29March2008
Posted by todd under: Clothing.
Over at the Bicycle Forums, they’re going crazy for this shirt.
“Kelly” and “grass” are the names of the colors, btw — those words aren’t on the shirt.
It’s a clever design — “infinity” miles per gallon — and the price is OK at $15. And it seems to be selling pretty well, as several sizes are out.
Hey — this is a perfect shirt for all you fair-weather cycling wimps who are about to blow the dust off the wheels after a long winter of inactivity! 
An aside. One thing that gets overlooked when discussing the relative costs of cycling versus driving: it’s expensive to keep a car, but it’s not cheap to keep that human machine powered up, either.
No connection with the seller, I do not profit from this endorsement although I did approve this message, etc., etc.
BTW, got any favorite cycling T-shirts? Send me the link.
28March2008
Posted by todd under: Video.
Typically, I did not notice — my wife did, though. Hat tip to Mike and Elizabeth!
6March2008
Posted by todd under: Riding.
Every commuting cyclist gets plenty of chances to complain about drivers — the ones who don’t look, the ones who don’t see, the ones who honk, the ones who don’t give you enough room, the ones who won’t pass, etc., etc.
So here’s something a little different.
The other day, at a stoplight in the middle of rush-hour traffic, while I was on my way to the plumbing-supply store to get a new valve for my kitchen faucet, a gent in a work truck rolls down his window and says: “I like your green jacket!”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah — it is really bright — it makes you easy to see!”
“That’s good!” I said. “The chicks don’t dig it — but I would rather be unfashionable than dead!”
Then the light changed. He and I went our separate ways.
Well, not so separate. I saw him at the plumbing-supply store.
He and I talked a little more while we waited at the counter.
Him (gesturing toward the window, through which wee could see my bike): “Is that one of those … new bikes?”
Me: “It came out in … 1977, I think.”
“Oh!” he says, and smiles.
Nothing too profound here. But there’s nothing too profound about most things, transportation in particular. We are all just trying to get where we need to go, for the most part, after all.
A harsh word will be remembered long after it is spoken. But a kind word, or even a hi-how-are-ya type of word, goes a surprisingly long way.
28February2008
Posted by todd under: Commuter bikes; Words from cycling sages.
The philosopher-kings over at the I-bob list are having a fascinating conversation about the Civia, a high-end commuting bike coming out next month. The list price is reputed to be $2,000 to $3,000 for for a complete bike; the frame is pictured at right. (A second thread has started in response to a reply from the manufacturer.)
The production and marketing of this bike is sparking all kinds of questions.
Will it sell? Who will buy it?
The answers that interest me most touch on whether such a bike is really necessary, when you can spend half to 75 percent as much and get the same results.
I won’t be buying one, and wouldn’t even consider it, but different strokes for different folks, I say!
The market will decide, and that’s as it should be.
I hope they sell a ton of Civias! And I hope I find one at a yard sale in a couple of years for 50 bucks.
28February2008
Posted by todd under: Words from cycling sages.
Question: I’ve heard you don’t pedal off the saddle, that you sit down always. Is it true?
Answer: It is when I’m riding a multi-speed bike. It seems to me that standing up to pedal defeats the purpose of multi-speed gears. I don’t do it unless I run out of low gear on a climb, but this rarely happens to me. I think a lot of standing is the result of having the saddle too low, or the gear too high, or just to give the butt a break from one of those ubiquitous plastic saddles.
– Sheldon Brown, in a Rivendell Reader interview, from Rivbike.com
27February2008
Posted by todd under: Riding.
Undeniable Truth of Bicycle Commuting No. 1:
If you ride the bike that has no fenders, it will rain.
26February2008
Posted by todd under: Handlebars; Reviews.
I am loving the new look and feel that a set of Wald 8095 handlebars is giving my Raleigh Super Course. If you are having some trouble finding a comfortable setup for your commuting bike, or if you just want to try something a little different, check these out.
I saw these bars at Scheller’s Harrodsburg Road location here in Lexington, Ky. They are selling them for $15.99. (In comparison, a new set of Nitto mustache bars will set you back at least 50 bucks.)
Adding to the coolness factor, locally at least, Wald is located right here in the bluegrass state — in Maysville. Wald has been around since 1905, when two brothers found success in Wisconsin by making and selling a tire-repair tool. They moved their operation to Kentucky in 1924. Wald’s Web site has a great page describing the history; the black and white picture in this post is from that page.
Wald is perhaps best-known for its baskets, which have an excellent reputation. I have never used a basket myself, but they fit nicely with any philosophy of practical cycling. (Incidentally, here’s a guy working on bags to fit in Wald’s baskets.)
But I digress …
I have a great Raleigh Super Course (from 1976 — in emerald green! Thanks for scanning the catalog, Sheldon, RIP!) that I hadn’t been riding much. I’d had it set up with flat bars and thumbshifters.
I was thinking of converting the bike to a single-speed, but I was daunted by the price and/or logistics. After seeing the Wald bars, I decided to reconfigure the bike, and leave the gearing alone.
