USB Batteries Let Your Be A Forgetful Slob Bike Commuter and Watch Movies

It is dark now. The time change is always a drag if you love to cycle outdoors. You are using your bike lights everyday on your commute home from school or work. If you are powering your lights with AA batteries, USB batteries could be more convenient than batteries that require special chargers, in that USB batteries charge from a USB port on any computer.

Usually the realization that the batteries in commuter bike lights are on their last legs happens on a dark ride home from work or school in the evening. If you are disciplined, you will promptly put the dead batteries in the charger, and then make dinner. If not,  you will park your bike, eat dinner, chat, mess around on your computer, read a bit, watch some movies, and forget completely about needing to charge the batteries, until the next night when you are cheating death on your dark commute home.

With a couple of USB batteries, you are always covered. You can ride your bike to work or school the next morning and charge the dead batteries you forgot to put in the charger the night before on your computer.

You take off the green top, which is attached by an elastic string (kind of nutty), and plug them into your computer's USB port, just like a USB flash drive. Like many rechargeable batteries, it takes a while to charge them. And when the lights on the batteries indicate that the batteries are charged, you replace the green cap. They are not inexpensive. But they do offer another strategy for recharging batteries. Click to buy some.

Contact Information & Hours of Operation

Wheelgirl
1717 4th Street
Store C
Berkeley, CA 94710
(4th @ Virginia)

510.524.1400 = Telephone
www.wheelgirl.com = Website

Posted April 2, 2008:
We are in the process of interviewing bike mechanics for the season. This means that the Bike Component and Accessory part of the shop is open from 11am to 6pm everyday except Tuesday and Wednesday begining on April 3, 2008. If you have a mechanical issue, call or email to make sure there is a mechanic on duty during the transition.

Advertisement Policy

I am allowing Google Ads and other types of ads on the site as a way to generate click-through income to pay for the operating costs of the site. Most of the ads are served, so I do not get to hand-pick them.

I can't guarantee your experience with a product or service will be positive. It is always a roll of the dice.

(Bear with me as I frequently experiment with ad formats and placement.)

Anodized Nitto Track B123 AA and Nitto 018 Bullhorn Handlebars in Colors

You may like silver track bars. It is a classic look. And classic means something is always in style.

However, if you find yourself needing a fashionable pop of color to bring your ride alive, Nitto is making their standard silver 018 alloy bullhorn handlebar and their B123 AA track bar (the standard silver alloy version of the classic chromed steel B123 track bar) in the following colors:

• Black



• Blue



• Gold



• Gray



• Purple



• Red

Of course, this begs the question: Are they making stems in matching colors, too? Yes. Stop by the shop to check out both Nitto anodized bars and stems. (Bar specifications after the jump.)

The heat-treated anodized alloy bars are a bit more expensive. Fashion usually requires money. Style, on the other hand, is free, and all about you.

 

• The Nitto B123 AA alloy track bars have a deep drop design at 175mm, with a reach of 95mm. The clamping diameter is 25.4. You can shim them with Nitto shims, so they fit a 26.0 clamp. They weight 325 to 350 grams, depending on the size. They are NJS approved.


• Nitto 018 bullhorn handlebars have a 26.0 clamping diameter, a 148mm reach, and weight 250 gms.

Berkeley Artist Nemo Makes Trick Two-Wheeled Rides

I met Nemo last spring. He visited the shop and told me that he had made a bike, and he was having a hard time finding a matching pad for his front disc brake. He left the one pad, and a few days later, he rolled in his bike.

The Re:Cycle bike he had sculpted was over 8 feet long. The rotor for the disc caliper was a circular saw blade. The fork was made from aluminum baseball bats.  And he had created the rideable aluminum sculpture from just about everything but bike parts. A couple of guys visiting the shop kept saying Nemo, "You should ride that down to Pixar, someone would put that bike in a movie. We are serious."

I thought to myself, "Nemo, every time I see you riding that trick bike down 4th Street, we are all already in a movie."

Now, I am scrolling along in gizmodo, and giz has a post about Nemo's latest two-wheeled art project. You can read more about Nemo's scooter crafted out of old appliances. (Cool bike-inspired art by Nemo after the jump.)

