Finally replaced my M Frame Rx’s. I’ve always had problems finding sport glasses to fit my face. Low nosebridge the most annoying problem so that glasses nosepieces were superflous and the bottom edge would sit on cheeks, and a gap over the top of frame I could look out over. At the time the M Frames were one of the few (or only) high coverage sport glasses with a single layer prescription lens. I learned to live with the nose bridge. The optics were stellar. But the prescription insert eventually would cause the outer polycarbonate lens to crack. I actually had one of the first generation models, and went through three iterations. Each successive one Oakley improved on the problem, but eventually those stress cracks would still appear. Continue reading ‘Oakley Flak Jacket, XLJ G30, Rx, Asian Fit’
Archive for the 'bike' Category
Wow, Chain Reaction Cycles is pretty fast considering we’re all the way in the middle of the Pacific and they’re all the way on the other side of the world in Scotland… I sent the mismatched set of shifters back on 14 November 2008, they received them on the 20th, and shipped out a replacement set. Those arrived on 01 December! I didn’t have time to put them on before heading to Japan, but I threw them on Tuesday at McBike along with the new cassette and 9-speed chain. Shifters are quite nice. They seem to stick out more than the XTR’s, but that’s just an impression. I did have to remove the Optical Gear Displays so I could mount the shifters outboard of the brake levers. In that position, the shift paddles line up correctly with my fingers with my hands in the normal position on the grips. More on the shifters in a future review…
Saw a Saabaru last week with a mangled roof rack Q/R-style bike tray. The picture from my keitai didn’t really come out that good, so I outlined the two trays in yellow so y’all can see what’s going on. Essentially, put a bike on the tray, drive, and run the handlebars of the bike smack dab into the header of your garage door! The fork bends back, but before it breaks, it presses the frame backward and downward, forcing the rear wheel to bend the thick, extruded aluminum tray (before both the frame and wheel also break). The bike definitely didn’t survive this encounter! I wonder which poor bike store employee had to hear the, “I was just riding along…” story ?
I picked this up in the automotive section at Wal Mart for a buck - really, $1.00 USD! It is rare to find a common houseware like this that isn’t made in the PRC, and no less for a dollar! Of course you can use this for it’s intended purpose of getting automotive radiator coolant into the tank or reservoir, but I got this to use with sports drink powders. Most kitchen funnels have really small openings, generally around 8 to 10mm. Dense powders like Endurox R4 or Cytomax have difficulty getting through openings that small without tapping or shaking the funnel. I was looking for a jar funnel, but those are difficult to find, and the ones I have seen have openings that don’t fit in the neck of a standard sport bottle or liter-sized Nalgene. The 25mm+ opening on this funnel lets powders through unobstructed! Once you use it for coolant, don’t use it for anything else! Get two if you need one for coolant and another for sports drinks.
Highly recommended
Four out of four techno monkeys
$1 USD plus tax!
I saw these on closeout from Chainlove.com last week. I did a quick check on the Endura site to see what they were all about, then emailed Chris. He said that he had a set of Endura shorts from last season, and they were really good, so I decided to give them a shot and ordered a pair. Chris recommended that I go up a size, so I ordered a “Large”. My waist is about 88cm (34”), and these fit perfectly. The outer short is made from Teflon water-repellant treated Cordura nylon. They should be very durable, but time will tell – I only have one ride on them. The crotch gusset area and some small side inserts are a stretch nylon material. The stretch crotch is nice because it keeps that area in body contact and prevents snagging on the saddle nose or tail. There are some reflective details sewn on front and back. The inseam is 30cm (12”) and is appropriately long. Continue reading ‘Endura Burner Baggy Short’
Jarrel at McBike is planning on bringing in these and the more skate-styled BMX/DJ helmet this season, but Ckucke and I couldn’t wait to get our hands on them. Jeff had an unused size L/XL “lying around”, so I bought it off of him. That size was too big for Ckucke, so he got a S/M off of Backcountry.com. Like most current high-end MTB helmets, this is an in-mold EPS helmet with a removable visor and a rear retention system that keeps the helmet from rocking forward and backward on the head. My other current helmet is the Giro Xen, so I will compare it to that. Continue reading ‘Fox Flux MTB Helmet’
I was checking on a part with Jarrel one day, and he was looking through a special flyer from one of the wholesalers he brings in some of the more eclectic bike stuff from and they had some nice Japanese bike bells. He had brought in some large Crane (crane as in “tsuru”) brand brass bells previously, but they had a new small bell not unlike the small BBC bell resold on the USDM as the “Incredibell”. He said he would most likely be bringing some in, so I sat back to wait for them to arrive. About a week later, they were in! Continue reading ‘Crane Bicycle Bell’
This was another Chainlove.com find. For sun, brush, and crash protection, I like to use long-sleeve jerseys for trail riding. I’ve seen this jersey on riders in photos in Decline and elsewhere, so when I saw it pop up for cheap on Chainlove, I got one. There was no sizing info, so I had to dig around online to find some. My chest is 100cm (40”), so I got a “Large”. This ended up a bit big. Even with full armor it’s big. The girth and length are not too much of an issue, but the sleeves have a bit of “Kogami Akira” action going on. I could have easily gone a size down. The sizing is about the same as motocross jerseys. If you are between sizes, go down. Continue reading ‘Royal Racing 24/7 Jersey’
Last week, Ckucke ordered some parts from Chain Reaction Cycles in the UK, so I had him het me a set of Shimano M770 9-speed shifters and a cassette for the Chase. Parts came in on Friday, but I didn’t have a chance to work on the bike until Tuesday, so I took it into the shop to switch them out. Dug around in back for an XTR 9-speed chain, then I put the cassette on. When I opened the bag-o-shifters (they were OEM packaged or take-offs, not retail packaged), the first one was a left (front) shifter, so I just grabbed he other and put it in my tool tray. I took off the bar plug and grip, removed the brake lever, and set about unmounting the shifter, unthreading the cable from the housing, and disconnecting the cable from the old shifter. The cable in use was a trick Teflon-coated one, so I wanted to use that instead of the generic stainless steel one that shipped with the XT. I pulled the new shifter out of the bag and got ready to take the cable out when I noticed that it was a left shifter. I must have grabbed the wrong one by accident. I grabbed the other shifter and it was the left shifter that I had put down earlier. I got that sick, sinking feeling in my gut. No way! I put the two shifters side-by-side. Both were lefts! WTF?! Continue reading ‘Front and Front’
I get home fairly early today, so decide to go out on a road spin on the 10th Anniversary Fat. It’s a nice night, temp is actually a bit warm, I’ll discover later that the winds are strong. I’m on skinny tires and spinningaway on the road like a roadie, it feels good. There’s early evening traffic out, but I’m fairly comfortable with it. I plan to just do some loops in Hawaii Kai. I pull over at the Hahaione 7-11 to adjust my seat height and angle. I’d earlier swapped saddles so needed to shake things down a bit. That done, I saddled up and headed back onto the road. I turn onto Keahole-Hawaii Kai intersection, prob the one portion that is a bit dicey. There’s a lot of traffic from Safeway and Cosco, it’s on an outside curve so cars want to wander to the right into you, the road surface is terrible (any surprise there?), and no one heeds the 25 mph speed limit. Coming from Hawaii Kai Drive and crossing with the light, it’s not too bad as you can usually get a fair way down the road before the bulk of distracted drivers from the shopping center catch up. Continue reading ‘Direct Hit, Tailgunner Daimler’