Bike Broke Break

Posted on July 3, 2018 by Rob

New Chain and Spindle

I took a little unplanned break from bike riding last week. I went out for one of my usual rides earlier in the week and yep, my bike broke. I went to shift gears and snap! the rear shifter cable broke.

So I brought it into my Local Bike Shop (LBS) and they talked me into doing both shifter cables, the chain and the spindle (the thing with all the gears by the back wheel). I thought that my chain was in bad shape due to all the miles that I’ve put on and I know that that messes upthe gears too so that’s why I went for it.

Anyway, they said it would take 5 to 7 days. In peak riding season! Oh no! But then it ended up only taking 2 days. So now I am back in the saddle again with new shifter cables, a new chain and new back gears and only a few forced no riding days.

My chain in the photo will never look that clean and new again. How exciting, right?!? With the new chain and spindle the gears shift WAY better than they did before and that is very noticable so at least it was better than just getting it back working again like before.

Another Garmin Heart-Rate Strap (& some TDF stuff)

Posted on July 26, 2014 by Rob

Well I just went through another Garmin heart-rate strap this month.I love my Garmin Edge 800 gps bike computer and I also love having all my heart-rate stats integrated into my bike computer and easy to access but I have not had good luck with the Garmin heart-rate straps.

Garmin heart-rate strap on my handlebars.

I am on my 4th HR strap now. Fortunately, I was able to replace the first and second ones with the warranties from Garmin so this is really only the second one that I’ve had to buy. I have also followed the instructions and have cleaned the straps after each use and washed with soap and even in the washing machine a few times (as they suggested). Still I have had terrible luck with these things.

I have had no problems with my Garmin Edge Bike Computer or with the HR transmitter that you snap on to the strap, just with the straps themselves. Fortunately, Garmin is great with their warranties which was a factor in why I bought another Garmin strap.

When I was shopping for ANT+ heart-rate straps online the only models that kept coming up were Wahoo, Bontrager and Garmin. Wahoo might be OK but they sounded cheap to me so I was deciding between Bontrager and Garmin. Bontrager has a good name in the cycling world but their strap and transmitter sold for $65 and I could get the Garmin (strap only) for $35.

I almost got the Bontrager because I wanted to try a different brand but my budget is tight right now so I went for the cheaper strap only option from Garmin. If it goes bad before the warranty is up I’ll just get a replacement again. If it outlasts the warranty but goes bad later maybe I will try the Bontrager next time.

Before I got my gps Bike Computer I never even knew that I needed a heart-rate monitor. Now, I am so used to having my HR stats that I almost never ride without it.

BTW: I didn’t have any professional models available for the HR strap photo above so I enlisted my bike handlebars to model the HR strap and monitor.

Tour de France Updates

I thought that this would be a good time for this story since the Garmin Sharp team just won the last stage of the Tour de France yesterday. It was another wet and rainy stage yesterday and they had another pile up crash just before the finish line yesterday.

There are always some crashes in the TDF but it seems like this year has been particularly bad. Many of the top riders, including Chris Froome (one of my favorites), Alberto Contador and Andrew Talansky have all been injured and dropped out of the race.

I just looked at my last blog post here and when I posted the leaders at that time (after Stage 4) I thought that the leaders at that time would all be changing throughout the race. Surprisingly (to me anyway) Nibali is still the overall leader and wears the Yellow Jersey and Peter Sagan still wears the Green Jersey (not a big surprise there). The other top positions have all changed though.

I was hoping to see Tejay Van Garderan do well for the Good ol USA and I see that he hold the #6 position in the overall standings. Not bad. Let’s go for #1 next year though. We need another winner to help get over the Lance Armstrong disaster.

