“Almost every fixed inventory will betray us. Is the novel a ‘bourgeois’ form? The answer can only be historically provisional: When?”(Hall 1983, p. 484) For Stuart Hall, popular culture is a temporal object whose signs and signifiers betray an underlying class struggle. As such, incorporating value into existing popular cultures, or else marginalizing other cultural forms, is not simply a matter of taste, but a discursive negotiation displacing cultural practices from “the center of popular life” (Hall 1983, pp. 477-478). Hall’s thinking lends itself to analysis of contemporary phenomena, and while he concerns himself with a macro-level theoretical understanding of…
Author: Harold Dalton
Harold Dalton
Cycling industry professional with over 14 years of experience in professional journalism, television, and industry writing.
Trek has recalled its Bontrager Satellite City pedals because they can fall off if not installed correctly. That, uh, is true of every pedal ever created, but fortunately they’ve clarified the problem in more depth for the pedants among us. That clarification is “Satellite City pedals require a multi-directional torque wrench to properly secure them to the crank arm. If the pedals are not properly installed on the bicycle during assembly, the pedal can fall off the crank arm. If this happens while riding the bicycle, you could lose control of the bicycle and fall.” Ok then. Trek has sold…
Wahoo officially launched their new Elmnt Bolt bike computer today. It’s a tiny bit bigger, slightly better at mapping, and has a color screen. Wow. But the big story is that we were sent all the details and completely ignored the email because it wasn’t from one of our usual secret-sharers. That means we missed out on tons of clicks from cyclists desperate to learn more about one of the ten thousand black rectangles full of conflict minerals and plastics that’ll be around 10,000 years after we’re all dead. Well fuck, how are we supposed to sell the site now?…
Vacation Inc., makers of sunscreen that smells like 1980s swimming pool trauma, have announced a brand new product: cologne that smells like sunscreen that smells like 1980s swimming pool trauma. What level of postmodernity is this? Now we have a special offer for Cyclry readers: buy their sunscreen or their cologne and you’ll either save some money, or make us some money. That’s because one of our writers moonlights as– oh come on, is this real? Do you have a business card? Ok, fine. One of our writers is Vacation’s Speedboat Aerodynamics Innovation Professional. Why not. Buy the sunscreen and/or…
How do culturally constructed female roles and external threats in public space play a part in the disproportionate number of female cyclist deaths from large vehicles in London from 1999 to 2014? Challenges It is important to note that by necessity this is an analysis of environments and the interactions they foster. While extensive data has been utilized to support and develop the argument, it is very difficult to gather accurate data about urban bicycling behavior and habits. This is equally true of nuanced information about the specificity of individual decisions leading to the causation or avoidance of particular road…
Published: May 14, 2006 (15 year anniversary!) Never be bored again! When you print off this fantastic checklist as a compliment to Eurosport’s coverage, even the most boring flat stage becomes a joy to watch! Soon you’ll be cheering the occurrence of things that previously made your blood boil! First person to (legitimately) complete the checklist and e-mail us will receive a special prize. (2021 Cyclry editor’s note: sure, why not? Complete it and we’ll send you something. You can adapt ‘David Duffield’ to ‘Carlton Kirby’ and so on.)
The connoisseur’s grand tour. Or maybe the cognoscente’s. It’s old, it’s beautiful, and it’s the second-most prestigious grand tour. This year has seen some changes to the traditional format, bringing shorter, punchier stages, more hills, and just 38km of time-trialing. Last year was a spectacular edition played out by a lower-tier cast than usual. It also functioned as a rolling Covid hotspot, superspreading like a Gen-Z house party. If this year can match last year on the former, and improve upon the latter, it’ll be one of the all-time greats. Where to Watch Everywhere – GCN+Europe – Eurosport and GCN+…
SBS has secured the exclusive free-to-air broadcast rights to the Giro d’Italia until 2025, cementing the network’s place as the home of cycling in Australia. The deal means the Giro d’Italia will return to free-to-air television for the first time since 2016 and makes SBS the place to watch all three of cycling’s prestigious three-week-long Grand Tours; the Tour de France, Vuelta a España and the Giro d’Italia. Under the new agreement following a sub-licence agreement with Discovery, Inc, SBS has exclusive Australian free-to-air rights to deliver live, multi-platform coverage including television and digital until the end of 2025. The comprehensive…