This one comes from About.com. I like their bicycling site because you can always count on them for a very bike post. They always have nice tips and product reviews to help you out.
The latest one is about where to lubricate your bike. This is great info especially in the winter time when salt and dirt get everywhere. At ABR just last Wednesday I was lubing up a stuck break arm so I can tell you just how important a little lube is.
Filed under Winter Cycling
This seems pretty much like another “duh” moment, but it is nice to see it in writing. From the Minneaoplis Star Tribune:
Recently crunched city data show the reported cyclist-motorist accident rate dropping as the number of bike commuters grows. For 2008, the most recent year for which complete data were available, the crash rate was one-quarter that of 10 years earlier. Moreover, a trend line shows a steady decrease in the crash rate even as the number of commuting cyclists more than doubled.
So that’s the solution. More bikers = less need for helmets? I guess you can look at it that way. At any rate it is nice to see the number of cyclists increasing anywhere. Follow the link for the full article:
As bicycle use climbs, rate of crashes with vehicles falls
Filed under Article
For anyone that has come to our public meetings you know we have been talking about cycling movies for a while preparing for bike month. The Ride is a documentary about Phil Keoghan, the host from the Amazing Race, in which he bikes from LA to NYC as something of a life goal along with raising money for people with MS. As you can see on the website it premiers in NYC on Feb 18th. Can you say road trip? Anyway here is the trailer:
One of the things I want to do in my life is take a trip on my bike somewhere. I am always looking into package tours and things of that nature and planning where I want to go.
One of the things I haven’t decided on is what to do about a bicycle. Do I pack my bike up and ship it to where it needs to go or check it on the plane, or do I rent/buy a bike at my destination and ride that around Europe or wherever I end up?
Fortunately I found a great article that if I did decide to pack my bike and go it would not be as much of a hassle and I might not have to pay someone to do it. So for all of you would-be travelers here is a helpful tip:
Here at ABC we try as best we can to be on the cutting edge of bicycles. So let’s talk about something that is relatively new to bikes, the belt drive.
If you don’t know what a belt drive think of it as a new kind of chain, but instead of links that the teeth of the gears fit in there are little groves that work almost the same.
There are certain advantages and disadvantages to chain drives so you have to decide for yourself it they are worth it.
Firstly, and probably for most people this is the biggest one, they are a lot lower maintenance. They don’t need grease and dirt, mud, and snow don’t affect them. Let me give you a few moments to absorb that. … … Alright, moving on. They are also lighter and quieter, but to me, the typical commuter, that is not something that I care too much about.
Okay so it sounds good right? So here is the downside. If you choose this wonder drive the first thing you are going to realize is that a lot of the parts are specially made so you might not be able to up-convert your old bike. Secondly as of now you are going to be limited to one “belt ring” in the front because there are no derailers for this yet. Which also means that in the back you are limited if you do not have an internal geared hub.
So there are up sides and down sides. If you want to learn more check out these websites for more info:
Filed under Article
