Use Your Bike Every Day

Serfas Dual Density Gel Saddle, Mens, DDM-200

Steve — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:33:55 +0000

Serfas Dual Density Gel Saddle, Mens

I just put this saddle on Mountie, my commuting bike, and I’ll report back on it in a couple of weeks. I had been using an old Trek sprung saddle because I wanted the comfort and shock absorption for the roads I take, since I don’t have a suspension post. I bought this one at REI after reading the specs and the reviews. The Trek worked well, but I found that the short nose and its width caused chafing on longer rides. I’m hoping this one’s construction and shape make for more enjoyable riding at all distances.

Bell Night Shield Seat Post Light Battery Replacement

Steve — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 21:33:45 +0000

Bell Night Shield

I’ve been using this seat post light for a couple of years now and it works day after day. I usually save all my manuals but for some reason misplaced this one and I had to spend a little time figuring out how to change the dying batteries. It just required a penny that fits into a slot at the base, a twist, fresh AAA batteries and then replacement of the cover. The light has a yellow gasket that runs around the perimeter of the light; make sure you don’t lose it when you take the cover off and make sure it’s in place when putting the cover back on. After I completed the change I found this post on eHow.

Bike Commuting in Winter and Snow

Steve — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 14:14:25 +0000

I cam across this post from Good this morning on winter commuting and found two links of interest. These videos are awesome and making me feel like I should be out commuting, despite our 3 feet of snow.

How to Winterize Yourself for a Bike Commute

Bike Commuting in Snowy Streets in Finland

Trikes

Steve — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:22:44 +0000

Desoto Trike

When my mother, 83, told me she was in the market for a trike, I was happy. While she walks unassisted, her hip hurts, but she wants to get in a little more daily exercise. She heard that a basic trike was available from mass merchandisers like Walmart, but I felt that there must be a better selection available. After some research I found Industrial Bicycles which carries a variety of industrial trikes for use in warehouses and specialized applications, tandem trikes, trikes for carrying kids, recumbents, and a special line for seniors. We haven’t finalized the decision yet, but I hope to within the next couple of weeks. I was really struck by their affordability – a few hundred dollars, and they encourage customers to call so that they can assess their needs and recommend the right model. Trikes are delivered fully assembled, taking out the need for a handyman or bike shop to be involved. They come with baskets, which makes them convenient for light shopping and running errands, a variety of seats, and wheel sizes. Definitely worth checking out, if only for curiousity.

Norwalk bikeway and pedestrian plan underway

Steve — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 15:36:39 +0000

Exciting development – Norwalk kicked off planning for making the city more bike and walker friendly. Initial meetings have been held – here’s a copy of the presentation. At the top is a link to a survey you can take. At the end is a request for email so you can stay up to date. The key thing is for the planning process to have as much community involvement as possible, the more voices and perspectives taken into account, the better it will reflect all of Norwalk’s interests.

Cateye Strada wired with cadence

Steve — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 02:46:50 +0000

Cateye Strada wired with cadence

For whatever reason, the Sigma Sport 2606L wireless computer with cadence just wouldn’t work properly on my road bike Trekkie. I like Sigma products generally and their warranty and customer support are exceptional. They worked with me to resolve, swapping parts and such, but no luck, so I looked elsewhere. I’ve had great experience with Cateye – one of their cadence units installed on an older road bike works perfectly after 18 years. I would have moved it, but the display doesn’t show speed and cadence simultaneously, whereas the Strada does.

I went for the wired version. They have a well-regarded wireless unit, but at this point I wanted dependability and simplicity. One of Cateye’s calling cards is that speed is taken off the rear wheel and cadence from the left crank, putting the sensors in one line and avoiding having to wire both wheels, which gives a clean appearance. Installing is straightforward. The manual specifies 3mm (about 1/10 of an inch) distances between the magnets and sensors, but there was no way I could make the gaps that small. The nearest I could get was about 10mm. I routed the wire anyway, configured the head (off the bike) and then mounted it on the handlebar. A few turns of the crank confirmed that the sensors picked up the magnets just fine. For my road riding, I care more about cadence than speed, so I’m happy. Some people have written that the cadence display is small, but I haven’t found that to be an issue. The unit does what it’s supposed to do; it’s one-touch control is a nice feature.

