Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Or, in following order:

God Jul och Gott Nytt År!
Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année! 
З Різдвом і Новим Роком!
Hyvää Joulua ja Onnellista Uutta Vuotta!

We are taking a few days off, to celebrate Christmas with our families. We wish you all a peaceful time with your loved ones, and we'll see you soon!

 

 

Ride safe!

Привіт українці!

Though being based in Sweden, our blog has had many visitors from Ukraine lately. We don't know how you found your way here, but you're most welcome. We like Ukrainians, of course. Feel free to leave a message!

(A photo from a tweed run in Kyiv, Ukraine. Thanks in advance to the photographer Oksana Tarasyuk and to adventure journal, where we found the photo.)

Mellandagarna with Campagnolo?

Apparently there is no specific English word for "mellandagarna", it just translates to "the days between Christmas and New Year". You don't know what you're missing! Mellandagsrea - The mellandagarna sale, mellandagssemester - the mellandagarna holidays, mellandagsångest - the mellandagarna angst... But there is a number of really good Swedish words that doesn't have any English equivalent or translation. "Tjej" for example - a person of the female sex, who's not a girl but not quite a woman either. (I think the word comes from the Romani language, originally.) And there is the "fika" - to have a cup of coffee or tea or something else to drink and maybe also something to eat, usually a pastry or a cake. But also the whole social situation - to sit down and socialise, spend some time with friends and family, talk and take it easy.

But this blog entry is about Campagnolo! Yesterday Campagnolo followed up their newsletter, where they wrote that they "reserves to its customers and fans a special surprise in occassion of the upcoming holidays". And now it's here: the famous Campagnolo BIG corkscrew. It really is extremely good-looking, coming either in bronze or satin-finish (steel).

Really stylish, made in Italy (meaning no forced or underpaid labour), coming delivered in a wooden box, it is yours for €107 + shipping. Compared to other facts about the price that we've run across, it's a bargain. So is this a first step towards being able to buy your Campagnolo products online? We hope so. And we do look forward to an opener for bottle tops as well. By the way, did we mention that Campagnolo also made really stylish polo shirts?

(No, we don't know if they're still available.So if you run across them, you're probably lucky.)

Ride safe!

What's Going On?

Again: This is a blog about bicycling. But when a man with a mental disorder, charged with being an accessory to murder and with allegations of indecent and sexual assault, stages a hostage drama in a café, when the deputy speaker of the Riksdag - The Swedish Parliament - who is a member of parliament for the racist party Sverigedemokraterna - The Sweden Democrats - questions whether Sami people and Jews can really be Swedish, when Romani beggars from Romania are spat on, have ash knocked off upon them and are being insulted here in Sweden...

We can't just write about bicycles and the joy of riding bikes. There are hope inspiring actions: The reactions to the hostage drama, people refusing to resort to hatred and vengeance - just do a quick search on "#illridewithyou", other members of the Swedish Parliament refusing to address the deputy speaker as such, saying "You're not my speaker", people speaking out for the rights of the beggars to simply be regarded as human beings...

But the fact that we even need to do this... People, ride bicycles and spread your love. Live and let live.



Ride safe!

Christmas with Campagnolo?

Something seems to be up at Campagnolo headquarters, in Vicenza, Italy. We got their newsletter yesterday and could read:

Campagnolo reserves to its customers and fans a special surprise in occassion of the upcoming holidays.

The new Campagnolo Webstore will be initially dedicated to the sale of the famous Campagnolo BIG corkscrew.

It's not a big secret that Campagnolo had a bit of a rough time a couple of years ago, but that they are now back on the right track. They have been releasing new products, both electronic and mechanical, and now this - most interesting!

There are critics of Campagnolo. They accuse the company of being snobbish, outdated and excessively expensive, and complain about their Italian attitude. To some extent they are right. We would not say that Campagnolo are snobbish, but they have a sense of pride about their legacy that sometimes does border on snobbishness, a sense of "If you don't understand what we are doing, then we are not going to waste time on you". And sometimes you get the feeling that they think that their legacy is reason enough to buy their products, but... OK, we guess that they are a bit snobbish.

