BikeHacks

Pecos AUTOSPOUT Water Bottle

One thing I think every rider can agree on is that you never want what is on the road to get in your mouth.  Whether you ride on city streets, country roads, or dirt trails, crud can easily kick up on a water bottle sitting in a cage on the down tube.  If the spout on your water bottle gets dirty, you don't want to put it in your mouth.

The folks over at AVEX have attempted to solve this problem with the Pecos AUTOSPOUT Water Bottle.  They sent me one to review and not only will I offer comments, my wife will as well.  I thought it would be good for her to offer her comments and I was right because she mentioned some stuff I did not think of. 

First is a video from the AVEX website that shows how the spout is designed. 

 

The main design feature is a spring loaded shield that is meant to keep crud off of the drinking spout.  In addition, the bottle has an internal spill-proof valve that will only let water escape when the bottle is squeezed (seen at the 43 second mark in the video) and it features double-wall construction that keeps the contents cold for an extended period of time. 

The first comment my wife had is that the spout is a little short.  What this means is that if you do not want to digest crud that might be around the top of the bottle, the bottle needs to be held away from your mouth when drinking.  I think this is fairly standard for any water bottle. 

Second, my wife has small hands and she noted that she had difficultly squeezing the bottle to get the water out.  This is innevitable with double-wall construction I think. 

Third, my wife thought it would be cool if there was some sort of hole or clasp feature in the lid that would allow the bottle to be hung from a bag.  This is a common feature in drinking bottles, but not so much in bottles designed for bikes. 

I concur with everything my wife said, and I have one additional point, noted at the end of the arrow in this photo -

What I am trying to show is that the spring loaded shield does not create a "perfect" seal.  There is a small gap that crud could get in to, but I think this would only be an issue if you were to totally submerge the bottle, which is unlikely to happen.  Also, as long as you hold the bottle away from your mouth, even if crud were to pentrate the seal you are likely okay because there is a small reservoir of sorts that would keep crud away from the drinking spout.

All in all it is a well designed product that solves a very real problem and at $12.99 it is priced affordably. I give it five zip ties. 

Powder - Not Just for Inside

During a particularly long stretch of rainy days I found that the shoes I ride in were beginning to stink a bit.  You might know the smell, the wet fabric/mildewy type of smell.  As covered in a previous post, one strategy I have used is to stuff my shoes with newspaper after a wet ride to help speed up the drying process.  You can also use a rubber band to wrap the shoe with newspaper. 

Whether it rains or not, I also make it a habit to put baby powder in my shoes. When powdering the inside recently I had an idea, why not powder the outside as well?

It's not like I'm going to wear my shoes to the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance or anything, and I figured the powder would just disappear after a few days.  After one ride to work they looked like this -

And a couple of days later my shoes were back to normal.

And maybe it's just my optimism, but I don't think they smell as bad anymore either =)

Wrinkle Free Suit Bike Commute

One common question I get from people who find out I ride my bike to work is, "What about your clothing?"  I actually must present myself as a professional person during normal business hours, but you would never know it if you saw me on my bike. I never ride in my business clothing.  I will save my thoughts on clothing transport for a future entry, but reader Brian sent along his hack for transporting clothing without all the wrinkles.  Take it away Brian . . . 

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I live in a very hot, humid climate (Eastern North Carolina), but I wear a sport coat or suit jacket for my job.  From May to September, wearing the coat during my daily commute is pretty much out of the question. 

So, I made this rack so I can hang my coat and transport it without wrinkling.  It works with a Wald folding rear basket*, which I recommend in any case.  So, besides the basket, you'll need a floor lamp -- the cheap box-store variety that students tend to have in their dorms, and then throw out.  Something like this.   I found mine out at the curb on trash day -- thanks, neighbor! 

The only parts of the lamp you'll need are the pole itself and the threaded clamp that holds the pole to the base.  You'll also need a little extra sheet metal (I used the lid from a cookie jar), and some nylon zip ties.  I used a garment bag with handles that loop over the pole, and a strap (originally for holding the two handles together) that fits perfectly around the pole.

Once you've installed the base, you can screw the pole on or off in seconds.  The base doesn't interfere with the folding of the basket. 

Coming home in the evening, I'll often clip an extra blinky light to the top of the garment bag, or even (for full nerd effect) put a reflective vest over the garment bag.

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Fighting Grease and Grime on the Bike Commute

Bicycle commuting can be an ugly business at times. For example, after my bike had been left dormant for a few weeks while I traveled it rebelled against me and decided to lose the chain while shifting gears. Not only that, the chain doubled up on itself and it took both hands to get it back into normal position. The result? Two filthy, greasy hands.

