Vanmoof City Bike

We spotted an interesting bike down by the Louvre. I should have gotten full-bike photos, but you can see some of those at the Vanmoof website. 

It looked to me like the headlight was integrated into the top tube, but we can't find a power source, or a switch. 

Taken to remember the manufacturer, you can also see their welds.

I would have expected a red tail light.

From the manufacturer's website they explain:

These LEDS not only charge themselves by sunlight, but in addition you can charge these LED lights with the micro USB cable of your phone. You simply turn the lights on by pushing the small black button on the side of the LED. They only work in the dark so they can never waste energy! These indestructible bulbs are also used for airport landing strips. They are strong and hater-proof. 

OK, that's admittedly pretty cool...

It looks like this bike became available in the States just three days ago, but the price is much better in Europe.

FYI, these are the same folks who make the Strida bikes!

Speedy Townie

Believe it or not, he was going so quickly it was hard for me to get a good photo of him!

Brainstorm light mounting with me?

Hey everyone,
I've been pushing a dynamo hub since last summer, with all the best intentions of getting a headlight mounted. Now it's nearly the darkest time of the year and still no dynamo headlight. I'm having a hard time deciding how to get something on there. All these photos should click through to enormous ones if that's at all helpful...

I have a vintage Blackburn front rack, which I love for the consistent aesthetics to my frame and it's match to my rear rack. Also my 1977 frame just doesn't have mounting points for a Nitto rack (or a headlight!).

The rack has stays at two different positions, narrower in front and wider at the middle. I'm not committed to using a particular stay for the mounting point, but I would love to nestle the light as best as possible inside the protection of the rack's platform, just for help preserving the light while parked next to bikes who might be careless, etc. This is a city bike and I'll still be parking it and leaving it for a bit.

I have the headlight my husband took off his Brompton, upside of using it is that it's currently just taking up space, downside is that it's unclear how to mount it on my bike. I'd prefer to mount my eventual headlight to the front rack and not the fork, to keep my fork as blemish-free as possible. I'm open to the idea of buying a different headlight, but I'm wondering if you folks have any ideas for getting this (or any other one) mounted on my somewhat narrow-gauge Blackburn front rack?

This light's mounting bracket can easily be removed, leaving us with a plastic housing with a bolt going through it. I can certainly get a longer bolt and any number of washers.

What I can't do is invert the light, as there are wires on the underside that must rely on the top of the light for some added rain protection.

Here is where I imagine mounting the light, allowing it to be easily seen by other road users, and allowing my rack to continue to be functional. The mounting needs to be secure enough that it stays pointed forward and doesn't slide down the rack's stay.

Edited to Add:

Here are my clamps from Harris, as well as some spacers which had come from the mounting bracket on my second tail light set. If I go the p-clamp route it would be ideal to find one smaller than this one, I'd be wrapping a whole lot of padding to get it to a good clamp on the thin tubing. I went to the hardware store hoping to find something like that and they guy there suggested hose clamps, which I understand can be smaller and certainly very adjustable. He also suggested this pre-drilled metal tape stuff, the idea being that one band of it would go around the stay, and a vertical band would go up and over the rack platform for vertical stability. That sounded like it would rattle, and I could probably do something similar with zip ties (and less rattle). I'm liking the VO bracket suggested below for stability reasons, but I think it would also have a challenge in getting it on to my rack (maybe someone could solder it on?)

Somerville Illuminations Bicycle Tour

Join the Somerville Bicycle Committee on Saturday evening, Dec 18, to celebrate the coming of winter and year round cycling. We will enjoy a casual bike tour to see some of the city’s homes warmly lit for the holidays.

We will meet at the Somerville High School entrance at 6:50pm, departing promptly at 7:15 pm.
We will tour the city in coordination with the Somerville Arts Council’s Illuminations Holiday Tour. The start of our ride is scheduled halfway between two trolley departures, so we will not interfere with the trolley tour.

This is a winter evening ride, so please dress warmly and use bike lights. Holiday lights, costumes & festive cheer encouraged. Heavy rain, wind, snow or ice cancels bike tour.

