Review: teaser...

I don't normally do this kind of thing, but I feel that I have to.

I got a new product for my bike.

I won't tell you what it is because I have not had a chance to test it yet.

But, I was so impressed with the initial picture I took that I have to share it with you now:

Unmodified cell phone photograph (btw, that new midrange Nexus 5x is kind of spiffy in the camera department!)

That's it.

More to follow when my tests are done.

why I won't sell you a cheap bike

As a part of my work existence, I work in a bike shop selling bikes.

I won't sell you a cheap bike.

I have been asked before for a bicycle which costs around $250-$300 dollars by customers, but I just cannot sell one. For one thing, we don't sell anything that inexpensive, and for another, a new bike in that price range is not worth owning. If that is all that is affordable by someone, I suggest a good used bike and will direct them where to go to get one.

But still, I get people insisting that spending more on a new bicycle is a waste of money and they refuse to pay more.

But such bikes exist I am told. Big Box Stores sell them!

Indeed, they do.

But...

You see, big box stores can sell bicycles in the lowest of price brackets by telling bicycle manufacturers that they want to sell their product, that they can move X number of units, and that the price needs to be X dollars with X mark up. Now, make the damn bike!

So, they do.

Frames are heavy, welds are substandard, and frame materials are extremely cheap. Components are no name and don't work. Wheels are machine built (ok in and of itself) and not tensioned properly (never ok) and therefore unsafe. Brakes are in general brakes in name only. Same thing for the gears. Overall, someone buying such a bicycle ends up with something which looks like a bicycle, but does not function like one should.

They end up with a lousy experience when riding it. It ends up sitting in the garage collecting dust because it is too inefficient and not enjoyable.

This is the very definition of a waste of money - buying something for a specific use and then not using it because the product does not meet your expectations.

I told someone that once.

They bought a real bike from me.


So, I won't sell someone a cheap bike, instead, I sell an experience. This is what our reps tell us to do, but perhaps not in the way that I do it.


You see ...

... your bike is free when you buy from me.


Think about that hard, your bike is free.


I have dropped that bombshell on people before and it raises more than just a few eyebrows.

Often, in our shop, we get people who are interested in using a bike as more than just a toy, or sporting equipment, or something for a twice a season 15 minute ride around the neighbourhood. If someone is interested in using a bicycle as more than that, then the bicycle is free.

Let me explain.

We, collectively, allocate a lot of money to moving ourselves around and use some of the most expensive forms of personal transportation devised by humanity to move individual people - our road ways and our cars. Assuming a middle of the road car and the average Canadian distance covered per year, each adult will likely spend between $450 000 to $500 000 driving over their course of their driving career on the cars, interest, insurance, and maintenance. This does not count subsidies for maintaining roads (comes out of the general tax revenue NOT fuel tax). And they won't even notice. They won't even notice. It is seen as a cost of living.

So don't do it. Drop out.

I am not advocating getting all Hippie here, and nor am I advocating no cars, but rather, I am advocating a shift in perspective which is, I think, needed in our current economic climate.

We are living in an era of high inflation on things which actually matter. Like food. Food prices are climbing and are likely to continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Costs of most things in general are creeping up.

Hand in hand with that are fairly flat or stagnant wages. People are extolled to do more with less even though this is not physically possible for many people. Once discretionary income is absorbed by needed spending, that's it! Done!

Remember that if wage increases do not match inflation, there has been an effective wage cut as the dollars someone is paid will not buy what they did before.

At the same time, we are encouraged by clever advertisers and seasonal holiday guilt to spend spend spend! Advertisers are not stupid. They study human psychology and what makes us tick and push all of our buttons and, like lambs to the proverbial slaughter, we go along with it (usually without even noticing - do you really need that new cell phone? etc?) And we do go along with it, en masse. Look at the level of consumer debt in our economy.

So, change or sink.

Adapt or die.

Which brings me back to free bicycles and selling an experience.