Well, today is the last real racing stage of le Tour so I’ll see how that goes (it could already be over but I do not see the broadcast until later in the day) and tomorrow will be the final stage in Paris. So after this weekend it will be au revoir to le TDF until next year. 🙁

I also just saw that Jack Bauer was in the race this year. I thought that he would just be working security 🙂 He’ll probably end up in position 24! 🙂

Bike Tire Stats – Continental vs Bontrager

Posted on June 30, 2014 by Rob

I finally pushed my last set of bike tires to the limit ~ 3,388 miles in this case ~ and ended up with a flat tire last week and a brand new pair of tires this week.

Old worn out Continental Ultra Sport and New Specialized Armadillo Tires

The tires that I just replaced were Continental Ultra Sport – 700x25c. I wrote a blog post on these and my previous tires, Bontrager Race Light Hard Case – 700x28c, back in September of 2009. See the New Tires Blog Post Enter Here for the detailed stats on my older tires.

Well I keep detailed information on my bike tires and other equipment so now that the Continental tires have reached their limit (or are well past their limit for other riders) I have all of the details on how these tires compared to my previous tires.

Bike Tire Stats:

Bought 6/21/2014 Specialized Armadillo 700x25c $90.00
Bought 9/27/2011 New Columbia Ultra Sport 700c25c $48.00 Miles used 3,388 2 yrs 9 mos Cost/mile 0.0141677 Cost/1000 miles $14.17
Bought 7/1/2008 New Bontrager Race Light Hard Case 700c28c $80.00 Miles used 4,907 3 yrs 2 mo Cost/mile 0.0163032 Cost/1000 miles $16.30
Bought 8/10/2005 Original Tires – 8/10/05-7/1/2008 Miles Used: 3,719 2 yrs 3 mos

So there you have the latest stats on the various tires that I have used on my Trek 1500 over the years.

The Flat Tire Story

Well I was just out on a local ride not far from my house when I got my flat tire but I had checked the weather radar before I left and I did not have a lot of extra time before I saw some storms heading towards me.

Fortunately my daughter was home and was able to come out and save me before the storm hit.I slid my Topeak Bike Bag off along with my GPS Bike Computer then locked my bike so I could go back and get my van to pick it up. My friend called it my “SAG Car” like those team cars that follow around the racers in bike races.

I didn’t have a spare tire or a patch kit with me so I didn’t have a lot of options anyway. In this case it worked out well because if I would have taken the time to fix the flat tire instead of calling my “Sag car” to pick me up I would have gotten soaked. We had a major downpour!

I do believe that it was the extremely worn tires that caused this particular flat so I was actually very lucky that I was not 20, 30 or more miles out like I was on some of my recent longer rides. I do plan on carrying a spare or patches (or both) on my next long ride so I don’t get stranded if this happens then.

Speakin of rides… I did do a couple of new rides recently up in the Chain of Lakes area. Actually, I was on the Chain Of Lakes Trail in Grant Woods and the trail in the Chain of Lakes Park. I have photos but have not had a chance to post them and write the story yet. I hope to get to that soon and I will post an update here too.

Hope you all are enjoying this excellent riding weather!

Recumbent Elliptical Reviews and Dual Action Exercise Bikes

Posted on January 11, 2013 by Rob

One thing leads to another and after adding over 100 fitness bike reviews to this website I have just completed our fourth Recumbent Elliptical (aka: Seated Elliptical) Review.

For those of you who are familiar with the history of this website, we started out being all About Bicycles (of course) with an emphasis on bikes, bike accessories and bike trails in the Chicagoland area (and in Wisconsin).

Well, cycling is all about fitness too so we moved into fitness bikes (Indoor Cycles and Upright and Recumbent Exercise Bikes) and I have been fortunate to have a close friend who is an expert in fitness equipment (formerly a VP at a major fitness company) and I have also met and consulted with other exercise bike product specialists in the industry over the years. I focus more on fitness bikes in the winter and I love supporting fitness and good health in general.

