Full Maintenance and More Commuting Discussion

Hi Again!  It's me, Blackie Bike, here.  Boy do I have a lot to talk about today- so let's get right to it.
First thing- a quick update on our last post and that nasty cut I had on my back tire.  Buttercup used the SuperGlue trick on the cut and it healed right up!  The extra glue on the surface will wear off with time- no biggie.

If you aren't familiar with the process, here's what he did:

• Do a quick wipe down of the tire with a damp rag and inspect it- that way you're sure you've found all the cuts.  Clean any debris out of the tire.
• Over inflate the tire by about 5-8 lbs.  This will spread the cut or hole opening up a little bit extra.
• Clean with a little rubbing alcohol.  This gets any grease cleaned out- it also will displace any water that's left and it will dry quicker.  Wait until cuts are dry.
• Squirt just enough SuperGlue into the cut to coat the whole thing well.
• Deflate the tire completely- no need to clean off excess glue (and risk gluing your fingers together) since it will wear off when you ride!  Leave at least overnight to set up is best.

That's it!  Done.  The excess glue will wear off in time and it will probably be just fine.  If it opens back up, it might just be too bad to fix- but as expensive as tires are, you might as well try.  Right?

I'm doing a charity ride this weekend with Buttercup.  It's a super fun one and it's for a good cause: The Ride to End Hunger in Calvert County.  It's always really well organized and fun and helps out the community!  BC is even giving up going sailboat racing for this one.  Good thing- us bikes hate having to compete for his time with those dumb boats.

To get me ready for the ride and a lot of training for May and June, Buttercup is going to give me a complete overhaul over the next day or two.  I'll make sure he takes pictures- you can see me in pieces!  I saw a new set of handlebars come in the mail, so I think I may be trying them out for him.  Updates a-plenty!  But you might be hearing from Blue Bike if I'm in too many pieces to type... 

Next discussion: Bike Commuting.  Since it's still that whole Earth Day thing, and gas prices are still crazy, and May is going to be some sort of "Bike to Wherever" month- let's keep up the discussion about bike commuting!

First, the trailer that Buttercup ordered (shown in This Post) arrived yesterday from www.mayacycle.com.  The ordering process was ok, their status updates on the order were bad, but it arrived in a timely fashion.  So overall- an ok purchase so far.  I'm sure BC will have pictures and we can talk about it more once it's up and running... But hopefully it will have him riding all of us more, and using the car less!

And then, what a Cool Article from the U.K. about a guy with a coffee shop who is also providing bicycle parking for commuters!  What a cool idea for peeps who don't have a parking option at work-- and they can get a cup of Joe!  

Last thing- a while back I had posted the front of that really bright and loud jersey that BC had worn one day...  here it is again:

And I had mentioned that it got even gaudier on the back of it, right?

Check this out *snicker*:

One thing is sure- nobody is going to miss us in THAT!!

All right- I'll talk at you later!  Until then, Get on your Bikes and RIDE!!!!

Making it easier to be Green

Hi.  It's the Green Monster here- a.k.a. Ingolstadt.  In recognition of the upcoming Earth Day, I wanted to take a couple of minutes to talk about being Green... Classic Scwhinn 70's Campus Green is the best shade, of course- but whatever.  What did you say, whippersnapper?  I need to what?  Fine.  That young punk of a Blu Bike says I need to introduce myself.  Ok then.

I was born in the Schwinn Factory in Chicago, IL in December of 1973- mind you that was the same year that Buttercup was born, though he wasn't born in Chicago.  I'm Campus Green, and originally had 5 speeds and weighed 42lbs.  I was given to Buttercup by his Father last year when my sibling Metro Cycle made me an extra bike sitting around his garage.  Buttercup "upgraded" me with a new Shimano Nexus 7 speed internal hub group, 700c wheels, a modern riser bar, and campus pedals.  I lost 8 lbs in the process.  Since that photo I've also gotten a rack, panniers, a modern 1 1/8th stem, and a new saddle.

But enough about me.  I want to talk about some things we're working on to help save money and be more healthy and environmentally friendly.  I figure that every mile the Pudgemaster rides on one of us, that's a penny or two savings in the overall health care system, right?  And it's saving him $0.20/mile in gas.  Given where we live, that's pretty much a bare minimum of $5.00 per trip.  Hell, that doesn't take long to add up, does it?

Things we already have to make it easier?

• The racks, trunk, and panniers.  I wear a traditional bolted on aluminum rack and panniers.  Blu Bike wears a quick release clamp-on rack when needed.  He has a daypack size pannier set.  We share the trunk bag for the racks.  It's a handy bugger.  Blackie considers himself too fragile with all that carbon for any kind of rack- so it's a rucksack if he needs to take anything anywhere.
• Lights.  We share 2 Niterider Phazer Max super bright LED headlights, and two different superbright LED red tail flashers (one Blackburn Mars, and one Sette).
• Fenders.  I came with nice fenders from the factory.  The other boys are sharing a set of clamp on  fenders.
• And BC just ordered us a dynamo generator.  Boy, have those come a LONG way since I was young.  I originally had a bottle generator that powered incandescent headlight & tail light.  They now make front hub generators that seem like a good idea.  But the one BC just ordered is a chain powered model with a battery and USB connection.  We'll let you know how it works when it gets here.  Check it out:

Things we're looking at adding in the near future?

• a trailer.  there are all kinds of bicycle trailer models out there from home-built rattletraps to $600 models with electric motors (pretty cool).  We've found one we think we can all use with ease and will be very useful.  It's a single wheel model, it's lightweight, it has a bag that goes with it, and it has a kickstand to help hold it and us steady when it is being loaded or unloaded.  The $250 it costs will take 1250 miles to have it pay for itself, but we're not sure that's really the point- is it?  It's not all just about $$$- some of it is about taking steps to do the right thing.  Here's a photo:

• another thing we're thinking about is LED flashing gloves from Brite-Strike to offer just one more safety advantage to riding at night.  It's a cool idea- since how is anyone going to know you are signalling in the dark?

So get out there and ride your bike to work, or the store, or the gym, or wherever.  Save yourself some money, be more healthy, make your bike happy, and have fun!!