Category: Bike Accessories

Portable wind gauge

Wind is a really big deal when riding the LOST, which is about 30 feet above the surrounding terrain with no place to hide, so I jumped on the chance to buy a portable wind gauge when I saw them on sale at Radio Shack.

It’s not listed on the current web site, but Amazon has one that’s even cooler (at about twice the money). This is their flavor: La Crosse Technology EA-3010U Handheld Anemometer

How big a deal is wind?

Bro Mark sent me a link to a great calculator that translates bike speed, weight, grade and wind speed into watts.

The site points out on a flat road, aerodynamic drag is by far the greatest barrier to a cyclist’s speed, accounting for 70 to 90 percent of the resistance felt when pedaling. The only greater obstacle is climbing up a hill: the effort needed to pedal a bike uphill against the force of gravity far outweighs the effect of wind resistance.

Tailwinds make you Superman/woman

What boggles my mind is not so much the effect that even a minor headwind has (13 mph with a 6 mph headwind requires 80.6 watts of power), but the effect of a tailwind of the same speed.

It only takes 4.03 watts to maintain13 mph with a 6 mph tailwind. That’s why even a tailwind that barely causes the grass to move makes you feel like Superman/woman.

(6 mph is a significant number for me because that’s the lowest value that my handy-dandy Radio Shack wind gauge will record.)

I’ve had some good days when 2.5 watts of output would rocket me along at 18 mph with a 12 mph tailwind. Unfortunately, a lot of those days would have taken 317 watts on the return against the wind. I guess that’s why I probably only did 11 mph on the way back (143 watts).

Pacelines are about more than wind avoidance

Drafting is an important technique in road racing. Exploratorium Senior Scientist Paul Doherty explained, “The bicyclist, as he moves through the air, produces a turbulent wake behind himself. It makes vortices. The vortices actually make a low pressure area behind the bicyclist and an area of wind that moves along with the bicyclist. If you’re a following a bicyclist and can move into the wind behind the front bicyclist, you can gain an advantage. The low pressure moves you forward and the eddies push you forward.”

Wheelsuckers aren’t all bad

I always thought that the advantage to riding in a paceline was that the following riders (wheel suckers) were getting a wind break. It turns out that there is an advantage for the puller, too.

Suprisingly drafting not only helps the bicyclist following the leader, but the lead cyclist gains an advantage as well. Paul explained, “The interesting thing is by filling in her eddy you improve the front person’s performance as well. So two people who are drafting can put out less energy than two individuals (who are not drafting) would covering the same distance in the same time.”

Mark Boyd, a phred I’ve always admired, has toured all over the world. Even though he’s a high daily mileage tourist, he manages to create journals that are rich in photos and descriptions. Too many cyclists get hung up on mileage, routes and gear, but Mark has the ability to capture the ambiance of the areas he’s passing through.

Because he tours in countries where he doesn’t speak the language or in places where help is a long way off, he’s good at improvising.

Goop is his friend. He uses it to fix everything. I learned from him.

I’m pedaling, but my RPMs are zero

I used to have problems keeping the magnet for my Cat Eye Astrale 8 Cyclocomputer attached to my crank.

I’d be pedaling down the road cranking like crazy, look down and see that my computer was registering zero RPMs. That’s really demoralizing. A closer inspection would show that the little magnet holder attached with a nylon tie had fallen off and there was nothing for the pickup coil to pick up anymore.

Rare Earth Magnets to the rescue

I set off to my neighborhood Radio Shack and picked up a couple of Rare Earth Magnets.

Radio Shack gets a pretty penny for their magnets, but I can buy a package of 30 from Amazon for about 10 bucks.

That’s a lifetime supply. One warning: keep them away from small children. Swallowing them can be deadly.

How do I stick the magnets to the crank?

Here’s where Goop comes in. I can’t tell much difference between the different flavors of Goop. Their motto is, “Glues Whatever, Holds Forever.” (By the way, check out their Testimonial page, it’s cleverly done.)

I reached for Goop for Plumbers first, figuring that it would be waterproof, held two magnets against the crank and gave a squirt. Goop is fairly viscous, sort of like silicone or caulking and it dries relatively quickly.

