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Some NYC denizen obviously had a little free time on their hands.

Filed Under: culture 

Via bicycle design, via dyson (yes, that vacuum dude) come another jacket with lights for cyclists (picture from dyson site).

The explanation from the dyson site:

Michael was inspired by the Nintendo Wii to come up with Reactiv - a responsive cycling jacket.

The jacket uses an accelerometer that senses movement to change the colour of the LEDs in the back from green (accelerating) to red (braking). It has amber LEDs in the arms which are activated by a tilt switch behind the elbow. These light up when the arm is lifed, indicating the cyclist is about to turn.

I myself burn through jackets pretty quickly. This mostly has to do with carrying my bike up four flights of stairs on a daily basis. This leads to grease stains and tears pretty quickly. Nevertheless, this is a super dope idea.

What I want to see next is a jacket that can express the anger of a cyclist. Like when a car cuts him or her off, or when jogger with headphones in both ears is oblivious to the world around them, or when a dog running around without a leash almost takes you out, or a Rollerblader who takes up the whole path by going back and forth, back and forth , or a pedestrian who does not look where they are going . . . .

Man, I got some angst, I need to go for a ride!

Filed Under: admin 

On my daily commute a few times over the past months I had seen someone riding what appeared to be a hybrid bike/scooter. Dude was always coming at me so I never really got a good look at what he was riding. While walking around the other day I found the mysterious contraption locked up and got a close up view of what I now know is called a Kickbike. The animated picture is from their site, www.kickbike.com. Here is a a picture of the full ride, complete with front basket.

The lower platform has their logo, but none of the standard grip tape that you commonly find on skateboards.

The rear brakes are right near the back of the platform.

I guess this is a cool idea. I still actively ride a skateboard though and can tell you from personal experience that pushing extensively with your foot to propel yourself can lead to an awfully sore foot. I guess over time you would become conditioned to the pushing, but it would be a learning curve for sure.

If you are the rider of this particular Kickbike, or if there are any of you out there who ride one and you stumble across this post, we’d love some feedback on what it’s like to ride one via the comments.

Filed Under: modification 

One of Bikehacks favorite sites is bicycletutor.com. It is run by Alex Ramon and we recently interviewed him. Enjoy!

Q: Tell us a bit about yourself. Where do you live? How’d you get interested in biking? Etc.

A: I was raised in Kitimat, BC. My Mother taught me to ride on a 16″ K Mart bike when I was five years old, in the grassy field behind our apartment. The first time I rode without her assistance, I was so excited and proud that I turned around to wave at her. I crashed right into a telephone pole!

I guess I liked crashing, because after that I became obsessed with BMX and motocross. We couldn’t afford new bikes, so I had to build my own out of parts from the dump. When I was 7 I built my first ‘real’ bike out of 3 broken down Raleigh Rampars (those big old black bikes with the plastic gas can and shocks).

When I was around 10 I turned my attention to BMX freestyle (mostly flatland). I was a bit of a loner, spending all my time either in the parking lot practicing old school tricks, or in my room drawing bikes and drooling over the latest issues of BMX Plus! (good old Radical Rick). My biggest idols were guys like Eddie Fiola and Woody Itson.

When I was 16 I got my first job as a salesperson at Cap’s bicycles in Vancouver. I learned a lot about brand names and the business, but I was not happy with the way they operated (kind of like McDonald’s for cyclists).

Later I moved back to Kitimat and was hired by the local bike shop where I worked for two years. My boss was a genius with bikes, but also had a day job at the mill, so I was left to manage the shop most of the time.

When I moved to Vancouver Island my first job as a mechanic only lasted 6 months. The shop I was working for was owned by fundamental Christians whose main concern was profit. The mechanic’s area was carpeted!

Finally in 2000 I was hired by Fairfield bicycle shop in Victoria. At that time it was probably one of the best bike shops on the west coast. We focused on commuters and family bikes, trailers, etc. but we also sold and serviced recumbents, electric bikes, unicycles and more. I was most obsessed with our collection of 3-speed hub parts, and I specialized in overhauling and repairing them.

