Carbon schmarbon

The fork my daily bike was equipped with from the factory was an all aluminium affair, and it was definitely the single worst aspect of the bike. So it was almost with a sense of relief that I detected the start of fatigue cracking at the fork blade/dropout junction which gave me a good excuse to replace (read upgrade) the fork.

Now, the standard route to kill the road buzz and make the bike more comfy would be a carbon fork upgrade, but I'm getting a little tired of all the carbon hype so decided to see how a steel (in this case Tange chromoly) fork would compare.

Ok, I'll start by admitting that I dig steel; it is wonderfully springy properties an naturally smooths out the shocks and buzz of bad surfaces. I will readily confess my bias.

Self fulfilling proofs aside, I was pleasantly surprised with my steel fork retrofit. The buzz through the bars is much reduced (not surprising given the aluminium original), but it also compares very favourably with the all carbon Dedacciai fork on my race bike - taking out the buzz, but also taking out the sharp shocks that the carbon fork still nails all the way through.

Of course, it isn't without compromise. Handling and braking are both a bit softer now, the former being fine for a commuter, the latter being a small price to pay for the upside.

Thinking of upgrading to a carbon fork? Maybe think again and look at the old fashioned steel alternatives...

Steel really is real.

Freedom from cars

It is funny. In the early half of the last century, with the industrial revolution in full swing, Germany led Europe in giving the everyman a passport to freedom in the form of a cheap and reliable car. And now it seems the Germans may be leading again, but this time giving people freedom from their cars.

I came across this story from the NY Times. Vauban is a suburb on the outskirts of Freiburg. What makes this drab sounding locality special is that Vauban is a leading example of how people can live without cars. You see, cars are not allowed on the streets of Vauban and driveways are prohibited. There are two garages on either end of the suburb to serve the residents, containing both private and a rental cars for occasional use by the residents. A central tramway provides links to the city. 70% of families in Vauban do not own cars. It really does sound like science fiction - especially in the Fatherland of the car itself.

It warms me to read stories like this; demonstrating that while a change to more "sustainable" transport does require some sacrifice, it also brings with it many gains - and that these benefits are not just of the sort that hippies on the fringes will enjoy, but rather genuine improvements in quality of life that outweigh the sacrifices.

But I think it is important that we don't see this (and similar) ideas as anti-car, pro-bike - but rather a return from industrial to human scale town planning. Spaces designed to be used and enjoyed by people, where kids can play in the streets and where we interact with each other. This German experience continues the thread of the urban redesign trials in NYC - which, I believe, have sparked a renewal of people using streets.

Human scale technology. Pedal on.

A bit of DIY

I have a slight aversion to the dreaded "DIY". I strongly believe that this has nothing to do with ability or inclination to work with my hands, but rather all the disconnect I have between brick and mortar vs chromoly and aluminium.

But today I undertook a project that combined the two - installing a wall hanger to sort out the bike storage in out apartment. Keeping two bikes fairly out of the way, but accessible, in a London flat can be a bit tricky (we won't mention the 3rd bike that lives in the front room). It can be even more of a problem when we have guests around staying in the 2nd bedroom. A cunning solution was needed.

The passageway is the best place for them, but rather then have the two line astern, making night-time access to the bathroom fraught with the risk of shin/pedal collisions in the dark, we now have them stacked on upon the other.

The wall bracket was sourced from Halfords for a tenner, and took all of about 5 mins to affix to the wall. It feels pretty secure and could double as a handy stand for simple maintenance and tuning.

I'm fairly happy with how it does it's intended job, my only quibble being that the arm is a bit long so the bike is further off the wall than it needs to be; a consequence of the rack being suitable for all types of bikes hence making allowance for wider handlebars. When I'm feeling more energetic, I'll dig out the hacksaw and drill and shorten the arm a little to get the bike closer to the wall, and make a bit more room for walking past.

All in all though, success. And certainly the passage is a lot tidier.

Annual Service

My trusty Genesis has been due for attention for some time now. The gear changing had become sloppy, and the transmission had become noisy - a frankly embarrassing state of affairs! So a week back I hopped online and ordered all the bits I needed to get her running sweetly again, but despite the parts arriving Tuesday, I've been feeling a bit poorly so haven't got around to getting the work done.

The annual service is always good fun, a time to get the bike working 100% and replace all the tired old wear items with shiny new ones. I find working on bikes very relaxing; it is very rewarding know that when I'm done, the machine will once again be working like clockwork.

I'd already done the full strip-down and rebuild earlier this year after what was a particularly harsh winter for the bike, so the work needed today was a simple parts replacement; the chain, cassette and (this year) the rear derailleur jockey wheels.

So half an hour spent with the Foo Fighters, the bike, tools and workstand - bliss. The bike is humming and shining (the oily bits anyway). A good excuse for a snap then!