Outdated, however, they are not. Perhaps you should know that some of our members still ride with their gears on the frame, à la Sachs Huret and they really like it. And despite their gears being from the 1980's they seem to be working well, so we don't feel the need to have all the latest stuff. But those of us who have Campagnolo components on their bikes really don't want to change. We (including yours truly) find the products easy to install, really well working and aesthetically pleasing, looking new and shiny.

Excessively expensive, though... Yes. Campagnolo has never aimed to sell their products to anyone who is not serious about riding road bikes. You buy their products because you know that you can trust them when you need to. But charging €179 for a chain tool, when you have already had to pay €42 for the chain itself, is just ridiculous. And if you want to buy one of their corkscrews you will have to be prepared to pay at least €178. Honestly, you can find similar corkscrews from about €7.

But remember, here, that all Campagnolo products are manufactured in Europe. (To be more specific in Italy and Romania.) Your products are not made in dictatorships (yes, we are talking about you, People's Republic of China) who occupy other countries (Tibet) and have no environmental legislation to speak of. They are not made by convicts, dissidents or by underpaid workers in other countries. So how much are you prepared to pay for a good conscience?

And compared to Shimano, SRAM and Rotor, Campagnolo's products (except their tools) are actually quite reasonably priced.

So we like Campagnolo, even though we get mad at their Italian attitude from time to time. (If you mail them, be prepaded to wait for weeks for a reply from them, if you do get a reply at all.) And we are really excited to find out what Campagnolo is up to this time!

(Campagnolo's overpriced corkscrew. Though we have to admit that it is really good-looking. By the way, how about an opener for bottle tops? Well, the picture is from Campagnolo's website.)

Ride safe! 

Put your hands up for Detroit

We were reminded of a programme we saw on Swedish television - SVT - a while ago: Kultur i farozonen. (Which translates to both Culture in the danger zone or Culture in danger.) Or rather it was a series of documentaries about different forms of culture in different places. We didn't see all episodes, but the one that we are really glad to not have missed was about the bicycle culture in Detroit.

Perhaps you know that the city of Detroit filed for bankruptcy in July 2013. Perhaps you know that the city of Detroit have had a really rough time for a long time, at least since the 1970's (but the roots of the city's problems can be traced back even further). And have you seen Detroit? Parts of it looks like a war zone. For example, check out the photos of Camilo José Vergara and of Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre. Beautiful photos, but eerie.

(Photo by Camilo José Vergara. We haven't asked for permission to publish this photo on our blog so: Camilo José Vergara. If you have any objections to us showing one of your photos on our blog, just let us know and we will take it away immediately. Also, we should mention that we kind of borrowed the photo from the blog The View from Madrid.)

(Photo by Yves Marchand/Romain Meffre. We haven't asked for permission to publish this photo on our blog so: Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre. If you have any objections to us showing one of your photos on our blog, just let us know and we will take it away immediately.)

However, there are signs that Detroit is on the upswing again, and to some extent that is thanks to the bicycle industry. For example, check out Detroit Cargo Company.

(This is the Woodward seat tool bag, available from Detroit Cargo Company.)

On their web page you can read about their thoughts on Detroit. And about their thoughts of using leather. We especially dig that! There is also Shinola.

(This is the Runwell, available from Shinola.)

On their web page you can read about their thoughts on Detroit. And see some really good-looking bicycles. We especially like the Runwell in the light orange colour.

Anyone who is into techno (or motown, for that matter) should have a soft spot for Detroit in their hearts. We certainly do, and we wish Detroit all the best in the future. We hope to come see you soon, as well, with bikes in our luggage.

There was that programme, though! As a bit of an anticlimax it isn't available anymore. It was available on SVT's web page for 30 days, until the 21st of April. Is it possible that SVT will show it again, if enough people write to them and ask for it? It's definitely worth a try! You can, though, see the trailer here, until the 21st of March 2015. 30 seconds, with Swedish subtitles. If you want to know more about Kyle Wiswall, who is mentioned in the programme you can do it here. And actually that link works just fine if you just want to know even more about Detroit.

Leslie Wacker, Kyle Wiswall and Boscoe. (This photo was taken by Tony Barchock, and published on above linked web page Crain's Detroit Business. We hope that's cool. If not, let us know.)

Ride safe!

