His LBS was having a hard time mounting the sensor for his Cateye V2C computer because it wanted to go where Surly puts the spare spokes.

I sent him to a page showing how my Cateye Strada Cadence computer was mounted.

Unfortunately, when I downloaded the docs for his computer, the sensor wasn’t a simple as mine. It looked like it really DID want to mount on the top of the chain stay.

I have a Cateye Strada Cadence Computer

My LBS discouraged me from buying a wireless computer. They said they have found that folks who use their bikes a lot burn batteries quickly. (I’ve been slacking off lately, so I’m afraid a battery would have lasted me a long time.) They are also prone to freaking out or going blank in an urban environment with lots of high voltage EMF floating around.

They recommended the Cateye Strada Cadence Computer.

How to mount the speed sensor on an LHT

A little bit of rubber material folded up brought the speed sensor close enough that it could pick up the spoke-mounted magnet. The two small nylon ties don’t interfere with the spare spokes.

Cadence pick-up mounts the same way

This sensor faces outward toward the crank arm and pedal. The nylon ties clear the spokes easily.

Rare earth magnets work very well

I’ve had trouble keeping magnets mounted to my crank arm when using factory-supplied parts. My kid brother, Mark, turned me on to the idea of using tiny rare earth magnets sticking onto the crank arm to trigger the sensor.

When I mounted them on my Trek 1220, I bought my first set of magnets from Radio Shack and put a drop of Marine Goop on the crank arm. (Goop is the greatest thing since sliced bread and binder twine.) It stuck for several years and thousands of miles with no issues.

Rare Earth Magnet on Candy C pedal on LHT

When I bought my Surly Long Haul Trucker, I found that the sensor / magnet sweet spot would let me put the magnets directly on the Crank Brothers Candy C Pedal spindle. I used two of them stacked to get them close enough for the sensor to trigger. I didn’t even bother with the Goop this time. The magnetic attraction is enough to keep them anchored to the pedal.

I also found I could buy larger, cheaper magnets from Amazon. I use the Magcraft NSN0573 3/8-Inch by 1/8-Inch Rare Earth Magnets that sell 30 for $10.99. It’s amazing h0w many ways you can use them. (Once my grandson was old enough that I didn’t have to worry about him swallowing them, we Gooped them on a bunch of his toys so he could pick them up with a toy crane.)

Related posts:

1. Camera Mount for a Surly Long Haul Trucker
2. Bike Computer Magnet Goes Missing in Action
3. Surly Long Haul Trucker Second Stem

Iowa Bicycle Coalition hosting World Tire Changing Championship

I’m not a fast tire changer. I’m not even, as the saying goes, a half-fast tire changer. I can get the job done, but I’m not going to enter the World Tire Changing Championship at the RAGBRAI Expo in Sioux City, IA, on July 24.

For more information, including contest rules and a sponsorship flyer, go to the Iowa Bicycle Coalition website.

How to change a flat

Over time, I’ve posted some tips and reviews about what tools I carry, some pump recommendations and a how-to video.

Video of Wayne at my LBS changing a flat.

Blackburn sent me a new AirTower 2 to replace a defective TPS-2 floor pump.

How to use and mount a Topeak Road Morph Pump with Gauge.

Tools and parts I carry.

Related posts:

1. How to Fix Your Bike’s Flat Tire
2. Year in Review: Bicycle Pumps
3. Shuttle Launch Reminds Me of Disney World

Several months ago, I noticed that the battery life was getting a little short when it wasn’t being powered by the automobile. That’s not a big deal. About the only time I have it unplugged is it I hand it to a passenger to search for something. Still, I figured I’d replace the battery if it was cheap and easy.

The battery is part No. 361-00019-11

I kept putting off doing anything until someone posted a part number in the Garmin Nuvi 750-760-780 Group. He said, do a search for Part Number 361-00019-11.

BINGO. I ordered from the fine folks at BatteryShip.com. The battery was $19.95 with free shipping and a set of tools. I could have gotten a similar deal through Amazon for about a buck cheaper, but I would have paid $4.99 shipping.

1. Unscrew the back

Remove the two screws holding the back on. This is where you’ll be glad you ordered from someone who sends tools along with the battery. Those teeny-tiny screws aren’t Phillips screws. They use the T-8 Torx driver that was in the tool kit. I don’t think I had anything that small on the workbench.