Flip through the pages of his portfolio and check out his sculpture and robots. He has a rare creative talent for composition, proportion, and the incorporation of parts and images related to bicycles in his artwork.

• Materials for Junkyard Dog: Hair clipper, electric drill, cheese slicers, brake levers, teapot spout, magazine rack, furniture casters, spring. (Photo by Larry Strong)


• Materials for Clog: Parts of vacuum cleaner, arm chair, ice cream spoons, bicycle pedal, dining table leg, egg beater. (Photo by Nemo)


• Materials for The Representative: Motor boat motor, film editing machine, grill, lamps, golf caddy cart, oven pan, vacuum cleaners, bike wheel, motorcycle parts, garlic presses, teapot, typewriter, tape deck, motors, LED lights, microphone, speakers. (Photo by Nemo?)

All photos lifted from Nemo's site.

nemomatic.com to boing boing's bbgadgets
gizmodo to wheelgirl

Axiom Laptop Pannier Not Hip, and That is Just Fine

Here are a couple of ways to get your laptop to work via your bike:

1. Put it in your messenger bag, and lug at least 6-to-10 extra pounds of electronics and power cords on your back.



2. Put it on your bike in a rear pannier. Then remove the fat pannier and lug it into an business office via the usual short, sever-the-skin-on-your-hand handle. Oh, and have the metal rack clips dig deep into your leg as the awkwardly weighted bag bounces against your flesh.



3. Use the Axiom laptop pannier that converts with a strap into a shoulder bag, and carry your laptop to work with little fanfare.

I talked with Frank at the Axiom booth. Axiom is a Canadian company, and the bag I like is on the Canadian (English) site. The Transition Weatherproof Laptop Pannier Single Side 8 Litre is nothing super special. It just does what it is supposed to do at a reasonable price ($80 Canadian). It's made of 1000 - 800 denier waterproof nylon. The seams are sealed waterproof compartments. It contains a padded water-resistant laptop holder. The outside corners are protected with black plastic wear guards. And it has a slim profile. You stow your laptop and attach the pannier to your rear rack via the hardware attached to the pannier. When you park you bike, you remove the pannier. Then, you zip the nylon flap that covers the rack attachment hardware; pull out the shoulder strap, and carry what appear to be yet another unflashy laptop bag made of synthetic material into your place of business.

It is not cool or edgy fashion statement. There is no fanfare or seasonal colorway about which to get excited. It is a decent choice for those who commute by bike with a laptop and don't want to look like they are about to go on a cycle camping trip every time they get in an elevator. (If you hate the color gray, the only color available, spray paint is inexpensive.)

Photos taken by Wheelgirl at Interbike in Vegas 2007, except for the last two lifted from the Axiom site.

King Grip Platform Pedals and MKS Pedals at Interbike

I was at the MKS booth at Interbike, and in addition to checking out all of the great pedals, toe clips, and toe straps for track bikes and fixies, I met Grant Petersen of Rivendell and Bridgestone fame, as well as the President of Merry Sales. (Last year at Interbike, I met the President of MKS at the booth.) Merry Sales, which designs products under the Soma Fabrications name has quite a history. Located in South San Francisco, it is one of the oldest bicycle parts and accessories wholesaler in the United States. They started in 1906 after the big earthquake.

Anyway, the pedals that Rivendell designed and MKS of Japan manufactured are a grippy platform pedal that you can ride without toe clips. They are aluminum, made to corner well, and have little metal octopus-like suction cups all over them to grip the sole of your shoe. They come with attached reflectors so do you don't get pressed at night. (I know you think I can see you, but at least twice a week, I almost get run over while on my bike by another cyclist riding with no lights, no reflectors, and dark clothing.)

You can read more about the pedals on the Rivendell site. I plan to get the Grip Kings in the shop. They retail for somewhere around $50. I really like the MKS track and touring platform pedals, as do customers. MKS pedals are reasonably priced, look good, and hold up to daily wear and tear.

Another pedal that is well-conceived is a street & track pedal, the Sylvan Steam 2, designed to hold your soft-soled shoe in place. It has grippy teeth sawed into the pedal cage. I got some in the shop today in black and silver. (The all-silver ones are pictured below.)

