I’ve had way too many parts fall off of mountain bikes, motocross bikes, road bikes, and practically every other sort of bike, to ignore mystery rattles. Two of the worst incidents resulted in bodily injury. One involved a derailleur that found its way into a rear wheel on a 35 mph descent on the shoulder of a busy mountain road, and the other involved a stem that came loose and left me with a handful of handlebars that were suddenly detached from the rest of the bike on a steep singletrack descent. Neither had what I would call “positive” outcomes.

I don’t do a lot of singletracking or high speed mountain descending these days, having grown wiser and more cautious as the time it takes to recover from risky behavior seems to be getting longer and longer. But even if you’re only traveling at 12 mph, the wrong part falling off of a bike at the wrong time can still result in a swell patch of road rash, if not worse. So when I hear something rattling on my bike that I can’t identify, I can’t help but stop and figure out what it is; the memory of those old crashes triggers a reaction every time.

Just the other day, we were riding up to our favorite little Thai restaurant for lunch when I heard this strange “zing, zing, zing”, almost like the buzzing of a grinder on metal, but soft and faint. At first I thought I was hearing things, or that maybe my Brooks B67—the noisiest saddle in the universe—picked up yet another strange sound. This would be logical since I just went over the bike a couple of weeks ago to make sure nothing had rattled loose over the winter. But as I listened longer and harder it became obvious that something was going on and that this was, in fact, a new rattle. Of course, as soon as I realized this, I had to stop and figure out what it was. My wife, never having suffered the indignity of leaving large patches of skin on the road surface, couldn’t understand why I insisted on stopping when she was clearly hungry and was already thinking about veggie spring rolls. I offered a quick recap of the aforementioned stories and proceeded to go on a mechanical wild goose chase to locate the loose part.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending upon how you look at it) I had my handy-dandy Park multi-tool with me. I had a sense that the rattle was coming from the front half of the bike, so I started with the handlebars and worked my way down and back, checking levers, stem, brakes, fenders, bottle cages, seat, seat post, pedals, rack, even crank bolts. By now we were over 10 minutes into the process without finding one loose screw, yet when I tapped on the frame or handlebars, there was that faint “zing”, as difficult to pinpoint as ever.

I finally gave up for fear that my wife was going to leave me on the side of the road and go have lunch without me, when I remembered that I bent one of my bottle cages the other day to keep my stainless water bottle from rattling. Knowing with complete certainty what was going to happen, I gave the cage a little flick and… “zing”, there it was. Little did I know that bending the cage to prevent a known rattle would introduce a new rattle into the mix.

So what’s the moral of this story? You know, I’m not really sure. I think it may have something to do with letting go of old fears, or maybe a little to do with relaxing already about the bike maintenance thing, or maybe it’s just a reminder to be thankful for an understanding wife who puts up with my quirks and eccentricities, even when she’s hungry and Pad Thai is calling.

Urban Velo has a list of singlespeed commuter frames.

Urban Velo →

Weird looking train, huh?

Actually, it’s an Amtrak bus. Our local Capitol Corridor Intercity Rail Service uses these buses to extend routes where trains don’t go, and fill in service gaps during off-peak hours. Being of the “Motor Coach” variety, they’re actually pretty nice, though they’re not nearly as nice as our Amtrak trains. The one bad thing about them is that there’s no way to secure your bike in the cargo hold. The first time I stowed away my bike, I kept hearing a low “thump” each time we went around a corner. Only later did I realize the sound was my bike sliding across the steel compartment floor and slamming into the side of the bus… LOL. Fortunately, I was lucky enough to obtain a bike locker shortly thereafter and I didn’t have to subject my bike to the abuse for too long.

Just in time for spring, everywhere I look, wildflowers are blossoming.

Background

Civia focuses solely on building bicycles for transportation:

The Civia line is comprised of two models, each available in multiple component specs. The Hyland is their top-of-the-line commuting model that incorporates a number of innovations and makes few compromises for cost. The Loring is a more affordable bike that’s specifically designed for short-distance urban/suburban utility riding.

