The Wheelie Good Round-Up

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Our round-up of the wonderful and weird from the bicycling world makes a return after a hiatus.

Bikes gives you wings

Now here’s a bike ride with a difference – The Aeollian Ride. The ride is where 52 people in wind inflated suits ride bikes through the cities of the world (The suits are handmade from Ripstop Nylon). It does look odd when you see photos and video footage but also strangely beautiful and mesmerising when you see all the riders transform a landscape into a playground of wind-filled shapes. The last Aeollian Ride took place in Sicily in Italy last year but there is hope of a London edition organised by @CycleLoveHQ via Twitter.

Bendy bike

Steam bending is an old process if rarely used these days in the manufacture of furniture. One architecture firm has produced a concept bike using a beech wood bike frame made by steam bending. The Thonet Concept Bike by Andy Martin Studio is a beautiful design and actually looks like a proper bike though it has more in common with a track bike given its fixed wheel nature. The bike is a working model and could be yours for £43,350.

Arrivederci auto

News reaches us that Italy sold more bicycles than cars in 2011, the first time cars have been out sold in this way since World War II. For a nation of automobile lovers with brands such as  Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lamborghini and Ferrari, all still Italian-owned and made, that is quite some feat. 1.750 million bikes were sold in the country in 2011, slightly above the 1.748 million figure for cars.


Faceplant

We had a little chuckle at the GGB offices this week when we saw the video below of this tremendous faceplant at the three peaks Cyclo-Cross race the other week. We shouldn’t laugh but we did.

African MTB adventure

Mountain bike riders are forever seeking new places to ride their bikes. Exotic locations to ride are very much in. There is nothing like riding a trail that very few people have been on. One new location that is being offered is Kilimanjaro in Africa. Trek Travel, a subsidiary of the bike brand, is offering for the first time ever, an opportunity to bike down the Kilimanjaro mountain over a 12 day tour. This is not your every day ride and so Trek Travel is charging prices from $25,000 up to $85,000 for an individual to take a place on the Tour. The majority of that money (90%) will be going to raise funds for several projects designed to bring fresh drinking water to as many as 150,000 Tanzanians.

from Going Going Bike – Auctions, Bike News, Cycle Stuff

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