What is the future of efficient transportation and energy with cheap oil?
The last year and a half Wiley and I put a fair amount of effort into building a couple of electric bikes. Not only because we believe in efficiency, not only because we belive in using the right tool for the job, but also because those bikes we built are a hell of a lot of fun- more fun than driving a car around town.
Personally, I love the bikes and I hope to build one for myself someday. But I am conscious of how high transportation costs spurred much of the electric bike popularity and development these past couple of years. And now, it appears that cheap gas can (or did) nip green tecnology development in the bud.
But is it that simple? Doesn’t seem to be. At least one expert believes that it’s not the price of oil that is limiting innovation in green tech, but the overall economic situation and subsequent resistance to investment. Said Joe Wiesenthal at Silicon Valley Insider:
“But the fundamental question facing any technology hasn’t really changed: Does it save you energy? If it does result in greater efficiency, then that’s compelling even with oil at $15 a barrel. If it doesn’t achieve that, then even $500 oil can’t save it.”
The link above should, if you’re reading this on an iPhone or an iPod Touch, automatically launch the free Stanza book reader (install it if you haven’t, it’s rad) and load the summer 2007 issue of the Practical Pedal.
It uses the epub format, contains only words (for the readers in the house), and is a much nicer reading experience that the safari web browser that comes with the iPhone because it allows single-tap page turning and renders gorgeous text on screen.
We’ll be releasing all of our future issues (including the one due out this month) in this format as well as in good old fashioned newsprint, rss feed, and html.
I seriously can’t describe how awesome it’s been to use this device as a book reader. I’ve already read three full-length novels on it and, I swear, it’s a very pleasurable reading experience.
Last week, a friend of ours got himself a new Madsen utility bike. Naturally, we’re going to do a detailed review on it. Also naturally, it won’t be a boring description of the bike. We will be pitting it against our favorite do-all bike, the Surly Big Dummy, in a series of real-world tests. Which is best for hauling friends? Which carries the most beer? Which will work the best when the apocalypse comes? Which is best for bringing your kids to school? Stay tuned…
Short post. We’ve added a share button (see green square thing below.) It allows you to post, email, or send to social link sites such as digg, etc. But please note, this share functionality has also been added to the stories in the magazine, so you can share articles rather than just blog posts.
If you see something you like, tell your grandma about it.
Superheros Don’t Actually Wear Spandex Seriously. It might look to the uninitiated like superheros run around wearing skintight suits of spandex just like their favorite Tour de’ France racers, but in reality, most superheros wear smart outfits made of so much more. Back in the day, comic printing technology was such that nuances of shade or subtle coloring was impossible to produce. So superheroes were swathed in skintight suits of vibrant, unsubtle material. And this, of course, took place well before spandex was even invented (1959). So if it isn’t spandex, what is it? Well, it seems that superhero suits are often made out of a materil known only as, “Unstable Molecules.” We’re not sure if this technology has made it’s way into elite road-bike racing, but if it has, we’re almost certain it’s the kind of material you’d find an Italian wearing.
Spandex Has Actually Stopped Bullets
I’m pretty sure about this because I read about it in the newspaper about fifteen years ago. The Google let me down in this case, so I’ll just have to relate the story from memory. Some lady was jogging along in a pair of spandex shorts when she got nailed by a stray bullet from a nearby drive-by shooting. But, to her utter amazement, the bullet, after penetrating her ample thigh (this is how I remember it, but back then I strongly associated spandex shorts with fat people, so take the ampleness with a grain of salt) the bullet popped back out and fell to the sidewalk. She still suffered a bullet wound, but the spandex held, and popped the bullet right back out. No word on whether or not the drive-by perpetrators were glue.
Even Country Music Stars Wore Spandex Yep. Spandex, not just for superheros (which we now know is not true anyway), glam rockers and cyclists, but for country music superstars as well. One example of how even the conservative artistic backwaters of America can be influenced by the aerodynamic styling of professional cyclists and glam metal bands, is Dottie West. In this case, a picture is all you’ll need:
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The picture is worth a thousand words. But here’s the gist. A two-day bicycle competition featuring one bike (and only one) per competitor. Multiple eventseach favoring a different kind of bike (think downhill, then road course, then ramp jumping, as purely hypothetical examples.) That’s the Saddle Royale part. Then you follow it up with a party. That’s the Velorution part. Good times for all. If you’re anywhere near bozeman, Montana at all during this time, you shoukd show up and run what ya brung, so to speak.
Summer Issue for the ipod touch/iphone
Last week, a friend of ours got himself a new 
Superheros Don’t Actually Wear Spandex
The picture is worth a thousand words. But here’s the gist. A two-day bicycle competition featuring one bike (and only one) per competitor. Multiple eventseach favoring a different kind of bike (think downhill, then road course, then ramp jumping, as purely hypothetical examples.) That’s the Saddle Royale part. Then you follow it up with a party. That’s the Velorution part. Good times for all. If you’re anywhere near bozeman, Montana at all during this time, you shoukd show up and run what ya brung, so to speak.