Category — bike gear

Tomorrow, May 16th is National Bike-to-Work Day! Save the environment, gas and your money while getting great exercise by riding your bike to work. Check out bike to work week info from:

• Bike to Work Week 2008
• League of American Bicyclists
• California Bike Commute

Don’t forget your bicycle helmet, and bring a bike light if you will be riding after dark.

I have said before that I am not that into “girlie bikes”, but my bike is starting to get girlie in a different way. It started with the Rock Shox Judy fork and now I am getting a Terry saddle…my bike is turning into a regular sorority!

The cool thing about the Terry Butterfly Carbon women’s saddle it is lightweight and reportedly one of Terry’s most comfortable bike seats. I love the design, which is much sleeker than many of the gel saddles I’ve been looking at. I am so exited about my new seat and can’t wait to get out on the trail!

We made plans to definitely take a long bike ride this weekend, we just haven’t decided where to go. However, I have decided that I really, REALLY want to get some panniers for this and subsequent long bike trips. I found this great pannier comparison site, but unfortunately, it hasn’t been updated since 2003. The General Recommendations seem like they would still hold true for the brands, though.

My only concern is that I heard that panniers make bikes heavier and less responsive, and that trailers are a better option for long journeys. The panniers vs. trailer debate is a big one in the bike community, and I guess it ultimately comes down to personal choice. I like the look of panniers much more than trailers, so that is making a decision even tougher.

While perusing local stores and online reviews in my quest for new bike brakes and a padded bike seat, I discovered another must-have bike accessory: the Garmin Edge 705. It combines the best features of bike training computers with Garmin GPS navigation, so you can explore new terrain freely, confident you are getting the workout you want–and that you’ll find your way back home. It’s on the Men’s Health Lust List and got a write up on Engadget a couple of months ago. I have been reading a lot of positive reviews about the integrated personal training system and the wireless route sharing capabilities. I LOVE the fact that it comes with a wireless heart rate monitor; it is such a cool feature. Can’t wait to take one for a spin, but for now it will go on my wish list.

Before getting my awesome new bike this past Christmas, I debated shipping my old Trek 800 out to the West Coast and giving it a tune-up. My sister adopted it at some point, and the last time I visited her, we dug it out of the garage and gave it a once over. After much discussion, we decided it would be too much hassle to pack it up in a cardboard box for traveling, so it’s still in her garage. We did call the airline to find out if I could fly the bike with me, and apparently they allow it for a few–at that time $80. Although I didn’t fly my bike on that occasion, I anticipate flying my new bike in the near future. I am just too attached to it to settle for a rental bike as I ride around and explore new places. Luckily, the International Bicycle Fund’s website has a very comprehensive list of airline regulations for flying with bikes. Another add for my wish list: a Thule Round Trip Bike Travel Case. It is way more stylish than a cardboard box, and it looks durable enough to withstand even my clumsiness.

I noticed a small brassy widget on the floor about a week ago and I assumed it was from one of the bikes, but I showed it to PIC and he didn’t really recognize it, so I just set it with the bike repair kit and hoped we’d eventually find the source of the mystery piece. We didn’t have to wait too long, because that piece apparently came from my front brakes. Fantastic. The good news is that PIC made the discovery while he was doing some regular tune up on the bike and not because of some horrific accident. The bad news is that brake repair is definitely beyond my bike repair skill set and is testing the limits of PIC’s, so I’ll have to send it to a professional.

My next issue is deciding how much I really want to know about this process. There is a lot of information about bike brakes available, but I don’t know that I really want to devote a great deal of time reading through it. I basically want brakes that will work when they are supposed to, thereby keeping me as safe as possible. I currently have Shimano Deore XT hydrolic disc brakes, and I do like them, other than the whole falling apart thing. I am more than open to suggestions for new brakes if anyone has any.

I like not having a really “girly” bike, but I have a little issue with the seat. It’s a cool looking seat, and not horribly uncomfortable, but it also is not super cushy, and that becomes an issue on long, bumpy rides. I have been getting around the issue with a fantastic pair of padded bike shorts, but I think that the padded bike shorts combined with a really comfortable bike seat might just be the ultimate in riding luxury.

