Buying Guide: Chain or Belt Drive Bike
Image Source: Pexels by Luke Mitchell. Due to the progress of manufacturing technologies, the bicycle industry has progressed tremendously. The newest topic of discussion in this category is that of chain drives versus belt drives. Here is what you need to know about the distinctions between the two, as well as some recommendations on what to buy. Belt drives are present on various two-wheelers nowadays, from commuter bikes that are meant for city use to robust mountain bikes that conquer the trails. Indoor bicycles also make use of this equipment, as it brings many advantages to a home workout. Even motorcycles come with belt drives nowadays, which shows just how pervasive the technology is. Chain Drive vs Belt Drive An article published by Gizmodo back in 2008 boldly stated that chain drive bikes were becoming a thing of the past, while belt drives were taking the forefront. Ten years later, it is safe to say that this indeed happened. Even though many bikes still sport a chain drive, more and more companies have reoriented their lines toward the better...
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KNEE PAIN, KNEE ALIGNMENT & PEDAL STANCE WIDTH...
KNEE PAIN, KNEE ALIGNMENT & PEDAL STANCE WIDTH BACKGROUND In the last article, we spoke in-depth about crank-arm length and how crankarms that are too-long can cause knee-pain. In this article, we will be concentrating on Pedal Stance Width and why this is important. This article focuses more on road bikes and Tri/TT bikes since they have close to the same bottom bracket shell widths and use similar if not the same cranks with q-factors right around 146mm. MTB’s, on the other hand offer different crank width q-factors such as 168mm, 175mm, 176mm, and even wider. TERMINOLOGY First, let’s define several terms… PEDAL WIDTH vs. (PEDAL) STANCE WIDTH vs. Q-FACTOR. These terms are often used interchangeably but really have different meanings. Following is their correct (cycling) definitions. -PEDAL WIDTH (not shown in Figure 1 to the right) is the distance from the center of the pedal to the outside of the closest crankarm. Standard road pedal width is 53mm. -STANCE WIDTH (or pedal stance width) is the distance between the center of one pedal to the center of the...
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Best gravel bikes for under $500
Best gravel bikes for under $500 I have been getting a lot of requests to do some reviews on gravel bikes, so I recently enlisted help from Danny Donchev at Bikeberry.com. We will be putting a series of 2, maybe 3 articles together on gravel bikes costing $500, $1,000 and $2,000. Here is the first installment. So, you want to get started riding a gravel bike, but not sure what to get? As you already know, gravel bikes are becoming increasingly popular due to their versatility and the ability to ride them just about anywhere. A good gravel bike will be a safe bike to ride both on the road or off-road. They typically have adventure-ready features such as disk brakes, a comfortable geometry which adapts easily to rougher terrains with an additional clearance for wide tires. Gravel bikes are more durable than road bikes and faster than mountain bikes, which makes them the preferred option for cyclists who prefer off-road rides. Riding on rough terrains with a normal road bike can be very uncomfortable and even dangerous, and...
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STORELLI SPEEDGRIP CYCLING SOCKS
STORELLI SPEEDGRIP CYCLING SOCKS When the socks arrived, I tried them on right away. Problem is that I could not even get my toes in. I looked at the socks and there was an ‘M’ stamped on the bottom. Too small. I have a friend who is a Cat 1 in the mid-west, so I asked him to test the socks. He said sure! GUEST TESTER & AUTHOR Over the last three weeks I have had the pleasure of testing a brand new, first of its kind, product from Storelli. The product is a “Performance Boosting” Sock Liner. The liner is designed to improve foot traction, providing more explosiveness, speed and control. Made with thin, moisture-wicking compression fabrics that are sewn together – rather than knitted like traditional athletic socks – they also incorporate non-woven high-grip fibers that are seamlessly bonded to the rest of the sock using heat. The result is a lightweight sock that fits like a grip-enhancing second skin. Storelli claims that these SpeedGrip™ Sock Liners will: • deliver up to 135 percent more grip against...
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TOPEAK TURBO MORPH DIGITAL PUMP
TOPEAK TURBO MORPH DIGITAL PUMP The Topeak Turbo Morph digital pump includes some great features including a digital readout, high volume pumping in a small-sized pump. Basically, a compact floor pump you can easily carry with you on your bicycle. I helped host a cycling camp several weeks ago and thought that the camp would be a great opportunity for a dozen cyclists to use and test out this pump. A couple things quickly became apparent. This pump is optimized and target for the Mountain Biker which includes cyclocross and gravel. This pump is a little large to fit on a road bike, but, for those weekenders who ride endurance-type road bikes, this makes a great pump. It is easy to use and pumps up a tire quickly. Although I have not had a chance to test on a MTB tube, the road tubes (700x25c) too 105 pump strokes to fill from 0-105 psi. Understanding that this is primarily a MTB pump, I have two ‘nit-picks’ that if remedied, would make for a better all-around pump. 1) The foot...
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ICEBUG INSOLES – LONG TERM TEST & REVIEW...
ICEBUG SLIM INSOLES – HOW GOOD ARE THEY? ICEBUG INSOLES – 2-1/2 YEAR – LONG TERM TEST REPORT ICEBUG SLIM FOR CYCLING Back in June 2016, I had been wearing and testing the Icebug Slim’s for 10 months. Click here for link to that article. Now its March 2018 and I have recently had several clients ask me how are the Icebug’s holding up? As of today (3/9/2018), I have had these insoles in my Shimano SH-321’s for 31 months! That’s turns out to be OVER 2-1/2 years and 25,000 miles (40,235 km)! So, how have they held up? What do they look like? Do I still recommend them? GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS Bad news first. They are finally worn out. Need to get a new pair. That’s it, that’s all the bad news. Good news. These have been the BEST insoles I have even used. I’ve sold almost 200 pair of Icebug’s and there was only 1 person that returned them. Everyone has been very happy with these insoles. WORN OUT If you compare the current condition of...
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ELITE FLY BOTTLE: LONG TERM REVIEW & NEW COLORS...
ELITE FLY BOTTLE: LONG TERM REVIEW & NEW COLORS Last May 2017, I did a review of Elite FLY bottles and the VICO carbon cages. Elite is known for their high-quality bottles, cages and trainers – and used by most top racing teams around the world, but, how do these hold up long term. Since the review, I returned the loaner 2017 Trek Émonda SLR 6 (pictured in the article) and picked up a lightly used 2017 Trek Madone 9.2. The VICO carbon cages were mounted on the down tube along with the FLY bottles. In use 5 days a week, Thorpe Marketing recently called and asked how they have held up over these past 11 months. Other than normal wear and tear scuffing, there are no cracks, breaks nor chips in the carbon and the bottles are still going strong. In my experience, the one thing that ‘kills’ a bottle is using a drink mix. Ride after ride, you can never seem to get the inside of the spout clean of drink mixings nor get the inside of...
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