Tis the Season to be shoveling

So, it's Sunday, my first official day home from Chicago, and I'm sitting in my Mom's house while she's at work, it's snowing like crazy outside and the phone rings. I answer it, it's one of my Mom's friends and she jokingly asks how the shoveling is going. I reply, "haha, it's not." She responds, "You aren't going to let your Mom do it are you!?" and so I thought, I am a terrible person. I, a 21 year old male, am going to sit at home all day flipping through an endless amount of feeds, while my Mom works all day, waiting for her to return home where she will shovel the driveway, and I will take her car to go sledding with my friends (yeah we never took the time to learn to ski or anything cool like that but we'll talk about that later.) So here I am, like "shit...I gotta shovel the driveway or else I am the worst son ever..." SO I bundle up, throw my Grado's into my iPhone, crank up the Beasties and hit the driveway.

My first thoughts are something like "it's cold, snow sucks." I start thinking of ways I could shovel faster, or how in the future you could avoid shoveling. I imagine laying down huge blue tarps over the driveway the night before a big snow then ripping them off the following morning with a truck, pulling all the snow right off the driveway. For a minute it seems almost legitimate. Maybe if I could design a seem which would split the tarp sending the snow to both sides then we wouldn't end up with a mountain of snow at the end of the driveway. I think about how the packed car-treaded ice/snow is so much harder to shovel and how I shoulda charged all those neighbors more as a kid if they had driven over the snow...It's at about this point that I recall all the winters I would spend shoveling snow at my Dad's house, how we'd always tag team the job and how it was fun for the first 5 minutes before I lost sensation in my extremities.

Across the street, a man pushes a snow-blower across his driveway throwing snow with the least amount of effort possible and my perspective shifts. I wonder how much carbon is slung in the air along with that snow, and how snow-blowers are just another piece of the problem. I realize, shoveling snow is actually a sustainable activity, compared to the snow-blowing and it's actually healthy. It gets you out of the house and exercising, not simply walking in lines. Snow-blowers are unnecessary, buy a cool shovel instead.


Though I remember hating shoveling snow as a kid, I look back on it as a good memory, time spent with my Dad. It's actually kind of fun if you have the right frame of mind. I mean, you can make patterns, try and figure out the best way to rid the drive of winters rain. Plus, if you are lucky, you have the opportunity to spend some time bonding with family. Lets face it, its not so often families collaborate to attack a common goal, so there is a sense of bond building. It's an experience I would like to do with my kids when I get a bit older. It must be exciting to be a parent and watch your kid all bundled up trying to shovel snow with their mini orange shovels, throwing the occasional tantrum while you try to explain why the snow needs to go bye-bye. I don't think I ever understood the whole experience of snow shoveling until now... In addition to the quality...ish time with the fam, you're also immersed in the season. There is nothing that symbolizes winter and the working man like snow shoveling. Now, I take the occasional break to look around and admire the newly created landscape. The mish mosh pattern created by driveways covered in snow contrasted with freshly shoveled drives. The genome like pattern created by car treads in the street, the mini snow mountains flanking the suburban driveways. I see now, that all along, snow shoveling was allowing me to really experience the season, an experience rarely cherished and often despised by the millions of Midwesterners who endlessly complain about the weather. I love the weather, the seasons, it makes life not so predictable. There is something refreshing about waking up to a landscape completely fresh from the day before.

Once my chore turned mini-adventure came to an end, I stepped inside the house, which now seemed 1000 times toastier than before. The warmth is a relief and the house is the most cozy it's been all day. I strip off my winter gear, grab a blanket, my mac and cuddle up on the couch to begin typing. Reflecting on the activity which, unexpectedly, provided me with so much fodder for thought and motivation.

