Search results

Creaks and squeaks are 'fun'! Check your spoke tension on both wheels; are the wheel bearings greased? Are you sure? How about the bearing seats in the hubs (sealed bearing outer races should not be moving inside the hub)? Fine. Now check your seat pans, seat bolts, and seat brackets. Check...

Mostly baloney. The springs may even-out or compensate for the average pedalers' pedaling technique. The wheel may make some money for the moneymakers... and fleece the moneygivers.

A seat angle closer to zero degrees will be much faster than any seat angle greater than zero degrees. A zero-degree seat angle will reduce the frontal area. (So will short crank arms.) Then, going faster, anything that produces turbulence before the slipstream is behind you will sap power and...

The Vendettas I know and love use quick-release skewers to secure the wheels in the dropouts. The rear hub is held in a pocket or socket style rear dropout, which means that to either install or to remove a wheel, the frame may need to be spread a little to completely clear the hub ends. The...

Some roads are, when wet, unrideable. With experience, you'll identify the slippery spots first!

My classic yellow big-tube V is rolling on its original rims, both back, and front. Rebuilt with DT Swiss Aero Comp spokes -heavier/stronger than the Aerolites- and black brass nipples. I'm not sure that the extra strength is necessary, but the front wheel does do everything! Note the new tire...

Keep your ceramic bearings clean: ceramics are particularly intolerant of any sort of grit.

The Winter helmet in my suite of bicycle helmets? A ten-year-old Walmart BMX full-face helmet that still works fine. The chin guard is a very welcome safety feature. The chin guard deflects the slipstream up and over the eyes, solving the issue I have with eye-watering in cold air. It's also...

Each one of our bikes lives in its own unique microclimate and so does mine. In East TN, my bike (the one pictured in my avatar) lives for its next sortie in the garage. The garage is always damp. When it carries me outside for adventure-time, it must deal with corrosive sweat. Here's what kind...

Now you're probably thinking about trying C.A.D rear wheel covers, right? They work! Mine overwhelmed the tape and destroyed themselves when they got wadded between the swingarm and the spokes. The slipstream was too much for the taped-on cardboard on a fast downhill. I love your tailbox!

Mr. Bandito, you might find this tip useful: Do you know a place that has enough sand and/or gravel? Enough to make you fearful? Well, come to a stop on that spot and practice starting. When you master starting in gravel and sand, your confidence in your skill will be ... adequate. (I cheated...

People usually adapt, eventually. -3bs commented: "Humans are not meant to lie on their backs with their bellys and vitals exposed." Like Jason, the donut-powered demon racer, my background is motorcycles. Bicycles are basically just really tragically underpowered motorcycles and bicycles...

The longer wheelbase of the Vendetta, compared with the S30, is there to accommodate the reclined seat. The Vendetta's more reclined seatpan effectively expands the wheelbase. The advantages of more wheelbase? -Better front (drive) wheel contact up hills for better traction. -keeping the rider's...

The first rides on my '07 Sofrider V1 were on a hilly 2-lane country road. Big ditches on both sides. I learned to swim in the deep end of the pool, too, so I guess the drama kind of helps me learn! Anyway, keep learning what your V20 teaches you. The end result is that, hopefully, you'll...

Your bike is stable enough with a front flat. Almost all the flatting, deflating incidents on my personal Cruzbikes were front (drive) wheel flats. The first one I remember happening occurred during a long, slow effort grinding my Sofrider V1 uphill. The effort required was suddenly much, much...

We feel your pain. Your machine failed, partly, but you -the rider- saved the machine!

Your roads may vary. There are a few two-lane stretches of uphill road scattered around the local riding routes hereabouts that pitch up enough to require sitting up. Not sitting up unloads the drive wheel enough to erase any effort, turning drive into tire-grinding. One section is, probably...

The main tube of the pictured Sofrider frame, the down-tube that connects the head tube to the swingarm bearing, is straight. Sofrider V1 has a straight tube. Sofrider V1 had a wide swingarm that used a solid rear axle with spacers to mount the rear wheel. Sofrider V2 had a down-tube with a bend...

How much?

Silver specks? That is probably metal? Check your front derailleur in action: run through the front rings and watch how the front derailleur works. I'm pretty sure that the der.s' cage is rubbing on a ring and THAT is where your silver specs are coming from.