You also never know what the streets are going to throw at you. From a puddle of antifreeze to a disgusting juice puddle left by a garbage truck, the muck you encounter can be brutal. If you have gunk on you or your bike that you want to get off and don't want touch it, or if you don't want to get your hands dirty while doing a repair, what can you do?

My solution is tie an old sock or rag to my frame. Got a sock that is wasting away in your drawer? Tie it loud and tie it proud!  Plus, a dirty, greasy, nasty old sock hanging from your frame tells people -

1) This dude or dudette is really serious about biking

2) I don’t want to get near that scary looking sock so I’m leaving that bike alone!

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If you have hacks for fighting grime, feel free to contact us!

Holy Light Colored Merino Wool!

I mentioned recently that I made a trip to Portland, and for me no trip to Portland would be complete without a visit to the icebreaker store on Burnside.  Since being introduced to merino wool shirts a few years back, I have worn one for every single bike commute.  The one thing that bummed me out was that the only merino wool t-shirts offered seemed to be dark colors.  This meant that I had to change into white cotton t-shirts when I got to work because a dark colored t-shirt will most often look awkward underneath a dress shirt.

When I walked into the icebreaker store last month I almost shouted "Yessss!" when I saw what I had been hoping for, a white t-shirt.  While the shirt was not shout out loud white-white, I was confident that it would do the job of meshing with a work shirt so I bought several of them.  I have been very pleased.  They definitely serve the same purpose as a white cotton t-shirt for work purposes.  The color is called ivory and the picture below shows a side-by-side comparison with a traditional white cotton shirt on the left and the ivory merino wool shirt on the right. 

As I covered in an earlier post, I definitely believe merino wool shirts are worth the money.  It costs more up front, but as far as performance is concerned they blow all other shirts I have worn away.  I can wear them a number of days before they need washing and they are not itchy at all.

I used to have a closet full of cotton and cotton blended t-shirts and I now only keep a few around for when I engage in dirty or greasy tasks and I don't care what happens to the shirt.  With the lighter color option, I can now wear merino wool all the time, on my commute and throughout the day.

 

 

Mystery Liquid Giveaway- Calling Scott Souter

This is a quick shout out to Bike Hacks reader Scott Souter.  Scott, you were selected as the recipient of our Mystery Liquid Giveaway.  We want to send you a bottle of Manscapes Masculine Spray to review and we have tried to contact you via email but have not heard back.  We will give Scott until July 18th, 2012 to send us an email at bikehacks.com[at]gmail(dot)com to claim his prize.  If we do not hear from Scott by then another person who entered will be randomly chosen to complete the review.  Carry on.

 

Mystery Liquid - The Reveal

Last week we ran a post on a liquid product sent to us by a company to review.  The company agreed to also give a sample to a Bike Hacks reader to review and to choose a recipient we asked readers to submit their ideas about what was in the spray bottle.  A correct guess was not necessary to be considered, we just did a random drawing out of all who entered.

A large number of readers responded, and here is a sampling of the guesses.  Many guesses were duplicates so every single submission is not included below.

1. Chain Lube Spray (many noted different possible scents).

2. Anti-Chafing Spray, or Lubricant for Sensitive areas.

3. Some fluid that you wipe onto your frame/parts to keep the gunk off.

4. Degreaser/cleaner

5. Hand sanitizer

6. Could it be helmet freshener?  We sweat our ass off in AZ and need to smell at least partially human.

7. Erection nasal spray

8. I think the liquid is a concentrated energy spray, like a gel, or gu, but in a spray format.

9. Cologne

10. Bike Wash

11. Minty fresh breath spray for after the post race beer fest!

12. Bike Polish

13. I believe that mystery bottle contains the essence of elderberries diluted by the tears of a bluebird and combined with a synthetic oil made from raw bamboo--all mixed in a space centrifuge and returned to Earth to lubricate UV-hardened tire treads, resulting in a 0.003 percent decrease in rolling resistance and, more importantly, a 28-percent increase in visual fabulousness. That, or it's a beer can cleaner.

14. Spray-on tire cleaner

15. Sunburn spray for after you get burnt  to relieve the pain.

16. Mosquito repellent

17. Body Spray

18. Eyeglass cleaner/defogger

19. screen cleaner or lens cleaner for your iPhone/ computer display

20. Spray vitamins for the ultra distance cycle set

Many of these are great ideas that someone should work on, and a few guessed correctly.  The mystery product is Manscapes Masculine Spray.  The following is from the product web site:

Masculine Spray™ Deodorant  is not a cover-up nor does it clog pores. The Deodorant actually inhibits bacterial growth on your body This bacterial growth Is what causes body odor. So by eliminating this odor-causing bacteria, we have eliminated body odor. The Spray attacks the problem, not the results of the problem. The Spray does not have perfume that only covers one odor with another artificial odor like some sprays or powders. The Deodorant  leaves an invisible layer of protection that prevents odor-causing bacteria from forming and leaves you feeling fresh and clean all through the day.