Reflections: Preparing for Darkness

Here is a test photo of my nighttime reflectiveness, as imperfectly demonstrated by a camera flash (rather than a car's headlights). It's easy to see that the wide strips of 3M Scotchlite on my Carradice bag and coat are much more effective than the smaller reflections created by my gloves and the sidewalls of my tires (though those certainly help in correctly identifying my bicycle as such). When riding long distance I add reflective ankle bands, but I usually forget when riding a couple of blocks in town.

Far more effective than reflectiveness is my own light source and you can clearly see that with my unbelievably bright Planet Bike Superflash. They say it can light up a small town. Seriously, this tail light is so bright my husband doesn't like to ride directly behind me. There are two other tail lights in this photo but you're unlikely to notice them. I have the main light and the helmet light blinking (when I'm riding in town) and leave the light on my fender on steadily, just for a change (and because it uses batteries less quickly than the brighter lights).

The clocks fall back this weekend, let's all be ready for the darkness!

Old School Raleigh Sports

This bike stood out among her peers due to her vintage perfection. How many Raleigh Sports still have their pumps? Not many.


Gleaming chrome always pulls me in...

This little light of mine

I think of cute determination on the rare occasions when I see a Brompton. With Harris Cyclery and Broadway Bicycles now selling them it's become a lot easier to welcome a Brompton into one's tiny Boston apartment.

So while today is (so far) merely a two Brompton day, on Monday I saw a record-shattering four Bromptons around town, meaning three that weren't my husbands!!! (for the record, I didn't see Sexy Brompton or Elton from Harris, so that means there are at least 6 Bromptons in Boston!)

Last spring I saw a wonderful Brompton tail light modification. We have now implemented a version of this ourselves. Here you can see the new Planet Bike blinkie mounted to his rear rack:

Those two brass pieces are corner braces from the hardware store. I think a pack of four of them cost $2.50 but I could be off by as much as 50%. I just don't remember. They hold a Planet Bike Taillight Rack Bracket - you will need a set of screws and bolts (we conveniently had some, if you don't have some plan to buy these too).

The bracket is compatible with Blinky 3,5,7 and Superflash - had I known this I would have bought the Superflash, which is by far the best tail light ever.

Yes, the light is off-center. The holes were drilled into the rack slightly off-center. Don't know why.


Here you can see how the corner brackets and the rack bracket still keep the profile of the light within the Brompton's carrier wheels. This means that the light does not strike anything when the bike is folding and unfolding.

Here the light is safely folded under. You can also see another light dangling from the seat. I cannot find this light anywhere on the web, but I know it's out there. We bought it at Harris but they don't list it. It's great for a Brompton because it is so flexible and not impeding the seat post.


In one weekend we went from one tail light to three. Three tail lights are probably overkill, but given the dangers of cycling Boston it makes me feel better to know that he's visible. The helmet-mounted light moves with his movements (including checking traffic where it can't be seen anymore), the seat-mounted light swings wildly with all movements, and the rack-mounted light is low, but constant, and that's good.

Finally, apropos these darling Bromptons, you must remember:
Ce n'est pas un petit vélo, c'est un vélo qui sait se faire petit.

Sunny 3 Speed

This classy three speed bike made me smile. I love the white sidewalls on the tires, the beautifully broken-in Brooks saddle. For necessary modern upgrades we have the Continental Kool Stop brake pads and the Planet Bike blinkie, both of which I enjoy on my own bike (more on that soon).


Those worn cork grips complement the brown frame perfectly, and Grant "Beausage" Petersen would certainly approve. The Crane bell is the perfect touch, of course, and I can't neglect the vintage basket. Everything is perfect.


Since starting this blog I've learned to appreciate many subtle things about old 3-speed bikes (painted fender stays? check!) This one has them all. Perfect.

Parked.

I apologize for being out of touch, but this blog is parked while I focus on some personal matters. Rest assured I'm still riding every day and look forward to spring and time to blog about bikes!

