Recently, I received an email from a customer inquiring about “step through” frames. Often the need arises from a physical disability, a lack of flexibility or the need to achieve that certain comfort and confidence level that only a step through provides. As we exchanged emails, I learned a lot about bike design, thanks to […]
Will my tires explode?
The fodder for this eLetter came from this blog post: “I won a new bike at my company picnic and I’d love to ride it, but I’m extremely afraid of popping all the tires at my weight!!!” Here’s the quick answer — the tires will be fine. Food for thought: a 4000 pound car is […]
Bicycling for Ladies
This Cycling Savvy eLetter is a little bit of a departure for me. I usually focus on technical aspects of cycling, but when a customer was kind enough to send me this book, I thought this would be an appropriate place to present it. The book is Bicycling for Ladies (The Common Sense of Bicycling). […]
650 Wheels: Pro and Con
With the season upon us, I’ve been hearing from a lot of you who are thinking about purchasing a new bike and wondering about 650 wheels. Like Terry, many other WSDs use this size, front and rear, on their smaller models. In a nutshell: “If the shoe fits, wear it!”. Don’t shun a properly fitting […]
Tips for Buying a Bike
Are you thinking about buying a new bike? I frequently get calls from customers who are a little intimidated about going into a bike shop. Here are some tips that will help you. Which shop? • First, find a shop that specializes in the kind of bike you’re looking for. Some shops sell lots of […]
Fixing a Flat Tire
First, here’s some general information about tires: Since tires are your only contact with the road, it’s important to make sure they’re in good working order. Inspect them regularly for cuts on the tread or sidewall. Small cuts can hold shards of glass or thorns, which can eventually cause a flat tire. Big gashes can […]
Bicycle Frame Geometry
Frame geometry, loosely defined, is all about the lengths and angles of a bicycle frame. It’s important because it determines how the bicycle will perform as well as how it will fit you. Sometimes it’s easy to look at the most obvious aspects of frame geometry (how long is the top tube and what is […]
Correct Bicycle Fit for your Upper Body
One of the perks of my job is being able to escape to the Eastern Shore of Maryland for some sunny riding around Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. On a recent trip, I found myself thinking about the “cockpit” of the bicycle, the area that encompasses everything from the saddle to the handlebars. Knowing when a […]
Bicycle Fit: Start Here in Your Search for Performance
by Gary D. Hughes, Ph. D. Gary Hughes is a bicycle fit specialist and owner of Bodacious Bicycles in Easton, MD. He offers the three levels of bicycle fitting mentioned in this article, and he repairs, rehabilitates and builds frames and complete bikes. He is also a Terry bicycle dealer. Gary can be reached at […]
Crazy Chainrings
It must be the mechanical engineer in me — when I started reading about Rotor’s Q-Rings, I was fascinated. To the point that my desk is littered with all kinds of studies and evaluations of this and other renegade chainrings. Not that they’re new — oval and elliptical chainrings pop up all the time. Here’s […]
Off to Headquarters!
Most people think I reside in Burlington since that’s where our corporate headquarters have been for the last year. No, I still live in western New York and work remotely from my home office. There are three of us in that situation. We make the trip to Burlington several times a year to see familiar […]
Born in the Bathtub
Where have I been? I didn’t realize it was trendy to be born in a bathtub. I just figured it was the safest place in the house for a prototype Terry frame and fork built for me by Waterford. The cats can’t knock them over if they’re in the bathtub. And the bathroom doubles as […]
Lunch with Cy
Monday, the day after the Wild Goose Chase, was a perfect kind of wind down day. Sunny and calm. The perfect day to ride with my friend Cy on some of the sweeter roads in the area and talk about what a great weekend it was and how much more we can do next year. […]
Baggage
I can’t believe how much “stuff” I take on vacation. Just the electronics alone: 2 iPods™ (need a back up — no fun driving 9 hours each way with no tunes), an iPad™, an iPhone™, a MacBook Pro™, a digital camera, a Flip® video camera and all the necessary battery rechargers and AC/DC converters…oh, and […]
Freeing a Stuck Seatpost
Last week, I began an overhaul of my hybrid bike, Moo. Moo is a very special bike. It began life as Mt. Marcy, our original mountain bike, named after the highest peak in the Adirondacks. When we decided to introduce a hybrid with a cow theme, Brian Moredock re-painted the bike and it became Moo. […]
The Zen of Bike Building
Apologies to the real thing, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. A neat book when it came to the sections on maintenance, but totally lost on me otherwise. I never could figure out why that guy would let life come between him and his motorcycle. I’ve been in a zen state myself the last […]
My Vacation
Late every summer, I meet up with some friends from California and we go on a tour in Vermont with Bike Vermont. This year we chose a new tour that started south of Burlington and made its way into the Champlain Islands. I’ve never been on a Bike Vermont tour that wasn’t super duper, but […]
Competitor Analysis
Competitor analysis. One of the fun things I’ve been doing as we get our Terry bicycle line cranking (no pun intended) again. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a presence in any more than a handful of bike shops and we’re on the way to changing this in 2010. So my competitor analysis […]
The Conservationist in Cyclists
Inside every cyclist, whether she knows it or not, there lurks a conservationist. Indeed, how could this not be the case? Show me the rider who hasn’t developed a keen weather eye. In much the same way, as the miles glide by, so do a panorama of fields, forests and wetlands. Surely you’re aware of […]
The Changing of the Guard
If you haven’t read about it yet, here’s the news: as of April 30, Terry Precision Cycling has a new CEO! I’ve turned over the handlebars to Liz Robert. I’m not going anywhere — I’m President of the company and a shareholder, but I decided it was time for me to get back to basics, […]
