Photo by migo.araneta

Single speed bikes, once considered limited to urban bike messengers have been the ‘in’ thing to buy for years.  Having been an early adopter (no, I’m not a bike messenger), my first single speed was a converted Giant Sedona that had previously served me well as a mountain bike and bar hopper for years.  I wasn’t sure what I was doing, but I hacked apart the hub, lined up the chain as best as I could using cut PVC pipe as spacers, and called it good.  I wanted to experience the purity of riding a simple, low-maintenance rig.

Well, given my lack of experience converting the bike, it was more maintenance that it was worth.  The chain jumped, the spacers slipped, and I found it difficult to concentrate on becoming one with the bike, when I was anticipating the moment my my chain would pop off the cog.  The bike ended up getting left in a basement of an old apartment.  It’s a shame because as a drunk bike and urban warrior, it wasn’t too bad.  As a single speed, it was bad.

Once the Sedona was gone, I picked up a bike shop special. It was an old steel frame specially built to be a single speed. As a daily commuter, it was decent, but at this point single speeds were getting a lot more popular. A few years prior to this, a single speed was not going to get jacked.  Once I had my shiny shop special, I became a little more nervous about leaving the bike outside the bars, or unlocked for the briefest moment. I looked around and, man, these things were everywhere.  Lawyers, Architects, and even Cross racers were riding around in single speeds. Racing a single speed? It’s madness.

Around this time I was looking to replace my bike with another single speed.  I went to another shop, spoke to a rep, and was encouraged to try out the Langster.  Apparently, everyone in the shop loved this bike.  I took it for a spin.  As an urban rider, I cannot see how anyone can sell that bike with a clear conscience.  It’s a track bike! It will do one thing well and that’s go straight, really fast.  If you live in the city, there’s more to life than riding straight. Actually, if you ride this way in the city, you’re probably already dead.

Where are we now?

I’m hoping that the sale of track bikes to the general public marks the peak of single speed mania.  I still ride my single speed, but if it had a derailleur hanger, it would be converted back to a multi-speed monster.  Maybe it was more fun when everyone else wasn’t doing the same thing.  Maybe it’s knowing that I’m one hill away from hating the daily commute — pick up milk tonight? I have to climb three hills to get there!  Or maybe it’s finally sinking in it’s more fun to ride efficiently with multiple gears than it is to pound the quads on a daily basis in the spirit of low maintenance and purity.

Wool is so pro! Throw on the Castelli Mauro Wool cycling top and ride with mother nature on your side. The Mauro features a blend of wool and acrylic fibers to keep you warm, dry, and stank free.  Your riding mates will be more than willing to draft when you’re clean as a spring lamb.  Generous button-through pockets make this styled cycling top a go-to jersey for every season but those blazing summer days in the sun.  Ride with the best for the rest of the year.

• 50% wool, 50% fine-grain acrylic
• 3 rear pockets.
• Zip: 13.5cm

$124.95

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Cervelo TestTeam Cycling Top - Keep the spirit alive with the old Cervelo TestTeam cycling top. Since the TestTeam merged with Garmin to become Garmin-Cervelo, this old jersey is now ‘vintage’ wear that will serve you well for years to come.

• 14″ invisible zipper at the center front
• 3 rear pockets.
• Coolmax
• Set – bib shorts and cycling top included

$76.99

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Technorati Tags: cycling bibs, cycling jerseys, cycling top, Cycling Tops

Arrogant Bastard Cycling Top - Have a big ride today? Wear your emotion on your chest with one of Stone Brewery’s most intense ales. This aggressive beer is not for the faint of heart but neither is a century ride. Start the day off strong but remain cool. This cycling top is made with Canari’s DryCore fabric, a high performance fabric that provides superior durability, comfort, moisture wicking.

• 14″ invisible zipper at the center front
• 3 rear pockets.
• 30+ UPF protection
• Canari’s Pro Fit for a slimmer, more tapered fit

$64.99 – $70.00

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Technorati Tags: canari, cycling jerseys, cycling top, Cycling Tops

Team Garmin Cycling Top -Yeah, you’ll look like a pro when you wear the Castelli Garmin Team Short Sleeve Jersey, but looking pretty is just the beginning. High-tech Prosecco Strada fabric pulls moisture away from your body and spreads it out so your sweat evaporates faster and cools you down quicker. Seam-free collar and arm bands reduce chafing and drag while the mesh side panels let in fresh air.