Receipt Notebook

If you're anything like me, you use your card to pay for EVERYTHING. Living in a big city, I just feel a little more safe not having to carry cash around...even though I carry around my iPhone, and sometimes my laptop...but no cash! Anyways, it's also just a hassle to have to find the right ATM all the time or pay $2.00 charges at everyone else's ATM's. The consequence of always using your credit card is the mound of receipts you quickly obtain every time you buy something, and being a preservationist, I hate the thought of wasting paper every time I buy lunch. I understand that some people may save their receipts for accounting purposes but I keep track of all my expenses online these days. So I had to come up with a use for all these receipts. So let's see...they are small, hand held size, usually have one blank side...you may see where I am going with this. An on the go notebook! This way, every time you buy something, instead of wasting paper, you're adding paper to your mini sketchbook! If you want to get all trendy with it, you can take an altoids can, or any variety of metal candy tin and store them in there. Maybe it's a stretch but I'm just telling you what I do. I know journals and sketchbooks can be very personal but I can never seem to stick to one journal. The used receipt does not confine me to pages, I can change the order, I can organize my notes, I can pin it up on my wall, etc...it's just my style, it doesn't have to be yours...




I carry 4 things on me at all times:

iPhone (phone, mp3, calender, web, video, camera, etc...)
Pen
Receipt Notebook
Wallet

With my Iphone, I suppose you could do this with any phone too, I don't take business cards, I simply put all the contact information given and immediately enter it into my contacts list then hand them back their business card. I know, I know...one might think it's a bit extreme, but if you consider the amount of receipts and business cards one consumes in a year, you might be surprised at how wasteful we can be. And I am quite aware that there are much larger problems out there to be solved, but I believe that sustainability is a lifestyle and it should effect everything you do, at least when you call it your profession....

Ask "What If?"

"but it's just not realistic..." ...right?

Skate Detroit

Consider it's a given that Detroit has a problem or two. Every year Detroit demolishes about 2000 vacant homes considered dangerous to the community, and another 2500 become vacant. Currently, there are 15ooo vacant lots in the possession of the city of Detroit, in which it cost 4 million dollars yearly for the city to maintain. In addition, the city consistently ranks in the top 10 most dangerous cities and top 10 poorest cities in the United State. There are very few places children and teens can go to stay out of trouble and do something productive.

It's easy to look at these things as liabilities, creating a city famous for death and destruction. The Detroit trap isn't money, it isn't race, it's a viewpoint. A viewpoint which chokes the city endlessly. The city has been dying for 60 years now. So it's just a wasteland right, let it fester, move away as quick as possible. Like a gazelle being left for dead after a lion has it's way, the city sits and rots. The gazelle no longer has a purpose to this earth, it lived got caught in a bad situation, and now it's the end. But wait, so the gazelle is dead, but has it nothing left to offer? Once the lions have cleared, buzzards will soon flock, picking through the left overs, then the crows, then perhaps another lucky animal that happens upon it. Still, the animal will continue to decay, now lending it's remaining nutrients to the local vegetation and insects, which will in turn provide food for other animals. Finally, the gazelle will become earth, again one with mother nature. Though it may have seemed that the gazelle was worthless, useless, purposeless after it's fatal run in, it is clear that the animal still had much to offer to the community through it's remains, bringing new life to the inhabitants.

Skate parks originated in the streets and parking lots of America. Teens would build ramps and courses out of anything they could find. Sliding down handrails, jumping up on concrete benches, building ramps out of garbage cans and found materials. For years, the skateboard culture was seen as a menace to society. In the 90's, the movement began to gain acceptance, people were taking to these makeshift skate parks on boards, bikes, and skates. Soon these activities became dignified sports, gaining mass media attention through major TV carriers like ESPN and ABC. Communities began to realize that these activities could actually be constructive and keep kids from getting into trouble. Positive role models emerged like Tony Hawk and Dave Mirra. Skate parks began to spurt up all over the nation, in community parks and recreation centers. Companies began making brand new ramps and parks out of wood and plastic. These parks have been full for years, providing America's youth a place to constructively engage in activities helping to keep them off the streets and off of drugs. Though these pre-made skate parks draw neighborhood skaters, many skaters claim that the best parks are those that most resemble the days of the street skater, with picnic tables and abandoned cars. Detroit doesn't have any skate parks but they do have abandoned cars and abandoned buildings.

