Fresh from it's Kickstarter launch, arrived today:



That's a "Litelock", more details here and a demonstration of it https://youtu.be/KB2ghne7sOU"

Have to say that calling it "lite" is a bit optimisic, though it's not outrageously heavy - maybe 2 lbs? Bit shorter than I was expecting, which is going to limit its use a bit, I think

Garmin heart rate soft strap died a horrible death, bought this as a replacement as recommended by DCRainmaker. See how it goes tomorrow

one for my "project 1989 bike" -


"new pneu"

New Pneu' by The Big Yin, on Flickr

they complement the bike fairly well, despite the "compromise" deeper section wheels it's currently got on...

Looks the part... by The Big Yin, on Flickr

Update on the Scosche, no cons that I have yet encountered, it tracks consistently like a chest strap and I have not had any blow outs or drop outs. I have found it quite comfortable to wear and it certainly is nice not having something around my body as it sits just below my elbow. It is also nice not having a sweaty chest strap to clean after a ride, a gentle wipe with a soft cloth and all is good. I mean how much do sweat by your elbow? Due to it being winter there are always long sleeves on so no issue of a funny tan line. In summer I will move it up onto the bicep area above the jersey sleeve.

I suppose the doubt factor is, is it doing a good a job as a chest strap? I have not yet done a comparison more because I am lazy than anything else. My thoughts are, if it is good enough for someone blogs about bicycle stuff and is well respected, it is good enough for me.

Has anyone used Owayo for creating custom cycling jerseys? If so, were they any good; alternately, have you found anyone you'd recommend?

ntnunk wrote: »

Some new mixed-use (gravel/asphalt) shoes for the Ridley came in yesterday. I'm looking forward to trying them out.

keep us posted on how they work out - they really do look an interesting combo / alternative to the traditional file tread with knobbly edges that I run for that sort of stuff...

The BF's new ride. I finally talked him into a skinny bike and he buys MY dream bike! Salsa Colossal (defunct as of 2017) with full Ultegra. Sooo purty.

Got myself a new stem-mounted out-in-front Garmin mount.

Here are a couple of views from above and side, with my little Edge 20 in place:


Here's one from the front, showing the mount onto the stem bolts and the elevation of the mount above the bars:


Initial impressions:
- Very solid - metal not plastic and very resistant to vertical bending.
- Light-weight
- Rather longer than I had expected - about 4"-5" extension beyond the bars including the spacers
- Slots in the base will allow it to fit stems bolts with a variety of widths between the bolts, and will also allow it to be fitted off-centre, should you want to do so.
- On fitting it, I though it looked ridiculous - too high, too flat - didn't think the Garmin would be at the right angle (ie would need to be tipped back towards me, rather than flat).

In use:
- Despite reservations, it's fantastic! It positions the head unit perfectly - it's quite a weird feeling, as when you focus on the display, the lit unit seems to float in mid-air, with the dark support bars receding into the background, almost like having a heads-up display.
- Huge improvement on having the unit mounted onto the stem. Being a MAMIL of a certain age, I wear varifocals or contact lenses, and having the unit on the stem I had to bow my head to see the display and it took a fraction of a second to focus and then the same again when I looked up - I've had a couple of near-misses where a car in front of me has braked while I've checked the Garmin. Now, the display fits into the bottom of my field of view - I can glance down with eye movement alone and read it clearly while still having the road ahead in my peripheral vision.
- Compared to the normal Garmin in-front mount, it doesn't use up any bar space - as you can see from the pics, I have 2 lights mounted on the bars, and other than moving them outward slightly to stop them fouling the support arms while removing them, it doesn't obstruct.
- It's rock-solid, with no vibration of the display at all, even going through the normal commuting pot holes

In short - really, really pleased with this. And it's dirt cheap as well, at only £13.46, still available from Ebay here for anyone who fancies one.

Minus points:
- I'm not 100% convinced over the spacers - they seem robust enough but are pretty lightweight metal - it remains to be seen whether they're going to be up to the job of keeping the bar tightly gripped
- The rock-solid quality is potentially a bit of a problem if you end up following a trajectory over the handlebars - on the one hand, the rapid involuntary forward dismount is itself a large problem, but the way the mount stands up above the bars does make me a little wary about impacting that in the event of a shunt.

You could well be right about the mounting point - never occurred to me when I was fitting it, but as you say, that would drop the position pretty much inline with the bars, and would also stop it fouling any light-mounts that were next to it on the bars

In theory, it should be possible to mount the unit directly to the stem without the spacers, using the original stem-bolts, but one would have to cut or otherwise force the spacers off the bolts that come with the unit, as by default they are captive on the bolts.

OTOH, dropping the level of the display down to bar height might lose that heads-up display feeling. I'll have an experiment with both positions and see which works best. And have another look at those spacers to see how solid they actually are

are those "scotchbright" reflective panels on the sides of the back pockets - the bits that are "flashing" like crazy ?? If so, they are surprisingly effective.

Nice sponsorship deal with Black Sheep Brewery as well...

TheBigYin wrote: »

I think it'd be the spacers that'd worry me, to be honest - any problems are compromising the integrity of the handlebar clamping.

One thing that crossed my mind when I looked at the pictures - that the assembly could possibly have been intended to attach to the lower pair of clamp bolts rather than the upper - thus lowering the head-unit to something more on a level with the handlebars rather than being raised up above them.

I've now moved the unit onto the bottom set of bolts, and it does indeed look more sensible, and pretty much aligned with the bars. I'm also rather less concerned now about being separated from my "gentleman's area" in the event of going over the bars.

I've had a better look at the spacers and while they are fairly light, they're also a bit more robust than I originally thought - they appear to be fairly strong metal tubes with a wall thickness of 2-3mm. They're not actually captive, as they can be unscrewed from the bolts and could be replaced by something more substantial (or a bit shorter) if one were of a mind to do so - but they can't be dispensed with entirely because the shape of the base of the unit will not fit snugly against the stem bracket.

I'll see how it compares in use tomorrow

The new Edge 820 just arrived...

when someone gets a new bike I always want to share this picture https://onsizzle.com/i/*kitten*-facebook-sexy-bmx-150089

new rear light is the absolute nuts...

This rear light is the absolute bollocks... by The Big Yin, on Flickr

Latest for me was a Topeak stem mounted waterproof case for my phone. I used it with Cyclestreets for route finding on my ride this morning and it works well however the main limitation is that with Cyclestreets and the GPS active the phone battery only lasts about 2.5 hours. I suspect I'm going to bit the bullet and invest in a Garmin 820 to replace the ancient Forerunner 305 I currently use for data recording my rides.