Aligning Handlebars: Update

It is an annoying distraction to be riding your bike and your handlebars are not quite square with the front wheel. They seemed to be square when you assembled the bike, but as soon as you ride it you can tell they are off a little.

Back in March, 2007 I posted this little tip for aligning handlebars: Hold the square end of a twelve-inch steel ruler against the center ferule of the handlebars, this gives you the long edge of the ruler to sight up with the edge of the front tire. (See above picture.)

I used my “Old Skool” bike as an example, but what if you have a modern 1 1/8 inch steerer, and stem. Often the front of the stem cap is machined square, so you can still use the straightedge method. Just place the ruler on the stem cap, instead of the bars which may be tapered.

However, there is another way that doesn’t require a straightedge.

Turn your front wheel at an angle, then closing one eye and sighting from above, sight the front and rear of the stem to center on the front tire. (See picture above.)

Stand straight and with one hand on the nose of the saddle, and the other on handlebars; lean the bike towards you, rather than try to position your head above the bike.

In other words move the bike to line up with your eye, rather than the other way around. Make sure the brake cables are tucked under the stem, so they don’t interfere with your line of vision.

                     

Unzip a Banana

Unzip a Banana was a catch phrase for a British TV ad campaign in the 1960s. To this day I cannot peel a banana without thinking, “Unzip a Banana.”

For cyclists a banana has to be one of the most convenient foods you can carry on a ride. It is the perfect size and shape to fit in your jersey back pocket, and comes with its own bio-degradable wrapper. (Its skin.)

An important source of Potassium, the banana is one of the healthiest fruits. Vitamins and minerals are abundant, offering vitamin A, a full range of B vitamins are present with Thiamine, Riboflavin, Niacin, vitamin B6, and of Folic Acid.

There is even vitamin C, with minerals Calcium, Magnesium, with trace amounts of iron and zinc.

About a 100 calories for a small banana to 140 for a large nine inch one, with 36 grams of carbs, it is a good source of energy to take on a ride.

Last Saturday I went on a long ride, 76 miles to be exact. I knew I would need to carry fuel for the trip; my choice was a double-decker sandwich. Three slices of whole grain bread; one layer of butter and cheese, the top layer a sliced banana.

A whapping 600 calories, enough to get me home from the halfway point. I used cheese because it is what was available at the time; I could have substituted jam or peanut butter.

I cut the sandwich in half, and tightly wrapped the two pieces separately in cling-film so they wouldn’t crumble and fall apart in my pocket. Then I placed both halves in a zip-lock bag.

The sweetness and moistness of the banana made the whole thing very easy to eat. It was cheaper than Energy Bars, and packed a lot more fuel. (Calories.) I find some energy bars are either dry and tough to get down, or tend to melt and get sticky.

I always try to keep bananas on hand, but try not to buy too many at once as they tend to ripen and quickly go soft. If they a over ripe they just end up a mushy mess in your pocket when carried individually, and if this is the case then the best way to carry them is in a sandwich as I have just described.

Another little tip; when you peel a banana, start fom the stem end. You will find you get less of those stringy bits that hang from the side of the fruit.

There is a lot more info on the banana on this website. What is your favorite food to carry on a long ride?

                     

Bicycling Mag's Top 50 List

Bicycling Magazine has published its list of the Top 50 most bike friendly cities in America. I’m not sure how credible this list is, or what it proves, or tells us. (Click on map above to view an interactive version.)

For example, top of Bicycling’s list is Minneapolis, with Portland, Oregon bumped to second place. Does that mean that Minneapolis is a slightly better, safer, or more pleasurable place to ride a bike? Only someone who has recently ridden in both places could answer that, and that’s not me.

I think a more accurate list is the one compiled by The League of American Bicyclists. (PDF File.) For starters this is an organization that pre-dates even the automobile; so they have been doing longer.

The League awards Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medals to cities based on several different criteria, like Engineering, Education, Encouragement, Enforcement, and Evaluation.

So let’s compare the cities as viewed on these two lists. The League of American Bicyclist has only three Platinum standard cities; Portland is one of them, shared with Boulder, Colorado, and Davis, California. Minneapolis on the other hand has Silver Medal status. 

The Bicycling Mag’s list includes Boston, MA and Miami, FL; neither of these cities has made it to the League’s list yet.

Also yet to make it to the League's list is my own adopted home town of Charleston, SC. However, it made it onto Bicycling’s list.

Whereas, there are three League Bronze Medal cities on South Carolina; these are Columbia, Greenville, and Spartanburg. None of these cities are included on the Bicycling map or list.

It appears that Bicycling is awarding points for trying; I know for example that Charleston is trying hard to improve and encourage cycling, and become more bicycle friendly. The same can be said for Boston and Miami, which is great news.

But trying doesn’t win the race, and these places have a long way to go to reach the standard of Boulder, Davis, or Portland. The danger is you start putting cities on a list as being cycling friendly before they have made it, and some people might just stop trying.

What is your view?

                   

Simple Dog Repellent

I never know from one day to the next what interesting email will drop into my inbox. Take for example the one I received a few days ago from a young engineering student from the UK.

Edwin DePrise grew up in Africa, Kenya to be exact, where his father was an animal conservationist. From an early age he discovered that the purpose of a Zebra’s black and white stripes is to confuse a predator like a lion for example that might be chasing it.

Forward to today and Edwin is a cyclist who noticed how dogs will often chase, even attack a cyclist. A dog is a predator and to the canine brain a cyclist gliding silently by might just as well be a deer in flight.

