October 2022

REVIEW: GoSGV e-bike – Go rent it!

From LA.streetsblog.org

By Chris Greenspon

I was quite popular last month. Until I returned the e-bike.

Friends and family of all skill levels enjoyed its breezy, near-silent motor and simple design. Three gears, four speeds, solid brakes, and that charming little bell. It’s all they talk about… IF they talk to me at all now.

All joking aside, the new monthly e-bike rental program GoSGV (from ActiveSGV and the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments) should be a hit. The 750 watt, pedal assist commuter bike felt great from the first moment I got on it.

The four speeds of the bike aren’t drastically different from each other. The lowest setting, ECO, gets the job done the majority of the time, and lasts the longest. The Bosch motor’s digital display reads out about 32 miles for ECO on a full charge (or 4 hours according to the rental website). The fastest TURBO setting gets about 10 miles range, and I mainly used it for getting up hills.

On a short 10-11 mile ride I took with the new group SGV Cycling, the bike had no problem keeping up with the front, hanging in the back, climbing, or making a sudden stop when a vehicle blew through a stop sign as we pulled into a farmer’s market for a break. Guess they didn’t see the five people in front of me… Ride leader Vince La Rocca enjoyed himself taking a spin on the bike before we called it a night. “It’s so fast,” he said – relatively speaking. The motor cuts off at 20 mph, but its acceleration is effortless and smooth.

I can see these making a huge impression on casual riders at the next 626 Golden Streets event. My 70-year-old father left me chasing behind him on a ride around La Puente. Car guy that he is though, he immediately pointed out one of the downsides of the bike: the motor drag when you stop pedaling is immediate, and it’s a fairly heavy bike (45 lbs). Looked at another way, that’s an upside for making safe stops.

Obviously, this isn’t a bike you’re going to take on any kind of unpaved terrain. Wanting to get some comparison since this was my first e-bike experience, I visited Stan’s Bike Shop in Azusa (where there are two of the GoSGV bikes for rental, by the way). They put me on an Abrazo Sports Outrider, another 750 watt’er with pedal assist. The Outrider was faster, topping out at about 28 MPH, with full twist throttle, and large 26”x4” all-terrain tires. No bell though.

Image courtesy of: gosgv.com

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Essential Tools & Maintenance Skills You Need For Bike Packing

Bikepacking and bike adventures are a lot of fun, but they can turn into a nightmare if you have a mechanical issue you don’t know how to fix, or worse don’t have the tools to deal with! Ollie takes you through the essential tools and maintenance skills you will need for bikepacking, as well as some more advanced equipment.

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Walk or Bike to School Day October 5

From SouthPasadena.com

Lace up your sneakers or strap on your helmet for Walk or Bike to School Day. Join the youth of South Pasadena as they participate in the annual Walk or Bike to School event. The program will take place on Wednesday, October 5, 2022. The event’s goal is to raise awareness on the positive impact walking or riding your bike to school has on children and communities.

Walk or Bike to School Day decreases traffic around schools, improves the air quality and environment, and helps promote a healthy lifestyle. South Pasadena Police, Fire, and Community Services Departments will be at all three Elementary Schools & the Middle School handing out a free giveaway to students who walk or bike to school that day.

For more information, please contact the Recreation Division at (626) 403-7380 or email Nathalie Wilcox at NWilcox@southpasadenaca.gov.

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Not All Roundabouts are Created Equal When it Comes to Bicycle Safety

From Streetsblog.usa

By Kea Wilson

As roundabouts decrease traffic deaths for drivers, some designs of the controversial traffic treatment may actually increase collisions for people on bikes while scaring others off riding entirely, a series of studies suggests — and its raising thorny questions about who might get hurt along the road to Vision Zero.

As part of an ongoing study of the safety impacts of roundabouts, Utah State University-based researchers Patrick Singleton and Nirajan Poudel surveyed 49 studies from roughly a dozen countries and concluded that, on the aggregate, roundabouts may actually increase crashes between bicyclists and drivers — and in some cases, they increase serious injuries and deaths of people on two wheels, too.

The operative word in that sentence, of course, is “may” — and Singleton is careful to point out that not all roundabouts are created equal. Researchers in Belgium, for instance, recorded a staggering 93 percent increase in injury crashes at the intersections that weren’t outfitted with accompanying protected bike lanes; meanwhile, Danish researchers studied roundabouts that did have separated lanes, and logged an almost-as-staggering 84 percent reduction in crashes. United States academics, by contrast, often struggled to draw any definitive conclusions, because there were so few roundabouts, crashes, or even simply bicyclists in U.S. communities.

Photo by Shane Rounce on Unsplash

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