If you proposed to City council to build a skate park, they would simply laugh at you saying, "We don't have money to pay our cops, why on EARTH would we build a skate park!?" Then you tell them it could begin to solve all there problems, and they would laugh even harder. What would a skate park have to offer a community ridden with abandoned house and vacant lots? A chance perhaps? A renewed purpose??

Well lets see, the obvious benefit, as stated above, would be getting youth off of the dangerous streets and into a positive environment where they can interact with other youths and compete in individual sports, improving their abilities, as well as their confidence and character. What else can a skate park do? Well, if it's good enough, it could attract teens from neighboring cites and suburbs to the city. People keep leaving Detroit, it would be nice to give them some reasons to at least visit. If it was really good, it could even attract national attention and people from all over the world might come just to skate at this park. This would certainly help local businesses, bringing people into town means hotels, restaurants, and shops have increased traffic, the common effects of tourism. "But this is clearly out of the question, we would need tons of money and space to create something like this." Detroit, clearly doesn't have money, but it sure does have space.

So basically, a skate park could be great for Detroit but the city definitely doesn't have the money or time to even consider an undertaking such as this. All of their time and capital is tied up in demolishing all the dangerous abandoned houses that just never seem to go away. Well, what if building a skate park could somehow help the city in the demolition of houses and somehow save the city money. "Well that's just preposterous, you have GOT to be kidding me. This is just getting out of hand... I can see how a skate park might help the youth but I really don't see how it could possibly Save us money, and magically demolish abandoned houses!" At this point, you would be thrown out of the city council meeting.

But, out of curiosity, lets take a look at this idea. Obviously, a brand new, professionally built, out of the box skate park would be very expensive, especially if were talking about making one of the best in the United States. But, we've already seen that skaters actually prefer skate parks that contain elements of the street, parks that are clearly built by skaters and not by contractors. Parks which consist of stairs, cars, handrails, and not just pre-manufactured ramps arbitrarily placed on a slab of concrete awkwardly cut into a suburban landscape. Using this logic, it's safe to assume that a great skate park would be one that uses street elements and is designed by the skaters who will be using the park.

Detroit's many abandoned streets are full of elements that could easily be used by skaters to make a park. Railings could be used for grind rails. Houses could be dismantled and the wood could be used to build ramps. Doors can form walls and transfer boxes. Pitched roof trusses are basically ramps in themselves and we have plenty of those. Detroit has enough vacant land that it could easily give a portion large enough to create the largest skate park in the US, and save money by doing so. Skaters would jump at the opportunity to build their own skate park. A skate park, built by skaters for skaters, out of reused elements from Detroit's many abandoned streets. Carpenters, architects and community members would volunteer to help in the effort, suburban teens would drag their parents out to help. A skate park, built out of the community, by the community. Dozens of houses would be razed without any cost to the city, saving approx. 4000 dollars a house that the city would have to pay to have it demolished. People would come from the suburbs, from the US, from Europe, to see and skate on America's largest and greatest skate park.

Now, it's important to note that a skate park isn't the answer to the problems in Detroit, rather the mindset that a skate park could actually help. The perspective in which the city and it's constituents, both animate and inanimate, are hopeless. Change takes heart, it takes people, not money. Though the gazelle may be dead and seemingly empty of life, it's really just beginning to serve it's community.

NEEDS: Citations, more evident examples, Web 2.0 connections, pictures

Reverse Logic

The role reversals present in the work pace and living space of today’s design conscious consumers.

The Now: Industrial spaces turned living spaces.

Brick warehouses and concrete factories are all the rage as developers rush to convert these former work floors into raw living spaces. These new loft spaces provide a space where people have the complete freedom to make it their own yet at the same time, maintain a unique history and a storied past. The loft also provides for a flexibility which has not been rivaled by the McMansions of the suburbs. It has come to the point where developers are even building Lofts, which completely lends itself to the freedom of space as a new building lacks in heritage and the character of a storied past. This evidence firmly cements the idea of warehouse living as a true viable trend in housing and begins to redefine the social boundaries of housing.

