5th Annual Tweed Run...

Hello folks!

We are thrilled & delighted to announce that the 5th annual Tweed Run is on - tomorrow!!  So grab your tweed garb & get cycling round London with other poshly attired folk...

Cycling doesn't get much more Christmassy than this!

Love it!!  Not sure how you'd fit it in the garage though...

Outrage a 0% fare rise for cyclists...

Rail passengers and car drivers were today outraged by the unfairness of the transport system, as it was annouced that cycling fares would rise by a paltry 0% in 2012, remaining at £0.00. Rail fares are to rise by 5.9% in January, while petrol prices remain as high as drivers’ stress levels.

M. Iserable, a spokesperson for People Who Don’t Cycle, told Cycle Lifestyle magazine: “I don’t see why cyclists should get such a good deal. Cycling already costs nothing, and now prices have been frozen at nothing.  When you consider the fact that cyclists also benefit from getting fitter, healthier and happier, the 0% fare rise is a real slap in the face for other transport users. With average commuting distances only 8.5 miles in Britain, it seems that just about everything is geared towards helping cyclists.”


No cyclists were available to comment – because they were all too busy pedalling joyfully through the streets for free.

Thanks for seeing the lighter side people!  Brought to you courtesy of Going Going Bike Blog & the lovely people at Cycle Lifestyle magazine:  ;-D

Human powered helicopter, experienced cyclists required...

Now that's a gadget!! Hovering for 11.4 seconds has secured a place in the record books for the Gamera team, and for its pilot Judy Wexler, who made the longest human-powered flight by a female U.S. pilot





For the last two years, a team of 50 graduate and undergraduate students from the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center at the University of Maryland's Department of Aerospace Engineering has been designing, building and tweaking a lightweight, four-rotor helicopter that's powered by the human pilot suspended at its center. The hope is to build a craft capable of walking away with the American Helicopter Society's Sikorsky Prize of US$250,000.


The rules of this challenge - named in honor of helicopter pioneer Igor Sikorsky - state that the craft should get all of its power from the human pilot and that it should thus be capable of hovering for 60 seconds within a 10-meter (32.8-foot) square area. During this time, the lowest part of the machine must reach an altitude of 3 meters (9.84 feet) above the ground - if only momentarily. As of August 2011, no-one has claimed the prize.  Time to get the Meccano out & start building!

The lightweight pilots used throughout the project have also been experienced cyclists, and were free to design their own training regimes based on their specialist knowledge. The team "became aware through our testing that a more focused training plan that optimized for muscular endurance rather than cardiovascular endurance, and one which trained the motion that is unique to Gamera, would produce even better results," said Schmaus. "Moving forward we are working with specialists in Biomechanics to develop a targeted training plan." 

However, the team still think they're a long way off the Sikorsky Prize's target of 60 seconds flight, so there's still a chance for you budding designers out there to nip in & grab yourself a few dollars! :0)

Britain's "Manliest" Cyclist required...

Singletrack cycle magazine bring us the exciting news:

"The men’s grooming brand Bluebeard stands for the less than conventional approach to life, cocking a snoot at the nanny state and the madness that is the ball ache of endless red tape and over the top health and safety clap trap.

They believe that racing cyclists are real men who emulate the brand’s philosophy of ‘Train Hard, Shave Easy’. And they are looking for ‘Britain’s manliest cyclists’ at the Dartmoor Classic Cycling Sportive 2011, which takes place between June 25-26 in Kingsteignton, Devon. This individual will demonstrate characteristics of a real man. Someone that goes that extra mile, someone who never gives up, someone who will be a great advocate for the luxury brand.
The winner will:
- Become the face of The Bluebeards Revenge in the world of cycling

- Receive The Bluebeards Revenge racing jersey and accessories

- Receive a year’s supply of The Bluebeards Revenge shaving products

- Star in a cycling ‘Train Hard, Shave Easy’ commercial

- Receive £500 to a cycling club or charity of their choice"

We look forward with great interest to seeing who is crowned the manliest man very soon!

Olympic Cycling...

We follow the fabulous site http://crapwalthamforest.blogspot.com/ - full of news, views, rants & comic looks at the mad, bad & dangerous to know world of British cycling.  The article shown below gave us a right old chuckle:

  "The new Olympics cycling park...