The MKS RX-1 sealed-bearing pro-level track pedals spin for days. And MKS also makes the Custom Nuevo sealed-bearing track pedal that has a wider body, if you need more room for your feet. Both are pricey, but pro-quality kit costs some clamshells.

Below are double toe straps, adjustable toe clips for unique-sized or differently sized feet, leather toe-straps in classy colors, leather-covered toe clips for when you need to go to a formal engagement.

 

Photos above of the Grip King and MKS booth at Interbike taken by Wheelgirl at Interbike Vegas 2007. The track pedals and the MKS Sylvan Stream 2, were lifted off of the MKS site or the web.

Wheelgirl & Independent Fabrication Custom Steel Frame, Fork, Paint for $1900

Customers come into the shop asking about all kinds of special gear. I am a gearhead. I like talking about cycling technology.

However, when it comes down to how you should be spending your money, usually the first question I ask is "Does your frame fit you?". Most of the time, the customer say, "Not really". The second most frequently given answer by a customer is "I have no idea".

My suggestion: Stop looking at pricey jerseys and groupsets. Spend your coin on a custom frame that fits you. If you are thinking, "I don't have the budget for a custom ti frame." No worries. Wheelgirl just became a dealer of Independent Fabrication custom steel frames. Why? Because most cyclists are well-served by the comfort and practical performance of steel.

With a budget of $2000 or less for a custom frameset, you can get an Independent Fabrication (IF) steel Crown Jewel frame with a matching steel fork painted in the solid or metallic color of your choice. IF is a small company with an excellent word-of-mouth reputation for quality. The whole custom frameset made from Reynolds, Columbus and/or True Temper steels, depending on your riding style, costs $1900. (Unless you want a carbon fork instead of the provided steel one, then the price is $2200.) You will be riding your custom bike in a weeks and months, not years.  And we are happy to move your current components and wheels to the new frame that fits you. This way, you don't have to pony up a ton of money all at once to build an all-new bike, and you can upgrade components as they wear.

IF gives a 5-year guarantee to the original owner. And if you use the frame for five years (most people I know have their steel frames for much longer), you're paying about $380.00 per year. You probably spend more than that at Best Buy on a device or two that you will break within a year. And then there is the monthly payment for the gym you don't visit as much as you thought you would.

If you want to see how IF makes a custom frame click here. Daniel, the head mechanic at Wheelgirl, has a long torso, a lower-than-average stand over for his height, and long arms. Wave to him when you see him on his custom IF Beat Stick . (And when you want to feel pretty, try riding around on an IF track bike.)

 

 

Photos lifted off the IF website: Crown Jewel in steel, Beat Stick, Crown Jewel Track, Logo, Paint colors, plus see the links above for solid and metallic colors.

Skid Spot Charts, Skid Patch Calculators, and Your Bald Fixed Gear Tire

Customer Nick came into the shop needing a new 135 BCD Miche front chain ring for his track bike. (Miche shares its bolt circle diameter with the classic Campagnolo BCD. You can't put a standard track chain ring, 144 BCD, on Miche track cranks.) Anyway, I ordered him a new chain ring, and we started talking about ratios and skid patches.

There are a couple of schools of thought about managing skid spots. One school is that if you keep skidding in the same place, you will wear a hole in your tire and /or tube. However, if you know where the skid spot will be, you can rotate your tire to the left or right of that spot, now and again, and manage the wear better. The other school says it is better to spread out the damage. However, spreading out the damage means that it is harder to keep track of managing the damage. And that actual spot size is a bit deceiving. In fact, there are many conversations about hows and whys, and not all of the participants agree with each other. Also, when calculating skid spots, you need to be comfortable riding on the street in the ratio that you choose for your eventual tire destruction.

If you just like to ride, and you have a decent job, you may decide to buy a new tire when yours is as bald as Kojack and save your knowledge of numbers for the daily newspaper suduko puzzle.

Screen shot taken from the Hong Kong Fixed Gear site; more info. about it and other calculators and charts after the jump.

