Blog

Quick Tip: Hang Your U-Lock Key-Side Down

If you are anticipating rain while your bike is locked up, try to orient your lock in such way that water will run out of the lock cylinder.   This may make it harder to access the keyhole, but it will help prevent corrosion. The problem is worse in the winter, when my lock picks up…

Bike Commuting Australians Save Millions in Health Care

Carectomy.com: A recent report entitled Cycling: Getting Australia Moving indicates that by improving their health, cyclists saved about $227.2 million Australian per year. Dr Rob Moodie, Professor of Global Health at the University of Melbourne’s Nossal Institute and author of the report, said “this report demonstrates the considerable benefit offered to individuals and governments by…

One Wheel or Two?

Bicycle trailers are fast becoming a viable transportation option in the face of the changing energy scheme. With that, many calls are received at the Bike Trailer Shop headquarters about the basics of trailer design. One of the more frequent considerations when selecting a trailer is the wheel count. Are you better off with a…

Le Tour! The Tour de France

Have you noticed anymore road bikes on your commute.   This morning, I added two “roadies” to my mental catalogue of fellow commuters.   Could it be because of the Tour de France.   Quite possibly, according to the owner of my local bike shop.   He says road bike sales generally go up during the last two weeks…

650 foot commute — by car

Lasse Jonsson Malmoe, Sweden won a “most ridiculous commute” contest. He drives his car less than 650 feet from home to work every day, and drives another several feet for lunch. His prize for winning the contest: a bicycle. Read more.

Burley Encore Trailer Review

We’d like to introduce our newest blog author and Bike Trailer Shop Sales Manager, Dave Herbold aka Gnome of OneSpeeder.com fame. Dave’s first post is kicking off our 4th of July Burley Child Trailer Sale with a review of the Burley Encore that he’s been testing out with his son. So here’s Dave:I’m both the…

Product Recall: SunRingl Hollow Quick-Release

Hayes Bicycle Group has received four reports of the SunRingl Hollow Quick Release Device breaking. No injuries have been reported. According to the press release: “The quick release devices can unexpectedly fail or break when locked in position on the bicycle, causing the rider to lose control, which poses a serious fall hazard. This recall…

Italian bike lock

Italian bike lock Originally uploaded by turbofan. Photo by Ryan Richardson who saw this while visiting Venice. Via SFist in a rant about the new bike rack at Trader Joe’s.

Happy Canada Day!

It is July 1st, which means it is Canada Day! Since my company decided to switch our day off to Monday, so we get a 3 day weekend, I have to work on the birthday of my nation.   So, I decided to share my commute with you. A. My ride and her parking spot. Affectionately…

Q&A: Can you really ride faster than you drive?

Rob asks: I’ve read different places that people can actually get to work quicker riding their bike than driving their car.   This doesn’t seem feasible to me, especially since my commute is twice as long when I ride. So is it true that there are bike commuters out there that actually save time by riding…

Commuting 101: Weekend Check-up

If you don’t cover a lot of miles on your bike, I’d recommend at least doing the “thumb press” test on your tires each weekend, and squeezing both brakes to make sure they are adequately tight.   I’m not usually a slacker, though.   With nice weather, I ditch the bus and go to bike-only commuting mode…

On-air discussion about commuting by bike

I was invited to sit down as a participant on a panel of bicycle commuting “experts” in Kansas City today. I was joined by KCMO’s Bicycle/Pedestrian Coordinator, a Bike Patrol police officer for one of the local suburbs and another man who’s been commuting by bike for over a decade.   Between comments on the radio…

A Bike Trailer on a Scooter?

We get a lot of questions about bike trailers at the shop. “Can I carry an accordion in a dog trailer?”, for instance. Or, “Do you have a trailer I can pull behind my car, to carry an upright bass, so my bike can ride inside?” One we frequently get asked and that we would…

SealLine Urban Backpack : Long Term Review

For the past couple months the SealLine Urban Backpack has been my go-to bag for commuting and trekking in general. The bag has gone through rain, pouring rain, very hot 100 degree days and a couple off road crashes. Still, it looks close to new, no damages to the water protect material and I think…

Whack a pump

Thursday, June 19 (aka Juneteenth) is national Dump the Pump Day in the United States. The American National Public Transportation Association created this goofy “Whack a Pump” game. Enjoy! Click here for more on Dump the Pump Day.

Old bike stuff selling like hotcakes

First this: Obama meets with Bikes Belong board of directors and pledges funding for cycling Then this: 27″ tire sales up — those are the kinds of tires that go on old 10 speeds from the 70s. And this: are bike shops selling the bikes that new bikers want? And finally an anecdote: One of…

Cycling and wrist discomfort

Matthew mentioned in a comment that his fingers go numb while cycling. There are a couple of things that can cause wrist, hand and finger discomfort while cycling. Wrist pronation. Stand up with your arms hanging down the sides of your body. Your hands are probably more or less flat against your thighs. Now bend…