Dudes and Dudettes,
this is a ride. Check out the double horn/bell action, comfort grips, in-crotch gear shifter, safety banana backstop, in-wheel grease-grabbers. Damn. Damn. Damn.
I could only dream of approaching such külheit.
Name: El Dorko más grande
Place: Lychener Str. & Lettestrasse
Highly recommended for the man who's lost his license but needs to get rid of the body...fast...
Name: The Hearcycle
Location: Elsa-Bründström-Strasse & Trelleburger Strasse
Man, this dude rocks. (I'd put an exclamation point there but, in Germany, you are only allowed four per year, and I don"t want to be short-handed during Hagen's Schutzenfest.) Understand this: how many tricycles do you find locked up to trash cans right near a big train station? And, of those, how many have a dump-truck back? I'm still trying to figure out if this is "art" or not...
Name: Rockin' Red Ri'l Rack Roader
Location: Georgenstr., south side of Friedrichstr. S-Bahn station.
Yeah, baby! Berlin is so full of hipsters. Check this dude out!
(N.B. Please, people, stop thinking that the New York Times articles are correct and that everything in Berlin is, in the words of an e-steamed colleague, "hip!edgy!"
So, you see a lot of these bikes around. They are fantastic and, if anyone knows where to get hold of one, I'd love to know. They are (as far as I know) the old postal worker bikes, on which you could fit a whole lot of mail. The thing is a steel behemoth, but the frame is sturdy so as to support the mongo boxes of mail on the front and back supports. Now you see hipsters riding around on them with cases of their preferred beverage.
The average lock was not enough for this way-cool dude. He strikes me as the wholesome type who might want to consult this site (tyvm j-hag).
Name: Kinky Mailedman
Location: Schoenhauser Allee and Fehrbelliner Strasse
(Battery, er, not included)
Walking up near Kollwitz Platz today for the market, I spied this fantastic specimen on the corner. Wow! It looks like a completely impractical bike, but the owner gets style points galore. If any bike enthusiast out there knows anything about it (e.g. brand, design year), I'd love to know about it. Check out the amazing (what I think is real) wood and the bizarre seat. Haven't I seen this bike in an E.M. Forster movie?
Name: Bike, by Ralph Lauren
Location: Corner of Kollwitzstrasse and Wörtherstrasse.
This bike doesn't really have the "wow factor" of some of the others, but I really liked it when I saw it. It is all silver and has that autobody-shop scrubbed-steel look. It has very strong but simple lines, too, almost Deco. Curious about one thing: what are the little "mini-bars" for?
Name: El Camino Plateado
Location: Near corner of Bachstasse and Strasse des 17. Juni
the latest in organic bio bike covers from the streets of Sorrento, Italy...
(p.s. sorry for the poor photo quality)
Wow! What a bike! Actually, it's not really the bike, but the bike basketry. This impressive piece of work was found right in front of an amazing basketry store (Korb & Rattan Manufaktur), which really needs a web site, as the weaving wonders inside are truly amazing. Check out the little tail. And to think of all those people who have taken basket weaving in college and done NOTHING with it. What a waste. Losers.
So many names come to mind (e.g., "Ass on Wheels"), but here we go:
Name: High, Ho, Homer's Bitchin' Ride.
Location: Winsstrasse near the corner of Marienburger Strasse
(Special thanks to C.M.W. for getting my "ass" back in the saddle.)
Name: "Me & My Monkey"
Location: Woertherstrasse & Rykestrasse
This is so cool, and what a neat design. The kid (or monkey) sits in front on the mini-seat, holds the handlebars, and his/her feet rest on the foot-rests and are protected by the little grate from getting caught in the wheel. The owner came by when I was shooting it and complained that, even though he thought this set-up protected his kid more (in that he is "enveloped" by his arms), it is illegal in Germany to have your kid ride this way. Oh well...
Name: "Chang und Eng"
Location: Gormann Strasse & Mulackstrasse
Man, this thing is straight out of Bonanza! How do you steer it?
