Team Lope Tyre Clubbe

thieves will take any part of your bike that they can get their mitts on, it’s a fact of life. and no matter what technique you use, you’re really only defeating the casual thief – an accomplished bike theft ring will have everything they need to defeat all the methods of protection. but you still gotta do whatever you can, and one of the things people have been using for a while now for their wheels is security skewers. security skewers come in a handful of different varieties, the least secure of which being the hex-nut skewer, which i’ve actually used pretty extensively. it’s really just a deterrent to the opportunistic wheel thief, but it’s better than a regular skewer. the more secure varieties are the proprietary brands – pitlock, pinhead, onguard, delta – which all use their own proprietary key. the delta is a recessed triangle key, the pitlock uses some crazy shape i can’t even describe, and pitlock and pinhead both use a similar system of corresponding pins on the wrench to holes on the nut. all of these are good, but their keys are really bulky and some of the construction of the skewers themselves are just cheap and can break or bend or not even lock down very tightly.

well i’ve been doing a lot of research on my new build and i’ve discovered three other varieties that i want to hip you to.

TRANZ X
and
SUNLITE

the reason i’ve put these two together is because they both use the same thing to secure them – a pentagon nut instead of a hexagon nut. i like these two versions a lot because not only is the key something that you either have to buy or fabricate yourself, but they’re also very obscure. to me this means that it’s unlikely for thieves to come across them enough to have even seen the need for the wrench.

VELO ORANGE

these use a hex nut with a pin in the center of it, so you need an allen key with a hole in it. this also seems obscure enough to me that a thief might not have it, but the real benefit of these skewers is the construction of the rest of them. they’re a steel skewer, and while their end caps are aluminum, they have a knurled steel inset up against the dropout. this is MUCH tighter-binding than an aluminum face, which many of these others use.

in the end, if someone wants your wheels, they’re gonna take them. someone could stick a screwdriver into those VO ones and snap that pin off and use a regular allen. on the pentagon key versions, they could stick a wide enough screwdriver in there and use a vice grip on the OTHER side. on ANY of the security skewers, a ring of thieves is going to have purchased every version of security skewer made, just to have the keys. it’s gonna happen if it’s gonna happen, but for my money, i like these two new versions because of their construction, unique key structure, obscurity, and construction of the rest of the skewer itself (VO).

currently, i’m thinking of the VO ones.

One annoying thing about Wrongbike in Rando form is the prickly pear of those fender rods jutting out. It’s a system intended to be measured to fit whatever tyres you use, and then cut down to size. However, it’s a very overbuilt system too, with thick stainless rod. Bolt cutters flailed against them. Dremel choked on them. Calves rended by them.

My boss Al brought his Skilsaw in and we made quick work of those things, as measured to the tyres I’m using now witha little float to be safe in case of knobbies later.

All that was remaining was to deal with the raw, extremely sharp ends of the rods after cutting, which were of great concern to me both as a rider and as a father of a youngling with a penchant for ‘fix bikes!’

Picked up a more robust file and went to work this evening and got them rounded off to a bearable smoothness, then recapped them for science!

Simple stuff, but needed.

I was looking up reference material on WWII-era German artillery, so I thought rather than use Google, I’d go check out the local library, since I’ll be taking kids there eventually, assuming they don’t turn them into pizza places (in which case I’ll frequent them even more)… I havent been in a library since college. 15 years! I was used to long, tall stacks of dewey decimal filed books, and old terminals running fetch and a database. I walked in here and discovered art exhibits, vaulted atrium spaces, a robust intranet, a massive area of broadband-enabled guest machines, and sub-sections or galleries on different subjects. I was a bit disoriented. I found a computer in the stacks, applied for an ID card directly on the intranet, found the books (with some help, since the system linked all the libraries in the county so I was struggling to find the stacks in question) and then walked up tot he counter where I chose my favorite library-restoration pic and had it emblazoned on an ID. Then, self checkout.

Riding back, with three big books in my sweet, sweet basket, I was struck by how much longer it took than my internet searches, and how limited the accessible data really was. However, I was also reminded how much I love being in places with many, many books just a reach-out away from exploration. Just as in college, I had found myself pulling books at random and examining them.

Anyway, print ain’t dead! And cargo racks remain useful.

