Upgrade? Downgrade? Failing grade!

I frequently have enquires from customers (and others) wondering whether to buy all new bike components (at bargain, online prices) or a new frame or a new bike. These people are usually semi-serious cyclists with aspirations of moving up a category, going faster or looking for additional motivation to keep riding.

I recently helped a British man renovate his hand-built English frame to All-new Shimano components, so he could keep it as his commuter/rain bike. His was an unusual case as he was keeping that bike-no matter what!

My normal response to someone that wants to go faster, or just change the bike -is - get a new bike!! Some cyclists spend hours riding with their compatriots, talking bikes and decide - usually after a few beers, that they are experts in selecting a bicycle component group. Duh!!

It just freaks me that they will make decisions on the order of two-three thousand dollars, because "one of the guys he rides with likes his."

Bicycles are very complicated, non-linear systems that were designed by non-engineering types - to work !!

That's all -. no linear-systems analysis; no acceptable design principles; they built them, rode them, then cut away all the stuff that didn't work like it was supposed to.

 I've seen credentialed Scientists throw up there hands when I try to explain gear-inches or riding position or any part of what Wilbur and Orville Wright really did for a living. It's all derived from old stuff that worked -so now they make it better, lighter, therefore faster; but none of it works in computer modeled finite elements sense; 

it just works.

Product managers at all the "brands" spend many sleepless nights finding the right mix of components that will meet the performance spec's, but also the price point. How is joe rider- (who is an accountant or realtor or whatever) going to be smarter about components than these guys?

Not only are you at risk buying stuff online (id theft, bait & switch) but you have no recourse if the stuff isn't exactly right. Once you open the box - it's yours- and you get to make it work. Further-any shade tree accountant can tell you - you spend far more for the components in a bicycle than if you buy the package.--at least 60 to 70% more...if not twice as much. Then you get to put all the labor into it- borrow/buy tools, etc. 

Pile that, on top of you really don't know what you purchased and/or how it works and it's a recipe for disaster that will leave a very bad taste in the mouth of some amateur mechanic.

Get a new bike from a reputable dealer- no free lunch.

New year musings

As the new year starts, some of us find our attention drifting toward the “good old days” – at least as good as we remember them. As some of the old folks I ride with say, “The older I get, the better I was.” One of the latest old-new items regaining popularity is the single-speed bicycle.
“One speed!” you might exclaim, “What hath Lance wrought?” In fact, a single-speed bicycle is the most efficient, reliable form of two wheel transportation. With gasoline consistently over $3.00 a gallon, those of us that live near the flat and friendly roads of the seaside might do well to park our SUV and start cycling to the store on Saturday, rather than fire up the old exhaust emitter – but I have digressed.
The original bicycle was called a Velocipede and it looked like an adult “Big Wheel.” The rider’s feet were tied to the wheel directly, and each rotation of the pedals equaled a turn of the wheel. As riders wanted to increase distances and climb hills, someone came up with the idea of a moving gear to the rear wheel and adding a chain to the front gear, thereby gaining mechanical advantage, allowing the rider to achieve more power. These “new” one-speed bikes are exact duplicates of a model that some of the original racers in the Tour de France rode around the turn of the 20th century.
It wasn’t until recently that multiple gears and a derailleur were added, making climbing and high speeds much easier. Some purists ride what are called “track bikes,” where the pedals are once again tied directly to the rear hub. In the last few years, they have returned to the streets on fixed gear bikes, primarily bike messengers in large metropolises. The latest hotbeds are San Francisco and Seattle, both are bike-friendly towns where “green” is in. It is growing here in the Long Beach / Orange County area as well – you may see them weaving in traffic in Long Beach!
The latest compromise is the single speed “hybrid” that is fixed gear in one iteration, but converts to a one-speed coaster bike with hand brakes. This is a kind of half way point to get into fixed gear with low risk. If you are a mere “mortal,” you can try a very safe version of this bike by getting into an old school beach cruiser. Simplicity itself, these bikes come with one gear and foot brakes – try one out!
On a future note, keep an eye out for our approaching “Kruzer Klassic” which will start at our bike shop, meander around the streets of Old Town Seal Beach and circle back for a bite at a local café around 10 am. It should be a hoot – stay tuned for the date!

