Hi Tensile, the beater bikes of New York City

The beater bike. An essential Downtown New York City commuting tool that needs to be useful, yet undesirable. These bikes are heavy and purposefully dumbed down with electrical tape, stickers, dints and rust to appear less attractive to would-be thieves. Heavy gauge hi-tensile steel chains bind these rusted and beaten bikes to city infrastructure, creating a visual canvas of NYC biking culture. On a trip to New York City, I photographed every bike I walked past within a 24 hour period to capture my own piece of this famous culture. As an avid enthusiast of all things bikes, I was inspired to create this photo journal. 116 pages of images, both black and white and color, no text as the pictures tell the story. This self published coffee table conversation piece is right at home from a bike shop tool bench, to a bookshelf of a bike nut with interest or connection to NYC.

A Ride Iconic project created by Shane Ellis, these are the beater bikes of New York City.