The Hyland is available in three builds: the Rohloff Build at $3,500; the Alfine Build at $2,160; and coming this spring, the SRAM i-Motion 3 Build at $1,590.

The Loring is also available in three builds: the i-Motion 9 Build at $1,730; the i-Motion 3 Build at $1,490; and the new i-Motion 3 Base Build sans fenders and racks at $1080.

In the fall of 2008, Civia, in conjunction with Gold Country Cyclery, supplied me with a 54cm Hyland Alfine Build for a long-term road test. I’ve been riding the Hyland on a regular basis since then, using it for commuting, errand runs, and photographic outings.

Construction

The first thing you’ll notice about the Hyland is its refined appearance; the bike has a cohesive look that’s not typical for a fully outfitted commuter bike. The understated, satin blue powder coat is quite attractive and is used throughout the bike to visually pull together the frame, fenders, and chainguard.

The Hyland’s aluminum frame has a number of unique features including sliding dropouts with built-in disc brake mounts, a “cable tunnel” formed into the downtube and chainstays for clean routing of control cables, and stainless steel hardware throughout.

The fork is carbon fiber, and like the frame, it’s a unique and interesting piece. It too has a “tunnel”, this one for the wire running from the generator to the headlight. It also has a disc brake mount and built-in guides for the hydraulic brake cable. As attractive as it is, some people will question the choice of a carbon fiber fork on a commuter bike. Civia assures me they’ve yet to have a failure with this fork, and that doesn’t surprise me considering how beefy it is. Even so, they offer a chromoly fork of similar design if carbon fiber makes you nervous.

Civia points out that the aluminum frame combined with the stainless hardware and carbon fork make a corrosion-resistant package, a benefit to commuters in wet climes.

Components

The Hyland Alfine Build is outfitted with the full Shimano Alfine component group. The Alfine group is targeted at the upper end of the commuter/comfort market. It includes a single crank, front and rear disc brakes with levers, front dynamo hub, and an 8-speed internal gear hub (IGH) with shifter. As can be seen in the photos, the components are anodized in an attractive high gloss black finish.

The heart of the Alfine group is the 8-speed internal gear hub and matching RapidFire shifter. I can’t say enough about this shifting system. It performed flawlessly throughout the test period with no maintenance whatsoever. I was able to effortlessly shift while sitting still, coasting, pedaling, and even while under power. Missed shifts are non-existent with this hub and every shift is precise, quick, and quiet. For city riding, the only hub that outperforms the Alfine is the Rohloff Speedhub, but it’s not a fair comparison if you take into account the exorbitant price of the Rohloff (~$1400). I like the Alfine IGH so much that my next bike will have one (assuming I don’t upgrade the drivetrain on my current bike to an Alfine hub before then). Did I say I love this hub?

The rest of the Alfine group is nice, if not as outstanding as the rear hub:

• The front dynamo hub is sufficiently efficient, though it does introduce more drag than its main competitor, the SON hub from Germany. Still, the amount of drag was small enough to be unnoticeable while riding.
• The hydraulic disc brakes are powerful—arguably to the point of overkill—and are strong enough to lock either wheel with 2-3 fingers. Hydraulic discs make me a little nervous in that they’re harder to repair than cable actuated brakes if you have a problem on the road. That said, the brakes performed flawlessly and required no maintenance over a 4-month period of fairly heavy use.
• The Alfine single crank is attractive and functional.
• The stiff, mountain-style brake levers are comfortable and provide substantial leverage.

The Civia branded rear rack is solidly built and quite stiff. I carried full loads of groceries and heavy commute loads with no issues. It compares favorably to the best-in-class Tubus Cargo.

One area of disappointment on the Hyland is the lighting system. The Shimano headlight falls short of being sufficient as a commuter light, and the lack of a tail light is puzzling on a bike that comes outfitted with cable channels in the frame and a high quality dynamo hub. A bike of this caliber deserves nothing less than a current-generation 3-watt LED headlight with matching, dynamo-powered tail light.

