Mostly bicycle-related links

Links from A to W. Come on, X, Y and Z!

The idea of a links page precedes Google. Once, when someone found something interesting on Tim Berners-Lee’s gift to the world–the World Wide Web–they’d copy the URL and enshrine that web address on that someone’s own website. For a time, Google made searching for interesting sites simple, seemingly obviating the need for a links page. But then advertising and the sheer volume of stuff (for the internet turned out to be where the shining city on a hill met the planet-killing asteroid) made it more difficult to find useful things you weren’t necessarily looking for. You weren’t necessarily looking for this links page, for instance. And truth be told, it isn’t the world’s greatest bicycle links page. I’d tell you it’s more special than that–though I doubt I’d mention the word curated, because this hasn’t very little to do with bacon–but that wouldn’t be true either. This is simply a list of sites that I found relevant or interesting at one time and, sometimes, still do. Given time, interest and ambition, I may add to this links page. Browse and click at your own discretion. You would anyway. 

Arkel

BentRider Online (recumbents can have small wheels, too)
BicycleDutch (Netherlands, daily commuter, follower of infrastructure developments)
Bicycle Retailer and Industry News
The Bicycle Story (From Seattle, Josh Cohen wrote about the people who make bicycling great. Ended 2017)
BicycleLaw.com (cycling attorney Bob Mionske)
Big Shark (I bought my Bianchi Pista from this St. Louis shop)
Bike BloNo (Promotes the bicycle for everyday transportation in Bloomington-Normal)
Bike Friday (a.k.a. Green Gear, maker of the tikit folder, other travel bikes)
Bike Friday Tikit: Review and Comparison (getting older…)
Bike Peoria (advocates, encourages and promotes a more bike-friendly city and region)
Bike Peoria Co-op (mission: to educate and empower the community by providing a welcoming space to learn about bicycle repair, maintenance practices, and road safety through outreach and advocacy activities. The greasy part of Bike Peoria)
Bike Portland (bicycle journalism from Oregon)
Bikesmith Design & Fabrication (where Nola Wilken of Restoring Vintage Bicycles, below, gets her cotter pins. Also offers a cotter press, 3-speed bottom-bracket tools, large cogs for internally geared hubs and a crank-shortening service.)
Bike Snob NYC (author, ironist; calls them like he sees them)
Mia Birk (advocate, author, planning professionial)
Brompton (British folding bicycle)
Bushwhacker (locally owned Peoria outdoor store since 1971; bicycle shop: Say Hi to my former co-worker from Vitesse, Robert Woo. I talked to Robert about a saddle and a pair of wheels). And now I’ve worked at Bushwhacker for a few years. )

Car Ownership Calculator (know before you go)
Champaign Cycle (I worked for owner Peter Davis during the late 1980s. I interviewed Mechanic Drew Hagen at the new Urbana store in 2014, which later closed)
Compass Bicycles. (Bicycle Quarterly’s Jan Heine also sells hardgoods. “Whether you are looking for wide, supple tires that combine performance with comfort, handlebars that are comfortable even after many hours in the saddle, or front racks that can support a handlebar bag securely — you will find them here.”)
Complete Streets Coalition (promotes streets that work for all users, including people on bicycles)

Dahon (largest folding bike maker)
Disraeli Gears (all rear derailleurs, all the time. Beauty often in the eye of the person who’s not working on them)

The Early Morning Cyclist. (If you like bicycle sketches and illustration, think Frank Patterson, you’ll like this artist’s work. His blog is “A sojourn into saving and riding vintage bicycles.” Doesn’t look like it’s been update since March 2018.)
Rob English (frame builder; Bike Friday tikit co-designer. I talked to Rob about a tandem recumbent and Projects Right and Light)

Fix-It Sticks (multi-tool maker from Appleton, Wisconsin. I interviewed Brian Davis here)

Gevenalle (“The quickest integrated shifter available.” I wrote about these cyclocross-inspired drop-bar brake/shifters in 2013–when the company was known as Retroshift–here, here and here. Big fan of the shifters and The Goats.)