I can demonstrate how to turn a $600 basic bicycle into an effective commuter designed for urban use by adding about $200-$300 in extras. The bicycle will be comfortable for trips up to 30km each way and will have room to efficiently carry all that is needed for the day.

I can demonstrate how to break into riding for transport easily, over a long period of time, so that covering distances becomes easy and not intimidating. It takes time to built the fitness and comfort level needed to ride all the time. It would be condescending in the extreme to look at someone in their mid 40s and laugh off their concerns with this. I can do it, but I have 36 years experience on bicycles, something that is a rarity in Canada.

I can demonstrate how to work with traffic and how to route plan so that traffic is not an issue.

I can demonstrate how to cycle so that you don't overheat and need a shower when you get to work.

I can demonstrate how to safely navigate a Canadian winter on two wheels.

I can demonstrate how much happier people who bicycle are and why (for example, I was told I was crazy by a co-worker once for riding in the winter - I told her that I am always smiling when I ride, that other winter cyclists I see are always smiling, that when I drive, all I see are miserable people, so who is the crazy one anyway? Made her think that did...)

I can demonstrate the improvements in health that you get from riding.

I can question the blind acceptance of environmental destruction, dollar cost of driving, and subsidizing personal automobiles as being just the way it is.

I can question the wisdom of multi-hour commutes per day in a car as being a good use of time.

I can question why we accept as being ok the high numbers of deaths on our roads caused by automobiles as being just a cost of our lifestyle we have to deal with. It was society blowing its cork in the Netherlands in the 1970s over exactly this issue which brought about the cycling infrastructure and cultural change needed to shift from a car crazy culture to a bike crazy one - and the Dutch were just as car nuts then as we are now. We are no where near that tipping point here. We still, for some reason, accept death by automobile as being ok. A shame, but ok. No change needed.

I can question why we choose to live in one city and work in the next (ironically, I do this - but, I am willing to do the ride and it is really not that far for me).

I can point out that if we accept the cost of cars as being a necessary expense - which we do culturally as a group - and if we are going to do our short trips by bicycle, that the bicycle comes out of the transportation budget NOT the fun budget and compared to the money we are already committed to spend, the bicycle costs are trivial. I point out to people that my first year as a bicycle commuter cost me nothing for the bicycle, bags, some extra clothing (layers vs a bulky coat), boots, and maintenance because it came out of the money I had already committed to spend on gasoline. In fact, I ended up ahead by about $1500 AFTER accounting for the startup costs of my bicycle rig. After that, it worked out to more than $2000 a year. More really if you consider that I can get away with buying half the number of cars over my working career because I am not wearing them out so quickly.



So, I sell an experience. But it has nothing to do with wind in the hair, hipster coffee shops, or mud between your teeth. It has everything to do with paying the mortgage off faster, travelling, and retiring well and with your health.

Plus, as a bonus, I get to be smug. And that is always fun.


*I have, in different conversations with different people, pointed out all of the above while selling bicycles. It works, and not just in the selling of the bicycle but in the use of them. I see a lot of my old customers out and about biking everywhere on the machines I sold them. They look happy. They sound happy as well when they return to the shop for bits and pieces.

(EDIT TO ADD: A few people on a Google+ forum I shared this article with made some observations I would like to quickly address. I am speaking here about the experience in the Canadian market which differs from that in other countries. Some pointed out options for inexpensive bicycles which are quite good for commuting which match the dollar number I mentioned above as being not worth it. Bicycle costs in Canada have seen a large jump in the last couple of years making life difficult for bicycle sellers and buyers alike.

One, our dollar, relative to the USA dollar, has lost about 25% of its value when oil crashed and other commodities took a hit. Two, bike companies had largely frozen bike prices for reasons known only to themselves for a couple of years and did their increases all at once. Three, the federal government slapped a 5% tax on bicycles. All of this hit all at once which results in things costing more here than in the USA in particular over and above the fact that things in general cost more in Canada than the USA for reasons which have nothing to do with the bicycle industry.