The Hyland’s DT Swiss disc-specific rims are sufficiently tough while still being reasonably light, providing a nice compromise between durability and performance. The factory wheels appear to be well-built; they stayed true during heavy use over the 4-month test period.

The remainder of the components are what you’d expect on a bike in this price range, with a micro-adjust Thomson seat post and Thomson stem, Salsa seat post clamp, Cane Creek headset, Fi’zi:k saddle, and ODI Lock-on grips.

Ride Quality

All the fancy components and matching paint schemes in the world don’t amount to much unless a bike is well-designed and handles appropriately for its intended purpose. I’m happy to say Civia nailed it with this bike. The Hyland has what I’d classify as “moderately quick” handling, perfect for dodging city traffic and pedestrians on multi-use trails, but not so quick as to feel unstable or twitchy. The steering is precise and light in the hand, more reminiscent of a lightweight road bike than an old school touring bike or roadster.

Even though it feels sporty, the Hyland is perfectly capable of carrying a load. Even with heavily loaded panniers, I found the rear triangle to be more than adequately stiff, with little to no lateral sway. The bike does transmit a fair amount of road shock compared to the steel touring bikes I’m accustomed to, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call it harsh. For the commuting distances and load carrying uses the bike is designed for, it’s plenty comfortable and the stiffness is much more of a benefit than a detriment.

Conclusion

The Civia Hyland fits a unique niche. It’s a no-compromise, high performance commuting bike, purpose-designed from the ground up with many innovative features. This isn’t a bike that you’ll chain to a post and leave all day on the street; it’s far too expensive and attractive to thieves to be flaunted in that way. But if you’re a committed rider who is accustomed to lightweight, high performance bikes, and you have a point-to-point commute that includes secure storage as part of the mix, the Hyland is a beautiful, refined bike with very few flaws. It combines the precise handling and high performance of a modern road bike with the convenience, reliability, and load carrying capacity of an urban grocery getter; it truly offers the best of both worlds while making very few compromises.

Specifications (Alfine Build)

MSRP: $2,160
Frame: Civia Aluminum
Fork: Civia Carbon
Headset: Cane Creek S-8
Crank: Shimano Alfine
Chain: Shimano
Brakes: Shimano Alfine Hydraulic Disc
Seatpost: Thomson Elite
Saddle: Fi’zi:k Aliante Delta
Stem: Thomson X2 (31.8)
Handlebar: Civia 17 degree bend (31.8)
Grips: ODI Rogue Lock-on
Tires: Panaracer T-serv 700×28, with reflective sidewall
Fenders: Civia Aluminum Fenders
Rear Rack: Civia Aluminum
Chainguard: Civia Aluminum
Headlight: Shimano LP R600
Shifter: Shimano Alfine Rapid-Fire
Wheel (Rear): Shimano Alfine Internal 8-speed, DT Swiss x470 disc specific rim
Wheel (Front): Shimano Alfine Dynamo, DT Swiss x470 disc specific rim
Sliding Dropouts: Alfine/Singlespeed specific

Please note: The saddle in the review photos is my personal saddle, not the Fi’zi:k Aliante Delta supplied with the bike.

Credits

Many thanks to Civia and Gold Country Cyclery for supplying the Civia Hyland used for this long-term road test. —Alan

Civia →
Gold Country Cyclery →

This one is from Virgin Vacations →

There’s an excellent post today over at Tom Vanderbilt’s How We Drive blog. In it, Vanderbilt addresses the widespread (and ludicrous) misconception that bicyclists somehow pose a greater threat to pedestrians than automobiles. He quotes the following from a Streetsblog interview with Manhattan D.A. candidate Leslie Crockett Snyder:

To make his point, Vanderbilt cites statistics from a study conducted in London from 2001 to 2005 in which 535 pedestrians were killed by motorists and only 1 was killed by a bicyclist. He then goes on to discuss some of the possible reasons pedestrians continue to mistakenly believe bicyclists are a threat to their safety while ignoring the overwhelming dangers posed by motorists.

Read the full story →

[via Cyclelicious]