Harris Cyclery (merchant; detailed parts information)
The Hub (I bought my Co-Motion tandem from this St. Louis shop)
Hubstripping (shifting without derailleurs? Get the inside story)
Human Transit (public transit insights)

Illlinois Cycle & Fitness (Peoria’s oldest bicycle shop)
Illinois Valley Wheelm’n (Peoria area’s oldest bicycle club; recreational focus)

Kent’s Bike Blog (In 2005, he rode from Canada to Mexico along the Great Divide on a single-speed mountain bike. In 2011, he linked to my site. So what was he doing for six years? Writing about riding. In 2019, writing quite a bit about electric bikes and solar power)

Jim Langley (pages and pages of how to’s)
The Lazy Randonneur (surprisingly busy Bike Friday rider; search for New World Tourist, tikit info. Site not updated since 2013 but still interesting)
League of Illinois Bicyclists (advocacy)
Little Ade’s Bicycles (Pekin, Illinois, bicycle shop)
Loose Screws Bicycle Parts One of those companies whose existence precedes the Internet. At one time, this retailer’s slogan was “Hard to find bicycle parts, made easy! For both the classic and modern cyclist.” Haven’t dealt with the site in some time. If you buy something from them, let me know of your experience.
Lovely Bicycle! (“musings of a hopeless bicycle obsessionist”)

Metro Cyclery (visited Bill Tracy’s San Diego shop in 2014. Carries Brompton, Tern, Electra)
Mike’s Mega Bicycle Links (links to Illinois maps/paths/clubs)
Milano Folding Bikers. Plenty of content on this Italian site, but the link should connect you with a T&C Pocket Bici. Pictures clearly show the fold of this bike with 12-inch wheels. Seems like a natural to extend the design to a backpack.
Museum of Tradesman’s Delivery Bikes (survey of 20th century cargo bicycles)

Off the Beaten Path (blog by the editor of Bicycle Quarterly. Here’s where I tell you to subscribe)

Paparazzi Ristorante Italiano Favorite Peoria, Illinois, restaurant–well worth an evening’s visit
Park Tool Co. (tool maker; great maintenance instructions)
The Frank Patterson Society. Issues prints and books related to the 50-year career of the famed English bicycle-scene illustrator.
The Path Less Pedaled (traveling couple, lots of experience with Bromptons)
PeopleForBikes (was Bikes Belong until Sept. 18, 2013. Industry-led advocacy organization)
Peoria Area Mountain Bike Association (promotes off-road bicycling. Built and maintains all mountain bike trails in Peoria area)
Peoria Bicycle Club (competitive cycling; focus on training)
Portapedal Bike (visited Al Cappello’s Tempe, Arizona, shop in 2014. Primarily carries Brompton, Tern, Montague, Moulton; orders Bike Friday, carries one Dahon: the Jetstream P8)

Restoring Vintage Bicycles (Nola Wilken focuses “on restoring French touring and randonneuring bikes and other classic lightweights.” Outstanding work. Thoughtful.) 
Rivendell (merchant; good bike fit info)
Robot of the Day. (“Friendly robots. Every day-ish. Except weekends, maybe.” Or as I wrote: One doodler stands between us and robot domination. Visit his website. Learn from him. Prepare!)
Russell’s Cycling & Fitness (Washington, Illinois, bicycle shop)

Seattle Bike Blog (“pedal-powered news and opinion in Seattle, Washington. We are independent journalists working to promote the use of bicycles as transportation.”
Silent Sports Magazine (recreation in the upper Midwest)
Solar Nomadics (Kent Peterson runs a “very small business devoted to teaching people about solar energy”)
Strong Towns (a different approach to building communities)

Taking the Lane (“Elly Blue Publishing / Taking the Lane Media produces feminist nonfiction about bicycling. We also distribute books, zines, and other independently produced media.” Elly Blue also writes for Bicycling magazine)
Tern Bicycles (folding bicycle company launched in 2011)
tikit wiki (Sean Luke’s valuable reference for maintenance-minded Bike Friday tikit owners.)
Trykit Conversions (maker of upright touring and racing tricycles, frames and conversion axles. One-man shop in Oxfordshire, England.)

Velo Orange. (Bicycle parts and more. “Our emphasis is on a more relaxed and comfortable style of riding, and on refined bikes that are comfortable on a century ride, an inn-to-inn tour, or even on a ramble down your favorite dirt road.”)
Velo Vision (U.K. Engineer Peter Eland founded this quarterly magazine focused on bicycle transportation. Closed in 2016)
Vintage Trek Excellent source of information on Trek bicycles from 1976 to 2012. Includes Trek, Fisher, Klein, LeMond and Bontrager catalogs. I used this site to find that the serial number was applied to my Trek 850 on August 17, 1984. Neat.
Vitesse Cycle Shop (Normal, Illinois, bicycle shop. One of the first seven Trek dealers, and, in its long-gone Peoria Heights incarnation, the source of my income for most of the 1980s.)

Alex Wetmore (always busy with something; search for tikit content. On hold since 2015)
The Wheelmen (dedicated to pre-1918 bicycles)
Wherestherack.org (online map of Peoria bike racks, thanks to Mike Honnold, former Illinois Valley Wheelm’n president)