First of all, the spoke. I thought I could just go to the shop and say “gimme a spoke”. And they would reply, “Black or silver?”. “Black”. “Here you go. That will be 1/10 of a cent.”. Then I would go home, pop it on, and be on my way. Nope. Spokes come in 1000 different sizes, types, shapes and colours. There are round spoke, flat spokes, fat spokes with a skinny middle bit. In the end I had to carry my wheel to the shop for them to measure it. Apparently a 1mm difference can cause a spoke not to fit. Well that’s what they told me. So i get my new single $2 spoke home and realise that I can’t get it on the wheel! The gears are in the way. If it was the front tyre, no problem. If it was on the back tyre but on the left side, no problem. But it was on the on side that WAS a problem. Again, had to go to the shop, pay $15, wait an hour, and I’ve fixed it!

Next up, tighten up the brakes. I remember in the good old days you could just loosen a nut, pull some wires, and viola! Quick responsive brakes. But not on my bike. Mountain bike brakes, especially hydraulic brakes are a totally different beast. Working on them is like fixing a car. You have to bleed them. Purge them. Fill them. All with very specialized tools. Stuff I didn’t have. So off I trot to the shop. $20 for a hydraulic fluid bottle and some hope. This didn’t go as badly as the spoke change. The only mishap was when I disassmbled the caliper, I accidentally squeezed the brake and a stream of mineral oil shot accross the room staining my kitchen cabinet. No biggie. I’m moving in a few months

Pumping up the tyres was pretty easy. It was something I’d done a hundred times before. So it was pretty uneventful. No really. I just pumped them up. Job done.

Now I’m ready to go! Fresh battery in the computer and quick oil of chain and I’m off! Till next year…

Glow-in-the-Dark Bike Backpack

Here’s a pretty cool backpack I found while cruising the internet, that’s great for day and night riding, especially in the city. This would be the perfect gift for a bike messenger or courier, except that I don’t think it’s being produced (yet).

It was designed by Vanessa Marie Design but not much information is available about where you can buy one.

According to her website, 

a *safety chic* backpack with (hidden) versatility. the flaps have magnets inside of them with 3M Scotchlite material on the underside. during the day the flaps are held in place magnetically and at night – before jumping on your bike – you flip them up to become super visible.

Pretty neat! If you’re looking for bike backpacks (even the highly sought-after Ogio Backpack) check em out here.

French Foreign Bike Legion?

Danish company Yakkay have come up with a quite interesting (yet annoyingly named) concept in “Brainwear”. See I told you the name was dumb. They produce a line a bike helmets that look like normal everyday hats. No more looking like a berk on your morning commute. I predict these will be HUGE in the states by next summer. Remember, you heard it here first!

Hats, in general, have been enjoying a resurgence in the U.S. for reasons unknown to me. It was probably that Justin Timberlake character who “brought it back”. So wearing a hat-like helmet won’t come as such a shock to the easily upset American public.

I already own a pair of bike shorts that don’t make me look like I just stepped out an 80′s Jazzercise class. So it’s about time somebody did something about the dorky bike helmet. I quite like the idea, but won’t be buying one myself any time soon, unless they come out with one with pink bunny ears. Now THAT would be progress.

"Cool" Europeans with their Yakka helmets

Sabine Spitz

Sabine Spitz takes home the gold medal to Germany. It will sit nicely on the mantle piece next to the bronze medal she won in Athens four years ago.

She crossed the line in a rather cocky manner, in my opinion. About 5 metres before the finish line she hopped off her bike and carried it across. Yea yea, you’re the best. You’re so good that you can muck about and show off. But didn’t your mother read you the story of the tortoise and the hare? Or was it the crow and the robot? Who knows, maybe she got caught up in the moment.

But be careful! You don’t want to end up like american snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis. Hot-dogging with seconds to go can cost you more than a few touchy fans.

Changes were made to the course to make it more technical, adding more banked curves, drops, rock and new climbs and descents after rides complained it lacked of challenge at the Good Luck Beijing invitational event.

She even has her own website: Sabine-Spitz.com

Anne-Caroline Chausson

OK, so this post isn’t really about mountain bikes, but it’s about an ex-mountain bike racer! Anne-Caroline Chausson from the lovely country of France (where I am writing this from) is an ex downhill mountain bike world champion. Yesterday she won the Gold medal for BMX racing the Beijing Olympics.

You do know that BMX racing is now an Olympic sport, right? I’m just as surprised as you. I can imagine a group of dusty old men sitting around an enormous oblong polished walnut table smoking cigars discussing what “the kids like these days”. According to Richard Moore the IOC is out of touch by 20 years. In his recent article he goes on to say,

It is the timing of the inclusion of BMX that is most curious, though it highlights just how out of touch the International Olympic Committee is. They are, in fact, so out of touch that you fear real tennis might be the next addition to the programme – if real tennis was deemed to be popular with ‘the kids’.

I have to agree. What next, the hula-hoop competition? But I digress. This was supposed to be about Frenchie Chausson. Who’s name, by the way, means “slipper”. It’s not important. Just trivia.

The Yanks also take home a few BMX medals with Mike Day winning the silver and team-mate Donny Robinson the bronze. U!S!A! U!S!A!

Anne-Caroline Chasson