In his Salon.com piece titled My family car is an SUB and I love it, columnist Mark Benjamin describes how he “kicks carbon’s @ss” with his new FreeRadicaled RockHopper.

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The Great Adventurer in Front of the Local Library

I have a good friend who loves to live large. He’s always planning another grand adventure, from hiking the PCT from Mexico to Canada, to soloing the Northern Tier, to motorcycling from Alaska to Tierra Del Fuego. I have great respect for his fearlessness and tenacity; I secretly wish I was a little more like that.

In reality though, I’m pretty boring. I’m pretty much a homebody and a creature of habit. I’m perfectly happy exploring the back roads and shortcuts around my neighborhood. I love to ride across town for coffee then take an unexpected detour to see a friend or pick up a book at the library. And when you throw weather, late trains, changing schedules, and crazy drivers into the mix, my daily multi-modal commute is plenty of adventure for me.

These little adventures of living car-lite keep my wanderlust well-satisfied. I’ve always fancied the idea of taking some grand adventure-of-a-lifetime when I retire, and maybe someday I’ll do that. But in the meantime I’m living the life I have (and love) and making the best of it by looking for a little adventure wherever I can find it.

Recumbent bikes have seats. Upright bikes have saddles. They’re not the same thing. Seats support the rider’s entire body weight, saddles support only a portion of the rider’s weight, with the rest supported by the pedals and the handlebars.

It’s difficult to deny the fact that seats are more comfortable than saddles. By their nature, seats distribute the rider’s weight over a larger area than any saddle possibly can, reducing pressure points and encouraging greater blood flow. Unfortunately, seats are only practical on recumbents because their width would interfere with pedaling on an upright bike. The most we can hope for on an upright is to choose a saddle that somewhat mimics the comfort of a recumbent seat while still allowing unfettered pedaling and mobility on the bike.

Seats
Recumbent seats come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Nearly every manufacturer has their own proprietary design, and even within individual manufacturers’ product lines it’s not uncommon to see 2-3 seat designs. Designs include (but are not limited to): hard-shell “Euro” seats (usually made from carbon fiber or fiberglass) seen mostly on reclined racing bikes; “Euromesh” type seats that mimic hard-shell seats but provide more adjustability and better ventilation at the expense of more weight; full mesh seats as seen on the Lightning P-38 and Rotator; and combo foam base/mesh back seats such as those from RANS and Easy Racers.

Euro-type seats are narrow with a short seat pan to reduce weight and optimize aerodynamics; they make up for their diminutive size by distributing the rider’s weight evenly up-and-down the spine.

Full mesh seats provide the best ventilation and are usually used on bikes that require a moderate amount of recline.

Combo foam base/mesh back seats are usually used on bikes that require a more upright position. Their foam base acts somewhat like a saddle, though they’re much softer and wider than any saddle. Even still, some people complain about derriere pain (sometimes called “recumbent butt”) with these “lounge chair” seats.

Unlike saddles on upright bikes, recumbent seats are integrated parts of the bikes they’re mounted on and when a person buys a recumbent they’re most likely going to use the seat that came on the bike. Fortunately, most recumbent seats are very comfortable and what works for one person will probably work nearly as well for the next.

Saddles
Saddles look very similar to one another, but their similarities belie the fact that they’re all subtly different in design, material, shape, and size. This is a natural consequence of the fact that saddle fit is hyper-critical to rider comfort on upright bikes. Since such a large portion of the rider’s weight is supported by such a small area, it’s extremely important that the interface between the rider and saddle is perfect. This is why saddle manufacturers offer a such wide variety of models; they’re attempting to provide a good fit for a wide range of different physiques.

A person’s anatomy, combined with bike fit and riding style, all play a role in determining saddle choice. Racers are typically willing to sacrifice comfort for less weight, and they usually prefer narrow saddles for unfettered movement on the bike. Tourists and commuters, on the other hand, usually insist upon comfort at the expense of extra weight, and they generally prefer wider saddles that provide greater support for riding in a more upright posture.