Ride like a girl

Right now we like this. Even though all of us know what it's like to ride a bike and some of us know what it's like to be a woman, we hadn't seen the connection. It doesn't hurt that it's really stylishly made as well. Check it out!

The only objection we have is that it's pretty disheartening reading. And that is not how we feel about riding bikes. Well, not all the time. Just every now and then...

So OK, riding bikes can be a scary experience, road rage is a terrifying to come across and getting a flat usually extends your foul language. But hey, it can be pretty nice as well. Keep that in mind.

And ride safe!

Vintage bicycle race sticker - Tommy Prim?

We just had to share this sticker with you. Found in Aspbäcks vykort, brev, frimärken HB, in Antikhallarna Göteborg. For those of you who don't know about this place we can tell you that it's pretty cool. Antikhallarna Göteborg (or rather the building) was a bank from 1885 to - we guess - 1973. In 1975 Antikhallarna Göteborg moved in. It's like a mall, with twelve antiques dealers, selling everything from old stamps and records to watches and coins. The building alone is worth a visit - it's quite impressive.

And last weekend we ran across this sticker, for only 10 Swedish krona (about €1). Postgirot Open was a professional road bike staging race in Sweden, that was held from 1982 to 2002. The race was six to eight days long. We're not sure, but we think that the guy on the sticker is Tommy Prim, who won the Postgirot Open race the two first years the race was held. Either way it's a cool guy, a cool bike (a classic Bianchi) and a super cool jersey. And a bit of Swedish bicycle history.

Is it over yet?

Yeah, we know. We said that we wouldn't write more about the political situation in Sweden. But the thing is that we feel that we might have to. If we had been members of another "regular" cycling club we could have discussed politics with the other members and maybe have had an apolitical blog. (Just remember: To not take a political stand is to take a political stand.) If we had not decided to found our own cycling club, if we had not felt that we had to be political about it... but that's just who we are. And the fact is that just riding a bike is a political statement, whether you want it to or not. (That doesn't mean that riding bikes is first and foremost fun!)

Anyway, now that quite much is at stake in the new, extra election on the 22nd of March... Do we want a nicer society, a society where everyone is equal and has the rights and the possibilities to be the most that he or she can be? A solidaric society, where everyone has access to education and medical service. A society where everyone is welcome. Or do we want a harder society, a society where your worth is based upon how much money you make, where you can get a good education if you make enough money? We have our answer.

So what we want to say is that we will try to keep this blog about bikes. Liking bikes, having bikes, fixing bikes and riding bikes. (And riding bikes is so much nicer when you have a good bike infrastructure and you don't have to be afraid of or irritated at motorists: traffic planning is very political.) That said, we might feel that we have to comment on politics every now and then. We hope that you can bear with us.

And to make up a little bit for all the politics, here's a photo of a bike that we simply liked:

Ride safe!

And it continues to not be over

We said that we wouldn't write more about the political situation in Sweden, since this is a bicycle blog so: Sori. But there's going to be a new election on the 22nd of March. Wow. We really didn't see that one coming.

(Illustration: A flooded bicycle lane.)

It's still not over

Today Sverigedemokraterna - The Sweden Democrats - which is a racist party in the riksdag -the Swedish parliament - decided that they're going to defeat the budget proposed by the Social democratic (and the Green party) minority government, in the voting tomorrow. They're going to support the budget proposed by the non-Socialist opposition. It's a bit hard to say what this will result in, but a worst case scenario is a right-wing government where the Sweden Democrats will influence the immigration policy. That would suck.

This is a bicycle blog so we won't comment further on the political situation in Sweden but like we said the last time: If you wonder just where we stand politically (yes, we're that kind of cycling club) we suggest you read our very first blog post.

Ride safe!

 (Illustration: A lane where pedestrians and bicylists are supposed to "share the space". It's crap and it doesn't work.)

How to store your bike, in style

Ideally we all have big, commodious and safe bike storerooms, with enough space for everyone's bikes and no limitations to how many bikes you can have (n+1, right?). Easily accessible from two directions, and why not equipped with a pump and some useful tools too? Hands up everyone, who has such a storeroom and does not live in a terraced house, villa, manor or a castle! Yeah, exactly.