This new cycling park close to the Olympic Village is nearing completion, allowing visitors to watch cyclists in their natural environment of mud, broken glass and infrastructure obstructed by vegetation.

CAUTION. Please stay well back from the fence as the cyclists often appear stressed and angry and may be verbally abusive"

Do please check out their site for lots more wry looks at eccentric English traffic laws & road chaos!

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2010's Tweed Run - Cycling for the Jolly Posh!

We present you with another example of why Britain is truly Great...

Announcing the 2nd Annual Tweed Run - 10th April 2010.The basic idea? Get dressed up all posh-like & cycle round London with lots of other people, taking in the sights & LOOKING POSH, stopping only so that one's butler can serve tea in the park. If you don't fancy taking part (or are just too common) you can don your shell-suit & just spectate (gawk at the wondrousness of your betters)...

Visit http://tweedrun.com/
for more details & updates.

Tally-HO & chocks away chaps!!!

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Cycling & festive cheer!

Real Cycling's blog post

http://realcycling.blogspot.com/2009/12/nice-lights-but-wheres-fairy.html

has this week filled us with festive cheer & we thought we'd share it with you!

Admittedly, Real Cycling's message was less festive cheer & more safety first (very importantly) but, if we're being honest we just like the twinkly lights!

Please send us more twinkly pictures & we will post them. Red Bikes has very kindly sent us the image below (you need to check out Red Bike's Christmas tree vs cat video, it's very funny - http://redbikes.blogspot.com/2009/12/lauras-christmas-tree-wont-last-long.html )

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Has anyone actually got a tree on their bike yet?!!

Cycling in England is dangerous...

Well we all knew that really, but today it has been declared officially! ON THE BBC!! THEREFORE IT MUST BE TRUE!!! A long-term study made by researchers from the University of Surrey has revealed how dangerous UK roads are for cyclists, with a disproportionately high number of cyclists injured on the road, compared to car drivers and passengers, as reported by The Independent newspaper.





For those of us who can't move to Holland tomorrow (apparently much safer) or don't actually give a monkeys & cycle anyway, we thought we'd share a few of our favourite cycling blogs & sites...

• http://www.cycling-inform.com/ - bike maintenance, training help, viewer videos & much more.
• http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/ - the ever-informative magazine's website.
• http://www.atob.org.uk/ - for those who want/need a folding or electric bike
• http://www.fatcyclist.com/ - I am sure we need no introduction here!
• http://kimbofo.typepad.com/londoncyclingdiary/ - London, cycling, diary... you get the idea!
• http://minxcompendium.blogspot.com/ - Girls' Cycling -yeay!
• http://ernestonbike.blogspot.com/ - this guy's exploits are LEGEND...
• http://realcycling.blogspot.com/ - we love Real Cycling - they're brilliant at sarcasm and drinking it seems ;0)
• http://crapwalthamforest.blogspot.com/ - cycling news, views & opinion
• http://redbikes.blogspot.com/ - we love you Red Bikes, you cycle lots, you are funny & don't mind admitting that it's too cold to cycle & you'd rather play games indoors. In short, you're our hero!

For those of you who no longer feel safe cycling out of doors, may we introduce you to the exotic world of indoor trick cycling - here some very clever German ladies in leotards show you how it is done...

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London Cycle Show

For all fans of shiny new gadgets, this weekend's London Cyle show was an absolute must.

Exhibitors included:
Endura
Greyville
Spoke Shirts
Sealskinz
Polaris Apparel
Nemesis
surf sales
U.S.E
Ana Nichoola
2 Pure
Cyclodelic
2XU
ibikelondon
& many more, so if you've missed it this year make sure to pencil it into your diary for October 2010!

Fab bloggers http://londoncyclechic.blogspot.com were there & have posted a great review of the show & the available retail delights for all to see, so don't miss it.

Cycle Chic fans may also have seen the work of this very clever lady recently, Kara Ginther Leather: http://www.karaginther.com/ - if you have a few pennies to spare on your two-wheeled pride & joy, these may well be for you - aren't they gorgeous?!

Overheard at the Bike Shop...

Courtesy of http://ditmcyclingclub.blogspot.com/ we have this fabulous little snippet...