None of this, however, invalidates what I said about commuter bicycling being basically free when a person who has already committed to spending car like money - and, in fact, owns a car for that purpose - makes a partial switch to commuting by bicycle.)

had a gorgeous drive to work this morning

I have heard it said that you should "Shoot with the phone you have", so that is what I did :)

the anatomy of a winter bike mk?!?

This winter bike of mine has had almost as many versions of itself built up as there are types of winters in Southern Ontario.

I think I may have hit upon a good set up for this year.

I invariably use cheap as dirt plastic pedals with just bushings. Why? Winter, its and and salt, is very tough on bike parts and I don't care to ruin expensive pedals. Plus, I tend to push harder on the pedals - snow makes for more high torque launches than bare pavement - and often after one winter the pedals are bent. These cost about $8 or so, maximum.

I raided the parts room at the shop and bought some old stock - a Blackspire chainring (32 tooth) and an ancient old crank. I also used some spacers and long ass chain ring bolts to centre the ring better with the rear cassette. A chain keeper of some sort keeps the chain from hopping under shifts. The system is a 1x8 set up now. I never (never) used the large ring or granny gear ring in the winter so I decided this time around to just do away with the silly things. Why the Blackspire ring? I am hopping that the fact that it seems seriously overbuilt compared to the Shimano stuff will make it last longer. If not, I will source a dedicated single speed crank/chain ring combo in the spring and see how that lasts.

Out come the frankenfenders and Continental Winter Contacts. No studs yet. They come into play later in the winter if we get an icy one. I have two sets - one from Finland and one from Germany - should the need arise.

Disk brakes because I like stopping. I have run rim brakes in the winter and hate them. I have heard people complain about disk brakes in the snow but these have given zero issues. They are filthy, dirty, covered in crap, and stop like crazy in all conditions. The pads are about to enter their third winter. There is no evidence of bad wear on them yet. The only catch is that no petroleum based product had better touch the things. Fair enough. And easy enough to do too. These brakes are Avid BB5 brakes - dirt cheap, but very effective.

Splash guards and frankenfenders abound on this bike. I also go crazy with the rust check spray. I hose down various moving parts and the bottom bracket areas liberally with the stuff. That is one of the reason why this BB is about to enter its 4th winter without any gritty grinding sounds. Still runs smoothly.

Another view of the mud flap and frankenfender goodness.

Some old good stuff. 1998 XTR Rapid Rise. Some hate it, but I like it. Works well. Shifts perfectly. Should last a few winters before crudding up beyond help. I have given it its first massive coating of rust spray which will help keep corrosion off and things moving - gotta love a rust preventative which also lubes. Speaking of which, I use a wet lube - White Lightning I think - which will last a whole week in the winter of daily use. Not bad. Phil's Tenacious Lube lasts less than one day and basically just makes a mess. Waste of money.

There you have it. The bike as a whole. Parts were raided off of my old (now sold) Specialized S-Works bike to make this beast more beast :) There will be no rack this winter due to a stripped frame mount (oops) and me getting a courier bag later this season. Also, expect another bottle mount to hold my Specialized Keg with a do everything tool kit to be located on the seat tube. It is the kit I carry with me everywhere on my Sutra.

So there you have it, this winter's set up!

Most of our snow has melted as of these pictures being taken. Last night, there was lots. Since I took the pictures 15 minutes ago, a couple cm have fallen with no end in sight.

Where is that pesky coffee pot?

winter has started

The sad thing about the start of winter around here is that it stops and starts in fits.

One day, it will be cold and snow will pile up, and the next, it will be warm and the snow will melt.

While this can lead to some pretty pretty photographs depending on the quality of the snow, it means the death of the cycling season for me.

Some places do not go to extremes with their snow removal techniques in public spaces, but in Southern Ontario where I live, we collectively turn the roads of the province into a massive toxic salt lick. This means that my good bikes are done for the year the minute the roads are treated for the first time.

The roads were treated yesterday for the first time this winter.

Time to get out the winter beater and sally forth!

periodic blahs

Periodically, I get the blahs with my creative self.

