cycling and rangefinders....

ha...great to see lots of photocyclists on the forum :) i've recently got into cycling and am putting on about 20 miles a day on my schwinn continental....i figure if i can ride it up hills at a decent clip, upgrading to a lighter bike (anything lighter than 40lbs should be a piece of cake :)....i promised myself that if the day i could bike up to the top of signal hill without stopping, is the day i'll treat my self to a new ride....

anyway, back to cameras...i suppose bungeeing my domke to the rear rack probably wasn't the best idea....i'll try strapping it tight to my body and add some padding to see if it will work out better...

what would the bike equivalent of a leica be :) ?
 
how about a new word for biking and rfing at the same time.... leitzycle....or beica....ok...i have too much time on my hands
 
"Beika" = Rivendell Rambouillet? It costs about the same as an M body, anyway. :D

(...I'd like to be the second person known to use the term "Beika". :p )

Bikes are like cameras in one way: Both industires are driven by hype-marketing. A fancy bike won't make you a better rider just as a fancy camera won't make you a better photographer.
 
Hi Bill and Roman

like all of us here we were once kids. Hopefully we still are. I used no helmet and was fine. Now the world is different where I cycle.

I understand, you don't like being told what to do regarding your own person (ie Big Guvmint sez... you must do 'whatever') It's yer choice and it still is here too. Once upon a time hockey players didn't wear helmets, goalies didn't wear masks. Times changed in their game, and they have changed where I ride a bike. If I ride in the city, I wear one. If I am on a bike path in a valley or lake front where cars are not permitted I don't wear one. It feels great.

Still there is more of the attitude Roman describes in Vienna towards cyclists here in Toronto too. So I wear one. Maybe I’ll move to Copenhagen. Cycling, Aquavit, black coffee, pastries…. Sounds good to me.

Bill thanks for the thoughts, I’m going back to the clinic about the ‘hand’ today. I may have to have it broken again.. I don’t like this.

Jan
 
Leica M in a courier bag every day on the bike, off-road as well (but not mountain biking). Year later, no problems.

I guess your body'll absorb the shocks, so anything in a bag is riding on suspension. Just as you can carry eggs in a shoulder bag and they're okay, but you glue the box to your handlebars and SPLAT! Panniers, then, might be a bit dodgy.

My cameras get jolted more when I bash them into things from the strap.
 
xcapekey said:
ha...great to see lots of photocyclists on the forum :) i've recently got into cycling and am putting on about 20 miles a day on my schwinn continental....i figure if i can ride it up hills at a decent clip, upgrading to a lighter bike (anything lighter than 40lbs should be a piece of cake :)....i promised myself that if the day i could bike up to the top of signal hill without stopping, is the day i'll treat my self to a new ride....

anyway, back to cameras...i suppose bungeeing my domke to the rear rack probably wasn't the best idea....i'll try strapping it tight to my body and add some padding to see if it will work out better...

what would the bike equivalent of a leica be :) ?
Click to expand...

If your Continental is an old Chicago Schwinn don't sell it short. I have and have had plenty of fancy bikes, plus lots of Schwinns, and have developed a healthy respect for the cushy ride, rugged nature and decent geometry of those old electro forged frames.

If you are looking for the Leica of bikes I'd sugguest any older lug framed road bike with down tube shifters, or bar end shifters if you prefer them, and a well broken in Brooks saddle. :D Sure, yuppie, Lance Armstrong poseurs will laugh at the lack of Carbon Fiber and fancy index shifting, but as a rangefinder fan you should be used to that sort of thing :D :D

Richie
 
yeah..it's a chicago schwinn....saw it a flea market sale and it's bright yellow was calling to me :) i had never ridden a bike with drops before or the old friction shifters but it was just too neat looking....the ride is pretty smooth and boy does it bomb down hills...i've changed the seat out to an anatomically corrected one :) and changed the cables, tubes and tires...rides great

like my cameras i wanted something that was rugged and was vintage or had some history, instead of something that looked toooo new...

anyone suggest a good small strap bag for riding? i heard the patagonia atom is pretty good...
 