Right now I am considering the WTB Speed V Pro Gel Bike Saddle. In addition to being gel-filled, it’s ergonomically correct and has a really cool design. The seat I have now is also by WTB, and it’s really durable.

I am also thinking about picking up some padded underwear to wear instead of bike shorts, because frankly, Spandex has never been my friend. It serves it’s purpose, but I like the idea of wearing “real” clothes while I am mucking about on the trails.

Guess it’s time to start a Bike Improvement Shopping List.

I finally had the chance to take my new bike out for a good long ride on Saturday and it was SOOO much fun. I ended up crashing and/or falling several times, so I am nicely bruised up today, but it was well worth it. We took the Westridge Fire Road to the overlook, which has fantastic views of Santa Monica, downtown Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. From there, we rode down the single track into Sullivan Canyon, and that’s where the real fun started.

I have these bike shoes that clip into my pedals, which was nice on the uphill and on the long flat stretches before we dropped into the single track, but the clips became a real pain on the way down into the canyon. I was able to stay unclipped most of the time, except for when I lost momentum going through a stream and began to tip to the left. I went to set my foot on the bank beside the stream in order to regain balance; of course at that moment my shoe clipped right into the pedal and I went crashing down onto the bank knee first. Thankfully the bank was covered with many cushy plants and not thorny ones, although my legs are also pretty scratched up and I am not exactly sure when that happened. I felt like I was watching myself go through this scenario in slow motion. I ended up laughing because of how absurd it was, even as I was falling.

Once I was back on my bike, it was only a few more miles before my next “incident.” The trail is owned and maintained by the gas company, and there are a some gas company pipes sticking out of the ground at random intervals. I have walked this trail many times and knew the pipes were there, but for some reason the were freaking me out while I was on the bike. Every attempt I made to avoid the pipes was an overcompensation that sent me careening into another obstacle. At some point, I busted up my right knee and it started bleeding, but I couldn’t tell you how it happened. I was covered in so much mud that I didn’t even notice half the scratches and bruises until after I showered later that day.

In spite of all the falls, it was tremendous fun and I can’t wait to do it again!

I did find out a couple of things about Sullivan Canyon and Westridge Fire Road since my trip there on Saturday that I should mention for safety reasons:

–people have reported seeing and hearing cougars (or mountain lions) in the area!

–there have been bad (even fatal) bike accidents on the trails!

Sullivan Canyon and Westridge Canyon Back provide lots of great biking and hiking opportunities, but remember: safety first!

Check out this video from Sullivan Canyon!

Partner-in-Climb was fixing up his mountain bike last night when I realized that we now have an absurd collection of stickers accumulated from various sporting goods purchases. I mentioned it to him and he was like, “Sure, it’s a great way for free ads…who doesn’t like to put stickers on their stuff?” True enough. But the problem is that we don’t really put the stickers on our stuff, we let them gather in a box of other stuff and forget about them, then rediscover them, debate the relative merits of saving them, and the cycle continues like that. It’s sticker limbo. Although, I have to say, if the stickers were more graphically exciting, I might be more inclined to actually stick them on things and not just collect them. A few more recent additions to the sticker collection:

• Bell Helmets
• Thomson, maker of things like bike seatposts
• Ritchey, maker of the recently replaced seatpost
• New England Ropes Maxim
  

Anyway, I am thinking about doing a sticker collage or something. Maybe on our Thule luggage carrier? That might be the perfect canvas.

Our weekend plans got slightly derailed on Saturday when the landlord showed up to look at a couple of leaks, so we decided to use Saturday to do some housework, and then spend Sunday climbing, hiking or whatever.

One of our big issues with sticking to a schedule is that we pretty much can’t unless we have made plans with other friends. Left to our own devices, the day usually unfolds as such: I wake up early and get showered, tell Partner-in-Climb what time it is, he says to wake him in 15 minutes, then I get on the computer. 2 hours later, he finally gets out of bed and I am still on the computer. Then of course he wants to check email, online auctions, the news, the weather, etc. This week we were successful at actually getting everything packed and getting on the road by noon. Unfortunately, that was merely the road to the downtown Santa Monica, and not the PCH like we were supposed to be on. However, our “short” detour to Santa Monica did score us some great finds on bike gear, in addition to a new climbing rope, so I will not complain.

And we eventually did make it to Santa Barbara, but that is another story…