Bicycles: Photo Album

My Bikes

Bike Friday Air Glide, Barbarella, etc.

Folding Bikes are mostly what I ride these days, and I've got so many photos of them, I've had to put them on a "photo album" web page of their own! So go there to look at them and stay here to look at my bigger bikes.

Rock Combo

My normal trusty steed is a 1989 Specialized Rock Combo. It's only "normal" in the sense that it doesn't fold, because it's actually an unusual sort of hybrid. Whereas most hybrids have thin tires and upright handlebars, the Rock Combo has fat tires and drop handlebars. These handlebars flare out, and handle surprisingly well off-road. They were originally wrapped in white tape, which made the front of the bike resemble a bird in flight. That's how it feels to ride it, too.

As odd as the bike is, it's served me very well for my daily commute, my weekend rides (on- and off-road), flying Critical Mass flags ^{(Photo by Eric Zuckerman)}, and on long tours.

This bike is a real workhorse. I've put it through a lot, and by now I've replaced everything but the frame and fork. My most recent changes were designed to relieve stress on my wrists: I replaced the original brakes with "V"-brakes and the soaring bird handlebars with Bike Friday "H"-bars. Which, come think of it, makes this bike as normal as it's ever been! (No photos yet.)

I've even used this bike for archaeology. I would pedal my Rock Combo out to the dig and spend the day moving rocks. As you can see, I used some of these rocks to build a little road, perhaps suitable for Neolithic mountain biking. I learned how useful bike gloves are for archaeology, but I never did anything like this: Ancient Egyptian Statue Was Bike Stand LONDON, Feb 4, 2000 (Reuters) -- British archaeologists were startled to discover that a chunk of stone used by museum attendants to rest their bicycles against was in fact a priceless ancient Egyptian statue. The 3,000-year-old sculpture was found in a store room in a cellar of a museum in Southampton, southern England, by Egyptologists working on an exhibition. "It was being used by museum attendants to lean their bicycles against," said Karen Wardley, curator of archaeological collections for Southampton city council. "No-one had a real clue about its value. We are very excited."

Paris Sport

I had a 1970s "Paris Sport" 10-speed, with really nifty handlebar grips that were reportedly designed to ventilate my hands and keep them from getting sweaty and slippery. I hadn't discovered bike gloves yet, so I think those handlebar grips were my favorite part of the bike. Alas, the components were Huret drop-forged aluminum parts: in cold Pennsylvania and New England winters, the quick-release levers would snap off in my hands. It wasn't a comfortable or high-quality road bike, but I got years of use out of it, up until 1989, when it degenerated into a tangle of scrap aluminum.

It wouldn't even have lasted that long, but when I moved away from home, my brother sold my car to free up some room in the garage, so I felt free to cannibalize his Paris Sport for parts. (I never thanked him properly for helping me on the road to carfreedom.)

I never took my Paris Sport to Paris, nor did I see any Paris Sports there.

I know very little about this bike. I don't even have any photos of mine. The photos I have are of a Paris Sport I saw in New York City in 2005. (My own bike was blue; my brother's was orange.) Someone on Usenet told me the bike was made in New Jersey. If you happen to have more information about this bike, drop me a line!

Some Sort of Schwinn Cruiser

That's my brother on the left, with his first orange bike. I'm the one on the right, with the black bike.

The first bike I ever had was some sort of Schwinn. I don't remember the model, but I do remember that it wasn't a Sting-Ray. Every kid in the neighborhood had a Sting-Ray, and they reminded me on a daily basis that my bike wasn't one. I loved my bike, and indeed it got me places where the other kids wouldn't even dream of going, but the peer pressure eventually led me to put a banana seat and high handlebars on the bike. I admit I thought it was pretty cool that way.

My Friends' Bikes