The Black Label Bike Club (BLBC) is an international freak/mutant bicycle organization specializing in

tall bikes A tall bike is an unusually tall bicycle often constructed by hobbyists from spare parts. Typically, two conventional bicycle frames are connected, by welding, brazing, or other means, one atop the other. The drive train is reconfigured to connec ...

and

choppers Chopper may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Chopper (comics), ''Chopper'' (comics), a horror comic book mini-series * Chopper (film), ''Chopper'' (film), a 2000 Australian film by and about Mark "Chopper" Read * Chopper (Judge Dredd), Chopper ...

History

BLBC was founded in 1992 as the country's first "outlaw bike club" by Jacob Houle and Per Hanson, under the name "Hard Times Bike Club", in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, Minnesota. Inspired by

Victorians In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardian ...

who used tall bikes, called lamplighters, to light the street lamps, BLBC are credited as the originators of tall bike

jousting Jousting is a martial game or hastilude between two horse riders wielding lances with blunted tips, often as part of a tournament (medieval), tournament. The primary aim was to replicate a clash of heavy cavalry, with each participant trying t ...

, and one of the main contributors to the rise of the

tall bike A tall bike is an unusually tall bicycle often constructed by hobbyists from spare parts. Typically, two conventional bicycle frames are connected, by welding, brazing, or other means, one atop the other. The drive train is reconfigured to connec ...

culture. The club has since grown to include chapters in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

and

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...

in Sweden,

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, and a

nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...

chapter known as "Nowhere".

Media

The New York chapter was featured in a full-length film titled ''B.I.K.E.'', produced by Fountainhead Films in 2006. The film was directed by Anthony Howard and Jacob Septimus, who spent over two years following the club by going to their parties in New York and Minneapolis, as well as the protests of the 2004 Republican National Convention. In 2018, photographer Julie Glassberg published a photography book documenting the Black Label Bike Club's New York chapter. The book is named after BLBC's annual event, ''Bike Kill''.

References

{{reflist

External links

Photo Essay
in ''Chief Magazine'' of the group's annual Bike Kill event, featuring a video of "bike jousting"
B.I.K.E. the Movie
*
B.I.K.E. the Movie on Vimeo
Cycling clubs 1992 establishments in Minnesota Vehicle modification