Yesterday Angel and I went on a nice ride yesterday during the warmer weather. We rode along the bicycle paths in Alton Baker Park.
Here are a couple other videos from earlier this year I haven’t posted.
Summertime ride similar to this last one.
From our bicycle tour in August.
This is a video from our very first day after we moved Eugene, it was in my first blog post.
Tagged bicycle, bike, bike commute, disc lht, disc long haul trucker, eugene, iPhone, LHT, Linus, Long Haul Trucker, mixte, Oregon, Surly, video
The Oregon Handmade bicycle show and Day of the Dead Cyclocross Festival was held this past weekend in Bend. More information about it HERE.
Angel and I went there and had a nice trip there. Here are some photos from our adventure. More below the break.
Angel at the lava fields on McKenzie Pass
Ahearne Cycles at Oregon Handmade Bicycle Show
Starting line at Day of the Dead Cyclocross Festival
More collections of photos from the trip below the break.
The Oregon Handmade Bicycle Show is happening at GoodLife Brewing Co. in Bend, OR this year on October 29th & 30th. I have gone to the show the past 2 years in Portland. This is always a great event where builders from the Northwest can come and show off their great bikes they have built. With over 30 exhibitors, this event is put on by Oregon Bicycle Constructors Association. I will be posting photos from the event.
This event is happening during the same weekend as the Day of the Dead Cyclocross Race, which should be a great time as well. It’s happening just over a mile from the OHBS at the Old Mill District. There are a couple other bicycle related events going on as well, full list HERE.
This should be a great time for everyone.
These events will be held at:
Oregon Handmade Bicycle Show
GoodLife Brewing
70 SW Century Ave 100-464
Bend, OR 97702
Day of the Dead Cyclocross Race
Old Mill District/Deschutes Brewery
520 S.W. Powerhouse Drive,
Bend, OR 97702
Yehuda Moon & Kickstand Comics is a great comic started by Rick Smith. The comic is about life around the Kickstand Cyclery. The comic has been around since 2008; in that time it has grown to many more characters, story lines, another contributor (Brian Griggs), and even being published in Bicycle Times Magazine. Sadly, in September of 2011, the comic came to a halt. You can read Rick’s reasoning yourself on the Yehuda Moon site. It is still a little unclear what Rick plans to do in the long run. We all wish he might still continue, even if it is more infrequent (the comic was updated every day!), but just today it seems he has decided to public the last 3 volumes of the series (Volume 2, 3, and 4) with the helpful backing of Kickstarter. You can purchase Volume 1 in the store directly. If you have enjoyed these comics, this is a great way to show it, and have it forever. I know we all wish Rick well, and hope to maybe see something again in the future.
More about the Yehuda Moon and Kickstarter HERE
Signed drawing of Yehuda, and charred piece of the origanal Kickstand
If you haven’t heard of Yehuda Moon you can still get started reading them, They are all online still, here is a link to the first strip. Yehuda Moon 01-22-2008
iPhone 4S, side
Like many others today, I received my iPhone 4s. I plan on trying out and reviewing a lot of the Bike Computer/GPS apps that you can get for the iPhone. Along with some different bike mounts/cases. This will hopefully good comparison of what bike apps for the iPhone, to help people chose the one that is right for their needs.
With all these Apps and accessories you can get the iPhone is a perfect choice for cyclists. This phone has great GPS/Mapping capabilities, battery life, and a great 8mp camera with 1080p video. It would be great to do everything on bike tours.
I have enjoyed the phone so far. Just waiting to get some cases to feel safer using it on the bike before starting the reviews. Here are the first videos I took with the iPhone when I was riding along the river on the bike path.
Recently GM had placed this add in many college newspapers across the country and has taken a lot of flack for it. The ad depicts an embarrassed young man on a bicycle covering his face from an attractive female sitting comfortably in a GM car. With the Quote “Stop pedaling… start driving.” at the bottom. GM has decided to pull the ad and they are apologizing for their offensive ad. (via there Twitter)
GM "Reality Sucks Ad"
Giant Bicycles has recently released a more truthful ad as a follow up to GM’s misstep.
Giant Reality Does Suck
Copenhagen Dual Leg Kickstand frount view
4 months ago I bought the Copenhagen Dual Leg Kickstand from Velo Orange, in hopes of using it on my Surly Long Haul Trucker. Despite my wishes, the stand didn’t work on the bike. There was nothing wrong with the stand itself or VO, it was Surly’s decision not to make the LHT kickstand capable (you can read more about Surly’s view of kick stand HERE). I knew this was going to happen so I had a back up. I would let my girlfriend use it on her bike. The kickstand that came on the Linus Mixte was a low quality, single leg kickstand that made the bike lean too far over, and would easily fall over when loading up panniers.
The Copenhagen Dual Leg Kickstand seemed like wonderful solution for that. I had chosen this stand over others mainly because it had adjustable legs, no need to cut them. It can be mounted onto bikes with a kickstand plate, or without (if the spacing is right). It comes with all the hardware to mounted the way you need it. The legs have large, rugged, plastic feet that can be unscrewed and adjusted to the length you need them to be. The plastic feet has a large foot print to help support it on softer ground. The legs spread down with a “scissor-action”, and when kicked up they lay on the non-drive side of the bike like most kickstands.
The kickstand makes for great help when loading up the bike with any weight, and keeping the bike from shifting too much. It’s always a help when loading the panniers. It is even helpful to keep for needlessly leaning your bike up against things that can scratch it, and stopping it from being knocked down in a bike rack. This kickstand also make for quick changing of both front and back tires. I used it that way a couple of days ago after the bike got a flat at U of O. The wheel was able to be off the ground just enough to get it out, and was stable enough to stay up with just the stand and one wheel. Great, quick way to do any small maintenance out and about with the bike.