"One of our regulars is in the bike store. He's blind and is the stoker on a tandem. He has his dog next to him as he's trying on helmets. When he leaves, one of the "higher education" students asks the guy behind the counter how a blind guy can ride a bike. The guy behind the counter says that "he rides on the back of a tandem"..... The girl accepts that, but then starts to look really confused. After a minute she leans over the counter and quietly asks the salesman in all sincerity, "how does the dog steer the bike?"

Do you ever wonder how some people manage to breathe & stand upright at the same time?!

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Tour of Britain 2009 (12.09.09 - 19.09.09)

Cycling fans rejoice - it's back!

This weekend sees the start of the 2009 Tour of Britain, once again taking place over eight days, beginning in North Lincolnshire on Saturday 12th September and finishing at the heart of London on Saturday 19th September.
Eight exciting stages will once again provide close and spectacular racing, ensuring that a worthy winner is crowned in London after the final day's action.
A combination of familiar venues and regions, as well as new exciting additions will mark the route of this year's Tour of Britain, which will begin with a Grand Depart in Scunthorpe for the first stage, which finishes in York.
Subsequent stages will re-visit the North East as The Tour once again travels from Darlington to NewcastleGateshead on Stage Two, while Stage Three will see the northern most point of the race, as The Tour heads to Scotland and takes in the Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway.
The Tour of Britain then heads south, with Stage Four featuring the North West of England and Blackpool, with Stage Five both starting and finishing in Stoke-on-Trent, with a hard days racing in store through the scenic North Staffordshire countryside.
The South West, scene of some of the races biggest crowds in 2008, has two stages in 2009, with Stage Six taking the riders across Exmoor as the pass from Somerset into Devon, on their journey from Frome to Bideford.
The penultimate day of the race then sees the peloton retrace its steps, from Hatherleigh in Devon to Yeovil in Somerset, on a stage that could decide the winner of this year's race.
A spectacular final day of racing will round out the 2009 Tour, as riders tackle the iconic London circuit that opened last year's race.
For the second year running there will be full coverage of the race on ITV, with viewers able to once again enjoy an hour long nightly highlights show of all the action on ITV4, between 7pm – 8pm, with repeats the following day, so if you can't make it out to your nearest stage, you won't miss out on any of the battle to win the 2009 Tour of Britain.

For more details & up to the minute news, visit http://www.tourofbritain.co.uk/default.asp

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Please, please, please check out...

... Matt's Enormous Transamerica Bike Ride blog, it is hysterical! http://enormousbikeride.blogspot.com/

I bow down at Matt's greatness & give you just one example:

"I'm not saying Americans can be fat, but they have weight limits on their toilets..."

New Bike App for the i-Phone

http://www.tsg.la/mybikeinfo/

Here's one for all you techie bike people & those owning more than one bike - I can't wait to delve into this one. Velo Girls in the USA (http://velogirlscoaching.blogspot.com/) give the following review:

We've hesitated to pay too much attention to most "bicycle" apps for the iPhone before because they seem to have limited value, but this one looks very interesting .

When travelling, you want to make sure you can set up your bike just the way you have it while you're home. If renting or borrowing a bike, you want to try to match your current geometry and fit as closely as possible. This info is super-handy if you're planning to purchase a new bike, too! In the past, that probably meant carrying around a little piece of paper with your measurements on it.

This app allows you to enter all that important information right on your iPhone. At first glance, it's super thorough -- probably more thorough than the average cyclist needs (or can figure out for him/herself). You can even add really important information like serial numbers and purchasing information -- all necessary if your bike finds its way into the hands of someone else (like a bike thief).

There's even a section for you to keep maintenance records so you know when to replace your chain! And (with a little help from a friend) you can record your vital body measurements. As a bonus, the developers have added an RSS news feed with some of the bigger cycling new sites (and you can add your favourites to customize the feed).

Thanks to http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/cycling-accessories/bike-apps-for-the-iphone/ you can also see a list of other useful i-Phone apps currently available - well worth a look we reckon!

Ways to use a bicycle...

Here at SMB Bearings, we are always amazed (but not always in a good way) by human ingenuity when it comes to the multitudinous ways there seem to be to ruin a perfectly good bicycle...



For those of you who are secretly impressed, you can find out more from http://steamboatwilly.org/ !