(For good or bad, I like a big ring up front. And, I like pricey tires, so skidding is not my life. Nick likes to skid, and he rides 45Tx 15T.)

1. First, I went to Sheldon Brown's site:

"If you make a habit of doing 'skip stops' you will wear your rear tire out considerably faster than if you use your front brake. This problem is exacerbated by certain gear ratios, because you may tend to repeatedly skid on the same section of the tire.

Riders who plan to do a lot of "skip stops" should consider the ratio when selecting their chain ring and rear sprocket. The mathematics of this is actually fairly simple:

• Simplify the gear ratio to the smallest equivalent whole number ratio.


• The denominator of the resulting fraction is the number of skid patches you will have on your rear tire.

Examples:

44/16 simplifies to 11/4, so there would be 4 skid patches.

45/15 simplifies to 3/1 so there would only be 1 skid patch.

42/15 simplifies to 14/5, so there would be 5 skid patches.

43/15 can't be further simplified, so there would be 15 skid patches.

This is based on the assumption that you always skid with the same foot forward.

If you are an ambidextrous skidder, and the simplified ratio has an even numerator or denominator, your number of skid patches will be the same."

2. Then, I googled, and read the thread on Bike Forums on skid patches.

3. From there, I read the why and hows with examples on the fixed.org.au site, which has a few illustrations and walks you through the calculation if you want to try to figure out what is going on when you skid in certain cog and chain ring ratios.

4. I happily found Denny's expanded

skid spot calculator chart. Denny has done all of the work. (I have not checked the accuracy. But you can save yourself a ton of time when it is time to order a new cog or chain ring.)

5. For those who love to download and post things, here is the constantly mentioned Apple widget for calculating your skid patch.

6. And from the Hong Kong Fixed Gear site, you can download a Rabbit skid patch calculator and go crazy. *But you need to make sure that your browser has the latest Java plug-in. If you you try to use the app. and you get a screen message that you need the Java plug in, go here. Cick on the Windows Online installation, multi-language link, which as of this writing is second from the top.

Good luck, and when you wear out your tires, feel free to stop by the shop. (I am going to make this into a permanent page on the site for easy reference.)

Green Hubs from Industry 9 Hubs & Wheelsets at Interbike

My first introduction to Industry 9 was during a visit to their booth at Sea Otter a couple of years ago. I checked out their mountain and BMX wheelsets with the red anodized, bladed aluminum, proprietary spokes. The corp. business cards were nicely designed, and I bought a couple of t-shirts, one of which has remained a favorite. The story about the name, according to one of the guys at the Sea Otter booth, if I remember correctly was that a machine shop had tried eight times to make a go of it and finally came up with the design and product the 9th time, hence the name, "Industry 9". To read more about this Asheville, North Carolina company, check out the About on their site.

At Interbike, I had a chance to talk with Fred at the Industry 9 booth and take apart some mountain hubs to see what it might be like to service them. My answer: Easy. Industry 9 is a USA boutique parts maker that might have some appeal to cyclists looking for something different. You can get spokes, skewers, and hubs in many different colors for your ride. And single-speed junkies can look forward to a 12x150 hub in the late fall or early winter.

Industry 9 is launching a new website at the end of this year. So, much of this info. I got from printed materials that they gave out at the show.

For 2008, Industry 9 are coming out with their own branded 26" rim that you can run tubeless if you like.  The mountain hubs still have 120 points of engagement due to a 60 tooth ring, 6 pawls, and 3-degree engagement. But you can now use regular, "J" bend, non-proprietary spokes. You can check on thru-bolt and Maverick and Specialized compatibility on their site. (The hubs can accept 9mm thru-bolt, and 25mm Specialized axles. So you can get 9mm quick release, 9mm thru-bolt, 20mm thru-axle, 24mm Maverick, and Specialized compatibility.)

And for road cyclists, this year there are finally road wheelsets. All of the road hubs offer 18H front and 24H rear drillings and 4 pawls. Here is the plan for 2008:

• The Ego wheelset is 1440 grams for a set with hybrid ceramic bearings. (The races are steel.) The rims are 30mm deep aluminum clinchers with bladed spokes and 15-degree engagement. They cost about $1000.