For those of you who ride a lot outdoors, you may have noticed that Recumbent Bikes are getting more popular. There are quite a few different kinds of recumbent bikes (and trykes) available these days although they share some common features. They are very comfortable to ride, are easy on the knees and provide great back support. A friend of mine has owned 2 recumbents (a SWB (short wheel base) and LWB (long wheel base)) and I have ridden many miles on these bikes and can confirm how comfortable these bikes are.

OK, getting back on track with the subject of this blog post, in the process of reviewing numerous Recumbent Exercise Bikes, I ran across some Dual-Action models (with either levers or pedals for your arms and upper body) and eventually started looking into Recumbent (or Seated) Elliptical Bikes (or trainers). Sorry if gets a little confusing with the various names but even though these machines have been around for years, I still see them referred to using the different names that I’ve used here.

I have also received emails from visitors to this site who were looking for Dual Action Exercise Bikes or Recumbent Bikes (or ellipticals) or both so I needed to become more familiar with these kinds of fitness products.

What I have found is that there are quite a few different configurations and kinds of Exercise Bikes and Elliptical Trainers that are Dual-Action and/or Recumbent and they are designed and used for different purposes.

Some people prefer a dual action fitness bike to stay in shape for riding season and to get an upper body work out too. I have found that many of the people looking for this kind of fitness product have special needs and use them for Rehab, Physical Therapy, Weight Loss or just a good low impact aerobic exercise.

The first Dual Action Exercise Bikes that I looked into (many years ago) were Dual Action Fan Bikes. The most popular are the Schwnn models like the original Schwinn Airdyne and the newer (less expensive) Schwinn Airdyne AD2. Fan Bikes use a pedaling motion (like a regular bike) and have levers for your upper body workout.

I could not find any other dual-action bikes that used a regular pedal and crank (like an outdoor bike) and that also had an upper-body exercise mechanism although there are quite a few models that use an elliptical design for your lower body workout and also have either levers or pedals for your arms and upper body.

I have seen quite a few Octane Recumbent Ellipticals at some of the boutique fitness stores around here but did not find as good of a selection online. I also reviewed the Inspire CS2 Recumbent Elliptical but that model is no longer available online.

The Smooth V2300 is a very popular Recumbent/Seated Elliptical Bike, which I still have listed as active on our site although they are currently out of stock (I have talked to my representative at Smooth and have been told that they should be available again in mid-February). The Smooth V2300 uses elliptical pedals for your lower body workout and a pedaling device for your upper body exercise.

Some of the models that you can get online now are the Proform Hybrid Trainer, which is a dual-action elliptical that can also be used as a seated or recumbent elliptical. The arm levers for your upper body exercise are only accessible, however in the standing elliptical position.

And finally, I get to the Recumbent Elliptical that I have just reviewed and that is available online now which is the HCI PhysioStep RXT Recumbent Elliptical (I saved the best for last).

This product is truly a Dual-Action Recumbent Elliptical Trainer with a Recumbent/Seated Elliptical Trainer, for your lower body, and adjustable Arm Levers for your upper body exercise.

One of the things that really impressed me about this fitness product is the overwhelmingly positive and consistent customer reviews on this product.

See our HCI PhysioStep RXT Recumbent Elliptical Review for more detail on this product, the customer reviews, our review and the best place to get this Recumbent Elliptical online.

Day at the Races, 2013 Bikes, Hybrid and Misc.

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Rob

It’s been a while since my last post here and there have been a lot of little things that I wanted to mention or write about that were not really enough for a full blog post by themselves so I decided to include them in this multi-topic blog post.

I’ll start off with my Day at the Races. My wife and I went to Arlington Park race track this weekend for something fun to do and, in my case, to get some photos too. This is not really a bike related topic but when I was there I noticed a lot of similarities in the racing scene between the horse race and the bike races that I was at this summer (the Tour of Elk Grove specifically).

OK, well the horse race scene is much more about gambling and there are plenty of other differences too but for some reason there seemed to be a lot of similarities too. They are both colorful events that draw large crowds (and are good photo ops 🙂 ). Both events share the anticipation of the race itself, a similar speed/pace, and the excitement of the race and competition are similar.

