The #7 issue of BT just arrived. Cover stories are: the making of a commuter bike and an interview with America’s oldest bike company, Worksman.
This here’s a mag about everyday biking. Indeed, the cover features a lively young lady in t-shirt and jeans on a low-budget utility bike (with a rear rack and downtube shifters, no less, the 80’s live!) — just like what thousands of lively young people ride. Biking doesn’t have to be a lycra thing, now does it.
The Worksman interview is worth the price of admission to this issue. Worksman is the name of the family that started the company way back when. They’re located in Queens, NY, in an old factory they own. They’re all American-made. Their workers live nearby and can easily get to their jobs. Yep, it’s old-fashioned American factory work.
They started out with carts and moved into ice cream pedicabs. Now factory-floor trikes seem like their mainstay, but they offer dozens of other utilitarian-type bikes and trikes. They’re even getting into custom cruisers for the boardwalk set, where folks can pick how they want their bikes to look.
A nice, long interview like this shows how biking connects to the wider picture, like employment in the USA.
This little company can compete with China.
Of course, at least a couple other big questions pop up, but I don’t want to do all the thinking here. Let’s see what you think. : )
The commuter build-up article is a realistic tale about a guy building up a bike for an office-mate. It’s extra cool because the guy is both a city politician and he also works in the bike politics scene and is a real hard-ridin’ bureaucrat. He doesn’t fetishize his ride — he NEEDS it — needs it to work good and ride good. I wonder if sometimes some of these build-ups don’t get a little heavy. The guy said he likes his new bike, but “like” doesn’t seem strong enough for how much effort went into this make-over. Makes me wonder if it maybe isn’t now a barge. Some folks think that practical bikers don’t need to worry about weight — they need features and overbuilt durability. I dunno… Lightweight bike stuff seems to last REAL long, to me. Oh wel, who knows why he just “likes” it. He did say he wanted to switch to a hub gear and a chaincase, so that doesn’t spell a desire for more speed… Anyway, articles like these get ya to thinking and pondering…and that’s the whole point. How would YOU help a neighbor dial in the Perfect Ride?
https://www.bicycletimesmag.com/