• Superego (tubular) or Superego C (clincher) (I couldn't find the weight) have hybrid ceramic bearings. The carbon rims are 38mm deep with straight-pull spokes, and 15-degree engagement.



• ID is an Industry 9 hubset laced to LEW Racing Pro VT-1 46mm boron / carbon tubular rims, and the hubs sport full ceramic bearings with straight-pull spokes, and 15 degree engagement. They cost about $3500 and weight 1100 grams. (Want to ride a wheelset that weights 2.425 lbs spring 2008? Maybe it is time to stop eating stale, snack-sized Almond Joys from your neighbor kid's Halloween haul?)

Photos taken by Wheelgirl at Interbike in Vegas 2007

Not Sure about HYmini Wind Charger for iPod or Cellphone

Here is another renewable energy portable battery charger for your personal music and communication devices. (Specifications are after the jump.)

The HYmini captures mechanical energy created by wind, and you can mount it to your bike handlebars. It is a "supplemental" wind generator with 1 W max capacity. You can also attached miniSolar cells to it, (0.7 W max capacity, 140mAh max output, 5V max output). Stringing up to 4 miniSolar cells to the device predictably increases the battery charging capabilities.  The HYmini has a lithium-ion battery (1200mAh) that is not replaceable. Output is 250mAh to ~850mAh. You can charge the battery in the device via the wind, up to 40 mph, then it turns off. Or you can use USB, a household wall outlet, or a miniSolar cell to charge it. However, it takes 4 hours to charge it via the wall outlet, and according to the site, you can't full charge the device via the wind.

What? You can't fully charge the wind charger via the wind? Isn't this a bit counterintuitive for someone spending $49.99 for a wind-powered battery charger?

In that cycling allows you to generate mechanical energy, and provides you access with solar energy, you could design a faster-charging, stronger portable battery charger if you could couple mechanical energy from wind and bike vibration with electrical energy created by solar cells. (Just a thought for you gifted children living in the snowy states and looking for a good cycling project this winter.)

(Note: If you are not technically minded, but like the idea of using available energy to power your portable devices, don't buy anything, just keep reading about different devices. It is just like learning about gas mileage and TV flat screen resolution. The more you read, the more the numbers will start to make sense. Then, type into google your questions like "what does mAh mean" and you will get a pretty good idea of how the features and benefits of different charging devices are measured. Also, you will learn a ton about  the electrical devices and batteries you use in your everyday life.)

According to the HYmini site, 20 minutes of wind capture at 19mph should let you run your iPod for 30 minutes and your cellphone for 4 minutes. The HYmini has a red in-the-process-of-charging light, and a green light indicates the device is charged. It is designed so you can't overcharge it.

My suggestion: Go to the site, hymini.com and read everything before even thinking about buying the device. I don't get the feeling it is really robust. But maybe someone has one, and they can write a post?

Gearheads, go to the FAQ page if you want to see any of the technical information, and click around for a while. Once you go to the store, you can't really read about product details. The Misc. tab that appears on the bottom of a section in the FAQ has the technical info.

(Be forewarned, the Flash site is slick and a pain in the neck. I am sure someone worked hard designing and implementing it, but is is really annoying to navigate. The FAQ Back links me to the store, or I have to go through the introduction again (and again). You have to drill down for lots of the actually useful info. Suggestion to the web design and content person(s): Make it really easy to read about the details. Turn off the constant scrolling. Put the technical and practical use information for all of your products in the same place with a clear link on the bottom nav bar on the homepage. Thanks.

keetsa
to gizmodo

Wheels Squeaking and Driving You Insane Check Your Skewers

While at Interbike, I had a chance to talk with Bill, the repair and service mechanic for Mavic. He was filled with really good information about why and how cyclists might be hearing squeaks coming from their wheels during long rides.

Many times,a cyclist hears the wheel making a noise, takes the bike to a shop, and the shop can't reproduce the sound. It is a frustrating situation for all.  According to Bill, two of the main reasons that race wheels make noise have to do with dirt in the hub channels that hold straight-pull spokes and inadequate skewer clamping power. (Skewers are the components that hold the wheels in the frame dropouts. Read after the jump if you are new to diagnosing wheel noises.)

