one less car news

this could be a few updates but im going to make it one.it must be my month for the word crash first my computer then me, a lady walked right out in front of me yesterday and i plowed right into her. i ended up going over the bars and sliding on my face for bit (the feeling of your teeth on pavement sucks) i ended up with a fat lip a small cut on my chin and im pretty sore today but all in all im cool with it. i think she got the worst of it she said she was fine but i feel pretty bad about it.

i spent the holiday making spokecards. a really great artist called 78 sent me some really nice stuff to make into spokecards,i have 12 designs and i made 10 of each. we are going to give away one with each order over $30.00 till we run out, there very limited and super cool.

i got another backpack to test out from mer bags
it looks really really nice look for a review soon.


i also got a dvd called caravan/prague. that looks really cool. plus i get to watch a dvd about bikes and say im working.look for the review soon.

thats it for now more later

cole

i have had a ruff few days. everything that could go wrong has. the biggest is that my computer crashed AGAIN,its still under warranty but its going to take two to three weeks.this is the worst possible time for this but ill make do with my cell phone and my roommate zac's computer. if you email me and it takes awhile to get back to you don't worry i will get back to you. this update is sponsored by the fine people at acer who make a not so great computer.

cole

so being that we are getting hats its probably not the best idea to send people of the other site to buy hats, but i found short & angry and think there hats look sweeeeet. i think im going to get myself one. check it out,you can even send them a pair of pants and they will cut them off and hem them then make you hat from the leftovers.

ha ha as much fun as the last post was i got news. the limited edition american apparel hoodies are done! im shipping them tomarrow so if you placed a order you should see it in a few days.

also just a reminder the 12th is the cut of for christmas shipping after that ill do what i can.

cole

so i'm all happy because we are getting bicycle socks made with our logo on them. when i ordered them i paid more for them to be a wool blend, i did this because as rider i know wool is really functional, it doesn't absorb oder and will wick away moisture, all which sounds great in a sock right? well i put on our myspace that we were coming out with these socks and i get a reply saying we should make vegan ones...what? why do most vegans have to be so "im vegan" all the time? these socks are going to be good for riding your bike. if you want to sweat away in your cotton of synthetic socks feel free.


cole

man,so last round of orders i guess i was overwhelmed or something,but i messed up a few orders. to everyone who i bummed out, im really really sorry and working to fix for u. than for sticking with us.

cole

ps damn i probably should not post about how crappy of a job i did...might turn people off to us right?


pss i dont really smoke crack.

to everyone who ordered sale shirts.

i'm a dick and didn't thing about the long delay for thanksgiving, i have been printing non stop for the last two days and tomorrow derek and i are going to take our very overstuffed bags to the post office. you should see your orders by the end of the week.i'm hoping you will read this before email and yelling but if you need to vent i feel i deserve it. next time we have a sale i will plan a little better because we got a ton of orders. thanx to everyone who ordered and once again sorry for the delay.

cole

The Spokes, an all-woman all-bike-loving bicycle dance troupe, and they are currently blowing up in England. I recently had the chance to catch their show in Manchester and spend a few days with some of the girls from the group. After staying with them and seeing the show I can earnestly say that their recent fame is well deserved.

I came into contact with Nes of the spokes after posting a bulletin on the O.L.C. myspace page before i set out on a two month tour of Europe, looking for people to meet, things to do, and places to stay. Nes came threw and hooked me up with all three. She picked me up at the bus station, lent me a bike and took me on a tour of Manchester, introduced me to her amazing community, and cooked up some tasty vegan food.

If you have a chance to see the spokes live you don't want to miss out, and for everyone not fortunate enough to see the real thing here is a video, and a link to their, myspace http://www.myspace.com/thespokesmcr

thanks again to Nes and everyone in Manchester. Hope to be back soon, and if you ever make it to Chicago and need a place to stay look me up.

