Boing Boing » bikes

Bike lanes led to 49% increase in retail sales

Cory Doctorow — Sat, 11 May 2013 02:00:03 +0000

Back in November 2012, the New York Department of Transportation released a report called Measuring the Street: New Metrics for the 21st Century, which had some compelling figures on the way that local business benefits from bike-lanes, for the fairly obvious reason that cyclists find it easy to stop and shop, as compared to drivers, who are more likely to continue on to a mall with a big parking lot, or shop online.

In many ways, these data come as no surprise. We know that when towns invest in bicycle infrastructure, people will ride more — the number of people traveling by bicycle increases when there is infrastructure to make traveling by bike safe and easy.
We also know that people who travel along a street by bicycle have fewer barriers to stopping at a local business than people who travel along the same street by car. It's very easy to hop off a bicycle and find a place to secure the bike; not so with finding parking for an automobile. In fact, a recent study suggest that bicycle riders tend to spend more at local businesses over the course of a month.
This new study makes it clear: investing in bicycle improvements boosts small businesses. And what town or city doesn't want to boost activity at local businesses?

NYC Study Finds Protected Bicycle Lanes Boost Local Business (via Kottke)

Loud Bicycle: Car horn for your bike

Mark Frauenfelder — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 20:07:39 +0000

An outstanding Kickstarter project - a bike horn that is as loud as a car horn!

Cycling in traffic can be frightening and dangerous. The Loud Bicycle horn prevents accidents by alerting motorists with a familiar sound. The safety benefits of the horn give more people the confidence to travel by bike.

How does it work?

Drivers react to car horns before they even know where the sound is coming from. A driver that gets beeped at while backing out of a driveway for example, will immediately brake. These kinds of reflexive reactions are perfect to keep cyclists safe. Some motorists don't realize that their driving habits can be dangerous for cyclists. Drivers will learn to be more aware of cyclists after a Loud Bicycle horn is honked at them.

I want a loud horn for pedestrians.

Loud Bicycle: Car horn for your bike

Dragster bike of 1969

Cory Doctorow — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 19:18:31 +0000

Zaz Von Schwinn uploaded this 1969 Popular Mechanics diagram showing the specs for a spectacular dragster bicycle with all the trimmings.

Popular Mechanics July 1969 page 152 (Thanks, Fipi Lele!)

Bike helmet with signal lights controlled by head tilting

Mark Frauenfelder — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 21:48:45 +0000

Last night I went to Crash Space, a hackerspace in Los Angeles, to see the cool things that its members have been working on. One of my favorite projects was Naim Busek's "Bike Luminance," a signal light that you can attach to a bike helmet so drivers can see where you are and where you plan to go. When you tilt your head back, the bright LED light strips blink red. When you tilt forward they turn green. When you tilt your head to one side or the other, the light strips become turn signals.

He's seeking funding on Kickstarter

How to make bicycle handlebars that light-up

Mark Frauenfelder — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 21:53:25 +0000

[Video Link] Our pal Becky Stern shows you how to make LED bike handlebars using nifty LED tape.

NYC man "steals" his own bike in front of police stations, etc, and very few damns are given

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 01:44:41 +0000

Filmmaker Casey Neistat writes in the NYT about his recurring project to steal his own bicycle in really obvious ways in places across New York, to see if anyone intervenes. Very few people do.

I recently spent a couple of days conducting a bike theft experiment, which I first tried with my brother Van in 2005. I locked my own bike up and then proceeded to steal it, using brazen means — like a giant crowbar — in audacious locations, including directly in front of a police station. I wanted to find out whether onlookers or the cops would intervene. What you see here in my film are the results.
Solutions to the bike theft problem are hard to find. More bike racks in better-lit areas, stronger locks and bike garages all help. But ultimately, greater public awareness may be the only way to substantially curb theft. If someone saw a car being stolen, they would surely call the police. Why should a bike be any different?

‘Bike Thief’ (via Kottke)

Here is a video of a person in a Darth Vader mask and cape, and a Utilikilt, riding a unicycle, playing Star Wars music on a bagpipe, in Portland, OR

Cory Doctorow — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 17:21:38 +0000

As you do.

Darth Vadar bagpipe unicycle (Thanks, Fipi Lele!)

Men and Motorcycles, Nairobi, Kenya (photo)

Xeni Jardin — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 17:57:28 +0000

"Nairobi, Kenya," a photo from Boing Boing reader Biketripper shared in the BB Flickr Pool. On the bikeflaps of one rider, "A Strong Enemy Is Better Than a Weak Friend."