I make rubbings of tire sidewalls and I like to doodle — hence this very stylized tracing of the Schwalbe Durano tire used on my Valkyrie Tour. You can see from this that the maximum recommended inflation pressure for this tire is 115 psi and the minimum is 85 psi. Do you think it’s always […]
Bikes for Women: Looks can be deceiving
When I first started building bicycles for women some 25 years ago, it took only a quick glance at a man and a woman of the same height to see that her legs were longer than his. Her shorter torso was clearly the reason why she felt “stretched out” on a bike and had to […]
Where Have All the Women’s Bikes Gone?
Based on a quick review of bike manufacturers’ websites, women’s bikes don’t seem to have gone anywhere, but a little probing shows the industry might to be in retrograde mode. Having made so much progress in the last 25 years, it would be a shame to lose sight of the goal: bountiful offerings for all […]
The Wheel Debate Continues
A recent posting on FaceBook reminded me yet again of what a poor job our industry does of educating the consumer. My small effort to right this wrong is this eLetter, which I hope will clear up the continuing miasma surrounding yet again…wheel sizes! Here’s the gist of the post: “I have a 650 Brand […]
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
This eLetter is about challenging our perception of the definition of a “good” bike. I thought a visual presentation of how we regard bicycles would be cool way to put things in perspective. So I’ve come up with a grid to illustrate my point. Even if you shun math, I think you’ll find this very […]
Make Me Ride Faster
One of my favorite cycling publications is Bicycle Quarterly. Now in its eighth year, it began life as Vintage Bicycle Quarterly, but has evolved to cover modern bicycles as well as vintage bikes. It was created by Jan Heine, a German emigrant, avid randonneur and former road racer. He brings his education in mathematics and […]
It’s Not About the Wheels
Recently I read a forum posting in which the writer stated she preferred 700c wheels to 650c wheels because she sat higher on the bike and felt more on a par with riders around her. She may have felt this way, but it had nothing to do with wheel size. Something else was going on. […]
Saga of the Stuck Seatpost
If you followed my recent tweets, you know I was obsessed for a while trying to remove a stuck seatpost from one of my favorite rides, “Moo”, a 22 year old hybrid. Last summer, I designated this winter as the time when Moo would shed her tired 7-speed components for something a little more up-to-date. […]
The Tale of the Beater Bike
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 […]
