Month: January 2012

Categories
Surly Bikes

Surly Moonlander

surly moonlander on the way to the moon
The Surly Moonlander

There is this dog sled race in Alaska. At some point somebody decided the same race could be done on bicycles. Riding in the snow on normal mountain bike tires was more than challenging though so some early innovators would weld two or three mountain bike rims side by side and mount tires on each rim in order to be able to float over the snow. Over the years wider rims and tires were developed and now there are a number of companies making so called “fatbikes”. Now Salsa Cycles has a fat bike in their lineup (Mukluk) as do a dozen or so other smaller builders. In Alaska, where the concept originated, two companies are making fatbikes. Chain Reaction Cycles sells the 9:Zero:7 and Speedway Cycles has the Fatback. And there are a few good blogs about the fat bike experience, notably Fat-Bike dot com and pugsley on patrol

Giving credit where credit is due here is a link to a little fatbike history.
Surly bikes entered the market with their Pugsley model and recently raised the bar with the Moonlander, designed from the ground up to go where the Pugsley can’t. The Moonlander takes 26 x 4.7 inch tires!

Bikerafting Alaska’s Lost Coast: Yakutat to Glacier Bay. from lacemine29 on Vimeo.

Designed from the ground up to go places the Pugsley can’t the Moonlander comes with 100 mm wide rims designed to fit 4.7 inch Big Fat Larry tires. To make these work Surly had to design and tool for the manufacture of some specialized components, notably the Mr. Whirly Offset Double crankset and the Clown Shoe rims.

offset crank arm
The left crank arm of the Mr. Whirly crankset gracefully matches the curve of the chainstays.

the surly clown shoe rim
The wide rim has cut outs for weight savings. That is the rim tape/liner bulging out of the cutouts.

the footprint in sand of the big fat larry tires next to a narrower tire
The 4.7 inch wide Big Fat Larry tires (top) leave a very low impact footprint.

riding the moonlander
There are plenty of brazed on eyelets for mounting racks but the only rack that currently fits without modification is the Surly rear rack, and it only fits, without modification, on the rear. The front fork does have eyelets for the Salsa Anything Cage though, so a rear rack with panniers and a couple of Salsa Anything cages on the fork should be enough to carry gear for most adventures. Revelate Designs in Anchorage , Alaska specializes in building frame bags for these bikes too.

Categories
Hermit's Workshop

Carrying Spare Spokes

In bike touring, as in life, one needs to plan for the worst and hope for the best. The middle of nowhere is nowhere to be with a broken spoke without a little bit of know how and prior planning. Breaking a spoke is one of those rare occurrences but it does happen and the bicycle tourist needs to carry extra spokes in the proper lengths, a spoke wrench, and a tool to remove the rear cassette. A search on the internet brings up many instructional videos on how do do the deed, so I’m not going to duplicate those here.
It might be a good idea to carry a FiberFix spoke replacement as a stop gap until the next bike shop too.

What I do want to share is this idea for carrying spare spokes. I don’t claim to be the first one to think of this, in fact I normally tape some spokes to my left chainstay, but I decided that looks too ghetto. A two or three inch long piece of foam whittled into a cylindrical shape a little larger than the inside diameter of the seatpost can be pierced lengthwise with three or four spokes and then stuffed inside the seatpost.

spokes piercing a piece of foam
Penetrate the foam. Then thread a nipple on the end.

Foam inserted into seat post, with spokes
The foam should fit tightly enough that it won't bounce out

The spokes are relatively easy to access (just remember to mark the seatpost before removing it so the saddle height will be the same when reinstalled.) Some tourists stuff spokes into the ends of the handlebars but I don’t like the idea of the spokes being bent like that, and it wouldn’t be that handy on a bike with bar end shifters.
So there you have it. One step closer to being self-sufficient on the road.