Edwin has developed this simple but ingenious little device that easily clips on the side of a cycling shoe that effectively confuses and deters any dog who gets close enough to bite a cyclist’s ankles.

It consists of a spinning disc inside a clear plastic casing. (See diagram left.)

The disc is divided into six segments colored alternatively black and white. A pair of these clip on the outside edge of either shoe.

The disc is pivoted slightly off center so the pedaling motion causes the disc to spin. This confuses the dog enough that it makes him hesitate or jump back as he goes to bite.

The result is the dog misses his mark and usually ends up getting his nose clipped by the spinning spokes of the rear wheel.

This actually caused Edwin some problems when he was testing the device. He found once the dog had had his nose rapped in such a way it was reluctant to chase again, rendering the dog useless for further testing.

This problem was overcome by fitting the test bike with a solid aero disc wheel on the rear. Some engineer's blue marking dye smeared on the sides of the disc wheel showed up on the dog’s nose, and a hit was recorded.

The idea is still under development. One problem has arisen, namely the left disc spins in a counter-clockwise direction and is effective 91% of times tested; whereas the disc on the right shoe spins clockwise and is effective only 47% of the time. The reason for this is not quite clear.

This makes the device work quite well in the UK where cyclists ride on the left side of the road, and most dog attacks there originate from the left side.

One simple low-tech solution Edwin is considering is a little red knob in the center of the right side disc so a cyclist could manually spin the disc in a counter-clockwise direction, should a dog attack occur. 

The device is not yet on the market; Edwin is currently shopping the idea to several manufactures. He expects the price to be very reasonable. He does not have a brand name yet; he refers to it as a Canine Repellent Ankle Protector (CRAP)

Go to http://www.crap.com/ for more info
 

The Redheaded Stepchild

Cyclists have always been society’s “Redheaded Stepchild;” unloved and abused throughout history. The above picture is titled, "The Unrestrained Demon of the Wheel,” published in “The Judge,” Sept. 23, 1893, reflects the attitude of the day.

Since the invention of the ordinary, or high-wheeler in the late 1800s, when horse drawn carriages were the transport of the day. It was the wealthy classes who owned carriages, and bicycles scared the horses.

It was not uncommon for a coach driver to lash out at a passing cyclist with his horsewhip, and pedestrians were not above putting a walking stick through a rider’s wheel.

Bicycles were expensive and initially cycling was a sport of the wealthy, but it was a young man’s pastime and even wealthy young men were viewed with disdain by the older generation.

Cycling was initially banned in places in England as being too dangerous. However, being a “rich man’s sport,” the ban was short lived. By 1880 there were 213 established cycling clubs in the UK. Remember, this was before the invention of the “Safety Bicycle” in 1885, and the pneumatic tire in 1888.

With the invention of the “safety” bicycle, and mass production that followed, it really changed the face of the sport, and people’s attitude to it. Cycling became affordable to the working classes and it quickly became both a pastime and a mode of transport of the masses.

In England the wealthy who lived on large country estates, suddenly found their space invaded on the weekends by the working classes on their bicycles as they ventured outside the cities for the first time to explore the countryside.

 Cycling was no longer a pastime for the wealthy, in fact to ride a bicycle was now a definite sign of being lower class.

The privileged upper classes looked for new ways to reclaim the highways again; of course, they found it in the form of the automobile.

However, the resentment towards cyclists, by the upper classes, was already established long before the automobile arrived.

The invention of the pneumatic tire meant there was an explosion in the sport of cycle racing. And nothing will disrupt a quiet Sunday drive to church by the local gentry, like a bike race. This led to a ban in England of mass start road racing in 1894; a ban that would last until the 1950s.

The result was road racing never developed in the UK as it did in the rest of Europe. In countries like France, Holland, Belgium, and Italy cyclists receive respect and toleration because of the popularity of cycle road racing in those countries. The general public on the continent of Europe has become used to seeing cyclists racing and training on the highways.

The only competitive events open to British cyclists were track racing, of course limited to those close to a track. A few mass start circuit races in private parks, and individual time trials, which would become the mainstay of British cycling competition.

It is interesting to note that in 1894, as road racing was banned in England as being too dangerous; the first motor race was held on public roads in France. This led to almost ten years of absolute carnage as racecars quickly developed to reach speeds of 100 mph (Without the brakes, steering and road surfaces to match these speeds.) and there was wholesale slaughter of both spectators and drivers.

The attitude of the wealthy was no doubt one of, what were the deaths of a few of the peasant class, as long as they could enjoy their sport? Much the same state of affairs existed in the United States; it was the privileged who initially drove cars. They set the rules of accepted behavior and attitudes, which still exist today.

Is this not still the attitude now? “What is the death or injury of a few, as long as I can drive as fast as I like, and in a manner that suits me?” Of course, no one intends for people to die, but behave in a certain way and the inevitable will happen. And if a cyclist or pedestrian gets hit, no real concern, just the question, “What were they doing on the road anyway?”

When Henry Ford made cars available to the masses, naturally they expected to drive to the same standards set by their wealthy predecessors. All road safety legislation since has been aimed at protecting the person inside the car, with little thought going into the protection of other road users, namely pedestrians and cyclists.

Those of us today exercising our rights by riding our bike on the public highways should not despair. However, we should be realistic and recognize that current attitudes of the general public have been formed over a 100 years, or more; change will continue, but slowly.

In the mean time we will remain the redheaded stepchild, and should expect the abuse to last a little longer.

Footnote: This article was first posted on October 19th, 2007, I thought it was worth repeating, with the addition of the picture at the top