One Street News

May 2014

Vol. 7, Issue 4

Ukrainians Need Your Bike Inspirations
Bike Shift Levers & Manual
Resources – Aftermass: Bicycling in a Post-Critical Mass Portland
Hot Topics – Are Bike Kitchens Elitist by Choice?

Ukrainians Need Your Bike Inspirations

The Kyiv Cyclists’ Association has put out a call to cyclists all over the world to send them a photo and some words of encouragement as they work to make their city more welcoming for bicycling. They hope to present many such photos and inspiring messages before their annual cycling parade takes place on June 21st. Go to their web page for the project then scroll down for instructions in English. All you have to do is send a fun bike photo and a few words to help lift the voices of cyclists in the Ukraine.

Bike Shift Levers & Manual

Mold #1 has produced its first Bike Shift Levers! It needed a bit more refinement to make it easier to use in a charcoal furnace so it’s back at the machine shop. We expect it to be back in action by mid-June and producing more shift levers that will go out to our testers. Feedback from testers will go into the final design of the next mold, which will begin producing shift levers for sale in late summer, right on schedule. If all goes well, we can then start signing up license partners.

In the meantime, we’ve completed the first draft of Backyard Aluminum Casting: for Bike Shift Levers (and Nearly Anything Else), our how-to manual for the project. It should be ready for publication by July as planned. This manual is written with our license partners in mind, but in a broad enough context that anyone who wants to try casting scrap aluminum will find everything they need to get started.

Resources – Aftermass: Bicycling in a Post-Critical Mass Portland

Critical mass rides are a popular means for citizens to show their cities that it’s time to improve conditions for bicycling. These rides often take place during rush hour on the last Friday of the month. But what happens to critical mass when the bicycling improvements are made? Watch Aftermass: Bicycling in a Post-Critical Mass Portland to see one example from Portland, Oregon.

Hot Topics – Are Bike Kitchens Elitist by Choice?

By: Sue Knaup, Executive Director

Ever since we launched the Social Bike Business program I’ve been attracted to bike kitchens. It’s hard to imagine a better sort of place than these comfortable spaces where young people gather around the shared goal of repairing bicycles. But something always bothers me whenever I visit one.