Cycle Truck Review

Bicycle Times The most recent Bicycle Times reviewed the Ahearne Cycle Truck. All in all it's favorable: they seemed to enjoy the bike, and they clearly got the point of what its intended uses are. I won't say too much here; you ought to read the article.

Bicycle Times Review pg. 1

 Bicycle Times Review pg. 2

Bikes in Thailand, part I

Bicycle Throne People CarrierEmbossed GripsWhile in Thailand I took a lot of photos of bikes that I came across. Well, not only bikes, but also interesting motorized two and three wheeled vehicles, especially cargo vehicles. I'm sure that other southeast Asian countries are more dependent upon cargo bikes than Thailand -- the economy is such that many people can afford cars and trucks.

But still, there are a lot of people who choose both motorized and non-motorized cargo bikes to transport their stuff, or to transport people. Food vendors and tuk-tuk drivers, ice delivery to the vendors, mobile fruit sales, hauling the kids, and so on.

The traffic, especially in Bangkok, is bad enough to warrant smaller vehicles to get around, something that could more easily maneuver through. As you head into southern Thailand, to the coastal towns and islands, you find retro-fitted sidecars attached to scooters and small motorcycles. Many of these have some sort of covered top to keep the driver and passangers out of the intense sun. I'm sure the covered top also comes in handy during the rainy season. Typically the roads on the islands and in coastal towns are small, narrow and often bumpy. Most people need only to travel short distances, and it's always warm, so there's no need -- nor want -- for an enclosed vehicle. 

Here are a few photos of a couple of different bicycles I came across while in Bangkok. This is the first of what I hope to be several posts about bikes in Thailand. Some are more interesting than others, but there is usually at least one element that is worth noting from each. You can see descriptions for the photos on the Ahearne Cycles flickr site. I hope you enjoy them. 

Interesting Carriers

Antique Folder

UBI Class Nearly Finished

Today is the last day of class at UBI. The students have spent the last two weeks learning the process of brazing a bicycle together. I think everyone is pretty tired by this point, and the bikes are mostly finished. The only thing left for most of the students is the final reaming, facing and chasing of threads, and then whatever finish filing they want to do. 

They're tired, but I think most everyone is excited and relieved, feeling like they've accomplished something. Oh, and they have. They've earned it. It's kind of like having a baby. You spend a lot of time, sweat and energy making something that was once only an idea into reality. And there it is, right in front of you. You can sit back and look at it and you know every little detail very intimately; each brazing success and blemish and the places that everything worked out exactly like you wanted. You know all the things about it you like, and you probably have a list of things that, if you could do it all over again you would do differently. And all of this leads you directly into thinking about the next bike you want to build. 

Building bikes is fun. It's a lot of work, and there are a million little details that you have to remember, but it is very satisfying to use your hands to make something as cool as a bike, and to then be able to build it up and ride it, to test out your work. And for me, teaching this class reminds me that the fundamentals are essential, and it freshens the idea that bike building really is fun. Not that I've ever forgotten this, but when I'm buried in "the business" of bike building rather than actually filing and brazing, sometimes the fun of it is overshadowed by the stress of small business ownership. Teaching a class and watching people light up as they get to the end of constructing their own bike, when they stick the wheels in and stand back admiring what they've done, a small internal grin of complete and genuine satisfaction -- I see this, I feel it, I know it. It's an awesome thing. Where else in life are you going to find that? Very gratifying. 

These guys should definitely be proud. They've done good work. They stuck with it all through the difficult parts, and now they've got a new bicycle, built by their own hands, built specifically for them. 

Home From Thailand

I just got back from Thailand a couple of days ago. Wow, that's a long way to travel. Throw in a flight delay, a ten hour layover in Seoul, South Korea, and a train ride down from Seattle, and it all makes for a severe case of jet lag. 

And talk about jumping right back into things: Tomorrow, Monday, the 28th of March I begin teaching the next brazing class at UBI. This will keep me busy for the next couple of weeks. I'm back, so there's no reason I shouldn't get started. 

In Thailand I took lots of photos of bikes and food, markets and street scenes. The internet was spotty at best, and slow as molasses. I only tried uploading photos once -- it took hours to get about 18 photos onto Flickr. After that I decided to wait until I returned home to try again. I've been sorting through them, so you can expect to start seeing some of them soon. 

It was a great trip, and I'm glad to be home.