Absolute Genius

A bike lock that doubles as a wrench for wheel nuts. Love it!

Via Pedal Consumption.

Bling bling baby, bling bling

No update in as long as a Swedish Mile so first up apologies for that.

Ben Wilson has created what is perhaps the most blinging lowrider I've ever come across. The £25,000 bike ($40,000, 29,000 Euro) has 110,000 Swarovski crystals embedded in it. The detail is just off the hizzo.

Google Trike

Maybe not custom in the traditional sense of this blog, but possibly the most unique bike out there today and surely worthy of a mention as a result.

Google have created a special bike mounted camera for their Street View project for use on UK streets where their cars cannot reach. Being a self confessed GPS geek this hits all the buttons for me!

Via NaviGadget.

Choppernation 2009 (FBI 08)

As I'm on the verge of booking my flights to Amsterdam, I thought it might be good to post some images from FBIs of years gone by. For those of you new to choppers or haven't come across the event, it is a big meetup for riders and builders from all corners of Europe (and even further afield) in The Dam, all organised by the oracle of all things slow and low, Chopperdome. 2009 will be the first time I attend the event so add an RSS feed to this blog to keep up to speed with the event and see the images and videos first. For the time being, here are some from previous events. Click here for more information on this year's bash.

Photo credits - 1, 2, 3 & 4.

Better late than never

The thread has been on since around Christmas time but Dman from New Zealand has posted some truly awesome shots of a beach cruiser he made for his partner over on the Rat Rod Bikes site. I'm utterly utterly envious of the skill that guy has. Everything about this bike just works so well - check out the way the chain loops through the frame, the custom made grips from NZ sourced timber, the contrast between the paintwork and the white sidewalls and the simple clean graphics he's applied. It is completely faultless

Meet some of my friends...

Given there are so many pages about choppers, lowriders, beach cruisers, rat rod bikes and the like, I figured it'd be good to try and compile a blog highlighting the best of the best sites; the latest news in one single point. Fixed Gear Blog does an awesome job of this for those of us with a fondness for lycra so why not a similar site for the pedal banging, baggy pant wearing people of the world?

So keeping my first post short and sweet, here are some of my favourite sites (in no particular order);

Forums:
Rat Rod Bikes
Slow'n Low
Custom Cycles (UK Site with a bias towards Raleigh Choppers)
Tret Harley (German language but awesome photos for the lingually challenged among us)
Custom Bikes
Chopper Bicycle

Manufacturers:
Nirve
Electra
Project 346
Pashley
Schwinn
8 Ball

Shops:
Chopperdome
BeachCruiser
Bicycle Designer

Random:

Chopper News Network (run by Choppernation)

NOTE: Please add a comment if you have other suggestions for sites that are missing.