The Tides of March

I had thought that once January and February were over, the toughest times would be behind me and frequent cycling would happily resume in the gentle spring warmth. But instead of heralding the start of new adventures, March seems to be intent on breaking my spirit. For the past 3 weeks I've had pneumonia as a complication of my rib injuries, and I have no choice but to continue going to work in this state. Moreover, I've had to postpone my return to the US till the end of the month due to an unexpected project which will require exhausting travel. And to top it all off, the weather here has turned arctic and it has snowed 3 times during the past week.

The act of cycling is beginning to seem like a distant memory or even a figment of my imagination. I actually find myself looking at old entries on this website to reassure myself that it was all real. Oh cycling gods, deliver me from these trials and take me to the March I envisioned - with spring weather and a newly built up Sam Hillborne rolling along the New England countryside!

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Vintage Velo Postergirl

"RadlMax" is a vintage bicycle collector from Styria, Austria, who not only taunts me with beautiful images of his unbelievable bikes (which he restores himself), but makes me even more jealous by posting pictures of his lovely wife Karin riding the bikes though their house. Some girls get all the fun! Check it out:

[image by radlmax]

Here is Karin cruising through the livingroom on a high-wheeler. Lucky girl! She is sitting tall and seems to be pedaling effortlessly in her stockinged feet.

[image by radlmax]

And here is Karin on a Pick Racing Bicycle, Vienna, (c) 1933. So cool! What are those tires made of? And notice her skirt and high-heel boots.

[image by radlmax]

And finally, the piece de resistance: Karin, next to a Puch Graz bicycle named Erika, built in 1933. Karin is wearing a Dirndl, which is a form of Austrian national costume. This is one of my favourite bicycle pictures ever. And the early Puch looks like a predecessor of the Azor Swan, does it not?

Looking forward to more pictures from Max's vintage collection!

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International Woman's Day - On Bicycle

[image via Miami University Russian Studies Department]

In honor of March 8th, International Woman's Day, I give you "Collective Farm Woman on Bicycle" by my favourite Soviet painter, Alexander Deineka.

["Woman Riding a Bicycle with Grasses" by Jerry Cooke ]

... and a real Soviet "commuter" farm woman from 1960. Too bad this holiday is neglected in the USA. In Vienna I got flowers!

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Retrovelo Paula (Thou Shalt Not Covet!)

I have been dying to see Anna's new Retrovelo Paula, but ever since my arrival in Vienna circumstances conspired against it. Finally, we arranged to get together a couple of days ago. We planned to meet by the river for an elaborate photoshoot, naïvely expecting the warm spring days of the past couple of weeks to continue. Alas, the weather here has turned absolutely horrid - freezing temperatures and icy gusts of wind. We abandoned the riverfront idea and instead met near Anna's university department. It was so cold that we barely managed to take a few pictures before seeking refuge indoors. For what it's worth, here they are:

Anna and the Retrovelo Paula by the Goat Statue outside her department at the University of Vienna. The bicycle frame is what Retrovelo calls "pigeon blue", with cream Schwalbe Fat Frank tires. I have to say that the bicycle is difficult to photograph and I almost feel bad posting these pictures here, because in person it looks so much prettier. I was simply speechless when I saw it.

"Pigeon blue" is a soft powdery French blue that goes perfectly with the cream tires. If you ask me, the loop frame Retrovelos are much more attractive that the diamond frame version. I like this bicycle soooo much better than the Paul we tried last November.

Closeup of the fenders, tires and my favourite part - the triple-plate fork crown. Yum.

Despite still being in pain from my injuries, I obviously had to try the bike. I rode it briefly on the campus path, and I must say it is spectacular. I liked the ride better than any of the Dutch bikes I have tried so far (Azor, Gazelle and Batavus) - mainly because it is just as comfortable while being considerably sportier and easier to handle at slow speeds. And possibly I liked it a bit better than my Pashley. The seat post is more slack than on the Pashley and at the same time the Paula seemed faster to accelerate at slow speeds. I can't jump to conclusions after such a short test ride, but this was my initial impression. I must admit that I had a serious case of bike envy after riding the Paula.

In honor of meeting Paula, I wore matching tights - which she liked very much.

On this picture you can see the hubs, chainguard, rear rack and tail light (which is dynamo-operated, like the headlight). I love the rear rack design, and it looks even nicer on loop frame models than it does on the diamond frame. It would be very easy to install a dressguard on this bicycle, but I am not so sure how easy it would be to find a full chaincase to match. If Retrovelo offered a chaincase to go with these bicycles, it would be much appreciated.

In general, while the specs on this bike are pretty much identical to the Paul reviewed here, the overall impression is completely different (nicer!). All in all, it is a bit of an overload on the "stunning" scale. I can only imagine how I would react if I saw this bike in my favourite green-gray colour, which is also one of their standard options. No, better not think about it!

After our faces and fingers went completely numb, Anna carried Paula up the stairs into her department building and we all paid her office a visit.