Relatively wide saddles that fully support the sit-bones are best for commuters, tourists, and casual riders. Combined with handlebars that are at a minimum the same height as the saddle, a sufficiently wide saddle places the pressure points on the rider’s sit bones and takes all of the pressure off of the soft tissues of the perineum (the area that most often causes saddle-related problems). A bike set-up this way can be ridden in street clothes without the use of padded shorts, and if the width of the saddle’s support area precisely matches the distance between the rider’s sit-bones, the comfort can approach that of a recumbent with an upright seat.

The Brooks B-67 is the best fit I’ve found for my particular physique. It’s a relatively wide saddle that works well with high handlebars. The width of its main support area perfectly matches my pelvic width. I rode the narrower (and more popular) B-17 for many years and it was a decent fit with drop handlebars. But with a more upright posture, the B-67 fits me even better than the B-17. Of course, my recommendation is meaningless unless the B-67 also happens to fit you. It’s much more important to find the saddle that best interfaces with your body.

I can’t overemphasize the importance of saddle fit. Many people have either resolved themselves to riding in pain, quit riding altogether, or switched to recumbents, simply because they didn’t make the effort to find the saddle that fits their physique. Unfortunately it’s not always possible to try a saddle in a bike shop, so you may have to purchase a number of expensive saddles before you find a good fit; if you’re riding an upright everyday it’ll be money well-spent.

Photo © Forbes Magazine

A recent article in the Forbes Traveler online magazine rates “America’s Most Bike-Friendly Cities”. Some of the winners were obvious choices, though others make me question the criteria they used to come up with their list. In any case, it’s good to see cycling once again getting some national press (seems to be a trend).

The highlight of the article was this quote from Stephan Shier, owner of Seattle’s Dutch Bike Company:

Way to go Stephan!

Read the article →

If your bike doesn’t have a kickstand, the best way to keep it from falling over when it’s leaning against something is to lock the front wheel. A simple and effective parking brake is an elastic hair band - get a pack of 20 for $1 at Target. Store it in front of the grip when not in use.

Trek’s Go By Bike Challenge is now underway. Participating is simple:

1. Go to the Trek 1 World 2 Wheels Website.
2. Calculate your weekly mileage.
3. Pledge your miles.
4. Register to win a Trek 7.2 FX.

Trek is giving away one 7.2 FX bike per day through August 31st. All you have to do is pledge and enter to win.

Click here to enter (or follow the above link).

Wow, it was gorgeous yesterday. We had blue skies, puffy clouds and a cool breeze blowing in all the way from the coast (it made me anxious for Fall). It was a dramatic contrast to the smoke-filled 100+ days we had a few weeks ago. It was one of those days where you ride slow and take the long way home just because it’s such a pleasure to be outside on a bike and you don’t want it to end.

Here’s a good report on bike commuting from MSNBC.

The 3rd Annual Brompton World Championship (BWC) will be held on Sunday, September 28th at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, as part of the Bike Blenheim Palace event. The BWC is a tongue-in-cheek event open to all Brompton owners. The competition can be fierce, but just as important is dressing in the proper attire:

Something about ladies and gents in tweed suits racing a criterium on their folding bikes just makes me smile. It looks like a fun event.

Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman’s research into the emotional quality of people’s everyday experiences found that commuting by car ranks dead last. My own experience bears this out; I would hate to go back to commuting by car. Bike commuting has made me a calmer, happier, more relaxed person. How has bike commuting affected you?

A Panda Portrait

I get a kick out of looking through Flickr group pools. For the uninitiated, Flickr is a free photo-sharing site owned by Yahoo! A Flickr group pool is a collection of photos on a particular subject (or in a particular photographic style) submitted by members of the group. A few of my current favorites include the Panda Portraits group pool, the I Carried This On My Bicycle group pool, the Dutch Bikes group pool, the Bicycle Commuter group pool, and the Ladies & Gents Roadsters group pool. If you hadn’t noticed, down toward the bottom of my blogroll in the right-hand column there’s a “Photostreams” section with links to a number of bike-related group pools. Check it out!