Well, this is a stretch but I had some Photoshop fun merging one of my photos from the horse race this weekend with one of my TOEG photos (the photo shown here). I also just looked up the average speed for horse races and it is very close to the speed of professional bike races at times so the photo may not be as obscure as it appears at first (well, maybe if the cyclist had a paved track).

2013 Bikes Available Online

In other actual cycling news, I wanted to mention that I have discovered that there are now some 2013 bikes for sale online. Specifically, there are some 2013 versions of the popular Cannondale bikes for sale at REI like the Cannondale Quick, CAAD10 and CR1 for starters.

Hybrid Elliptical and Recumbent Bike

As we start falling into a little more of the indoor fitness season, I have been looking into the latest fitness products out there and found an interesting new product from Proform. It is a hybrid elliptical trainer and recumbent exercise bike. This is not going to be for everyone but since hybrids do typically meet the needs of some people that are looking for a combination of two (or more) products in one, this may be perfect for some of you. You can see my review on this fitness product at the Proform Hybrid Trainer Review on this site.

Helpful Information about your Social Security Statements

And finally I want to mention one more topic that is not even bike related but I have found this information to be very valuable and since this blog has a large number of readers and subscribers I wanted to post it here (as well as on some of my other sites). If you are here only for the Bike Info and/or if this does not apply to you then please feel free to skip this one.

This is not real new but many of you may have noticed that the government does not send out the hardcopy Social Security Statements that show your entire working history, earnings and potential retirement benefits from Social Security anymore.

What you may not know is that you can now get the exact same Social Security Statement online at: www.ssa.gov/mystatement. You will need to setup a login account which will require your SSN (of course) and additional personal tax information that only you should have. It looks like the security is pretty good and I am glad about that. You may need to look some stuff up in order to setup the login account.

Anyway, once you set this up, you will have access to all the SS Statement info that you used to get in the mail.

Salsa Spearfish XC MTB Review

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Rob

As I mentioned in my last post, I am still on the DL with a leg injury which has disrupted my bike trail blog articles here but fortunately, I am still able to get some bike reviews done (technical reviews that is).

2012 Salsa Spearfish 3 FS XC MTB

One of the bike review that I just completed is on the Full Suspension, Endurance XC Salsa Spearfish. The high-end full suspension MTBs can get very expensive but this one actually sells at a very reasonable price online (even the 2012 model).

If you have read some of my other blog entries you will know that I am not really a mountain biker ~ although I have ridden MTBs, MTB trails and also spent countless hours on dirt bikes (the motorized MTBs) when I was younger ~ but I have always been a little envious of MTB riders that live out west or where there is access to real mountains (unlike Illinois and most of Wisconsin).

I also think that the new full suspension mountain bikes are really cool even though they can get expensive, which is one argument for getting a hardtail MTB for cross country rides.

Anyway, you can see my full review at 2012 Salsa Spearfish Review. I have also looked up and read numerous customer reviews on this bike on some of the popular bike review sites and I have found most Salsa bikes to be rated very highly by their owners.

One little piece of info that I thought was interesting was that the Salsa Spearfish bike is named after the town of Spearfish, South Dakota ~which I just looked up and I see that it is in the Black Hills area of South Dakota. I have been there (although not on a MTB) and it is a really scenic area. I can see how the hundreds of miles of single track trails out there would be a real lot of fun!

About-Bicycles Page and Blog Posts on Facebook

Posted on March 17, 2012 by Rob

About-Bicycles.com is Goin Social!

Yep, I finally launched the About-Bicycles.com business page on Facebook so for the many of you that have subscribed to this blog you now have another way to get our updates and read these blog posts.

The About-Bicycles Facebook Page.

Here’s a link to the new About-Bicycles Facebook page. This page is new so we really don’t have much content out there just yet, but there will be soon.