Zack

wow! we must be getting cooler then i ever thought we would. i just got some cool new stuff to review,ortlieb sent a backpack to check out and alien bikes sent us and new set of cranks a bottom bracket and a stainless chain. thanx to both companies for the stuff! we will have full reviews in a few weeks after we test theses things out

i just got my hair cut by kim at Art + Science in Wicker Park and realized that i should let everyone know how rad she is and everyone should go get their hair cut by her. there are a few reasons you should go: first, she does sweet hair. second, she rides her bike to work everyday and third shes derek's sister so you know she's cool. so call and make an appointment (773)227-4247 she would be so stoked!

so i decided to do bag reviews. these are the first to show up. on the left is a bag from transit and the on the right is one from reload. look for full reviews and pics in a few weeks.


p.s. got my computer back and its all good.

i knew i should have bought a mac. my computer has crashed and im sending it in to get fixed, so if you email me and i don't get back to you right away please be patient. i will do my best to respond to everyone.

thanx

cole

hey everyone we finally got some new stuff for you.

this is me and my pedicab partner emily. we were pedicabbing at Wrigley field and this dude gave us some mentos and told us to look excited...this what he got.

jon from jonny cycles sent me some pics of the fork he built for me. check out his blog for more info.its sweet i cant wait to get this fork.

http://jonnycycles.blogspot.com/2007/09/twin-plate-fork-for-one-less-car.html

check us out at the Fixed Gear Gallery symposium


Also i got this in a email today, please take the time to help out.


i know some of you don't live in bozeman but just fill this out an
make a strong statement for bike commuting. pass it on to everyone you
know so we can get some f-in bike lanes in this motha biatch!! peace
out motha suckas.
Dallas


Pass it on...

Please Participate in a Walking and Biking Survey for Gallatin County
As Part of the Greater Bozeman Area Transportation Plan

For the first time in the Gallatin valley a data collection effort is
underway to better understand the specific needs of area residents on
the focused topic of walking and bicycling! Gallatin County, the City
of Bozeman, and the Montana Department of Transportation are working
together on a transportation plan for the Greater Bozeman Area. The
plan will include a pedestrian and bicycle element.

Your responses to this walking and biking survey are important to the
project and will help us create a pedestrian and bicycle plan that
fits the community's needs and concerns. Your responses will help
guide the development and prioritization of future projects within the
Gallatin Valley

The survey will take approximately 7 minutes to complete and is
available online at:

http://www.rpa-hln.com/walkbikesurvey.htm

We encourage all Gallatin County households to participate with every
family member participating.

Additional information about the Transportation Plan is available on
the project website:

http://www.rpa-hln.com/bozeman/bozemantransplan.htm

Thank your for your participation.

we will be gone for a week at the fixed gear gallery symposium in traverse city, michigan. for more info on that go to http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/events/index.html -we will report on that when we get back home...

and, john from LA made a rad video and threw our logo in it. thanks john! check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGULCXyhNes

happy august!

also, if you are waiting on an order, it's on it's way. we've been way busy preparing for the symposium, and got a little behind. thanks for being patient.

-your friends at one less car

i found a great bittorrent site that is pretty quick to put up the new stages of the tour.
http://verified-p2p-links.com/torrents/Tour+de+France

where can i watch the Tour De France online?

we've got a friend that is searching for a 1986/7 DAHON telescoping seat post. the hole width of the frame is 33.5mm. if anyone could help she would really appreciate it.

thanks.

since moving to chicago i have seen a few trends that are driving me crazy. i’m sure this is going to make me sound like i’m mr. know-it-all, but it has to be said. first, i’m a function before fashion guy - it only makes sense; that’s why when i see people with straight bars (or riser bars) cut so short that their hands barely fit i get irritated. i’m sure you’re going to say that you do it so you can fit through those tight spots in traffic. . .ummm no, your shoulders are wider than your handle bars, so that’s not the reason. i’d like to see you stand up and really pedal, you must get some awesome leverage like that. and last, riding brakeless like that is ridiculous. how the hell are you going to back pedal? to me it’s just dumb. i don’t know who started it but i think it’s stupid. next on my list is people who ride a track bike or conversion with a free wheel and a front brake. have you thought about this? i’m sure you have seen other people with this look, but it’s because they are riding fixed gear bikes and they can use their legs to slow the back wheel. you, my friend, are going to haul ass into traffic, freak out, pull hard on you r front brake (because that’s all you have) and flip over your handle bars. brain damage comes to mind. i know that i’m just supposed to be happy that people are riding bikes, and don’t get me wrong, i am; but i also don’t want people to die because they want to look cool.


