takin helmet wearing to a whole nuther level Originally uploaded by faster panda kill kill. If you get interviewed on CNN about finding a big snake on your bike ride, be sure your helmet isn’t on backwards for the entire nation to see. The big bulbous part goes toward the rear of the head. If…
Commute by Bike
May is U.S. National Bike Month
Hey, kids, it’s that time of year again to dust off the bike, pump up the tires, and ride that bike. 2007 is the 51st anniversary of National Bike Month. I’ve already hung posters promoting Bike To Work Day around my office building and encouraged other bike commuters to do the same. If you need…
Commuting 101: How to stop the bike
This may seem like a silly topic, but one of the skills taught in the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) is the “Quick Stop.” Most of the time, simply squeezing the brake levers (on most bikes) will slow and stop you adequately. There are times, though, when you need to stop on a dime. Knowing…
The Mendota Arrives
A week ago I hit a branch on the trail and broke a spoke in my back wheel and bent two others. I was a bit bummed because I’d planned a Saturday ride on the trail with one of my sons. I took my bike to Bike America and was very happy when they told…
Exercise Your Creative Mind
The St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation recently received a $50,000 federal grant to install between 200 and 300 more bicycle racks in St. Louis City and County in the next year. In an effort to get some cool designs, the federation has announced a bike rack design contest. Winner’s names will be placed on all…
Extrawheel is Here
This week at Wandertec, Inc.: 1.Listed the Extrawheel at the BikeTrailerShop.com (1 sold the first day). 2.Worked out a deal to bring in a large stock of BOB Trailers. 3.Ordered Carry Freedom and Croozer trailers. It was a fairly uneventful week of waiting for the weather to change back to spring. I stayed busy shipping…
Living with Xtracycle
Photo by faster panda kill kill
The Xtracycle is something that you have to spend some time with. When you first start riding around town with it on your bike, it can sometimes seem like the thing is a bit of a nuisance, that it is in the way of your fast-paced-cool-biker-life. It seems as if you are always riding around with the extra weight of the Xtracycle on your bike but you never have anything to put in it.
Poll: Where do you wash your bike?
Bike wash Originally uploaded by richardmasoner. Warren has wrapped up the parking poll, so let’s start a new one. Where do you clean your bike? I take my bike to the car wash and blast it with a pressure washer. The bike shop has a bike cleaning service I use. I wash it in my…
Parking Poll Results
The results are in for the CBB Poll: Where Do You Park. To all of you who replied, thank you. Of the 26 commuters who responded, 20 park indoors and 6 park outdoors. We split those into sub-categories as follows: Outdoor no rack – chained to whatever is available Outdoor, secured, covered Outdoor bike rack…
Ticking Over
Last week: 1:Redid the Template for my other blog BikeTrailerBlog.com. 2:Ran around like a headless chicken filling a steady stream of orders. 3:Got an account approved to start carrying Carry Freedom & Croozer trailers at the BikeTrailerShop.com. 4. Started advertising the BikeTrailerShop.com on CrazyGuyOnABike.com The orders have really started to pour in in the last…
Washington D.C. area Bike To Work Day
A quick pointer for those in the Washington, D.C. area: Washington Area Bike To Work Day will occur on Friday, May 18 in 2007. The Washington Area Bicyclist Association is sponsoring morning “pit stops,” convoys of bike commuters, and even free bike rentals for the day. Register with the WABA for prizes. Via DC Metro…
Raleigh Coasting photos
Raleigh Coasting: Chain Originally uploaded by richardmasoner. I tried out the Raleigh Coasting hybrid bike today. This bike is one of three currently available built around Shimano’s Coasting group, which features an electronic automatic shifter and coaster brakes. The Raleigh is a very pretty bike. I’ll have a more complete review soon. In the meantime,…
Bike To Work Day promotional video
From Stan Ng, producer of “Try Bicycling!”: Several Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC) members have collaborated to produce and star in a local public access TV show to promote Bike-to-Work Day. That show can be seen on local, basic cable throughout Silicon Valley starting on Tuesday, April 17 and continuing to Bike to Work Day…
Commuting 101: Don't ride in the door zone
The door zone is the space within two to three feet of cars parked parallel on the roadway. If a driver suddenly opens his door in the path of a cyclist, that cyclist has been “doored.” As this recent tragic news from Australia reminds us, getting doored can get you killed. Sometimes the trauma of…
CBB Poll: Where Do You Park?
Noah, a fellow KC Area bike commuter, is trying to get some information on where we park our bikes. I’m interested as well and couldn’t think of a better forum than this to gather some data. Here is your chance to help; I’d like to get your location, which one of the following categories matches…
Bay Area Commuters Take Note
Attention Bay Area residents; the Bay Area Bicycle Coalition and Metropolitan Transportation Commission have started accepting nominations for the region’s 2007 Bike Commuter of the Year. Submit your nomination HERE According to the Bay City News Wire: In each of the nine Bay Area counties a bike commuter of the year will be nominated. Each…
Superfluous
Finally, an answer to the question I posed on March 14th: “Why would anyone NOT want to wear (a bike helmet)?” Well, it looks like sometimes a bike helmet doesn’t make sense…
Single Wheeled Trailers: Adding to the Art
The basic BOB Yak Trailers set the stage for imitators, as discussed in the last post, as well as trailers that owe their lineage to the BOB but have gone on in new directions. These inspired cargo haulers have evolved by adding suspension, different cargo configurations, different size wheels, multi-functionality and other features.
BOB’s Ibex trailer was introduced circa 2002. It offers suspension to improve the ride off road and on.
Go-Go-Gadget Helmet!
This is the Pulse Bicycle Safety Helmet – a Dyson Student Award finalist in the Australian Design Awards. Student Designer Julie-Ann Davies of Monash University has incorporated a number of cool features in a sturdy helmet, including: Built-in lighting Reflective surface materials Internal ventilation system – and my favorite – An Ear Drop feature which…
The Socks
This Week: 1. Got in the New BikeTrailerShop.com socks. 2. Layed out a cut pattern for the developing Wandertec BOB Trailer Liner. 3. Developed a new support brace for front-corner side panel on the CELLO bike case. Our BikeTrailerShop.com socks arrived from SockGuy this week. I had my girlfriend modeling them for the listing on…
Single Wheeled Trailers: The BOB Trailer Imitators
Imitation, the Greatest Form of Flattery
The BOB Trailer has first defined and then dominated the bike cargo trailer scene since it became available in the early 90’s. As evidence of its success there has been a significant train of imitators to follow. Some of these have brought added innovations while others are simply a lower quality knock off.
Commuting 101: Sun Glare in April and September
The Missouri Bicycle Federation has a press release on their site that reminds us that: “…near the first day of spring and the first day of autumn. At those times of year, the sun rises and sets directly to the east and west. Many of our streets are aligned east/west. With the sun low in…
Another New Mapping Toy From Google
Disclaimer: Although I am employed by Google, I have nothing to do with the Google Maps team. I don’t get any benefit from mentioning them – only the rationalization that I can, perhaps, play around with the maps at work a bit. With that said, there is a cool new feature on Google Maps this…
Clearing the air on San Francisco Critical Mass
There’s a lot of misinformation going around about the “attack” of a family in a minivan during San Francisco Critical Mass last Friday night. It started when San Francisco Chronicle columnists Matier & Ross (who are anti-cycling) wrote this very skewed editorial, claiming that a mob of crazed cyclists attacked an innocent family of vacationers…