Sunday, April 29, 2007

Sheldon Brown shows how…

to fold a tire. One of those things any of us could have figured out but didn't. Now watch the master make a tire the right size for a backpack or pannier. And even though you can only catch glimpses of it, be sure to admire Brown's beard.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Cycledork says …

If you wear headphones when you cycle, you're a fuckin' moron. I've seen two riders since Sunday, including one this afternoon, with their ears covered. Numbskulls. Sensewise, hearing is a very close second to seeing when it comes to bike safety (I rank touch, smell and taste as 3, 4 and 5, respectively). I love my iPod probably even more than the next guy, but I also love knowing that a vehicle is approaching. And that the sounds from the engine, tires and exhaust tell me if it's a motorcycle or a semi. Wearing headphones is stupider than not wearing a helmet. At least if you're dumb enough not to wear a helmet, you have all of your senses working for you. Sort of, anyway. With headphones, you have chosen to ignore key sensory stimuli. For me, I would so much rather that the wages of ignorance are not death. And that can be the payoff when you can't hear the truck coming.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Dorkariffic

This probably won't be the last post with this title but it certainly deserves to be the first. I may not be posting as often as I should but I tirelessly search for worthy material. An enormous shitlode was waiting for me at rec.bicycles.tech: online power calculators! Rapturous transports!

Use the following sites in good health: Bicycle Speed and Power Calculator, QCW Velocity Predictor, Analytic Cycling, Sport and Performance and White Mountain Wheels.

Calculators like these beg to be played with. We'll be learning about these number grinders together. If any of them turn out to suck, tell me. Likewise cycledorks want to know if any of them reveal that you're the second coming of Jacques Anquetil. At least then I'll know not to make any additional friendly wagers on The Electra Challenge.

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Ride season is upon us

as if you hadn't guessed. Lots of shops and clubs have a variety of rides but here's what the fine folks at The Spin Cycle are pedalling. Group rides are a great way to learn cycling etiquette and occasionally meet people who are good companions for other rides or for hanging out with. Even if you don't get out on a group ride just get out. You'll be glad you did.

Saturday, April 7, 2007

League gets ass in gear

I never got a reply to my e-mail to the League of American Bicyclists (as memorialized here) but apparently our friends there got a clue and figured out that they had bungled form letter they had provided so cyclists and others could nag their U.S. senators and representatives to support a change in tax law that could benefit cycling commuters and our employers. The league has since corrected its letter and reposted it. If you are so motivated click here and tell our legislators you a share of what's ours. Hooray for the league — and I'm sincere in my thanks for a nifty, legislator-customizable, online form letter — but two weeks to change it to include the right bill numbers?

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

The $1,000 — or less — question

A friend of mine e-mailed me the other day, told me he expected to come into some spare cash and was considering buying, among other things, a road bike and accoutrements. Below is the gist of my response. Courtesies not included in the original but provided here were implied. Because I have too much time on my hands, I'll probably follow this with my $1,500 and $2,500 recommendations over the next several days.

Dear Esteemed Friend:

I love e-mails like this. A monkey would be really, really cool but a road bike will never throw shit at you and then laugh. If you got a hovercraft or time machine, however, there'd be no point buying a road bike. I'd take either one (time machine first, hovercraft second) instead of a kickass road bike.

Back to the assumption that a road bike is your first choice. Here are my choices, in order of manufacturer's recommended sale price: Giant OCR3 ($650), KHS Flite 300 ($689), Specialized Allez Triple ($710), Cannondale R400 Triple ($779.99) and Trek 1200 ($849.99). Any of these bikes will get you to your local landmark and back and feeling badass to boot. Common advantages are triple chainrings (the big cogs in front, and triples are a whole lot easier to to ride uphill when you're learning to ride a road bike uphill) and carbon forks (which take a lot of the sting out of riding over potholes and other irregularities). Common disadvantages are that you have to relearn how to shift (shift from bigger rings to smaller on the front as you're hitting the bottom of a hill and your chain is loose instead of waiting until the middle of the uphill when the chain is tight) and the seat (saddle) is a piece of shit not suitable to any ride more than 40 miles (this bears no relation to the sense of badassedness you should feel at the end of your ride).

I derived these recommendations from recollection bolstered by information garnered from www.roadbikereview.com. I knew which models I had in mind but the Web site gave me the specifics I wanted. My search was for road bikes costing between 0 and $1,000. More than half the bikes meeting those criteria had no price and are expensive as shit if you're serious about owning one.

Do purchase the bike at your favorite independent local bike shop (which will carry some but not all of the brands and models I've identified above). When the doing the deal see if you can get the bike shop to throw in some clipless pedals beside the crappo pair the bike comes with.

If they throw in the pedals, that means you'll need shoes. Clipless pedals are worthwhile because they allow you to go some much faster. So much more of the energy from your leg pushing down on one side and pulling up on the other goes into propelling the bike with clipless pedals than with standard flat pedals. Because your favorite independent local bike shop will gouge you on shoes and shorts, get accessories such as shoes and shorts, and maybe even pedals, at some place like Performance Bicycle. Performance is the cycling equivalent of Wal-Mart. But take in your pedals (or your bike if your pedals are attached to it) and tell them you need inexpensive shoes and cleats that are compatible with your pedals. Clipless pedals do have a learning curve. You will fall and be embarrassed more than hurt. It's OK. You'll fall at very low speeds. I've only fallen twice.

Get a pair of cycling shorts. You'll be happier and probably unchafed that you did. Yes, spandex and a crotch pad (chamois — indeed a little alpine goat-like animal used to die for the comfort of cyclists; now it's all wicking synthetics) will make you feel ridiculous. That feeling will last for six months. Then you'll be buff enough you can wear the shorts in your modeling photo shoots. . . . I hope all of this helps. Let me know if you have questions.

Yours in beer and bicycles,
Cycledork