Also, if I did the setup correctly, these blog posts should automatically be posted to the About-Bicycles Facebook page so if you choose to Follow About-Bicycles on Facebook, you can get our blog posts right there in Facebook instead of visiting us here on our website ~ of course, you are always welcome to come out here as often as you like too :-).

I have also setup this blog to be tweeted via our Twitter account About_Bicycles.

So come on out to the About-Bicycles Facebook page and “Like” us and Follow Us! Let’s get social!

Fitness Club, Personal Trainer and Exercise Bikes

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Rob

I am in the process of checking out some of the Fitness Clubs in our area to get into better shape, check out what exercise bikes (and other equipment) that they have and even to check out the Spin Classes that they offer.

I think that Fitness Clubs are pretty big business so I have been expecting a pretty hard sell at the places that I plan to visit. I checked out the first fitness club on my list yesterday and sure enough they were trying to get me to sign the papers right then and there! Well, I was not ready to sign-up, of course, so I made it past that hurdle.

I did have quite an experience which is definitely worth mentioning.

My first stop was Bally Total Fitness and I met with the club manager first. Step one in their process was to find out all about my fitness goals so I mentioned that I do a lot of cycling and want to stay in shape or improve and to lose some weight too, of course.

Next they took a Body Fat reading with an Omron hand held body fat measurement tool. This was actually very disappointing for me (I need to get in shape!) but it lead me to research these devices along with other body fat measurement techniques online after I got home. It turns out that these devices are not completely accurate but they are somewhat accurate (when used correctly) and they are very convenient. I may purchase one of these soon.

Next, they showed me around the club a little and the manager set me up with a Personal Trainer to get me warmed up and inspired to get into shape I guess.

Wow, this was an experience! I had never worked with a personal trainer before and it was very enlightening. All we really did was various calisthenics with very little equipment. we used a 15 pound ball and some dumbbells for a few of the exercises, but that was it. I can’t believe what a major workout you can get just from calisthenics! We did a 20 minute workout and was was exhausted and am very sore today.

Since I mentioned cycling we did a lot of exercises for the lower body and legs and I can feel that today. I jotted down the exercises that we did when I got back for future reference.

So after my Personal Trainer workout, I was exhausted but I still had not completed my mission so I proceeded to the Exercise Bikes to check out what they had and to try them out (and in this case wind down a little).

They had some Star Trac Uprights and Recumbents plus quite a few Life Fitness bikes (Upright and Recumbents). Once again I preferred the Life Fitness bikes (models 9500HR) over the Star Trac bikes (I did not see the model number on them). The Star Trac upright bike did have a nice feature that allowed you to adjust the handlebars (horizontally so they were closer or further away).

The heart rate monitors on the Star Trac recumbent were on the upper bars only which is not as comfortable as having them on the lower bars (by your side) like the Life Fitness bikes.

Riding the exercise bikes seemed like a break compared to the personal trainer workout that I just did. Of course, I took a pretty easy pace and I believe that I am in much better shape for riding than for other exercises.

My last stop was to check out the Spin Bikes. They had a room full of Star Trac Spinner Pro Spin Bikes setup for their Spin Classes. I did ride on one of these just a little and it was fully adjustable and worked well but I did not do a major workout on it.

What I am really hoping for is to be able to go there next week for one of their Spin Classes. I have a free 7 day trail pass but I am not sure if it covers the Spin Classes. I will find out about that and if I am able to do it I will definitely keep you posted.

New Bike Tires – Bontrager vs Continental

Posted on September 29, 2011 by Rob

As I mentioned in my last post, I just bought and installed new bike tires yesterday and was going to put a little information out here on the latest tire experience.

Before I get into my bike tire installation disaster, let me update you on the brands and misc. stats that I have on the tires that I have had on my Trek 1500 road bike so far.

Keep in mind that I usually put a lot of miles on my bike tires before I change them (they are usually bald or damaged before I change them (I guess I like to get my moneys worth)).

