ride ride around the island.

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Bicicletta

I was surfing around today before heading home from work and I came across an image on Face Hunter that caught my eye. It was the graphic print on the dress in this image that really looked nice to me. I quickly grabbed the image and started making my own version of it. I think it's a bit too similar to the original right now but I like the feel of it so far. I'll have to keep working on the idea and make it my own but I'm happy with the start.

The graphic reminds me of the custom paint job on this bike which I really like. I love the way the colors in the graphic are cropped out by the frame but you can read the progression of the lines even thought most of the line is implied. I may try applying my graphic to a bike frame and see how it goes.

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More Napkin Bike Doodles

Travis and I were talking about bikes at the bar tonight and I made some napkin drawings to illustrate a few ideas. It was nice to hang out and have a drink after working a full day both days of the weekend.

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Bike

After finishing the Ice Cream Truck drawing, I headed back to Brooklyn to meet up with Travis and Gabe. It was so nice outside we ended up spending the better part of two hours sitting on a bench outside of The Boat. In addition to some people watching (they just keep on coming!) I made this sketch of a bicycle that was locked to a nearby parking meter.

Things didn't really end up lining up, but I still like how it turned out.

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Napkin Bells

Two different bike bells, drawn from memory. They were both purchased in Japan and the one on the right was recnetly stolen. I've replaced it with a new bell that I have been meaning to draw for some time now.
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Hub Spacing

I needed a few parts for my Coaster Hub so that it will be sized to fit my bike. We'll see if it works this weekend.

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Bike!

A napkin sketch showing the difference between adjusting screws for horizontal drop outs and chain tensioners for track ends.

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My Miele

More watercolor, this time filling in a drawing of the headtube of my Miele bicycle.

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Hub Dimensions

This is the two hub measurements needed to calculate the length of spokes needed to build a new wheel. Andrew, Travis and I are building some wheels for our bikes.

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Wheels

Tonight at dinner I was explaining to Andrew and Travis some of the structural qualities of bicycle wheels and these are some placemat drawings. Nothing too crazy or exciting.

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Coaster Brake

Happy New Year! The end of 2006 was a bit bumpy in terms of the regularity of my postings but I'm hopeful that I can settle into a better rhythm for 2007. To start off this new year I've gone back to the topic of my first post, bicycle bits'n'pieces. This is a coaster brake hub that I found in the trash over the weekend. I've removed the old, crappy steel rim and spokes and taken it apart and cleaned it out. Soon I will order a new rim and spokes so that it can fit on my Raleigh city bike.

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