If Marshall Flinkman, Q, and MacGyver got together to design a pannier, it would probably resemble the Arkel Bug - this thing has more bells-and-whistles than any other pannier on the market. Its many features include an integrated helmet holder, integrated U-Lock holder, rain cover pocket, quick access top pocket, “air-dry” mesh pockets front and rear, “stealth” pocket for stashing valuables, “mushroom” opening for easy access to the main compartment, multiple hi-vis reflective strips, and an internal slip pocket for carrying papers. If that wasn’t enough, it quickly converts into a backpack for carrying off the bike and, of course, it uses the excellent Arkel “Cam-Lock” hook system for attaching to a rack.

I recently picked up a Bug to use in conjunction with a Metro Basket grocery pannier (see my Metro Basket review here). I’ll use the Bug for carrying all of my work related stuff: change of clothes, lunch, transit pass, papers, glasses, keys, wallet, meds, DVDs, memory sticks, etc. Because it will function as a briefcase/daypack and house my valuables, the Bug will stay with me at all times when I’m off the bike. The Metro Basket, on the other hand, will stay on the bike as a catch-all for picking up mail, groceries, etc., on the way to-and-from work. Between these two very different bags, I should have all the bases covered for my weekday commutes and errand runs.

The Bug’s large number of pockets are probably overkill for touring, where it’s often better to organize items into smaller waterproof bags to be stored inside large pannier pockets. But the Bug is not designed for touring. Instead, it’s intended to serve as an all-purpose bag for the multi-modal commuter or student who rides to a destination, then carries the bag with them. The Bug’s large number of pockets make it easy to organize everything that’s needed for a day at the office, effectively replacing a briefcase, courier bag, or daypack.

It’s the Bug’s quick-change backpack functionality that really makes it unique. By simply pulling open a pair of panels that are held in place by Velcro strips, the backpack straps are exposed for use. On your back, the Bug is as comfortable as any high-quality daypack and functions in much the same manner. And when you arrive back at your bike it takes just a few seconds to stow the straps and turn the Bug back into a pannier. Pretty cool.

Arkel’s “Cam-Lock” attachment system is clever and easy to use (and arguably the best on the market). The spring loaded attachment hooks are on cams (hence the name); pulling up on the carrying handle opens the hooks, releasing the handle closes the hooks. It couldn’t be simpler. Because they’re cam actuated, the hooks will fit any rack with tubing from 8mm - 15mm in diameter without adjustment.

The quality of materials and workmanship that goes into all Arkel products is superb. The Bug is no exception. Arkel uses heavy-duty Cordura nylon, alloy hardware, and heavy-duty YYK zippers throughout. You won’t find a more well-made bag. The only downside is that you pay a premium for such quality - at $165 the Bug is quite expensive (that’s for one pannier). But if you do make the investment, you can rest easy because all Arkel bags are covered under a fully transferrable lifetime warranty on materials and workmanship (including seams).

Only time will tell how well the Bug holds up under daily use, but if it’s anything at all like the other Arkel bags I’ve owned, it should perform exceptionally well. I’ll write a follow-up report later in the year once it’s seen some wear-and-tear.

Specifications
Capacity: 1500 cu. in.
Dimensions: 17″ x 12.5″ x 7.5″
Weight: 2.6 lbs.
Price: $165 (USD)

• Arkel Website

Russ Roca is a professional photographer living and working car-free in the Los Angeles area.

Visit his website →

From the Oregonian:

Read the complete story at OregonLive.com.