Old Bontrager Race Light with 4,907 miles

I don’t actually remember what brand the original tires were that came on the bike new (I didn’t write it down!) but I do have the dates and miles. The original tires that came on my bike lasted for 2 years and 3 months and made it 3,719 miles.

The next set of tires that I bought for my bike were Bontrager Race Light Hard Case – 700x28c. These tires cost me $80 for the pair (back in July, 2008), lasted for 3 years and 2 months and made it 4,907 miles!

I don’t think that I ever had a flat with these tires. There is writing on the tires that says “Triple Puncture Protection” and I guess it was legit!

The reason that I just changed these tires is because they were basically falling apart (some of the rubber was comming off and you could see the material underneath!) and I am planning a fairly long bike trip up to the 400 Trail in Wisconsin next week.

FYI: If you are wondering how I know all this specific information, it’s because I am kind of a data junkie in some ways (like with my bike stuff). I have kept my bike mileage records and stats since about 1997 (now in a spreadsheet) and I have the receipts for all of my bike parts and accessories which are also now in a spreadsheet. (I think that I included some of my bike computer stats on our Bike Computers page too).

OK, back to the new tires. When I went to my LBS (Mike’s Bike Shop, in Palatine), I looked at a few different brands and The Continental Ultra Sport– 700x25c were quite a bit cheaper than the other brands that I looked at and the guys in the bike shop told me that they had better experiences with Continental tires than with Bontrager (so they kind of talked me into them).

So I bought the Continental Ultra Sport Tires for $48 a pair and went home to put them on my bike. I hate changing tires but I managed to get the front tire on pretty fast and easy (that was a relief). Then I moved on to the back tire.

I got the old one off with no problem and got a good start on installing the new tire. This is where the disaster begins. I must have spent 30 to 45 minutes trying to get this tire on the rim and my hands and thumbs were so sore I thought that I might be doing permanent damage! I even resorted to trying some dull tools (like they say not to) to try to get the tire on. Still no luck.

So out of total frustration, I took the partially installed tire back to the bike shop to see if these experienced bike mechanics had some tricks or better tools to get difficult tires on with.

Well, they told me that they do not use tools to install the new tires (it’s just done by hand) but some are just way more difficult than others. I have changed many tires over the years and have always been able to get the job done (until now).

The other thing that they mentioned was the the combination of Bontrager rims (which I have on my Trek) and Continental tires can be a very difficult combination. Now they tell me! (don’t get me wrong about Mike’s Bike Shop because I have gone there for years and they have always been really helpful).

Well, the guy at the LBS struggled quite a bit but he was more experienced than I was and was able to get the new tire installed after a while but it was not easy for him either.

Well, I can’t give you the stats on the Continental Tires yet, of course, but I’m sure I’ll keep my records and spreadsheets and might be able to blog about how long they lasted when I finally get around to a new set (if I still have the same bike).

As I was writing this blog post, I just discovered that we do not have a “Bike Tires (or tubes)” page on this site. I am going to have to change that. I do know that there is a good selection of tires and tubes online at Performance Bike and I have some good links there from our Bike Accessories and Equipment page.

Bike Computers/Speedometers and GT Bikes 15% Off through 8/17/2011

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Rob

As I was updating all of the Bike Prices on this website for today, I noticed that Performance Bike has a sale going on where they are taking 15% off of all “Outlet” items through Wednesday, 8/17.

This sale is actually for 15% off of the lowest sale price listed and works out pretty well for the items that are on sale at Performance, including bikes.

I found that ALL of the GT bikes (Road, Mountain and Hybrid) on this website quality for the 15% off at Performance. So if you have been looking for a GT Bike, this is a good time to check out what they have on sale at Performace. See any of the GT Bikes listed here.

There are quite a few other items that qualify for the 15% off sale at Performance including Bike Computers/Speedometers so if you are looking for a new (or first) Bike Computer (or any other bike accessory) check out the Performance Sale that is going on now through Wednesday.

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