2. Pry off the back cover

Use the handy-dandy thing that probably has a special name, but I don’t know it, to pry off the back cover. The plastic widget looks like a miniature version of a tire lever. The cover has a pretty snug fit, so the tool is helpful. Be firm, but gentle and it’ll finally come off. Be careful around the on-off power switch.

When the cover finally snaps off, don’t yank too hard. The speaker and battery are attached to the cover with some fairly short wires.

3. Unplug the blue and black speaker wires

The speaker wires are fairly short, so I unplugged those before the battery.

4. Unplug the old battery

5. Pry the old battery off the back cover

The old battery is stuck to the back of the cover with two-sided tape. I saved the tape to put on the back of the new battery to keep it from moving around when I closed the case. When you’re sticking it down, the wires should be on the top, inside of the cover so they’ll reach the connection terminal.

6. Plug in the new battery

The connector is keyed, so you can’t put in the wrong way. (Unless you’re a big fan of brute force.)

It’ll be less frustrating, though, if you put the red wire on the left side instead of trying it with the green wire on the left.

7. Plug in the speaker wire connector

The terminal for the speaker is the ivory-colored rectangular device in the middle of the frame. It’s keyed, too. I think the blue wire goes on the left, but I can’t swear to that. It’s a tiny connector on a short wire. If you have fat fingers, a pair of tweezers might be handy.

8. Pop the cover back on

Make sure you don’t have any wires trapped, pop the cover on, then replace the two screws. Life should be good.

Life WASN’T good

After snapping the back cover on, but before putting the screws in, I decided to do turn on the power switch to make sure everything was working. The switch is a spring-loaded momentary contact switch that has some resistance to it.

Usually.

This time, however, it moved freely back and forth without doing anything. It’s amazing how long you’ll try something with absolutely no hope of a changed result. I didn’t see where I had been doing anything anywhere close to where the switch lived, and I hadn’t seen any kind of cautions in anything I had read.

Sounds like a known problem with Garmin power switches

I did find some reports of other folks who had their switches fail.

The semi-good news – particularly since I’m leaving to go on a two-week road trip – is that the unit will still work when it’s plugged into the car and computer. I just can’t turn it on and off manually from the switch. That’s not a big deal. The unit will power down on its own 30 seconds after it’s unplugged (or I can press the display to tell it to stay on).

The only time I could see it being an issue is if the GPS has to be reset. If that happens, I guess I’d have to pull the back and unplug the battery.

When I get back, I’ll decide if I want to get it fixed.

Related posts:

1. Garmin Nuvi 760 GPS
2. True “Wet” Cell Emergency Battery
3. Garmin GPS nuMaps Lifetime Subscription

I have a friend who is a target shooter and a collector of obscure facts about firearms.

He knows I’m a biker who loads his Surly Long Haul Trucker down with every accessory known to man, woman or beast. He sent me this illustration, accompanied by the comment, “This may not be quite as cool as a Radio Shack AM radio for your handlebars but it has to be on the list somewhere…..”

I’ll stick with my Archer handle-bar AM radio.

My kids think that my music choices would scare ANYTHING away. Or put it to sleep.

I have pretty good luck with dogs. In all my years as a paperboy, photographer and cyclist, I’ve only been nipped a couple of times. It was always one of those annoying yippy dogs, never a big dog.

Bro Mark is a dog magnet who is quick to reach for his water bottle to deter chasers. I’ve found my Delta Airzound Bike Horn will cause most dogs to stop in their tracks.

It’s fun to watch a big dog in full tilt run lock his brakes and deploy the drag chute when I hit him with a HONNNKKKK!!! from the AirZound. By the time he figures out it’s not an 18-wheeler, I’m long past his chase zone.

Related posts:

1. I Laugh at Dogs: What About Bears?

The one ride I DID haul myself out of my sickbed to do was the Freakbike Militia’s Choppernite 26.

I want to see faces, not biker butts

This time I wanted to shoot video of more than biker butts, so I rigged a mount that would let my Canon FS100 video camera point behind me. It’s pretty ugly and I won’t leave it on the bike all the time, but it seems secure.

