While in Amsterdam, Brent and I were thrilled with all the bicycles going everywhere and wondered why the rest of the world was so slacking when it came to recognizing the independence and thrill of pedaling your way around town. Efficient, useful, energy-savings, pollution free, and you can park several hundred of them within a few feet of space. That may sound impossible but our hotel was right near the college and we witnessed the amazing ability of college students to cram hundreds of bikes into the smallest spaces en mass.
We loved the bike chain guards. Needing to be reliant upon the bike once we get to Mobile, I started looking for bike chain covers on the Internet. Almost no luck. Sure, I found tons of chain covers for motorcycles but few for consumers, though I did find quite a few manufacturers and exporters from India, but that didn’t help either.
I did find some once I changed the search phrase to “bicycle chain guard”. And even then, while there are lots of links, there are few available in the US. But I did find some fun things.
- Casalotti Bike Blog offers up tons of information, resources, and examples of bicycle information and is a delight to explore.
- Sogreni Bike Designer designs state of the art bicycles sold worldwide from Denmark – features a fascinating chain guard design.
- Chrome Bags from San Francisco makes messenger style bags that are gorgeous and very European.
- Dero Bike Racks – Funky Styles, manufacturer of bike racks and other bike storage products, Dero features some very innovative and fun bike racks, including traditional forms. They specialize in nothing but bike storage – amazing!
- Workcycles makes bikes for workers. If you need transportation via bike as part of your job, for hauling or transportation, they probably make it.
- Klickfix supplies bicycle carriers and baskets for carrying your stuff around on your bike – in Dutch. Check out their shopper bag – it’s wonderful looking.
- De woerd Bike Parts Manufacturer has part of their site in English and they provide wonderful bike parts and accessories including bike chain guards, though they don’t seem to sell directly.
- Bike Works NYC has a site called bikecult.com and supplies a wide range of bicycles, parts, pieces, and supplies including bicycle chain guards.
- Bicycle information and shops in Australia listing will help find information in Australia, and some of those companies might export parts and pieces.
And my conclusion on the bicycle chain guard…this is one more thing I can put off for a while. I’ll just wear my walking pants, tight at the ankles, and live with it. Chain guards are just not “en vogue” here in the US except on children’s bikes. And in the US, biking may be gaining popularity, but it is still not very wide spread or encouraged by the roads and highways. Cars still win. So sad.
Mobile, Alabama