The Volae Tour makes molehills out of mountains, using just platform pedals, PowerGrips and sneakers.

Volae 'bents are said to be great climbers.  And I finally got the chance to put a Volae Tour to the test to see if it's true.

It is.  In short, the climbing ability is no exaggeration.  If anything, it's an understatement.  Those stiff frames and comfy, aero, rigid seats are fantastic.

Last Sat., on a beautiful but cold New York Jan. day, a Volae Century-riding friend of mine and I did the following route from the archives of the NY Cycle Club.  If you know the route, then you know it was written by a hill climbing diamond frame maniac (in the best sense).  And you know the hills.

http://nycc.org/rl_db/ride.aspx?id=118
58 miles and 3,200 vertical feet.  (We climbed two of the steepest hills twice, making it 62 mi. and about 3,600 vertical feet.)

If you don't know the route, in summary, it's a constantly hilly and beautiful route with many steep inclines.  If you look at the route map, which includes elevations, you'll get a good idea of the climbing involved.  Total distance from our meeting point at the Soldiers/Sailors Monument was 62 miles, plus the additional 22 miles round trip for me to ride to the meeting spot and back home.  So, 84 miles and none of it flat.

And we did it WITHOUT fancy pedals.  For the trip I was using MKS' inexpensive $40 Touring/Cyclocross platform pedals and $22 powergrips.  And sneakers.  You can buy the pedals and powergrips at Rivendell Bike Works.  Point is, with a good bike, you don't need expensive pedals to climb steep hills.

The entry-level Volae Tour is a great bike, and not merely good.  Positively great.  More people should ride them.

Best,
Robert
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Robert Matson
New York City Recumbent Supply (TM)
The Innovation Works, Inc.
copyright 2010 Robert Matson

A yet more distracted driver coming at you soon...

It is a well established fact that an average of 40,000 people are killed every year in car accidents, each year, with little year-to-year variation, since the early 1970's, when the statistics first started being tracked (source: Wikipedia). And that number has remained steady in spite of safety improvements in cars, like air bags.

So, it's distressing to learn from today's New York Times that Intel and Google are hoping to bring internet features to the front seat of the car. Apparently, they see opportunities for profit by making drivers yet more distracted, and by creating conditions that will kill more drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.

Here's the article:

From the New York Times:
DRIVEN TO DISTRACTION

Despite Risks, Internet Creeps Onto Car Dashboards

By ASHLEE VANCE and MATT RICHTEL
Published: January 7, 2010

Even as concerns rise about technology distractions for drivers, automakers are rapidly bringing PC features to the dashboard.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/technology/07distracted.html


Join Transportation Alternatives or the League of American Bicyclists today.  And let your congressman/woman know what you think of this.

And get a rear view mirror, and additional and brighter front and rear lights.  I have some good ones that are far superior to those you are probably seeing at your local bike shop.

Best,
Robert

------------
Robert Matson
New York City Recumbent Supply (TM)
The Innovation Works, Inc.
copyright 2010 Robert Matson

Fender installation, SWB 'bent

Interested in a few tips on installing fenders on a SWB 'bents?

(Photo shows the SKS fender on the HP Velotechnik Grasshopper fx.  Note that there is a "break away" connector located where the stays attach to the frame, rubber end caps on the stays, and about one inch of slack so fenders may be moved further out, if required.)

A friend writes:

> Got my fenders today and promptly installed them. Go me. :)
> The stays are a bit long ... would be nice to shorten them a bit. Do you have any ideas or tools for
> shortening them? I looked through my toolbox and couldn't find anything that would do the trick. hmpf.



Meet your friend, the hacksaw (or bolt trimmer).  A finished bike would ideally have trimmed fender stays with end caps.

That said, some people prefer not to cut the stays if they can get away with it -- if they do not get in the way or catch on anything.  This allows one to retain flexibility for alternative set ups.

A little advice that you may already know, but it's important: be sure to leave a good amount of clearance between the fender and tire.  This is so nothing typical -- small stone, bit of sticky trash, leaves with twigs -- can easily lodge in there and jam the wheel.  I like to leave about an inch -- about a penny's diameter -- between the tire surface and the fender.  For me, fall leaves and stones are the most common catch (see photo. Shown: HP Velotechnik Grasshopper fx).

Also, consider how much "slack" to leave at the tips of the stays for future adjustments, in case one day you install fatter tires, for example.  If you decide to do this, you need not leave a lot.  Say you have 1.35" tires now on a Volae Century.  2" is the max tire width you're likely to use on a Century (though a 2" tire may not be fully covered by the fenders), so an inch -- that penny's diameter again -- of slack is good (See photo at top of entry.)

Side note:
The advice here relates to fenders that allow easy length adjustments. There are also common fender designs that use stays in the shape of a "shepherd's crook" (see drawing).  Other common designs have a fixed length rod and a plastic end piece that screws onto the fender.

These types of designs don't allow easy adjustment for clearance but do allow for a welcome break-away quality if something large gets stuck between the fender and tire.  At times, Rans has supplied fenders with these types of stays for their bents.

Generally, I recommend riders look for designs that allow as much flexibility as possible since bents vary a lot in their geometry and do-it-your-selfers may need to manipulate off-the-shelf fenders.  At the same time, I also recommend using, at least initially, whatever a manufacturer recommends or supplies, and then make upgrade decisions from there, based on personal experience with the product.

Best,
Robert

------------

Robert Matson

New York City Recumbent Supply

The Innovation Works, Inc.

copyright 2010 Robert Matson