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Tour de Fat Is Hitting the Road

By Leah Taylor on

New Belgium’s Tour de Fat is cruising ‘cross the USA this summer, and you’re invited to ride along. The roaming fest celebrates young bike lovers, seasoned beer drinkers, and everyone in between. In 12 cities around the country, a costumed bicycle parade will weave through the city, ending at a veritable smorgasbord of New Belgium beers, all available for your sampling pleasure (including our personal faves, Fat Tire and Ranger IPA). Rock out with your fellow cycling/suds enthusiasts to a bevy (heh) of live bands, and join a Thousand Person Dance Contest to win a 2013 New Belgium Cruiser Bike. … Read More

New York

How Hurricane Sandy Changed Biking in New York City

By Paul Hiebert on

There are few woes in our modern world that a bicycle cannot fix. Are you feeling sluggish and sedentary? Start riding your bike to work. Are you on a tight budget? Biking is far cheaper than any car or monthly subway pass. Relationship problems? Get on your bike to alleviate stress and clear your mind before saying or doing something stupid. Looking for a way to reduce your carbon emissions? Bikes, man. Bikes.

The two-wheeled machines can basically do it all, and it’s borderline bizarre that more people aren’t riding them. To better understand the situation, we sought out Paul Steely White, the executive director of New York’s Transportation Alternatives, which is an advocacy group for bicycling, walking, public transit and all things non-car. Our discussion involved the city’s upcoming bike-share program, how Hurricane Sandy gave people a glimpse of life without a subway system, the frustration of arriving at work hot and sweaty after a morning commute, and what we should expect to see in future transportation trends. … Read More

Design

12 Well-Designed Bicycles for Urban Dwellers

By Claire Cottrell on

Last week The New York Times declared, “in post-storm New York, the bike is having a moment of sorts.” The bicycle stories read like a real-life Fred Armisen/ Carrie Brownstein sketch about the hipster’s best-kept secret being proffered to mere mortals — tragically in-the-dark — discovering the unmatched joy (and practicality) of biking for the first time.

If, like many New Yorkers, you’re now seriously considering becoming a bike commuter, here’s a snapshot of today’s bicycle offerings that are a far cry from the unhelpful and uncool Schwinn’s of days gone by. From cargo bikes that get you (and a few friends) to and from the farmer’s market in style to a slick commuter bike with a built-in iPad pouch, click through the check out some of the best cycling options for living locally. … Read More

Design

Famous Designers Interpet the Idea of “Public” in Beautiful Poster Series

By Matthew Bower on

The design-forward and civic-minded cycle company PUBLIC recently invited 27 renowned international designers to “interpret the concept of ‘public’ with a vision to reclaim urban streets, sidewalks and spaces for walking, biking and other social purposes.” The company hopes to shed light on what it views as a central issue to city infrastructure, namely, the meaning and accessibility of public space. Poster design, itself a traditionally public medium, suggests that designers have much to contribute in trying to re-conceive popular views of urbanism, transportation, or pedestrianism. Take a look at some of our favorite responses below. All 27 of the “PUBLIC WORKS” series posters are available for purchase here. … Read More

Design

A Concept Bike Designed for Running

By Matthew Bower on

Ever wish you could do less riding and more running on your daily bicycle commute? Neither have we. But that seems to be the idea behind the German-designed FLIZ, a new concept velocipede that nixes the pedaling and suspends its rider runner from a harness. Core 77 noticed the bike on view at the first annual Munich Creative Business Week, and it looks like the designers entered the project earlier this month for the James Dyson Award. … Read More

Design

Wanted: A Cardboard Bicycle

By Caroline Stanley on

When Israeli inventor Izhar Gafni first came up with the idea of creating a bicycle out of recycled cardboard, his engineer friends told him that it would be impossible. But he continued to work on the personal project in his free time. “My first prototypes looked like delivery boxes on wheels,” he has said. “They were hefty and it didn’t take much imagination to see that they were made of cardboard.” Today, it’s almost impossible to tell that his two-wheelers — which are waterproof and can hold up to 485 pounds — are built entirely from the recycled material using a process that he likens to folding origami. Gafni is currently working with investors to have his bikes ready for worldwide distribution as early as next year; while they cost about $9 a piece to produce, you can expect the finished version to retail for somewhere between $60 and $90. Click through to watch a short documentary about the project, and let us know in the comments if you’d like to take one for a spin! … Read More

Design

12 Awesome and Unexpected Getaway Vehicles

By Claire Cottrell on

We love ourselves a great heist movie — the spine-tingling action, the obligatory hero role played by a George Clooney-type, the getaway sequence in a lustworthy vehicle. It often has us craving an adrenaline-fueled adventure of our own. Not that we’re condoning illicit behavior, but we think there’s plenty of opportunity to find the thrill in the daily drama that is modern urban living. A bad first date, a horrific job interview, and that inevitable sidewalk run-in with the one person who you’d hoped never to see ever again, especially when you’re wearing sweatpants and you’ve just rolled out of bed.

Keeping those unavoidable situations in mind, we’re putting a positive spin on dreaded moments by considering them the perfect opportunity for a fun, dramatic getaway. From an oversized bunch of colorful balloons to a boat that you can fold up and keep in your backpack to an amphibious escape vehicle, click through to check out our roundup of weird, whimsical, and wacky ways to run for the hills. Let us know in the comments which you’d most like to try in lieu of sneaking out the back door. … Read More

Design

25 Awesome and Unusual Bike Racks

By Emily Temple on

We know it’s not officially summer quite yet, but the way we see it, we’re square in the center of prime bike riding season — it’s nice enough to bike around the city, but not so hot that the extra effort plasters all your hair to your face and soaks your t-shirt. But where to put your bike when you’ve reached your destination? If you’re lucky, you can cozy it up to one of these wild and colorful bike racks, which nearly all double as public art in their respective cities. After all, why chain your ride to a boring old metal pole when you can wrap it around the spindly legs of a giant red horse or entangle it in the tentacles of a silver squid? We don’t know either. Click through to check out some spectacular and artistic bike racks from around the country (and a few from around the world) and let us know if we’ve missed your neighborhood favorite in the comments. … Read More

Web

What’s On at Flavorpill: The Links That Made the Rounds in Our Office

By Alison Nastasi on

Today at Flavorpill, we never would have guessed that Cindy Crawford’s daughter was just 10-years-old in this photo. We wanted to book a trip to New Zealand and Australia immediately — two of the friendliest countries in the world. We surveyed the Internet’s first SOPA/PIPA protest pages. We related to Darth… Read More

Art

10 Awesome Animations Found in Very Unusual Places

By Emily Temple on

Recently, we spotted Katy Beveridge‘s amazing bicycle wheel animation, where she channeled the zoetrope to turn her bike’s wheels into a delightful moving piece of art, over at Colossal. The work got us to thinking about other unusual spots for animations, whether built into turntables, sent down miniature tracks or painted frame by frame on city walls. As it turns out, you can turn almost anything into an animation. Click through to see our collection of animations in unusual places, and we bet that like us, you’ll start to see everything that moves with a new eye. … Read More