Marginal gains expert Josh Poertner joins us for a super nerdy deep dive into everything to do with drivetrains. How chains and lubricants actually work? Which lubes are best to use and when? How do you clean and care for waxed chains? What does the future of bicycle drivetrains look like? We discuss all these questions and much more!
From CyclingWeekly.com
BY
The dust has now settled, the bell-lap completed, and after many months of testing and hours of discussion, the results are in for Cycling Weekly’s 2023 Race Bike of the Year award – but we won’t be giving them away quite so quickly.
First, let’s back up to the criteria for entry. Our first stipulation for Race Bike of the Year was that each model must be among the 2023 WorldTour bikes. Vitus, for instance, produces some excellent bikes – and at particularly keen price points – but none of its models met our first criterion.
Second, where a brand produces multiple models that are raced at WorldTour level (Trek has no fewer than three, for example) we’ve chosen the platform we find most notable. This has seen us include the new Giant Propel over the venerable TCR, for example, and the new Cannondale SuperSix over the similarly ‘mature’ SystemSix.
Which brings us neatly on to the topic of bike design, or rather the dichotomy between aero bikes and climbers’ bikes. Over recent years, aero bikes as a category have seen some huge shifts in their remit. The tropes of aero bikes being anchors on the hills and shopping trolleys on anything but the smoothest tarmac are long gone. The latest crop of the best aero bikes have haemorrhaged excess weight and boosted comfort levels – all bikes on test can be built to the UCI weight limit and can fit 28mm tyres as a minimum, some going up to as much as 34mm.
Image Courtesy of Cannondale
From LAPublicPress.org
by
SILVERLAKE — I wasn’t going to make it to the top of this hill, not on this heavy, steel, beach cruiser bike. After riding only about 20 feet I said out loud, “I’m not gonna make it, I’ll just walk it from here.” The group bike ride started to move past me up the hill at Barnsdall Art Park. But then, a gentle voice from behind me: “I got you, I won’t leave you behind,” and someone put a hand on my back and began pushing me up the hill, using their e-bike to lighten the load.
Though the riders of the Trash Panda Cycling – Gender Expansive Ride (GXR), a group of women and gender queer cyclists that ride throughout LA County, had assured me that I would be taken care of if I joined their weekend morning ride, I’d still been apprehensive.
In the more than ten years I’ve owned my baby blue beach cruiser I had never gone more than a mile or two from home. I always rode on the sidewalk. Even for running quick errands, my parent’s preferred I drive because the roads are dangerous for cyclists — and for women.
And standing at the top of the hill at the park I realized my anxieties about my bike, the roads, and slowing down the group had almost kept me from enjoying this beautiful ride.
I had just met the riders of the GXR a few hours earlier but they had my back, literally.
Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash
For a good ride, you’ve got to lay the groundwork! Get your pre-ride prep and routine wrong, and that chill ride in the sun can quickly turn sour. There are a few mistakes that stand out as major no-nos, so in this video, we’re going to list a few so that you don’t make them!
From PasadenaNow.com
The Altadena Bicycle Club and Altadena Heritage will be hosting the 3rd Annual Altadena Golden Poppy Bicycle Ride on Sunday, May 28th. The event, which is open to cyclists of all ages and abilities, is part of a community initiative to promote the enjoyment of Altadena’s award-winning native plant gardens.
The ride will be led by Dorothy Wong, a notable figure in the local cycling community and a member of the Altadena Bicycle Club. With a social pace that accommodates all riders, the tour is expected to last between 1 to 2 hours, with refreshment stops included along the route.
The tour will offer riders an opportunity to see many of the winning gardens in Altadena Heritage’s Golden Poppy Awards, a recognition given to local gardens that excel in native plant use and environmentally friendly gardening practices. “This is a wonderful opportunity to appreciate the beauty of our local flora, all while enjoying a leisurely bicycle ride,” said Wong.
Participants are asked to meet at Altadena Triangle Park, located next to the Sheriff’s Station, at 8:30 a.m., an hour earlier than originally scheduled. From there, a feeder ride will lead the group to the starting point of the Golden Poppy Bicycle Ride.
Organizers encourage interested individuals to RSVP for the event through the website provided: https://bit.ly/GOLDEN-POPPY-RIDE2.
Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash
From Scotsman.com
By Fiona Evans
With such simple form and elegant design it’s easy to see why the humble bicycle was once dubbed “the noblest invention of mankind.”
And you never forget how to ride a bike, so they say, reflecting the enduring nature of this basic vehicle.
Such is its importance that the United Nations (UN) created World Bicycle Day several years ago to celebrate the bike as a simple, affordable, clean and environmentally fit sustainable means of transport.
Marked globally by organising bike rides at a local and national level, the occasion, also known as International Bicycle Day, is held on June 3.
And if that isn’t enough to inspire a two-wheeled outing, then 2023’s very special Bike Week (June 5-11) might just tempt you.
This year’s Bike Week, delivered by Cycling UK, is the 100th annual awareness event, marking a century of celebrating everyday cycling for everyone.
Photo by Coen van de Broek on Unsplash
Fixing a puncture on your bike is an essential skill for all cyclists to learn. Alex runs step-by-step through the process of using a puncture repair kit to patch up a punctured inner tube. This video includes steps on removing your wheel and inner tube, as well as helping you locate the puncture itself.
From Ideastream.com
I have to admit, I’m not a bike rider. But as the environment reporter at Ideastream Public Media, I’ve learned a lot about the benefits of biking, for the riders and for the planet.
It makes me want to get in the saddle.
I’ve spent a lot of time talking to bicyclists, planners and public policy experts about efforts to make communities welcoming to bicycles.
Cleveland and many other cities are taking special interest in bikeway projects and complete street infrastructure that thinks about how roads can safely accommodate more than cars and trucks.
That’s key to me. With my bicycling inexperience, I’m intimidated by the thought of riding a bike down a city street thick with traffic. I marvel at those who do, but it just doesn’t feel comfortable to me. Safe and protected bike lanes would make me more likely to ditch my car once in a while.
And that’s a good thing. Biking serves as a fun way to exercise on the go while also reducing carbon emissions that contribute to the effects of climate change.
Biking instead of driving can save you money on gas while increasing the life span of our cars and trucks. It will also reduce our carbon footprints and overall impact on the environment.
Driving is a major contributor to carbon emissions in the region. The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency reports that personal vehicles and light-duty trucks account for about 74% of all road-based greenhouse gas emissions across its five-county region.
Large amounts of carbon in the atmosphere, spewed out from gas-burning engines, worsens air quality and contributes to the effects of climate change, like severe and frequent storms, flooding and sea-level rise.
In March, the United Nations released its annual Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. It found that the planet will only continue to get warmer unless we significantly reduce emission levels.
So, any effort we make to reduce our use of personal vehicles, and relying instead on public transit or other modes of transportation (like biking!), is a pedal stroke toward reducing Northeast Ohio’s carbon footprint.
Photo by Philip Myrtorp on Unsplash
From LVSportsbiz.com
By Alan Snel
Heaven is a mere three hours from Las Vegas.
I’ll get to the punch line quick here — it’s bicycling Zion National Park in southwest Utah, a heavenly piece of nature that wows, inspires and drops jaws with its to-the-sky walls of rock, are-you-kidding Angels Landing trail, The Narrows and its dramatic, steep red cliffs. And yes, it’s only three hours of driving from Las Vegas.
On August 27, 2022, Anna and I drove to Zion. And here is our story.
We left Las Vegas very early. As in 3AM early and we rumbled along Interstate 15 north of Mesquite when Anna caught a nap.
She draped a sheet over her head and the Shroud of Anna was snoozing nicely as the first light of the day edged its way above the eastern horizon in St. George.
The Shroud was up and at ’em when we drove through Springdale, the doorstep into Zion, and waited only five minutes to enter the park at 7 AM.
Anna is a mountain bike ninja, but we pedaled road bicycles on the floor road of the Virgin River valley.
Photo by Danika Perkinson on Unsplash
You don’t need to break the bank to go on a cycling adventure. Bikepacking is a great way of exploring the outdoors on your bike and can be done cheaply without burning a hole in your wallet. Conor and Manon run through their top tips, tricks and hacks to show you that you can enjoy a bikepacking adventure no matter what your budget!
