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Graham from Lazy Cyclist.net has sent along advice to us before (see headset press entry). Now he comes to us with a solution to the annoying problem of tire high spots. The full entry can be found on his web site.

My Surly Steamroller’s front tyre developed a ‘high spot’ after I changed the inner tube last weekend. This resulted in an annoying bump with every rotation of the front wheel during last Sunday’s ride. Believe me, after 20 miles it really gets on your nerves.

Now you could go ahead and buy some tyre lube, but even a small bottle is quite expensive. A much cheaper alternative is to use washing-up liquid. I tried this on my stubborn Schwalbe today and I have to say it worked like a charm - the tyre seated quite easily and I got rid of the annoying high spot. As an added bonus my front tyre is lovely and clean and smells like a pine forest!

Filed Under: maintenance 

I was recently in Toronto on business and ran into this spray-painted mountain bike on the sidewalk promoting the Ride to Conquer Cancer.  Yellow bikes to help fight cancer…I like!

Filed Under: culture 

I know power-assisted bikes can be a hot button issue for purists. But this being BikeHacks and all, I figured it’s fair game. Reader Jon has an interest in getting a little power hack on his bike for his 70 minute commute and he’s interested in what tips the BH community might have for him. I’ll let Jon take it from here…

========

I’m interested in a motorized bicycle for a few reasons:
- a seventy-minute bike-ride, to and from work, 5-days a week, is unrealistic.
- my wife vetoed the idea of riding a motorcycle
- a motorized bicycle is much cheaper (MPG, insurance, repairs, etc.) than a traditional auto or gas-powered scooter
- in contrast to an auto or scooter, it never becomes so worn out that the whole vehicle must be replaced–a few new components and it is good as new.
- bicycle components are standardized, so repairs are not captive to any one manufacturer

I’ve brainstormed some possible difficulties that come to mind.  I’ve made a list below:
- conflict between the gas-tank and top-tube pull cables
- conflict between disk-brakes/drum-brakes and the drive-chain sprocket
- conflict between power-assist and internal geared hubs
- the proximity of hot engine components and body parts
- the proximity of additional moving components and body parts
- redirecting exhaust away from the rider
- keeping a spoke-mounted sprocket in-true
- additional spoke strength, or optimal lacing profile
- changes in balance and weight distribution
- conflict between clutch-lever, brake-lever, and twist-throttle, i.e conventional motorcycle control versus conventional bicycle control
- changes in cargo loading capacity, i.e. conflict between panniers and mechanical systems
- matching pedal cadence with the input of power-assist

Given my research so far, my idealized set-up would be like a motorized bicycle with emphasis on the power-assist.  Electric systems, although “cleaner” and perhaps more mechanically versatile, suffer from the drawbacks of heavy batteries and costliness.  Transferring the power of a 4-stroke engine directly to the crank-sprocket by way of a jack shaft (video link) seems very promising, but I am concerned with the interference with normal bicycle cadence.  In contrast to this video I still want to do most of the pedaling as I ride.

I believe part of the advantage of power-assist (as opposed to fully-powered) that it allows the rider to ease off pedaling at the end of the ride and cool down.  This minimizes the sweating, and the need to shower upon arrival at one’s chosen destination, yet still provides the challenge and benefits of cycling.

I am especially interested on other people’s opinion or experience on this subject.

=============

Jon passed along a great list of links for those who want to stand on his shoulders as they do their own research. Here’s the opus:

Power systems:
============

• internal combustion: direct drive
• internal combustion: chain drive
• internal combustion: center “V” mount
• internal combustion: friction drive
• Internal combustion: crank drive
• Internal combustion: belt drive
• internal combustion: front wheel drive
• internal combustion: spoke-mounted sprocket
• internal combustion: pre-built motorized bicycles
• internal combustion: fully integrated moped kit
• Electric: direct drive
• Electric: direct Front wheel drive

Related links:
==========
collection of power-assist links

Motorized bicycle forums
http://motorbicycling.com/
http://www.motoredbikes.com/
http://www.motorkit.com.ar/foro/ (en Español)

Filed Under: gear, modification 

One of the things I constantly think about is some way to transport my wife around with me when I meet her in town and she is walking while I am riding. I always end up walking with my bike and I can’t stop thinking about how much quicker it would be if there was some way for me to transport her on my bike.

One of the biggest obstacles I face is having to carry my bike up and down four flights of stairs every day. Most solutions I have pondered are simply not compatible with my daily down and up hike.

While walking through the Meat Packing District in NYC I stumbled up an idea that is pure genius and just might work for me. Check it out for yourself.

The seat set up is super low profile and does not look like it adds a ton of weight. I would just need to figure out a way to secure my rack bags as I rely upon them pretty heavily on my daily journey. Pegs on the bottom serve to keep the feet in place.

Like most things in life, it is so simple and that’s the reason I must never have thought of it. Now I just need to figure out how the metal tubing was done. It looks so perfect that it must be custom. Anyone out there have advice on how to get started looking for the metal connection tubing?

Filed Under: commuting, modification 

We here at bike hacks are big fans of Instructables. We have linked to the their site quite a bit and recently they contacted us to ask if we would help promote a contest they are having. We are only too happy to oblige. This comes from the contest site:

Days are getting shorter and with the loss of Daylight Saving Time bike riders will be riding home from work in the dark. This makes riding around much more dangerous and to encourage everyone to ride a little brighter and safer we are having a Light Up Your Ride Contest!

We’re giving away three Bike to Work outfits! These will include one pair of Bike to Work pants and one Instructables Robot t-shirt. One for the most votes, one selected by Cordarounds, and one selected by Instructables staff. Four runners-up will win an Instructables Robot t-shirt. Good luck!