Today marks one year since Paris’ Vélib bike-sharing system was introduced. Vélib is the largest bike-sharing system in the world with 1,451 stations, 20,600 bicycles, and over 3 million subscribers generating $10 million in revenues for the city. In its first year, Vélib users took over 25 million bike trips, with an estimated 10% replacing car trips. Improved air quality, reduced congestion, and a generally better quality of life for the city’s residents are all benefits resulting from the bike-sharing system. However you look at it, Vélib has been a stunning success.

[via Streetfilms]

Yesterday we took a ride across town to one of our favorite parks to have a picnic and relax in the cool shade of the giant old trees. Watching the young parents with their little ones playing at the park brought back a flood of memories. Our kids are teenagers now, but it seems like just a couple of years ago they were climbing on the same play structures and begging for another push on the swing. Boy, how time flies.

After enjoying our shared sandwich and lounging in the shade for a while, we finally mustered the energy to get rolling again. We decided to take the long way home, which just happened to take us by one of our favorite coffee houses. It was getting pretty hot by the time we arrived, so went inside to cool off and have an iced coffee while we did a little more people watching. The coffee shop is located in a brand new, upscale shopping center. The clientele was quite a contrast from the young couples we encountered at the park just an hour before. I couldn’t help but wonder where we fit into that grand scheme.

By the time we made it home it was mid-afternoon and we were roasting. It was quite a relief to come inside to an air-conditioned house and a refrigerator stocked full with iced tea, cold water, and fresh fruit.

The day reminded me how fortunate we are, and how far we’ve come from the days of little kids, swamp coolers, empty refrigerators, and two cars in the driveway.

Bike commuters have more choices than ever when it comes to bike lighting. The possibilities include: headlights with multiple low-output LEDs that are powered by standard AAA or AA batteries (such as the Cateye EL-220); headlights with a single high-output LED that are either powered by rechargeable internal NiMH batteries or a separate NiMH or Li-Ion battery pack (such as the L&M Vega); headlights with multiple high output LEDs that are almost always powered by a high capacity Li-Ion battery pack (such as the NiteRider TriNewt); integrated generator systems; and high output LED flashlights and headlamps repurposed as bike lights. There are still a few halogen and HID headlights on the market, but with LEDs becoming more efficient and cheaper all the time, lights other than LEDs are on the way out.

I’ve recommended generator systems in the past and I still feel that a high-quality hub generator system is the ultimate for commuters that ride in the dark on a daily basis. You can’t beat a SON hub combined with a high-quality LED headlight such as the B&M IQ Fly or the Schmidt Edelux. The downside to such systems is that they are quite expensive (they can run upwards of $700) and for the most part they need to be dedicated to one bike because a wheel has to be hand-built around the generator hub. For some, the convenience is worth the expense, though others may balk at a $500-$700 lighting system, particularly if it’s to be used on an inexpensive commuter bike.

Battery-powered systems with multiple high-output LEDs are the brightest, but they’re arguably overkill for commuting. Most were designed specifically for endurance racing and, like generator systems, they can be quite expensive ($350-$1000). Again, many people will balk at a headlight that costs more than their bike, particularly because a compact LED system can so easily be stolen.

I’m guessing most people would agree that lights in the $25-$200 price range are more realistic for commuting. There are many lights on the market in this price range (far too many to cover here), and generally, the more you pay, the more you get in performance. Surprisingly, some of the best values are found in high-performance LED flashlights, not bike-specific headlights.

Fenix L2D
The Fenix L2D LED flashlight is commonly recommended for use as a bike light. I first heard about it over at the CandlePower Forums. (For the uninitiated, the CandlePower Forums are the equivalent of our BikeForums, but for flashlight fanatics.) After hearing so many people at the forum recommend the L2D as a bike light, I decided to pick one up for myself to see what all the fuss is about.