I have two hobbies.

Both take a lot of time and effort to do well.

Cycling can be very all consuming. There is always another hill to climb, trail to ride, kilometre to pedal. It never ends. Bicycles are to me a wonderful machine which just makes me happy. It may sound silly to some, but I am always happy if I am in a room with a bicycle.

I think it is because of the good memories that the bicycle engenders for me. As a child, it represented freedom. Freedom from walking everywhere. Freedom from the local. I could go so much farther, and so much faster. It was pure fun. As I got older and entered my teen years, the bicycle became a way to get around and my horizons really broadened. It came to represent some of the best times I had with my father as a teen. I loved (loved!!) our rides together. It also set me apart from my peers. I am not a joiner. I like to be different. Almost no one I knew understood why the word Campagnolo made me smile with a fierce inner delight. No one got it. And I liked it that way. It meant that I was not normal.

And I liked it that way.

As an adult, the bicycle became something to play with even more. I took a foolish break from riding during my university years and fell hard for cars. Dumb. Later, I got back into riding via mountain bikes and spent years racking up kilometres in the dirt, scars on my body, and smiles on my face. I loved it.

Still do.

Now, a bicycle is both a toy - road riding to see what is over the hill still makes me smile, and a week is ruined if it does not involve both dirt and a bicycle - and a mode of transport. It is freedom again. Freedom from traffic, from stress, from soul crushing driving.

I can never ride enough.

However, it is not my only hobby.

I also like taking pictures of things. I like it a lot. It can be very meditative. The creative process - using a chunk of metal, plastic, glass, and electronics to create a thing of beauty is something which has a great deal of appeal to me. I like to create.

I have it in my head to someday take a picture which is a piece of actual art.

I am one of those who believes that photography can be art. It CAN be art. Not every photograph is art. Not by a long shot. But a photograph can be art.

What makes it so?

If a picture moves you. If it makes you stop, look, and gasp. If it tells a real story. If it makes you look again and again.

Then it is art. Or, at least, it nears it.

I want to create art someday.

I don't feel as if I have taken my picture yet. Some of what I have done comes close, but I have not taken that picture which makes me look at it and say yes, now I have taken The Picture.

Today, the inspiration well is dry. It feels as if there is nothing there. Most of what I am doing now is just documentary picture taking. It is of no import. Boring. Dull.

In part, this is because I have taken just about all the useful pictures that I can take locally. In part, this is because I just have a case of the photographic blahs and know that it will pass. In part, it is because I feel as if I cannot ever take The Picture.

Of course that is silly because there is no such thing as The Picture and the seeking of it is a quest with no end.

In that, photography is like cycling. A quest with no end.

just a picture, or, I ain't dead!

some humming and hawing

Next year, we are moving.

The purpose of this move is to get closer to work and to get more space for our family. The closer to work bit will mean that I can get back on the bicycle again on a daily basis. Currently, I am stuck driving, and it is driving me nuts.

My city commuter bicycle is mostly dead. It has been through several winters and is a bit rough around the edges. I am thinking of just making it a winter bicycle and leaving it at that.

So, in an effort to get something classy and urban, I turn to Opus.

Opus bicycles, out of Quebec, perhaps more than any bicycles we sell at the shop, gets the urban bicycle concept right.

This means I must get an Opus bicycle.

Opus has come up with a bicycle which ticks all of my happy city boxes in one swipe.

This bicycle is the Opus Case i3 and is new for this year. It has fenders, a chromoly steel frame, a three speed internal hub, a chain guard, and mounts for racks etc.

It is the closest thing to my old CCM 3-speed I used to ride to school on when I was a teenager and CCM still made a good bicycle.

It is inexpensive, and awesome.

I would love it with a porteur basket on the front.

to tech or not to tech, it is not even a question

For giggles, I went on every phone carrier's webpage tonight (in Canada) to look at smartphones.

I left not impressed.

They are all horrendously overpriced (especially Apple - what a joke).
They all look exactly the same.
There are effectively two operating systems, both of which suck on so many levels.
All of them appear overly delicate.
None of them are even remotely more appealing than my current Sony.

