Welcome to the weekly video roundup. The posting of this has been a little sporadic recently- sorry about that. I’m not promising it’ll be better, but at least I’m posting it now, right? After reviewing about 110 videos I’m starting this week with an old Tom Peterson commercial. He was a Portland legend in furniture sales and died recently. How does this relate to bikes? It doesn’t, really, but it’s “old Portland” and worth making an exception for. I remember him more from this era, “free is a very good price”. (hat tip to TB and MA for this)
This PSA from Singapore has some great visuals about the space trucks need when they turn. Wish I could snap my fingers and have everyone see and understand this.
The Red Hook Crit was a New York race, but it has expanded to other big cities- London, Barcelona, and Milan. Here’s the London race. It’s cool to see the race from action cameras. (see also: KymNonStop’s video)
This video from Georgena Terry is old, but that’s fine- she does a great job showing the difference between flat bars and drop bars in terms of bike fit. Terry basically created the female-specific bike industry.
The little ‘beatitudes’ from Strava are subtle portraits of why the outdoors is fun. I liked this one:
Some may know I came from a motorcycling background, then became a Fred, then got into cycling for everything else. This video from Kitsbow and Breadwinner Cycles is a love letter to the Gorge and an interesting mix of my three stages- it opens showing motorcycles carrying bicycles around the turn at Vista House and then goes into the design of the bikes. Bike racks for motorcycles aren’t easy, it makes more sense for mountain biking than road cycling, though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhEy2iJnKco
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Speaking of mountain bikes, there are a lot of goodies coming out of the Lenzerheide World Cup in Switzerland. I especially like the 9-50 rear cassette.
This review of the Enduro World Series shows pro riders on some tricky sections of a downhill course. They compare the risky line to the slower line. Watch Fabian Barel pivot the bike at 1:18 or so. Some more of those endo hops at the 3:00 mark.
There are very few things better than PathLessPedaled, but Mike Cotty’s Col Collective is great. The scenery and climbs are so beautiful. The current video is going up Col de Joux Plane. Lean back and watch.
The new iPhones have a great high-speed/slow-motion mode, and this video makes great use of it. Watch how fast the riders are going and how this bottle handoff goes so well.
Cycliq makes a rear view camera for bikes, and they now make a front one too. They compiled some of the wild animal encounters people have had. I liked the crazy bird and the deer that goes sliding. (warning, there’s a crash near the end)
Inside Edition did the bait bike thing (with really annoying narration) in Los Angeles. Note they say the first guy used a ‘wire cutter’. I guess it cuts wire, but.. that’s a bolt cutter. I wonder if the second guy was actually charged.
Honorable Mentions
This week’s honorable mentions: how Stages retrofits power meters to bike cranks (much more detail-oriented than other aftermarket meters), Biketown station installation, PathLessPedaled talks to a business owner who is thrilled by the business that comes from cyclists on the nearby bike trail, modern coil shocks for bikes, new Showers Pass backpack (featuring many Portland locations), new Showers Pass duffel bag (featuring OBRA), and GMBN’s top 10 viewer mountain bike crashes (warning: self-inflicted crashes).
Inclusion criteria: If I’ve missed something, post it in the comments! I prefer videos published in the last week or so. Note if there’s a specific point in a long video that is worth highlighting. Also note if there is colorful language. I will delay videos containing pro racing spoilers by 7 days.
– Ted Timmons, @tedder42
Thanks for reading.
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That Singapore PSA shows how people driving trucks kill people riding bikes. The solution is more separation at intersections, not less.
Interesting video of close calls and hope that rider is ok after hitting a Deer. People have to remember that Deer, Sheep, etc. usually hang out on herds so if you see one there are probably more. Countless times in Tompkins County I saw a White Tailed Deer or slammed on my vehicle’s brakes to avoid one and almost always there was another. Sometimes Deer will run alongside you until you slow enough for them to dart across the road and join their buddies.
Messing with dogs can be fun since you pedal just fast enough to avoid getting bitten, but not fast enough they get discouraged. I have had to kick a dog or two that was running toward me on my bike and that seems to be a good way to avoid falling over. Anyone have any other advice?
For dogs I carry a small squirt container the size of my palm and full of ammonia. Carry it in shirt pocket. Weighs nothing. Shoots a stream about 12 feet with one squeeze. Stops just about any living thing coming at you.
Does it work on jacked up pickup trucks?
I would pay $99 for a recliner.
