"You don't want to give people what they want. Give them something they didn't know that they wanted." Ruth Reichl, former editor of Gourmet. This quote really resonated with me. When I pick up other cycling magazines, I am often disappointed. They talk about the trends of the moment. Right now I'm...
These days, the "real-world" or "alternative" cycling world often seems to define itself by what it is not: It's not racing. One company even made a patch that said: "Racing Sucks!" Perhaps this sentiment is understandable, considering how much racing has dominated bike design and cycling culture in recent decades, often...
Quite a few readers have asked about winter clothing. Most of all, they seem surprised that I don't wear windbreakers or shells unless it is very cold (way below freezing) or raining very hard. What is the best clothing for winter riding? I think the answer depends. If you ride at...
How wide a tire is too wide for optimum performance? Our research shows that wider tires don't give up anything on smooth roads, and gain a significant advantage on rough roads. This has been shown for tires up to 31 mm wide. It's now a well-established fact that wider tires roll...
Why do high-end bikes and components cost so much more than budget offerings? Both racing bikes in the photo above are made from carbon fiber. Both are equipped with multi-speed drivetrains and Shimano STI shifters. Both have narrow 700C tires. One may be a little lighter, but does that justify...
Whether you ride fast or slow, being able to stop quickly is an important skill. Your ability to stop also depends on how well your brakes perform. In Bicycle Quarterly 37, we tested brake performance to determine: How do you brake most effectively? Do brakes with different stopping power affect braking distances? Do...
When the terrain is incredibly steep or rough, cyclists tend to crank it out instead of walking. Walking might feel like defeat – they didn't "clear" that section. I have gotten to the point where I don't mind walking when the terrain gets too steep or too rough. Walking stretches my...
Triple cranks are a good choice for some riders. The most common shifting system for triple cranks, Shimano's STI, only works with Shimano chainrings. Unfortunately, Shimano's chainring combinations are of limited use to most riders. If you want to customize your chainring sizes, you will have to use downtube or...
In the last issue of Bicycle Quarterly, we compared the performance of a 17-pound titanium racing bike and of a 26-pound steel randonneur bike. We were surprised when both bikes climbed at the same speed in a set of controlled experiments. Others shared our surprise, but added: "That cannot be true....
Just one week of riding without a mudflap, and look at my bike! It's a mess! I ride my Urban Bike year-round in rainy Seattle, but thanks to its generous fenders, it rarely gets dirty. I clean it only once a year, because it doesn't need it more often. Then, last week,...
This year's North American Handmade Bicycle Show will take place in Denver, CO, on the weekend of February 22-24. NAHBS is a great place to see many builders showing their craft. The event is a showcase of the vibrant custom framebuilding scene in North America. As you admire the gleaming machines,...
I moved from Texas to Seattle 20 years ago and continued to ride and train year-round. At first, I refused to use fenders. I did not want to spoil the beautiful lines of my racing bike. After one miserably wet winter, I gave in. Like most of my teammates, I...
"You ride the bike you have, not the bike you might want or wish to have at a later time," said a famous secretary of defense. (More or less. He was talking about armies, not bikes, but both are tools toward achieving an end.) That statement paraphrases my thoughts about bicycles....
When we received another shipment of Rene Herse cranks recently, we built up and filled our pre-orders first. Some are shown above. All the cranks shown have different setups, except two. (Can you spot the two identical ones?) There are a dozen different chainring combinations in the photo above, yet they...
There are two common yet different approaches to testing products: You can compare design specifics. For example, you test hybrid bikes with disc brakes. Or in the car world, mid-size SUVs. You figure out which company makes the best one in that category. You can look at the intended use and figure...
Suspension losses often are overlooked, but they are an important factor in tire performance. When we first tested the performance of tires in a roll-down test, we found that very high pressures offer almost no improvements of performance. This contradicted the testing done in laboratory settings on steel drums, so...
Designing scientific experiments requires a lot of thought, if you want to arrive at useful results. Most studies of bicycles fall into two categories, which I'll call observation-based and measurement-based. Observation-based studies starts with an observation. In our case, we ride a lot of bikes. Then it goes like this: We begin...
LEDs have revolutionized generator-powered bicycle lighting. They are bright, use less power, tend to last (almost) forever, and easily can be combined with a standlight. However, many riders prefer the elegant shapes of classic taillights. Combining LEDs with classic taillights offers the best of both worlds. Our LED insert replaces...