The kickstand is made out of strong aluminum and and rugged plastic feet. The “scissor” spring is good and strong, but still easy to kick down and up. The only problem we have ever had with it is the mounting bolt has come lose a couple times while riding, so the pedal can just barely reach the very end of the kickstand while riding. It took us a while to figure out where the noise was coming from. This could easily be fixed with a little lock-tight on the threads. The kickstand is not as sleek or pretty as some others, but still has some design quality to it, making it look nice on any bike and getting the job done.
This is a great stand for all bikes, recreational, utility cyclist, commuters and even touring bikes could take advantage of this stand.The Copenhagen Dual Leg Kickstand is carried by Velo Orange and sold for $30.00
Copenhagen Dual Leg Kickstand rear view
Copenhagen Dual Leg Kickstand legs up
Tagged bicycle, bike, kickstand, Linus, Long Haul Trucker, mixte, review, Surly, velo orange
Airzound mounted on my LHT, you can see a little horn on the white triger
I ordered the Delta Airzound Bike Horn back in February. I have had a good 8 months to try it out now. The Airzound is a great accessory for a cyclist that does anything more than recreational cycling. The basic design is a plastic bottle (it looks just like a single use bottled water) full of compressed air. Leading off of the bottle is a plastic hose that meets up with the horn itself. The horn has a button over a schrader valve that you can refill the bottle with air through. The bottle can hold up to 80psi (claimed to be about 30 blasts). This is a closed system, so if the hose gets pinched, or punctured, it won’t work. Delta doesn’t offer any repair kits.
Placing the horn on the bike took me some time before I got it mounted where I liked it. There is little space on my bars for accessories, but I still figured out a good way to mount it. The bottle and hose are another story. The bottle is a smaller diameter then the average cage, so it’s hard to fit it in securely. It might have been nicer if they had made it out of thicker plastic and made it fit like a cycling water bottle should. The bottle is wrapped in velcro and it comes with another velcro strip to zip-tie onto the frame. Different kinds of bike frames will have different set ups for the Airzound. The tube that leads to the horn can also be hard to route. Make sure not to crush the tube under a zip-tie; that will cut off the air, or worse, break the tube. The easiest thing to do is run the tube alongside the cables.
The overall manufacturing quality is good, no flaws. The sound from the horn is extremely loud. It really works when you’re trying to get a car’s attention. The drivers seem to get surprised when there is such a loud sound coming from a little bike. But that is what this horn is all about. I must warn you though, this horn is not to be used towards other cyclists or pedestrians. Please be cautious about using it around people who aren’t in cars. It is claimed to be up to 115dB. This falls in between a car horn (110 dB) and a jet engine (120 dB). There is a volume control, but I haven’t experimented with that feature. I prefer to leave it on the loudest setting, just in case. Even when I know I’m about to use the Airzound, the noise that comes out of it startles me sometimes. I try to warn whoever I’m riding with before I use it, so they are prepared.
I haven’t had any problems with mine yet, but have read cold weather will dampen the sound. All in all, this is a great horn for cyclists, whether you are bike touring on country roads or your daily commute involves a lot of traffic. This horn lets you be heard when needed.
The Delta Airzound Bike HornMSRP is $39.99. I bought mine off of Amazon for around $25, and I have seen them in most LBS for around $25-30. There is nothing else out there on the market to really compete with this product. So bottom line is, if you want a horn to make others aware of your presence when necessary, this will do the trick.
Trigger button lifted to show schrader valve used to refill the air
Front view of Airzound
Air bottle mounted under down tube in an upside down bottle cage for clearance
I miss my Schwinn Continental; it’s back in Illinois at my parent’s house. Well, I hope it is, if my dad hasn’t done anything with it. For what it’s worth, that is a great little bike. They might weigh a lot, being that it seems to be made out of old gas pipes. These bikes are old Chicago Built Schwinns. The bike was always nice to ride, never seeming to have any problems. I keep seeing a lot of Continentals around Eugene, which just makes me think of mine sometimes. These are the only photos of the bike I can easily find.
My Schwinn Continental and I standing of the frozen Illinois River
My Schwinn Continental and I in Chicago (I think)
Surly has recently posted photos on their website of the Disc Trucker. Though I am not personally interested in disc brakes for myself, I think they have made a great move offering this option. Many people have been excited about this. I like how they solved the issues of the rack mounting with a disc brake by mounting the dropouts within the rear triangle, allowing any rack to be used. And moving the spare spoke holder up on the non-driveside seat stays. The bike looks really clean, and the new Super Dark Green is a great color on this year’s bikes. I can’t wait to see this at a LBS.
Disc Trucker, Super Dark Green
I know a lot of people hoped the Surly Cross Check would be getting disc brakes. I don’t like to speculate but they are probly still working on it, tring to get over the issues of the Semi-horizontal dropouts and disc brakes. Even with disc, people will love that even more in a single speed cross setup. But until then you just have dreams.
I grew up in central Illinois. In August of 2007, I bought my first real “adult bike” after needing a bike to save money on gas. Since then I have had many bikes. In April of 2010, after moving out to Oregon, I got my beloved Surly Long Haul Trucker. I have put a lot of good miles on the bike. This blog is about my life in Eugene.
Contact me at:
BreadBike [at] gmail [dot] com
Bread Bike 