Petals: Sorry, pedals: Say what you will about the relentless march of bike tech, but when it comes to turning your cranks there has never been a better time in history to be a cyclist. Clipless pedals: Clipless pedals for mountain bikes: Clipless pedals and flat pedals combined for people who can't make up their... Continue Reading →

If you're always going against whatever it is everyone else is saying or doing they call that being a "contrarian," like it's a bad thing. But I don't believe that's a bad thing--I guess because I'm a contrarian, but that's not the point. The point is that being a "contrarian" is not being ornery for... Continue Reading →

On Wednesday I undertook a formidable mechanical challenge by overhauling a shifter on the Cervino: There's more to being the Classic Cycle Old Crap Test Pilot than riding the bikes, and it is also my duty to identify problems and service them when necessary. In this case the thumb screw on one of the shifters... Continue Reading →

Firstly, if you look in the right-hand margin (or scroll down to the bottom if you're on a mobile device), you'll see a new ad from the good people at Merry Sales for the IRD WayBack Compact Seatpost: Here's the story on that: So if you're looking for more saddle adjustment range then be sure... Continue Reading →

In September of 2022 I accepted a last-minute invitation to sort of a charity ride-cum corporate team-building ride in the Swiss Alps. Upon my return I wrote a story about it for Bicycling, which I'm pleased to report they finally published yesterday: To this day I'm still not sure why Plume (the company behind the... Continue Reading →

Citi Bike: Like any new new rider it wobbled a bit at first: There were also those who wanted to see it fail: And the Daily News even invented its very own Bike Snob to do a hatchet job on it: [Bike Snob Daily News] Nevertheless, over the past ten years its become a part... Continue Reading →

The New York City Department of Transportation has been trying to be funny with their social media lately: https://twitter.com/NYC_DOT/status/1721513885000155516?s=20 I guess this refers to the latest viral video I can't bring myself to watch. Hilarious. Nevertheless, I'm not sure the DOT is in a position to make flippant jokes about the condition of the infrastructure... Continue Reading →

Good morning! In the spirit of keeping you on your toes, or at least the balls of your feet, I'm pleased to present you with a quiz. As always, study the question, think, and click on your answer. If you're right you'll know it, and if you're wrong you'll see more Astana rap. Thanks very... Continue Reading →

It's getting colder, and as the trees shed their layers and bare their limbs we cyclists add more layers and cover ours: The coming of the cold would generally drive me deeper into said trees, but owing mostly to rain and time (specifically a surfeit of the former and a deficit of the latter) I... Continue Reading →

Just as the ancient Romans had a god for everything, so do we have a scientist for every conceivable field, and they're working on everything from how the Earth was created to how to keep our armpits from stinking. But when it comes to truly useless studies, few subjects have inspired more of them than... Continue Reading →