Except one...

the not boring Sonim xp7

Well look at that.  A phone for the real world. It is inexpensive, has a real battery, can be dropped, runs what may be the best version of android yet (4.4), is waterproof, and is not a bloody boring rectangle.

If I dropped it while mountain biking, it would likely survive.

Anyway, I am starting to wonder about the do it all device and how smart that is to have anyway. It is far too easy to end up a slave to the technology and have tech for tech's sake.

Tech for tech's sake is getting old.

All I want is a tough phone which works.

I have a real computer for computer stuff. A real camera for camera stuff.

Why do I need a do it all device that really does little perfectly?

come together

Slowing, it is happening.

I am revelling in my new and most excellent approach to cycling.

The touring bike has become my go to bike for almost all of my riding. It is slow, comfortable, and pleasant to ride. Even though it is heavy, it is remarkably efficient as long as momentum can be maintained. I must needs get a new saddle though and am thinking that a selle anatomical nsx series saddle, with black or honey brown leather and copper rivets, would do the trick. They are a beautiful thing, and would do my ass good.

I managed to sell of the old Specialized S-Works and am well on the way towards getting my new mountain bike. I settled on the Kona Precept 130. It is a very good bike, and capable of inducing serious performance giggles off road. Mods will happen before it leaves the shop though - bash ring instead of a third ring, and a clutched derailleur. The stock one is not up to snuff if you ask me. I will either get an slx or xt level clutched derailleur put on the bike. I would also like a dropper post, but will ride without one for a while to see if it is something I really want to add to the bike. The one I want is this delightful thomson one. Will take me forever to save for it as it is truly an extra, but should I decide it would make me significantly faster or safer on down hill bombing runs, then I will spring for one. Reviews that I have read about this bike also suggest and upgrade to the brakes as being a good idea. I will consider this after using them for a while. Might be worth it in the long run.

Speaking though of the old bike, I gave it a rousing sendoff on the hydrocut trail system and had a real blast. It was like the old days, but this time on an unsuspended 26 inch mountain bike. Taking corners so hard that the tires let go and the bike drifts, leaving behind people half my age, catching up full suspension rigged people who were rushing - brings back memories. Makes me really want the new battle buggy. I miss the dirt.

I may have to dress in plaid, relearn to say rad, gnarly, awesome, and sick. It may have to be done.

One more bike to sell, and off we go.

The Great Plan

I am good at making those...

I have decided that I am getting rid of some of my bicycles, namely, my Jake the Snake and my old Specialized S-works.

Turns out that I never ride the mountain bike and rarely if ever ride the cyclocross bike. The mountain bike beats me up too much and my Kona Sutra has effectively replaced the cross bike for what I was actually using it for while being more comfortable in the process. I also don't care anymore about going fast.

Comfort.

Hmmmmm...

I have been making jokes at work and elsewhere about how full suspension enduro / trail bikes are old man bikes. I have also been joking that I am now an old man.

I am ok with that.

I figure that if I am ok with replacing my cross bike - which was used on road and trail - with a slower, heavier, and much more comfortable touring bike, that the same logic should apply to my off road experience.

I miss riding off road. It is fun. There are a lot of people at the shop who love to ride off road. We want to ride together.

So, all I have to do is sell off two bikes and a few bits and pieces for what I can get for them and I will get a slower, heavier, and much more comfortable mountain bike: a 2016 Kona Precept 130 or 150, depending on where the wallet takes me.

With any kind of luck, I will be hitting the trails on my new steed as the leaves are turning and the forest becomes extra gorgeous.

one more

LR CC HDR real world samples

My little trial in the living room last night did not result in any photographs I liked, but did show to at least some extent what the LR HDR would do.

Here are two more samples, both five shot one stop jump HDR pictures. Still no tripod (not practical at the cafe patio).

LR CC HDR sample

This is not an inspired photograph but it is an interesting one to me.

