Reviews
Bicycle Reviews
Product Review: Yuba Mundo 21 Speed, Mar 5th, 2010My experience: Yuba sent me a Mundo 21 speed with lots of accessories to test, and I’ve been riding it several times a week for 6 weeks.
Build Quality: 3.5/5
Function: 4.5/5
Style: 2/5
Overall: 4/5
Availability: Yuba is actively looking for an Austin dealer but for now you must order online at the Yuba site. A stripped down 6 [...]
Back in August, we purchased an Azor Secret Service handmade Dutch bicycle from the Seattle Dutch Bike Company. We’ve written several reviews of the bike and its accoutrements since we got it, and have ridden the bike quite a bit to events and as a general commuting and car-replacement bike.
The Azor is a great bike, [...]
Editor’s note: Seattle writer Paul Andrews was kind enough to catch Metrofiets at the Seattle International Bicycle Expo for us and wrote this fantastic article.
by Paul Andrews
You’re thinking about taking the plunge and ditching the car. But you wonder: How will I shop for groceries? What about the toddlers? And what if I need a [...]
A few months ago, one of my neighbors spotted me taking my kids to school on our bicycle mini-van, a Trek 7200 with an Xtracycle Free Radical conversion kit and my own home made handlebars for secure child transport. Courtney e-mailed me to let me know she liked our setup and to let me know [...]
1200 Mile Update: Azor Secret Service, Service, Service, Dec 10th, 2008Previous sections of my long-term review of an Azor Secret Service are here:
Delivery Notes and First Impressions
Quick Update
In the few months I have had it so far, I have traveled roughly 1200 miles now on my Azor Secret Service bicycle. I’m past due for an update, and I do have a few things to report.
Service, [...]
Accessories Reviews
Review: thinksport Stainless Steel Water Bottle, Jan 25th, 2010My experience: Over two weeks, I used the thinksport stainless steel 750ml bottle to carry ice cold water on bike trips around town.
Function: 3.5/5
Style: 4/5
Build Quality: 5/5
Overall: 4/5
Availability: Stainless steel double walled thinksport bottles are available online at the thinksport store in 350 ml ($15.99) and 750 ml version ($19.99).
Summary
Combining the petroleum free design of [...]
My experience: Back in August, we did a profile of Brad Beneski, the creator of the FlashBak. He gave us a FlashBak to test out and review. I have ridden after dark with the FlashBak a dozen times mostly attached to the back of my Xtracycle.
Function: 4.5/5
Style: 2/5
Build Quality: 5/5
Overall: 4/5
Availability: The FlashBak is available at many Austin local [...]
My experience: I used the Helmet Lock to lock up my helmet on a few trips around the neighborhood and downtown.
Function: 4/5
Style: 2/5
Build Quality: 5/5
Overall: 4/5
Availability: The Helmet Lock is available for $12.95 or $19.95 for two at the Helmet Lock website.
Summary:
For those wanting to leave their helmet behind when they lock up, the Helmet Lock offers a low [...]
We were sent several products to review over the summer and have been woefully behind on getting reviews written up for you. Look for reviews this week of the FlashBak, The Helmet Lock, and Global Ride: Hawaii Rides DVDs for riding on indoor trainer.
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As a little diversion from the usual bicycle news I am diving into tech geekdom, another topic near and dear to my heart. One thing you might not know about Elliott and I is that we both worked in the tech world long ago in another life. He worked in K-12 and Higher Education inside [...]
Archive of all Accessories ReviewsBook & Movie Reviews
Movie Review: Beauty and the Bike, Jan 19th, 2010Summary: Documenting an experiment with the effects of social cycling on bike use in young women from Darlington, England, Beauty and the Bike shows a compelling vision of how attainable a cycling culture can be with the right equipment, social network, and basic bicycle infrastructure like bike lanes and paths.
Beauty and the Bike
Darlington Media Group
55 [...]
The Bicyclists
Craftmaster Independent
DVD available online at The Bicyclists website
Overall impression: 3/10
Last night, Portland filmmaker Carl Jameson was kind enough to provide a free showing of The Bicyclists, his feature length film about characters he developed in his online series, The Bicyclist. Both the web series and the film focus on Conrad, a Wisconsin transplant [...]
On Monday, we discussed how a community’s bike -friendliness and level of transportation cycling is tied to how well they address the needs and concerns of women. Essentially if you aren’t closing in on gender equity in cycling use, you are never going to make the strides toward real growth in biking as a viable [...]
Movie Review: Race Across the Sky, Leadville Trail 100, Nov 2nd, 2009Race Across the Sky, Leadville Trail 100
Citizen Pictures
A one night national showing on October 22, 2009 with encore showing scheduled for November 12, 2009.
Overall impression: 6/10
On the weekend of the Texas Custom Bicycle Show, I joined fellow builder Brad Cason of KirkLee Bikes for a viewing of Race Across the Sky. Brad, who did the [...]
My experience: Global Ride sent us their 3 set Hawaii Rides DVDs for riding on indoor trainer. I did a workout session on my indoor trainer for each DVD.
Quality: 3/5
Utility: 4/5
Overall: 4/5
Availability: Various Global Ride DVDs are available online at their website for $30 each or $75 for the 3 DVD set.
Summary:
With cold weather approaching [...]
New Product Announcements
Another local bike theft and the Copenhagen Wheel making theft a thing of the past, Dec 16th, 2009Earlier this week, we reported on the theft of We Robinson’s black Santa Cruz Tallboy. Unfortunately, we have to report another theft this time from City of Austin Bicycle Program staffer Nadia Barrera.
I got my bicycle stolen some time between 10:30 PM last [Monday] nightand 8:30 AM this morning. It has a black GT mountain [...]
On Monday, we discussed how a community’s bike -friendliness and level of transportation cycling is tied to how well they address the needs and concerns of women. Essentially if you aren’t closing in on gender equity in cycling use, you are never going to make the strides toward real growth in biking as a viable [...]
Cannondale enters city bike fray with Dutchess concept bike, Nov 17th, 2009UPDATE: Wytze van Mansum, a Dutch engineer who created this concept in conjunction with Cannondale, contacted me to let me know more about it. The photos from Carlton Reid are the initial prototype which is evolving with development (including the eventual inclusion of a kickstand.) The riding position is a little more variable with handlebars [...]
A Series of Tubes: Xtracycle Long Tail with Stokemonkey Pedal Assist, Oct 12th, 2009“Bike building is a lot like the Internet. They both involve a series of tubes.” Elliott McFadden,Violet Crown Cycles
In April during one of my first ventures to the Sunset Valley Farmer’s Market with the Violet Crown Cycles tent, I met an individual who loved the look and functionality of my Ferguson city bikes but really [...]
Eurobike is wrapping up and Interbike, the North American bicycle trade show, will be starting up in the next few weeks. In the past, this has been the place where bicycle companies big and small try to wow dealers and industry writers with the lightest, most aero on everything from bikes to wheels to shoes. [...]
Archive of all New Product Announcements
