Rock The Bike

Flow Toys festival rig

Sean's festival rig

Sean and his wife run www.FlowToys.com — they make light toys for Poi dancing and staff spinning. They recently came out with a new product called the FlowLight, a cool fish-shaped toy with about a dozen different light modes that look especially cool while spinning or moving. The LED’s flicker in ways that cause a ‘persistence of vision effect‘.

Sean was heading to the Oregon Country Fair, a multi-day festival, to sell his wares. He tricked out his Xtracycle with bins to showcase his staffs and store his inventory. There are shimmering reflective holographic stickers on the main triangle of the frame. He also purchased some custom “ghost” colored Down Low Glow (a light purplish white).

Sean came up with a custom kickstand for his rig too.

It should be noted that Xtracycle frames have a cantilevered rear section. So supporting it from the rear is not appropriate for some applications, like bike blending, when there will be a rider on the bike.

 

Rock the Bike Workshop Open House

Posted by fossilfool
Time:
08/09/2007 – 06:30

Come check out what’s been happening in our Berkeley workshop! Nate and I have been tricking out some great bikes over the past few months. And we’re excited to show you what’s been happening. Bike on over to our workshop and enjoy some after work snacks and drinks. There’s always a potential for some live music on our stage.

Gabe and Paul performing on the stage at Rock the Bike

So bring instruments if you’re so inclined.

A quick sunset cruise around Berkeley is also a possibility. Hope you can make it.

 

Location: 1336 Channing Way, Berkeley CA 94702

Google Map

Best BART from the city: Ashby. Ride downhill on Ashby to California, turn right. Left on Channing.

Best Bart from the city if you’re hardcore: West Oakland. Take Mandela north from the BART station, all the way till it curves towards Best Buy compound. Left on Horton, right on 53rd by Novartis campus. Left on Hollis. Right on Stanford. Left on Vallejo. Right on Ocean. Left on San Pablo. Right on 66th. Left on Mabel. Right on Dwight. Left on Valley. And you’re there. Or map it yourself.

 

July 4-eva 2007 SF Cruiser Ride

This bike ride was a transforming experience that forever changed my life and you should go to every one from now on. Diverse throngs of people cheered us on as we paraded through the city streets with Fossil Fool the Bike Rapper leading the way, and Gabe and JoJo providing the amplification of the jams. we danced with families to uplifting house-funk from an outlook in the golden gate park whilst delivering a message of true freedom and independence through bikes and music. we watched the Golden Gate Bridge fireworks from the beach at crissy field with barry white and opera from pucchini as the soundtrack. Pucchini received applause from the crowd when complemented by a fireworks spectacular. We had a freestyle session near the fisherman’s wharf with some radtastic 15 year old kids. These culture creating/transcending rides are not to be missed! love to you all, see you on the next social adventure-

Sarah

A bicycle may be the perfect place to listen to music. But you have to think big.

Soul Cycle Slim at Halloween Critical mass

Soul Cycle Slim in action at Halloween Critical mass in San Francisco

Many have tried putting speakers on bicycles. And there are even a couple handlebar-mounted products on the market that amplify an FM radio or an MP3 player. The difference between a Soul Cycle and those other products is sex appeal and sound quality. The sound quality of these handlebar mounted units is always compromised by forcing full range music out of tinny sounding speakers in tiny plastic enclosures with no capacity to reproduce bass frequencies. They sound no better than listening to your music on a laptop at full blast from across the room.

So music lovers turn to headphones, which, in theory provide perfect stereo separation and plenty of bass. But in practice, the wind seems to whip between the headphones and your ear. The wires are constantly getting caught on your brake levers and yank your earbuds down into your aural canal when you rise to climb a hill. And you take a real hit on safety by isolating yourself from the noise of approaching vehicles and pedestrians.

But none of these annoyances even approach biggest problem of headphones — that you can’t share your music. How awesome is it to drive a car to the beach with four friends, all singing along to Hotel California? Those social experiences are not only possible on a bike; indeed they’re even better than they are in a car. Because there is so much engine, wind, and road noise to overcome, most car stereo systems can’t match the clarity and presence of music on a Soul Cycle . In fact, one of the most common reactions bystanders have to a Soul Cycle is “That sounds better than my car!”

