City Life Requires a Commuter Bike

By Lyndsey Kaplan

Growing up in the suburbs, you live in the land of cars. Even just a simple trip to 7-Eleven or the deli, you hop in your car to get there. If you decide to leave this land of suburbia you realize that in major cities, it is almost impractical to have a car. It's expensive to store, and gas prices these days are astronomical. How do you get to work though? Or the store? Well, look no further than a commuter bike. They are quick and easy alternative to walking, and in the end cheaper than all those subway cards.

In popular cities like New York and Boston there is a high density of cars on the road and an even higher density of people on the sidewalk. So where do the cyclists ride? Well many cities have decided to put in bike lanes. With specified bike lanes you don't have to share the sidewalk with pedestrians or the main road with motorists.

With specified bike lanes, safety has become less of an issue these days. Years ago people on a commuter bike had to fear for their life as they were in the same lane as a taxi or SUV. Now, they can pleasantly ride their bike in their own lane. These commuters can safely and quickly get to work without shelling out money for public transportation or allotting a long time to walk.

Even if you aren't trying to save money, riding a commuter bike is a great way to reduce green house gases. More cyclists mean less motorists driving in cities. Surprisingly enough, in many cases cities are often some of the most environmentally friendly places to live. So when you decide to move there, continuing the tradition of saving the environment shouldn't become second nature to you.

No city resident should be without a commuter bike. It provides for easy transportation and allows for a savings on gas and public transportation fares. And in this economy, who doesn't want to save a little money?

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18 Inch Bike - The Most Suitable Bike For Your Children

By Melissa Mendez

If you are planning to buy a bike for your kid's birthday or during the holidays, you may be tempted to keep your bike a secret. Nevertheless, if you are planning to do this then you must know what your youngster's opinion regarding the bike that he/she desires. You know the likes of your kids, and you might at least have some ideas as to what they likes when it comes to colours and other features. You will find a great deal of bike in the marketplace, it is essential that you choose the best one for your kid.

So far the most preferred bike is the 18 inch bike. They are available in different colours depending if you're buying a bike for a girl or perhaps a boy. Boy's bicycle usually does not include a basket on the front, and it might come along with a bar in different places. Some girl's bike are created differently, their colours are in pink and include streamers on the handles, a basket in front and some features especially geared for girls. General, there is no genuine difference between a boy and a girl's 18 inch bike. Any boy can ride a bicycle build for a girl and vice versa.

Another factor you have to look for in your kid's 18 inch bike is the sort of cartoon character he/she wants around the bike. In today's bikes, we often see images from popular movie and Television characters. If you're kid loves a specific show, then you might want to look for a bike which has that cartoon character as its style. However, you might buy him/her a bike with his/her favourite character but that character might not be that famous after a few short weeks and it's wise to look for pictures which have long lasting appeal in your kids.

It's also an important aspect to consider your child's coordination and age, because that will set the type of stabiliser that you will need to put on the 18 inch bike. Kids below the age of five often have difficulty using the handle bar mounted breaks. Bike size for children is according to the diameter of the wheel and never the seat of the height and frame size in contrast to the adult bikes.

Therefore it might be wise to try your child on a couple of variations that may be found on bike shops or bikes that accessible on for rent on parks before making the actual purchase. It's also essential to consider the brakes, when you are buying.

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Riding your Commuter Bike to Save Gas

By Michael Osborne

It is amazing how much gas prices have risen. In the '90s, gas was charged for as much as $2 per gallon. Today, you have to strategize your spending before purchasing gas. Now in the summertime, we have to lower the speed when we use the air conditioner. However, this would be a great time to ride a bike.

Last week I drove with my friends to the beach for a party. Some of my friends who could not drive or wanted to save on gas, decided to carpool with me to the beach. By the time we reached there were other people setting up for the party. One of them was bringing a cool strapped to the back of his bike. It didn't come to me as a surprise but it was something I should have done.

We all knew that he had a car and asked if something happened to it. He replied that nothing happened and he just wanted to ride his bike instead of the car. He explained the location of the beach was close to his house and the convenient store was along the way toward the beach. In the store, he was friends with the owner and got a great deal on the drinks. In the cooler, he brought Heineken, Budweiser, Wine Coolers and some soda drinks and water bottles.

We were sort of envious of him since we had to spend $20 just to fill or gas tanks and not only does he not pay for gas but he gets fit as well. When I was roasting weenies and burgers on the bonfire, I asked him about his commuter bike. He replied that the bike was a Mixte 8, which he had 2 years back. The way how the economy is going he had to save up for transportation to college. Of course he has a car for long distance travel but it was sunny out and he wanted to ride his bike.

It was 2 a.m. when the party ended. Those who were drunk were assisted by the sober and were driven home. I gathered by passengers and brought a plastic in case of an accident. Before I left I asked my friend if he needed a lift. He declined the offer and favored riding to home in the night.

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City and Retro Bikes in Gaming

By Rob Sutter

Biking is a subject that has been looked into in video games in the past. Whether BMX-oriented or not, I don't think many people would correlate such thing as city bikes with the use of a controller in your hands. However, being a gamer for as long as I have, I've noticed an event or two where bikes have been used. Whether retro bikes or otherwise, different rides have been used in video games.

The one example that many don't remember, though I recall quite vividly, is the use of retro bikes in "Crazy Taxi." You might not be able to do this with the arcade cabinet version of the game but if you have a copy for the PlayStation 2, for instance, you're set. Instead of using a colorful yellow cab to bring your passengers to and from locations, you can actually fulfill your cabbing duties with one of many city bikes. With one code input of L, R, L, R, L, R at the character select screen, you can now drive people around on two wheels.

One game that I recall clearly from the 90's was "Road Rash," where bikers took it to the streets. In fact, you could even become merciless while racing against the many riders on the same street. With a baton in hand, if you were able to get your hands on one, you could affect a fellow biker and watch as they took a tumble behind you. It might be viewed as savage by today's more restricted standards but "Road Rash" still has that same level of competition you'd come to expect out of biking.

If you'd like to go back even further, one game which heavily featured bikes is NES' launch hit, "Excitebike." Counting not only on speed and direction but precision in terms of jumps and landings, "Excitebike" demanded a gamer to adapt and become a more efficient biker than any of the computer-controlled riders. If you took a spill, it wasted precious seconds of your time to jog slowly back to your bike and mount it again. It was a biking game made only for experienced veterans or those thirsty for a challenge. This game wouldn't help you learn to ride a commuter bike like the ones made by Linus, but they'd certainly keep you entertained.

I could possibly go on and on about the many BMX and other bike-related video games that have been released in the past but that would require more time than I probably have to spare. What should be taken away from this, though, is that biking has been employed in games and implemented well. Whether it's in terms of speed and time or brutality and savagery, it's a magnificent subject to use for a game. I can just hope that a future developer can use bikes in a inspired way such as these.

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