An hour or so later, I hopped on the bike and headed off down the road, not really expecting the magnets to hold on.

If I had known they would stick, I’d have been neater

You can tell from this closeup picture that I didn’t make any effort to trim the excess. Dirt that got stuck while the glue was still tacky is still there a couple of years later.

When I replace the crank or the bike, I’ll be a little more careful.

We’ve found Goop to be great for gluing the grandkid’s toys back together. Because it’s flexible, it’s less like to break at the same place.

I’ve been wondering if I could cause some of those slow traffic lights to trip if I’d take that whole box of 30 magnets and Goop them to my bottom bracket.

With my luck, the first time I passed over a manhole cover the bike would come to a sudden stop and I’d go flying over the bars.

Earlier this year I wrote about how to adjust a Brooks saddle. I mentioned in it that I used a Carradice Saddle Cover from Peter White Cycles to protect it.

You don't normally see cows standing around wearing raincoats, but leather that's off the cow has a tendency to sag when it gets wet.

When they dry out, they can get hard and become, in an inelegant turn of phrase, “ass hatchets.”

Here's what my seat cover looks like when it's sleeping

When I was pushing my bike into its home this evening, I realized that I hadn't shown any pictures of what the cover looks like in the wild.

I keep it shoved up under my Brooks Champion Flyer saddle when it's not in use. It's never fallen out, even when it's been on the bike rack tooling down the road at speeds that I won't admit to.

Just to be safe, though

Before I discovered how much it likes living under my saddle, I was paranoid enough to take a snap and swivel fishing leader and attach it to the saddle springs. The leader passes through the two leather reinforced slots that are designed to allow access to the saddle bag loops.

Here's what it looks like rigged for rain

The cover fits very snugly. In fact, the only criticism I have is that the leather reinforced slots are cut a little small and don't go over the metal saddle bag hooks.

I could probably do some cutting and trimming, but since I don't use a saddle bag, it's not worth the risk of making a bad cut.

The cover should be considered more water resistant than waterproof. If I'm going to leave it outside for a long period of time or carry it a long distance on the back of the car, I'll add a plastic bag or shower cap cover for additional protection.

Interestingly enough, even though the cover is slick, it's not as comfortable to ride on as the bare Brooks.

There was a discussion on the phred list this spring about how to make your bike more visible at night. One of the members said that the Graveyard Mall had a cheap alternative to Hokey Spokes for a lot less money.

Hokey Spokes are transparent “blades” that attach to your bicycle spokes. As these blades spin during riding, a computer inside the blades modulates the internal LED lights so that design images and custom text appear.

They cost about $30 to $40 per spoke.

A cheaper alternative

Long before I ordered the disastrous Lock Alarm from Graveyard Mall, I got suckered into the Wheel Wizard at the bargain price of $4.99. I couldn’t resist ordering four of them. I figured I had some other riders who would love looking like the picture in the web site ad.

What’s not to like?

The ad copy made them sound better than sliced bread. Not only are these cool to use and need no batteries, but they also make riding your bike at night safer.

• No batteries Necessary: Generates power as you pedal
• Easy to install
• Visible from both sides of wheel

Reality sets in

I had pretty much forgotten that I had ordered the Wizard Wheels when a box showed up on the front porch.

I was excited when I saw the picture on the outside of the box.

That excitement died when I saw the size of the Wizard. Holy Cropoli, that sucker is HUGE, more like a time trial wheel than a Hokey Spoke blade. I’d be afraid to put that thing on my bike on a day with a strong side wind: I’d be afraid I’d get blown right over.

It DOES produce light

It’s got some kind of magnet setup that DOES actually produce light when I held it in my hand and spun it, but I’d never consider putting it on my bike. For one thing, I couldn’t get it to fit without using a crowbar on my fork.

I didn’t send them back

They weren’t what I expected, but for $4.99, I couldn’t expect much, so I wasn’t THAT disappointed.

Unlike the lock alarms, which were total junk, these performed as described, if not as desired.

I have two left. Serious offers entertained. (They make great gag gifts: give one to a friend and watch him gag.)