I’m actually impressed with a lot of the bike-lights I’ve been seeing on the road, at least on the bikes with lights. On the other hand, here’s a compilation of Wellington bicyclists who don’t quite get the “lights thing” -

As it says in those video descriptions: You’re looking for a cyclist. Motorists aren’t.

One of the problems with choosing a good bike light is that they ALL look bright when you’re standing in the bike-shop, holding the light at arm’s length and pointing it at your face. This doesn’t really mean much when you’re on the road, in a dark and rainy night, and the driver behind you is doing “important” things, like eating a burger and sending a txt.

We all like to think that the lights on our bike are conspicuous and “make drivers see us” but you have to do the experiment: Have a friend ride your bike a few hundred metres up and down a busy street, after dark, while you watch. Does the bike get lost in visual noise? Is it noticeable if you’re looking for it? Or is it conspicuous?

Simon and the gang at GWRC have tested a big pile of lights that are available locally for less than $100. Better yet, you can pick up a discount voucher for lights at the GWRC offices (142 Wakefield St – Ask for some free reflective tape while you’re there).

NZTA’s official road code for cyclists lists the requirements for lights. The important thing is that front and rear lights that are visible from 100m is a minimum requirement. Bicycle lights, even on a modest budget, can now easily put that “visible from 100m” requirement to shame.

On a related note, police in Wellington have, over the last few weeks, been doing bicycle light checkpoints (they may also check your helmet). More of these check-points are scheduled, so make sure you qualify for a chocolate, not a ticket.

A note on battery maintenance: Avoid lights that use “button” or “coin cell” batteries; it’s often cheaper to replace the light than the battery and they’re the weakest lights you can buy. For lights that use AA or AAA batteries, invest in ni-mh rechargeable batteries and a charger. When the batteries go flat it’ll cost a few cents to recharge them and you’re not filling a landfill with dead batteries. Many of the newer lights have built-in li-ion batteries and USB charging.

Wellington City Council has been working with Wellington Waterfront Ltd to create and test decals which are stuck down on the waterfront to promote courtesy between pedestrians and cyclists. Last year we ran a survey asking what people thought of the design. Based on the results of this survey, we edited the design. Now we need to find out if we’ve got it right.

To make things a bit more interesting, we’ve added some prizes! Everyone who completes the survey can go into the draw to win one of three $20 vouchers to Tuatua Cafe on the waterfront. Tuatua Cafe make fantastic lunches, and are committed to being organic and environmentally responsible.

To complete the survey, click on the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/sharedpathway2012. The link will be valid until 25 May, 2012.

The chain check tool pictured is a cheap and easy way to check if your chain is at or near the end of its life. For bikes with multiple gears ie cassette I use the .75 gauge and for single speeds the 1.0 gauge.

Simply place the gauge on the chain as shown. This check shows that the chain has reached the end of its life. As you can see the end of the gauge falls into the link completely. If left it will cause the cassette to wear prematurely.

This chain still has plenty of life in it.

If a chain is left too long the cassette will wear much more quickly and when a new chain is fitted there is a very good chance it will jump teeth, meaning a new cassette will be needed.

Keeping the chain clean and lubricated with good quality bicycle chain lube will help it last longer and keep things running smoothly and gear changes slick.

So now we’ve established whether we need to change the chain or clean it, let’s look at cleaning.

Chain cleaning baths like this one are fairly cheap to buy and easy to use.

Simply open it up, fill half of the bottom section with a bike specific citrus based degreaser and mount it on your chain

Holding the chain cleaner securely, start moving the pedals clockwise causing the chain to pass through the bath, be careful to keep fingers or other body parts clear of the moving wheel! Keep going for a minute or two to clear away the built up grime. Remove the bath and dry chain with a clean rag.

 

 
Now that the chain is free of gunk and grime it’s time to apply some good quality bicycle chain lube. There are lots of brands offering dry or wet lubes for both dry and wet weather. So a good quality wet weather lube would be best.

Apply the lube at the cassette, pedaling backwards until the whole chain is coated. Change through all the gears and then remove the excess with a cloth.

Hopefully this will save you a breakdown and some money to boot!

Happy biking

Simon

Feeling safe? Image credit: ibiketo.ca

Simon has put up the propositions that countries with good cycle safety don’t need helmet laws and countries with bad cycle safety do. I disagree. I think that countries with bad cycle safety need proven safety measures, not unproven ‘popular’ ideas such as our helmet regulation. Here’s why:

The helmet regulation was introduced for the sole purpose of making it safer to ride bikes in NZ. The question is therefore whether it has made it safer to ride bikes in NZ.

To answer this question, we need evidence. Measurable evidence. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough of that. The authorities haven’t bothered to keep the records that would allow us to measure.

The next link in the thought chain usually goes “Can’t hurt, probably helps.” But. When we are legislating on matters that affect whether people live or die in a given situation, we need to know – really know –  that we are not causing harm.

Do we know it can’t hurt? No. We don’t. We can’t, because we didn’t measure.

Think about this. Measuring’s pretty important when you’re telling people they’re safer. How do you reckon this kind of approach would go over on a city construction site? “OK chaps, we’ve heard that people reckon this will help, but actually we have no idea – it might even hurt you for all we know. Aaaand we’ll never know, because we’re not going to check. You’re fine with that, aren’t you chaps?” OSH would have a field day – and so should we.

There is growing belief that helmet mandation does hurt. The theory – the expert theory – is that it does this by putting people off riding. And we already know that when fewer people ride, the  safety of the remaining riders is jeopardised.

So. It’s my very firm belief that we should scrap the helmet regulation and implement proven cycle safety measures. Measurable measures. Measures that have been measured in a number of locations across a number of  scenarios. Measures such as the ones in countries with good cycle safety records.

