Tag: Fat City Cycles

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Show #420 – September 29, 2018

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Guests: Jan Ransom; Mike Flanigan

As he did every morning, Dan Hangeby picked up his Citi Bike from the NY Bike Share station. On this particular morning, June 12th, Dave Lewis was driving his 55,000 pound bus down the same city street – so close that he clipped Mr. Hangeby’s front wheel and dragged him under the bus. Dan Hangeby died at the hospital a short time later.

This past week, Mr. Lewis was on trial for the incident – but, not until a lot out outrage and investigation by local cyclists and Mr. Hangeby’s family.

Jan Ransom is a reporter for the NY Times who covers the criminal justice system and I talk with her about this case. Her article, “”First Fatal Citi Bike Crash:Was The Bus Driver to Blame” was published on September 17, 2018. The verdict is expected next week.

Then, it’s a long conversation with Mike Flanigan – Mr. A.N.T. – Alternative Needs Transportation. We trace the frame builder’s journey from his home in Ft. Worth, Texas as a youngster through his cross-country bike trip that eventually led him to Boston, where he worked with Fat City Cycles and was one of the founding members of Independent Fabrications.

But, Mike is a free-spirit and his love of the niche-y classic touring bikes took him back to the bench at his own shop.

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Show #250 – June 13, 2015

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Guests: Michael Aisner; Gary Helfrich

These interviews were record in 2011.  They are well worth hearing again or, if you began listening to the show after 2011, they are two of my favorites!  Either way…. here we go!

Back in September 2010, it never occurred to me that I would be on the air for almost 5 years!!! Yet, here we are celebrating our 250th show! And, in a mini-celebration, I would like to revisit two of my favorite interviews.

For those of you who discovered The Outspoken Cyclist AFTER 2011, these two interviews were recorded in March and November, 2011. The first is with an iconic figure in our industry who has been recognized for untold contributions from the Red Zinger/Coors Classic race series to his current project – the U.S. Monument to Cycling in North Boulder Park in Colorado.

Michael Aisner goes WAAAY back to the early days of what we might call the golden age of American cycling when such luminaries as Davis Phinney, Connie Carpenter, Eric Heiden, and Andy Hampsten were laying the groundwork for those who have come up the ranks in our sport.

Michael is a visionary, a Renaissance man in the true sense of the word, and very articulate about what he sees as the reasons we are not seeing another “golden age” of cycling in the U.S.

My second guest is just as legendary – though in a whole different way. Gary Helfrich is often considered the “father of titanium” frames and one of the smartest most talented people in the bike industry.  After a stint with Chris Chance and Fat City Cycles,  Gary went on to become one of the original founders of  Merlin Bicycles.  He is also the force behind one of the most coveted of frame jigs, Arctos.

He hails from the East Coast but skedaddled out of there to make his way west, go back to school, get a degree in environmental studies and urban planning, and jump in up to his eyebrows in bicycle advocacy as the director of Bike Sonoma in California.

Yet, Gary also has tales to tell of 10 years as a roadie for such bands as Aerosmith and Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention.

I hope you enjoy these two “encore” interviews!

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Show #117 – November 17, 2012

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GUESTS: PAUL KIMMAGE, CHRIS CHANCE

We’re just a few days away from the U. S. holiday of Thanksgiving, which Diane and I agree is one of the best holidays ever. One of the things we are annually thankful for is the growing number of you who take time each week to listen to The Outspoken Cyclist. We hope you’ll find time and good weather during this coming holiday weekend to celebrate the gift of being on two human-powered wheels.

Aside from the good holiday wishes, we have a great show for you this week. Journalist, author, and former pro road racer Paul Kimmage joins us from Dublin, Ireland to talk about his wild ride in the wake of the Lance Armstrong scandal. Kimmage is another example of someone who has paid a heavy price for trying to expose the corruption in a sport he loves.

In the second half of the show, we head out to northern California to talk with Chris Chance, the man behind the iconic Fat City Cycles, which still claims a large and loyal group of owners and enthusiasts. This interview will clearly illustrate just how much the bicycle business has changed over the last 30 years.