Bicycles!

[altoid]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pahpi6QTY4&t=6s

http://www.headsupsystems.com/products.html

> NOTE: HeadUp Systems ceased operations in 2015, but we are keeping this site live as a resource for existing system owners.
> Sorry to say, the HeadsUp System is no longer available. Best wishes.

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> How It Works: When you return home with your vehicle and your gear, the LED sign in the garage flashes and the InCar Alerter beeps - reminding you STOP and unload your gear.

 

[calvinhobbes]

Can you use a magnetic clutch in a bicycle?

View: https://youtu.be/Dg8oVR4k5Dk

 

[eizbaer]

Can you use a magnetic clutch in a bicycle?

But should you? ... to be fair, I only watched the video without sound.

@everyone: what kinds of helmets do you guys run? Mine's fairly old now and honestly doesn't quite fit my head shape (it feels wider than my head so tightening it down leads to funny pressure spots on my forehead after a ride). I know because of this it's a rather individual thing and personal choice, I'm just interested in what made you choose whatever helmet you run.
currently my main targets: it should fit (slimmer / elongated head??? i dunno), it should protect well (sadly the virginia tech helmet ratings site seems to be down at the moment) and come with MIPS (because why not) and it should be insanely well ventilated (because I tend to run hot). apart from that, it should look alright paired with a rather aggressively red bike and my weird and colorful assortment of jerseys (so I guess that means black...).

 

[calvinhobbes]

But should you? ... to be fair, I only watched the video without sound.

The answer is: absolutely not.

 

[Adunaphel]

@everyone: what kinds of helmets do you guys run? Mine's fairly old now and honestly doesn't quite fit my head shape (it feels wider than my head so tightening it down leads to funny pressure spots on my forehead after a ride). I know because of this it's a rather individual thing and personal choice, I'm just interested in what made you choose whatever helmet you run.
currently my main targets: it should fit (slimmer / elongated head??? i dunno), it should protect well (sadly the virginia tech helmet ratings site seems to be down at the moment) and come with MIPS (because why not) and it should be insanely well ventilated (because I tend to run hot). apart from that, it should look alright paired with a rather aggressively red bike and my weird and colorful assortment of jerseys (so I guess that means black...).

I recently upgraded to a GIRO Agilis MIPS, and I can recommend. The fit is quite snug, really feels planted on my head, in a very comfortable way. Easily adjustable, and bike-discount.de has them for fairly cheap nowadays.

(Yes, Dutchie ordering bike stuff from Germany, the irony isn't lost on me)

 

[eizbaer]

I recently upgraded to a GIRO Agilis MIPS, and I can recommend. The fit is quite snug, really feels planted on my head, in a very comfortable way. Easily adjustable, and bike-discount.de has them for fairly cheap nowadays.

(Yes, Dutchie ordering bike stuff from Germany, the irony isn't lost on me)

I may be running a predecessor of that myself… so I think giro may be too wide a fit for me, sadly. Also I should add I refuse to get abus on principle, because the owner family are religious nutters (women get disowned and such like).

Also: VT helmet ratings are back, it seems they were only doing updates.

 

[altoid]

I’m not actively searching for a new helmet, but have a few things in mind for when that time comes:

Safety will remain a high priority, so MIPS again at minimum. Possibly some other stuff, depending on how the tech advances between now and then.

Comfort is probably the next priority, and that involves getting a white helmet with lots of airflow. My current Giro Cinder MIPS is black, which looks cool, but I live in Southern California and basically always want more cooling on the bike.

Convenience is not to be underestimated, and I want my next helmet to play nicely with my Melon Optics Alleycat sunglasses, which don’t really fit into the ventilation holes of my current helmet.

These three things generally have me looking in the direction of POC, possibly their Octal MIPS model.

 

[eizbaer]

possibly their Octal MIPS model.

Stumbled across this one as well, because of the curious / different shape and potentially better coverage further down in the rear. Also comes in a funky purple color

Will try out one of the more recent Lazer offerings, because they seem to run comparably slim / long and come with a cable based retention system that seems to be very adaptive and comfortable.

 

[altoid]

I spent too much time YouTubing “gravel helmet” and now I want a Bell XR Spherical…

 

[eizbaer]

I may have gotten my hands on a Lazer Genesis in size M - and this may just be the most comfortable helmet I've ever worn, despite the fact that I think I should try the size L as well... may even be a little better. But it's 25e more expensive ffs. Oh well...

 

[Adunaphel]

Took a ride to the radio telescope in Dwingeloo yesterday from my holiday home, together with Madelon. Still absolutely love the bike, it's so ridiculously easy to just keep up with the e-bike at a steady 25kph for hours on end, not loving the current lack of good weather, lack of weather appropriate gear, and the prices for decent quality weather appropriate gear.