You know the ones. The ones without helmet laws.

This smiling chap in the photo above is Simon from Get Fixed. Simon wants to fix your bike. He’ll even pick it up for you and deliver it back – but if you drop it off to him in Paremata there’s a coffee in it for you. Best of all, he’ll give your bike a safety check – for free!

The Guardian rates Auckland as a city “where cycling should be more popular than it is”. (H/T to Councillor Bruce for the link.)

Also at the Guardian – looking for a weekend project? Make your own bicycle panniers. Awesome.

Across the ditch in Sydney, a bike-share scheme is being considered, but only if it wins an exemption from the compulsory helmet laws that appear to be causing problems with Melbourne’s and Brisbane’s schemes.

Meanwhile in NZ, Wellington cycle commuter numbers double (hooray!) but Taranaki police are about to start a ticketing campaign of riders on the coastal walkway (boo, hiss).

Happy Friday everyone.

There are three great opportunities to advocate for better cycle infrastructure out at the moment.

Cycle Aware Wellington has tried to make it easy for you by thumbing through the many hundreds of pages and weeding out the most relevant stuff for cycling. We’ve got the key points summarised for the two big important documents below (with a super important one to come next week). The most important thing is to get your individual submission in, using your own words and personal experience. What makes the strongest case of all is turning up for an oral submission so we really encourage people to make the most of your civic duties and give it a go.

So (before you fall asleep) here goes:

 Draft Regional Land Transport Programme Key Points:

• Some train routes have capacity for bikes even at peak times. Remove bike restrictions for these routes, as already done for the Johnsonville line.

Do you feel inspired to make a difference? Passionate to do something about it? Well, here’s your chance…

Wanted – for an ambitious, long term project with the intention of raising the prospects for cyclable cities in our otherwise fair land: two roles are to be filled; possibly by the same person:

PROJECT MANAGER: Skills in coordinating small teams and keeping timelines goal-focused and on track.  You will need to be able to work with minimal resources (initially). Knowing how to use a Gantt chart would be helpful but is not essential.

ANALYST: Able to follow the money. Our transport money, that is. Some prior knowledge of the labyrinthine ways of transport institutions, local and national will be advantageous, but not essential if you have an enquiring mind and an appetite for the big numbers.

You’ll need to be at least comfortable, if not downright passionate about the utility cycling manifesto, AKA The Vibe of CIA. Time commitment: 3-4 hours a week for starters. Your reward: In cycling heaven. Alternatively, with a bit of professionalism, perhaps, somewhat earlier.

Interested? Contact me for more information.

Cycling-a normal, everyday activity…like brushing your teeth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67DfSoxRts0

So it’s done.

No more derailleur. No more shifters. No more gears… Almost. (I’ll get to that in a moment)

One of my main goals with my new bike was to make it single speed. I’d heard about the joy of urban commuting without gears, the freedom, the purity, etc. and I wanted to give it a shot.

Now, as I have pointed out previously, I am a mechanical luddite and while I was keen to do the single speeding (is that a term?) myself, I wasn’t keen to wreck my bike. Luckily Brooke from Mamachari was willing to step in and do the de-gearing (is that the term?) for me at a very reasonable price.

However I was still presented with a dilemma. Which gear ratio to choose?

This is not as simple as I hoped. Whenever I asked the experts what would be a good ratio for Wellington, I was invariably told, “well, that’s up to you”. I wanted someone to give me a definitive answer, but it turns out it actually is up to you. You have to find a comfortable medium, so that you can get up hills without too much struggle but aren’t peddling like a maniac on the flat. As I was a little unsure, Brooke suggested not taking the gears off. That way I could try out different gear ratios until I find the one that suits me. The derailluer hasn’t really worked on Rolly since I got it and I’ve pretty much been riding in one gear anyway. So I thought that gear would be a good place to start. Brooke says he can take all the gears off once I’ve decided on the ratio.

I also wondered about making Rolly a fixie, or getting a flip-flop hub. Now I’m sure fixies are cool, but in the end I like freewheeling and going “weeeee” downhill too much. (As you can tell I’m not cool enough for a fixie)

Brooke removed the derailluer, gear shifters, cables and replaced the chain with a shorter one. Luckily as Rolly doesn’t have vertical dropouts on the back wheel, he doesn’t need a chain tensioner. With vertical dropouts a tensioner gives you enough chain slack to take off the back wheel (look at me – I’m learning). A chain tensioner looks pretty lame though, so I’m glad I didn’t need one.

No chain tensioner! Now which gear to choose?

I’ve been riding Rolly as a single speed for a few weeks now and I love it! For starters it looks very cool now it’s stripped down. In place of the gear shifters my wife gave me a beautiful Japanese temple bell. It rocks! (actually it makes a very nice “ding”)

Much more elegant than shifters

I’m not 100% sold on the ratio but as I said, I can always change it. I love single speed though. It feels natural and I never realised how much effort I wasted thinking about gears until they were gone. Without them, it’s just me and the bike, the way it should be.

I’m pretty much done with Rolly now. Last weekend was my birthday and as the plan was to have it completely done by then, we spent a good few hours cleaning and polishing it. The wife also gave me a birthday present, that I thought was a strange piece of vintage bondage equipment. After a bit of awkward laughter, she explained that it was this.

It's for carrying wine, not bondage. Hurrah!

And that’s about it. There are other things I could do, like get Rolly painted but I’m happy with how it looks now. I get so many positive comments about it.

The bike looks good too.

I still need to get the gear ratio sorted and eventually I’ll have to get new brakes. I’ll be sure to blog about any further improvements I make. The way I see it he’s a work in progress and I’ll continue tweaking until I get a new project. As I was recently told, the correct number of bikes to own is n+1 (where n is the number of bikes currently owned).