18 Tuesday Sep 2012
Posted in Cycling
In my quest for light and power perfection, I added a charging setup, as well as a new mount for my headlight on my rando bike. The plan is to power it all via dynamo hub…
Via Flickr:
I added the BioLogic Reecharge adapter, and set up the light to mount under the rack so as not to interfere with the platform. This was about the only place I could fit a mount on the Mark’s Rack keeping the light under the rack bed.
28 Tuesday Aug 2012
Posted in Cycling
Tags
ahh, case, charger, cyclemeter, dynamo, garmin, gps, hilsen, iphone, motionx gps, randoneurring, rivendell, runkeeper
When I decided to try out the insane sport of randoneurring, I quickly found that my iPhone running my tracking app, RunKeeper, was not going to work. The battery only lasted 4 hours in GPS mode, and these rides started at about 4-5 hours. I ran out and picked up a Garmin, as these things still take AA batteries and go for 25 hours before expiring. After riding it on one brevet in March, and fiddling/cursing the old mode of convoluted GPS UI/OS the Garmins use, I launched it off the handlebar mount on a large bump on the commute home one night. I didn’t notice it was gone until I came to the next stop light, and after circling back to the likely area, it was never found. After weighing the logic of dumping another $200 into a device I found cumbersome, I decided against it. The iPhone has GPS and will always have a more competitive app arena that will ensure the best GPS experience. Already, apps like CycleMeter, MotionX GPS, and RunKeeper have better UIs and more specific usability features. Now I just had to find a way to use my dynamo hub to power both the lights and the iPhone.
There are a few options out there. Peter White sells some chargers, Wahoo makes a case with built in battery, but I settled on the BioLogic ReeCharge system that is made up of a case/battery combo, a handlebar mount, and a dynamo charging system. The setup was very straightforward, and I used my older iPhone 4 with it for the first few weeks (in case it launched, as well)
iPhone case mounted on A. Homer Hilsen
I had no issues with the case coming loose on both road and trail over the past month or two of use. I have put a couple hundred miles on the bikes with the case mount, and gone over some knarly bumps, but the case has held fast. This is by no means an exhaustive test regime, but it has certainly done better than the Garmin I had. Wiring on both bikes was simply a matter of merging the light and ReeCharge wires at the clips that attach to the hub. This took about 15 minutes at most. The other end just plugs into the handlebar mount. I honestly had a tougher time figuring out what to do with all the extra wire. I took a couple different tacks on the two bikes. On the Hilsen, I wrapped the extra around the handlebar mount, as I was trying to minimize the wiring down on the frame:
Wrapped around handlebar mount
On the Hunqapillar, I coiled the cable around the shifter cabling. I did this one first, and didn’t like the result, as it is more visible overall:
Coiled
The dynamo unit is strapped to the back of one of the fork legs, and simply held in place by zip ties. Here are some pics of my wiring on the Hilsen. I followed the basic process that Lovely Bicycle had posted a while back to keep the wiring as invisible as possible, while still being an easy job that doesn’t require any frame drilling or fiddling.
Front Hub Mount Point
ReeCharge unit
Cabled up to Bar Mount
More images of how the lighting cables are run are found HERE.
02 Thursday Aug 2012
Posted in Cycling
Bosco, a set on Flickr.
I’ve added a new bar to the mix. This went on a bike it was seemingly designed for. I have an ’88 Miyata mountain bike that is long and low, and was built as a downhill racing bike for the mighty Greg Herbold. I had used Nitto Albatross bars on it for a few years, and they were almost perfect, but I felt that I couldn’t get low enough as I used a “dirt drop” stem to get them up high enough for upright commute duty. The Grant Petersen designed Boscos do a great job of giving two extreme positions that is really the beauty of a good drop bar. If I hold the flat center position, I get a stretched out, low profile, and If I want upright, the swept back portion is high and mighty long. So far, so good.
Two considerations in going with this bar. I put a 13 cm stem on it to get it far enough forward so the back of the bars don’t impale my legs. It also helps stretch me out. I also had to really crank the stem down on the bar to keep it from moving. This bar has some serious leverage!
02 Thursday Aug 2012
Posted in Cycling
Tags
B17, brooks, Deb Banks, leather, obenaufs, Pearl, proofide, randonneur, Rivet, saddle, Selle Anatomica, Titanico
Brooks B17 – Rivet Pearl – Selle Anatomica Titanico (left to right)
I’m a convert to the comfort of a good leather saddle for longer distance bike rides. The look and durability of a nice leather saddle is a plus, as well. I’ve been riding the Brooks B17 saddles since 2008, and have ridden up to 200km on one. At that distance, I was not too sore post-ride, but I definitely had a bit of numbness for a few days. The only other issue with the B17 is that you have some minor maintenance to attend to if you want the saddle to last. It is not waterproof, so a cover, and regular application of a leather treatment (Brooks Proofide, or Obenauf’s) is recommended to keep a saddle in good shape.
I was rebuilding a bike for a friend, and he wanted to try a leather saddle, so I bought a couple of Selle Anatomica (SA) Titanicos. I figured he would be less inclined to baby the saddle, and they advertise a “water resistant” leather. The current thoughts on the SA saddles is that they don’t hold up well to clydesdales (folks on the positive side of 200 lbs). I’ve even read that they tend to stretch out quite a bit for folks in the 180 lb range, and often end up with maxed out tensioning screws within a year.