I don't either. And that's why last night I drilled up two large metal hooks on one of my walls, for my most expensive/valuable bike to hang on. Yes, I store one of my bikes in my flat. And no, it's really not the most aesthetic, good-looking or even the most practical solution but it makes me sleep better. I kind of have to store it vertically since there are wires running along the top tube .

There are, however, some really good-looking solutions for storing your bike in your flat. Kind of expensive too, but hey! D.I.Y! (Or, if you can afford them, buy them anyway and dig the fact that you're supporting designers that design cool, bike-friendly furniture.)

Here we go:

The first one is Solo, from Cycloc. The UK Design Counsil says that "The Cycloc is a minimalistic triumph of form, function and social awareness". Social awareness? Anyway it is both praised and common (at least that's the impression I have gotten). To be honest I'm not that into it, I think it looks like a potty... But if you're into it, it's £59.95 (about €76) + shipping from here.

 

But this one is really nice! Yeah, because I love wood. It's The Bike Shelf, by American company Knife & Saw. It costs $299 (about €240) + shipping, so it's really expensive but... again, really nice. Much respect to Chris Brigham, who is Knife & Saw. You can order The Bike Shelf here.

 

The last one that I like is The BookBike by BYographia. I haven't been able to find that much information about neither The BookBike nor BYographia. It's really (I mean really) expensive, though. In 2012 it cost $3600 (about €2900), according to a couple of different web sites. (Just do a search on it.) Apart from the price the only objection I have is that I wouldn't go for a white case since it would get dirty really quick. (And seriously: White tyres?) But it's still both innovative and good-looking!

Ride safe! And store your bikes safe too!

Blända av! Dip your headlights!

This video is a bit over-explicit (repeating usually is) but we can't say that this is something we haven't been thinking about. (Are you with us on that double negating?) As we have entered the dark months here in the North, our bike rides have become filled with meetings with these bicyclists riding around with these crazy lights. A super strong headlight, not completely unlike those anti-bombplane searchlights used during WW II. Sometimes blinking at an epilepsy-causing rate, sometimes aimed obliquely forward to the right for a maximum blinding effect, sometimes completed with an equally strong headlamp. And we're not talking about rides in the wilds here, we're talking about the second largest city. (This video we think was filmed in Stockholm, though.)

About ten years or so ago this was not a problem, because either you had a (regular) battery-powered headlight, or that headlight was powered by a dynamo, and these lights simply weren't that strong. It wasn't unusual to have these lights mounted on the front fork either, instead of on the handlebar, which seems to be the most common place today. But as the headlights have become stronger, more effective and have moved from the front fork to the handlebar this is an epidemic.

So what is this? Overcompensating? Thoughtlessness? Biggest and strongest headlight wins? There is not that much of a pattern here, but two groups are over-represented as far as we can see: "Average" middle-aged women and male bicyclists on cyclo-cross or "serious" commuting hybrid bikes, with full gear - tights, clipless pedals, panniers and all.



No matter what the reason is: Dip your headlights. And keep that bloody headlamp out of our faces!

(And if you have any ideas how to counteract this, please let us know! The only way we have now is shouting "Dip the lights!", and we don't really like to shout at people.)

XC in 1936

"How come you're not into fixies or single speeds?" we have been asked. Well, that's just the thing. We certainly don't hate fixed-gear or single-speed bikes, we love (almost) all kinds of bikes. We're just not into them, pretty much like some people are not into chocolate or liquorice. We will give you a more thorough reply as soon as we can, but right now... we can't, because we don't really have the time. In the meantime we would like to share this cool little film

from 1936 with you. How can you not like it? Cool girls in stylish clothes (in 1936 as well as in 2014), riding Classic bikes (we're pretty sure they're fixies). "Bicycle belles"? Yeah, we're totally into this.

Hey fixie!

I bet you wish you had gears now, don't you?

(Just a photo shot of the screen, from the film "Premium rush". Sorry about the poor quality!)

Abandoned Bakfiets Classic

This cargo bike puzzles me.

It's a Bakfiets Classic, from the Dutch company De Fietsfabrik. It may not be very fast and it may not be very attractive, but it is a good, sturdy cargo bike. These bikes sell for
€ 1895 from the factory in the Netherlands, or about € 1980 from De Fietsfabrik Cykelfabriken in Stockholm, Sweden.

