December 2022

Derailleurs Explained: The Bike Gear Shifting Evolution

From GearJunkie.com

By

Though plenty of die-hards live on single-speed rigs, for most cyclists, gears are the sweet elixir that makes riding fun.

It’s easy to take for granted the ease with which riders can cycle through gears on bikes these days. Derailleurs are the mechanisms that make changing gears on bikes possible. They move the chain from cog to cog on the rear or between chainrings on the front and manage the required chain slack.

Likewise, it’s easy to overlook or fail to appreciate the wide-ranging gear ratios on modern drivetrains. These make rides that were all but impossible for riders even a couple of decades ago accessible to nearly anyone.

Since the first bicycle, inventors and manufacturers have been slowly modifying and tweaking designs to perfect the derailleur and the larger drivetrains of bikes.

Some would argue that the industry is now near the peak of performance and capability with derailleurs and drivetrains. Others, however, view a brave new world on the horizon.

(photo/Shimano)

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The Most Important Bikes Of 2022! | GCN Tech Show

Every year it feels like hundreds of new bikes are released to the public, and it can be difficult to know which ones to keep an eye on! Alex and Ollie have chosen a few of the bikes they feel are the most important to be made in the last year. This, and all the other usual features in the GCN Tech Show!

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The best stocking stuffers for the electric bike rider (or regular cyclist) in your life

From Elektrek.co

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Sure, we’d all love a new e-bike for Christmas. Or for Hanukkah. Or Kwanzaa, Chinese New Year, Las Posadas, Boxing Day, or did I miss any other good winter holidays? The point is, an electric bike would be great, but it’s those other small accessories that can really help make the ride even better. So here are some of the smaller but no less important pieces of cycling gear I’ve been testing this year, which just might make a great stocking (or latke) stuffer for the cyclist in your life.

If you’re looking for an actual e-bike to give as a gift, we’ve already got a great roundup over here.

And just a note, this list includes around a 50/50 mix of gear I’ve bought for testing and gear sent to me for free from the companies. If I bought something, I’ll say it. The rest were media samples. We get sent a lot of crap all year. Only the stuff that’s actually good shakes out in the end to land on this list.

So let’s get this party started!

Tools

Topeak Ratchet Stick

The Topeak Ratchet Stick is probably my favorite bike tool of all time.

It doesn’t have every tool in the box, but it has most of the hex driver sizes you’ll need for common tasks (adjusting brakes, saddles, racks, etc.), and then the second plastic holder that snaps onto it carries even more drivers that you probably don’t need as often (mostly the Torx drivers).

 

Image courtesy of Topeak

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California’s Big Bike Year: 2022 in Review

From CalBike.org

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What can we say about 2022? We didn’t get everything we wanted, but thanks to advocacy from CalBike and our supporters and allies, it was a fantastic year for biking and walking in California. Here’s a short stroll down victory lane.

More money for biking and walking

California shows its values where it spends its money. Today, active transportation projects represent just a tiny fraction of the state’s transportation spending, but in 2022, that fraction got a little less tiny.

A diverse constituency advocated for $2 billion for bikes in the budget passed in 2022, and unfortunately, we came up short of that ambitious goal. However, we did secure the most funding ever for active transportation projects: $1.1 billion, a more than fourfold increase from prior years.

As communities across California scramble to fund projects to create Complete Streets and increase safety for people biking and walking, this extra money is crucial. It meant there was $1.6 billion available for the most recent funding round (Cycle 6) of the Active Transportation Program. As Streetsblog reported, this led to many more projects receiving funding and in a few years, we’ll see more protected bikeways and intersections as a result.

Of course, it’s still not enough. Every cycle, the ATP receives more excellent proposals than it can fund and has to turn away a higher number of worthy projects. Cities and towns understand that safe streets for all modes are essential for creating livable, sustainable communities. It’s time for the state to understand that too, and devote more money to bikeways and less to freeways.

 

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NEW Colnago V4RS: All The Details Revealed!