This is a seven shot .3 stop per shot HDR created in LR CC.

I did not bother with any anti ghosting as it did not appear to my (untrained in the art of HDR) eye to need any.

To shoot this, I set the camera to the appropriate bracket mode, pointed the camera at the end of the couch, and squeezed off a burst of seven photographs. LR more or less did the rest and gave up a nice and easy to manage DNG.

Here is another. Five shots, five stops. Not inspiring, but the results are ok. There is some "ghosting" (if I am understanding it correctly) right at the edge of the marker package. Again, it was hand held.

I am going to definitely have to do this again with a proper subject matter and a tripod. Sunset, here we come...

Stephen King time-travel miniseries “11.22.63”

Yep, the movies have come to town again.

Yawn.

I went for a walk tonight with the family to check out the movie site. Locally, the mini series is being filmed on the main street of Hespeler, one of the three cities which was forcibly amalgamated into Cambridge quite a few decades ago.

It has been roughly, and anachronistically, transformed into 1950s America.

I do hope they don't include the stuff picture left. Time travel indeed.

The newspaper being sold in the newspaper box is dated 1960. Matte Scotch Tape was not invented until 1961. Oops.

5 cents for a paper. The box says 25 cents. Oops.

In honour of it being the movies, I cropped it to 16x10. Very cinematic of me.

I did not get any pictures of the actual filming being done, but did see some nifty gear.

I also saw some traffic cops looking tired.

It is weird to see those foreign flags here...

I did not see any of the film stars and wouldn't have cared if I had. The star system of Hollywood and beyond is of so little interest to me that I could care less only with a major effort that is not worth exerting. I do like meeting and talking with musicians and photographing them at work, but could care less about film stars.

But the cars... oh the cars. 

The cars were kind of cool.

thumpity thump

Ok, it is time to deal with this.

We all know that cars hit stuff. We see dead stuff from cars all over the place. They are, in fact, carnivores and killing machines. Snakes, turtles, skunks, birds, cats, dogs, deer, moose (they win), horses, people. All have fallen to the might that is the automobile.

But what about bikes? Do they not have a tail of woe to tell?

Personally, I have crunched over snakes sunning themselves in leaves on gravel trails. Snakes I cannot see. Snakes I have no idea are there until it is far too late. I have had chipmunks commit suicide by running through my wheels. I have nailed hidden bullfrogs in the leaves at very high speed on my cyclocross bike (they splash hard). Squirrels have jumped on my feet and gone for a ride 'round and 'round and 'round 'til off they jump.

But nothing prepared me for last night.

Last night.

Riding along, in the dark, with 300 lumens of light guiding my way.

A dark country road. No paved or gravel shoulder. Farmer's fields ploughed to the edge of the tarmac. The odd tuft of grass poking up at field's edge.

Smooth blacktop, well maintained.

Temperature in the low teens, with a hint of damp in the air. No wind.

Speed easy to attain and maintain.

A steel Kona Sutra loaded down with the day's goods from a commute to and from work.

Then it happens.

The beam of light passes a large tuft of grass, a flash of fur erupts, passing between the splay of light and front wheel.

Bars swing violently. Grip tightens. The front wheel jars and lifts. Fur connects with legs and chainring. Rear tire squirms violently and connects again with blacktop.

Circling back, there is nothing. Nothing.

It is almost as if this was something imagined.

Until later, when the bike is inspected, loose spokes noted, and fur removed.

Racoon suspected...

last night it was all about the river

this moonscape brought to you by minecraft

Well, brought to you by real life minecraft anyway.

There has been, for as long as I can remember, a gravel pit here bisected by a gravel road. But it has changed into this much larger moonscape in the last year or so.

The view off to the left and back from where I stopped the car.

Looking back...

Off to the right...

It really is incredible, when you think about it, what we do to the landscape in order to build roads, buildings, and other things we take for granted.

black and white

More fun with black and white.

These are out of the camera jpegs again. The only adjustments are to exposure. I lifted most of them a little bit. Otherwise, this is what the camera gave.