Al's Blog-o-Sphere

I’ve got to get this off of my chest. USB is not a very good charging scheme.

Yeah, it might be okay for your phone, and there are reasons they use it there, but still, not really good.

But, more and more bicycle accessories are using a USB source to charge them. Lights and computer/GPS accessories alike are now using this method to charge internal rechargeable batteries.

Here’s why I don’t like it.

1. Most USB connectors are not waterproof. The Knog light, shown here. claims theirs are, but for most of the accessories out there, you are lucky if they have a little rubber (soft plastic, nothing is rubber anymore, except your tires) plug that you need to pop in and out to use the connection. It’s invariably in the way and on a little flap that keeps pushing it back in the way when you try to plug in the charging cable. Continue Reading…

Goodbye Streetmachine. I really wanted to love you. I pictured myself gliding along on you like a bird in the wind. I could hear the comments as I passed people: “Wow, what a cool bike!” “What is that?” I imagined effortlessly keeping up with the other two-wheel riders on their diamond frames.

But it wasn’t meant to be, I guess. Continue Reading…

Well, the restoration of the 1980’s Ross bike is coming along. I’ve been doing a little bit at a time, mostly as parts come in.

Ordering parts for a bike this old online is sometimes a crapshoot. What you can find online is almost universally poor in the descriptions. Dimensions, if given, sometimes lie. I sit in front of the computer with an old part, measure it with calipers, and make my best guess which part to buy.

My first mistake was a new quill stem – the piece that holds your handlebars and goes down into the fork. I wanted to change it because the old one was never long enough for me. It was both too short and too low. I wanted to bring the handlebars further out in front of me as well as raise them up. I thought I found the part and ordered it. It came in and was beautiful, an adjustable angle and longer than the old one. But it didn’t fit. It was 1 mm too thick to go into the fork tube.

Over the years, tubing on bikes has gotten bigger and bigger. The bikes from the 70’s and 80’s often had a inside diameter steerer tube of 21.1 mm. It was common with Schwinn, Ross and some other brands. The piece I got was 22.2 mm. Close, but not going to work. Continue Reading…

I went for a bike ride this Wednesday that was a bit more than I had bargained for. Not more than I could handle, but more than I had planned. By “bike” of course, I mean on my recumbent trike.

A long time friend, who I met originally riding with a local bike club, passed away in Florida recently. Her husband and family held a memorial picnic for her friends here in Mayor’s Park in North Tonawanda. Gloria and her husband, Chuck, had met through the ski club I also belonged to, and we had been on several ski trips together. They were good people and good friends and I wanted to attend.

I decided that, since we had met through cycling originally, I would ride to the event. The distance was doable and it was along a route I had ridden many times. The only questionable aspect was the time, it started at 5pm and lasted until 8pm. If I didn’t stay too late, I could ride home most of the way before dark.

The day, however, turned out to be cool and overcast. The rain stayed well south of Buffalo, but the clouds cut at least a half-hour of daylight out. I talked to my son, who had plans to meet some friends in N. Tonawanda that evening and I asked him to drive my truck, so that if it rained, I could meet up with him.

Continue Reading…