Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Unstolen bike #7

Tonight I delivered the seventh bike of my Unstolen bikes project to A.J. in downtown Portland, whose bike—his only transportation—was stolen just a week after he hit town from Idaho. Number 7 is mostly a Schwinn Impact (decent older mountain bike) contributed by cyclist and illustrator Karl Edwards, who is pretty new to town himself.
I've abandoned my original idea of locking a bike and distributing the lock combo to everyone who "qualified." (People just weren't applying, probably due to scam-wariness.) Instead, with this bike, I looked over the stolen-bike listings on bikeportland.org until I found what seemed an appropriate match.
Meanwhile, bike #8 needs some work but will be ready soon. It's an early 1990s Giant Iguana with a frame size of 16 inches, suitable for a small-to-medium person. It needs a front wheel (mountain-bike 26" size), pedals (9/16") and brakes (cantilever or V).