Reviews from a regular, every-other-day rider.
You’re about to purchase your travel case, and you’re ready to set off on roads unknown. Do you just throw your bike into the case and drop it off at the airline ticket counter? Do you break down the bike into more pieces than it originally arrived at the bike shop? Let’s go through the process of packing and travelling with (or shipping) your bike.
The cost of flying with your bike varies wildly from “This is large and awkward, so I’m going to charge you more,” to “This is the most lethal item on the face of the planet and I’m going to charge you so much you’ll never want to fly with it again.”
From what I can tell, most airlines will count the bike as your first checked back (or second, if you’re checking one already) regardless of size, though only a couple explicitly state this. They all require a hard or soft bike case, and soft cases are considered “fragile” (i.e. “we’re going to charge you a @#$%load more, even if we break it”). Also, if your bike case is smaller than 62 linear inches (L+H+W) and less than 50 lbs (total), then most airlines treat this as a regular checked bag.
As an example, I use the Trico Iron Case, which on it’s own weighs 31 lbs (~55-60 packed) and is ~88 linear inches.
I remember when I had a bike in college. It was… not a good bike. It was old, but it usually worked. It did have a bad habit locking up the front brake whenever I used it, but hey, what bike doesn’t? Maintenance just wasn’t something I thought about. The bike just… worked. Even after I bought my first real road bike (which I barely rode for the first 9 years I owned it), the only thing that I thought about wearing down were the tires (not that I ever came close to wearing them down) and the inner-tubes when I had flats.
It wasn’t until I started really riding a few years ago that I thought, “Hey, you know, this bike isn’t working very well anymore. Maybe there’s something I should do about it?” Thus began my road to enlightenment – and the subsequent lightening of my wallet. The first time I took my bike in for maintenance and heard what they recommended, it went a little like this:
Thanks to Bicycles of Tulsa, I was able to try out two sets of wheels that gave me insight into the overlapping worlds of aerodynamics, weight, and cost (in some cases stupidly-high costs). First, I’ll go into the “why” of a wheel upgrade followed by factors to consider. Then I’ll review the two wheels I tested (use these links to jump straight to the reviews): the Giant P-SLR1 Aero and HED Ardennes SL.
Why upgrade wheels?
Simple: other than the frame, the wheels are the largest component of the bike. Just take a step back and look: they’re big. They almost match the size of your frame. Along with the frame, the wheels account for the majority of the ride characteristics of a bike – and in some ways, even moreso than the frame itself. Consequently, the two most expensive pieces of a bike? The frame and the wheels.
Signaling at night isn’t useful if people can’t see what you’re signaling.
Price: $15-20
Usage Time/Distance: 5 months (and lots of night rides)
Purchased From: Amazon
Pros
Cons
Continue reading Review: Hatch DNR100 DayNite Reflective Gloves
Some people don’t like shoving their jersey pockets full of tubes, CO2 cartridges, and tools. I am one of those people.
Price: ~$15-20
Usage Time/Distance: Approx. 6 mo. / 2,000 miles
Purchased From: Amazon (six color options)
Pros
Cons
Continue reading Review: Inertia Designs Cargo Wedge Saddle Bag
A good light goes a long way to extending your ride, and keeping you alive.
Price: ~$60-130
Usage Time/Distance: Approx. 2+ years
Purchased From: Amazon
Pros
Cons
Continue reading Review: Cygolite Expilion 250, 350, and 700
If you want to build something great, you gotta start from the ground up.
Price: ~$50-70
Usage Time/Distance: approx. 4,000 miles (a little over a year)
Purchased From: Tom’s Bicycles
Pros
You’ve heard it over and over: there’s no substitute for the road. But indoor training doesn’t need to be a substitute. It can be a valuable add-on to your outdoor training.
Price: $250-350
Usage Time/Distance: approx. 2 years, 1-4 times per week.
Purchased From: Amazon.com
Pros
Cons
You can have a $50 blue-light special all the way up to a $15k ultimate racer, but no matter what you ride, the tires are where the rubber literally meets the road.
Price: $45-60
Usage Time/Distance: approx. 1,500 miles on the first set, 3,100 miles on the second set before being replaced
Purchased From: Bicycles of Tulsa
Size: 700 x 25C
Pros
Cons