When you choose a builder for your bike, consider their experience with the type of bike you plan to order. Above is one of the first "compact" cars made in the United States during the early 1970s. Seeing that smaller European cars were becoming more popular, Detroit's car makers decided to...
A few days ago Shimano presented their new Dura-Ace group. Many reports focused on Shimano finally matching Campagnolo with 11-speed rear cassettes. To me, other features are more significant: The group reintroduces a lot of classic technology. Look at the brakes and the pivot location: The new Dura-Ace brakes are essentially...
A common objection to some of Bicycle Quarterly's findings is: "If xyz is so good, why don't the racers use it?" Whether it's wide tires at lower pressures or front-end geometries, some of what we find to work best is not currently used by professional racers. Don't professional teams do...
At Compass Bicycles, we are not obsessive gram counters, but none of us want to carry extra weight on our bikes. A few grams here and there add up quickly to a couple of pounds, and that can make a difference not only in how the bike performs, but also...
Wind resistance is one of the most important resistances a cyclist has to overcome (together with the rolling resistance of the tires). Most wind tunnel testing has been done for time trial equipment, but aerodynamics are important for real-world riders as well. Without any data, many people assumed that fenders and...
Should one grease the tapers of bottom bracket spindles before installing the cranks? Few topics spur as much controversy among bike mechanics as this question. In the old days, Campagnolo not only recommended mounting the cranks dry, they even suggested degreasing the tapers. The concern was that grease might facilitate the...
Spring is here at last, and so this weekend we took the fenders off our car. While we were at it, we also removed the lights. We don't use the car much in the rain or after dark, and we like the extra performance and uncluttered appearance of a car...
When talking to older cyclists and builders, you sometimes hear that old frames lose their stiffness. This apparently manifests itself in reduced performance – the "snap" is gone from the acceleration when you step on the pedals. On the upside, the bike is said to become more comfortable as the...
In today's world, it is crucial for companies to listen to their customers. Give customers what they want, and you'll be successful, the reasoning goes. Combine that with the economies of scale of mass production, and most manufacturers chase the same "average" audience. As a result, more and more products...
Few bicycle headlights are actually waterproof. The Planet Bike headlight in our test wicked water past the headlight lens, and the standlight function stopped working. Busch & Müller's lights are open at the bottom, so moisture can drain out. This means that you should not mount them in an area...
I have ridden fixed-gears and single-speed bicycles, but for my own bikes, I am wedded to multiple gears. Part of that is my love of the mountains with their long and steep climbs, and part of it is my allegiance to Vélocio, who fought tooth and nail to get multi-speed...
Since we have published a post about "The Dangers of Narrow Tires," it is only fair that we look at the other side of the coin. What are the disadvantages (or even dangers?) of wider tires? I can think of a few: - Weight: A wider tire and a wider tube...
Good bike tests provide information that allow you to choose a bike that is right for you. Your bike need not look like the one that was tested, because it often can be customized to your personal tastes. When we test a production bike, the bike we test is the bike...
Fenders, racks and other attachments can remain maintenance-free for 10,000+ miles, yet other bikes require tightening bolts on a regular basis. Why do some bolts stay tight, while others loosen quickly? We have covered this in detail in Bicycle Quarterly's article "Engineering a Bicycle" in Vol. 5, No. 4. The essential...
Before packing up the Calfee "Adventure," I took it out for one last ride. It was a lovely afternoon that did not feel like November. The sun was out, and it was 59 degrees F. The weather forecast was for rain in the lowlands and snow in the mountains. It...
Net-Shape Forging The new René Herse cranks will be offered in one length only, 171 mm, which allows us to have the cranks forged to their final shape. (The photo above shows the raw forging.) The process is called "net-shape forging." The grain structure of the aluminum is aligned during the...
Lightweight frames, made from high-strength tubing, were thought to be stiffer than ordinary frames. They performed better for most cyclists, but the conclusion that stiffer frames were better was erroneous. Eventually, this led the makers of steel bicycles down the wrong path and may have hastened their demise. When the plague...
Two years after the inaugural event, the second Oregon Manifest design contest and technical trials were held last weekend. The Oregon Manifest crew put together a great event, even better than the first. I see the Oregon Manifest as an idea lab for the future of the urban bike. Builders,...
During the development of our new René Herse cranks over the last two years, I have been thinking a lot about crank design. Modern cranks are an interesting story of standards that evolved until nobody remembers why they were adopted in the first place. Here are a few questions that...