In the meantime here's a handsome parked bike spotted in the South End:


This bike helped me decide to go with the Mavic rim for my dynohub. I believe it will hold up fine, and the performance will be appreciated on longer brevets. The wheel is built, now to buy a light!

Chic Geek

There are many details to love on this bike. It's clear that someone put a lot of thought into a personal and custom build and you all know that one of a kind's my favorite kind of bike.


I admit to being charmed by the light mounted flush to the level of the rims, creating the appearance of an unbroken circle. The effect is more remarkable in the total bike photo, but here's how it was done.


While I was reeled in by the light, my husband was admiring the segmented fork, an aesthetic nod to Fat City Cycles.


I took this photo for the pretty headbadge, but this bike is so shiny that if you look closely you can see me and my husband reflected in the headset (twice!).


Perfect for Boston, this bike has both internal gearing and internal braking. A bike-crush worthy bike!

Gentleman's Bike

We're not spending much time outside these (cold) days, but I did see this handsome bike.

Matching Bag and Bike

Blue, white, and a red accent - bag and bike. Even her Converse match!

Brompton Tail Light Modification

My husband's only complaint about his Brompton has been the stock lighting system. He tried to use it for a while but eventually stripped it all off. It just wasn't worth the hassle.
I'd like him to use more lights on his bike, so when I saw this clever Brompton set-up I took photos for him. Then I realized that some of you might be interested too.
At first I thought it was a DIY bracket, but after visiting Bikes Not Bombs I saw that they sell a Planet Bike rack bracket for the Planet Bike light, and that must be what we see here.
What is important, and may not come across in the photos, is that the light is low profile enough that it's protected by the wheels on the rack and does not need to be removed to fold the bike.

Perfect Green Raleigh

I think this bike may be perfect in every way. Beautiful old frame, gorgeous Brooks saddle, working headlight, great colors, Carradice bag, and those streamers. Those streamers get me every time. On whole, a perfect balance of practicality, classic aesthetics, and whimsy.

Man in Black

While all in black, I like his gentlemanly choice of white gloves. Must be good when he signals. Isn't that a handsome bike?

Winter Storm In Effect

There is a winter storm warning in effect. The streets are nearly empty. My boss told me I could work from home today. I would have still ridden my bicycle in to work, as this man is, but I am concerned about the trip home. In the daylight I can see the ice, at night I need more light.

Good thing I have a plan for that!

Here's the plan: I have a dynamo front wheel being built. I have a front rack coming in the mail. Now all I need are headlights to run off the dynamo. My colleague showed me a copy of Bicycle Quarterly, which happened to have an article about modifying LEDs for use with a dynamo. Does anyone else have suggestions for me? I'd really like to have two round headlights, if that's even possible with a Sturmey-Archer dynohub. What shall I do?

A charming group effort

I chanced upon this lovely lady and told her about this blog, asking to take her photo. She already knew of the blog (how exciting!) because her friend had been featured on the blog twice already.

This lovely lady then went on to explain to me how she came by her bike. It, and basically everything on it, as well as the maintenance for it, have been gifts through the last few years. That dynohub of hers I was lusting over? That was last year's birthday present from a group of friends. The parts go on like that. She pointed out her light which attaches to the dynohub is modern, and doesn't go as well with the overall 'look' of the bike. I have been looking into these dynohubs, and it seems her friends are very wise, the modern light will save her many headaches and blown lightbulbs.



I just love that she has streamers.

I Like White Bikes

A white bike just seems 'cute' to me.

Porteur Bike Noir

Photo from Cyclofiend.

I was recently drooling (virtually!) on these gorgeous French porteur bikes. They seem to be largely ignored by the fans of the Dutch bike but I think they're super-sexy. Then it dawned on me - my bike is starting to look a bit like them! I guess my time in Paris made a deeper impression than I thought.


I still want that chainguard, and I can't decide on a front rack or a front basket. Black or silver? So many choices!

Shades of Blue

Blue bike, blue bag, blue jean skirt, blue top, and you can't see it but blue eyes too.

Love the kitten heels!