The Future: Single-family homes turned office space.

Single family homes are generally a combination of many different functional spaces put together to form a house. Small Businesses are generally made up of many different functions rolled up into small job positions requiring individual spaces. As you can see, a single family home could easily be adapted to fit the needs of a small business. Furthermore, the spaces created are much more human and have the capacity to make much more friendly work environments then the factories we are so used to seeing.

Currently, we are in an era of small businesses, with 4+ million businesses having less than 10 employees. More and more consumers are turning into producers, taking advantage of the huge advancements in ecommerce and the vital tools that once were only garnered by Big business, now available to the public. For examples, see Trend Watchings article on Minipreneurs. In a city like Detroit, with neighborhoods full of abandoned housing, it makes sense to redefine the single house for small businesses. This will allow for small business growth and for the habitation of abandoned buildings. Also, as the business grows it can simply take on more abandoned houses in the neighborhood or opt to move to a larger space. On the opposite end of the spectrum, many start ups are home businesses and there is a large movement toward the “work at home” mentality thus supporting the idea of working out of a structure, where you could easily live as well. Finally, if you havn't noticed, suburban offices are looking more and more like traditional residences solidifying the idea that residential space can be more comfortable and inviting to small businesses.

Every evening that I get a chance to sit down over dinner, I look at my Mint Salt and Pepper shaker. There is something so beautiful about not only the shapes and the fact that they interlock as if to hug, and not just because they are black and white. Somehow, these elements together make such a powerful statement. Sometimes I spread them apart as if they are longing for each other.

Today I was inspired to exploit this beauty in a series of pieces that will target the issue of diversity. The pieces will involve a potent choreography of timing and rhythm. The medium will be stop motion video. The three pieces will be different but should read as a coherent set. The music will be very very important and perhaps the most difficult part of the process.

First I must determine the context of each piece. What it is meant to convey. Then I will predetermine the goals of the piece and the choreography. Then I'll choose the music which best suits the piece. After listening to it over and over again and studying it's highs and lows I will begin to choreography the scene. Once the general idea is captured, the whole script needs to be written in terms of each individual shot and what happens.

Lighter Kitchens

Alright, now I know I'm probably going to take alot of flack for this because it may seem extreme. That's probably not the best way to start a blog entry but just really think about what I'm bout to say.

Kitchens should not have lights.



In todays society, the kitchen has become a gathering space for people to congregate. Everyone has a kitchen with an eat-in counter top with some bar stools, or better yet, the new thing is to put a desk in your kitchen to do bills at and such. It seems as if the purpose of the kitchen is no longer to prepare food; the kitchen is the new living room. If your kitchen didn't cost 20,000 +, it must not be a very nice kitchen, that's the ideology anyways. Lavish materials fill these new entertainment spaces such as granite; not for any functional purpose but because it looks good and the homeowner can show it off. I mean this kitchen has more wood then the library from Clue and the ceilings are higher than my entire house. So, what does this have to do with light?? Well, getting rid of lights is the solution and we've just scratched the surface of the problem.

Being that America is the most overweight country in the world, and we are desperately trying to be healthier, maybe it's time we move the entertaining out of our food filled kitchens and into, say, the living room. Why does it make sense to have a desk in the kitchen; and if you have a desk in your kitchen I KNOW you have a home office. The point is, we should not be spending so much time in the kitchen where food is surrounding us at all times. Spending large amounts of time in the kitchen can lead to bad snack forming habits.

Another bad food habit is late night snacking. With todays kitchen being showpieces, they tend to be lit up to a degree unsurmountable by any other room in the house. Therefore, we usual gravitate there in the evening. Even if you are in another room, the kitchen draws your attention, reminding you of food, maybe it's just subconscious but it's there. This leads me to the conclusion that kitchens should only be lit by natural light. Now, you're thinking, "but how are we going to see at night?" According to many reputable doctors and the website LifeScript, it is unhealthy to eat after 9pm and the later you snack the higher your risk of making poor diet choices are. By removing lights from the kitchen, we are lessening the temptation if not at least making it more difficult to indulge in late night snacking.