It is unfortunate that most "road" and even "hybrid" bikes are sold with tires so narrow that you cannot cross streetcar tracks at an oblique angle without risking a fall. The Seattle Times reported recently about a rail line that crosses a city street not far from my house. "A bicyclist...
In our original announcement of the new René Herse cranks, we wrote that they were lighter than Campagnolo Record Carbon cranks. A few readers asked us to substantiate this. We weighed the cranks on Bicycle Quarterly's precision scale (above). We don't have the final chainrings for our new cranks yet, so...
Rapha recently introduced their "Paris-Brest-Paris Jersey." It is designed specifically for randonneuring, and as a bonus, it comes with a reflective vest. The vest has generated considerable interest among randonneurs... Randonneuring requires riding at night. To improve rider safety, randonneuring rules not only require lights, but also reflective clothing. Reflective vests...
When we presented the new René Herse cranks last week, a number of people wondered whether they would be strong enough. After all, most cranks have four or five spider arms, whereas the Herse cranks use only three. And what about the small bolt-circle diameter? Does it support the chainrings...
A little while ago, we talked about how sports cars are equipped with lights and fenders, and nobody thinks they are less sporty for it. Performance bicycles don't have lights and fenders, because most "weekend warriors" don't think they need them. After all, they usually ride during daytime and in sunny...
Car drivers are lucky: They can buy sports cars that are fully equipped to be driven in the rain and even at night. And their fenders rarely rattle loose, their lights don't fall off, and most car owners think little of driving 1200 km without having to tighten bolts or...
Every cyclist knows the sensation: You ride along, feeling at one with your bike and the world. Suddenly you notice your tire going soft, often accompanied by a hissing sound. Like Icarus, who flew too high and got singed by the sun, your euphoria is dashed as you come to...
A number of readers have asked where the cover photo of our blog (above) was taken. Here is the story: An old road above Leschi in Seattle switchbacks though an Olmsted Park, with a set of S-curves that we use for assessing a bike's handling. It's downhill, and with a bit...
New theoretical research in bicycle stability shows that many parameters interact to make a bicycle stable. No single parameter (e.g.: trail, head angle, wheel size, weight distribution) determines whether a bicycle is stable or not. When one parameter is altered, then the other parameters may need to be changed to...
In this series, we have explored how our preferences changed from mid-trail geometries, 700C x 28 mm tires and saddlebags to low-trail 650B bikes with much wider tires and handlebar bags. What will come next? Will we soon ride fully-faired carbon bikes with fenders and racks that form structural parts of...
Most of the time, I ride two bicycles: My 1973 Alex Singer Randonneur for spirited rides with friends, and my Urban Bike for rides that involve carrying loads that do not fit in a handlebar bag. (Due to lack of time, my Alex Singer Camping bike does not see much...
In the previous parts of this series, we have looked at how our preferences in bicycles changed over time. We started out on "state-of-the-art" bikes with mid-trail geometries, 700C x 28 mm tires and saddlebags. How did we come to prefer low-trail 650B bikes with much wider tires and handlebar bags?...
How did our preferences change from our familiar bikes with mid-trail geometries, 700C x 28 mm tires and saddlebags to low-trail 650B bikes with much wider tires and handlebar bags? In the previous parts of this series, we related how we found out about the advantages of handlebar bags, aluminum fenders,...
How did our preferences change from our familiar bikes with mid-trail geometries, 700C x 28 mm tires and saddlebags to low-trail 650B bikes with much wider tires and handlebar bags? In the first two parts of this series, we talked about discovering handlebar bags and aluminum fenders. Inspired by the old randonneurs,...
In the last installment of this series, we looked at the bikes we rode when Bicycle Quarterly got started almost a decade ago. How did our preferences change from our familiar bikes with mid-trail geometries, 700C x 28 mm tires and saddlebags to low-trail 650B bikes with much wider tires and...
We sometimes hear people criticize our technical analyses: "Bicycle Quarterly's testers simply prefer they bikes that they ride most. You get used to anything, and then you prefer it." Or: "Jan has got his preferences. He started a magazine so he could have a place to talk about them." The reality is a bit...
A few people have asked about handlebar width in our handlebar discussion. Compass handlebars come in widths between 40 and 46 cm, which may appear narrow by some standards. Many riders, even very tall ones, prefer relatively narrow handlebars. Above is my friend Ryan, who is 6' 4", riding on 41...
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