This particular example has been standing on the exact same spot, since about three months back. It's a little worn, the colour is scraped, the seatpost is rusty, two tires are flat and now the platform is filled with junk and brown leaves, but still it's in pretty good condition. It's not parked outside a residential block, just standing in a busy corner.

I have been thinking about taking it the lost property department of the Police, but it's locked to a bike stand with a pretty solid chain.

My guess is whoever owns it left it there, becuase of a flat, but... It doesn't take three months to fix a flat.

Well, it's not my bike but I do think that it's a pity that a good, properly working bike is just standing there. Doesn't it deserve a better destiny?

Mr Grey?

We do hope that you have better weather than we do. We can't even remember the last time we saw the sun. The sky is an endless light grey colour, a shade somewhere between matt aluminium and milk. Sometimes it rains, then the rain stops, but the colour of the sky doesn't change. To be honest it is a little bit depressing. (And to make things absolutely right, right now there is a programme about middle-aged men who want to commit suicide, on the one radio channel we can receive on our radio. Who said Swedes don't have a sense of humour?)

Well, thankfully there are remedies. Our cure is large doses of Pharrell Williams



and dreams of Persol sunglasses

and of riding our bicycles into the summer night. Or heck, we'd even ride fixies if we could do it in Melbourne, Australia!

Ride safe, everybody


(And of course those last photos, of the Persol sunglasses, weren't taken by us. Respect and thanks in advance to the photographer and to Persol, on whose official site we found the pictures.)

Fixed on fixed

As we've said before, we're not really into fixies or single-speeds but this film made us want to go back to Australia and just ride our bicycles all day long. In this film we meet five women, who all ride fixed-gear bicycles. Riding a bicycle with no means to brake but to lock your back wheel (one of them has a front brake, though) and those narrow handlebars is not for us, but these women make it seem almost effortless and relaxed. And we appreciate so much of what they are saying - becoming one with your bicycle, taking early morning rides through the city, just hanging out with your friends...

Director Raechel Harding has made a great little (it's only 9:48 minutes long) film, with these cool women riding their good-looking bikes (yeah, we have to admit that) in beautiful cityscapes. Beautifully captured and with a relaxed soundtrack. Awesome.

(This picture was of course not taken by us, but downloaded from vimeo.com. Hope that's OK!)

The reasons we founded Ensliga Bergens cykelklubb

Our 50th blog post! And this might be a good time to explain just why we founded Ensliga Bergens cykelklubb.

The first reason we founded Ensliga Bergens cykelklubb was that we were bloody tired of the elitism and snobbery in the cycling world. And we still are. What matters is not how much your bicycle, your equipment or your gear costs. What matters is not that you have a bicycle of the "right" brand, fancy gear or expensive clothes. It may matter to other people, but it does not matter to us.

The second reason we founded Ensliga Bergens cykelklubb was that we were bloody tired of the macho attitude in the cycling world. And we still are. What matters is not how "hard" you are, how many kilometers you will ride and have ridden or how fast you can go. That's completely uninteresting to us. We ride because we like to be outdoors, because we like the things you can see in the city and on the countryside and because it's fun! Not because we feel like we have to prove something.

While we're at it: We are bloody tired of the androcentrism in the cycling world as well. There are differences between men and women, but there shouldn't be differences in how much money you can make as a pro cyclist or whether you can find sponsors or not. And again: What's with the macho attitude?

In short we don't want to ride with snobs, macho jocks or male chauvinists. Unfortunately the world is full of them, and many of them are found in other bicycle clubs. So it simply seemed like an easier way to found a bicycle club of our own. We're political and on our trips we ride at a speed that the slowest of us kan keep up with. If you think that's cool, you're welcome.

By the way, all of us don't shave our legs either. Because those of us who don't, simply don't want to. We don't give a toss about what some others think that you "must" do. Don't tell us that we have to shave our legs, that we have to have the arms of our eyewear over the helmet straps or what we can or can't wear, or when we can wear it. Take your velominati rules and stuff them. If we had rules, we would only have three:

1. Be nice

2. Riding bicycles should be fun

3. Respect the earth and don't leave litter

Ride safe!