Timbuk2 Bullitt Pannier Messenger Bag

Steve — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 00:18:40 +0000

Timbuk2 Bullitt Pannier Messenger Bag

With hot humid weather hitting, I looked to swap out my backpack for a convertible pannier that would fit on the rack and serve as a messenger bag off the bike. Hunting around online wasn’t that helpful to me. The selection was large but without seeing any bag up close, I didn’t have the confidence ot decide. I also wanted to avoid return shipping, returns or exchanges. Poking around bike shops and luggage stores, I saw some but wasn’t thrilled until I came across the Timbuk2 Bullitt Pannier Messenger Bag at a sport shop near my work in NYC. If fit the bill perfectly – an easy on/off system, stylish for the office, large enough capacity, waterproof and well made. It connects to the rack with two deep hooks, no additional restraints are provided or needed. The key is that the hooks have a reverse bend at their ends allowing one of them to grab one of the struts on the rack. I was nervous at first and did some test rides, empty, over smooth and pocked terrain. I figured that without any weight at all in the pannier it would have the greatest chance to unhook. It didn’t. I’ve ridden with it about two weeks now, and it performs perfectly. No worries anymore.

Some reviews I came across mentioned that the pannier would be improved with pockets on the outside. I feel Timbuk2 made a good choice by not doing that because it gives the bag a more professional appearance and also because a cleverly placed pocket is accessible through a zipper that is under the covering flap. All in all, I’m very pleased with this bag’s intelligence, and grateful that I no longer have to suffer from backpack sweat.

Norwalk Green to Calf Pasture Beach route

Steve — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 02:15:03 +0000

Calf Pasture Beach, Norwalk CT

One of Norwalk’s gems, Calf Pasture Beach is a breeze to get to by car. But by bike the car route is unsafe. I looked for a way that would avoid crossing over 95 and the roundabouts by the cemetary and park just past Nik’s. You can find it here: Norwalk Green to Calf Pasture.

Click on Print Cue Sheet to print the cue sheet

A really nice feature of this and the other maps is the ability to print the cue sheet. You can see the location of the link to click from the image on the left. The cue sheet gives you directions that include Cumulative Distance, Distance for each segment, Directions, Notes, Direction and Elevation. A snippet of this ride’s cue sheet follows:

Cue sheet for the ride, gives a lot of valuable info

Commuting speed

Steve — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 22:58:34 +0000

15 minutes for a 2.5 mile commute

Thanks to an unused Sigma BC 800 cycle computer my son gave me, I’ve been able to track my commute distance, speed and time. Taking it easy over my 2.5 mile route, I’ve averaged a tad over 10 miles per hour, which takes just under 15 minutes, just five minutes more than driving. Incidentally, that’s about the speed Google’s bicycle routes use for their time estimates over the routes I take, so they’re reasonable for commuting purposes. When you factor in the exercise, ride enjoyment and lack of driving stress, those five minutes add to life’s quality in so many ways.

Norwalk bike map, a beginning

Steve — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 00:15:00 +0000

Norbiker David Marcus started mapping major roads in Norwalk. CLICK TO VIEW MAP. What’s really good about it is that he color codes the routes with detail, like “has shoulder,” “path,” “caution,” “dangerous,” and “recommended.” It’s an early and good start to developing a comprehensive cycling map. David grew up cycling in King County, Washington, a very cycling-friendly area, and knows how to rate roads. Some posts ago I mentioned the Madison, WI map. Here’s a link David provided to the King County map. . It’s another great one.