It’s made out of some 1/4″ aluminum stock I used to use for radio mounts. Two 1/4″ bolts through the aluminum and big washers underneath hold it to the Jandd Expedition rear rack.

I use a RAM mount with quick release to hold the video camera. Because I’m a belt-and-suspenders kind of guy, I drilled a hole in the mount for the lanyard attached to the camera. The RAM mount is solid enough to handle this bumpy ride, but it never hurts to be safe.

I wanted it mounted slightly ahead of the RealLite so it would be less likely to pick up flare from the flashing taillight. It needed to be off to the right enough that I could open the viewfinder.

So, how did the video camera mount work?

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find out.

I pulled out of the driveway and noticed in the first 100 feet that a slight mist was in the air. I went back into the house to check the radar and saw a tight band of reds and yellows just off the coast and moving slowly to the southwest, in my direction.

I stuck a few Ziploc bags in my jersey pocket, took off the video camera and headed out. About two blocks from the house, the mist turned into rain, and I ducked under a building overhang to rig for bad weather. That’s when the skies REALLY opened up and the wind started howling.

I put the cameras in the plastic bags and pulled the waterproof covers over my Arkel small bar bag and Tail Rider trunk bag, dug out my Campmor rain cape and pulled on leg warmers because the winds were chilly. After about 20 minutes, the heavy rain and winds dropped off to a steady rain and I took off to the assembly point.

Stan of Wheels of Wellington shot this picture of me after the rain had slacked off and I had dropped the finger loops on the rain cape to be less like a sail. I resemble a big orange pumpkin going down the road, because I put the cape over the CamelBak M.U.L.E. I was wearing. What his photo doesn’t show is how the FlaskBak I was trying out caused the whole back of the cape to light up.

I’m one of those folks who actually likes riding in the rain. The brim of the rain cape extends out far enough that my glasses stay relatively dry and the fenders kept my legs dry except for a couple of flooded areas where I got a little water on my feet. THAT didn’t matter because I was wearing Shimano sandals.

How was Choppernite 26?

I’ve been holding off on writing this because I wasn’t sure what to say. I’ve really enjoyed the other Freakbike Militia events I’ve participated in. I went so far as saying the Summer of Love ride was the most fun group ride I’d ever been on. I said that even the motorists who were briefly inconvenienced seemed to pick up the good vibes of the ride.

I didn’t get that same good feeling on this one.

Let’s look at the good things first

• Despite the rain, about 70 riders showed up.
• Many of the bikes and riders were decorated and had ingenious lighting arrangements.
• The “corkers” – riders wearing safety vests who blocked intersections for the group – were enthusiastic and effective. The vests are a nice safety touch.
• The ride was raising money for a good cause.
• The group had a lot of fun.

Things that made me uncomfortable

• Despite earlier requests on the Freakbike Militia forum, some riders persisted in crossing the center line to ride in the lane with oncoming traffic. It’s inconsiderate, makes motorists cranky and is dangerous, particularly if the bike doesn’t have lights. Drivers are drawn to watch the spectacle going by and may not see the rider in their lane until it’s too late.
• Too many bikes didn’t have lights. That’s not a big problem when they’re tucked in the middle of the group, but the group tends to fragment on the way back. It’s very dangerous on a rainy night when you have a mixture of lighted and unlighted bikes spread out on the roadway. If a driver is concentrating on watching the taillights, he or she can plow into an unlit bike.
• Someone led the group to go westbound on eastbound Okeechobee from Flagler instead of a block north onto westbound Lakeview. I was set up to shoot the group going down the right street and was surprised to see everyone going the wrong way. THAT didn’t win any friends with the eastbound motorists.
• The poor corkers caught a ration of honking when they blocked the intersection for a spread out group of riders who went the right way. It’s one thing to be stopped for 100 bikes, it’s another to be stopped for a handful.
• To compound the problem, some of THOSE riders spilled over into the left-hand lane, igniting another chorus of honks.
• Maybe it was because of  the joyous Christmas season, but motorists seemed crankier and more impatient than usual.

Will I do another Freakbike Militia ride?

Yeah, probably. (If they’ll have me back after reading this review.)

I like the folks and this was the first bad experience I’ve had. Maybe I was just cranky because I was still half-sick; maybe the rain delay caused things to be even more disorganized than the usual a non-organized ride; maybe the motorists were in a rush to do Christmas shopping, who knows?