The L2D is available in a few different configurations; I ordered what is called the “L2D CE Premium Q5″ with a smooth reflector. The specifications are as follows:

• Price: $59.50
• Emitter: Lifetime Cree 7090 XR-E LED
• Max Output: 180 lumens @ 2.4 hours
• Batteries: 2/1.5V AA (alkaline, NiMH, or lithium)
• Body: Hard-anodized aluminum
• Waterproofing: IPX-8 standard
• Lens: Optical glass

The L2D has 6 output levels: 4 in standard mode (3 levels and 1 strobe) and 2 in turbo mode (1 steady and 1 strobe). Twisting the light head changes the light from standard to turbo mode. Within each mode, the different output levels are accessed by a button on the back of the light. The same button also serves as the on/off switch. I suspect most people will use the brighter turbo mode for commuting. The flashlight instructions warn against running in turbo mode for over 10 minutes at a time for fear of overheating, but from all reports this is not an issue, particularly on a bicycle where the airflow will keep the light sufficiently cool.

On the highest setting, the L2D’s output is 180 lumens with a runtime of 2.4 hours (over twice the output of the popular L&M Vega). On the next highest setting, the output is 107 lumens with a runtime of 4 hours. The fact that this little flashlight puts out 180 lumens for over two hours on only 2 AA batteries is nothing short of amazing.

B&M Ixon, L&M Vega, Fenix L2D

The L2D’s beam pattern is circular with a marked bright spot in the center that fades out quickly toward the edges. This is typical of most LED flashlights and bike lights manufactured for the U.S. market. I prefer a more controlled Euro-style beam (see above left), but there’s currently nothing coming out of Europe that comes close to the L2D at this price.

The light body is nicely machined and is plenty waterproof for cycling. Officially it’s consider “water-resistant” or “dunkable” which is more than enough for bike commuting in the rain.

Mounting the L2D requires an accessory mount of some sort. The Twofish Lockblock is a simple, effective, and inexpensive mount that can be clamped onto a handlebar or any other tube that would normally be used for mounting a headlight. For a mounting position other than the handlebar, a Lockblock used in conjunction with a Terracycle Accessory Mount should make it possible to mount an L2D almost anywhere on a bike.

Since most people will want to run the L2D in turbo mode, I highly recommend rechargeable NiMH batteries over disposable alkalines. I have a couple dozen rechargeable NiMH batteries that I use for my LED headlights and tail lights, cameras, wireless keyboards, wireless mice, and whatever else requires a AA battery in the household, and I was able to drop the L2D into the charging rotation without purchasing more batteries.

Conclusion
The Fenix L2D is widely regarded as the best high-performance LED flashlight in its price range. It uses a high-end Cree emitter that produces an output of 180 lumens for 2.4 hours on 2 AA batteries, all housed in a lightweight, but tough, water-resistant body. At under $60 it is probably the best value on the market in a bike light. The fact that it’s marketed as a “flashlight” should not discourage anyone from considering it for use as a serious headlight for bike commuting.

Aw, what the heck; here’s one more Guv’nor photo for you, this one from Loring Kohrt, the distributor for Pashley Cycles in the U.S. The bike belongs to Adrian Williams, the Director of Pashley Cycles. He rides it from Bath to Stratford-on-Avon everyday. He is at least 6′ 6″ tall.

My initial impressions:

OK my new Pashley Guv’nor may belong to the shop, but it’s MINE, MINE, MINE!…  Someone I believe it was Alan Barnard told me I shouldn’t weigh it. Well I did and to my surprise it only weighs 30.5 lbs and this is a 22.5″ frame size. I have just enough crotch clearance so a 24.5″ frame would be out of the question. My actual inseam is 35.5″. The effective top tube length is about 58cm which is just about right for my reach. The 125mm Cinelli stem is just a bit too long. I have a long quill 110 Nitto replacement on the way which will also let me raise the bar where I want it.

Just a little riding around near the bike shop on the milder hills convinced me that I may just leave the gearing alone, or maybe go to a slightly smaller chain ring. The ride is so sweet. Lastly this ain’t no beach cruiser as it can get up and go!

Regards
Rick
Gold Country Cyclery