Bike bells—not just for bikes anymore

Yeah, I often miss my bike bell when I'm walking around too. (And my rearview mirror.) [Thanks Tim]

Good sense prevails

The bike ban is dead—well done to everyone who participated in getting this silly decision reversed.

Lock it and still lose it

A good overview of bike theft techniques and how to protect yourself as much as you can. [via Velorution]

Lance's Bike Commuting Emporium

Lance Armstrong is to open a bike shop with an emphasis on bike commuting.

Mellow Johnny's will carry top-of-the-line Trek bikes, which Armstrong rode to his seven consecutive Tour de France victories, but the focus won't be on selling the newest, lightest racer. The shop will celebrate the culture of biking, from the historic memorabilia hanging on the walls to a counter where customers can sip coffee and ask questions as they watch bike mechanics at work…

Armstrong, who still remembers being a trifle intimidated when he walked into a bike shop as a kid, wants to make sure that doesn't happen to customers here. He said he'd rather encourage rookies to start riding than sell a faster bike to a veteran cyclist.

 

Hurray for him. Let's hope he can follow through on that. [via EZ Biker, cyclingaddict, Velorution…]

One more bike

Mentioned in The Age, the OnefreeBike project will give you a free bike as long as you agree to be a moving billboard. On balance I like the idea although I wonder if we really need more advertising in our lives.

They're pretty basic bikes but that's OK for city trundling, picking up some shopping, and parking prominently outside busy cafés--just the sort of things the advertisers would want. They're daggy enough that they'll be less attractive as theft targets and basic enough not to be a huge loss to the company when a few of them inevitably go missing.

For some people the really sweet part of the deal will be that they'll be able to swap their bike for a new one every year. I might even nab one myself.

St Kilda Road to become more funner

There's going to be a new super stop and extra tram line installed in St Kilda Rd. How will that impact on cyclists who commute that way?

By the way, check out the interactive map—don't you just love the way the passengers simply dissolve and disappear at the stops? I bet the transport planners would love it if they really did that; it would be a most efficient transport system, like Jim Hacker's hospital without patients.

Use the faucet

Bottled water 'is immoral'—or at least completely ludicrous. What's wrong with just refilling your bidon at the tap?

Hypercolor tyres?

SweetskinZ are coloured tyres that go reflective in the dark. Sweet!