I have been using the product for about two weeks and must say that I like it.  I have never been a huge fan of stick or roll on products produced by big companies, mainly because I have had issues with such products leaving stains on my shirts.  Such products also sometimes with scary warning labels. 

This liquid does seem to combat smell, but it does not diminish the sweating.  One of the good things about it I guess is that it is not designed to block your pores.  "Famous," or rather well marketed, antiperspirants designed to block your pores would seem to be an example of man trying to fight against what nature intended.  Instead of trying to use technology and ridiculous commercials, this seems to be a natural product that seeks promotion and awareness on famous infamous bike related web sites =)

Thanks to Peter from Manscapes for contacting us and for generously agreeing to send the product to a reader to review.  The random winner chosen is Scott Souter.  Scott will receive a bottle of Manscapes Masculine Spray and we will ask him to send us a review to be posted in the future.

Thank you to all who entered.  We are always looking for stuff to review and preferably to giveaway as well and other companies that want to to participate are welcome to contact us. 

Cold Weather Bike Riding Tips

I posted last week on my purchase of a base layer to help deal with cold weather riding in Boston.  I have been happy with a the heavy weight baselayer from Columbia Sportswear and have been able to ride comfortably even on cold days. 

The day I used as an example of a cold ride referenced a temperature of 12 degrees Fahrenheit with a windchill that made it fell like -3. 

Reader Kellen posted the following comment in response:

Wanna test out your new gear? Come up to Edmonton, AB. 

Today: A mix of sun and cloud. 30 percent chance of flurries early this morning. Clearing this afternoon. High minus 27.

Tonight: Clear. Wind up to 15 km/h. Low minus 32. Extreme wind chill minus 44.

Wednesday: Sunny. Wind west 20 km/h becoming light in the evening. High minus 21. Extreme wind chill minus 47."

I rode to work today, 14km (about 60min in these conditions) each way. 

With conditions like that, I figured Kellen might have some good advice to share so I emailed him and he kindly responded with his tips for cold weather riding.  The following text is 100% credited to Kellen.  If other readers have advice feel free to contact us.  Stay warm!

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I wouldn't describe Edmonton as a cyclists' city, especially in the winter, but there is definitely a small sub-culture of hearty riders that never let mother nature get in the way of their commute. Being above the 53rd parallel, our winters can at times be excruciatingly cold.  It's not unusual to have days with the temperature below -40C/F.  At this temperature, if you blink a little too slow you risk freezing your eyelashes together, and frostbite can occur on exposed skin in under 10 minutes!

While I wouldn't recommend riding in temperatures as low as -40C/F (my personal cutoff tends to be more like -25C in most cases), Here are a few tips I've compiled over the years to help those cold commutes run smoothly.  I hope this helps!

• Ignore windchill or "feels like" factors on the weather forecast:  It's the ambient temperature that determines how cold you'll be.  There is always windchill on a bicycle!  
• Start with warm/dry shoes:  Pre-heating your shoes over a heating vent or otherwise goes a long way to warm feet during the ride.  Particularly if you're using a shoe cover that will cut the wind and trap that heat in.
• Avoid cotton for any next-to-skin layers:  Cotton does not transport moisture, and will eventually saturate and lose all insulating properties.  Merino wool and polypropylene are both excellent alternatives.  
• Avoid rain jackets: In the winter, it's rare to get rain, and "waterproof" or similar material only further impedes moisture transport away from your body.
• Don't expect to be able to shift gears:  Choose your gear wisely before leaving your house, because chances are you won't get a chance to change it until you warm your bike up again indoors
• Expect your bike to break.  Always be conscious of how hard you push it up hills etc, ease off a little during the cold snaps and save yourself the hassle of a broken chain or spokes.
• Consider your body as a closed loop heat system:  If your hands are cold, you may not just need better gloves, but maybe warmer clothes on other parts of your body that may or may not be "cold".  Ie. My hands will stay warmer if I'm wearing a toque.  
• Avoid fogging: If you need protection for your eyes, wear glasses, not goggles. This will allow you to take them off immediately upon stopping (ie.at a traffic light).  Wave them around while you're waiting, and don't put them on until you're riding again.  If you keep them on, they will fog up from the heat of your body, and once they fog, they will ice, and need to be scraped before you can see through them again.
• Don't overdress:  Dressing for waiting for a bus in cold weather is not the same as dressing for a bike commute in the same temperature.  Dress so that you're just barely warm, or even too cold when you start your ride.  You will warm up as you get the blood flowing.
• Regulate with intensity: If you're cold, just pedal harder.  Long downhill?  Apply your brakes and keep pedaling.
• Don't wet yourself: Shed layers or open zippers at the first sign of overheating, before you begin to saturate your clothes in sweat.  