Soul Cycle Slim at a recent Mission District Party

Soul Cycle Slim at a recent Mission District Party

On a bicycle, the listening environment is much more favorable than in a car. The background noise is 100-1000 times lower than a car, creating a black velvet background for your favorite music. And because the background noise level is so low, you don’t have to turn your music up very loud to experience the immersive effect of hi-fi stereo. You’ll be listening to music in a volume range where your speakers can show the true clarity.

Soul Cycle Slim -- immersive mobile audio for bicycles.
Soul Cycle Slim is lightweight enough to carry up a flight of stairs to a train platform unassisted.

The volume will be just perfect for conversation, either with your passenger or with a friend alongside you. But when you want a little extra power to enter a barbeque (or just a bar) in style, it’s there.


Looking for cruising partners

Hey…I live in Mt View ca and am looking for cruising partners. I can travel from San Jose to SF to Santa Cruz. I have a Phat cycle linkage chopper and a GT Slick Daddy. Anyone interested email me…. crh4978@yahoo.com

CRH

Cruisin’ With the Southbay Cruisers: “The Aloha Boogie” Ride

Posted by Wild Johnny
Time:
07/20/2007 – 20:15

WHEN: July 20th, 2007 Meet at 8:15PM/Ride at 8:30PM

WHERE: We meet in front of the Lighthouse Cafe at the Hermosa Pier Plaza in Hermosa Beach(30 Pier Avenue, Hermosa Beach,CA)

HERE’S THE PLAN: Grab your hawaiian/surfer wear – hawaiian shirts, coconuts, flip flops, leighs, grass skirts, bikinis, beach towels – and
whatever else hawaiian or surfer related that you can think of. Don’t be afraid to decorate your bike too! Then come out on a ride with us! We will play all kinds of dance music as well as our favorite surfer songs as we ride through the streets and neighborhoods of Hermosa and Redondo Beach. Get ready for some fun activities and a few surprises along our route too! You won’t want to miss this, our seventh Southbay Cruiser Ride!

Our ride will be roughly 9 miles long and will be over mostly flat terrain with a few rolling hills. Single speed beach cruiser regularly come on our rides. (You dont’ have to dress up to attend, but we do encourage it.)

LINK TO A MAP OF THE RIDE IS FORTHCOMING

For details check out our website at www.southbaycruisers.com or email us at info@southbaycruisers.com.

 

4th of July Fireworks cruise with the SF Cruisers

Bikes and fireworks

Join Fossil Fool and DJ Jojo for a cosmic fireworks cruise on the 4th of July.

On the playlist: Music that makes us proud to be American. Anything from Leonard Skinnard to Sugar Hill Gang. We’ll be playing our favorite American songs. If you’re planning on coming to the ride, please post a comment to this posting with your music suggestions. Or you could just bring an iPod.

This cruise will incorporate a downhill section to the Crissy Field area, where we’ll be in prime position to watch the fireworks. It will also include an uphill section, in order to get to the downhill section. We’ll be in Golden Gate park, the Presidio, and finally Crissy Field. There’ll be lots of natural scenery and beautiful ocean and bay sunset views. If we all concentrate really hard, we might even have a clear, warm night!

We tested this concept last year and had a great ride, stopping at an overlook to view the Fireworks on the way down. We’ll be starting a little earlier this year for a more relaxing ride. And I’ll be rolling the new Soul Cycle Chopper.

Meet at: The Panhandle by the new bandshell (between Clayton and Cole).


 

The Soul Cycle head unit Rocks!

I’ve been using the soul cycle head unit with two Infinity 2 way 6 x 9 car stereo speakers that I picked up on close out special at Best Buy. The system rocks our Southbay Cruisers rides in Hermosa Beach,CA. I’ve found it loud enough for cruiser rides of 20 – 35 people. People on the ride get a kick out of the fact that there is actually a stereo on my bike too. I love that it is so small – even smaller than the picture makes it seem. And I love that it has just one set of wires to connect to your speakers. And the battery seems to last forever. I’ve ran it for as long as 5 hours at a time without charging it. I can easily take it on and off of my xtracycle and I don’t need a trailer for it.

If you want a stereo for your bike that’s loud enough for a cruisers ride, yet quiet enough for your cruisers to hold an audible conversation, and you can’t afford a custom built soul cycle, this may be the one for you. You could probably build one yourself for less money, but if time is a valuable commodity to you, and you aren’t a bike stereo building guru-check out the soul cycle head unit.