Now, some of you are thinking, "but sometimes I have to work late and I can't get home till late." Well, waiting till 9 to eat dinner is unhealthy in itself so you probably should take a break from work and grab a bite to eat, or pack a salad. That way, when you arrive home, you will already have eaten dinner. Also, if you have a family, making a habit of returning home after dark every night may be taking it's toll on your loved ones, so perhaps this can be a motive to arrive home on time, and have a consistent family meal time.
Now, I realize this isn't for everyone. For instance, people who live in Alaska, or a climate that has a high fluctuation of daylight hours. Or for those of you who routinely work a night shift. But this is about a lifestyle choice. Obviously everyone doesn't lead the same life or choose the same lifestyle, and that's great; it's called diversity. But for those who choose to lead a healthy, sustainable life, with a regular diet, then this might be a choice to consider.

Lightless Kitchens offer the following:

.Energy Savings
.Food Savings
.Regular Diet
.Healthy Eating Habits

The only light I would leave on in the kitchen is the fridge water dispenser light. Some people need a glass of water before bed. Also, if you are thirsty, and you see the light, you'll think water, not pop or Kool-aid. Another healthy side-effect of the lightless kitchen. As you can see, the majority of the problem is psychological and can be solved with a simple rearrangement of motivations through a simple psychological device: light.



So, kitchen should be designed to be efficient for their function and allow for great natural day light. Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House in Plano Illinois is a great example of a functional kitchen with great natural light. It's not a gathering place, forcing residents to gather in the places designated for relaxation and conversation.

Greening Green

2

"Jeff Gallo of Minneapolis is trying to build a green house. The zoning bylaws were no help, but after a quick redesign by John Dwyer of Shelter Architecture he is on his way and intermittently blogs it for our viewing pleasure."1 It's great to see they are taking the time to blog about the adventure they have embarked on; it allows the public a little porthole into the trials and tribulations of building a green home and also how satisfying it can be when construction is complete. It's great documentation as well as an educational tool. I wish someone blogged about the construction of my apartment complex, tho I don't know that SOM had computers in 1956...Anyways John and Jeff posted an image of there on-site dumpster which was impressively bare, as seen here.

2

Looking at this picture, all I could think of was, those truss ends look really cool, I bet somehow they could still be used. So I designed a shelving unit out of the materials I counted in the image:

12 Truss ends
1 sheet 3/4" plywood (guessing)

Marker Sketch

3D Sketch

Elevation + Objects

Some might say it's nit picky to say even the smallest scraps should be used, but imagine if your site didn't even need a construction dumpster. No truck to bring it in, no truck to take it out, virtually no waste to the landfill. That would be pretty amazing. That aside, what makes this idea green?:

a. 1 left shelving unit that has to be made out of raw materials then shipped to the site (carbon footprint + deforestation, etc.)

b. less materials headed for landfills.

What makes this idea

No discredit to John and Jeff's efforts by any means, their building is Platinum baby! Keep up the great work guys. LEED Certified doesn't mean anything these days, but this, Platinum, is the real deal.

1 Quote from Treehugger

2 Image from 5ive

First Finished Foster

Well, after a hellish weekend, I bring to you the first Foster bike. Complete. Enjoy, and hopefully t embodies the ideals in which I have been pushing over the past week.

Next Step: Design Documentation

Closer still...

The bike is really starting to come together now. Hopefully my previous posts make a little more sense now and you can visualize the concepts that I have been talking about...

Getting Closer...