In other news, since my employer got gobbled up by the largest conslutancy firm in the field (starts with an A and I'm not allowed to post things on social medias that harm their reputation), they decided they're not going to continue the bike leasing plan of my old employer, so I got three options, 1: Hand in the bike (hell no); 2: Buy off the bike in one lump sum (I'd rather not, I quite liked the monthly nature); 3: Have my employer "lend" me the money to buy off the bike and py it back to them in 24 monthly installments with the same tax benefit as the bike lease. So now I'm still paying basically the same per month, I have to pay for my own insurance (which, tbh, is generally so limited as to be utterly useless anyway) and I have to pay for my own maintenance (which I was intending to mostly do myself anyway), and the bike is now actually mine, so I can feel less encumbered about modifying it further than saddle and pedals.

 

[eizbaer]

largest conslutancy firm in the field (starts with an A

oh good god no fingers crossed?

3: Have my employer "lend" me the money to buy off the bike and py it back to them in 24 monthly installments with the same tax benefit as the bike lease.

that is astonishingly pragmatic and nice of them to do. did not expect to be reading that, once sentence earlier

also nice telescope yo!

 

[Adunaphel]

oh good god no fingers crossed?

Let's just say that if they tackle projects at customers the same way they tackled this merger (insufficient due diligence, too tight a schedule, delays everywhere, and a total lack of self-awareness), I fear for their customers. I might do a total rantpost in NSFPE sometime in the future.

 

[altoid]

Strangely shaped cube. (I bet no one has ever made that joke before…)

 

[Adunaphel]

Strangely shaped cube. (I bet no one has ever made that joke before…)

Ackshyuwally... You're the first

 

[eizbaer]

I may have gotten my hands on a Lazer Genesis in size M - and this may just be the most comfortable helmet I've ever worn, despite the fact that I think I should try the size L as well... may even be a little better. But it's 25e more expensive ffs. Oh well...

Yup, L did it. Expensive helmet, but oh so comfortable mhmmmmm

Only managed to squeeze in a very short ride to celebrate NHD

 

[altoid]

It looks pro, so obviously worth it!

 

[eizbaer]

Yup, L did it. Expensive helmet, but oh so comfortable mhmmmmm

Still happy with it a month later!

Anyway, Babboe „engineering“ strikes again! Usual process for changing brake pads: drop wheel, change pads, reinstall wheel, done.
Rear wheel on that cargo sucker is however so badly boxed in because of the nuvinci hub and just strange design choices coupled with the fender being in the way… basically it feels like you have to take half the bike apart to drop the rear wheel. I’m already dreading the first flat - 4500 km safe so far, knock on wood!
Anyway I decided it was actually easier to remove the whole brake from the frame, then change pads, reinstall t the brake into the frame and align it with the wheel again because that seemed much easier than anything else. Oof.

 

[Eye-Q]

New bike day for me as well! It's a Canyon Grail CF SL 7.0 (carbon fibre frame and fork, Shimano GRX 600/800 mechanical shifting and hydraulic disc brakes, Schwalbe G-One Bite tires), since Canyon only sells online I had the bike delivered to work and I transported it back home on my cargo bike.

The Grail is an absolute blast to ride, the shifting is so much sharper than my old Cube which I bought used 1 1/2 years ago and abused the crap out of. The Grail's steering is much more direct without being nervous. To add to that when I went a short test ride on tarmac I have been held up by cars going just under the speed limit of 50 kph...

Whoops, missed the Grail's third birthday - Currently it sits at just over 16k km on two different wheelsets (one with gravel tires at around 8650 km, one with slicks at almost 7400 km). Of course pretty much all consumables have been changed since then (bottom bracket and rear hub bearings once, brake pads a bit more often), now I ordered four new brake discs since on both wheelsets they're at their minimum thickness of 1.5 mm. Well, they're 20 Euros each so they don't break the bank, and considering they lasted that long that's a bargain...

 

[Eye-Q]

There was a bicycle rally/demo in Hamburg today, according to the organizers there were more than 10000 (yes, ten thousand) participants. For the first time since 2019 we were allowed to cycle over the Köhlbrand bridge which is usually motorbikes, cars and trucks only. The last years there was a different kind of rally: since there are some ring roads within Hamburg every group of cyclists met up in their district, cycled to the main ring road (Ring 2), went around once and back to their starting point. This way there were five or six smaller groups of cyclists on the Ring 2 instead of one big group over the Köhlbrand bridge.