If I feel like the next ride is unsafe or that it’s pissing off people more than it’s promoting cycling, then I’ll have to re-evaluate.

Related posts:

1. Camera Mount for a Surly Long Haul Trucker
2. Camera Mount Out of a Soft Drink Bottle
3. Digital Camera Bicycle Handlebar Mount

I have “friends” who claim that my Surly Long Haul Trucker is lit up like this 18-wheeler Bro Mark saw in a St. Louis truck stop last year.

I wish.

I love lights

Half a century ago, when I got my driver’s license, Missouri pushed a safety slogan, “Lights on for safety.” The campaign must have worked, because I run with my car and my bike headlights on.

I started out with a NiteRider Trail Rat

When I first started riding at night, I bought a NiteRider Trail rat for about a hundred bucks. I liked the size, weight, output and the plug-and-forget charger.

What I didn’t like was running out of battery power on a long ride.

Next light: NiteRider Pro-12E

The NiteRider Pro-12E used a bottle-cage battery and had longer run time on low power settings. It powered the brightest taillight I’ve ever used. But, it, too, left me stranded in the dark and having to rely on a backup light on long rides. A ride’s not fun when you see the battery charge indicator dropping and you have a bunch of miles yet to go.

A SON generator was the answer

A generator hub was the perfect solution. I had light as long as I had legs. I never had to worry about charging batteries or whether I remembered to pack the charger or the cost of replacement batteries. (That’s why I finally quit using the NiteRider Pro-12E: the battery pack needed replacing and I didn’t want to put the money into it.)

I used the SON on my Trek 1220 and then had a wheel built to move it over to the Surly Long Haul Trucker.

You can see the wheel being built here.

DLumotec Oval N Plus

I used several different types of lights with the SON. I started out with two halogen bulb lights and found them “OK.” I was happier when I switched the primary light to an LED version, the DLumotec Oval Plus.

• It came up to full brightness almost immediately.
• It had a standlight that would glow when you stopped pedaling.
• Because it was LED instead of halogen bulb, it didn’t darken as it aged and bulb life wasn’t a factor. You could run it all the time.

B&M IQ Cyo R N Plus

When I read a review of the Cyo IQ on one of my favorite bike blogs, EcoVelo, I just had to try one. It’s the best generator light I’ve owned. I didn’t even consider trying to hook up a secondary light with it. It’s just not needed.

Here’s a description of how I installed the light, including a video.

Cheap be-seen light

I bought a couple cheap Viewpoint Flare 5 LED Headlights from Performance before Kid Matt and I took off for a cross-Florida trip. I figured they’d be good backup lights. We were about 20 miles around and he had about a 1/4-mile lead on me. Just for the heck of it, I put the Flare in strobe mode. He was really impressed with how visible it was.

I’ve kept it on the bike as a be-seen ever since. Battery life is excellent. It pops off its mount quickly if you need a flashlight, too. Matt and a lot of other reviewers have had problems with the switch. I wouldn’t count on it for a primary light.

How to be seen from behind

Even though statistics show that the odds from being hit from behind are less than most folks would guess, I still like to be highly visible.

I use passive relectors and taillights.

I moved my RealLite, NiteRider taillight and generator-powered B&M 4DToplight Senso Multi from my Trek 1220 to my LHT, even though I quit using my NiteRider when the battery died. One of these days I’ll get around to stripping it off.

Here’s how I have them mounted and a full description of each.

Flashbak Safety Light

When I get over the cold that’s laid me low, I’ll be doing a review of the Flashbak Safety Light that the vendor was kind enough to send me. I had hoped to have someone shoot it in action on this week’s Freakbike Militia Ride, but the skies opened up two blocks up the road and I had to cover it with my bike cape. The thing was bright enough that it lit up the whole back of the cape from underneath. I was impressed.

UPDATE: Here is the review of the FlashBak.

Slow-moving vehicle triangle and Flash Flag

I have a Slow Moving Vehicle triangle on the back of my Camelbak and one on my left rear pannier when I’m using one. It’s just another way for me to send the message, “Treat me like a tractor.”

I experimented with a Flash Flag for one ride. The jury’s still out on this. I may fool around with a better way to mount it.

