The Tour de France is well underway, but before it started Si headed out to Copenhagen in Denmark to spy out the hottest new bike tech the pros are using including massive chainrings, gold cassettes and chains (fist bump) and unreleased prototype bikes!
From BikeRadar.com
By Jack Evans
The racing version of the Cinturato Gravel borrows from the brand’s Scorpion XC RC tyre
Pirelli has announced the Cinturato Gravel RC, a gravel racing tyre with a cross-country mountain biking tread.
The tubeless-ready Cinturato Gravel RC is an updated version of the Cinturato Gravel M, a tyre designed for muddy conditions.
The Cinturato Gravel RC’s tread is less aggressive, but retains relatively tall, widely spaced shoulder knobs alongside a smoother centre pattern.
Pirelli says this design originates from its Scorpion XC RC cross-country mountain biking tyre.
In addition, Pirelli claims the Cinturato Gravel RC contains the SpeedGRIP compound, allowing you to “easily tackle every surface, from asphalt to gravel to off-road”.
The compound is nearly as durable as that used in its mountain bike tyres, according to Pirelli.
The brand also says the compound provides “excellent grip on wet surfaces and a reduction in rolling resistance very close to that of a pure road tyre”.
From Electrek.co
By Micah Toll
E-commerce giant Amazon has found a simple solution to replace thousands of its van deliveries: smaller electric cargo bikes and good old-fashioned walking.
The first city to see Amazon make the switch is London, where the company is beginning a trial with electric cargo bikes – but these aren’t your typical two-wheeled electric cargo bikes. In fact, they aren’t even the common delivery e-trikes we’ve seen before.
These are four-wheeled electric cargo bikes that look similar to a miniature delivery van, but use an e-bike drivetrain for propulsion. That means the driver is actually a rider who sits on a bike seat and pedals the vehicle to engage an electric motor that magnifies his or her pedaling force. Ultimately, most of the power comes from an electric bicycle battery, though the rider does add a fair amount of pedaling power too.
The vehicles are usually limited to a maximum speed of 25 km/h (15.5 mph), which is generally sufficient for delivery purposes in crowded city centers.
It’s the announcement that many of us have been waiting for ever since Shimano released their first electronic groupset in 2009 – yes, that’s right, Shimano 105 Di2 is finally here! The ‘groupset of the people’ has gone electronic, and 12-speed too! Si took an in-depth first look at the new groupset and explains how it weighs up against Dura-Ace and Ultegra. In association with @#RideShimano 👉 https://gcn.eu/Shimano
From BeverlyPress.com
The city of Beverly Hills is continuing its efforts to make the city more bicycle-friendly, as evidenced by the City Council’s June 21 approval of bike lanes and shared lane bicycle markings – or “sharrows” – on Doheny Drive, from Burton Way to Whitworth Drive.
The bike lanes are part of the city’s Complete Streets Plan, which described the Doheny Drive project as “high priority,” according to a staff report. The installation of the on-street, striped bike lanes is expected to occur later this year.
According to a staff report, the project is not expected to impact parking or traffic lanes, but it would connect with bikeways recently installed on Clifton Way, Charleville Boulevard and Gregory Way, and other bike lanes on Burton Way.
“First, this is not about people not being able to use their cars,” Councilman Robert Wunderlich said. “Nobody is saying that cars can’t go on Doheny [or that] cars can’t park on Doheny, or for that matter, the rest of the city. This has never been about [saying] people cannot use cars. What this is about is providing an opportunity for people who choose not to use a car to actually make it safe for them to do so.”
He said city officials regularly discuss maintaining a “village atmosphere” in Beverly Hills and attracting younger families, and that neither of those goals are accomplished by city streets being “race courses.” Wunderlich said residents want quiet streets that are walkable and safe for bicyclists.
“Of course, [this project] is not going to cure that,” he added. “Is it helpful? Yes. Obviously, most people are not going to choose the bicycle instead of being in their cars. But, for everybody who does, that takes a car off the street by choice. It reduces congestion. It reduces the need for parking.”
Photo by Markus Spiske
There are a few weeks left to take our Annual Metro Bike Share User Survey. This survey is open to everyone and should take less than 15 minutes to complete. All feedback is welcome, even if you haven’t used Metro Bike Share before.
Everyone who completes the survey will be entered in a raffle for a chance to win a 365-Day Metro Bike Share Pass ($150 value) and some sweet Metro Bike Share gear.
