Made a thing that parses weather data into a bicycle barometer

A cyclist in London wanted to simplify his morning commute decision making between riding bike or taking the Tube. So he made a barometer with an old clock case. A servo moves the needle towards the bike or Tube and is controlled by a nanode controller that derives a value from the web. To take small chunks of information from the Web and display it on a physical thing it’s geeky enough, bonus to incorporate the bike. That’s a bike Maker and something we’d like to see at another Built.

Photo: Jonathan Ford.

Trek Soho, as seen on Flickr

Flickr rolled out a redesign, bigger data plan, and assurances the service is relevant this week. Of the 14K photos we’ve shared over the years and the 3 million views on them, this Trek Soho S Japan tops the stats list. 15K views and it was posted 5 years ago. See more photos, since 06, in our photostream.

Stupid Girl

Yesterday in the UK, a Emmaway20 tweeted about running a cyclist off the road. The story popped in my feeds and Carlton Reid picked it up on his blog. The latest update is the cyclist that was hit came forward and the police have found Emmaway20. She had deleted her tweet and account after it was spotted by advocates. Bike hate and the bike backlash are monitored on Twitter by @cyclehatred and others. That’s one way to put the sentiment in the Twitter firehose to good use.

It appears #EmmaWay’s tweet was NOT a joke. She hit an actual cyclist, from my local club! To be continued… (cc @velocentric)

Shadow

Grumbling, I rode out to the road where intervals are stomped out. Time to get in shape for another Cross season, after the last one. The clouds rolled in aggressively right before the ride and spat rain as another mile ticked off. Two efforts in, the sun broke through and lit up the rest of the ride home. Light a photographer waits all day for, glistened on the bike, and I saw this shadow.

Originally uploaded to Instagram.

Obliteride signs are showing up in Seattle

That a charity ride is so focused on the experience and not a personality, wrist-band meme, or anything but donating the money to fight cancer is what impressed me about Obliteride. I’m riding with the event as media and a guest on routes in the Seattle area. And being an event is what it’s about. Obliteride will feature gourmet food, beer, live music, and is focused as much on the experience as the charity.

Obliteride is different because it’s sourced locally. It’s organized by cyclists in the Pacific Northwest and benefits the Hutch, a cancer research center based here in Seattle. Similar to the Stinky Spoke, another outstanding community event I rode this Winter.

Props too for the name some bros would come up with for an epic ride, against the odds, to talk about for years. Like the work the Hutch does. They want to obliterate cancer and this ride is the first fundraiser of its kind.

Learn more about the Obliteride and ride with me August 9-11, 2013. I’m signed up for 2 days and you can chose from 4 different routes.

A’ight finally some bike music videos from Seattle! It’s Hot Girls and Hot bikes.

They discussing chaffing?

The discussion continues about WSJ’s take on the new road uniform, what we’re wearing, and how we view ourselves. I was in threads on Facebook, G+, and Twitter about the topic most of the day. Those conversions included our channels and the other cyclists quoted in the article. Interesting too, cause Kevin is a traditional reporter who doesn’t inflect his own beliefs into the story. He reported a trend and threaded together interviews with “experts.” Scanning the comments I saw a pervasive “don’t give an F or care what other people wear.” That collective response and whatever attitude may contribute to another topic being discussed: The Lost Art of the Road Ride.

The magic ends by mile 10. The group will surge, gap, and separate, only to regroup at every stop sign. I’ll hear fifteen repeated screams of “HOLE!” for every minor road imperfection. And then no mention of the actual hole. Some guy in front will set a PR for his 30 second pull. Wheels overlap, brakes are tapped, and some guy in the back will go across the yellow line and speed past the peloton for no apparent reason. A breakaway?!

Absolutely correct that everyone is an expert and they’ve self-quantified themselves on Strava to prove it. The same thing is happening in racing where, at times, it feels like the racers spend more time watching pirated Eurovision streams than racing themselves. Like hey those aren’t tactics, but ignorance to the well-established dynamics of a race.

On G+, John Friedrich, summed it up

My cycling experience is primarily mtn, followed by city/urban, with group recreational road riding something fairly new for me. When I started road riding in earnest a few years ago, bike handling and awareness of my surroundings are things that I saw a great deal of value in that I found most groups lacked. I haven’t been steeped in road culture (I still don’t shave my legs) but I do respect that pack customs and traditions exist for a reason- to keep the group efficient, fast, and safe. I find it frustrating that so many cyclists new to road riding feel like they have something to prove- enough to place themselves and the rest of the group in danger.

This is a sport steeped in tradition, over a century old, and you want to ride big miles like a Pro in baggy shorts with hairy legs? Sure, you independent, can-do, American individualist! But note that there’s some old guys in the sport that can drop some knowledge on you they learned from even older guys who actually raced in Europe, back in the day. On those roads you’ve only seen on TV.

