The SkiBike Shop

A recently released government video featured Mayor Arturas Zuokas gleefully driving an armoured vehicle over a Mercedes that was illegally parked, in a stunt to act as a warning to negligent drivers. During the video, the Mayor is heard saying: "What should the city do about drivers who think that they are above the law? It seems a tank is the best solution."
The Mercedes was specially bought for the video. Afterwards, the Mayor is seen ticking off the 'owner', then getting on his bicycle and riding into the distance. The cycle-enthusiast's Rambo-style tactics were received well - he is already popular with residents and is known for installing cycle lanes during his first term.
"Mayor Zuokas wanted his message to be loud and clear that the city will not tolerate brazen and disrespectful behaviour by drivers who disobey parking rules," said his spokeswoman, Irma Juskenaite.

Cycling generates nearly £3bn a year for the UK economy, a report by the London School of Economics has found.
The figure takes into account factors such as bicycle manufacturing, retail and cycle-related employment.
The report says £51m was raised for UK manufacturers from the 3.7 million cycles sold in 2010 - a rise of 28% on the number of cycles sold in 2009
More than a million people also started cycling last year, bringing the total number of cyclists to 13 million.
Last year more than £1.5bn was spent on bikes and another £850m on accessories, with the LSE estimating that the cycling industry is now worth some £2.9bn a year.
There are now 23,000 people working in cycling, contributing more than £600m to the economy in wages and taxes.
The report also says rising fuel costs, improved cycle networks, concern for the environment, and the pull of the Olympics are all possible factors for the increase in popularity for cycling. Read more here

Velogemel... it was a new word to add to my lexicon, I came across it by accident whilst researching Swiss SkiBike manufacturer BullSkate. Some manufacturers might claim to be "The original" skibike, but surely the Velogemel has to be the Grand Daddy of them all, with its wooden design, that goes dates back over 100 years.

Here's what the Velogemel web site has to say.

Today we are used to the fact that new snow is immediately cleared from roads and paths by modern snow-clearing equipment. 100 years ago it was not so easy for the locals to get around in the deep snow in wintertime. For Christian Bühlmann, disabled coach builder from Grindelwald, it soon became too tedious to walk to his clients. In his attempt to solve this problem he became the inventor of the velogemel.

In summer Christian Bühlmann used a bicycle. This gave him the idea of transferring the principle of the bicycle to the sledge. In 1911 he therefore built a snow-bicycle in order to get around faster on downhill and flat stretches – the bike-sledge was created.
It had a wooden frame with two runners steered at the front by handlebars, the seated position allowed one to push off with the feet and hence move forward in a manner similar to that of the first bicycle by Drais (Draisine).
As the word "Gemel" is the name for a sledge in local Grindelwald dialect, the bike-sledge soon became called Velogemel by the locals.

Velogemel - The Original SkiBike?

You can buy one, should it take your fancy, the price is CHF 490 (Swiss Francs) for the adult model and CHF 475 for the childrens version. At the time of writing that would be £ 420/405 or $ 678/658 see http://www.xe.com/

Parts of New Zealand are seeing their first snowfall in 80 years as a "once in a lifetime" polar blast spreads across the country.
The capital city of Wellington ground to a halt as services across the country were disrupted by the heavy snow.
Mail deliveries were cancelled along with many flights in the region. Main roads have also been closed.
People took to the streets to play and take photos of the winter wonderland as for many it was the first time they had seen snow in the area.
Wellington, which rarely gets snow, is witnessing its highest levels since the 70s.
Further south, Auckland is experiencing its first snowfall for 80 years.
Forecasters have described the massive change in weather as a "once in many decades event".
The cold snap is predicted to last several days but for now most people seem to be enjoying their time in the snow.
Source Yahoo.com

A cyclist is seen riding precariously through Christchurch - source Daily Mail

The 3ski from New Zealand take this blog into uncharted waters as the first SkiTrike to be featured.
It has a number of iinnovative features that take it out of the league of toys and into the realms of full grown all mountain vehicles. For example, unlike a toboggan, you ride in a semi-standing position, furthermore the rear skis are ingeniously linked to automatically carve by pivoting together, lastly 160mm long travel forks with 32mm Stanchions and 20mm thru axle ski mounts control steering.

So this is what 3Ski say about their products on the website:

3ski Technology is an all New Zealand company focused on delivering one of the worlds most versatile and usable snow toys.
Based in Auckland, New Zealand the spiritual home of year round outdoor recreation, extreme sports and the birth place of Bungy Jumping.

Our backyard play area provides for an ideal development and testing area ranging from active cone volcano big mountains in the north to extensive mountain ranges equal in size to the European Alps in the south.
Building on our heritage of unique and innovative approach to problem solving the 3ski snow bike has been designed from concept to be a fresh approach to alternate snow sports with pure rideability and performance in mind.