In looking for a good color match for the kidney and gray scheme on my Hunqapillar, I also wanted to add a Rivet Pearl saddle to the mix. This is a new saddle maker that uses US leather and design, and builds the saddles in Taiwan. The owner/founder is a well known randonneuse named Debra Banks who had worked for Selle Anatomica. This saddle has a cutout like the SA, but is built with thicker leather to firm it up. As a distance rider runs this company, I am hopeful it is designed to provide long distance comfort, and initial reports are that it does.
My observations are as follows:
(l-r) Selle Anatomica – Rivet – Brooks
I have not ridden the Rivet more than a few miles so I can’t comment on break-in feel. I will have to report back on that after a few hundred kms. I have installed the Rivet on my Hunqapillar which will become my daily commuter, as well as camp/tour bike. The SA is now on my Hilsen which will do primary duty on brevets for the immediate future. It is still the most comfortable of the three, and I have no problem with it on my 18-mile round trip commute in plain old pants or short (no padding). I’ve got a pair of B17s sitting on the shelf in semi-retirement. If the SA gives out, or the Rivet doesn’t break-in, they will go back on the bikes. They are my benchmarks. I may have one of them “slotted” by SA if I feel compelled.
Brooks B17 Side Shot
Rivet Pearl Side Shot
Selle Anatomica Titanico Side Shot
23 Monday Jul 2012
Posted in Cycling
Tags
camping, coyotes, Hunqapillar, mountain goats, nature, outdoors, rivendell, rough stuff, vacation
Mt. Rainier
I grew up in the Midwest near St. Paul, MN. I spent many long days exploring the northern woodlands in the lakes country at my grandmother’s cabin, and the woody marshlands of the 80 acres my other grandparents lived on north of the Twin Cities. I built spears and bows with nothing but a knife and branches or small saplings and twine. I learned to stalk in close to the wary game that lived in Minnesota amid the sparse populations. I didn’t have access to video games or good television (is there such a thing?) when I was staying with my grandparents, so I had plenty of time to come up with diversions. I grew up reading great hunting stories of the west, and always dreamed someday of moving where the mountains were, and spending time in the field amidst elk, antelope, mule deer, and mountain goats. Most of all, I learned to enjoy camping, and being in nature.
21 years ago when I moved to Seattle, I was still a midwestern boy at heart with a fierce love of the outdoors. As such, I worked hard to find new places in Washington state to explore. I tried deer hunting in the Okanagan, but ended up making an elk camp in the Cascades a few hours from Seattle. It was in an area that had just been clear-cut, but still had swaths of older growth forest, and importantly, there were elk and few people hunting them. I have always enjoyed the solitude of this place in the woods, and recently had a chance to revisit it.
View from elk camp
My wife and daughter had gone back to visit family, and I was itching to do an S24O (overnight bike camping), but I had a problem. I have a dog that I didn’t have a place to board easily. I worked out a solution in that I would drive up to the old elk camp and use it as a base for some riding around the area. It was also the ideal place to try out my new camping/touring/mountain bike.
Hunqa camper
I managed to scrape up through the overgrown back route into the old camp. It was apparent that nobody used the road anymore. I had to chop out more than a few overgrown branches, and one fallen tree on the way up to the old logging skid where we had made camp about 15 years ago. It was time to relearn how to camp in areas with no facilities. Pretty easy to rough it if you have water, food, and a shovel. Washington has thousands of square miles of wilderness if you don’t mind primitive camping, and the beauty and solitude can not be beat. I heard all of one or two other cars driving around the area, but none came over my “road” the whole time I was there.
North Central Cascades
I managed to camp here for two glorius nights, and had a couple of incredible rides. The first was to the near top of a rocky point that I always noticed across the northern valley. I had seen white specs on this in the past and always wondered if there were goats living there.
Goat rocks from the distance
Long story short – there are:
A whole family of mountain goats
The ride up was only about 5 miles total, but it climbed over 2500 feet, and with the temperature in the 80s, it was vigorous. I had to park the bike and scramble up the last few hundred feet, and the goats didn’t notice me until I was well within a hundred yards.
The man!
After the billy checked me out and decided I was more trouble than it was worth, I perused the ledges and noticed that the goat beds were quite evident on the rocks with lots of white fur and under coat stuck to the sharp rocks and plants.
Goat beds
After enjoying the views, I made my way back down to camp in a smashing descent. There is nothing like going 30mph on gravel on an un-suspended bike! The only rough parts were the washboard areas on the main forest service road. This ride was the highlight of the trip. Afterward, I took a nap in the trees with the dog, only to be awoken by a coyote that had made its way up the back side of our camp to within a stone’s throw. It decided we looked a bit out of place, and high-tailed it out of there. I think my dog thought it was coming over to play, and she never barked or made a noise at all. Beautiful critter!
When charging my phone later that night, I managed to drain my truck battery. After a few seconds of panic at being in the middle of nowhere, I relaxed knowing I had an easy ride back the 15 miles to the highway. The next morning I rode down the other route to the main forest road, and found a couple of fellows who helped out a guy in need of a jump start in a most unfortunate location.
The path less pedaled
Saved! That afternoon, I packed up camp and sadly drove back home to the city. Not before vowing to be back now that I had renewed my love of this place in the wilderness!
Cycle Seattle 