But would you pay $400 for a cassette and $250 for a derailleur? A 9-50 12sp drivetrain would be amazing, but you can upgrade a 10sp 11-36 $50 cassette to a 42 cog for $80. http://www.oneupcomponents.com/collections/all-products — and now I see they have 50t upgrades for 11sp. I’ve got the 42 on a 1x SRAM setup and it works great. See also e*thirteen which makes similar upgrade cogs. Watch the range and wrap capacity of your derailleur, especially if you’re not running 1x.
The prey drive in dogs causes them to chase. If one slows, and faces the dog, it stops the chase encounter. A firm “no” works also. Worst case scenario, face the dog with your bike between you and the dog, and walk backwards until it loses interest.
Descending Sevenmile into Chenoweth Canyon at 46 MPH when an angry herd of Chihuahuas chases, all I can do is let out a startled chain of curse words and hope not to suck one up in the front wheel.
re: Tom Peterson.
Who can ever forget the classic television screen/camera knuckle-rapping “wake up!” call:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwZ80FEEZQo
Those ads were awful! But they defined an era.
So awful they’re g-o-o-o-d!! Tom Petersen was a heckuva pitchman. I think he by no means was the originator of the outrageous pitch, but he was a good example.
Inspired others in the Portland area too, it would seem. Another example, much more moderate in tone, but more weird…Scott Thomasan. More current: Vern Fonk, the insurance guy. Over the last few years, he’s had some really crazy creative ad writers and production crew helping him put ads that are much more than a pitch for insurance. Can’t think of his name, but for 10 years or so, a local stereo warehouse guy has done a lot of entertainingly bad commercials too.
He isn’t Portland, but since we’re talking about ubiquitous advertising, gotta include Tom Shane.
Chadwick- that vid is already linked in the first paragraph 🙂 Often I’ll include extras on the same topic as text links.
Bike racks for motorcycles -> bike racks for xtracycles? The 16in kid’s bike too big to hang sideways across the back and too small to tow. The best so far is hanging off the side by the stoker bar, but I think vertically off the back would do the trick if it didn’t wag.
I see people that have a rack for a longtail that holds the front tire of a kids bike? So the rear tire just trails behind it. No idea what it’s called or anything.
But yeah, back when I was a moto type I thought over bike attachment methods. I solved that by getting rid of the motos (this week was the last of them).
I don’t encourage squirting chemicals at dogs (but their owners are fair game). If talking, yelling, stopping, etc doesn’t stop them, then a squirt of WATER from your bottle will. It has never failed me. (Also saves you from rinsing ammonia out of your mouth when you quench your thirst with it.)
All commercial vehicles over a certain length/weight should be required to plot their route via an Uber-like GPS app that activates the turn signals automatically before every turn. I’m strongly under the assumption that a majority of right-hooks occur when a cyclist undertakes a vehicle that via driver error fails to signal at all or only after starting the turn. In my experience with close calls this has always been the case (but I am vigilant about looking for signals and never undertaking a vehicle with them on unless they are stuck in a queue and it’s safe to move to the front)
Interesting reflections on Tom Peterson and Old Portland, with some barbs about bikes thrown in, for flavor. http://orhistory.com/archives/5536
I enjoyed that. Thanks!
One misty Sunday morning a couple of decades ago I was riding up Rock Creek road, looking down to my right for a dog that was frisky there. I heard a powerful huff ahead of me to the left- a big bull elk, startled! He moved immediately out into the road blocking me, staring me down. His position said he wanted to move on but needed to know if I was a threat; his antlers dropped and lifted just enough to let me know he was ready to defend himself. I was clipped out of the pedals already so I became gentle, slowly dismounted behind my machine that might need to become a titanium cape to my duck footed cowardly matador impression. My head was low, my face turned. He turned away and walked up the middle of the road about 150 feet and walked into a field. He stopped in the middle and fixed me with a ‘don’t get any ideas’ look then slowly kept walking.
Riding in the border counties of New York and Massachusetts I crossed paths with bears on many occasions. I crested a hill one beautiful morning and started to pick up speed coming down- 30…35. I see ahead of me garbage cans set out for pickup and a bear strolling out of someone’s driveway like he owned the place. A brief nose sniff at the garbage pail then out into the road where he hears and sees lycra man bombing right at him. He stops in the middle of the road and stands up facing me ready to give me the biggest baddest bear hug, the last bear hug I’d ever get! I skidded to a stop. He also needed my I.D., and bears that live in such harmony with humans know darn well who and what we are. So I raised my arms and waved ’em around and almost bravely shouted ‘It’s Me!’ He stood down and continued on across the road, sniffing at the next can.