Scraper bikes an Oakland original

Right out of Oakland, CA: Scrapers in bike form (scraper bikes; pic) make bikes look good. These two-tone bikes have colorful rims that remind me of a low-fi version of monkey electric LEDs. Most bikes from stores have boring colors and lack a personal touch. These scraper bikes fix that and bring culture to two wheels. See more pictures on the California Report.

Something similar that I saw in Durham, NC was a group of kids that turned their bikes into low-riders by replacing the rear wheel of their (usually) mountain bikes with a kids rear wheel. I worked on one at the bike co-op where we took an old Schwinn cruiser and put a 27” road rim on the front and a 20” BMX rim on the back. Pedal strike on the turns but the rest was ok. Another personalized bike that I saw had animal bones zip-tied to the frame– one bone for each tube. Each bone was supposed to represent the strength of the tube. Including a skull on the front and it was both intimidating and intruiging.

More on Scraper bikes

• BikePortland.org
• Scraper Bike King on Myspace
• Make magazine

Maker Faire, newspaper coverage

The Maker Faire got some great coverage in a recent article by the NYT:

At first blush, then, this festival, sponsored by Make magazine, is a gathering place of pyromaniacs and noise junkies, the multiply pierced and the extensively tattooed. But wander awhile, and the showy surface gives way to a wondrous thing: the gathering of folks from all walks of life who blend science, technology, craft and art to make things both goofy and grand.

Aside from my giddy excitement of visiting the festival, this article does a good job of synthesizing the maker’s movement.