Before the 1970’s explosion of Japanese road bikes withderailleur gears, the English-style 3-speedruled the roads. In fact,the 3 speed roadster accounts for more than ½ of the bicycles ever built. The Raleigh DL-1, with its fully enclosed chain-case, rod and roller brakes and giant 28 inch wheels made it the perfect all-terrain bike of its time. Designed in 1913 for the British military, it eventually served across the Empire as the bike of choice for police, mail carriers, couriers and commuters from Kingston to Shanghai. The first manufacturing facility built in post-imperial India was a bicycle factory, which still produces an exact replica of the DL-1. Across Asia, the English-style roadster is the platform of choice for cargo bikes and pedi-cabs.
At the heart of every English-style 3speed is the Sturmey-Archer 3speed hub.The fully enclosed hub is nearly impervious to the elements, and extremely rugged. To disassemble and reassemble the planetary gears of a 3speed hub is a lesson in physics, and some might say a peek into the clockwork of the universe (okay, mostly old hippie bike mechanics say that...). Many variations have been built with up to 7 speeds, and the “DynoHub” includes an AC generator for powering lights. In America, 3-speed bikes built in the UK with Sturmey-Archer hubs were sold up until the late 1970’s, labeled as Robin Hood, Sears brand, and even K-Mart. Easily found at second hand stores for $50 or less, these workhorses will still out-ride and out-last any cheap bike bought from Walmart.
In the movie “Lord of War,” the protagonist Yuri Orlov, played by Nicholas Cage lays it all out:“Of all the weapons in the vast Soviet arsenal, nothing was more profitable than Avtomat Kalashnikova model of 1947. More commonly known as the AK-47, or Kalashnikov. It's the world's most popular assault rifle. A weapon all fighters love. An elegantly simple 9 pound amalgamation of forged steel and plywood. It doesn't break, jam, or overheat. It'll shoot whether it's covered in mud or filled with sand. It's so easy, even a child can use it; and they do. The Soviets put the gun on a coin. Mozambique put it on their flag. Since the end of the Cold War, the Kalashnikov has become the Russian people's greatest export. After that comes vodka, caviar, and suicidal novelists. One thing is for sure, no one was lining up to buy their cars.”
Designed by a wounded tank commander and aspiring agricultural equipment designer named Mikhail Kalashnikov, the AK-47 is perhaps the quintessential product of the 20th century. In an earnest attempt to create a weapon that would defend his Communist homeland from the aggression of fascist Germany, Kalashnikov unwittingly invented one of the key elements in the blueprint for Soviet expansion. By making the AK-47 design a sort of “open source” technology, the USSR licensed the manufacturing of AK-47s to facilities in Finland, Hungary, Bulgaria, China, North Korea, Egypt, Iraq, and others. Today, it is estimated that there is a one Kalashnikov-style rifle in use for every 66 people on earth.
As Yuri Orlov points out, the very image of the AK is a symbol of revolution worldwide, and a symbol of the business of revolution. It is the world's deadliest meme. In another Hollywood film, “Jackie Brown,” Samuel L. Jackson’s character Ordell says: "AK-47. The very best there is. When you absolutely, positively got to kill every motherfucker in the room, accept no substitutes.”
Boing Boing gave Kal's fundraiser a really nice plug...
"We've posted on BB before about San Francisco machine artist Kal Spelletich, who has made dozens of elegant, menacing, and incredible robots and kinetic sculptures over several decades. Kal is a veteran of Survival Research Laboratories, Seemen, and a former artist-in-residence at the Exploratorium. He's managed to secure a gallery show in New York City on August 6, 2010..."jump to full article...
Old friend Kal Spelletich is raising bucks to take his robot show to NYC- check out his work at: http://www.kaltek.org/
You can pledge by clicking the kickstarter link on the right side of this page.....
FRINGE: Kal Spelletich Exhibit, Jun. 2-30, 2007, L.A., CA