NiteRider MiNewt Mini vs Trail Rat

Son Matt, who inherited my original NiteRider Trail Rat has migrated to a NiteRider MiNewt Mini-USB with Li-ion Battery.

He’s convinced it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread. [Editor's note: sliced bread is great for sandwiches, but it doesn't work very well to light the road.]

You can read his full review here.

Glo Gloves help my hand signals stand out.

Way back in 2003, I tested the prototype for the current version of the Spor Glo Glove. I liked it well enough to use it when I’m riding at night when conditions are a bit iffy.

You can read my full review here, but the thing you may find most interesting is the video of what I look like riding down the road at night.

Other Bike Reviews

You might like to read some of the other year-end reviews I’ve done recently;

• Surly Long Haul Trucker
• Helmet Mirrors
• MP3 Speakers and Players for the Bike
• Bicycle Storage
• Photo Equipment for the Cyclist
• Kickstands and Click-Stands
• Bicycle Pumps

Related posts:

1. Year in Review: Bicycle Pumps
2. Year in Review: Bicycle Storage
3. Year in Review: Surly Long Haul Trucker

I’m not one of them. There are days when you’re riding by yourself when the wind won’t quit blowing or there’s a long climb coming up or you want to have something to give you a little boost. Music does that for me.

I don’t ride with earbuds because I find them uncomfortable (and illegal to wear in some locations), so I’ve tried various combinations of amplified and unamplified external speakers.

The Active Tunes i-Ride Pro is my favorite

• It’s small, 4″ x 1.75″.
• It’s lightweight.
• It produces acceptable quality sound with 4 watts output.
• The built-in rechargeable Lithium Ion battery has long life and recharges from a USB port. If you don’t have a computer with you, you could use a USB adapter (not included) to charge it from AC. Active Tunes says it’ll play for eight hours on a charge. I went for a four-hour ride on a Sunday and forgot to turn it off. On the next Wednesday, I noticed the LED was lit and turned the MP3 player on. Much to my surprise, the speakers still worked.
• Mick from Active Tunes says the battery should last for about 3,500 hours. If it fails within the first two years, Active Tunes will replace it free. If you play it while riding four hours a day, 365 days a year, then it should last 2.57 years. I think something better will come along before I need to replace the battery.
• It comes with a carrying case that uses Velcro straps for multiple mounting possibilities. The case has a built-in MP3 player holder with a transparent front so you can manipulate the controls.

You can read the full review here. A video that compares all of the speakers is here, including a real-world test on the bike.

Byco WRX1 and i-Ride Classic are second and third

Unfortunately, my second choice – the Byco WRX1 – may not be available any more. It didn’t show up on Amazon and all my Google searches hit dead ends.

The Active Tunes i-Ride Classic is about half the price of the i-Ride Pro, but doesn’t do a bad job. It looks like a pair of Mickey Mouse ears perched on the bars of my Trek 1220, but Kid Matt has been happy with it since I gave it to him.

Here’s the full review.

Als0-rans: Sansa Shaker and The Boostaroo

The Sandisk Sansa Shaker and The Boostaroo had some interesting features, but the former ended up with my grandson and the latter never made it on the road.

Read about them here.

iPod Classic vs Sandisk Sansa Clip

My 40 GB iPod Classic was growing some whiskers and remote controls were getting hard to find, so I decided to go small and cheap with a Sandisk Sansa Clip. The iPod cost me $483; the Sansa Clip was about $60. That made it a lot lighter on the wallet AND on the bike.

What do I like about the Sansa Clip (other than price)

• I loaded in a playlist I built in Windows Media Player that contained 188 songs and still had 2.4GB of free space.The built-in rechargeable battery will play for up to 15 hours
• It charges through a standard USB mini plug, the same connector as my flash card reader, Olympus WS-500M Digital Voice Recorder, portable hard drives and Garmin nüvi 760 GPS.
• It has a built-in FM radio tuner which works surprisingly well.
• It’s tiny: about .7″ deep, 1.4″ high and 1.4″ wide. Like I said, just barely bigger than the remote control for my iPod.
• Four-line OLED display that’s really bright.
• Reasonable intuitive controls. All I need are pause, skip and volume when I’m on the bike.
• It connects to my Active Tunes i-Ride pro with a standard miniplug.