Mayor of Baltimore cranked out a smoothie on my Mosaic Bike

The event was an annual block party in the Charles Village neighborhood. It was a super hot day so the smoothies were a hit!
I’m working on another mosaic bike now. It’s going to be ALL mirror with
purple grout and red and blue down low glows!! When it’s up and moving
I’ll send over a couple day/night time shots.

-Natan’s Flickr site

Discovering Alternate Uses of the Down Low Glow, and rolling with the Long Tall Sally, an Xtracycle Tall Bike

Kipchoge and Eco invited me to a hard-rocking Manu Chao show on Wednesday night and uncovered a new use for the Down Low Glow. Our group of eight people was dancing in an enormous crowd at Bill Graham Auditorium. The room was dark, save for the strobe lights coming from the stage.

A few minutes into the show, we were already dispersed through the crowd. I caught a red glow in the corner of my eye and saw Kipchoge holding this intensely bright red line in his hand. It took me a minute to figure out he had grabbed the Down Low Glow from my bike. Our group came together and danced for a few songs before splitting apart again. Later we put the Down Low Glow on the floor and had a great disco circle a few minutes before a really hard moshing number came up and I grabbed the lights so they wouldn’t get kicked.

Then after the show I still had the lights in my pocket, and our group was totally split up. So I went out to my bike and just there making a peace sign with the DLG tubes sticking out from my finger in a big V. Within a few minutes, people I didn’t know were standing next to me, calling their friends on their cell phones, saying “I’m next to the guy with the neon lights!”

Kipchoge got up on the Long Tall Sally, the first ever Xtracycle tall bike with a passenger deck up at the top level! I had seen pictures from Interbike last year of an Xtracycle Tall Bike made by Aaron from Ride Your Bike.com, but there was no upper deck on that one.

Kipchoge’s is pretty sweet. I wish I had a shot of him and Eco ‘crowd-surfing’ it after the Manu Chao show, but alas, here are a couple from the night after, coming home from the Citizen Cope show at the Grand. And don’t miss this video.

 


How to get to a Manu Chao show in style

Whoah, apparently Kipchoge is not the only one to think of a tall bike with a passenger seat. And not only that, it’s also called the Long Tall Sally.

BART attendant loved my Down Low Glow, then gave me a ticket.

OK, maybe this will seem like a small thing to you, but it meant a lot to me.

I was coming home from the workshop on my racing bike with the Envy Green DLG, and I hit the West Oakland BART stop as usual. The BART attendant was walking back to her booth, and she stopped and said “Ooohhh, that’s a nice light! I don’t think I’ve ever seen one like that.”

So I told her a little about it and gave her a card. She said “that looks like a great gift for father’s day.”

Then as I was buying my ticket, she waived me over and handed me a $3 ticket. I told her “that’s the nicest thing anyone on BART has ever done for me.”

And she said, “That’s a shame.”

Cruisin’ with the Southbay Cruisers – “The Big 80’s Ride”

Posted by Wild Johnny

We are excited to announce our sixth ride which will start and end in front of the Lighthouse Cafe at Hermosa Pier in Hermosa Beach!

The Lighthouse Cafe
30 Pier Avenue
Hermosa Beach, CA 90254

(The Lighthouse Cafe is not a lighthouse. It’s a bar about 50 yards from Hermosa Beach Pier.)

We will meet on Friday, JUNE 15th, 2007 at 8:15PM/ride at 8:30PM SHARP-RAIN or SHINE.

HERE’S THE PLAN: We will start our musical journey from Hermosa Beach Pier and ride through the streets of Redondo and Hermosa. We strongly encourage you to come in costume. It’s not required for the ride, but it makes for a fun evening. And we are all about having fun on our rides. We will see Best 80’s Female, Best 80’s Male, and Best 80’s Couple get recognized. Also special recognition will be given to the most creatively decorated 80’s bike. We’ll be entertained by 80’s music booming from the soul cycle bike stereo system while on our musical journey.Hermosa Beach will never be the same again after this, our sixth Southbay Cruiser Bicycle Ride. You won’t want to miss it!

For more information see our website at www.southbaycruisers.com or send us an email atinfo@southbaycruisers.com

 

What’s your locking style?

Do you have a unique locking style? How you lock the bike may affect how you Rock the Bike. Here’s one that caught my eye recently:

Bike locked to trash can in front of MetreonBike locked to trash can in front of Metreon

Close-up bike on trash can.: Guess he’s not worried about the paint job. Close-up bike on trash can.: Guess he’s not worried about the paint job.