With multiple race wins including the Tour de France, it’s safe to say that the Colnago V3RS was a very successful bike, so making the next generation was no mean feat! So how have Colnago made the new V4RS better, and what does Tadej Pogačar think of it? Manon and Ollie have been given an exclusive first ride of Colnago’s all-out racing bike, and tell you everything you need to know about it.

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The best Christmas gifts for cyclists in 2022 – for every budget

From BikeRadar.com

Finding cycling gifts for the two-wheeled enthusiast in your life just got a lot simpler

If your loved-one is into cycling, you’re probably aware that it’s a dangerously acquisitive sport. Shiny new things power the average rider almost as much as the joy of getting out on the bike.

But whether you’ve already reached the stage of having a ‘pain cave’ in your home or are buying for a budding young road or mountain cyclist, you’re on to a winner with cycling-related gifts.

We’ve trawled the web and asked the BikeRadar team to bring you a bunch of our favourite presents for cyclists.

We’ve got ideas for someone who loves bikes but is impossible to shop for, frivolous gifts for those who seemingly have everything, novelty cycling presents that are a little bit silly, and even some for more serious moments such as fixing punctures at the side of the road.

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Clara Honsinger earns third elite women’s title at US Cyclocross Nationals

From CyclingNews.com

By Jackie Tyson
Raylyn Nuss and Austin Killips round out snow-covered podium in Hartford
Clara Honsinger won her third elite women’s national crown with ease on Sunday at a snowy edition of the US Cyclocross National Championships. The EF Education-TIBCO-SVB rider pulled away from her nearest competitors on the second lap and never looked back.

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What’s Been BANNED By The UCI For 2023?! | GCN Tech Show Ep. 259

The UCI have once again updated their pesky rules, and Ollie and Alex have taken a deep dive into them. New handlebar limits, helmet size regulations and more are in store for the pros in 2023, but can they be cheated? We discuss this, plus all the usual Tech Show segments!

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Is Shimano about to reinvent the rear derailleur?

From CylingNews.com

By Josh Croxton

A new patent suggests a rear mech is in the works with increased ground clearance and improved wide ratio compatibility

There have been countless innovations to the rear derailleur over the years. These have included compatibility with an ever-increasing number of sprockets, the introduction of indexed shifting, STI levers, clutches, the addition of electronics, and the recent shift to wireless to name just a few. Despite this, the basic form has remained largely unchanged from the original parallelogram design pioneered by Tullio Campagnolo in 1949.

Soon, that could all be about to change, as a recent patent application from market leaders Shimano suggests the brand is looking to reinvent the design.

Within the application, Shimano states: “While a bicycle travels on uneven terrain, it is possible for the chain guide of the rear derailleur to hit rocks, ground and so on. Therefore, it is preferable to increase a distance between the chain guide of the rear derailleur and a road surface.”

(Image credit: USPTO)

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This Global Initiative to Increase Bike Access Can Teach the U.S. A Few Things, Too

From USA.Streetsblog.org

By Kea Wilson

new initiative aims to put thousands of purpose-built transportation bikes in the hands of people in underserved countries — and in the process, sparking a conversation about the role of bike design itself in making green mobility accessible.

Throughout the month of December, U.S. bike manufacturer Trek has announced it’s matching up to $500,000 in donations for World Bicycle Relief, an organization that provide residents of communities with minimal roadway and transit infrastructure with bikes specifically designed to meet their daily needs. Founded in 2005, the group has distributed more than 635,000 cycles to date in towns throughout Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, which their team estimates has enhanced the mobility of more than three million people, since the bikes are shared by a family of five people on average.

That success, though, might not be as profound without the right bike: namely, the Buffalo bicycle, which Trek helped the group to design. And while that super-sturdy vehicle was built specifically to handle dirt roads and heavy loads that residents of auto-centric countries would be more likely to transport by car, some of the group’s supporters have wondered whether vehicles like it might have a place in U.S. communities, too — and how their absence affects Americans’ likelihood to ride.

“People in the U.S. ask me all the time, ‘Can I buy this bike?'” said Eric Bjorling, Trek’s brand director.

 

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