Utility Tips: The KLICKfix Lightclip

Rixon and Kaul Light Clip.

Ok
So you have your bike kitted out for some serious utility cycling.
That may well include a front basket.

The problem:
So then you mount you light on the handlebar, and tha basket and load gets in the way, so you can't see the potholes, and other folks can't really see you so well.

Long-Term Review: Pacific Outdoor Shopping Pannier

Pacific Outdoor Shopping Pannier (right), shown here with a BikeBins pannier (left)

I bought this pannier (just one), on sale, for a bit less than 20 pounds ($32, 24 Euros) in August 2014, so I have had it a bit more than four months at the time of writing. Iirc, I got it from SJS Cycles.

Long Term Review: Aldi Bikemate Roll-Top Panniers

Aldi Bikemate roll-top pannier, seen here mounted
on the extra-long rack of a Pashley Mailstar

Revolution mini-pump in the EBC winter sale!

EBC's sale is always a chance to stock up ...

As I mentioned in my last post, Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operative have their winter sale on NOW!

I just thought I'd skim through the "sale" stock, not really looking for anything, but just to see what is what.

The mini-pump is dwarfed by the 17L BikeBins pannier

And I found that the Revolution Air Mini Track Pump I reviewed (and highly recommended a while back) is on sale at just £9.99 (that's about $16, 12 Euros).

I paid about 30% more than that for mine, and I am delighted with it.
My colleague at work, Richard, has borrowed it a couple of times as well, and he thinks it is both good and very compact, and he is impressed with it, too.



So now's your chance ...

Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operative Winter Sale

The good folks at EBC have sent me their mailing about their after-Christmas sale.
The sale starts on the 27th December 2014.
I have a few EBC items here - I particularly like their mini-pump (with a gauge) that I take on my commute, and of course, my bike has a "I love my bike" oldie-style "dring-dring" bell from EBC too (that bell was 30% off in the sale!)

But, of course, there is more to their operation than that.
they do a wide variety of bikes, parts and accessories, and the co-op is, appropriately enough, actually owned by the folks that work there.
For us folks down South, we have to rely on the internet, but for folks from Manchester and "upwards", they can actually go to a store!

So, give them a look, and see if they have anything that suits you.
I know I will!

Where to get "short" spokes?

Sometimes spokes break.

While many online big names and "big box" stores sell spokes for "full-size" bikes, where does one go to get a spare spoke for a smaller-wheeled bike, like, for instance, the Cinzia folding bike I owned for 20-odd years?

While very popular bikes, like the Brompton, are catered fairly widely catered for, when it comes to the various lesser known brands, it gets a bit harder.

After some careful measuring up, I established that my folder needed a 192mm long spoke.
Go online to your favourite supplier, and just see if they stock 192mm spokes!

Bike Bins Pannier Repair

The replacement parts arrive

Sightings: Bloomsbury Bomber

Anna and I went shopping

Quite a bit of shopping can be carried on a pair of cheap bikes!
This is what Anna and I bought today.

Today, Anna and I went shopping on our bikes.
We took, obviously, our bikes (Anna's has a basket mounted on it), our one serviceable Bike Bins pannier, our Pacific Outdoor pannier, a cheap pannier from Aldi, and a rucksack.
I HATE wearing a rucksack while cycling, but Anna seems to quite like it (!)
Bit like the famous Jack Sprat and his wife, I guess :-)

Problems in Paradise

As many of you know, I live in Aylesbury, which is much more "cycle-friendly" than many English towns.
Well, as I was enhoying the local cycling infrastructure, I encountered a problem ...

VeloViewer goes Pro, and I look like stopping using it.

You have heard me raving about VeloViewer on this blog, and I even encouraged you to donate to the running costs  - I myself, donated a fiver ($8, 6 euros).
However, VeloViewer has decided to become a professional project, not just an enthusiastic amateur providing an add-on to Strava.

Pannier Problems

The mounting strip on one of our Bike Bins panniers
has a split in it!

Remember our long-term favourite pannier?
The Bike Bins hard-sided, lockable pannier?
Anna finally broke one!

And a Merry Christmas to you, too!

Mermaid with lights for Christmas 2014.
The lights are actually multi-coloured, but the green ones seem to come out looking much brighter in the picture!

Not quiteCchristmas just yet, but it is the season for Christmas decorations.

So I got the lights out for Mermaid.

A slightly different layout than last year, as I don't currently have the front rack and basket fitted, so I just attached the lights to the frame with clear tape, rather than all the cable ties I had to attach thenm to the basket last year.
The battery/control box is taped under the seat - switch facing downwards to try and keep the rain out. The "switch down" technique worked last year, so here's hoping!

Flandria - winter dreaming

Flandria - one of the hallowed names of cycling!

While out and about in London last weekend, I spotted a Flandria.
"A what?"

A Flandria.
This is a Flandria, shown here with a "proper" Raleigh mixte.

A Flandria, shown here with a Raleigh mixte

Classic designs - the drop-handlebar Flandria and the roadster
Raleigh mixte

Flandria and Raleigh -
is that a well worn Brooks saddle on the Raleigh?

OK, schmOK.
So a blast from the past.

Flandria is linked with Merckx, Maertens, Kelly, and many, many other great riders, all of whom donned the Flandria "team" colours.

But more than that - they still make bikes.

Fixing a broken spoke - removing the gearset

Three tools for removing rear sprocket clusters.

Some time ago, I did a short piece on replacing a broken spoke.
It was, quite rightly, pointed out that, unlike the hub-gear set-up I illustrated, many bikes have a derailleur set-up, and require an additional step.

If you break a spoke on the "drive" side (that's the side with the gears) of a bike with a derailleur set-up, you usually have to remove the set of gears from the wheel in order to have room to get the new spoke in.

Plenty of advice is available elsewhere on the web for this, so I will just cover one topic which may be of interest to the rider about to undertake this for the first time.

Derailleur bikes, except Campagnola models, and some vintage models, tend to have one of two types of rear gearing.
There is the "freewheel" design, still fitted to lower-priced new bikes, including 6-speed Shimano SIS set-ups.
Then there is the "freehub" design, which is fitted to bikes with eight-speeds and above. There are a few older 8-speed "freewheel" hubs about, but the design flaws with that was a major reason why the "freehub" design has become dominant for more than 6 speeds.
If you have seven speeds, you could have either design!

Spa Cycles Steel Audax - winter dreaming

This little beauty is the Spa Cycles Steel Audax, and is now available for under £1000 !
(that's about $1600/1200 Euros).
And the steel frame is not just the "Reynolds, but only just" 520 that makers often use - it is the fancier 725, with better tensile strength etc. etc.
Carbon forks, too.
Lots of Shimano 105 parts too, which is outstanding for the price, at least in the UK!
Weight is in the 10.2 kg (about 22.5 lbs) range, depending on frame size.