In a moment of trying to be cool, I installed the bars upside down. After riding the bike on several commutes I decided to leave them that way, and added some cork handlebar tape from Nashbar (this stuff is a killer deal at $5.99 per bikesworth, by the way.)
Wow, what a difference. The bars transformed the bike!
The Wald bars offer three great places to rest the hands: On the ends; on the bends; and next to the stem. I find that I get a most comfortable fit by gripping the bends.
I think the bars work so well because of this diversity of hand-placement options, and because the rise of the bars (or the drop, if you install them like I did!), combined with the spread, is just right.
But don’t just take my word for it (although you should, of course!). Jim Almgren, excellent mechanic at Scheller’s says he’s selling a good number of these bars to people who are unhappy with the way their bikes’ fit, and he’s getting great feedback.
Jim also has some of these bars on his singlespeed, and he likes the way he can get leverage while climbing by gripping the bars at the ends.
Some of you might have tried mustache bars. The Wald bars don’t extend as far forward, and they sweep back further.
I can’t vouch for them being lightweight, since I don’t know or care about that.
These are not widely available online, although I did find them here (can’t vouch for the seller), but your local bike shop can probably order them.
Very highly recommended.
22February2008
Posted by todd under: Commuter bikes.
I just added the Masi Soulville — a sexy number with a curved top tube, a leather saddle and cork grips (on a steel frame!) and the Redline R530 to the page, you will find pictures on the page.
I continue to be amazed at how the “commuter bike” segment has expanded over the last couple of years. It’s a great time to be in the market — unless you have a hard time making up your mind.
21February2008
Posted by todd under: Things people say.
The gracious and (thank the Lord) highly skilled dental assistant at the office where I got a filling today repeatedly expressed disbelief that I had ridden my bike to the appointment. (The temperature was in the mid-20s.)
She came up with an impressive array of questions and observations: Didn’t I get cold? Wasn’t it going to be difficult to leave the warmth of the office for the chilliness of the ride home?
What about the forecast — was I aware that there was a possibility of freezing rain, and what would I do if that transpired?
I told her I would evaluate the roads and make a judgment accordingly. I will ride in every weather condition except ice.
But in fact, here in Lexington, Ky., the road crews put down so much salt that you could easily preserve a side of beef by rolling it on any six square feet of pavement within the city limits. This, combined with the fact that I mostly take well-traveled roads on which friction from many cars’ tires helps melt the ice, makes it unusual that ice is ever an insurmountable obstacle. (It happens maybe twice a year.)
A friend who was in the office for a teeth-cleaning visited me while my mouth was numbing. The dental assistant told him that she couldn’t believe I had ridden my bike — I joshed that I couldn’t believe she had driven her car.
My favorite exchange came while I was suiting up for the ride home and showing her my trigger-finger mittens, balaclava and winterized Bell Metro helmet. She wondered whether I also wore long underwear. (Yes! — when it gets down into the lower teens.)
I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation and appreciated the great job she did on my teeth.
Still, the entirety of the exchange illustrates yet again the absurdity that such a practical mode of transportation should be so widely considered impractical — when the real impracticality (in this circumstance) would be a healthy American man requiring a 4,000-pound hunk of combustion-engine-driven metal to transport him less than 2 miles round-trip. Talk about crushing an ant with a sledgehammer …
20February2008
Posted by todd under: Crashes.
I started a thread about embarrassing riding accidents (based on recent experience — aack!) over on the Bike Forums list, and people are coming up with some pretty tragic-funny stuff, check it out.
Here is one of my favorites, courtesy of ollo_ollo:
One hot summer day, commuting home from work, I was riding uphill & coasting to stop at a red light. I forgot to unclip & did a slow motion fall sideways to land in the gutter at the feet of a couple homeless guys sitting on the curb with their cardboard sign. One guy says, “I hate it when that happens”. The light changed to green, so I got up & out of there as fast as I could. Don
Hey — another great argument for riding in regular shoes! And this from SDBluefish:
Riding home from the store with a bunch of groceries in a rear pannier. Got to the place where I leave the bike lane and cut over to my street. Doing my usual rolling dismount coming up to the curb, but totally forgot the very long loaf of French bread in the pannier. Leg hit the bread, and the bike and I hit the pavement. Someone driving past in a minivan pulled over, but when they saw I was getting up and cussing a blue streak they decided I was probably OK enough and drove away fast. Now if I’d had a loaf of nice, soft, American bread none of this would have happened! I blame the French.
“I blame the French,” that is classic. Thanks to all on that thread for the laughs. Many of us have been there (if you are a new rider, or just getting back to riding, beware lest YOU go there! ).
In fact, I almost ALWAYS wear one (while riding a bike anyway). (On the other hand, if YOU don't want to wear a helmet, I have no problem with it.) I don't remember what happened on this particular day. Fortunately for all of us it makes for a less-nerdly picture. My exceptionally talented professional photographer friend Charles Bertram took this photo.
I asked my 6-year-old son, Caleb, an avid bicyclist and artist, to draw a bike for me. I think he did a great job!