Buying a bike (BSO) this weekend?

A word of warning then, from Helen Pidd at the Guardian - don't buy it from ASDA.

Here is Helen's review:

"Earlier this month, Asda boasted that it was to start selling "the cheapest
bicycle in the UK". Having bought into the notion that to get a half decent new bike you had to pay at least £300 for it, I was intrigued to find out what you'd get for less than a quarter of that amount – Asda's adult machines cost just £70.

And so it was that I have spent the past month juddering around London on a 26in British Eagle 18-speed women's mountain bike in a patronising purple shade. My first outing on the Purple Eagle ended on a sour note when the handlebars started turning in an entirely unhelpful and counter-intuitive way every time I rounded a corner. The headset was horribly loose, and I had no tools on me to fix it.

Herein lies the first problem with buying what bike snobs refer to as a BSO (bike shaped object): you have to build it yourself. The Eagle comes in bits, meaning you have to attach the pedals, front wheel, handlebars and saddle to the frame. Asda's PR folks made mine, but the lesson is the same. Are you sure you know how to put it together properly? If not, you can either take it to your local bike dealer and hope they won't laugh you out of the shop when you ask them to do it for you (and if they oblige, you'll pay at least £20 for it). Or you can risk getting it wrong. The best-case scenario is that, like me, you end up walking home. Let's not contemplate the worst case.

The second problem was the grip-shift gears, which are operated by twisting the end of the handlebars. Very quickly I wished that British Eagle had concentrated on getting three gears right rather than making 18 substandard ones. Every time I went over a speed bump I changed gear; even on the flat there was always an irritating clicking sound which spoiled every ride. On the scale of annoyance, it was rather like being at the cinema and having someone kick the back of your seat all the way though the film.

To test the bike properly I decided to take it on a grand tour of north London's Three Peaks: Crouch Hill, Highgate Hill and Muswell Hill.

Yorkshire folk will no doubt dismiss these bourgeois mounds as mere hillocks, but tackling them on my weighty (18kg), graceless machine felt like I was scaling Pen-y-Ghent on a pedal-powered tractor. The good thing about mountain bikes is that they have super-low gears, but as the Purple Eagle could never stay in any gear for long, I may as well have been on a single speed.

After 40 miles or so of gentle bimbling, I took the bike into my local bike shop, Two Wheels Good, and got the owner, Jonathan Boyce, to give it a once over. He groaned as I wheeled it in – "We see these a couple of times a week and so often the repairs cost more than the bike," he said, adding that he gave me "four to six weeks" before the bike was too jiggered to ride. Jonathan's advice for those on a budget is to scrape together £100 to buy a decent secondhand bike rather than waste money on the Purple Eagle or any of its relatives.


Here are some of the flaws Jonathan noticed:

1. The Purple Eagle is a ladies' bike. So why the men's saddle?

2. The components are rubbish and made out of the biking equivalent of a supermarket own-brand. The derailleur, gear shifts and more are made by a brand that sounds like Shimano but isn't. It's even written in the same font.

3. The brakes are made from plastic, rather than more expensive aluminium, and so will flex and bend, wasting energy.

4. The handlebar stem is the old "quill" style (instead of attaching to a steerer tube it fits directly into the headset and screws onto the forks), rather than an a-head stem.

5. The rear derailleur is hooked onto the axle, rather than bolted straight to the frame, making it almost impossible to adjust the gears properly.

6. The cheap plastic pedals will "simply fall apart before long".

7. The rear wheel was badly out of true.

8. The front wheel wasn't round, and was wobbling about the place as if the bearings have already gone. Apparently this shouldn't happen on a decent bike until you've done at least 1,000 miles. (We can at least help you out on that one Helen! )

But the biggest problem I had with the Lumbering Eagle was that it was horrible to ride. Every time I was due to set out on it, I cast a jealous glance at my lovely, nimble racer and prepared myself for the unpleasant ride ahead. This is the real downer with cheap bikes: they put you off cycling."

Oh dear! And if that wasn't enough to put you off a budget purchase this weekend, then read what Real Cycling have to say about it, at:
http://realcycling.blogspot.com/2009/07/hangover-from-buying-cheap-bike.html

You have been warned... Happy shopping!!!