The Giant Giant's winter rampage

Ramen Noodles, water, bananas and cheep beer. To me these all equate to my nice bike. The one that killed my bank account, murdered my social life and destroyed my spare time. Its the one in the stable that screams out to you every time you look at it... Take me! Take me! The one you have to tell "NO" far too often in Minnesota, Im sorry nice bike its too rainy out for you to play outside... Its way to snowy... That salt will kill your beautiful look.

But not Today!!!

Yes! Nice bike! You can play outside...

I ride slowly out of the alley like a balding man in his $250,000 Ferrari. We glide down the neighborhood streets in no hurry, gotta warm this fella up. Soft pedaling is all we need till we get to the river, no need to show off speed when you look like this.

You must listen when on this one, not for the engine but for that soft warm road noise that only a high end bike can make. Its a light drone of the road echoing through its full carbon frame, a soft whim from the tubular tyres, and a light vibration from each shift barley pulses through it. You feel none of this... only the contours of the road perfectly hitting your body. The curves of the street ahead of you taken with no effort, like the bicycle already knows your plan of attack.

Now for some throttle... Like a race horse in the starting gate this guy is fidgeting and stomping, let me out! I need to move!

You let it go and everything becomes a blur. The road noise gets drown out by the engine. The feel of the bike becomes one with the burning in your lungs and legs. You loose track of which one is in charge... the bike or the human.

Where's My Winter!?: Coping with Seasonal Unexpectedness Disorder

So, if you're at all like me, winter isn't just another season to ride in- it's an exciting, challenging time of year that raises many questions.

Among them are "How much snow will we get!?", "Should I put on studded tires!?!", "Is it cold enough for long underwear!?!?", and "Will my beard and/or hair freeze up so I can take an awesome picture for the facebook!?!??!?"

So far the answers are "hardly any", "nobody knows!", "no", and "not in the foreseeable future", and to me it's all a little unsettling, but everything's gonna be okay.

How're we supposed to have fun in a snowless winter!? you ask.. well, I'm still trying to figure it out, and I think it has to do with what I'd call an "attitude shift". For example, I was really excited to do some of this:

but since there's little to no white stuff on the ground anywhere, I tell myself, "Cool! Guess I'll do some riding in this!":

"and heck! maybe I'll even ride this thing, which I wasn't expecting to bust out again 'til April or May at least":

"Gee whiz, that thing sure is fast."

See what I mean? Just like charging headlong into a blizzard requires a shift in attitude, expecting that and getting 40 degree weather and the occasional flurry can really throw you for a loop if you don't step back and adjust the way you take it all in.

Another, more immediate example- Instead of being toe-numbing icefests that are fun in their own regard, both this and this have the potential to be downright moderate in temperature and conditions. Dig it.

Now quit reading and get a good ride or two in before 2011's gone forever, mmkay?

Monster Machines Issue #1: Chinatown NYC

A few months back I was in NY for a spell. It was hot, muggy and stinky as the city is in the summer. Also, our toddler was along, complete with nap and meal schedule regimen. So for the most part we hung around our hotel near Wall Street, observing the early days of the Occupy movement and the ongoing reconstruction of the area known as ‘ground zero.’ One day we took to foot on a journey to secure sustenance.


The walk featured some excellent examples of Chinatown delivery bike customization.




Ahh, ingenuity! Note: I never saw any of these in ‘action’ so cannot comment on their utility and/or safety.

Also spotted this clever fix of a 26” mountain bike with suspension fork replaced by 700c fork and wheel. Weird looking, may not handle great, but thanks to the bmx bars it features upright posture and with that wide and somewhat knobby rear tire a fat skid patch!


The donuts were good, too.

-Albert

The Tale of a Boy and His Pugsley

Around one year ago, I decided I would finally give in to the temptation of the Surly Pugsley, and my life has never been the same. It was a long, arduous decision process (I don't really need it), but as I look forward to another snowy four or five months rather than dreading the limits the white stuff puts on my riding, it's one I don't expect to ever regret.

At first it was pretty much a humble stock bike. Swapped housing, shifters, saddle, and bars. Nothing to sneeze at, but nothing special, really:



Many miles, much cassette cleaning, and a few snapped chains later, I decided to build the Alfine hub I had used on another bike into a fat wheel, and that worked pretty well for the sand and other soft stuff this past summer:



Only problem was, the Alfine requires a pretty significant 'hiccup' in the pedal stroke in order to downshift. While this hadn't been an issue in commuting, it became a real pain when riding offroad. I'd have to sort of 'pre-shift' into a gear suitable to a climb or sandy patch, push a high gear, or get off n' walk. I don't like getting off to walk, so I decided I'd try something completely different:



Ain't no gaps between the gears of the NuVinci hub. Just a 360% range of continuously variable goodness. So far, I've been very pleased with the hub's performance. One needs to let up on his or her pedal stroke a bit to upshift, but downshifting is crazy-smooth.



At first, I found myself constantly messing with the shifter, keeping my cadence perfect. Now I think I've come to a good balance of appreciating the exactness of gearing the hub affords and just ridin' the damn thing sometimes.



I've heard varied reports of the transmission fluid's viability in winter, so I'll be curious to see if there's any issues this year. I know of at least one fellow 'round these parts who rode one pretty extensively through last winter, so I'm hopeful.

If you're curious about the Nuvinci hub, fat bikes, or both and would like to try this thing out, call me at the University Bike Center or shoot me an email at bene@thehubbikecoop.biz and we'll make arrangements. See you out there in the snow!

Bike Generator for Occupy MN

This was the result of our donation of a used trainer to the cause of the downtown occupation. Lewis from a moto repair shop built a bike-powered generator for the folks to recharge the batteries they have been using to power the village. woo!

Me, Myself and Masi

Summer is coming to a quick close which only means one thing... Amazing bike rides are here! Top of Ohio on my trusty Masi Special.

Red leaves and Tree covered roads down by Lillydale.


Yellow, red, green and orange. There is nothing like riding in the fall.

Serial numbers are important!

Every year we hear about dozens of bikes getting stolen.  Many of these can be prevented, some of them can not but what always remains the same is that a serial number can help you get your bike back. 

Your serial number is usually placed on the underside of your bike frame (also known as the bottom bracket shell).  Flip your bike over, write it down, email it to yourself, be thankful you have it if your bike gets stolen.  If your bike does get stolen make sure to file a police report and give them your serial number, this will throw up a red flag if the thief tries to sell the bike to a shop (like ours) or any pawn shop.  It also gives you proof if you see it pop up on Craig's list that it is indeed yours.  If you see it pop up on craig's list then contact the police and let them take care of it.  This also holds true if you see it out in the real world, you need to remember that you probably really want to have your bike back but the thief wants to avoid getting captured even more. 

Keep your bike from getting stolen in the first place! A Kryptonite lock will keep your bike safe and warm, Locking skewers will help with the wheels staying on and the Abus chain lock is a flexible sub for a u-lock but not quite as secure.

Avoid Cable locks (example below) for any in-the-city locking.

Many times they can be cut faster than using a key or combo.