Friday, March 25, 2011

Cards in the spokes

When I was a kid, I used to take great delight in occasionally hooking a playing card or two to the seatstays of my 20" red cruiser-bike with Mom's clothes pins, so it would make an awesome "motorcycle" rumble as I rode along.

Nowadays I see older "kids" with larger cards (?) inserted in the spokes, not so they'll make noise, but so they spin 'round and 'round with the wheel.

Can somebody explain those to me?

(More often than not, they seem to be on the bikes that seem to be more "fashion accessory" than transportation. You know, single-speeds, vintage cruiser bikes with the cast-iron frame, no brakes, etc., etc. So they must be something fashionable or "trendy," is all I can figure. Oh, and I've got nothing against a single-speed bike, for casual local transportation over relatively flat terrain. Talk about the ultimate in simplicity! I do have issues when they remove the brakes, because then it becomes a legal issue, and more importantly a safety issue.)

2 comments:

Clancy said...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoke_card

I think they are mostly to look cool. Most bikey events hand them out now a days.

Marcus said...

Some of them are a statement,or to promote a local bicycle shop or ride/event. I have seen many folks in Portland who laminate the State bicycle laws and keep them in the spokes. I have one to promote the Boise Bicycle Project.