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People Have to Learn Bicycles: Inside / Out at Ted James Design

Reportage By: Petor Georgallou

People Have to Learn Bicycles: Inside / Out at Ted James Design

As though they’d joined a cult and made some kind of suicide pact, having seen none during the five hours of driving previous, perhaps thirty pheasants lay dead in the road over a quarter-mile3 stretch. What had happened on this quarter-mile stretch? Why here? It made me regret buying the rabbit, but without screeching to a halt on a frozen dual carriageway it wouldn’t have been practical to stop and collect them. Even at 70mph I could tell some were past their best and it’s rude to turn up empty-handed. I was on my way to visit Ted, so turning up with roadkill seemed to make sense. I was running late though and didn’t want to rely on road gifts so I picked up a wild rabbit wrapped in paper from our local butchers. It was a relief they had it because plan B was the pet shop.

I’d debated not going to visit Ted of Ted James Design and just compiling the stories people tell about him. The chronicles of SuperTed! The stories people tell can seem fairly fantastic, however, worryingly most of the time they’re true. I sometimes wonder how Ted is even alive? If I were more superstitious, I’d say his spirit was too big for his body and so it spends all of its time trying to get out. There’s something in his eyes like the sort of superintelligence and frustration a sheepdog has about being domesticated, as though any room that he’s in is somehow too small, so his eyes dance about searching for exits.

Taj Mihelich’s New Book: Back Before They Invented Open Face Helmets: A Book of Cartoons and Doodles

Radar

Taj Mihelich’s New Book: Back Before They Invented Open Face Helmets: A Book of Cartoons and Doodles

For those looking for different holiday gifts, while supporting small, independent publishers and authors look no further. The latest from BMX legend Taj Mihelich is a book of doodles and stories:

“This book is 164 pages of my cartoons and doodles. There is a bunch of bicycle comics (including a number from Sunday Comics with Taj series on Pinkbike), lots of low- brow humor, dad jokes, questionable puns, and some things that are probably only funny to me. There’s a few things I’m actually serious about, but hopefully you can’t tell, and even a few essays. I call it a collection of not-too-artsy-fartsy work I’ve done over the last few years (though, there are a few fart jokes).”

Please note, this is not a children’s book! Head to Taj’s shop to pre-order.

State Bicycle Co and Killer Mike: Fundraiser BMX Bike for Los Angeles Bicycle Academy

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State Bicycle Co and Killer Mike: Fundraiser BMX Bike for Los Angeles Bicycle Academy

Our friends at State Bicycle are running a Killer (Mike) fundraiser!

State Bicycle Co. is giving away, this 1 of 2 (Killer Mike has the other one) – BMX Bike in order to support, raise funds, and awareness for Los Angeles Bicycle Academy. The bike was originally created for rap-legend, community leader and activist Killer Mike. We are asking participants to voluntarily donate $10 for Los Angeles Bicycle Academy on this product page, and they will be automatically entered to win the bike*.  We will draw a person at random. The bicycle recipient will be announced Saturday, June 27th. No purchase necessary, see below for details. 

About Los Angeles Bicycle Academy (LABA): 

Los Angeles Bicycle Academy (LABA) is a youth education program, community bike shop and youth cycling team with a mission to empower, educate and develop entrepreneurial and leadership skills in boys and girls between the ages of 8-18. Within the context of a full-service bike shop we employ a comprehensive hands-on bicycle mechanics, sales and service curriculum including an ‘earn-a-bike’ program. LABA’s cycling team seeks to expand the capabilities of youth from communities where exposure and access to the sport of cycling and lifestyle are limited. LABA will support 9 youth cyclists on its roster for the 2020 season. The bicycle is a tool for liberation and freedom. It is positive for both mental and physical health. Through the ownership of a bicycle, possibilities are expanded, travel becomes easier, new places are discovered.

Head to State to join in on the raffle!

Radar

We the People’s 27.5″ Avenger Has Old School MTB Vibes

Klunkers and Cruisers, the early mountain bikes, took to the fire roads of Marin back in the 1970’s. Klunkers had a derailleur and hand brakes while Cruisers had coaster brakes only. The disambiguation of these two terms doesn’t count for much these days, as just about any bike that looks like this will be dubbed a “klunker”. We the People’s newest bike, the Avenger, is a 27.5″ rigid MTB with klunker/cruiser feels and disc brakes. We’ll look at the predecessor to this bike, a 26″ version, in detail this week but this bike, with a coaster brake would be all kinds of fun! Or just ride it as is. See more on the Avenger at We the People and see more photos below.

Radar

A RAD Remake

Caroline Buchanan stars in this super short remake of the movie RAD and I just wish it was a full-length!

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The Sierra Shredder: a Project by Squid Bikes, Paul Component and Sierra Nevada!

This entire project is so rad, from the concept, to the Squid Bikes frame, to the build and Travis from PAUL‘s press-release, which you can read in full below!

“The bike is done, and you can have it!

Wow, remember when we sent out that last teaser press release about the sweet custom bike we were building for Sierra Nevada Brewery to show off at this year’s Sea Otter Classic?”

Two Unique Bicycles from Woodstock Cycleworks

Reportage By: John Watson

Two Unique Bicycles from Woodstock Cycleworks

How a shop uses their retail floor and what they display there says a lot about their business model. I’ll go out on a limb here and say that most shops reserve the floor for items which are for sale and they’ll hang or display specialty, not-for-sale items outside of the consumable area. Well, that’s not the case at Cape Town, South Africa’s Woodstock Cycleworks. Nils and his team are literally swimming in bikes, both complete and in framesets. As we saw in our Shop Visit, the space is made by the bikes, not vice versa. Some shops’ spaces are made for the bikes. Here, you move throughout a myriad of frames, museum pieces and yes, items for sale.

After an initial walkthrough, two bikes that really resonated with me were these: a Hansom Track and a strange, BMX designed to incorporate a shovel. One is what many would consider a pristine example of a South African frame and the other, well, I dunno what it’s purpose is or was.

The BMX

Nils, or perhaps it was someone else, discovered this bike in a dumpster, outside a school. It seems it was a project of a student and aside from its obvious metaphor of working on bike trails with a shovel, it serves no current purpose at the shop, other than to cause inquiries by people like me.

Hansom Track R5000

Hansom is one of the most distinguishable South African builders and in his day as a builder, Gotty Hansom built a number of road and track bikes from Tange, Reynolds and Columbus tubing. This bike, in particular, was made from 531 and sports some very tight clearances. Currently, it’s listed on Woodstock’s for sale page…