In 2002 we expanded and I was responsible for setting up and stocking the new shop. This took several months and pretty much burned my out. I decided to move to Vancouver and finish my college education. After I finished school I was hired as a clerical by the Vancouver Public Library, where I am still employed.

I miss working with bikes A LOT, which is why I built bicycletutor.com. I don’t claim to be a technical genius with bicycles, but I hope that these tutorials will help beginners have the confidence to fix their own bikes.

As for my riding habits, I stopped BMXing many years ago when I developed bursitis in my hips (as a direct result of so many wipe-outs). I don’t own a car so my bike is used mainly for transportation. I’ve also developed a passion for cycle-touring. So far I’ve toured a fair bit of Vancouver Island and some of the surrounding islands. My dream would be to cross the country on my bike (which my Father did a few years back).

Q: What are a few of the most important things you would recommend to the average commuter in terms of keeping their steed mechanically sound?

A: Chain lubrication is most important. A dry chain will accelerate wear on both the chain and rear sprockets. It’s also good to maintain proper tire pressure if you want a more effortless ride.

Q: If a kid walked up to you with $20 and needed bike tools, what would you hook the kid up with?

A: Some chain lube, tire levers, and a set of 4,5,6 Allen keys.

Q: What is the dumbest thing you have seen someone do to a bike that you had to repair?

A: I’d have to say the worst thing I’ve seen is WD-40 being used as a chain lube, although I don’t blame people for it as it’s been a popular misconception for so long. The second worst thing I’ve seen is stripped out bolts from people using the wrong tools.

Q: Car mechanics are famous for being untrustworthy. You know, they are often accused of fixing something that does not need to be repaired or overcharging for services. In your opinion, is this an issue with bike mechanics, or are most of them honest? What are some good questions to ask mechanics to keep them honest?

A: Granted, there are some shops that are more concerned with profit than the customer’s needs (like a lot of high-end shops). However, in my experience, most mechanics are quite helpful and honest. I guess the best way to judge is to assess their attitude. If they are acting snobby or try to convince you that you need a new bike (especially if that’s not what you came for) then I would go somewhere else.

A good mechanic will try and help you fix your problem as economically as possible. For example, let’s say you’ve got a department store bike with a bent steel chain ring. A dishonest mechanic would try to sell you a new crank, whereas an honest mechanic might just bend it back as best as possible for a minimal (if any) fee. Honest mechanics are usually willing to go the extra mile to make a satisfied customer, because they know that trust will pay off in the long-term.

Q: Our site is primarily about incorporating hacks to your ride and associated products? What are some “hack” tools you have come up with. You know, tools you use that are not really tools but do the trick?

A: I don’t have a lot of ‘hack’ tools because I was fortunate enough to get all of my tools for cost pricing. However, I have a few ‘non-convential’ tools that I can’t do without. I use an awl for poking a hole through the inner lining on fresh cable housings. I also have a screwdriver that sawed off, and then ground a concave curve in the end to help push in the springs on sidepull brakes.

Q: What one tool can you simply not live without?

A: There’s a lot of tools I couldn’t live without, but my favorite would have to be the 8/10mm ratchet wrench from Park Tools. It just saves so much time.

Q: What would you recommend that someone going on a long ride take along?

A: A spare tube, tire levers, patch kit, rag, and a small multi-tool that has allen keys and a chain break built in.

Q: What advice would you give to budding bike mechanics?

A: Don’t be afraid to ask for help, or admit that you don’t know how to do something. It takes many years to become a knowledgeable mechanic, and even then there is always more to learn.

Q: What is your favorite bike hack?

A: I’m always amazed by the many different bike trailers people build on their own. I recently saw a wheel-barrow converted to a bike trailer… awesome!

Q: What’s the ultimate bike mechanic breakfast?