cole

to all of our customers: we have had a few problems as of late. first, we had to raise our shipping rates - i'm sorry, but the post office raised theirs, so we had to do the same. we’re doing our best to make our shipping as speedy and affordable for you as possible. next, if you ordered buttons - we had a problem with our mail lady because she didn’t believe that one less car was in our apartment building even though the package was addressed to me. she thought it was a good idea to just return it to the sender. so now they’re being sent to our p.o. box instead. if you’re waiting on those buttons they will be going out in the next few days. sorry about the delay. and i saved the best for last. it seems that our web server didn’t like neomail anymore, which is the mail client i have been using for the last year. anyway, they decided to remove it all together which left me holding the bag. i’ve made the switch to gmail, but i’m pretty sure i lost some contacts in that whole process; so if you have emailed me with questions and i never got back to you, i’m sorry- and if you resend them ill get right back to you. i don’t think we lost any orders. i took a lot of time matching orders with shipping receipts just to make sure everything was copacetic, so don’t worry that i didn’t get your order. we’ve been really busy lately and i've been working hard to get every order out as fast as i can. thanks to all for your patience.

Cole

1. ask your potential landlord if he allows pets before packing all of you and your friend’s shit into a truck and driving it 3 and a half hours to a new city.

2. windex is best for cleaning smoke residue off from everything in the new place, because the person who lived there before you never opened a window and smoked a minimum of10 packs a day.

3. unsecured wireless networks kick ass!! (this update is brought to you courtesy of someone on this block, most likely the dude with the big ass plasma screen watching this week’s Lost)

4. never let the lady who works for the gas company into the building, especially when everyone else in the building is stealing gas; it seems that they will shut them off and that makes a great first impression. (“hi, my name’s cole and i’m sorry that we got your free gas shut off.”)

5. always, and i mean always, make sure that your chain is tight. I know, you’re thinking, “ahhh, it will be alright”; but you might end up hitting some bumps which cause your chain to explode into 3 pieces, locking up you rear wheel almost killing you. The three mile walk home in clipless shoes wasn’t all that (or a bag of chips).

5.5 always carry cash so if number five happens you can take a train home. if you’re a big spender there’s always the cab option. i am not a big spender. you need to have something to be able to spend it, right? living in the city isn’t cheap.

i just got this picture of the new fork that Jonny Cycles is building for me, i cant wait!

hey check out Urban Cyclist issue#1,there some cools guys doing something good.

http://www.urbancyclist.org/

one less car is moving

look what Soma just sent for us to review!

