Now here’s a jacket for night rides. Probably not effective for general visibility though. –Corrie

From the web site swissmiss comes a tech hack that rocks. Behold, the signal jacket:

Read More 

Excuse number one for not commuting.

The ladies of the safety committe have been hard ar work gathering information on safety and ways to encourage biking to work. They are creating their own pages on the google groups site or you can find a link to their pages from the advocacy page.

Bet they don’t have this yet.–Corrie

One of the biggest problems that people tend to look at is the idea of getting sweaty an stinky after a bike ride. I think this has to be one of the turn-offs that people have with bike commuting.

Read Tips on handling this smelly problem.

Scott would probably figure he was in heaven with this load–Corrie

Have canoe; will bike around USA

by Gene Bisbee at 08:35AM (PST) on March 4, 2008  |  Permanent Link  |  Cosmos

Packing list for long-distance touring bicyclist James Schauer: 300 pounds of stuff.

As you can see at left, this 60-year-old semi-retired computer programmer is pretty easy to identify as he hauls his rig across the rolling countryside of rural Maryland. He pedals a mountain bike loaded with stuff and tows a 14-foot canoe that shelters more stuff underneath.

He left the St. Louis area last September and has been tooling around the East Coast by bicycle and canoe ever since. With no house and no car, Schauer says he has no particular destination in mind except to visit relatives on his travels.

Okay, I know those squirrels on the bike path are infuriating, but this isn’t going to work. They’re already suicidal. Why help ‘em out with an owl. ‘Sides Treacle doesn’t look as big as the squirrels do.–Corrie

Cutest bicycle rider/ handlebar accessory ever

Read about Treacle the Owl.

Better pack that set of wrenches on your next ride, ’cause if the law in New Jersey passes, we might all be losing our quick release skewers. Won’t that make changing flats fun? Why? Seems some kids have been injured by improperly secured quick releases on cheap bikes. But the law doesn’t distinguish between kids and adults. Would bike manufacturers build a special New Jersey bike or would they just do away with the quick release? You worry about it. I’m still in my Lazy Boy. –Corrie

Attention everyone in New Jersey who rides a bicycle: If a bill requiring an improved bike safety device passes into law, your bike won’t pass muster.

I don’t need to visit your garage to make that determination. There is no bicycle available that complies with A2686, which the state Assembly passed last month, 77-3, and S2837, the companion bill that now awaits consideration in the Senate.

At issue here is a safer version of “quick release,” a long-standard technology that lets a wheel be removed from a bike without tools. The updated version would incorporate a locking mechanism so the wheel can’t fly off on its own.

Okay. But there’s another wrinkle here. This device is not available today on a single bicycle. In other words, bike shop owners say, every bike now on their showroom floor could become illegal, rendering their inventory worthless and leaving them nothing to sell.

Read the rest of the story 

Riding With Kids

Korbin and Marley Jones preparing for a ride.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Jones

By Karen Brooks
Dirt Rag magazine

[This article is excerpted from Dirt Rag magazine, Issue #131. For the full story, click here.]

A love of riding bikes can be seen as a childlike quality in adults, something that allows us to play and have fun. What happens when actual children enter the picture, and the adults have to grow up? Here are a few examples of lifetime cyclists who, rather than abandoning their playful pursuit, are bringing their kids along for the ride.

more

Yes, there’s a nice new spring time/St. Pat’s green tinge on all the pages now. Please do not adjust your monitors.

Look closely and you’ll see that the search button has moved up into the menu bar which has actually gotten shorter.

You’ll also find the balance sheet under the business menu where it belongs. I sent out the link earlier but changing the menu means updating all the pages.

I also got an email from Cylistnexus They want us to take another look at their journal/map site.

When I posted that page this site was interesting but didn’t work well. All its features weren’t implemented. So, I’ve updated the chart and added a link to a pdf of features they sent me.

It really does merit revisiting.

I’ve moved completelly away from the palm device I was using mostly just to as a mileage log. I like MapMyFitness better than BikeJournal which Doug continues to use. Cyclistnesxus looks very much like MapMyFitness. One problem I’m having with MapMyFitness is that when I import my routes directly from the GPS rather than hand entering them, the mileage isn’t correct. Never off by much but off. Its not the GPS. The training Center software gets it right.

–Corrie

We saw this done a couple of years ago on the Joseph Ride. We gave him a bad time about his shower cap, but the rest of us had nothing and if you recall it rained some that Saturday. Good to see the free-caps plan getting some press.–corrie

Hmm, guess I don’t actually remember ever seeing any free shower caps. Guess I’m to cheap to stay in such high class joints.

Shower Cap As Helmet Cover

February 29th, 2008 by Bren · No Comments

Read more 

You’ve seen ‘em–wheels with only 16 spokes. You may be riding ‘em. Road Bike Rider discusses ‘em this week. And as a bonus, Doug sends along the bicycling article about Shimano’s Malaysian wheel buiding factory.  –Corrie

Wheels of Misfortune

At RBR we’ve stated our opinion of low-spoke-count wheels a few times. We consider them “event wheels” and believe they should be used that way — for special rides or races, not for everyday cycling or training.

Read the rest of the discussion on “event” wheels.

A Look Inside Shimano’s Malaysian Factory

Shimano bike wheels, component groups, and frames bearing the tag Made In Malaysia are ubiquitos in the cycling world. But just what does it mean to you, the end consumer?