Equality is the way

And so that no-one will accuse us of being androcentrist:

(Caroline)

(Gunnar)

(Majja)

(Owe)

We have seen more photos from this series or collection before, but these are the ones that are displayed on Valhallagatan.

Ride safe!

But...

when it comes to bicycle parking and bike racks, maybe you don't have to go D.I.Y. At least maybe not in Gothenburg. While out today we ran across these:

"The search for the perfect bicycle parking". With photos of some real hardcore cyclists (one of them is the totally cool guy Owe). These posters are placed right by a big parking space, on Valhallagatan between the Valhallabadet public baths and the Valhalla IP stadium. The text says that the Parking company of the City of Gothenburg is going to carry out a number of pilot projects in the city, aiming to create secure and safe bicycle parkings. The purpose is to procure knowledge to be able to create bicycle parking to a greater extent for time to come. We really aren't big fans of the term "time to come" ("framöver" in Swedish), since it's just too vague, but nevertheless:

Great initiative, City of Gothenburg!

And we thought that these poster might have another effect as well. There are aggressions between (some) motorists and (some) cyclists - that's no secret. But it's harder to hate someone who has a face and a name. These posters show motorists, and everyone else passing by, that bicyclists are just like anyone else. (Now that we think about it: Should they perhaps show people riding their bikes in the summertime instead?) Live and let live.

Ride safe.

The Scoop

"D.I.Y. - that means Do It Yourself
I don't sit around waiting for someone's help
I don't sit back and say "Good enough"
I keep on striving, reinventing but keeping it off the cuff"

(Beastie Boys)

As a cyclist, life is not always easy. Sometimes you have to deal with wind, rain, snow and ice, sharp objects on the ground causing punctures and obstacles causing accidents. You have to watch out for absent-minded pedestrians and aggressive motorists. (A quick search on youtube reveal some really scary behaviour, by motorists. We're probably extra aware of it at the moment, since we just answered some questions from an anthropologist about attitudes towards cyclists, under the theme "Are bicyclists treated differently?") And if you're really unlucky, when you get to your location you can't find anywhere to park your bike.

We don't pretend to have all the answers. In fact, we don't have answers most of the time. But the answer to not having anywhere to park your bike is D.I.Y. Even though Casey Neistat eventually had to take his bike rack away...



and this bicycle parking space carpet...

really doesn't solve the problem of having something to lock your bicycle to, it might give some inspiration.

Go out there, have fun, be creative and ride safe!

Officer (Oh, come on! Part 2)

I got a letter from the traffic department

The other day

I opened and read it

It said they were planning

Some days ago I wrote a mail to the traffic department, of the City of Gotenburg. Today I got a reply letter from one of the officers there.

I began my mail with saying that I feel that the situation for bicyclists in Gothenburg is improving and that that is something I (of course) really appreciate. But I had some concerns, there were especially three locations that I was curious about. One of them was the bicycle lane I mentioned in a previous post.

As you can see (if you know Swedish) they are planning to improve the traffic situation in all the locations that I wondered about. That's really cool. Getting a real letter in reply to a mail is pretty cool too.

The moral of the story? It pays to ask and complain. (But complain nicely.)

Stolen bike

My neighbour's bike was stolen two days ago. That really sucks. I mentioned the bicycle about five months ago, said it was probably the scruffiest bike I have ever seen but someone obviously still thought it was worth stealing.

 (This is what it looks like. I hope he gets it back. And if you would happen to see it, tell me and I will forward the information to him. I know he would really appreciate it. And he is a cool guy.)

Oh, come on!

It doesn't automatically become a bicycle lane just because you say it is, Göteborgs Stad!

Just look at these pictures! Why has Göteborgs Stad (The City of Gothenburg) painted these bicycles and arrows on this narrow, cracked, bumpy, neglected sidewalk, in a desolate industrial area on Hisingen? They weren't there a year ago. Probably because it looks good in the statistics. Now Göteborgs Stad can say that they added 2,3 km of bicycle lanes. Isn't that great? Let me say it again:

It doesn't automatically become a bicycle lane just because you say it is, Göteborgs Stad!