Before the internet, before custom bikes, and before Lance, it was done better. Learning to ride was an apprenticeship. The goal was to become a member of the peloton, not merely a guy who is sort of fast on a bike. Membership was the point, not to be the local Cat. 5 champ. You were invited to go on group ride if you showed a interest and a willingness to learn. You were uninvited if you did not. You learned the skills from directly from the leader, who took an interest in riding next to you on your first rides (and not next to his friends, like better riders do today).

A generation proved themselves on rides and moved up through the ranks. This one has Stuart Smalley smartphones apps that tell them how good their ride was. Maybe they should unlock the tradition badge instead

Thanks WSJ and Kevin Helliker for the follow up to my Giro Road review. I’m quoted along with the Fredcast and others about the trend away from wearing team kit. We don’t think that trend extends to baggy shorts on the road, but Kevin figured out what’s going on too. David wrote about this trend last year

But what occurred to me last night, while looking at the crestfallen before me, is that Lance has tumbled from his pedestal at a time when his pedestal may no longer matter. Cycling is no longer in the hands of the professional athletes but in the hands of companies like Rapha who have just finished a power transfer that’s been quiet and smooth while the walls of professional cycling come tumbling down.

Is it a Lance backlash? Sure, but I think the trend is more about individuality. To not look like or ride what everyone else does is why Handbuilt bikes builders are thriving. Also in areas with a thriving bike scene, it lessens the amount of commuter challenges you get, when you’re not in kit.

Kevin writes

Snap-on shoes. Shaved legs. Bright-colored jersey over Lycra bibs. Any deviation from that look could subject a cyclist to howls. He even might be called a “Fred”—cycling lingo for loser. Getting it all right would still elicit snickers if he called the outfit a uniform. It’s a kit. Got it, Fred?

That the WSJ also noticed this trend, has got me pondering why our culture criticizes itself so much – we all ride, but amongst us is “the other.” Likely because there are so many different types of riding. A super fan dresses up like his/her heroes, or a racer is fit and lean so f’ing what? I’ve written about the Hipster is you too and observed Fredville here in Seattle.

We need to celebrate the sport and bike better across all the niches. As if to punctuate this point, this cyclist said to me, “Bike to Work, what’s the big deal? I’m Belgian.”

Belgian doesn’t get the big deal about the bike in the States

Indeed. It isn’t a big deal. Just the bike and cyclists.

Gary from Nalini sent us this link to a Keirin documentary from Nowness and while that’s not exactly the fixed-gear origin story, good to see Japanese racing getting attention. Mark V has posted on the topic frequently, including this one time he met Keirin Koh.

Earlier this year, said

In the Pacific Northwest, Research Dynamics Coyote MTBs end their lives being ridden by chronic inebriates, a street person’s bike.

and correction! Some of those Coyotes live on and are ridden to work by execs like Ben Franz-Knight who runs Pike Place Market. It’s a testimony to how well-made those Taiwan bikes were, that they’re still being ridden by street people and businessmen. According to gm1230126 in the MTBR forums, the Coyotes were OGs in Taiwan before Sinyard ate a hot pot there.

Research Dynamics were originally done by an outdoor store chain based in I believe Boise. I ran into Vaughn a number of times in Taiwan back in the day. They had a lot of bikes produced at Dodsun hence the DS. They were the first 9000/9001 factory in Taiwan long before Giant, Merida and Wheeler which had much bigger factories in the late 80’s to mid 90’s. Specialized, Iron Horse, Gary Fisher (Pre-Trek) and a number of others had bikes done there also. There quality was the best in Taiwan for years and their paint and graphic options were better than most factories too.

Show up in shops too

There was a time when RDs where the shizzle. Still are for those that ride them. I spotted this one in the back of a shop a few years ago. Maybe we’ll restore one sometime. Like the urban animal they’re named after, those bikes just don’t quit. They survive.

The collections we’ve seen like this from James, include the bike pile at One on One Bike Gallery, which I predict will become sentient in a few years – video.

Another is the one at Elliott Bay Bicycles, where I posed once for a Dwell magazine article.

Seen in Bend last year

For those moms like this one, who ignore minivan convention and bike their kids around, we say thanks. The mom here at Hugga HQ made custom cushions for ours and goes on coffee runs for us.

Kratvast is a rack stabilizer for your bike to carry beer and other bottled beverages. Brilliant! That’s like Clip-n-Seal for food. Simple and it works.

HT Amsterdamized.

Magnic Lights are a Kickstarter project my friend Matt help fund. He was skeptical, but thought if they were real, they’d be amazing. He hates having USB dongles or batteries everywhere and too lazy to get a dyno hub wheel. A year later, the Magnics show up at his house and he unboxed them in a hangout with me. Then he recorded them working with his iPhone. That they work amazed us both and anyone who’s seen them.