the one less car ebay store has been closed, for a couple reasons. the first reason is because we had to charge a little extra to cover ebay costs and i don't like that. being the fledgling little “business” that we are we're still having a hard enough time trying to figure out what a reasonable price is to be charging for our shirts. since our inception our prices have slowly fluctuated, both up and down, trying to find that “sweet spot” as we've taken to calling it. see, we're not trying to make a killing doing this. all we want to do is make shirts and jazz that spread the word - and sing the praises of - riding bikes while getting compensated for the price of materials used and a nod or high-five for our time spent making said shirts. that's it. this was supposed to be a side project, something fun to do when not riding bikes. one less car wasn't started to rob you blind of the money you've earned by selling your time to your employers. i'm not a fan of the employer. i'm not a fan of selling my time. so please don't think we're ever going to try and pull that shit with you. the other reason is the immediacy that our culture has been all caught up in. we want everything now! drive-thru windows, a.t.m.s and scratch off lottery tickets (god forbid i'd have to wait for the evening drawing to see if i won) litter our countryside. we're all jacked up on caffeine, energy drinks and pharmaceutical speed (of all shapes and colors). where's my wireless internet connection? my blackberry? did i miss a text message? where's my debit card so i can transfer money from my savings to my paypal account? hurry, i only have two minutes left on this ebay auction! for some reason when people point and click on ebay they expect the item they bought be be on their doorstep the next day. unfortunately, we're not that high stress. we get results, but we're not glued to our computer screens. sorry. we have failed those of you caught up in the immediate culture surrounding us. three kids handling your orders takes a little time, as we too have decided to sell some of our time to employers. i wish that this was my job, but i'd rather live off myself than off of you and your money. three kids washing screens and burning images and photoshopping on borrowed computers takes a little time. ordering the shirts we need takes some time. we don't have a bunch of money to carry a large inventory. printing your shirts and sewing patches on hats takes a little time. i really don't want to come across in this note as a cynical prick. i'm just bummed on ebay and the hassle that comes with it. i'm bummed on people clicking “buy now” and sending an ebay message four days later asking why they haven't received their package yet. please exercise some patience. once you place your order we have to get the shirt you need in the size you want. then we have to screen your shirt. then we have to get all your information together and pack and ship your shirt. and then it's in the hands of the trusty postal employees, who are selling their time to an employer. we're all selling or time away. let's just step back, take a deep breath and start enjoying the time we have (while we have it). i promise that your package will get there. it may take a little more time than ordering from the big guys like amazon.com or bestbuy.com, etc. we're not real high tech. we're not trying to be. we're trying to make shirts that show everyone that we all love our bikes. i love my bike. you love your bike. and that's enough.

Hey everyone

We messed up. It seems at some point in the last week or so our website
stopped taking orders (for shirts only- so if you orderes something else,
don't sweat it!), so if you tried to place a order for shirts, it probably
didn't let you... which can be frustrating to say the least. We're sorry.
The problem has been fixed. Thanks for sticking with us!!!

I don’t want to sell anything, buy anything or process anything, as a career ... I don’t want to sell anything bought or processed or ... buy anything sold or processed or... process anything sold ... bought ... or processed ... or repair anything sold, bought or ... processed, you know, as a career ... I don’t want to do that.

Ride me


check out our new shirt!

Other news: we have discontinued the long sleeve shirts and hoodies,so were going to be having a sale to get rid of the stock we have,check back soon. I also just updated to the new version of blogger and found all the comments everyone posted about our blogs, thanks and sorry i was a little slow on approving them.

cole

this past thursday it started snowing; by saturday night this is what things looked like (whiter than beverly hills). cole and i bundled up and got back on our bikes at about eight o'clock in the evening to ride around and take some pictures, documenting the storm from our perspective. i'm impressed that cole's camera even worked, with the weather being as cold as it was. on this particular night the temperature dipped down to a mere three degrees (fahrenheit), with a wind chill of minus seventeen degrees or something like that. you may notice the blowing snow throughout these photos. i'm pretty sure that this 'effect' was brought on by the thirty mile per hour gusts (they brought more of a hot stinging sensation to the face rather than the typical icy cold cheeks and nose). all in all it was a pretty interesting ride around town. there were very few cars out on the road (mostly pizza delivery drivers), so we pretty much had things to ourselves. the few people that did pass by us all had the same look of disbelief on their faces. i think they felt bad for us, having to travel by bike on a night like that. if they only knew how fun it was. . .

after bailing, headlong, into a snowbank cole's camera hit the snow covered pavement at a high rate of speed and failed to turn back on. at this point we're still hoping that minus seventeen degrees was just too cold for the battery. (fingers crossed) hope, hope.

hey everybody! a while back we met a truly amazing person from the u.k. by
the name of anthony. anthony runs an online magazine called "citycycling"
and he decided to put up an interview with us in the newest issue that came
out just today. you can find anthony's "citycycling" check it out if you've got the time. and if you don't
have the time right at this very moment than make sure to come back when
you've got the time to check this out – he put mad amounts of time into this
and it's awesome. thanks anthony!

we're putting five random shirts on sale for the next two weeks, starting today. the sale prices are $13.00 per shirt. check the products list to see what five shirts made the cut.