Categories
Advocacy/Awareness Living Vicariously

Bicycle Traveler Magazine

Sept 2011 Bicycle Traveler coverIn October of last year (2011 that is. I know it’s over 3 months ago) We received an email from Grace Johnson who is publishing an online bike touring magazine called Bicycle Traveler. She sent the following about the September, 2011 issue:

About Bicycle Traveler magazine:

Bicycle Traveler is a free international magazine on bicycle touring. It’s full of entertaining stories and inspiring photography which will have you dreaming over new destinations, as well as information over cycling gear.

In this issue:

Articles in issue #1 September 2011 include Checkposts & Magic Letters Long distance cyclists Hiromu and Peter Gostelow cross into the Central African Republic. Riding high in the Dolomites the Cycling Gypsies pedal over Italy’s Passo Giau with the help of their dogs Paco and Jack plus Tibet a photo story inspiring photos from Nathalie Pellegrinelli as well the short stories Small town America and the Hungry Cyclist.

The magazine contains no advertisements and can be downloaded for free at the bicycletraveler website
Their plan is to publish an issue 3 times per year in January, May and September. That means a new one will be coming out soon, so go to the site and download a copy and sign up to be notified when the new one comes out. Could be good reading while dreaming about your 2012 tour plans.

Categories
Advocacy/Awareness

Bicycles and Traffic Lights

bike box in traffic laneIf bicycles are to ever start being considered legitimate forms of transportation one of the first things that needs to happen is for bicyclers to own their rights and responsibilities. That means, among other things, riding in the street and not on the sidewalk. Making sure drivers see them and know what their intentions are. Using the bike lane if there is one and if not, taking their place in the traffic lane. Most state laws allow this unless traffic is being held up. And most people are not psychopaths who will intentionally mow down a bicycle. In fact, most accidents happen when drivers are not expecting to see a bicycle, as when one suddenly enters the street from a sidewalk.

Following all the laws all the time is a challenge though since the infrastructure is designed for cars. One example is the sensors, loops of wire buried in the pavement of the travel lane near the stop line, which detect vehicles at intersections and tell the lights when to change. They are meant to detect metal but most of them are not super sensitive and don’t detect bicycles. Besides, they are in the traffic lanes and not on the side of the road or in the bike lanes. The humantransport.org website has a good article about how to make these detectors detect a bicycle.

Intersections in Pleasanton, California, have been outfitted with radar that not only detect bicycle traffic to trigger green lights, but differentiate between bicycles and cars.

The devices, called Intersectors, have been installed at eight intersections across the city alongside bike lane and pavement projects. They use a combination of microwave and presence sensors to detect a vehicle, and offer enough precision to determine whether a vehicle has two, four or more wheels. Because it can detect what kind of vehicle is about to cross, it will adjust signal timing accordingly (as seen in the video).

The wired.com website has this article on their Autopia page
http://youtu.be/_Q0T_s_cl8g

The Bike Hermit is encouraged. As more people start to actually use bicycles, and other people see them and maybe think that they could do it too, the idea becomes more mainstream. Bicycles are a legitimate, efficient mode of transportation but still one that most people never consider. It’s easy to walk to the garage and hop in the car to go to the store. It’s actually easier, many times, to hop on the bicycle. And it’s almost always easier to find a parking spot!

Categories
Pumps

Zefal HPX Frame Pump

“Set up in 1880, Les Etablissements AFA are specialized in the design of toe-clips, toe-straps, bicycle bells and racks. Later called POUTRAIT, the company works closely with famous riders to develop products. In partnership with Mr Lapize and Mr Christophe, both French famous cyclists, POUTRAIT created, at the beginning of the twentieth century, products under two new brands: LAPIZE and CHRISTOPHE.

A few years after the creation of AFA / POUTRAIT, another French industrialist, Mr. Sclaverand, invented and manufactured the first bicycle valve which took his name for decades before being called the French valve or Presta valve.”

