Now Riding...

Photos by James Rand

Yes, I ride a moped or what some call a "mini motorcycle with pedals".  A few months ago, with the help of my good friend Mikey I bought a moped!  It's a vintage 1970s Pinto, manufactured by Puch and sold at JCPenney.

I'm a complete novice when it comes to mechanics.  I'm constantly asking Mikey questions and searching forums for answers, and it's quite fun and rewarding.  The moped community in Chicago is really friendly, and a shop opened up on Western this past summer - MOPED!

You can see my moped in action in this sweet video by Leo Burnett featuring my friend Roberto.  Right around 2:49, you'll see my friends flying by and a nice long shot of the city... then a quick appearance by yours truly.

Bikes, Now Available at Urban Outfitters

Is there anything Urban Outfitters won't sell? Besides clothes, they already have home furnishings, books, music and now bikes. That's right, you can purchase a bike from urbanoutfitters.com.

Urban Outfitters has teamed with with Republic Bike to bring custom built bikes to the masses. Building a bike on Urban's site doesn't appear to be anything different from building on Republic's site. On both sites, you get to customize your single speed, flip-flop fixed/free hub Aristole bike selecting the colors for each of the components - frame, seat, grips, etc. You can even customize the color of the chain - so cute! I'm such a sucker for bright colors. The bikes retail for $399 plus $34 shipping charges for the US.

Bike, so hot right now.