[BIKES/CARS/TRAINS] Scraper Bike!

I'm pretty late to post this video from April by East Oakland's Trunk Boiz, but I had to share it. A good friend on the Left Coast sent it to me, introducing it as "some bike culture that isn't totally stale."



Urban Dictionary – upon which, I am distressed to admit, I am increasingly dependent to understand much of anything as I suffer the indignities of Time (I know, woe is me) – defines scraper bikes as "A new trend that is a part of the San Francisco Bay Area Hyphy Movement [OkoMisc Note: Uh, "Movement"? Not to put it down, but I'm not sure this qualifies as a Movement] in which people ride their tricked out bikes and go stupid, dumb, retarded while on their bikes. Generally, the bikes have nice designs, such as duo-tone paint jobs, and rims or spinners. The term was coined by the rap group Trunk Boiz of Oakland, California."

I love this video. For one thing, it's so unusual to see an SUV sit in the background, completely irrelevant to the action – rather than play a glorified role and serve as a status symbol – while a bunch of guys wax poetic about their tricked-out bikes. For another, those things are functional! Check out the trike's rear box, and the baskets on some of the other bikes.

And then there's the whole "hyphy" thing. While I may not call it a "Movement" – and while I can't say I know much about it beyond what I've gleaned from Urban Dictionary – I'll sign on to not taking ourselves too seriously any day of the week.