Photo of Zefal frame pump

Fast forward 100 years and the company is named Zefal, after their best selling product line. The Bike Hermit loves Zefal pumps. The Zefal Husky floor pump was the only one robust enough to hold up to the everyday requirements of a bike shop that fixed A LOT of flat tires. The Zefal HPX line is just as well built, and when you are in the middle of freakin’ Bolivia with a flat tire, you just want a pump that works.

Zefal says the pump is designed to fit vertically along the seat tube inside the frame and it is held in place by spring tension. One end of the pump is shaped to fit against the top tube snugly, without twisting, and the other end incorporates replaceable “wings” which get bracketed by the down tube and seat tube. That works fine except it eliminates the possibility of using a seat tube water bottle cage, which doesn’t make much sense, especially when many vintage bikes and many current touring bikes have a pump peg brazed onto the trailing side of the head tube. Zefal “declines all responsibility” whatever that means, for mounting the pump along the top tube.

However you want to mount it, here’s what you need to know:

–There are four sizes; 1,2,3 and 4

-The number 4 pump measures roughly 58 cm (22 3/4″) in length when compressed to the point where the handle just contacts the barrel. Applying more force compresses the spring inside the handle which bottoms out when the overall length of the pump reaches about 52 cm. (20 1/2″). The relative numbers for the number 3 pump are 52cm to 46cm, and for the number 2, 47cm to 41cm. and for the number 1, 42cm to 37cm

You will need to determine the correct size pump based on the inside dimensions of your bike frame parallel to the tube where the pump will mount.
PLEASE WATCH THIS TOO:


frame pump installed along seat tube
This is the way Zefal recommends using the HPX Classic frame pump. Measure the inside dimension of your frame to get the right pump.

Horizontal mount of Zefal frame pump
Zefal does not recommend this mounting (lawyers) but the end of the handle accepts the frame pump peg provided on many touring bikes. Again, when selecting a frame pump size it is crucial to know the inside dimension of the tube where the pump will be mounted.

pump peg on frame
This is a pump peg

The long, slim barrel of these pumps puts a lot of air to the tires quickly and up to a claimed 160 PSI of pressure. The barrel, handle and the pump head are made of aluminum and the piston shaft is steel. The “wings” are made of hard plastic and one of those on my pump has broken, but I was pleased to discover that there are replacement parts for those. Replacements are also available for the metal cap and inner pieces of the head and for the rubber washer on the business end of the piston.

In addition, not that we recommend or endorse it, the Bike Hermit has found his pump to be an effective deterrent to persistent, chasing dogs. One well placed blow between the eyes usually makes them rethink their choices.

BACK TO THE STORE

Categories
Surly Bikes Touring Bicycles

Surly Long Haul Trucker Demo Bikes

6 Surly Long Haul Truckers
Surly Long Haul Trucker, the best touring bike for the money.

 

They are here and ready to ride! As of January 2, 2012 we have in stock six complete Surly Long Haul Trucker touring bikes. 50, 54 and 56 centimeter bikes with 26″ wheels. 56, 58 and 60 centimeter bikes with 700c wheels. We are providing these as bikes for prospective Long Haul Trucker owners to test ride. It’s sort of a leap of faith to plunk down almost $1300 sight unseen for a touring bike and there are very few places (are there any others?) that have such a large selection of sizes. Bike Touring News is listed on the Surly Bikes site as a dealer, a “shop filled with folks who know our products at an ‘above average’ level“. We have years of experience selling these bikes and suggesting the proper sizes for people, but this should eliminate any guesswork.

Surly Bikes does not allow new complete bikes to be shipped because: “We think a bicycle in its built form should come from a bike shop that knows how to assemble and adjust everything so that your ride is ready to go. It only takes a couple of frantic e-mails from customers wondering why their steer tube is so long or in which order the headset parts should go on to cause concern in our hearts. Buying a bike locally gives you a place to go for adjustments, for warranty concerns should they ever arise, and for sizing assistance. Buying locally also helps your neighborhood economy grow, it can help you find a network of riding friends, and sometimes even provide a clubhouse. From our perspective buying bikes through a shop keeps the liability concerns to a minimum and helps keep our products from being simple commodities. We like to think they have a little life in them.” We think that is a good policy and we abide by it.

