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News November 3, 2021

CyclingTips Builds a Wall

NGL, I’m not a fan of paywalls of any kind. While it’s not a massive problem for sites like CyclingTips because no one lives or dies based on their content (sorry, not sorry), in a broader sense paywalls create an information divide between the haves and the have-nots. Basically punishing those with thinner wallets by depriving them of information, which reinforces the broader economic and cultural issues in our society. In many…

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News October 28, 2021

It’s nice to not be alone here

I’ve railed against fully integrated cockpits pretty much every chance I get. Even the two piece jobbies, like the Specialized SL7, or not-quite-internal-but-very-clever Trek Emonda, are unnecessarily complicated on a lot of levels. And it’s not just for the initial fit, when you want to work on the bike, or when you want your bike steerer to stay in one piece. Most bike bag/boxes require that you take off the cockpit. How…

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News October 28, 2021

ABUS Bordo 6500A Smart Folding Lock with Keyless Comfort

I don’t think I would ever use this ABUS smart lock with my road bike, mostly because it probably weighs about the same as the bike. That’s actually a good thing for a city bike though, and this is the target demographic for this beast. While it’s great that there’s another option in that space, the really cool thing about this lock is that it’s kind of like keyless entry for your…

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News October 22, 2021

Garmin Edge530 8.63 Beta Adds “Green” Threat Tone

While I don’t always love what running BETA software on my Garmin devices does to me (clearly a self-inflicted wound; although they are generally very stable), I do love the way they structure the program. It’s open to anyone, no NDAs, and they are generally pretty good about documenting what’s in the release. In this release for the EDGE530, they’ve introduced the ability to sound an all-clear (“green threat level”) tone when…

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News October 22, 2021

Kickr ’18 / v5 – Firmware v3.5.2 / v4.2.5

If you have a 2018 or v5 (2020) Wahoo Kickr, a new firmware came out for them last week. It’s not a massive change, but it’s awesome if you use the smart trainer in a light sensitive environment. This isn’t usually an issue for me, but when we have guests staying in the basement, I have to unplug it to make it easier for them to sleep.…

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News October 7, 2021

If it doesn’t have fender mounts, it’s not a real gravel bike

Sorry BIKERUMOR!, now matter how many times you say “gravel bike” when talking about the new Crux, it’s not a gravel bike. That’s not to say that it’s not a cool CX bike, in a time when gravel is the new black. Just that we need to be honest about what it is. Why pretend otherwise? As long as we’re being honest, maybe prioritizing the lightest “gravel” bike isn’t the smarted choice.…

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News October 6, 2021

Continental Makes Road Hookless Viable, With Caveats

I had a chance to connect with Vittoria at CABDA a few weeks ago, and their representative mentioned that they were planning to release a hookless compatible cotton road tire similar to the Corsa Speed, but not with Speed branding. So it wasn’t entirely surprising that Continental was working on what could be a sea change tire for wider adoption of hookless road rims. Given the caveats, so of which I included…

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News September 30, 2021

Hiplok Announces D1000 Anti-Angle Grinder Bike Lock

I really like the Hiplok security ties that we reviewed a while back, but they aren’t intended to be a real bike lock. More an inconvenience creating device while you run off for some coffee, or a restroom break. On the other hand, the new Hiplok D1000 is a real bike lock; and they are making some big claims around the security features it has. I don’t have the tools or skills…

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News September 13, 2021

Yeah, OK, Mike’s Bikes; Pon Group is technically a “family-owned company”

First off, just to be clear, I think it sucks. Really sucks. That Specialized canceled the pre-orders of everyone who bought one of their bikes from Mike’s Bikes. While they almost certainly were within the bounds of their contract with Mike’s Bikes, it’s not great for the 400+ people screwed over by this act, and perhaps more importantly, will cost Specialized goodwill to a much wider audience. FOR SHAME! But, what I…

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