Take the survey today! This survey will be accepting responses until June 30, 2022.
Rolling resistance is one of the most significant things slowing us down on the bike, so upgrading your bike tires and inner tubes may well be the best value upgrade you can make to go faster and save watts. We test a cheap tire and a race tire with butyl, latex and TPU inner tubes to see just how many watts you can save by making the switch!
From Engadget.com
By I. Bonifacic
Some techy (and not so techy) products to make the most of cycling season.
Like a lot of people, I only recently began cycling. After more than a decade of not riding a bike, I bought my first one as an adult at the start of the pandemic and immediately fell in love with what it had to offer. Cycling was my escape from a world that didn’t make sense anymore. It has since become the primary way I stay fit, unwind after a long day and get to where I need to go.
Along the way, I’ve tried many different cycling gadgets. The entries in the list below represent some of my favorites. Outside of essentials like a helmet, multitool and spare inner tubes, you don’t need most of the items listed below to enjoy whatever time you spend on your bike or e-bike, but some will keep you safer or make it easier to achieve your fitness goals – if that’s what you want to get out of the hobby.
Cycling frequently involves sharing the road with cars, and one of the best ways to stay safe is by making yourself as visible as possible to drivers. One way to do that is with a seat post-mounted LED light. You have a lot of options when it comes to cycling lights, but one of the best in my experience is the affordable Rear Plus from Knog.
You’ll notice the Rear Plus is one of two products from Knog on this list. The reason for that is that the company makes cycling accessories that stand out for their usability and clever design. With the Rear Plus, for instance, you plug it into your computer like a USB thumb drive whenever you need to charge it, meaning you don’t need to deal with a micro-USB cable like with many other bicycle lights. What’s more, Knog claims you can get up to 40 hours of battery life from the device depending on the lighting mode you use. And since it’s so easy to charge, you’re much less likely to find yourself in a situation where you don’t have a light when the sun is about to set.
If you’re willing to spend more, an even safer option is to buy a rearview radar like the $200 Garmin Varia RTL515. In addition to being a light, it pairs with your smartphone or bike computer, with models from both Garmin and Wahoo supported, to provide visual, audible and haptic alerts when cars are approaching you. It can detect a vehicle up to 150 meters away and will more urgently warn you if one is approaching quickly. It’s not a replacement for checking your blind spots, but it will take away much of the stress involved with road cycling.
Image courtesy of Ornot
From Bicycling.com
By Damian Kevitt, as told to Emily Shiffer
Name: Damian Kevitt
Age: 45
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Occupation: Executive director, Streets Are For Everyone
Time Cycling: 28 years
Reason for Cycling: I ride for enjoyment, to get around (especially when it’s easier than by car) and for my health. Cycling is my form of meditation—me, my body, and the environment around me working as one.
I grew up cycling. My parents used to take me on mini cycling tours as a kid, riding 20 to 30 miles as a family. Dad was in the front, I was in the middle, and my Mom rode behind me. Sometimes we’d pack the our bike panniers and cycle down the coast of Southern California, staying the night at hotels. I loved it. (The only issue: The helmets back then were awful. I looked like an alien.)
As I got older, cycling became the way I got around and helped me be independent. Even after I got a car when I was 17, I would still ride around. Cycling was both enjoyable and a mode of transportation. Later, I got a nifty Cateye computer for my bicycle (it was so cool!) to track my miles and speed, but that’s about all that it did.
I never did a race or a challenge until after I was hit and nearly killed while riding a bicycle in February 2013. I was cycling with my wife in Griffith Park, going on a picnic to the Los Angeles Zoo. Only a few hundred feet from my destination I was hit, pinned underneath a car, and dragged underneath nearly a quarter mile from the streets, onto and down Interstate 5 at freeway speeds. My right leg was ripped off and about 20 pounds of flesh in two minutes. Miraculously, I survived. (I now wear a prosthetic.) It was a hit and run. The driver never stopped and was never caught.
How I survived and my struggles in the hospital and afterwards is worth its own article—but what I can say is that eventually, I got back on my bicycle and started to teach myself how to ride again.
Photo by Hannah Carr on Unsplash
Cycling isn’t all about the coffee stops, explaining to non-cyclists why you shave your legs, or riding through beautiful scenery and enjoying the feeling of the fresh, crisp air. There are actually a few life lessons we can learn from being cyclists! Here are some of our favourites…
