Ride home for Wednesday, 28 September
It was one of those days where for no apparent reason, if you were in a car, you weren't moving much. I didn't feel like showing solidarity so I broke my usual rule of not riding in the gutter and rode past most of the stationary queues. It's amazing how car drivers fixate on a set of roads though, once I was on the back roads there was hardly any traffic around.
Today was also new toy day, I picked up a Super Microft jacket from MEC, and my Minoura Extra Long Space Grip came in. The space grip was a bit fiddly to get the hang of, and I think I need to put in a rubber shim on the handlebar attachment as it may still be a bit loose, but it looks like it'll be really handy; it's easy to detach the bar from the pillar, so I'm going to get another one for my mountain bike so I can switch lights around pretty easily - the only hassle is going to be unwrapping all the velcro that's keeping the wire tidied away...
Distance logged: 13.837km
Time: 40:54
Average speed: 20.3km/hr
Max speed: 47.7km/hr
Temperature: 18C, sunny
Cumulative distance: 5324.580km
Today was also new toy day, I picked up a Super Microft jacket from MEC, and my Minoura Extra Long Space Grip came in. The space grip was a bit fiddly to get the hang of, and I think I need to put in a rubber shim on the handlebar attachment as it may still be a bit loose, but it looks like it'll be really handy; it's easy to detach the bar from the pillar, so I'm going to get another one for my mountain bike so I can switch lights around pretty easily - the only hassle is going to be unwrapping all the velcro that's keeping the wire tidied away...
Distance logged: 13.837km
Time: 40:54
Average speed: 20.3km/hr
Max speed: 47.7km/hr
Temperature: 18C, sunny
Cumulative distance: 5324.580km
posted by steve at 9/28/2005 09:36:00 pm
5 Comments:
Let me know how it turns out with the Space Grip.
Vic is very curious to do something like my "handle bar bag extender" so he can have lights and his handlebar bag...and since I hate my handlebar bag (too big...), I still want an extender for lights and a bell and a new bag! ha!
I'll be very curious how it works switching it between bikes and how stable it is.
So far so good. The only major oddity is the wind whistling through it at high speeds, which makes it hum a little. I don't think it'll work for a bell as it's too far away (unless you only want a bell on there to make your bike street legal). I needed to put a rubber shim (aka "bit of inner tube I slice off and cut in half") around the handlebar to make it grip properly, but I haven't had any problems apart from that.
But the bell is a major component! Hmmmm...
I need a new bell and something smaller, but have had a hard time finding one that would fit on my handlebar.
I am considering some kind of mount for an emergency fog horn like I used to have on the sail boat. I figure that would get some attention from the dumbass and malicious Boston drivers.
I have a mini bell which is pretty small; REI carry the Mirrcycle Incredibell which looks pretty similar to mine, or there's the slightly gimmicky looking Minibell with floating compass. Harris Cyclery carry the Universal Mini Bell which looks like it might take up even less space on the handlebars.
The only problem is that the only people who will hear these are other cyclists and pedestrians, and they aren't really the target market. The only horn I've seen that works reasonably well is the Air Zound, which I have. The only downside for you would be the location; as you can see in the image on this page it mounts with the horn below the handlebar, so while it may take less space it would end up being muffled by your handlebar bag. I have the horn on my bike within easy thumb reach (I can't remember if I had it when you stayed with us or not).
My dream mount would probably be a paintbull gun loaded with rounds of bleach-filled pellets. Unfortunately, I don't think such a thing would ever make it into production...
I am so all over the AirZound. That's the horn I've been looking for. I'll figure out a way to mount it. I really just want a horn loud enough to scare the shit out of bastards who think I don't care if they cut me off, to make sure that idiots running on the trails with their iPODS blarring have a heart attack, and finally everyone around me will know that I am one pissed off M.F.!
Sounds like my kinda horn.
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