• Full-length zipper
• 3 rear pockets.
• Form-fitting
• Prosecco Strada fabric – high tech that is famous for staying dry on hot days.

$99.95

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Technorati Tags: cycling jerseys, cycling shirts, cycling top, Cycling Tops

Molson Canadian Beer Cycling Top – Made by Primal Wear from Colorado. Bring a little hockey to your riding and get a free pair of DeFeet Black Flame socks to boot. It’s like buying a 12-pack and getting free visor, only in this case you’re buying a sweet cycling top and getting some new, clean socks too!

• Pro style 19″ front zipper-great for increasing ventilation on hot days.
• 3 rear pockets.
• Jersey cut slightly longer in back for better coverage.
• ProSensor fabric – high tech dual denier fabric creates a push/pull affect to force moisture away from the body.

$64.00-$69.95

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Technorati Tags: cycling jerseys, cycling top, Cycling Tops, defeet

Step 1 – Get Motivated

It has been a long winter.  Getting motivated can be difficult.  Don’t worry, we have your back.  Do you have cable? If so, turn off reality television and turn on Versus.  Here’s the most recent broadcast schedule. Find your style of race and let the motivation begin.

If that doesn’t work for you, maybe the Red Bull 5000 Downhill race.  Hey, they’re just going downhill..Whistler Mountain, that is.

Step 2 – Get in Shape

Core Strength

You’ve watched some road races and you’ve tapped into the energy of a Whistler Mountain downhiller. There’s nowhere to go but up.  Before you jump on that bike to get cycling, you need an exercise plan to make you into a lean, mean fighting machine.

Don’t waste your money on a gym membership. Besides, that’s January 1^st stuff. You’ve already missed that boat.  A good cycling workout consists of two things – core strength training and aerobic training.  For core strength training, start with Yoga. The benefits of Yoga far outweigh the lingering stereotypes.  For the sedentary couch potato, Yoga provides excellent core-strength and flexibility benefits that will prepare you for hours in the saddle.  Flexibility is one of the first things to go when you’ve been off the bike for a while. Yoga will fix that in a hurry.

The next useful workout tool is the simple kettle bell. Here’s a kettle bell workout in action:

There are plenty of exercises that can be done with the kettle bell, but the kettle bell swing is all you need to get cycling.  Every time you swing the kettle bell, the load transitions from the legs to the stomach and up through your arms.  You’ve seen the commercials for 5-minute abs, or 12-minute shoulders. Get a 35lb kettle bell and you don’t need another weight in the house to help you get cycling.

Aerobic Training

Aerobic training is another case where you don’t have to spend money to get back into cycling shape.  Dust off your shoes and hit the pavement. If you’re really hurting, your first two workouts should be brisk walks only.  By the end of the first week, transition your walk into a 2-3 mile jog.  Contrary to popular belief, it’s okay to occasionally walk during a running workout.  It helps you ease into the training and prevents injury from muscle fatigue.  This is particularly important during the early stages of your new workout routine.  Take it easy and you’ll be fine.

By the second week, you can begin to add a couple more days of running, 3 to 4 miles for each run.  Keep in mind you are not running to compete in any races. Running is getting you ready for cycling season.  Don’t feel the need to pass everyone on the running path. I’ve done it and injured my ankle trying to overtake the guy.  Bad move.

Once you’re into your third week, it’s go time! Put on your cycling top (I’m sure it fits better than it did three weeks ago), cycling pants and helmet and head out for your first ride.  Be sure to dress in layers both to protect you from cold and the inevitable nastiness that’s left on the road from a season of spreading dirt and salt on the roads.

Hand build wheels are durable

If durability is important to you, you should seriously consider building your own wheels.  A Factory-build wheel can be great, economical buy, but no one is checking each spoke by hand. No one is inspecting to be sure each nipple is seated correctly.  No one is obsessing over spoke length or ensuring that every thread gets just the right amount of oil.  Spoke tension may be fine in the factory, but can be a completely different story after shipping.  If you want solid, true, reliable wheels, nothing compares to the hand built wheel.

Building your own Wheels

If you are considering building wheels, the best money is spent on reliable components.   Despite what you see in the store, wheel design hasn’t changed that much over the years.  If you build a 36-spoke wheel with affordable, reliable components, you will have an excellent, durable, true pair of wheels that will serve you well for thousands of miles.

Spokes and Rims are #1

The two most important parts of a wheel are the spokes and rims. The hub, with its stamped brand name and shiny appearance has no real impact on the strength and durability of the wheel. Lightness of a hub is a consideration, but the wheel only needs the hub to have the correct number of holes for the spokes.

