(Tech Tuesday) Thanks Germany!

Check it out! Two days in a row with posts! Anyways, do you have brakes? If so here's something new just for you. Some really smart folks over at Saarland University in Germany have created wireless brakes! But Mister J! Wireless breaks seem unreliable, they could fail! Not to worry! Those same really smart people have crunched the numbers and it has a reliability of 99.999999999997 percent! This means that if you hit the brakes one billion times, it'd fail three times. That's not too shabby. Oh, and don't worry about that little delay between when you squeeze and the brakes are applied, it's only 250 milliseconds.

Holger Hermanns

(Credit: Saarland University)

(Source: CNET)

Monochromatic Monday

In an attempt to more regularly post on this thing, I am trying to have a theme for everyday, Monday through Friday. On Mondays, I'm going to try and post something I have written on my own, no pics. So, today I was messing around on the blog scene and came across the Trafik LA blog. The makers of the movie that I have been wanting to see for a long time but have never actually gotten around to seeing. That movie of course, To Live and Ride in LA. A movie about the fixed gear life in the City of Angels. Recently I've had even more of an itch to watch it because I have been missing those busy streets that I used to ride on.  Behold! It is now free to watch! As long as you don't mind watching some commercials, you can now watch this movie for free, and of course legally over at HULU! CLICK HERE to watch the film. Oh ya, and if you have the gift of Netflix, the movie is over there too without commercials! I can't wait to get it started, I'm gonna watch this right now! Enjoy and happy Monochromatic Monday!

"Fixies" at WalMart??!

So I was going through my blogs today and found this posted over at Cranky's. Could not agree more with what they said. This thing is a piece of crap, and in case you think that it's all an elaborate lie here's some links to the bikes! Thruster 700c Men's Fixie Bike and in case you feel like riding the Tour De France everyday: Cycle Force Tour de France Stage One Vintage Blue 51cm Fixed Gear Bicycle.

Building Wheels

 As my Christmas and birthday gifts unite, I have just begun to build my first set of wheels. Building wheels has, for me, always had an intimidation factor to it. I've had no problem working on every other part of a bike but the wheel is my next step. Let me just say that so far I have been pleasantly surprised with how straight forward everything has been but let's see when I start getting to the fine tuning when I get towards the end of truing these wheels!

Right now I'm setting up a pair of Velocity Fusion's to Origin 8 hubs. Both of which were picked up at Cranky's (thanks again Randi). I'll keep you updated on the status of these wheels as they get closer to completion!

SB Bicycle Film Festival Jan 19-21

Swing over to Cranky's site for more details on this years Bicycle Film Festival and check out the film list HERE!

DIY

A while back I received a Park Tool Kit as a gift, one of the greatest gift a cyclist could get (thanks Randi). If you're going to be riding a lot it's a necessity that you learn how work on your own whip. And I suggest picking up some sort of home kit if you're at all serious about riding, not only will it save you money in the long run since you won't be going to shops for maintenance but the skills you learn will save you in an emergency when you're out on the road. Something like this one, which is pictured below, is good for just about anything besides wheel building and is a good start.

New to the game of working on your own bike? Over at Bicycle Magazine there are some really simple tips for how you keep your bike running smoothly and looking good to start out the new year and take advantage of that SB weather. Click the link for more