The Life-Sized City Blog

Our intrepid correspondant Lars Barfred spotted this bicycle tube dispenser outside Loke Cykler (a bike shop) in Griffenfeldsgade, in the Nørrebro neighbourhood. 50 kroner ($8.00) for a tube. There's no school like the old school. Random fact: Loke, or Loki , is a Norse god. Often regarded as a bit of a trickster, he also helps the other gods in important matters. Which is the case, it would seem, with this bicycle tube dispenser.

Many things amazed me about visiting Ferrara, Italy last week. It's a brilliant cycling city with 30% modal share. They don't have a congestion charge, they have a congestion BAN. You pay to get into the city centre if you have stuff to deliver and you can have a resident's permit if you live inside the old city walls. But other than that it's a no-drive zone. There are eight locations with cameras tracking number plates and if you're in there without a permit you get sent a €100 fine. I've recently blogged about the amazing amount of elderly bicycle users in the city. Both the women as well as the gentlemen - over at Cycle Chic . I've never seen so many bicycle users over 'a certain age' in one place anywhere in the world. Another thing that kept astounding me was the bicycles. Easily 80% of the bicycles ridden in the city are vintage. The bike racks outside the train station alone must be the greatest gathering of vintage bikes in one spot o...

One of the great ideas in bicycle design that has sadly, largely, disappeared. Once standard on many bicycles, this handle helped the bicycle user lift the bike up stairs, over curbs (if laden with shopping) or any number of similar situation. It appears that it was particularly popular on Swedish bicycles. Attached to the downtube, the handle is at a perfect position for a well-balanced lift. I've tried it. While something like the hook on the back rack is still around , you don't see this simple, practical accessory anymore, not even on bicycles in mainstream bicycle culture. A fact that we lament. But here it is. Let's see which bike brand is the first to reestablish the bike lift handle on newer models. The race is on.

A Dutch study has proved, yet again, that the level of dangerous microparticles are higher inside cars than on bikes. I posted about how Traffic Kills More People Than Traffic Accidents before, but this recent survey reconfirms the science. Despite the air pollution it is healthier to cycle in traffic than sitting in a car. The levels of particles in the air are greater inside a vehicle than on the bike lanes. So even though a cyclist breathes in more air than a motorist, the concentration of microparticles is lower for the cyclist. The health benefits of cycling greatly overshadow the harm caused by breathing polluted air, the study adds. The study was carried out by Gerad Hoek from Utrecht University and presented in the magazine for the Dutch cyclist organisation, Fietzersbond. If a cyclist wishes to avoid unhealthy particles, it is recommended that he or she avoids areas with heavy traffic and rush hour periods. In particular, avoiding trucks and scooters exhaust is of...