Providing a truly new and unique rider experience, building on the concept of a downhill, non-attached, free ride activity which is accessible to a wide range of existing and potential snow sports enthusiast. 3ski Snow Bikes ‘Ultimate Snow Toys’ the fusion between skiing, boarding and downhill free riding on a stable yet pivotal three ski platform, 3ski Snow Bikes represents a new category in snow sports.

Designed from concept in New Zealand with over 5 years research, development and testing. 3ski Snow Bikes provide an easy, unique, no impact riding experience which blurs the lines between traditional snow sports and downhill adrenaline activity.

'3ski' it's easier than riding a bike. No matter what your skill level on snow if you can ride a bike you are already over qualified, push your boundaries a little and you will be blown away with the 3ski experience. Suitable for a wide range of snow sports enthusiast from first time visitors with no previous resort experience to skilled adrenaline seekers looking for a renewed mountain experience. Also suitable for ability restricted or disability affected users.

The 3ski is listed at NZD $2995 ex factory + NZ sales tax, at the time of writing that is equivalent to £1540 or $2505.

My bike collection has been growing recently, consequently it has become a pressing need to get the bike projects out of the main garage to allow for some working space. I find it really annoying to start scratching up your last project, whilst working on the next one.

Luckily, I had this patch of paving behind my garage measuring roughly 5' x 8', it had housed a small tool store sized shed previously. This was cleared, then dismantled and moved further down the garden, putting the garden tools much closer to where they would be used.

The tool store had been from Southern Sheds, who were local at the time of purchase and make
very good quality, but expensive products. I had considered putting in one of their off the shelf items, but pontificated due to the cost.

Luckily a new neighbour, who had been tipped off about my reputation for recycling and general shit hoarding had about a dozen 3" x 3" fence posts and lots of chainlink fence sitting on their driveway to dispose of.

I was inspired to get creative and build something custom.

The posts were all quite new, with no rot. They did have a whole mess of chainlink fence stapled to them, so my first task was to seperate them. About 5 hours work later the job was done.

I made the two longest sides with the posts, and joined them with 2" x 3" rough sawn tanilised timber, all bolted together with exterior M10 coach bolts.
I cut rafters from 2" x 4" timber and made the mortice joints so that they would lock into place on their supports. The ends were cut with a mitre saw to a 10 degree angle for a tidier appearance. The site is near the top of an exposed ridge and the wind can occasionally blow down the valley with great gusto. For extra security the rafters were screwed down with 3" size 8 countersunk screws. At this stage I took the opportunity to give the woodwork a couple of coats of "proper" spirit based wood preservative sourced from Wickes. It looks a lot like creosote and I hope it works as well, just without the cancer risks.

I fitted an 18mm plywood sheet roof and covered it with Wickes self adhesive roofing felt. This is quite a costly option and is fiddly to install, but looks very tidy and lasts for years. The garage had this type of felt applied around 1998 and is still holding tight, no leaks or maintenance required yet. The underside of the plywood was finished in Trimite paint prior to installation, this is the finish used on rock and roll touring speakers and has a slight texture to it.

Clear corrugated roofing material was used to make the window, screwed to a couple of long battens. The lower batten was made from two pieces joined to make a L section. This stops any bowing and also doubles up as a handy shelf.
Incidentally, the battening was provided by another neighbour having a clear out, it had been in their garage for years. The bits stored on the floor had fallen prey to wet rot, but the rest was lovely seasoned quality timber without excessive knots or warping, so unlike a lot of modern wood. There was enough left over to make fascia boards, the door framework, door shuts and the frame work for the infill panels.

I made a few minor modifications here and there as part of the ongoing process, then installed a couple more fence posts as supports half way along the rafter span.
I had a huge amount of 6mm plywood saved from a company's bonfire a few years ago and painted it in white texture stone paint to match the existing garage structure. Battening was screwed all the way round the side appertures, to which the ply was tacked with a nail gun. Ply was also fitted on the inside to form a double skin. The side facing the neighbour was more difiicult as access from their property was marred by a hefty 12' drop, prolific foliage and a fence. To get around this issue I made up the panels like a theatrical scenic flat, offered them into place before screwing the battening down, then finished the interior as per the other side.
Lastly, I built a door utilising some re-cycled exhibition laminate flooring for the exterior and more 6mm ply for the interior. I realise the flooring may not survive the elements long term, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

In order to organise my retro collection as efficiently as possible I wanted to hang the bikes vertically. M10 screw eye bolts were fitted through the roof rafters, with metal plates both sides to protect the wood. Onto these jumbo S hooks were hung. I threaded old narrow section inner tube onto the S hooks and cable tied them in place, this should prevent any chance of them scratching the rims.

Then it was time to install the collection and relax a little.