Metal doesn't like to perform quietly if it is covered in grit. For mountain bike riders who thrash their wheels in axel-high mud, Bill said he has removed spokes, cleaned the dirt and grease out of the spoke channels in the hub with alcohol, replaced the spokes, and the squeaking has stopped.

Once dirt has been eliminated as a squeak-causing agent, the next thing to check is skewer clamping power. Evidently, according to Bill, the combination of forks with smooth dropouts and road bike race skewers made from light-weight alloys can create a situation whereby the clamping power of the skewer is not high enough to hold the skewer tight enough against the smooth fork dropout. The noise usually shows up after riding enough miles to create heat between the fork dropouts and the skewer. You hear the squeak, and the bike shop can't make the sound re-occur because the mechanic doesn't ride your bike long enough to create the same friction and temperature scenario.

The fix? Before deciding that you wheels are Lucifer, substitute a decent quality steel skewer for your light-weight race skewer. The steel skewers tend to have a higher clamping power, according to Bill, and if friction and heat caused by a not-tight-enough skewer is the cause of the squeak, the noise should disappear.

Photo taken by Wheelgirl at Interbike Vegas 2007. I am just using this photo I took in the Mavic Interbike booth as a an illustration. I have no idea if this wheel squeaks. It is the Mavic Cosmic Carbone Ultimate front hub on a $2999.90 dollar 1185 grams wheelset (520 gms front / 655 gms rear). The household mouse, who looks like s/he is driving, came from wikipedia.

Before you mess around with skewers, do the easy things:

1. Eliminate the possibility of damage to tubes, tires, rims, and spokes creating the noise. Check out the obvious. Make sure that all visible things are as they should be. For example, make sure that if you have a retention nut around the valve stem of the tube, it isn't rattling.


2. Make sure your hubs are not loose. A bike mechanic can check this for your easily.


3. Check to see that whatever skewer you are using is properly positioned in the frame or fork dropouts and adjusted to the correct tension. Ask your local bike mechanic if you have any questions. When you close it, the rule of thumb is that the lever on the skewer leaves an impression of the manufacturers logo in the skin on your palm. Don't over or under-tighten skewers.


4. Spin the wheel; squeeze the brake, and make sure that the pads, rim, tire are all positioned correctly. If they are not, have your local bike mechanic adjust it.

Nalini's Cap and Cycling Casual

I roamed around the Nalini booth at Interbike and saw a few clothing articles that I liked. Nalini had a bunch of new cycling casual clothes for 2008. The Pro 70 cap for summer 2008, in the photo, I am going to order for the shop. And it looked cool enough to ask the kind stranger, Jason from Utah, who was also visiting the booth with his friends, to model it for a photo.

A few of the major cycling clothing corps. are working toward making fashionable, lifestyle cycling-associated clothing lines. It is kind of like snowboarding company t-shirts and warm-up jackets for those who live in LA, and hate the cold. You can't really comfortably wear a non-insulated cotton warm-up jacket in the snow, but you can go clubbing in it. Yoga togs have made it from the floor mats into the board rooms. And the entire service industry wears golf shirts with corporate logos.

Cycling lifestyle clothing, for example, means you can buy a pastel-colored non-wicking fabric bike jersey that has a silver embroidered logo on it and three back pockets. If you wear it on a 40-mile mountain ride, your sweat will freeze on you, and you will curse. But after your training ride and shower, you could work the sporty look at dinner and a movie.

I'll keep my eyes open when I visit the local mall and AMC theatre and report on the health of cycling casual. It could be good, or it could go the way of weight-lifting casual. Remember those neon zebra-striped loose cotton warm-up pants that the weight lifters used to wear in the 1980s?  When they stopped wearing them in the gym, where the guys looked kind of weird but strong, and started wearing them to dinner, where they just looked weird with bad hair?

Ask your close friends and think hard before deciding that you are stylin in something that successful athletes avoid wearing when they are not working.

Photos by Wheelgirl at Interbike in Vegas. (Thanks Jason for being a good sport and a great cap model.)