Here’s the full review.

Bikes and Music: a recipe for pain?

A reader on a cycling group took me to task for listening to music on my rides:

I can’t see an experienced cyclist like you telling people to listen to music while they ride.  Diverting your attention from any of your senses while riding is a recipe for pain.  If you want to listen to music, take a ride in your car, or lounge around on your sofa.

Another reader took my side:

Audio if properly used, can add to enjoyment and concentration. Surgeons have favorite playlists for surgery and it is not a distraction. So during surgery, driving, working, running, walking, and riding, properly listening to audio can add to the enjoyment/concentration of/on the activity…Used properly (so you can hear surrounding sounds as well as audio), for some, audio can add to the enjoyment/concentration and at times provides motivation… If I find myself riding (or running) in a situation where I need to turn off the audio to improve my ‘concentration’ or “reduce distraction” ..I do so….

Just don’t make the assumption that just because I listen to music or an audiobook … that I’m an unsafe rider  or runner or surgeon.

Now that we have THAT cleared up, go here to see what I listen to on the road.

[Editor's note: Mick at Active Tunes sent me a free i-Ride Pro speaker to review. I've been a satisfied customer and a past winner of an i-Ride Classic in the company's monthly giveaway contest. If you’re wondering about our affiliate relations, product review policies and funding sources, please read our detailed review policy, affiliate relations and advertising page.]

Related posts:

1. Bicycle Speakers: Active Tunes i-RIDE Pro Review
2. Bike Speakers: SanDisk Sansa Shaker & The Boostaroo
3. Year in Review: Bicycle Lights

Over the years, I’ve used Nikon, Kodak, Canon and Pentax 35mm cameras; 4×5 Crown and Speed Graphics; a Mamiya 2-1/4 x 2-1/4 twin lens reflex (hated it) and view cameras (REALLY hated them). I’ve owned lenses from fisheye to 500mm and just about everything in between.

Three generations of Domke bags

My favorite camera was a 1969 Nikon F black body that I bought used from a guy who needed money more than a camera. I used it so much that the finish was worn down to the brass. It was my “crash camera” that was in my lap for every takeoff and landing. It went under water when I got pitched out of the back of a truck covering a flood; it went into smoke-filled buildings and through several hurricanes. I could change every setting by feel. It was a great tool and it’ll outlast me.

When I made the switch to digital photography, I started with a Nikon Coolpix 950 and then moved onto a Canon point-and-shoot. I was frustrated by the lag between pushing the button and having the shutter fire. I also missed the WYSIWG world of single lens reflexe

Nikon D700 and Nikon D40

Kid Matt bought a Nikon D700 DSLR and acquired most of my old lenses. (Acquired as in, I went on vacation and returned to find that there was a lot more room in my closet.) He paid me back by giving me a Nikon D-40 when I retired.

You can read his excellent review here.

Follow on down through the comments and you can read how I feel about the D40 and feedback from others. Bottom line on the D40: I’ve rediscovered the fun of photography.

It’s the perfect camera for me. It works like a REAL camera, it’s light enough that I can carry it my my Arkel Small Bar Bag and it works under low light. The Arkel bag comes with a carrying strap, so I use it for a camera bag when I’m off my bike.

Nikon SB-600 Electronic Flash

The only thing that’s really disappointed me about the D-40 is its inability to serve as a master to fire the Nikon SB-600 electronic flash remotely. I wanted to shoot a cavern used for beer storage in the 1800s while I was on vacation and needed a remote strobe to light the back room.

From what I had read, it sounded like the built-in flash would trigger the remote. It wouldn’t. You have to be up a grade or two in cameras to make that happen. My workaround was to put the camera on a tripod and use a slow – six-to-eight second – shutter speed. My wife would fire the camera; when I saw her flash, then I’d fire mine manually in the back room.

You can only do that when you have a long shutter speed, obviously.

It’s a great little strobe, though. I loaned it to Kid Matt to shoot some party pix and he was thrilled. (I make sure NOT to leave it in the closet when I leave the house.)