This guy was rad. Outside of Traders Joe, he rolled up to his bike, mounted the saddle, hitched his wheelchair, and rolled off. Granted he wasn’t paralyzed, so this was possible, the pedaling and such. He had a hip problem if I recall. Anyway, thumbs up were thrown.

what’s up, VICKIE?
(video’s about 4 years old, but i don’t care.)

ok, THESE are fucking sweet. despite being a bit clunky-looking, they supersede current bar-end blinky lights in two very important ways to me. one, they incorporate a forward-facing light. and two, they come off your bike WAY easily.

now as to the first point, the argument can always be made that a rear-facing red blinky is WAY more important than a front-facing white blinky. in fact i make that argument myself, often. but let’s be honest with ourselves – the more blinky you are, the better. not only so that cars can see you better, but so you can see the road better. so having BOTH as a semi-permanent attachment on your bike is pretty fucking desirable if you ask me. plus there’s the benefit of that semi-permanence. it’s two less things to forget when you head out in the morning. i forget my lights ALL THE TIME. it’s ridiculous.

as to the second point, sure you can make the argument that it defeats the whole purpose, but there’s a benefit to the ease with which these can be removed, and that’s battery replacement. the rear-facing bar-end blinkies that i’ve used in the past are a fucking pain in the ass to replace batteries in. furthermore, you might not need to have lights on your bike all the time. if you’re going out on a training ride and you know you’ll be going home afterwards, why bother? also, what if you’re a competitive cyclist? you need lights for commuting, sure, but when you’re actually in a race, you don’t.

anyway, i think they’re fucking dope.

ah, the lowly water bottle. they fall off on the road, they get stolen (why anyone would steal a water bottle is completely beyond me, but it’s happened to me twice), or they just get left behind somewhere. but they’re also a free giveaway item at nearly every sporting goods store and cycling event. this repetitive cycle (heh) means that if you open the cupboard of nearly any cyclist, you’ll see a bunch of water bottles next to the nice drinking glasses, and not only are they not the same bottles that were there last year, but they’re not the same bottles that will be there next year. it’s a base accessory that we don’t even really think about too much.

as such, there’s not a whole lot of manufacturers who put any tech into them, and if they do, it’s usually something only vaguely better than what’s come before it, such as some new valve design or insulation technique or aero shape. nothing too worth the extra price you have to pay for them. in fact the only real design advance i’ve seen in recent years that’s excited me is the advent of biodegradable bottles, and that’s really only because of my environmental beliefs.

however, apparently specialized really hit a home run with their PURIST water bottles. at the outset, they don’t seem too very different from every other bottle on the market – they’re recyclable, they carry 24oz, and they claim to have a superior valve – however, there is one incredibly important thing that at least according to THIS REVIEW, they are the ONLY bottle to provide – they don’t taste like plastic.

there are very few things i don’t like about cycling, and plastic-flavored water/gatorade is way up there. on a ride hydration is far more of a need than a desire, but that doesn’t make it any less unpleasant to kick back a bottle and have it taste like you just swallowed your debit card. so in designing the purist, specialized infused the bottle with silicon dioxide, an inert compound that the medical industry uses to create sterile surfaces for tests that can’t be compromised with any impurities.

according to the review (second link above) not only does it not taste like plastic (even on a hot day), but it also doesn’t stain or leave any aftertaste. in fact, specialized claims that odors, stains, and mold cannot permanently attach to the inside surface of the bottle.

the lifespan of the bottles are estimated to be several years, but you have to care for them differently than other bottles – no scrubbing! you can run em on the top rack of a dishwasher or you can just put a drop of dish soap inside with water and shake them. either method seems to be plenty.

i’m so on board. they’re around $11, which is kind of steep for a water bottle, but it’s totally worth it to me.

Headed to do errands, and on my last stop, the bank (not the lock you in and have you arrested kind) I parked in the valet/svc striped area in front of the adjacent restaurant. The ATM area at the bank entrance was loaded with people and dogs, and for whatever inexplicable Mill Valley reason, people were standing all over the sidewalk with lattes yacking.

Anyway, I come back a scant 3 minutes later, and a motorcyclist has wedged in behind me and a commercial truck in front of me. Kind of cracked me up.

Unlike any other vehicle on the road, I just popped the bike up and rolled off, with a wave to the restaurant hostess I know. Done deal.

Anyway, another glorious Wrongbikey day…

I’m usually taking the baby bike (Rapscallion) in on days I am doing a cargo run, as that has the big rack on it that can carry two bags of groceries (and, you know, Zoe)… but today i had stuff to bring in, and rather than backpack it, it was time in the rotation for Wrongbike. Recall that this is now using a VO Porteur rack, with a removable folding basket cage (designed for mounting off a rear rack like a pannier)… I have the cage secured to the Porteur in two ways: the bungie cargo net goes through the cage and connects to the Porteur, with the other end passing over the cargo where needed (and this is a tal basket so generally not needed) and cinching back down to the Porteur in front. There’s also a carabiner connecting the cage to the rack just as a precaution against those wily potholes. At the top, the cage is secured to the bars with a pair of leather toe straps. It’s very secure. And when not in use, the cage can fold flat against the Porteur, or along the side, or in a backpack.

Today’s haul was a returned UPS package, some Sammies, and granola and the like.

Best part was passing some roadies on their way to Tam…

So, there you have it. Racked, rolled, radness.

In honor of Philly’s first Zombiecat race…

http://www.pedalpushersclub.com/collect … dium=email