Spokes are the most stressed component of the wheel.  The number of spokes used in a wheel directly affects its strength and durability.  While you may bikes with carbon fiber spokes and rims in time trials, most racers tend to stick with 28-32-spoke wheels for distance riding. That said, a 36-spoke wheel is probably the most durable and is the safest choice for riders who are willing to sacrifice some wind drag for longer term durability. When considering wheel, decide on the spokes, then look for a matching rim.

The rim is the second most important component to the wheel. It serves as a braking surface, tire mounting point, and distributes load from the spokes and the road.  Rims typically come in a U-shape but recently, V-shape rims have become more popular.  V-shape ‘aero’ rims look like they slice through the air better than U-shape but are generally heavier and more sensitive to cross breezes.  They also make for a difficult mounting surface for spokes because limited rim space can cause the nipples to jam.  This crimping can cause the nipples to carry too much of the load, which is not a desirable outcome.  If you are considering building your own wheels, try a traditional U-shaped rim first.

What you need to build quality wheels

Required:

Spoke Wrench.  These come in all shapes and sizes. Some look like wrenches, while others are fit for a repair kit.  Go with the two jawed variety as they are comfortable to use and provide good leverage.

Want a bigger list? There isn’t one! You just need a spoke wrench to build wheels!

Optional:

The following tools make your life easier but are certainly optional.

Wheel Dishing Tool:  Helps you identify whether one side of the axle is protruding off the centerline more than the other side.

Human alternative: Eyeball it.

Truing Stand: This helps you align the rim.

Human alternative: Mount the wheel, spin and eyeball the alignment using the brakes

Tensionmeter: Measure the spoke tension.

Human alternative: Fingers

More information

For more information about building your own wheels, I highly recommend Jobst Brandt’s book, The Bicycle Wheel.  It’s 150 pages of wheel building goodness. If you have room for one wheel building book, this is the one to have.

Technorati Tags: durable bicycle wheels, wheel building

One of the challenges of early Spring riding is figuring out what to wear. It can be tempting to slap on a pair of riding pants and a cycling top and call it good, but two cranks of the pedals and that nice afternoon will quickly turn into an ice ride.

Dress in Layers

Cycling tops alone are insufficient for early spring riding. The best way to protect yourself is to dress in layers.  This includes a long sleeve polyester shirt, full finger gloves, a cycling top, and a hard-shell jacket.  If, after riding for a few miles, you begin feeling a bit warm, you can always remove the jacket and roll up your sleeves.  As most cycling tops are designed with storage in mind, a cycling jacket will easily bundle up and fit into one of the rear jersey pockets.  It’s easy to cool off on a bike.  Get too cold and it’s extremely difficult to warm up.

For the lower half, it makes sense to continue wearing your heavyweight tights and socks.  You might be able to get away with leg warmers but bike shorts are too thin to keep your upper legs and hips warm.  If you get too warm, removing an upper layer will cool you off.

Watch the Road

In addition to dealing with variable temperatures, spring riding also means carefully avoiding potholes, loose gravel, and other road hazards.  Protect yourself from these hazards by wearing adequate eye protection and keeping exposed skin to a minimum.  In the event that you go down, heavyweight tights and full finger gloves will help keep your skin where it belongs.  BMX gear would be ideal, but it’s not very European.

It’s About the Bike

Last and certainly the most important – inspect your bike! Inflate the tires and watch – are the sidewalls cracking? Are they inflating unevenly? If so, replace the tire and tube.  Click through the gears to ensure the shifting is smooth and positive.  Lubricate the chain. Check the brakes and brake lines. If the lines are fraying, they should be replaced.  If the brake pads look like they’ve lost a lot of meat, spend the $20 for replacement pads.

Be safe and enjoy the spring riding!

Technorati Tags: spring riding

Primal Wear 2011 Men’s Vista – Take nature with you. Low-impact colors, trees, and mountains complete the scene from the Rockies. It may not get you King of the Mountain, but it’s nice to bring a nature to the next urban jungle crit.

• Club cut Set-In- a traditional style jersey with sleeves that start at the shoulder.
• 3/4 hidden zipper and 3 rear pockets.
• 100% SpeedPro advanced moisture transfer fabric keeps you dry and cool.

$59.95-$66.95

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Technorati Tags: cycling jerseys, Cycling Tops, primal wear jerseys