A: A 4-egg ham and cheese omelette with a bagel, tomato juice and coffee.

Filed Under: culture, maintenance 

I’d give this an “A” for creativity, but I can’t imagine it’s a very smooth ride.

Filed Under: culture, storage 

From the Sheldon Brown archives comes this crazy hack. Just looking at it blows my mind.

Bruce Ingle is the brains behind the operation and states:

I got the idea for a bichain drive from “The Dancing Chain ” a while ago, finally had some time to get it working on Friday and took it out for an 80-mile ride Sunday…so now I have a working bike with 37″ freewheel, 70″ fixed and 94″ fixed gears, all selectable with a single lever. It’s quite fun to ride.

I’m not sure dude is speaking English on the site with descriptions such as this:

The hub is a steel shell, splined left ball cup Sturmey-Archer AW modified to 2-speed fixed by brazing the planet cage to the left ball cup with a MAPP torch and removing the low-gear pawls.

Don’t know about the rest of you, but as I read that all I heard in my brain was, “Wah wha wah. Wah, wah wah. Whaaaaa, wha, wah wha.”

For all the gory details, visit Sheldon’s site.

Filed Under: modification 

I’ve been disenchanted with our old generic bike trailer’s hitch. It’s a clamp-style hitch that’s a total PITA to get tight. I was ogling used Burley trailers when I started wondering whether I could hack my own Burley-style hitch onto my old generic trailer.

The way the trailer hitched onto a bike always bugged me. The clamp tends to slip if you don’t really crank on it. I actually wear gloves when turning the crank handle, just to get it on there so it doesn’t move. It moved once on me while I was riding and one of the clamps slid into my disc brake. The brake cut through the rubber, and into the aluminum of the clamp. Ouch. I’ve kinda been done with that clamp since then.

The other day I was browsing Craigslist and ogling some Burley trailers. Nice trailers. As I stared at them, I thought the trailer body tubing looked familiar. So I started digging around the web, looking for how Burley hitches work. What I learned led me to this little bike trailer hack.

Rather than spending a couple hundred bucks on another used trailer, I spent $20 on a couple of parts and hacked a new hitch for the trailer (okay, in truth I spent $60 because my bike has breezer-style dropouts and I needed some special doo-dad to accommodate ‘em.

Anyway, instead of pictures, this time I made a little video that shows the hitch bits and, I think, adequately demonstrates my dorkiness. Enjoy. (runtime: 3:49)
 

Click to play

Filed Under: modification 

There is a design competition that falls right into the spirit of Bike Hacks! Want $5,000 for your great idea? Design 21 is handing out money for great bike hack design ideas. The competition is called “Power to the Pedal.” Check this out:

This competition calls for a biking accessory or add-on for existing bikes that would improve the bicycling experience and encourage more people to make biking their primary means of transport – more convenient, more enjoyable, safer and more integrated into daily lifestyles – whether it’s for commuting, working, shopping, transporting, leisure or all of the above. In your description, you should define the user scenario and design problem that your design attempts to solve.

You cannot enter any design that already exists on the market or has been put into commercial production, or that you do not own the rights to.

The only bad thing is that the competition closes on April 30th. For more information visit the Design 21 site.

Filed Under: culture 

Anything cyclists can do to make themselves more visible is a plus. At RockTheBike.com they sell a product known as the “Down Low Glow.” It looks like a dope product for sure.

A gentleman who claims to have invented the Down Low Glow is featured in the following video. His web site is ridelow.co.uk. The video is 3:40 long and the Down Low Glow is in full effect near the end of the video. If anyone has one of these, I would love to know more. For example: How durable are the lights? Are they water proof? How long do they hold a charge?

Filed Under: commuting, safety 

Via CoolTools comes this pointer for blinky lights activated by magnetic induction. Similar to how your odometer works, Reelights work by a magnet attached to your spokes, which provides power to the light as the magnet turns.

Read the full post for a nice performance overview.

Filed Under: gear, safety