Domke Shooting Vest

Matt in Domke vest

If I’m going to be doing serious shooting, I don my Domke shooting vest. It’s perfect for carrying my video camera, Nikon SB-600 flash, tape recorder with lapel mike, spare batteries, business cards, extra flash memory cards, a couple of large ziploc bags in case of rain and anything else that comes up.

Read the whole review of the vest here.

It was a little chilly when I was back in the Midwest in October,but zipping up the front make a good windbreaker. There’s mesh in the back to keep it from getting too hot in Florida.

We’ll talk about camera mounts and video in another review review.

Related posts:

1. Domke Photo Vest Lives Up to Expectations
2. Year in Review: Bicycle Lights
3. Year in Review: Bicycle Storage

You can read the complete review here.

The Chuck Harris mirror is made out of a piece of recycled mirror and a bicycle spoke covered at the helmet end with heatshrink tubing.

It’s a wonderfully simple device that doesn’t get knocked out of adjustment like plastic mirrors I’ve tried. It’s strong enough that you can pick the helmet up by the mirror and it’ll stay in place (not recommended).

I buy my mirrors from Hubbub Bicycles in Cleveland. If you order one, tell Diane Lees that I sent you. I’ve never met her, but we’ve become virtual friends over the years.

It costs $22.95 plus shipping, but they are frequently out of them because their supplier can only turn out so many at a time.

The mirror is also available in an eyeglass mount.

The Messenger Mirror

After I wrote my Chuck Harris review, Bruce left a comment that he had developed a light-weight eyeglass mirror that I might like to try. He would be happy to send me a free one to evaluate.

True to his word, a couple of days later, the MessengerMirror arrived and I set about to give it a shot. I had one strike against me to start off: I wear wire rim glasses with skinny frames, so the fit wasn’t ideal. Still, it worked after a little fiddling.

You can read the full review here. It includes a video by Bruce that shows how to adjust it.

Bruce took a little umbrage at my description of it looking “Mickey Mouse” (although I HAD qualified that by saying, “OK, Mickey has been around a long time, so that’s not necessarily a bad thing”).

If you’ve been wanting to try a head-mounted mirror, but didn’t want to spend a lot of money, the MessengerMirror is perfect for you.

It costs $4.99 plus 88 cents postage.

It’s a simple device that does what it’s supposed to for a price that’s more than reasonable. You can’t get any better than that.

Rumors of a replacement for the Chuck Harris mirror

There have been rumors for several months that HubBub Custom Cycles may start producing their version of the Chuck Harris mirror because of problems with the supply chain. I don’t know if that’s REALLY going to happen, how much they’d cost if it DOES happen or when it might happen, but I’ll be sure to post a review if it comes to pass.

Related posts:

1. Year in Review: Bicycle Lights
2. Year in Review: Photo Equipment for the Cyclist
3. Year in Review: Bicycle Storage

It was unconditioned and poorly sealed, particularly when the bottoms of the doors would rot out. Over the years, it became the home for squirrels, rats, a possum family, silverfish, cockroaches and, eventually, termites.

When I retired in September, 2008, I needed a place to store all of my prints, negatives and clips under controlled conditions. We had Brother-in-Law John come down to make the place right after everything was emptied out, triaged and termite-tented.

When he was done, the building was insulated, drywalled, air conditioned and had a hurricane-proof window in the workshop.

How do I store the bicycles?

The only problem was that I had five bicycles to contend with: my new Surly Long Haul Trucker, old Trek 1220, Wife Lila’s Trek Navigator 300 and Schwinn 3-speed. Finally, there was Bro Mark’s 40-year-old Sears Spyder that I had hoped to restore.

Those were all blocking access to the shelves that had my archived photos. Shuffling them around was going to drive me crazy.

That’s when I heard about the Cycle Tree

The Cycle Tree, from Harbor Freight, sounded like my solution.

• It holds up to six bikes.
• It’s on wheels, so it can be moved from one side of the room to another easily to get to the shelves.
• It takes up four square feet of floor space.
• Best of all, it costs $44.99 (plus shipping)

Read the full Cycle Tree review

The full review, including detailed pictures of the assembly, is here.

Bottom line: sometimes you really DO get more than you pay for. The Cycle Tree does everything I need it to and for a great price.

Related posts:

1. Year in Review: Bicycle Lights
2. Year in Review: Bicycle Pumps
3. Year in Review: Helmet Mirrors