Candy Cranks

Hey Everyone,

It has been a while since my last post the reason being I decided to pack my bags and do a bit of travelling.  I bought a round the world ticket, left Dublin on 1st June and my first stop was Buenos Aires. An amazing city! And what better way to explore a new city than by doing a bicycle tour which took us around some of the old neighbourhoods in Buenos Aires. BA is a lot more intimidating to cycle in than Dublin city, you definately need to have your wits about you but its a lot of fun!

Everyone in Buenos Aires seem to be cycling around on single speed town bikes, they are built to be tough and look like they´ve seen a lot of action!

I´m down in Patagonia now and its far to cold to being cycling!

Till next time,

Joanne

A great poster by artist Lunchbreath

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lunchbreath/

This was my great aunt’s bicycle, I rescued it from her garage this morning where it has been lying idle for the last 20 years. It was on a sure course to the dump!

I have a bad habit of hording things and I felt terrible at the idea of her bicycle going into the dump so I thought I’d bring it home and see if I could bring it back to life.

It had two flat tires so I had to push it all the way home  – it’s a steel frame so it’s pretty heavy!

It’s a single speed Raleigh and I think its about 40/50 years old. It was my aunt’s only mode of transport and as a child I remember her cycling everywhere on it.

The basket is riddled with wood worm, it needs a new saddle, it’s pretty rusty and it needs a good clean but I couldn’t just leave it there! I think its a nice project and I’d like to think my aunt would love to see her old bike back on the road again

I took it for a quick spin (after eventually finding an old bicycle pump to pump up the tires) and found it pretty comfortable to ride, although it’s pretty heavy! I can’t wait to take it for a proper spin when its fixed up

What better way to break in a new bike than a spin along the canal on a sunny Sunday afternoon! We don’t get a lot of these in Ireland :/

I built this bike with the help of my boyfriend. Mine is the white Raleigh that we stripped down & powercoated white. No fancy parts. His is the green Sparton, which he intended to be lime green but as you can see it’ s a more radioactive toxic green! You can see him coming anyway and we guess its a fitting colour for an Irish bike!

These bikes were lots of fun to build and even more fun to ride! I think this is addictive! I’m already thinking of my next project!

Folding bicycles seem to be gaining more popularity recently. The added versatility of putting your bike in the boot of your car, carrying it on the train during rush hour or just storing it in your apartment make them great for urban living. The technology and aesthetics are constantly leaping forward too!…..

The Locust is a folding bicycle concept design by Czech designer Josef Cadek.

The unique feature of the Locust is its circular frame and overhang mounted wheels that would allow for a more compact and visually pleasing folded state. Because folding requires severing the drivetrain, Cadek replaces the conventional chain with a toothed belt system that can be disengaged.

Pretty handy! Nice eye catching colour scheme too!

Myself & some friends getting ready for a cycle around Dublin city last Paddy’s weekend.

Ciba provided the colors for these fixed gear bikes based on their XYMARA range of colors and effects. Pretty sweet looking!