2 wheel park and ride

The simplest way to move a bicycle from one location to another – is to get on and ride it there. Those who live in the Seal Beach/Los Al/ East LB area, however, often want to move the bikes first, then ride to and from.

This is because the only way to go east from here is a stretch of PCH between Seal Beach and Surfside/ Sunset Beach over the Alamitos Bay bridges, which is tenuous for cyclists at best. It’s 4-lanes but it’s just an open bike lane and the traffic is fast, frequently made up of tourists and people looking at the boats and surf, rather than where they’re going. 

A popular alternative to this is to load your bikes in a vehicle, drive to Sunset Beach; then park and ride. Not the most environmentally friendly idea, it’s still better for most family types than the perceived risk of the open highway.

Lots of folks come in our shop asking for alternative routes to the bike trail down to Huntington Beach, but if you’re not willing to swim with your bike, there really isn’t one, except down Seal Beach Blvd. to Westminster Blvd., then across the Naval Weapons Station to Bolsa Chica. That’s’ considerably longer than the trail and the traffic across the “ammo Dump isn’t much better than the Highway.

That leads us to: how to carry several bikes without disassembly of the bikes and or your car. There are two feasible types of car carriers: the hitch-mount and the bumper mount. The hitch–mount goes into a square tube called a receiver that can be used to mount a tow package as well. This is a more secure method than any alternative short of carrying the bikes inside a vehicle. The racks typically hold 3-4 bikes and should not cost more than $150.00 or so. Hitch racks are very secure, not likely to scratch your bike or car and usually fold down so you can still get in the back of your car or truck.  If you already have a “tow package”, it’s a no-brainer to spend the few extra dollars to get the HR as it’s much better. 

If you don’t want to spend that kind of money- the bumper rack works very well, costs less and is still secure, just a little harder to load and you can’t get in your trunk once the rack is on. There is minor risk of rubbing or scratching your car although the HOLLYWOOD brand features foam padding at all of the contact points, and the straps are dipped in plastic to reduce paint damage. The 3-bike version bumper rack shouldn’t run more than $75.00 and the reputable dealer will install it the first time so see how it goes.

One last note: If you are riding the Bolsa Chica bike path, drive to the East end and ride to Sunset Beach then back. That way the wind is behind you on the way back. See you next blog post. (Sounds like I'm going race a horse)

Pedal systems

As if life weren’t complicated enough—now we have to choose what type of pedals we want for the type of bicycling we have in mind that day. It’s kind of like computers; just when you reach the point when you have a handle on all the keys to do what you want, someone comes out with a “new improved” software package that sets you back to square one. {The writer has sworn to never set at a PC keyboard that runs Vista}.

Time was you got on your bike and rode off. The pedals were plain square hunks of rubber that you put your Keds or (Chuck Taylor’s) on and away you went. Now there are at least five different kinds of systems that make it easier to capture muscle energy but also manage to complicate the choice pedals you use.

This has become a ubiquitous topic in bike shops, as many Southern Californians have taken to “Spinning” as a viable alternative to road riding. Indoor cycling has a number of advantages including no worries about traffic, darkness, motorists opening doors and rain. The tradeoffs are tight (almost claustrophobic) quarters, no change in scenery and, funny looking pedals on funny looking bikes. The bikes are one forward speed without brakes, so it makes some sense to be able to lock your shoes onto the pedals so you don’t lose contact why spinning at high rates. The same is true for Mountain and road biking. Staying in contact with the pedals means you can ‘pull up’ on the ‘back” portion of your pedal cycle assists energy transfer (Speed) for any given rotation of the wheels.

