tried and liked 2009
A roundup of bike things I tried and liked in 2009 – an annual new year’s tradition on the iBOB bike list:
Cyclocross brake levers – they’re great for using drop bars offroad, since I want to keep my bars set up for road riding, not high and close for ‘cross. They’re great for riding on the bar tops in city traffic too.
Jandd Mountain Wedge III: A really big seat bag. It holds what I need for all-day autumn rides (lunch, rain shell, gloves, extra warm layer, digicam, tools & tube) and it expands to hold even more. It fits any saddle, which is good since I gave up on Brookses after having the second one stolen off the bike a couple of years ago.
Planet Bike Blaze 2W: I gather from recent discussions on the BOB list that there are other, possibly better LED lights around, but this is the one I tried, and I like it. It’s plenty bright (my previous LEDs were just adequate) and it was easy to find and fairly cheap at Mountain Equipment Co-op.
Planet Bike Peace Pump: I like to keep a pump in each bag I use on my bike, so I have the best pump that each bag allows and so I don’t forget it. This was cheap, and the longer one just fits in my MEC messenger bag. Made of real metal. Pumps up my 700×38 Marathon Crosses fairly easily. Not sure how durable it would be for frequent
use, but it’s good enough for an emergency pump that lives at the bottom of my messenger bag.
ABUS Bordo lock. It’s actually heavier than my U lock and I don’t think anything with pivots can be as secure, but it’s easier to fit in a bag and less useless than a cable lock and I won’t be using it downtown at night.
MEC Glacier Merino hoodie. Full zip merino wool jacket with a hood. I don’t often use the hood while riding but it’s nice when I stop. It seems to have disappeared from their website though, which is typical whenever they make something I like (yay for impulse buying).
Panaracer Pasela, non-tourguard, 700×32. Also, running my 32s at 70ish PSI instead of 90.
Alpaca socks for cold rides. Alpaca makes merino feel like sandpaper, but the sweater was crazy expensive so I got socks. Once I put them on I didn’t want to take them off.
I got them late last year, but I’ve had a lot more experience with my Surly Cross-check and my Schwalbe Marathon Cross 700×38 tires. I like them both a lot (the Schwalbes are a great dirt-biased all-rounder tire), so I’ll list them again.
I couldn’t think of anything I disliked enough to mention.
Two things I’m expecting to try and hoping to like in 2010:
Schwalbe Marathon Winter studded tire. It didn’t make this year’s list because, while it’s been mounted and ready to
go on a spare wheel since November, it’s as yet unridden, since winter starts about 30km north of here.
The new bike racks on GO Transit buses Unlike city buses which only go to the start of the exurbs, GO Transit can take me and my bike through the Suburban Ring of Death and out to country roads (the seats are more comfortable, too). Bikes have been allowed on their non rush hour commuter trains for years, but the non rush hour trains don’t go to as many or as nice places.
Filed under: BikesPosted By: Adam