Bike Tel Aviv Blog: News, Updates & More

Bike Tel Aviv Update

August 7, 2008 – 10:45 pm
Slight upgrade of the site.  I added some of the popular bike stores in Tel Aviv on the store page.  I'm still in the process of trying to add the maps page; since google maps doesn't work in israel yet and there's no API to use with ymap I'm not sure how to add the maps section yet. Look for more updates coming soon.... My bike frame cracked; Cannondale is supposed to ship a replacement (hoo-ray lifetime warranty) to Israel in September.  It's been a bit depressing to work on a bike site sans a bike.  Nevertheless, things are slowly coming together.

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The Perils of Carbon Forks & Shitty Mechanics

May 19, 2008 – 4:20 pm
So, I'm riding home last night from work and I hear a strange sound coming from the front wheel of my bike.  I'm used to the noises of my bike, as every rider is, but this was something different. I slowed down a little bit and hopped a bit to see if I could duplicate the sound.  No such luck.  I put it out of my mind and start to speed up again.  I reach down and pull up on the handlebars to accelerate. To my shock and horror, the handlebars and stem rip themselves from the fork head.  I'm riding relatively fast without any way to steer.  And because this is Israel someone is immediately honking repeatedly behind me because I'm swerving a wee bit. At this moment, three simultaneous thoughts are swirling around my head: oh shit, this is going hurt when I fall on my face; I can't fathom how ...

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Tel Aviv Track Bike

March 18, 2008 – 2:09 pm
I was a bike messenger in New York City for about four years. I started out riding a stripped mountain bike with slicks in '99. One of the dispatchers was riding a Bianchi track bike - that is, a single speed with no freewheel and horizontal dropouts. I'll skip the "why I like riding a track bike" nonsense as it was already a cliche in 2002. Needless to say, I got one and have been riding one ever since. In '99 there were only a handful of messengers riding them and people would give you a sideways glance and ask "how do you stop?" By the time I left New York, track bikes were ubiquitous hipster gear and all too often you'd see some idiot flying down the Williamsburg Bridge, fear-stricken, trying to figure out how to stop. All good things come to an end I ...

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Welcome to Bike Tel Aviv

March 12, 2008 – 4:47 pm
While I'm in the process of setting up the Bike Tel Aviv I'll be using this online development journal to write about the developments of the site as well as cycling anecdotes. I'll put up pictures of Tel Aviv and bikes in Tel Aviv - just what you'd expect from a site about biking in the White City. By the way, if you don't know, Tel Aviv is called the White City because of the Bauhaus architecture and the white - but now dirty and gray - color of most of the buildings. It's a beautiful but well-worn city. Check out the forum and drop a line about anything bike-related.

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