Today I finished up the wheel set. The rims were an interesting project. I purchased some used rims from my favorite 20" bike shop, Irv's, along with tubes, rim strips and new whitewall tires. I bought used rims for 2 reasons; first because I wanted black rims and they didn't have any so I'd have to paint them, but more importantly to be consistent in the idea of reuse and the bike being 90% post-consumer. The rims took some work. First I taped off the bearings and then sandblasted both rims. Next I removed the tape and added 4 coats of flat black metal paint. Once they were dry, the strips were put in and the tires went on. They look beautiful! Finally, I touched up the paint on the rest of the bike and went out to purchase handlebars, a seat post, a seat, a headset, and a chain. Tonight I am going to mount the wheels and put together the front assembly. Tomorrow I will change out the crank, install the chain, chaingaurd and front fender and we will have a bike! With exception to some minor accessorizing I might do. I'm thinking about adding a light, spedometer, kickstand and a saddle bag but I'll have to see them on the bike before I can decide. I don't want it to look cheap or cluttered.

The Name Game

After we got the business concept for the custom bike shop down on paper, along with it's core values, it was time to think up a name. The name had to be something that could relate to the 60's, somehow connect to reuse, yet at the same time, sound cool enough to sell. It couldn't be Enviro-Bike, or Bad-Ass Customs. So we made a list of goals for the title.

Goal #1: Title should relate to 60's and/or Schwinn Stingray.

We started by looking up different species of Stingray, thinking we might find something really cool. Most species were related to color or size. Our favorite however was the Common Stingray. Something about Common Bikes sounded marketable. It's also an interesting wordplay because the bike frames are fairly common, yet we are doing something very uncommon with them through customization. This brought us to:

Goal #2: Title should relate to the idea of reuse

In the end, Common Bikes was already taken so we kept thinking. Our next thought was to research synonyms for reuse. Perhaps it would lead to something interesting, if not just give us some ideas. It just so happens that there are 3 pages of synonyms and related words for reuse so it was pretty impossible not to find something useful. The majority however we not very appealing names for a bike company. We didn't want to be too gung-ho with the Reuse idea so we were looking for something subtle. That's when we set:

Goal #3: Must be marketable to the larger community.

After much word searching, we came across foster; as in to foster a child. To bring in and give new life, new meaning. In this sense, it reflects the ideals of the company because our goal is to take in wasted bikes and give them new life by renewing them. At the same time, this isn't exactly what comes to mind when you think of foster, so it's pretty subtle. Also, Foster is a common last name, relating it to many companies of the 50's and 60's era which were simply last names. Schwinn, Herman Miller, Wrigley...Foster. In this sense it fulfills are first goal, to relate to Schwinn and the Stingray.

Foster Bikes.

Finally, it sounds good. It sounds authentic, trustworthy but upon deeper scrutiny, it holds the values of the company, which is what a good company name should do.

Foster Bikes. Hey, is that a Foster?

New Found bike Glory: Part 3

The Solution: The Plan: The beginning of a business.

Based on the principles discussed in the last 2 posts, I have assembled a new business concept. This new company will take used bike frames and parts from junkyards and build new custom 20 inch bikes out of them. Each bike will be a 1 off piece made from 90% post consumer product, so it will be friendly to the environment and attractive to all ages. There will be an option to custom build your own bike by spec'ing different accessories and paint jobs, most likely fulfilled by an intuitive website. In addition, each bike will be made or re-made, here in America and stick to the original intentions Ignaz Schwinn had for the famous Stingray of the 60's. To customize and to ride. The bikes will be built to enjoy both visually and physically; forming a patina with age as opposed to wearing out.

To sum up the companies values:

~Made in America
~90% Post Consumer Product
~Custom and Personal
~True to original intent of the Schwinn Stingray
to customize
to ride

The idea isn't to be a custom bike shop, like OCC, but to be a bike shop that sells really cool custom bikes at a reasonable price that you won't feel guilty riding around; yet at the same time you can have pride in owning and customize it to reflect who you are and what you enjoy.

