Locked Up: Colorful, quirky touring bike at NoPo Library
Posted by Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor) on December 12th, 2011 at 1:12 pm
I don’t know about you, but every so often I come across a parked bike that makes me stop in my tracks for a closer look. Whether it’s a vintage steed worthy of a museum collection, or a quirky customized freak bike that’s truly one-of-a-kind, these bikes deserve to be shared.
That’s the inspiration behind Locked Up, a new column that will showcase interesting bikes we see parked throughout Portland.
The inaugural bike was something I came across over the weekend parked outside the North Portland Library on Killingsworth. It was the vibrant paint job that first caught my eye. Clearly a DIY job, the blocks of color remind of the Fauvist painters of the early twentieth century…


But once I looked more closely, it was the other personalizations and details that made me pull out my camera (which in this case was just my cell phone). The bikes had a huge “E” medallion zip-tied to the headtube…

The chainstay had a series of decals relating to film production and media…

And both the cranks and the front fork were painted with detailed patterns…

There’s one detail I failed to catch with my camera; a small badge on the beefy front rack appears to have something engraved on it (I guess it just adds to the mystery and fun of this bike)…

The bike is also clearly very utilitarian and suited for big adventure. Notice not just the beefy racks, but the nifty rear rack with an extension that allows it to carry another bike via a front axle quick-release…

Cool bike huh? A fun and interesting mix of creative expression and utility.

Stay tuned for more installments of Locked Up — you never know what we’ll come across next.
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