So, here’s the deal. If you are in the area come in (you might want to call ahead) and we will determine the best size for you based on some observations and measurements we will make. Then you can ride a bike and see how it feels. If you are between sizes you can ride one size bigger or one size smaller. After we have determined your size and know the options you prefer, and after you slap leather for a 50% down payment, we will order your bike. If the supplier is out of stock, or if you need the bike right away we will sell you the demo.

We can still sell all Surly frame sets and components online, so if you know what you need in those departments, give us a shout. If you don’t know what you need, then definitely give us a shout and we will help you sort it out.

Categories
Living Vicariously Tours and Rides

Bringing a Knife to a New Years Day Gunfight.

“That fool brought a knife to this gunfight, whereas I brought a gun. To this battle between guns primarily. If I were to rephrase this using the present participle, I would say “He is bringing a knife to a gunfight. What a dumbass.””

One could still call us a group, albeit a loosely organized and somewhat scattered one, far less coordinated than the flocks of geese overhead. Unsure of where we are going or who we are following, we present as an unpredictable flock to the motorists in the adjacent four lanes of one-way traffic. One 4 x 4 driver lays on the horn as he passes….can’t say that I blame him. Some riders skirt the left side of the traffic island with what appears to be mere inches between them and the box vans and pickup trucks, while some of us take the right side and rejoin them after crossing Broadway. Somewhere ahead of us (maybe? we don’t really know) is the main group which left about five minutes earlier and we form a paceline in order to concentrate and mitigate our individual efforts to catch them. In a few miles, with the group still not in sight, I sit up and am immediately left on my own.

I had been considering taking part in the annual New Years Day ride for the past few days and the weather was almost perfect so I decided I would have a go. In other years the ride has been very civilized with an easy to follow tempo and a reasonable 20 mile or so route. I reckoned there would be some people I haven’t seen in years and that it might be good for me to emerge from the hermit’s cave. But I was not at all prepared for or interested in a hammer fest.

Before the reader might think I’m whining, let me say that it’s my own damn fault. First of all, I should have been on time, and even though I have a good amount of miles in my legs this year, few of them have been ridden at any intensity. And I will turn 58 this year, too old to have anything to prove, and too weak if I wanted to. Let me say too, that Mike Cooley and Tom Platt, the owners of George’s Cycles and Fitness in Boise deserve most of the credit for the vibrant cycling community in Boise, not to mention building a successful business.

I normally avoid group rides in Boise because they often turn into competitions. Even the so called “no drop” rides will stop after a few miles and riders will be asked to seed themselves based on how far and fast they want to go. Then riders show the other members of the subsequently formed groups what bad-asses they are (or think they are). Not that there is anything wrong with that, in fact I used to be that guy. Every ride was a training ride. Sometimes I was the dropper but most of the time I was the dropee. Being able to ride with a fast group and stay with them on a ride or in a race was a rush and, to me, the point of riding and training. Now, not so much. I would still like to ride with a group at a lively, workmanlike pace, but suffering no longer has any appeal to me.

So, how was my ride? you ask. Very nice. Thanks for asking. I stopped here and ate my sandwich.
New Years Day ride rest stop
Then I stopped at this little pocket park somebody built in the industrial wasteland off Gowen Road. There is a mini storage and a construction office adjacent but no signage of any kind, and no apparent public access to the park. Somebody made this just to try to improve the built environment and I think that’s pretty awesome. I’m relatively certain the riders in the grupettos were too busy watching the wheel in front to see this.

small park with old farm implements
I stopped at this park, which appears to be private property. An old hay stacking crane and old farm implements.

I rode about 28 miles in just under two hours. I was tired enough when I got home. I guess that is the point for me these days.