I often sit near “Jen” on the bus ride to work. We were talking cycling and she told me that in her teen years she was obsessed with an African American track cyclist. I assumed she was talking about somebody contemporary. She couldn’t recall his name, but after she started talking about what he had to overcome to even participate in races I realized her obsession was about Major Taylor.

The only post about Major Taylor I’ve seen on this first day of Black History Month is this good one on Major Taylor’s legacy over at Urban Velo. It’s a little different than you’re usual overview of Major Taylor’s achievements and “pie biter” quotes. Check it out and be sure to click through to the links for more in depth information on contemporary black cycling athletes.

I’m enjoying the break in the rain in California; I hope you’re having a great day in whatever part of the world you’re at. Here’s something fun from sunny southern California, where the grass is green and the girls are pretty.

Nine salvaged bikes were reassembled into a carousel formation. The bike is modular and can be dismantled and reassembled. It is normally left in public places where it can attract a variety of riders.

More pictures and details at the sculpture’s website. It’s very cute. Via MAKE.

More bicycle news

GQ men style photographer Sartorlialist thinks ponchos are cool.

Scofflaw cyclist riding without lights gets tased.

Poseur crashes in a group ride, sues the other guy who allegedly caused the crash for £370,000. That’s around half a million dollars. Be sure to check out Quick Release for other amusing and interesting cycling stories.

Remember that speeding jerk who killed teen cyclist Enaitz Iriondo and then sued his family for the damage to his car? He changed his mind after angry mobs “hundreds of people gathered outside the courthouse … where the case was to be heard.”

Seattle: Bike racks to be replaced on Metro buses. Apparently there were concerns that the newer 3 bike racks didn’t secure bikes well enough, so Metro removed the racks. The replacements are 2 bike racks.

Cycling as inspiration for teens in Cape Town, South Africa.

More bike inspired, uh, inspiration: “One of Tim Pickens’s biggest breakthroughs in his lifetime quest to fling stuff into space came on the back of a regular old bicycle.” Read more at the Christian Science Monitor.

Team Astana tries to clean up its image: “We’re not the same cycling team.”

MAKE has been posting about makeshift bicycle camera mounts, but the folks at Cycleliciousness have turned me on to the Joby Gorillapod and I haven’t looked back.

If you insist on rolling your own, however, here’s Yet Another Articulated Bicycle Camera Mount (YAABCM).

Lift a ton and a half with a bicycle tire pump.

The Puma Urban Mobility folding bicycle will be available in a “glow in the dark” edition this spring, according to the WIRED Gadget blog.

Puma’s Urban Mobility bikes are equipped with Shimano’s 8 speed Alfine, a lightweight rack (22 lb weight limit), disc brakes and a tiny handlebar basket for wallets and cellphones. It looks like the glow-in-the-dark edition will also come with a tail light and headlight.

A really unique feature is the integrated cable lock that doubles as the bike’s downtube. If a thief cuts the cable lock, the bike is rendered non-ridable. Puma’s “bike centers” will only repair the cable for registered owners of the bike.

The Puma Urban Mobility Bicycle is available in the United States at Puma Stores in Washington, DC; Santa Monica, CA; San Francisco; San Diego; Portland, OR; Philadelphia; New York City; Los Angeles; Las Vegas; Chicago; Boston and Austin, TX. Visit Puma Urban Mobility and navigate their nasty flash menu to find bike dealers world wide.

I think we’re all familiar with the Surly Pugsley and it’s well know that Moots custom builds snow bikes. Plenty of other options are available for fat tire bicycles for snow and sand riding.

“FatBikes” is the trademark for the bicycles from Wildfire Cycles in Alaska. The frames and forks are specially built to take ultra wide rims and tires for use on Alaska’s deep snow. They use the DeSalvo FatBike fork. DeSalvo also can build up fat bikes for you in Oregon.

What got me thinking about Fat Bikes was mention of this titanium fat bike from Speedway Cycles in Alaska. The “Fatback” has mondo clearance, vertical dropouts, 100mm forks, and 100mm bottom bracket for all possible gears. Because it’s titanium, it’s rust free.

Vicious Cycles builds the Thunderwing. This steel bike features proprietary cable routing to keep the kinks out (important in extreme weather), 3 bottle mounts for water and fuel, and sealed tubes to keep the water out as well as a seat tube drain hole. A stainless steel bottle opener is welded to the frame.

Turner is apparently a favorite to convert into a snow bike.

I think all Evingson does is fat tire bikes. Check out this build with a Rohloff 14 speed hub.

Plenty of people convert their 29ers to “half fat tire” by replacing the front fork with a fat fork and putting a normal 26 inch tire on the rear. I just had to mention Jeff Jones “Fat Fork” option, though, because he specifically mentions the bike’s “lateral stiffness, vertical compliance” on the website — ha ha!

Don’t forget to visit Fat Bike Alaska blog for more fat tire snow bike goodness.

Most of these photos were taken from the bike builder website or from this MTBR discussion on fat tire snow bikes.

Many of these independent bike builders will be at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show in Portland in a couple of weeks. I’ll be there too and let you know about the goodies I see there. I’ll also have some giveaways (Kryptonite lock, Swrve pants, 53 Mile Per Burrito stickers) — I just need some ideas on how to do the giveaway!