Category Archives: Accessories

The Mysterious Popping Bar Tape

Here’s a weird one: When I went into the garage early Sunday morning, with an idea to get the bike ready for the club ride that I never went on, I discovered this: For some reason unknown to me, the … Continue reading

5 Comments

Filed under Accessories, Maintenance

The New Old Crank Set

As we neared the end of the year, some issues with my bike started cropping up. Because I am me, I immediately diagnosed them as problems with the front derailleur. Because I am me, my diagnosis was 100 percent wrong. … Continue reading

3 Comments

Filed under Accessories, Equipment, Maintenance

Doc’s All-Natural Chamois Cream–A Review

What do you use down there? Guest poster Jeff Hemmel has some stuff you might not have heard of. I used to ride sans anything slippery in my shorts, then followed my local bike shop owner’s suggestion to try chamois … Continue reading

3 Comments

Filed under Accessories, Review

Glasses in the Rain

I was really looking forward to the end-of-semester break. My riding has fallen off in recent weeks, and the coming down time would give me the opportunity to rack up some miles on the bike. My wife and I rode … Continue reading

10 Comments

Filed under Accessories, Tips

What’s Black and White and Blocks Wind All Over?

After that no-ride weekend, I was looking forward to getting back on the bike. But being an adopted Texan, I have also become a weather wuss. My friends in Minnesota would be mortified that we tend to avoid riding in … Continue reading

6 Comments

Filed under Accessories, Cold weather

Old Man Shades

Ever since I began biking, I’ve worn my prescription sunglasses. For the most part, they’ve been fine. But they’re my distance prescription only, and I need a bifocal for reading. So whenever I looked down at my bike computer, the … Continue reading

3 Comments

Filed under Accessories

The Cheapo Bike Computer

After the recent demise of my Cateye V2C cyclocomputer, I had a decision to make. I have its predecessor, a Cateye Strada Cadence, and I could put that back on — or, I could go a different route completely. I … Continue reading

6 Comments

Filed under Accessories

My Computer’s Kaput

It was a good ride Sunday morning. Temperatures have finally started to moderate around here, and it was even a little cool when we set off. I was B ride leader for a trip to Creedmoor, a town southeast of … Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under Accessories

I’m Switching to CO2

So while we’re on the subject of flats, I have to tell you about a 180-degree change in my attitude toward pumps. This is apparently a topic of never-ending interest among bike noobs, because a previous post about pumps and … Continue reading

13 Comments

Filed under Accessories, tires

Sync’ing Odometers

I’m on my third cyclocomputer since I started riding. It’s a Cateye V2c, and is the best of them all, because it’s wireless and has cadence as well as the usual assortment of current, average and maximum speed readings. It … Continue reading

10 Comments

Filed under Accessories