The deadline to submit your entry is November 16th.

Filed Under: commuting, safety 

I am constantly amazed at how the Internet connects people in the world. For example, without the Internet I would never have had the chance to down a beer with the Bicycle Tutor himself a few weeks ago. I was in B.C. on business and dropped Alex a line and we had the chance to meet after having met via our blogs.

On the same business trip I was in Pittsburgh and while my airport shuttle bus passed through Little Italy I saw a very cool bike trailer. It was connected to the bike via the seat post and had some cool BMX mag wheels on it. I would have loved a picture, but we were on the move. So this is a random shout out - if anyone who lives in Pittsburgh might know of the trailer I am referring to, can you take a picture and pass it my way? Perhaps someone may even know the owner.

To give you an idea of the power of the Internet to draw people together through random occurrences, I give you this vintage 2006 story from my personal blog: matt.pintglass.org.

As I have grown older the world seems to continually grow smaller. The links and relationships that sprout up in conversation and now through the Internet amaze me. For example, the person who made it possible for me to join pintglass.org, Brendon, taught in Korea in the same city I did at the same time but we never met in Korea, we met when we started our graduate program back in the states.

Filed Under: culture 

Via the bikehacks Flickr pool comes this pedal hack. I wrote to fundenphoto and he talked about the lengthy design process . . .

I had worn dress shoes with leather soles to work, and had been slipping around the whole ride on my platform pedals. Before I left the office, I looked all around for a solution to make some toe clips.  I knew rubber bands wouldn’t really work, and finally stumbled upon some paper boxes next to the copier.

They had these yellow straps holding them closed, and I knew they’d be perfect toe clips.  I wrapped them around my pedals a couple of times, and they stuck - I didn’t even need to cut them or tie them! I continued using them for a few weeks after that, until I finally decided to buy some real toe clips.  The thing is, my plastic straps actually fit my shoes better.  Oh well!

Filed Under: gear, modification 

I have zero engineering knowledge so I don’t know if this design for a bike seeks to improve ride quality or what, but it kind of looks cool. Not seeing a down tube does kind of freak me out.

On the practical side, installing a frame based rear rack would seem to be a problem - it seems one would have to rely solely upon a seat post rear rack, of which I am not a huge fan of since the one seat post rear rack I have owned broke. Also, when I lock my bike up I usually thread the chain through my front wheel and the down tube.

For more see the Design Llama blog.

Filed Under: culture 

I would argue that perhaps the technological advancement that has had the most profound impact on society since the digital revolution started is the advent of the digital camera.

Digital cameras have transformed the way people catalog their lives and may be singularly responsible for the rapid increase in hard drive capacity demand over the past few years. I remember thinking, “There is no way I will ever fill up this thing!” when I got a computer with a 5 gigabyte hard drive in like 1998. Now you can eat up 5 gigs with a single parade or wedding if you choose to go with memory intensive, hard drive filling pictures.

I find that I cannot attend a single large event and not see hundreds of digital cameras at the end of extended arms reaching toward the sky. I just went to the Halloween Parade in New York City last week and it was a sea of extended arms with digital displays glowing back at me.

Earlier this year Brendon declared the Gorillapod (pictured on left) as the “Best Camera Mount EVAH!” I have not purchased one yet but am sure I will get around to it sooner or later. It just looks too cool for school and the way it is designed means that you can use the thing just about anywhere.

However, there are some other corporate and hack options available for recording your bicycle adventures.

If found the following via a Dutch site, De Vakantiefietser. At the time of posting I did a search for “Airbone camera products” and could not get the corporate site to load.

Another corporate option is the GoPro Ride Hero:

And after running out of reading material on a recent flight I stumbled across another GoPro option in the SkyMall catalog that incorporates a helmet mount and fisheye lens camera together:

For those who wish to capture their ride via the hack ethic, there are some options out there that will allow you to use your toolbox and ingenuity to accomplish the objective. First off Celtek Industries provides us with a hack for a handlebar camera mount (web link has full details).

Next up is a hack jobbie via the camera hacker web site.

And a similar idea is given via Instructables:

Also via Instructables comes a mount that gives you a quick release option should you want to remove the camera quickly for a shot.

Do you have a camera mount hack or camera hack video you are proud of? Send it along to us.

Filed Under: culture, modification 

My opinion has long been that my hometown Portland, Oregon is Biketown USA. But that does not mean that I don’t want my adopted home, New York City, to give Portland a run for its money. The New York Times recently ran an article highlighting the soaring growth of cycling in the Big Apple. From the article:

Based on figures from an annual count of bicyclists conducted since 1984, the New York City Department of Transportation announced on Thursday that commuter cycling rose a remarkable 35 percent between 2007 and 2008.

The sad thing is that I believe NYC is one of the most intimidating and dangerous environments for cyclists. Sure there are green ways on the outskirts of Manhattan, but if you live in the middle of the island there are perilous blocks that must be navigated to reach these green ways.

For me cycling on the city streets is kind of a rush. Jostling with taxis, buses, and garbage trucks is like a real live video game. Sadly for people like my wife though, this can be an intimidating a fearful experience. Just a few months ago in trying to reach the green way that is just two blocks from our apartment, my wife took a tumble when a truck cut in front of her and she was forced to brake quickly, hit the curb, and fell over.

I am happy with the progress being made in NYC, but until we actually have bike lanes that are separated from auto traffic, I think there are potentially thousands of people that will consider cycling just too intimidating and dangerous.

For a PDF showing the statistics related to cycling growth in NYC, click here.

Filed Under: commuting, culture