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Archives for June 2011

The World’s Worst Bike Lanes

06.16.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 3 Comments

An English example of how not to do it.

I consider myself pretty lucky. My town, Austin, Texas, has a lot of cyclists and therefore has paid some attention to cycling routes. Many streets (not enough) have bike lanes.

For the most part, I like bike lanes. Yes, you’re segregated from motor traffic, which might prevent bikes from being acknowledged as equals to cars on the road. I prefer to stick to my lane and let cars and trucks stick to theirs.

Problem is, bike lanes sometimes aren’t what we’d like. In my neighborhood we have bike lanes on some nice suburban streets. But those lanes seem to be grit magnets. There’s so much gravel, dirt, debris, crud and broken glass in the lanes they become hazards — or at the least, tire killers.

But after taking a look at some of these bike lanes from other parts of the globe, I think I’ll be happy with what I have.If you’d like a good chuckle — or maybe just a slow, wondering head shake, visit this Flickr pool of bad bike lanes.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/cyclelanes/pool/

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Categories // Odds 'n ends, Safety Tags // bike lanes

Review: CamelBak Podium Ice Bottle

06.14.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 5 Comments

Guest poster Jeff Hemmel is determined to keep his liquids cold during summer riding.

It seems like the cycling media has had a lot to say in the last year or so about the advantages of a truly cold drink to keep you performing your best. And while I know there is no shortage of physiological reasons to back up that claim, I also know that, from a purely practical standpoint, when it’s 95 degrees out and I reach for my bottle I’d much rather be rewarded with something still a little icy rather than discover liquid with the temperature of bath water.

The catch? In serious summer heat, after more than an hour of riding, not many bottles seem to be up to that task.

That’s why I was eager to test Camelbak’s Podium Ice bottle, which promised to keep things chill. Like many insulated bottles, the Ice features a double-wall construction. Camelbak fills the resulting void with Zero-loft insulation, claiming it keeps the contents cold up to four times longer than a standard bottle, and yet retains the soft feel that allows for a quick squeeze out on the road. I can verify the latter claim immediately. I’ve tried other insulated brands and found them stiff and difficult to use when you may only have seconds at a stoplight during a group ride. In contrast, the Ice is very soft and is easy to squeeze on the fly. I can also even somewhat support Camelbak’s typically heftier price tags, as I’m a big fan of their Jet Valve, which keeps the contents of your bottle where it belongs until you need it, and doesn’t require me to wrestle with a push-pull top when out on the road. Camelbaks are also made from BPA-free polypropylene, and don’t retain tastes or odors.

But does the Ice really keep things cool enough to verify yet another price bump over the Camelbak’s already premium price tag?

If I freeze some water or Gatorade before a ride, I can still find some cold refreshment in the Ice even after two hours in the saddle during a Florida summer. At that stage of the game, my normal water bottle is disgusting. But that’s not too scientific a shootout so I decided to stage my own little duel. In one corner was my plain, non-insulated Camelbak Podium and in the other was the Ice. Knowing that not everyone is a fan of freezing a bottle, I simply threw four ice cubes into both, filled them with water, and then set them outside in the sun on an 85-90 degree day. After 30 minutes, the temp measured 68 degrees in the non-insulated bottle, and 50 in the Ice. After 90 minutes, the non-insulated bottle had risen to 76 degrees, while the Ice sat at 60.

Is that enough of a difference for the cost? Given the combination of the Jet Valve, the soft, easy-to-squeeze plastic, and the insulation, I’ll say yes…although I cringe knowing plenty of you will now tell me how silly I am for spending $20 on a water bottle.

Still, I’ve yet to find anything better in our brutal Florida summer heat.

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Categories // guest post, Review Tags // guest post, Hemmel

Bike Comparison Tool

06.12.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 10 Comments

If you’re shopping for a new bike, the choices can be overwhelming. Even knowledgeable bikers can get tangled up trying to call up different bike manufacturers’ websites. There always seems to be one nifty model that gets missed — and it might have been just the one you were looking for.

There is a tool that can help. It’s a website called “Find the Best,” which describes itself as “an objective, socially curated comparison engine that allows you to find a topic, compare your options and decide what’s best for you.” It’s not solely limited to bicycle comparisons — you can compare all manner of things, from universities, to laptop computers, to investments. So I was somewhat skeptical when I clicked on the link to their road bike tool.

Just a sample of the comparison page for entry-level bikes.

I was pleasantly surprised. Users can customize their search to match some broad criteria. Under road bikes, you can search for “Racing,” “Sport,” “Entry-level,” “Triathlon/TT,” “Track,” “Fixie/Single Speed,” “Touring/Commuting,” “Women’s,” and “Kids.” Let’s say you want to compare entry-level road bikes. You can specify frame material — carbon, steel, or aluminum. You can limit the price range, the gearing, the manufacturer — and even limit the finds to those top-rated by either Bicycling magazine or Bike Radar, the British biking website.

If we limit the entry-level price to a top of $2,000, the tool still turns up 53 different makes and models. From there, you can select specific models and run a comparison on them — similar to the kind of comparison available on some bike retailers’ websites. The difference is that on those sites, you’re stuck with just the brands the store carries. Here, you’ve got them all.

I’m not in the market for a new bike now, but it’s still a fun way to kill a little time late in the evening. You can find the road bike comparison tool at http://road-bikes.findthebest.com/. Oh, and if you’re interested in mountain bikes, there’s a tool for those, too: http://mountain-bikes.findthebest.com/

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Categories // Bikes, Review Tags // Bikes, Review

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