All sorts of goodness this weekend! But a bit of a head's up for this week. My rear tire suffered a flat this Sunday so I might not have as many posts until I get it fixed. Unfortunately it's not a simple flat but rather the tire integrity failed so PUBLIC is sending me a new tire and tube. Once I get that in the mail and installed, back up and running. Might be a good excuse to finally pony up for a Capital Bikeshare membership. I did ride my very first one on Friday, thanks to Ms. City Planner's key. While I was glad to be riding, it was a tank. A Soviet tank to be exact... a big beastly T-34 as it was heavy, and slow and ungainly. But it got me from Point A to B.

Here's a Schwinn Collegiate 5-Speed from the 1970s parked in Columbia Heights. Back then, they cost about $80... today, they probably still cost about $80. Aside from some spots of rust on the frame, the bicycle is in great shape and mostly still has all original equipment on it. I remember this model well as Mr. District Dutch is old as dirt and grew up in the 1970s. Every friend's older sister who I had the hots growing up then for rode this bicycle.

Here's a contemporary Jamis Commuter 1 bike. I included this one because I have a friend who's about to buy a Jamis... not sure if it's this model but it's a hybrid that's similar. I like that companies like Jamis who mostly sell road bikes are catering to city riders as well with models like this. But it's kind of baffling why they wouldn't include something as simple as a partial chain guard to it when it has everything else a city commuter might need. Or maybe it's the cool guy hipster thing to do to ride around town with your right pants cuff rolled up. I do like the UK mod love with the Nutcase helmet design.

A Kent Americana single-speed bicycle, parked and for sale in Mt. Pleasant. Aside from a rusty chain, looked to be in really good shape. 

Didn't catch the model of this Giant bicycle but what was interesting to me is the different colored bike tires. When my tire blew, I tried buying a cream-colored tire to get it fixed right away. No one in town had one readily available. Luckily the tire was still under warranty so I'm getting a free one but I did think about getting a regular black tire as a temp replacement. In the end, my stylistic sensibilities wouldn't let me do it.

This apartment complex in Mt. Pleasant was a treasure trove of hipster city bicycles... the next several were all parked outside the same building. This is another Critical Bike, a PUBLIC knock-off. Like the other three Critical Bikes I've posted before, this too is missing its front light unit. I'm really intrigued by that. Are they quick-disconnect to take off? Do they get stolen a lot? Do they tend to fall off? I want to know!

I really love these Peugeot mixte-frame bicycles.The mixte design is French and Peugeot is French so it's a very French bicycle. One of the very few bicycles I've seen around town with a bottle dynamo powering its light. Even more interesting is the owner has the bottle on the rear wheel yet it's powering the front light.

A vintage Raleigh Roadster bicycle with internal hub gears. A couple of interesting points... the owner has a water bottle cage installed on the front of the stem, going old school. The second interesting point is that the shifter cable is actually disconnected from the gear switch... you can see the end of the cable wrapped up by the bottle cage... single-speed hipness!

I love love LOVE the color of this Giant Via step-through bicycle. Apparently the owner does too, enough to use an Abus folding lock on it... but doesn't love it enough to put enough air in both tires.

A real treat, this is a Batavus Fryslan, parked in Navy Yard. Very similar to the German Excelsior I posted about here, this is actually from the Netherlands. It has ALL THE THINGS that a true Dutch bike has: full chain guard, fenders, upright handlebars higher than seat, internal hub gears, hub dynamo powering the lights, skirt guard, rear coaster brakes, O-ring wheel lock, solid rear rack that can probably support another adult, and of course a little  bell. Love the smaller comfort saddle. Would love to see more of these around town!