No hands one heel

I'll admit I'm a bit jealous. I can't ride "no hands" for more than a few feet. It's my bikes, they're unbalanced, or maybe it's my inner ear, or the type of shoes I'm wearing. Regardless, there are better cyclists out there than I and to prove it here's a video a reader sent us. In it you'll see some impressive "no-handing" where he navigates tight turns with his shoes. All without "braking" a sweat.

And as Youtube works, I soon got sucked into related videos. This video was a response to a Chicago guy who does his entire waterfront ride with no hands. And that brought me to something even more impressive: a wheelie with no hands.

Maybe I've got this wrong but isn't this a bit like being a unicyclist but with a dangly bit on the front? Hey, I'd like to see someone do a reverse wheelie on a pennyfarthing. Any takers?

herb : 15 years 9 months ago
Tags: bike culture, fun

Loser calls foul on Toronto bikesharing plans

If the strike doesn't delay things the City will be entering into negotiations with Bixi this fall for Toronto's new bike sharing system. Only two companies responded to the City's Request for Proposal of Interest this last spring. Only one of them qualified on technical grounds. Bixi was accepted to enter into negotiations. The loser, the "Public Nature Corporation of Toronto", is calling foul and asking for a do over.

Only the Public Bicycle System Company (as Bixi is called when doing negotiations outside of Montreal) met the requirements and was pre-qualified to make a bid. Weeks after the City announced who qualified and made a request to City Council to negotiate, a National Post article has giving precious ink to the Public Nature Corporation to explain why the whole process was unfair. Matias Marin, CEO of the Public Nature Corporation is claiming the City is not being open because they were excluded and that it should not only re-open the bidding process but also hold public consultations even though this apparently not the regular habit of City Hall.

Mr. Marin said his idea, still at the development stage, would provide Toronto with a more technologically advanced system including regenerative braking, which stores energy and releases it when the rider is climbing a hill. Mr. Marin said other technology could return the bike’s stored energy into the city’s power grid.

Matias Marin, chief executive of Public Nature Corporation, said the BIXIs are too heavy and susceptible to vandalism and theft.

I wonder how a company that doesn't even have a website can make a convincing argument that they have superior technology to Bixi, which made #19 on Time's list of Best 2008 Inventions. Let me make this a bit more transparent. Mr. Marin claims they are developing electric bikes that can be left outside 24/7; will be robust under continuous use and abuse; and will be inexpensive enough to not rely on advertising revenue. The Bixi bikes cost $2000 a piece; are sturdy; vandal-resistant; comes with a smart card system of locking stations; and don't rely on advertising to operate. Those claims are a bit hard to swallow. One only needs to look at the current market for electric bikes to see that the base price starts at about $1500. Given that these bikes need to withstand vandalism, abuse and all weather, the cost will soon skyrocket.

The most ridiculous part of Mr. Marin's proposal is that the bikes will return their "stored energy into the city's power grid". I just hope he's not trying to create bikes where cyclists will end up on hamster wheels trying to keep the city's lights on.

I'm not sure why Mr. Marin thinks why Toronto needs electric motors when all the other cities with bike sharing systems are doing fine with regular pedal bikes. What's wrong with reducing our obesity rate a little?

Technical feasibility aside, Mr. Marin is missing the point: this is supposed to be a functioning system of bikes and stations by next year. The City isn't giving out a grant for a research project. Mr. Marin should perhaps go hat in hand to the feds to ask for funding to get their amazing electric bikes off the ground. And the next time he wishes to respond to a city call for proposals he could first read carefully through the requirements.

herb : 15 years 9 months ago
Tags: bikesharing, politics

How to shift gears effectively

Wed, 04/22/2009 - 20:18 - I was struck by the light and the elegant design, Amazing when you think how little the basic mechanism has changed over the years. ©Revolution Control
15 years ago ago by Scott Snider.

(Photo: sniderscion

An article on shift gears effectively was forwarded to us recently by an anonymous I Bike TOer. We agreed this might be useful for our readers (and if they still can't get the hang of it they can stick to single speed bikes).

The author is a bike mechanic that realized that an experienced cyclist was complaining to him about his gears but realized that they did not know how to properly shift their gears. So he rode around with him and came up with some tips:

Tip one: Pedal at a brisk pace. It’s better to pedal at a brisk pace using the easier to pedal gears than to muscle the harder gears more slowly. This technique will increase your stamina over a longer ride and will enable you to accelerate more quickly if you need to "jump". I promise you’ll still get a good leg workout. A brisk pace on the pedals also improves the shifting.

Tip two: And this is hugely important. Lighten the pressure on the pedals when you shift. Keep them turning, but don't be muscling down on them while you shift. Lightening the pressure on the pedals significantly smoothes the gear change, reduces those grinding noises when you shift, and lengthens the life of your drive train. You’ll have to anticipate your shifts a bit as you approach the hills, but it only takes a beat to change your gears on a hill once you get your timing down.

Tip three: Use your low numbered gears on the left with your low numbered gears on the right; and use your high numbered ones with the high ones. Thus, if you're in gear number one on the left, you should use it with gear numbers one through four on the right. Likewise, if you're in number three on the left, you should use it with gear numbers five and above on the right.

This tip has to do with chain line. Although no real damage is done using the wrong gears together, avoiding them prevents those rattles and rubs you sometimes hear. With the number of gears that come on today’s bikes, you can avoid "mixing your highs and your lows" and still find a comfortable gear in which to ride.

On road bikes, where you have to look down to see what sprockets the chain is on to determine what gear your in, avoid running the large sprockets on the front with the large ones in the back, and similarly, avoid using the small ones in the front with the small ones in the back. Another way to say the same thing is, when you’re chain is on the inboard ring on the front, it should be on the inboard cogs in the back. Similarly, when you’re chain is on the outboard ring on the front, it should be on the outboard cogs in the back.

Tip Four: Remember to shift back to a low gear before you stop so that you’ll be in an easy gear for starting out again.

When to change gears will be pretty obvious. You’ll want to shift to an easier pedaling gear (i.e. down shift to a lower number) when the bike gets hard to pedal up hills, and then shift to a higher gear (higher number) so your pedals can catch up when you go down one. Thus, we have come full circle on our gear shifting discussion. Gears make it easier to go up hills and let you pedal down them.

If this is all too complicated for you, just get a single geared bike! It builds muscle.

herb : 15 years 9 months ago
Tags: bike mechanics, howto