The Archives

I was reading through some of our older articles recently and came across one from 2005 that mentioned gas prices “soaring past $2 a gallon”. Now, over three years later, two bucks a gallon sounds like a deal!

Scripps News: When the weather is favorable, Terry Plowman can get from home to his downtown Pittsburgh job in about 45 minutes. Not by car or bus, but by an increasingly popular mode of commuting — bicycle. And after a quick change from his biking gear to business casual, Plowman is ready for another day…

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There’s some exciting news to announce… Carlton Reid (of Bike Biz and Quickrelease.tv) and I are teaming up to write a new book, Bike to Work. Once released, it will be the definitive guide on bike commuting.

If you are anticipating rain while your bike is locked up, try to orient your lock in such way that water will run out of the lock cylinder.   This may make it harder to access the keyhole, but it will help prevent corrosion. The problem is worse in the winter, when my lock picks up…

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Carectomy.com: A recent report entitled Cycling: Getting Australia Moving indicates that by improving their health, cyclists saved about $227.2 million Australian per year. Dr Rob Moodie, Professor of Global Health at the University of Melbourne’s Nossal Institute and author of the report, said “this report demonstrates the considerable benefit offered to individuals and governments by…

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Bicycle trailers are fast becoming a viable transportation option in the face of the changing energy scheme. With that, many calls are received at the Bike Trailer Shop headquarters about the basics of trailer design. One of the more frequent considerations when selecting a trailer is the wheel count. Are you better off with a…

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The subject of riding bikes on the sidewalks continues to be a hotly debated topic. Despite your stance on the subject, the fact remains that it’s going to happen, so I want to share the top five rules that must be followed when choosing the sidewalk over the road. Fear is, by far, the biggest…

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Have you noticed anymore road bikes on your commute.   This morning, I added two “roadies” to my mental catalogue of fellow commuters.   Could it be because of the Tour de France.   Quite possibly, according to the owner of my local bike shop.   He says road bike sales generally go up during the last two weeks…

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Lasse Jonsson Malmoe, Sweden won a “most ridiculous commute” contest. He drives his car less than 650 feet from home to work every day, and drives another several feet for lunch. His prize for winning the contest: a bicycle. Read more.

Today was my first commute by bike in close to a month. Here’s the reason…

Italian bike lock Originally uploaded by turbofan. Photo by Ryan Richardson who saw this while visiting Venice. Via SFist in a rant about the new bike rack at Trader Joe’s.

It is July 1st, which means it is Canada Day! Since my company decided to switch our day off to Monday, so we get a 3 day weekend, I have to work on the birthday of my nation.   So, I decided to share my commute with you. A. My ride and her parking spot. Affectionately…

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Rob asks: I’ve read different places that people can actually get to work quicker riding their bike than driving their car.   This doesn’t seem feasible to me, especially since my commute is twice as long when I ride. So is it true that there are bike commuters out there that actually save time by riding…

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If you don’t cover a lot of miles on your bike, I’d recommend at least doing the “thumb press” test on your tires each weekend, and squeezing both brakes to make sure they are adequately tight.   I’m not usually a slacker, though.   With nice weather, I ditch the bus and go to bike-only commuting mode…

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I was invited to sit down as a participant on a panel of bicycle commuting “experts” in Kansas City today. I was joined by KCMO’s Bicycle/Pedestrian Coordinator, a Bike Patrol police officer for one of the local suburbs and another man who’s been commuting by bike for over a decade.   Between comments on the radio…

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We get a lot of questions about bike trailers at the shop. “Can I carry an accordion in a dog trailer?”, for instance. Or, “Do you have a trailer I can pull behind my car, to carry an upright bass, so my bike can ride inside?” One we frequently get asked and that we would…

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For the past couple months the SealLine Urban Backpack has been my go-to bag for commuting and trekking in general. The bag has gone through rain, pouring rain, very hot 100 degree days and a couple off road crashes. Still, it looks close to new, no damages to the water protect material and I think…

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Submitted by Kaz Kougar: Since my wife’s favorite bicycle was stolen from our garage on Mother’s Day, things haven’t been the same. As she scoured the web for a new cruiser nothing she found seemed to be exactly what she desired and I feared that she would have to settle on a bike that she…

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Ed. – The following question was submitted by a reader. If you have some insight, please leave it in the comments. If you have a question you would like to appear here, email us at diggers@commutebybike.com Diane from Canada: I had two large dogs charge me from 50 yards away yesterday while off leash and…

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Thursday, June 19 (aka Juneteenth) is national Dump the Pump Day in the United States. The American National Public Transportation Association created this goofy “Whack a Pump” game. Enjoy! Click here for more on Dump the Pump Day.

One of the more popular aspects of Commute by Bike is the Gas Savings Calculator you see over there on the right sidebar. We’ve had a few requests to make it available for readers to put on their own website or blog, so we’ve done just that.