I've participated in New York City's Five Boro Bike Tour twice and carried rangefinders on both occasions... It is a 42 mile tour
through New York City’s five boroughs, and with 30,000+ participants, is the largest recreational cycling event in the
U.S.

It is a great opportunity to ride through the city and see views that normal New
York traffic won't let you stop and see (photograph)..

On my first tour through New York, I carried a Konica Auto S2. It was small enough to carry across shoulder/chest e or carry in a small handle bar bag..

Second time around, I took a Mamiya 6. Sometimes the Mamiya was strapped around my chest/shoulders for
shots while cycling and other times I stored it in a well insulated saddle bag...

Didn't have any problems with rangefinder misalignment on either trip.

The World Trade Center shot was from the '96 tour..

my 2 cents worth..

Rick
 
Get yourself a nice Crumpler or similar messenger bag... I always carry my rangefinders in my courier bag, that way my body soaks up the vibrations and the camera suffers no knocks.

Of course, I don't fall off very often!

But don't carry too much in it, it hurts your shoulders ;)
 
Second to the suggestion of the messenger bag. I've used the small and medium-sized Timbuk2 bags to carry camera gear while on (and off) the bike.

Some courier bags lack dividers so be careful about what other items you pack with your camera. Also, the waterproof bags do a nice job of keeping water out but they will also keep liquids INSIDE so be careful when you put bottled water or other drinks in with your camera gear.
 
well...thought i'd give an update on my findings :) after cycling for the last three months, i've managed to knock each of my leica's (3 of them) out of whack...ugh...i tried wrapping them in domke wraps, then putting it in a bag, then putting it in my pannier...didn't work...i tried wrapping them in two t-shirts, putting it in a domke FXB bag that then goes in a novara handlebar bag...didn't work...

i've recently gotten hold of an xpan and am paranoid, so i tried wrapping the cams in bubble wrap, a t-shirt, the domke in the handlebar bag...works, but takes five minutes to get to....

the long and short of it is i found a small well cushioned crumpler messenger bag that seems to work well....i just shorten the strap so it's snug to my upper body...the combination of my body and the suspension of the strap seem to absorb shock the best...

just in case you were wondering :)

speaking of bikes, my new bike arrives tommorrow! i ordered a Bike Friday...an orange New World Tourist....basically a high performance folding bike with drop bars..sorta like the leica of bikes, in terms of craftsmanship and size
 
That Bike Friday is going to be a treat! They are very, very nice machines. Did yours come with the cargo trailer? If so, I would avoid carrying your RFs in it.

Enjoy!


PS - Has anyone else noticed that folding bikes seem to be gaining popularity in the USA? Trek, Giant and Breezer all have new models in the last three or so years, in addition to the current models from Bike Friday, Brompton, Dahon and others. Uh, oh...I may have a case of bike GAS coming on....
 
Hi,

I've just spotted this thread thanks to the recent posts. First time aroud I missed it because I was cycling with a Leica in China!

I did 1000km in 10 days, sometimes over some really, really rough stuff with my gear in a handlebar bag. It had some light padding, and then some bubblewrap, and the cameras/lenses were in thin leather cases. I have to say that none of the gear took any damage (at least as far as I have recognised). I took a Leica CL with the 40mm Summicron, 90mm Elmar, and a CV 21mm. A rangefinder was simply the only option for a kit like this on a trip like that. I also brought a Yashica T4 that I loaded with some of that new-fangled colour film.

Two years ago before I discovered RFs, I would have taken my Contax 139 with 28mm and 50mm lenses. The 135mm would have been too big and would have stayed at home, but the kit would still have been much heaver than the one I ended up taking. The trip was mainly about the cycling, but nowadays I don't really like to spend any of my leisure time doing something where photography can't be a sideline. Rangefinder photography and cycling go well together. This trip proved it for me. Another week or so and the scanning will be finished, and I'll post some shots on this site.

Robin.
 
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