Watch now on YouTube or download the large desktop video file.

Besides the magic of magnets, an eddy current is being created from the small amount of ferrous metal in the aluminum rim. LEDs require such low voltage that they light up. Remarkable and similar to Reelights. I’ve got several Knog lights on my bikes and all of them have a USB dongle. They’re nice, but to just ride and go forever without a chart using magnets is nicer. Magnic lights cost $257.29 for a complete set.

This is our video podcast and to date, we’ve uploaded 152 of them. Subscribe to the Huggacast Feed for more episodes. The music is this edition is Bassnectar, IBD, from Mesmerizing the Ultra and T.N.T Bass by DJ Schmolli

Mobile users can download and watch the mobile version now and access our Huggacasts via the iTunes Store.

The brinksmanship in trials bike videos results in movie like this from Chris Akrigg, with elegant stunts across bike disciplines, five of them. Enjoy it and expect Danny Macaskill is dreaming up new stunts.

Open

That moment when you ride on by them stuck in their shiny metal boxes. Bike lane is open.

Bedstead Bike was dreamed up by Joe Steinlauf, who got the idea while lying around in bed one morning

In 1948, the Chicago chapter of the National Bicycle Dealers’ Association built freak bikes for a LIFE feature

By artfully applying welders’ torches to metal tubing, the chapter’s members transform ordinary, utilitarian bicycles into traveling monstrosities. By far the most outlandish ideas have come from the Steinlauf family, who produced from their bicycle repair shop most of the oddities [shown in the article]. They are hazardous; generally at least one member of the clan is to be found in the hospital.

Photos: Wallace Kirkland—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Read more and see the rest of the photos.

Cyclists are excited about new performance drink, we’ve seen them all before

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about riding is the more real food I eat, the better I feel. Mentioned that to Skratch last year when their powder arrived for a test and review.

RT @bikehugger: @skratchlabs and that’s the science, right? Eat real food….best tip ever for endurance athletes.

Skratch is easy on the stomach, but I’ve found it lacks staying power for longer rides. There’s only 80 in a scoop and Osmo has 35. With a sensitive stomach, before a ride or race I eat a good meal, then want water, calories, and electrolytes to get me to the end. My on-the-road-instead-of-a-lab, with no peer-reviewed journals to back it up study indicates the brown-rice syrup solids in Clif Shot powders work the best. Better even than dried fruit and sucrose in Skratch or Osmo’s proprietary sucrose blend.

What Skratch has done is made the powder with the most “drinkability” on a hot day. Do any of these powders do more for you than a diluted, fizzed-out cola did for generations of cyclists before? Arguably no, but they’ll tell you it does while wearing lab coats and the Slowtwitch guys obsess about the science. I don’t fantasize about Allen Lim handing me a dixie cup of Skratch at the top of climb. Never craved diluted sugar water either, but when thirsty do wish for a coke and a smile.

When I get hungry riding, my mind wanders to nachos, pizza, or a burrito with rice and beans.

Stopped last Sunday at Taqueria El Rincon for a burrito with a side of rice and beans

Before Skratch or Osmo, I just diluted Gatorade with water in a bottle and made sure I ate right. My performance drink use goes way back to when racers stuffed juice boxes of Extran in their jerseys, Enervit, or when Accelerade and Endurox was the powder du jour. I could never tolerate Cytomax and when mixed once with iodine tablets on a MTB death march, it tore my stomach apart.

To recovery, despite all the science they cite, as an amateur, there’s no way to know really if a recovery drink works. The product isn’t like an embrocation that tingles or aspirin that dulls pain. Never felt a recovery sensation in my legs or had a doctor test my muscles for it. The freshness the next day or lack thereof, most likely resulted from the sleep I got or the decision to watch TV all afternoon instead of mowing the lawn.

When Patrick and I climbed together up Mulholland, we ate soft rice cakes provided by the soignuers at SRAM. Those sat well in the belly and I felt good. I suggest you find a drink that sits well in your stomach too, eat more real food, and see this article from Kent Peterson on what endurance athletes eat. Also what Mike Hall ate when he rode around the world in 91 days.

The latest generation of performance drinks are about hydrating and for cyclists that can’t handle all that sugar in other formulas. Between Skratch or Osmo, both are marketing science plus lots of thinking about performing without bonking or cramping. I can’t say one is better. They’re marketing the same concept and Osmo is more expensive.

Reviewing this post, David Schloss replied, “on all of my summer centuries I stop and fill my water bottles with coke slurpies at 7-11.” Well that works too.

A beadless clincher? How is that possible? No idea either, but Bikemag tried them.

David Bonzon is the Junior World Champ and rides a trial bike at Chateu d Chillon