The bad news for these types of pedals is you have to unhook when you want to dismount the bike. The first thing we tell people when they go to a clip pedal is to remember to clip out when they stop. When they forget the first time, they “tilt”, fall down, everyone has a good laugh and away we go.

The first clip pedal was based on a ski binding from a French company (LOOK) and used a plastic cleat on the bottom of the shoe. Later, the SHIMANO Company came out with a smaller (metal) cleat that could tuck into the tread of a mountain bike shoe, such that you could walk on the shoe without to much difficulty. The latter pedals (SPD) are configuration of choice for the Spinners as they are less expensive and the cleats last longer.

Those are the most two common types of what are incorrectly called “clipless” pedals systems. For we retro types, riding one forward speed cruisers, the old school flat pedals are fine to run to the store with, but, if you intend to go spinning or ride fast- at least now you know what pedal to ask for.

The muse of multispeeds

As the year comes to a close, some of us find our attention drifting toward the “good old days” – at least as good as we remember them.  As some of the old folks I ride with say, “The older I get, the better I was.”  One of the latest old-new items regaining popularity is the single-speed bicycle.

“One speed!” you might exclaim, “What hath Lance wrought?” In fact, a single-speed bicycle is the most efficient, reliable form of two wheel transportation.  With gasoline consistently over $3.00 a gallon, those of us that live near the flat and friendly roads of the seaside might do well to park our SUV and start cycling to the store on Saturday, rather than fire up the old exhaust emitter – but I have digressed.

The original bicycle was called a Velocipede and it looked like an adult “Big Wheel.”  The rider’s feet were tied to the wheel directly, and each rotation of the pedals equaled a turn of the wheel.  As riders wanted to increase distances and climb hills, someone came up with the idea of a moving gear to the rear wheel and adding a chain to the front gear, thereby gaining mechanical advantage, allowing the rider to achieve more power.  These “new” one-speed bikes are exact duplicates of a model that some of the original racers in the Tour de France rode around the turn of the 20^th century.

It wasn’t until recently that multiple gears and a derailleur were added, making climbing and high speeds much easier.  Some purists ride what are called “track bikes,” where the pedals are once again tied directly to the rear hub.  In the last few years, they have returned to the streets on fixed gear bikes, primarily bike messengers in large metropolises.  The latest hotbeds are San Francisco and Seattle, both are bike-friendly towns where “green” is in.  It is growing here in the Long Beach / Orange County area as well – you may see them weaving in traffic in Long Beach!

The latest compromise is the single speed “hybrid” that is fixed gear in one iteration, but converts to a one-speed coaster bike with hand brakes.  This is a kind of half way point to get into fixed gear with low risk.  If you are a mere “mortal,” you can try a very safe version of this bike by getting into an old school beach cruiser.  Simplicity itself, these bikes come with one gear and foot brakes – try one out!

On a future note, keep an eye out for our approaching “Kruzer Klassic” which will start at our bike shop, meander around the streets of Old Town Seal Beach and circle back for a bite at a local café around 10 am.  It should be a hoot – stay tuned for the date!

Welcome to Main Street Cyclery

Well, we are just starting to work on the Main Street Cyclery blog.  We are the friendliest bike shop in Southern California and we pride ourselves on "Knowledge & Service."  That is our slogan and expertise.  When you know you want to ride, but not sure how to start, we are where you come.  If you don't want to be fully dependent on a car, but would rather ride regularly, come see us.  If you want to get bikes and cycling products for you and the whole family, we are your first stop.

We don't have a lot of attitude, we do have a lot of service and the ability to get you exactly what you need.  Located at 317 Main Street in Seal Beach, CA - we are the local bike shop.  We carry a full line of bikes from cruisers, to fixed gear, road bike and mountain / trail.  You need BMX - no problem. Proudly distributing PHAT, Fuji, SE, Redline, Torker, Kestrel, Breezer and a host of bike parts!  Our team - Cameron, Julio, Seth, Casper, Nikita, Kim and ultimately Dave, the founder are here to help you.  So come on down and "roll your own" bike!  See you soon.