Amazingly, all three of us fit into the tiny elevator.

Paula was kind enough to wait in the storage room while Anna and I had coffee in the downstairs cafe and recovered from the freezing cold. We had a nice time and it was good to see Anna again... but the downside is that I now covet her bike. Shame on me!

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Bike Reacts to Controversial Imagery

I was taking a walk around my neighborhood when I spotted a Dutch bicycle, looking disapprovingly at this poster. I am not sure whether the owner of the bike locked it up in front of the poster intentionally, but I couldn't get over the similarity of "colourways" and the bicycle's disapproving posture as it faced the image.

The poster is for an exhibition at the Kunsthaus Wien called Kontroversen - Justiz, Ethik und Fotografie ("Controversies - The Law, Ethics and Photography"). I hope to visit it over the weekend.

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Bikes, Cameras, (in)Action

As some of you've noticed that my posts have been impersonal lately, I will come clean: My talent for injury has triumphed once again. A few days after arriving in Vienna, I had a silly experience that resulted in a dislocated shoulderblade and injured ribs. The thing about injuries like this, is that nothing can be done about them; you just keep living your life until everything heals - while taking painkillers and anti-inflamatories. For the first week after it happened, I could not move my right arm above the elbow and I couldn't lean forward with the right side of my body. Now I can, but the pain is still there - especially after long days at work. Hopefully by next week I will be all mended and bike-ready.

To ease this pathetic state, I gifted myself a "new" camera (a Rolleicord Ia circa 1941, if that means anything to you). That's the one hanging around my neck with the twin lenses. The one in my hands is a Lumix 3 digital point-and-shoot. And yes, those are bicycles behind me. Ironic, isn't it? I have two bicycles at my disposal... once I have healed enough to ride them, which hopefully will be soon.

[image from Cycling is Good for You]

In other news, I will be getting together with Anna from Cycling Is Good for You once again tomorrow, to have a look at her new Retrovelo Paula - stay tuned!

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Dutch Bike Wars

A couple of days ago I received a message from Muna Whitfield, owner of A Black Bike in New York City, informing me of her company's lawsuit against Club Monaco and Royal Gazelle for unfair business practices. The allegation is that the well-known Club Monaco campaign picturing two happy ladies riding a Dutch bike, featured a Black Bike bicycle while representing it as a Gazelle bicycle.

[Club Monaco advert, Spring 2009. Image via BikeRumor]

Here is an excerpt from an article describing the lawsuit:

A Black Bike, Inc., a small scale bicycle distributor based in Brooklyn, New York, filed a lawsuit in federal court today against the clothing and accessories retailer Club Monaco, Inc., and Koninklijke Gazelle, alleging false advertising, unfair competition, deceptive acts and practices, and trademark and copyright infringement. The complaint alleges that Club Monaco, a subsidiary of Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation, used images of A Black Bike's bicycles as the centerpiece of its Spring 2009 advertising campaign, without A Black Bike's authorization, and while publicly representing that the images were instead bicycles manufactured by the Dutch bicycle company Koninklijke Gazelle.

... In January of 2009, following the upswing of A Black Bike's publicity, the complaint alleges that Club Monaco purchased a bicycle from A Black Bike and discussed a national advertising campaign that would feature A Black Bike's bicycles. Although a deal was never reached, ... the complaint alleges that the A Black Bike bicycle was prominently featured in Club Monaco's Spring 2009 advertising campaign, without A Black Bike's authorization. Furthermore, instead of crediting A Black Bike, the complaint alleges that Club Monaco confused consumers by falsely representing that the bike in the campaign was a "Gazelle," manufactured by the Dutch company, Koninklijke Gazelle, a competitor of A Black Bike.

... Following these events, A Black Bike suffered a large drop in sales due to Gazelle's benefit from the advertising campaign in the U.S. market.

The complaint was filed in federal district court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, by A Black Bike's attorneys at Shlansky & Co., LLP. The case is docket number 10CV893.

In their recent post about the lawsuit, Bike Rumor features pictures of a Gazelle and a Black Bike side by side and states that "the only difference between the bikes appears to be the decal and logo placements" and that "the key discrepancy seems to be the logo on the [headbadge]". They go on to note that the logos and headbadge in the Club Monaco advert appear to resemble those of A Black Bike rather than those of Gazelle.

[Gazelle Toer Populair bicycles in Club Monaco, Boston. Image by Lovely Bicycle]

After examining images of both bicycles, I notice an additional difference that no one has mentioned: the fork crown. Gazelle bicycles have a chromed, flat-top fork crown, like the ones in the photo above.

[A Black Bicycle bicycle. Image via Bike Rumor]

A Black Bicycle bikes, on the other hand, have unicrown forks, as pictured above. If you look at the Club Monaco ad again, the bicycle pictured clearly has a unicrown fork like A Black Bicycle and not a chromed, flat-top-crown fork like Gazelle.

I hope the lawsuit is settled fairly.

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