By Joe Lindsey

Made in Malaysia. I always wondered exactly what that meant. Where? By who? How?

And when that sticker is on something like a $2,000 set of Shimano Dura-Ace carbon fiber bike wheels, what does that mean?

 http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/646625/24276952

I do try to put a dab of oil on the cables after riding in the rain, but I hadn’t thought to loosen them enough to really do a good job. The video makes it look easy enough for a non-mechanical type like me to do.–Corrie

How To Lubricate Your Brake and Shift Cables

For steel lined cable housings and wet weather riders.

Most brake and shift cables these days have a plastic lining built into the housing, therefore eliminating the need for lubrication. However, if you ride a lot in wet weather, or have an older bike without the plastic lining, you’ll want to lubricate the cables to prevent rust. I personally believe that well-lubricated cables also improve braking and shifting.

See the video

Bike Bells always make me think of Cliff–Corrie

Bike Bells: Cute But not Always Effective

February 11th, 2008 by Matt · 2 Comments

Hey, thanks for stopping by! If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to the RSS feed. You can also subscribe to BikeHacks by email. Thanks for visiting!

If you ride around a lot of pedestrians sometimes getting their attention is of the utmost importance. Everyone should ride with a bell, but a cute little “ping, ping” is sometimes not enough. Groups of pedestrians can be particularly dangerous when the “lemming effect” takes hold on a city street. If one person starts walking and the rest do not bother looking and follow along, it can be trouble.

Read the rest of the Hack

Steve will have the paniers. I’m pulling a trailer. I’ll also have a handlbebar bag and I’ll be riding my heaviest bike, the 29er.

Thanks, Doug. This is why I’ve always avoided touring.–Corrie

“An AP wire photo with the caption: “Bangladeshi potter takes his wares to a local market for sale on a cold and foggy morning in Rohonpur, 230 kilometers (145 miles), north of Dhaka, Bangladesh.”

From AP Photo by Pavel Rahman and submitted by Jerome, BikeWintering west of Chicago, who spotted the photo using FlickrFan.” bikehugger.com/2008/01/bike_potter.htm

North American Handmade Bicycle Show By Dan Barham
Once a year, every year, dozens of niche bike builders emerge from their smoking tool sheds, eyes watering from the bright sunlight and lungs shocked by the non-toxic air, to show off their wares to the assembled masses. This year the show travelled to Portland, Oregon on the West coast of the United States: home to great beer, a healthy music scene and one of the more accepted cycling populations in the world. I popped down for a couple of days to check it out, here’s what I found happening in the world of mountain bikes, based on the absolute shortest of acquaintances - with so much at the show I had little choice but to corner a rep, get a few choice words out of them and snap a picture or two, before moving on to the next one. Black Sheep Bikes are cool shop based in Ft. Collins, Colorado, and brought along a whole range of new bikes to the show.

Lots of pictures 

I had some excitement of my own yesterday. I spent the morning packing up thatBurley Nomad trailer for our trip to Death Valley. I didn’t have everything but all the clothes and sleeping bag . I went swimming, to lunch and to Walmart to get my watchband replaced. I didn’t want to do a ride since my legs were tired but the sun was out when I left the pool enticing me. When I left Walmart, however, it had begun to rain lightly.

Still I wanted to try that trailer. Okay, I’ll hitch it up and do a couple of miles–maybe Peasly to test its weight on a hill, I thought. I hitched it to the bike but it was at a sharp angle to the bike and I physically moved it more behind the bike accidentally tipping the bike onto its left side. When I stood the bike up, the tow bar hung loosely in its safety strap.

The hitch had broken in two.

I hadn’t liked the look and feel of that metal when I installed it but there are lots of these hitches out there right? I called Burley thinking I might have to threaten ‘em with pics of a broken hitch sent to every bike blog and site I could fine. But someone named Val apologized and is sending me not one but two styles of hitch.

I like the idea of having a second hitch ’cause that accident could happen again. But perhaps she was right that this wasn’t a design flaw but a flawed hitch. Burley certainly is being solicitous about the problem.

Makes you think about being in the middle of Death Valley, hitchless.

–Corrie

Been too cold to spend much time in the garage, but spring’s coming and you want to be ready. My first incliniation is to take it to the shop but some of you like to tinker. TotalBike.com provides this page of links to help you out.–Corrie

Bicycle Repair Guide and Service Instruction Directory

Doug sends this video from YouTube–Looks like just the thing for the seal-coat we get on our roads.–Corrie

You’ll have to click on this link to see the video.

No, I can spell. And it’s pronounced Trike.

John Vanderschalie, yeah, I know he’s a runner, just showed up at the Seaport Strider’s Saturday run with one of these. I’ve seen trikes before but not like this.

Once you stop laughing, this looks like it might be fun. Video on the Trikke site and shots of this rig on snowy slopes.

Could John be thinking about 30 years of pounding on his knees? –Corrie

Glow in the dark bicycle

By Fritz

Doug spotted this over at Bicycling’s website.

VIDEO: Shimano’s New E Dura Ace Watch this exclusive video review of the all-new Shimano E Dura Ace we spotted on the bike of Fabian Wegmann at the Tour Of California

By Mike Cushionbury

 

Read about the electronic shifting over at Bicycling and watch the video.