Bike Hugger 

Ariel Zambelich/Wired

A Wired take on Google’s bike culture, including behind-the-scenes photos from the secret bike shop where the bikes are maintained

You’ll find a secret bike shop where people like Robert Jimenez and Terry Mac twist wrenches and true tires all day long, rocking out to AC/DC and Pink Floyd. Then, if you slip into the back room, you’ll see them: 1,300 green, blue, red and yellow Google Bikes, stacked Santa’s workshop-style as far the eye can see.

A couple years ago, took photos of the campus bikes and last year posted on the new bikes arriving on campus. Also, the code for the bike layer on Google Maps was written here in Seattle by then Google engineer Andy Schwerin. Rode with him in Fremont.

50 x 34, spin

7 years into this blog with thousands of posts, hey we can occasionally publish a best-of, re-run, like this one from Mark V about the death of the triple.

Bike companies have toted the compact double as the ideal way to gain most of the benefits of a triple crank (namely better low range gearing) while having a better chainline and lower weight. This is mainly true, but before you decide that the compact double crank is right for you, you should understand its real advantages for you as a user as well as the motivations bike companies have for selling it to you.

Having recently spent 100% more time climbing on a compact than usual, Mark’s take is an educated follow-up to my ride with Patrick O’Brady in which I tested every possible SRAM 11-speed gear combo looking for the one that felt right. Never found it, but the chain didn’t rub!

Cragmont jeans for cycling

A Spring Sale at REI is a good time to mention their cycling products I’ve been wearing in 13. Over the Winter for all the snow biking, I was in Headwind jacket and tights. You see that gear in the shots featured in the Wired article. Also, Novara’s Brimmed Bike Beanie hat, which has since sold out.

With Vittoria Classics shoes

In Austin, during SXSW, I had their new Cragmont jeans and Westbrae knickers with me. I like the jeans especially for the details like a padded, reinforced crotch, articulated knees, and reflective cuffs. Each year, Novara’s gear improves and this line is their best so far. It’s made by cyclist I ride with in the Pacific Northwest.

Considering we’ve reviewed Rapha, Castelli, Giro, Road Holland, and Novara recently, cyclists have more choices than ever in road or urban gear.

To get the 25% off deal at REI this weekend, become a member if you’re not already one, shop online or in store with the 25REI coupon.

For their 5th annual ride on the the Strip, 350 cyclists joined Blinking Man and lit it up with spokes.

A personal Red Kite Prayer

On a 45 minute climb up into the Santa Monica Mountains, Patrick O’Brady half-wheeled me for approximately 44 and 1/2 minutes. During the time, I studied his kit, his pedal stroke, and asked him after every switchback how much longer we had to go. We’d turned off from the longer ride, both nursing war wounds, and feeling old. The guys on the long ride were 1/2 our age, had more to prove and still making a name for themselves in this business. For us it was stories from the past, what’s happening now, and what we’re going to do with ourselves, as our earning years dwindle like the energy in tired legs.

Shifting up and down on the new 22 from SRAM cross-chaining every possible combination, I said, “can’t find the right gear on this 52/36!” Patrick replied, “you got to get over that man, Tyler rode that drivetrain.”

“He was on dope!”

“Yes, but a fast doper….”

That I believe compact cranks are like clip-on ties, they work, but require less effort or skill Patrick would and will disagree with. He has a hundred stories to prove me wrong. That’s cause he’s a storyteller, one of the bike industry’s finest and has collected his best tales into a book. You can join the crowd on Kickstarter and fund it further.

Then ask him about his ride with me someday. He never saw me again until after the descent where I wished I had a 53 x 11 the whole time.

Note: the Red Kite Prayer happens at the end of the ride, or the race, when you see the Red Kite. It’s the final milestone before the finish and seen at the 1K to go mark.