Velorution has a post discussing when to replace the chain on your bike. It does a good job of explaining why and how chains wear, how worn drivetrain parts influence your ride, and what it’s going to cost you to repair.
If you’re having problems with your shifting or your drivetrain is skipping, head on over and check it out.
“The road trip was spectacular: there were miles and miles of single track, loads of technical terrain, some stuff that was wide open and let you go as fast as you could go, and some unbelievable ‘North Shore’-style stunts and drops. I never want to forget it.”
These are the type of things that I always want to say after a biking road trip. There are a couple of things that I do to make sure my memories stay fresh long after the trip is over and to help give me the best opportunity to look back fondly on my trips. Read the rest of this entry »
The day that you leave for your road trip is is the day when all your research and planning, and preparation start to pay off. All you need is to make one final check of your list in order to make sure everything is packed — try to touch your most needed items with your hands — before you are on your way. Read the rest of this entry »
Recently, I was comparing the geometries of two frames and, after a while, found myself in a dilemma that went something like this: Normally when comparing two frames, I focus primarily on the Effective Top Tube (ETT) measurement. My problem arose when I noticed that the two frames I was comparing each had different Seat Tube Angles (STA). Did the STA have any effect on the ETT and, in turn, affect the reach to the bars? I hope this article helps answer that question, and I hope it can be useful if you’re ever comparing different frames or trying to figure out what length stem to get for a new frame. Read the rest of this entry »
Now that you’ve decided where you are going and for how long, you can now move on to the second stage of your journey: trip preparation. Like the planning phase, it’s important to prepare for your trip properly, especially if you want to make the most of the time (and money) that you’re going to be spending while on the road. Read the rest of this entry »
In my first article on this subject I offered an introduction into the world of the weight weenie. There was a discussion of basic terminology, a few of the tools of the trade, and some online resources that you can use to get started down the never-ending path that all weight weenies follow.
In this installment, I discuss some of the specific things that you can do to drop those precious grams from your steed. I broke this article down into sections that discuss different areas of your bike so you can make little changes and see how these adjustments change the overall ride quality of your ride. Read the rest of this entry »
If you read my recent article on cutting body weight, you’ll see that I suggested that it is more cost efficient for most people to focus on trimming body fat before worrying about cutting grams from their bikes. Having said that, my next two articles throw all of that practical advice out the window in favor of a discussion that really gets weight weenies going: cutting weight from your bike.
I’ll focus mainly on weight-weenieing (WW) from the perspective of a budget-minded rider but I’ll also touch upon some higher-priced options for reducing the weight of your ride. The first part of this two-part series looks at getting you started on the path towards the Dark Side and the second part discusses more specific ways to trim weight from your ride. Read the rest of this entry »
You know how to get yourself ready to ride in the cold but what about your bike? You can be wrapped up and feel warmer than a cup of Tim Horton’s hot chocolate, but a winter mountain bike ride is only as fun as your bike allows it to be.
People winterize their cars by doing things such as putting on winter tires, going to lighter-weight oil, and changing to a washer fluid that can handle frigid temperatures. Getting a bike ready for winter is quite similar and, in order to have fun riding in snow and ice, you really need to take a few steps to ensure that you’re ready to go when it gets really cold. Here are a few tips… Read the rest of this entry »
During the couple of years that we’ve been providing guiding services for mountain bike tours and thinking more seriously about road trips, Denise and I have found that, while a lot of people like to take road trips, very few people do any research and preparation before heading out the door. And after they get where they’re headed, the unprepared rider ends up sticking to popular spots, missing out on the ‘good stuff’. When they get home, they clean up their bikes and carry on as before they left.
This article is the first of a four-part series, where I’ll be breaking down an ‘average’ road trip into different parts, and I hope that it helps everyone get on the road and on the trails you really want to see — the ones that only the locals know about. Today I’m writing about trip research and preparation, next week’s article is about packing up the essential things that every road trip needs, week three discusses the actual road trip, and week four is about saving those memories. Read the rest of this entry »
Geek Technique published an item outlining how to build a bike-powered iPod charger. Basically, it uses a modified version of the ever-popular wheel powered generator, so I wouldn’t expect to see this thing on trails on anyone’s xc or dh rigs, but it’s still a novel use of technology. But if you do go ahead and do this project on your own, don’t hesitate to send your images along and I’ll post them up here.
And for another crash-inducing iPod item to affix to your bike, you could try out the iPod bike mount. Personally, I’d prefer to keep my music player a little less, well, exposed when I’m listening to tunes while rolling down the road but, hey, maybe I’m a nut.