New Found bike Glory: Part 2

Today, the construction continues. Picked up some used rims and some new whitewall tires. Tomorrow I will have to sandblast the rims, prime and paint them flat black. This is going to be one mean bike.
So why is all this on your business blog, you may be asking. Well, lately I've been building somewhat of an empire around the idea of preserving materials and using objects that are no longer seen as valuable or useful to the public eye. It came to my attention while riding the old sears bike that junkyards were filled with these beat-up sting-ray frames because every generation seemed to get there own new bikes. Consequently the stingray frame lost it's appeal and kids grew out of their bikes and to the junkyard went the bikes. So that brings me to:

Point A: Thousands of Sting-ray style bikes are wasting away in junkyards.


Next, I noticed the Stingray made a comeback in the form of the new Schwinn Chopper bikes. It seemed that the idea of a cruising bike was still cool to kids. Though I'm sure the new bikes were riding on the trend of Chopper Bike shows such as OCC (Orange County Choppers.) Schwinn has also restarted the production of the original stingray and krate bikes but for a hefty $350.00. I think that these remakes are appealing more to the older generations who want to relive their childhood by purchasing the bike they once owned. Finally, the beach crusier market has taken off in the US with every bike manufacture from Dyno to Pacific carrying a line of crusiers. The beach cruisers are basically replicas of vintage 26" bikes that have been slightly modified to fit a certain aesthetic.

Point B: Vintage style bikes are making a comeback in the US. and the spirit of the 60's bike is very much alive.


So the math is fairly simple and easy to see. Vintage Bikes are selling, and there are a bunch of vintage frames in the junkyards. So where is the industry missing a link?? They don't make a cruiser for kids anymore, with exception to the chopper but that got old because they weren't customizable therefore everyone had the same bike. Lame. Schwinn made the mistake of only releasing 4-6 models, which were all the same with a different paint scheme. Now that's weak. The original Sting-ray was built around the customizing culture that was flourishing in California during the 60's. The bike was made to customize. In my opinion, Schwinn really missed the boat with the chopper because it didn't stay true to the bikes original intent. Choppers are cool because they are all unique and you can make it your own; not just because they have extra long forks and fat rear tires. Today, the original intent of the stingray can be seen in the lowrider bikes that reign in so many Latin American neighborhoods. So, based on Schwinn's miss and the lowrider industry. it's clear that:

Point C: There is still a large market for customized bicycles.

So we can conclude that there is a market for vintage style bikes as well as customizable stingray style bikes and that thousands of stingray frames waste away in junkyards as we speak.

New Found bike Glory: Part 1

6 Months ago I had 2 bikes. I had my 20" Giant BMX, and a newly purchased (craigslist) 1960's Sears Stingray look alike. I bought the Sears bike because I always had a dream of replicating the bike I learned to ride on at my babysitters when I was a kid. It was a blue 20" Schwinn (it had the classic S on the two tone blue/white seat) tornado, I think. The thing is, I haven't been able to find anything similar to anywhere, except for the tornado, but that was black and yellow; this bike was blue and white. Basically, it was like a cruiser bike but a 20 inch and for kids. The idea was to recreate this with some kick; all black with whitewalls and tailpipes. Something tasteful yet mean looking. Not a lowrider, but badass.


Anyways, the Sears bike got stolen about 3 month later, right after I put new tires on it. So I abandoned my dream of renewing my 1st bike and stuck to my Giant BMX. That is, until it was stolen last weekend. So, bikeless, I went up to the Working Bikes Co-op this weekend, which was a blast as always. I looked at some 24" and some touring bikes, but didn't find anything that really struck me. But on the way out, push back in a corner was a box. Inside this box lay, perhaps the most beautiful sight I have ever seen (exaggeration.) What was in this box, you ask? Well none other than every part I had planned to buy for the Sears bike. Black fenders, black chaingaurd, black Schwinn fork, even chrome tailpipes. It was then that I looked up to see, hanging from the ceiling, a Schwinn stingray frame painted flat black. Beautiful.
Now, had this been 2 weeks ago, I woulda said "Wow that's cool but I don't have the money take on a project like this just for fun" and I woulda past that box of parts up. But with both bikes stolen and my dream bi ke sitting in a box in front of me, this was clearly a sign. Somebody wanted me to build this bike, so that's exactly what I set out to do.