Bike to Stern Grove ’07 Festival Concerts

http://www.sterngrove.org/concert_dates.html

What’s up SF Cruisers?

This year there are so many great free concerts at Stern Grove. I’d love to have the SF Cruiser Ride mobilize a daytime cruise to a bunch of these. My suggestions are in bold.  Which ones do you want to hit? Post comments here and lets get the schedule nailed down so we can publicize it in the Guardian or Craigslist.

June 17

HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS
The Paul Thorn Band

June 24
THE IDAN RAICHEL PROJECT
HYIM & the Fat fOakland Orchestra
(No hiphop headliners at this years show — this is as close as we get. Should be fun.)

July 1
PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND
Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers

Classic New Orleans jazz band. Should be very hot. Lavay Smith is a great vocalist.

July 8
SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY
James Gaffigan, Conductor

July 15
OS MUTANTES
Los Amigos Invisibles

July 22
Breathing Under Water, FEATURING ANOUSHKA SHANKAR & KARSH KALE
Non-Stop Bhangra Collective

July 29
ANDY PALACIO & THE GARIFUNA COLLECTIVE
EMELINE MICHEL

August 5
HUGH MASEKELA
GOAPELE

Hugh Masekela is an amazing African trumpet player who has created some very warm jazz instrumentals. I’ll definitely be at this one.

August 12
SAN FRANCISCO BALLET
Helgi Tomasson, Artistic Director
Ballet in the sunshin. Irrestistible.

 

August 19
SAN FRANCISCO OPERA

 

A Beautiful Stretch cruiser

Thanks to Bike Rod N Kustom for posting this amazing cruiser, Elliot Norris’ Full Tilt. If you’ve never read BR&K before, it’s highly recommended. Great community site for the custom chopper and cruiser scene. A new ‘edition’ of this web magazine comes out, roughly, three times a year. And the editors host a cool series of events in Louisiana and New York.

 


 

Fossil Fool teaches workshop on Hi Fi Bicycle Cruising Systems at Maker Faire May 20, 21

Fossil Fool teaches bicycle audio workshop at Maker Faire

 

At the Maker Faire (www.makerfaire.com) May 25 and 26, Fossil Fool taught a workshop on how to make a one-of-a-kind bicycle audio system.

 

Topics included:

– Overall concepts

– Picking amps and speakers and batteries.

– Designing a wiring harness and front mounted controls. Jacks, connectors, wire gauges, switches, etc.

– Building a music cabinet. Overview of the different cabinet making options — wood, fiberglass, etc. How to deal with ports, calculate speaker volumes, and make airtight cabinets for good bass response. Also, a few topics on 3D design.

– Picking a good base bike (no, not bass bike). What makes a bicycle suitable for a Soul Cycle mobile audio system? We’ll review the options: Xtracycle Sport Utility Bikes, Side By Sides, Commuters bikes, etc.

East Bay Bike to Work Day After-Cruise with late night dancing at Luka’s

Posted by fossilfool
Time:
05/17/2007 – 19:00

This ride already happened. Here are some pictures:

Celebrate a successful Bike To Work Day and a beautiful May evening with the Rock The Bike crew (Fossil Fool, the Juice Pedaler, and friends) as we take a tour of East Bay hot spots after dark.

The After Cruise will kick off with beers at Lanesplitter’s Pizza on Telegraph in Oakland, then head through Temescal, Piedmont, Lake Merritt, and other barhoppy neighborhoods in the East Bay. We’ll be starting the bike ride around sunset. Show up by 7:30 and you won’t miss us.

I’m particularly excited about this cruise because it’ll be the first night out for my new Soul Cycle Chopper. Follow the progress on Flickr and you’ll see that this has been quite a prolonged effort. Come Thursday, it’ll all be worth it!

Late at night we’ll end up at Luka’s Tap Room for House and Techno dancing. Voted East Bay’s best club by Express readers.

Bring some fluids for refreshment and lights for decoration and safety. And a lock for stops.

 

Beach Impeach Morning Ride

Posted by fossilfool
Time:
04/28/2007 – 10:00

Sorry for the late notice everyone, but tomorrow is the Beach Impeach, when thousands of people will arrive at Ocean Beach to spell out the word IMPEACH with our bodies. Meet at 18th and Valencia at 10 and look for me on the chopper.

More info: http://www.beachimpeach.org/sfa28.html

Seriously people, what do you have to do to get impeached around here?!!