Good luck out there!

Winter Bike Riding - Base Layer

Like any other time I have moved, when I shared with people last fall that I would be moving from New York City to Boston, I started to receive a lot of advice.  One recurring theme I kept hearing from people was how cold it is in Boston and if I planned on commuting  in the winter I would have to bundle up.  I try not to let the weather interfere too much with my commuting and the temperature has never kept me from riding.  I layered up when the temperature dropped in NYC, but my layering was a bit bulky and haphazard.

I decided that if temps were consistently going to feel like sub-zero (over to the left is what the temp was the other day) when commuting I might want to dial in my layers.  I recently purchased a couple of different clothing items in an attempt to stay warm and dry that I wanted to share on the blog because I have been quite happy with both.  These are not products that were sent to me for review, I did my own research and purchased them on my own. 

For winter riding in the past I have used several kinds of base layers. I have ridden with long underwear and some Sporthill tights from my running days and both methods were sufficient, but not entirely comfortable.  Columbia Sportswear has been making a marketing push recently and a technology that caught my eye was what they call Omni-Heat, billed as as thermal reflective technology.  I have never purchased a matching base layer of any kind and decided to go for their heavyweight longsleeve top and matching bottom.

From what I can gather, the technology is a silver fabric cut into small circles and then applied to the main fabric of the garment. The little dots are supposed to reflect heat back at your body, and the fabric is meant to breathe so you do not get too sweaty.  When you look at the fabric from the outside it appears "normal."  The photo is a bit washed out but it is solid black, except for the stitching . . .

When you look at the inside it is a different story.  The fabric almost appears to be a space blanket.

Both items have fabric only in the places that are likely to get the most sweaty.

Although the fabric almost appears to be entirely silver, when you look at it closely you can see the dots on the fabric.

My fear when I first saw the fabric was that it would be sticky when touching skin.  My fears did not become reality, the fabric feels like any other fabric when touching the skin.  I could not tell the difference, that is until I rode in it.  I have found the layer to be incredibly warm and the layer has helped me to achieve greater warmth with less bulk.  When paired with a new jacket, a topic for a future entry, I am warmer and wearing far less fabric.  The layer is a bit thicker than most other layers I have worn but there is a medium layer as well if you are not looking for "ultra" warmth.

I have been riding with the base layer for about a month now and I am really glad I made the purchase. Like other good products, the price tag is a bit high, but I have worn the layer every day and it has held up just fine so far.  If readers have advice on staying warming in cold temps feel free to contact us or comment.  I'll post on a recent jacket purchase that I pair with the base layer soon. 

 

Sportique Skin Care

Quiz question - what is the largest human organ?  That question stumped me one time but the title of this post should have been a huge hint if you did not have the answer locked and loaded.  The skin is the largest human organ and of all the organs I possess I would say that I treat my skin the worst.  I basically do very little when it comes to taking care of my skin. 

I apply sunblock when needed and always carry lip balm, but those are really the only "special measures" I employ.  I guess my use of powder could be considered skin care as well.  Occasionally someone will offer me hand lotion and to be polite I might put some on, but for like an hour afterward I hate the fact that I can't turn door knobs or open anything and everything I touch gets all slippery. 

Thanks to a recent product pack delivery I might have to make it a New Year's resolution to treat my skin well and give lotion a serious chance.  The folks at Sportique asked if I would be interested in reviewing some of their products and recently I received this bounty - upon opening the box a sudden sense of neutrality came over me.

Most of the products are general use but there is a bike specific product - what they call Century Riding Cream.  I have never had a problem with chaffing while riding except for one time when I made the unfortunate decision to go on a long ride wearing underwear under a pair of tights.  I ended up peeling many, many layers of skin and man was it a painful few days.  Anyway . . .

There is quite a bit of stuff to try and I want to thank Sportique for their generosity.  I'll be putting the products to use and will do some follow up posts.  If you have skin care products you swear by or have skin care hacks, do let us know or feel free to comment.

Sportique also passed along a coupon code that readers are welcome to use on their site.  You can enter the following code upon check out: DX1542PC.  The full line up can be found on their web site and I think the code gets you 30% off which is a heck of a deal. 

 -FTC disclosure -