Thought it was time to draw attention to this inspiring bike recycling movie. Matthew McGuinness is a cofounder of The 62, a Brooklyn-based art collective who started Recycle-a-Bicycle, a youth training initiative in NYC. He's in this slightly contrived but ever so hip bit of cinematography. Click the image above for the movie. If you fancy recycling your own bike get the gear here and check out this book :

Roadside Bicycle Repair A Pocket Manifesto Book | Tracy

	US $12.08 End date: 7d 7h 59m Buy it now for only: US $12.08 Buy it now | More info

The Puma I-Cycle Film Series is a collection of short films exploring bike culture and the people who influence it. They focus on some of today’s biggest advocates for two-wheeled life, including; George Bliss, the man behind New York’s Pedi-cabs; Brendt Barbur, founder of The Bicycle Film Festival, Matthew Modine, actor and founder of Bicycle-For-A-Day, an ongoing initiative to encourage and inspire individuals to leave their cars in the garage and reduce their carbon footprints on the world. How can you fault a multinational for jumping on a bandwagon when they do it with such style? See the rest of the movies here.

This should get a few of you ripping up an old dumpster bike and giving birth to a unique minimalist single speed. Here's a few bike recycling / fixie conversion essentials you might need and below are fixie conversion essentials and tools from the video. Also check out "Bicycle! Manifesto" a book by Sam Tracy not short on inspiring bike ranting.

Photo courtey of Tristan Savatier @ playa-dust.com

Burning Man Festival, held annually in Black Rock City Nevada, is an experiment in community, radical self-expression, and self-reliance. Apparently "trying to explain what Burning Man is to someone who has never been to the event is a bit like trying to explain what a particular color looks like to someone who is blind." It takes it's name from the ritual burning of a large wooden effigy on Saturday evening.

A major art installation this year is Bike Rack by Mark Grieve inspired by a trip to Arches National Park and 2007's green theme. Bike Rack is an archway, 30' tall, 40-50' long, made entirely out of reused bicycle parts from garbage dumps and recycling centres. The environment at the Burning Man event is full of visual rhythm, and people on bicycles are a dynamic part of that rhythm. The archway is an attempt to capture and manipulate that visual energy. The arch explodes outward, creating a gallant entrance to Center Camp with cyclists becoming part of the sculpture. Its symbolisim, context and meaning is open to interpretation; for the artist, making sculpture is striving for a sense of victory personally and collectively. For more incredible shots of this years event check out playa-dust.com.

From the NY Times : "BICYCLE lovers, thrifty as well as trend conscious, are pulling neglected 10-speeds from storage and readying them for the road again. (Let the environmentally aware bragging rights begin.)

These bicycles, made in the 1970s and 80s, used 27-inch wheels, which have been replaced with the smaller 700c wheels by road bike manufacturers. But a recent surge in sales of 27-inch tires suggests that the lowly steeds of yore are gaining new life as commuter bikes and weekend cruisers."

Read the rest here.

This is a makeover of a Nishiki mixte bicycle bought for $30 at a garage sale by "Baldman". It's great to see what is possible with old bikes. On this bike he cleaned up the drive train, and the frame now features three shades of paint, two on the tubes and a darker green for the lugs with custom decals. Here's what the original bike looked like :

Apparently materials costs came to $25 and it took four days to finish. The wine crate rack is such an inspired touch. For more details see the excellent Boston based Chic Cyclist Blog.

PARK BBB 2 BIG BLUE BOOK BICYCLE REPAIR TOOL 2008

	US $21.65 End date: 16d 14h 10m Buy it now for only: US $21.65 Buy it now | More info

This is the end result of my first fixie project. The 1970s 531 Bernard Carre frame was from Ebay. Cinelli stem, bars, lever courtesy of the incredibly friendly and helpful folks at Bike Works , Victoria Park. The FSA crankset, BB and headset were courtesy of the fixie gurus at Kiwi Cycles , Hackney. Its like me and the bike were separated at birth, I love it more than things that I shouldn't really mention.

Recycle an old frame and put together your own.

Here's a great example of bike recycling found at Ecovelo :

My bike is basically a beater that I’ve pieced together. I was in the junkyard looking for parts for a project I’d been working on when I found this bike leaning against a tree. It had been leaning there quite awhile and the owner said “take it” so I did. I got it home, and over the course of a couple weeks, rebuilt it. When I began riding it I started looking for excuses to ride more and the next logical choice was riding to work, which I’ve been doing daily for the past couple of months. I ride about 8 miles a day in a small town with zero bike culture. The drivers are, for the most part, nice and I haven’t put gas in my car since June!

The bike is a ‘80 Peugeot model Y09 with Surly hubs (single-speed freewheel) and dt-swiss rims. The rack was on my bike back in the ’80s when I was in junior high. The manufacturer’s name is illegible but it is very light. It is actually lighter than the bungee I use to strap my stuff to it! I included the pic of my rusty rat trap pedals to garner some sympathy. At first I tried to fix all of the original equipment but it turned out to be easier and less expensive to just strip all of the stuff off and go single speed. It’s more fun to ride now anyway. Maybe someday I’ll paint it but for now it is anti-theft rust (only surface) and blue.

People ask me all the time why I’m riding a bike and they look at me like I’m crazy sometimes. I always tell them I do it because it’s fun or I’m doing it because of gas but the truth is I do it because it feels right. - Daniel (Ecovelo).

A well built old bicycle will last a long, long time but many lie forgotten, in disrepair and unused. Often hand-made, more durable and with far higher build quality than most mass produced modern bikes they often require only basic servicing before getting back on the road. They also possess a custom cool factor, indeed no two recycled bicycles are the same. It's no surprise so many people are switching on to the concept of bike recycling.

Bike recycling is a perfect example of resource re-use. With replacement components cheap and widely available on Ebay or at your local bike shop and broadband access to 'How To' videos on Youtube etc . . it all becomes very achievable. The knowledge gained also means you're less likely to run to the bike shop next time you need your brake pads replacing. Besides all that it's a lot of fun.

Photo courtesy of Shifter Bikes .

Of course you could recycle any bike but it pays to be selective. 1970/80s road bikes are classics, widely available and cheap. Their light, durable steel frames often have beautiful detailing and lug-work yet are still tough enough for pounding city streets. Basically they're streets ahead of other forms of urban transport in terms of running costs, energy efficiency and speed over short journeys - a real workhorse. Old-style three-speed roadsters are also worth considering for a more relaxed urban cruiser, being very durable with bespoke styling.

IMHO these beautiful old bikes make ideal custom fixie projects. Check out some credit crunch beating bike recycling essentials and turn that creaky old timer into your own chic custom fixie. Look at Ebay and your local classifieds, pop down to your local flea market or police auction and see what you can source. Alternatively check out your local bike recycling scheme.

PARK BBB 2 BIG BLUE BOOK BICYCLE REPAIR TOOL 2008

	US $21.65 End date: 16d 14h 10m Buy it now for only: US $21.65 Buy it now | More info