Although a fixed gear bike is in many ways simpler than a typical 3×9 derailleur rig I found out the hard way [trying to finish a build in the wee hours of the morning] that you need a couple extra tools you don’t need for the 3 x 9 bike….namely – a lockring tool and a 15mm wrench for the axle nuts.

Pedros comes to the rescue with their Trixie multi-tool.  If you haven’t already guessed it’s the black skinny steel tool on the right in the photo above.

The handy dandy Trixie has the following items built in:

• 15mm box end wrench
• 8mm, 9mm, 10mm box end wrenches
• 5mm hex key
• Lockring hook
• bottle opener

I’ve read online that you can use the hole on one end of the Trixie and add a section of chain to turn it into a chain whip….I haven’t tried that so I can’t comment about functionality.

The nice thing about the Trixie is that it’s small to fit in with the mini-pump and tools you carry.  Since I ride a bunch of bikes with internal gear hubs [IGH] I can use the 15mm wrench to get those axle nuts off as well so I just carry the Trixie for most rides and I leave the heavy 15mm box wrench I carried just for my IGH bikes at home.

Cruising around town with your friends…that’s the way to spend a May 24 Monday…=-)

I’ve been using a couple Bern helmets since last February and wanted to share my thoughts on them.  The first thing I like about these helmets is they are low profile which means you aren’t walking around looking like you’ve got a stryofoam cooler on your head.  They’ve got a hardshell which is useful to protect the helmet from getting banged around in the back of your truck when traveling to the trail.  I also like the hardshell because it’s smooth and doesn’t grab on stuff that you hit with your head….jerking your head back.  I had an unfortunate encounter with a low tree branch and the top Bern just slid off the branch and I got away without any whiplash…nice!

I’ve got the Brentwood model of Bern helmet. I picked that version because I liked the removable sun visor and it has the most vents to keep my head cool. These helmets don’t have the same amount of ventilation as some of the higher end traditional skid lids.  I find that I don’t get overly hot most of the time, but on a handful of the hottest days of the summer I’d probably reach for an old Giro helmet. At 12.5 oz/350g they aren’t the lightest helmets available, but to their credit once they are on my head I don’t notice them at all.

A lot of my friends have switched over to Bern helmets from most of their riding.  I’m also using a Bern Baker snow-sports helmet for snowboarding and winter biking. So far they’ve preformed well and held up fine to the day to day abuse a bike helmet gets on road trips and such.

If you are in the market for a new bike helmet and wouldn’t mind a low profile look I’d definitely recommend you give Bern a look.

I’m a saddle snob. I like leather saddles that cost $150-$200.  They are worth it to me because I can ride 150kms without padded bike shorts and without any pain/discomfort.  Of course with 10+ bikes in my stable I can’t afford to put that kind of money into each one and not every bike gets ridden 100kms+.  For shorter rides about town – especially ones that involve locking my bike and leaving it alone I’d rather put something less expensive on it.  On the other hand you can’t just throw any junk saddle on a bike – if you aren’t comfortable you are not going to want to ride your bike.

Looking around at my options I decided to try a SDG I-Sky saddle for my Surly 1×1 build.  It’s not uber expensive and it looked tough enough to survive abuse on a commuter rig.  I’ve tried enough saddles to know you have to sit on one for a few hours to know if it’s going to work or not.  So I don’t fall in love at first sight no matter how cool a saddle looks.  I just throw it on and ride it.

I realized after a week or so that I hadn’t thought about the I-Sky saddle at all.  That’s a good thing!  A saddle should disappear under you.  If you are thinking about it then you are usually unhappy and you are trying to ignore the discomfort.  I’m up to 2hr rides on the I-Sky and so far it’s been really comfy.  Given my poor track record with plastic saddles that’s awesome.

I’ll glad I have a lower cost option for my city bikes now. I’ll be picking up a spare I-Sky.  Like shoes if you find a saddle that fits buy two – so when they stop making it you’ve got some time to find a replacement.

I-Sky Specs:

• weight = 300g
• dimensions 263 x 273mm
• MSRP = $59.99
• SDG website
• colours: urban camo, woodlands camo, black

My buddy Chris is a born again bike commuter.  He started with a Dahon folding bike and doing multi-modal commutes using the C-Train.  After a while he got stoked enough to skip the C-Train and ride the whole way from his house in the NE to his job downtown.

Once he started riding the whole way the Dahon’s ability to fold wasn’t needed so he bought a Kona Bownesian added some fenders and has been enjoying his big wheel commuter. The Dahon still sees duty on days he is too busy to ride the whole way or is feeling a bit low energy and wants to add the C-Train back into the mix.

The cool part is his bike only commute doesn’t take a heck of a lot longer than his Calgary Transit only commute so he gets in two good bike rides in a day and still spend his free time with his family after work.

The only downside with his commuting habit is that he’s now got 3 bikes [folder, mtn bike and commuter] and his wife is starting to question the need for so many bikes!  If only she knew this was just the start!…=-)

Typically when I review something I install it on my bike, ride it and then post about it.  That’s what I did for my Crank Brothers Joplin adjustable seatpost about a year ago.  I installed it on my Sanata Cruz Nomad right after I bought the bike so I really didn’t ride the bike with the stock Thompson seatpost.  As you can tell from my year old review I liked the Joplin a lot.  Unfortunately it broke recently and had to be sent back to Crank Brothers for warranty repair.

I wasn’t too put out since Crank Brothers was going to fix it and it does take a lot of abuse when I ride.  So I just installed the stock Thompson seatpost and rode the bike for the 3 weeks it took to ship the Joplin to Crank Brothers in the US, fix it and ship it back.

I have to admit that taking the Joplin off my bike was quite a shock.  I hadn’t realized how much I used it and how much of a difference it made to my riding.  I was out in BC last week and really missed the Joplin when Kurt and I were riding the technical trails near Sooke BC.  I had to decide if I wanted my seat high, medium or low and then stick with that one setting for a good chunk of the ride.  That meant I was up too high or down too low for a lot of the ride.  I did stop a couple times to adjust my saddle manually, but I gave up after a while since it was such a hassle.  I just set the seat about the middle of where I wanted it and accepted it was mostly not at the ideal height.

Worse still Kurt’s Joplin is working fine so he was using it the whole ride to drop his saddle for techy sections and raise it to cruise fast on the smooth sections.  I was totally jealous!

Happily my Joplin is back and I’ll be installing it on my bike today.  Sometimes you don’t realize how good you have it until you have to do without something.

BTW – Crank Brothers now has a 4″ adjustable Joplin seatpost…an inch more travel than my Joplin R…very cool!

I used to be a clean freak when it came to my mountain bikes.  After every ride I’d wash them down and clean them so well they looked new.  I’m not sure if I’ve just gotten lazy with old age, but I don’t really care too much any more.  I will wipe down my fork stanchions and the shaft of my rear shock, but that’s a total overhaul in my books these days.  I find I take a twisted sort of pleasure in how much abuse my bike parts can take before they wear out or break.  I guess it’s testament to the quality of bike components these days that nothing awful happens when I ignore my bikes.

One reason I don’t wash my bikes anymore is I find carrying around dirt from road trips is fun in a sentimental way.  In the photo above I can see red rock dust/mud from Sedona, Rocky Mountain dirt and a newly added helping of BC forest mulch.  If I washed my bike all those awesome memories would be gone.  No way!…=-)

Here are some pics from my latest mountain bike ride at Broom Hill in Sooke BC…nice damp mossy, mulchy, muddy goodness…=-)