Answer Cycling

We’ve moved

Admin — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 05:17:25 +0000

Please go to www.answercycling.com to view the new site and content.

It’s pretty amazing what a bike can do….

Admin — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 14:34:20 +0000

Two wheels of fortune for Africa. From What Gives

How far can a bike go to transform an underdeveloped community? Well, as it turns out, pretty darn far when it’s in the hands of a true bike believer like Michael Linke.

Read the rest of the story here.

People for Bikes: Improving the Future

Admin — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:27:38 +0000

There’s a pedal-powered revolution happening in this country. People of all ages, in communities big and small, are rediscovering their love for riding bicycles. We are riding more for leisure, exercise, sport and transportation. We are even choosing two pedals over the gas pedal more often for short trips such as errands. And with urban centers becoming more densely populated and roads increasingly congested, the need to unite all different types of riders to make bicycling safer, more convenient and appealing couldn’t be greater. That’s why PeopleForBikes.org was formed — to make our world a better place to ride.

Working closely with the Bikes Belong Coalition, a national bike advocacy organization supported by U.S. bicycle manufacturers, suppliers and retailers, Minneapolis ad agency Colle & McVoy created the…..

Read the entire artcle here.

RIP Laurent Fignon

Admin — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:38:34 +0000

“The Rules”

Admin — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 17:52:53 +0000

Thanks Velominati

Rule 1: Obey The Rules.

Rule 2: It is forbidden for someone familiar with The Rules to knowingly assist another person to breach them.

Rule 3: No matter how good you think your reason is to knowingly breach The Rules, it is never good enough.

Rule 4: It is, absolutely, without question, unequivocally, about the bike. Anyone who says otherwise is obviously a twatwaffle.

Rule 5: Harden The Fuck Up.

Rule 6: Free your mind and your legs will follow.

Rule 7: Tan lines should be cultivated and kept razor sharp. Under no circumstances should one be rolling up their sleeves or shorts in an effort to somehow diminish one’s tan lines. Sleeveless jerseys are under no circumstances to be employed.

Rule 8: Saddles, Bars, and Tires:

Match the saddle to the bars and the tires to black; or
Match the bars to the color of the frame at the top of the head tube and the saddle to the color of the frame at the top of the seat tube and the tires to the color where they come closest to the frame; or
Match the saddle and the bars to the frame decals; or
Black, black, black

Rule 9: If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.

Rule 10: It never gets easier, you just go faster. To put it another way, per Greg Henderson: “Training is like fighting with a gorilla. You don’t stop when you’re tired. You stop when the gorilla is tired.”

Read the rest of THE RULES here

SoBi: Social Bicycle System

Admin — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 13:36:17 +0000

A unique bike sharing system to arrive in NYC.

The unique self-contained social bike sharing system SoBi is set to launch in New York this fall. (Check for updates on the SoBi Facebook Page). The SoBi setup involves GPS, mobile and a special security system can attach almost any bike to a regular bicycle rack. Unlike other bike sharing systems that require users to pick up and drop off bikes at home bases, SoBi bikes can be found and returned virtually anywhere they can be secured with a lock, thanks to a special lock box system, which will undergo testing in New York this fall. Users locate and unlock available bikes via their mobile phones.

SoBi was founded by Ryan Rzepecki, who last worked for the NYC Department of Transportation’s bicycle program conducting field research on bike facilities and organizing cycling programs. He’s joined by a team of designers and engineers: Ted Ullrich, Mike Hill, Mike Castleman, Jon Pettingill and Andrew Baker, who hail from companies like TomorrowLab, PrimoSpot, Roasted Vermicelli and RUSHdesign.

The program is currently in the running for a Pepsi Refresh $50,000 grant.

Famous Bike Bought at Yard Sale

Admin — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 12:21:11 +0000

The bicycle at a Kentucky yard sale had two flat tires, broken pedals and carried a $5 price tag. That didn’t stop Greg Estes from buying the bike in hopes of flipping it for a small profit. He should get his wish, to the tune of a few thousand dollars.

It turns out the broken-down bicycle was originally owned by Floyd Landis, who rode it in a race in 2007. The bike was built especially for Landis, complete with custom pedals that look foreign to those unfamiliar with professional cycling (hence the original seller’s belief that the pedals were broken). It retailed for $8,000.

Landis rode the bike in a mountain-bike race one year after winning the Tour de France. That title, of course, was later stripped after the American cyclist tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Landis is currently banned from the sport, but has stayed in the spotlight with his accusations against Lance Armstrong and other athletes.

Estes told the Owenton News-Herald that the bike was found abandoned on an interstate and nobody ever reported it lost or stolen. He says he’ll return the bike if someone claims it. For now though, authorities say it belongs to him.

I can understand someone thinking the bike wasn’t worth a few thousand dollars. After all, how many abandoned bikes are custom-built jobs for Tour de France winners? But five dollars? That seems a little low. If I were having a yard sale I’d have probably put a $5 tag on the bike’s water bottle. Even if the bike were an actual piece of junk, wouldn’t, say, $25 be a more appropriate asking price?

Anyway, just like he said, the Owenton, Ky., resident showcased his new bike at his own yard sale. Estes’ asking price? Six-thousand dollars.

Our Friend…ah, what’s his name?? Help please!

Admin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 12:34:36 +0000

From the Site that Brought You ” Calculate your Jens! Factor”..

Admin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 12:26:02 +0000

Dial-a-Denial from Cyclocosm.com

Riding a bike is incredibly hard, scientists discover

Admin — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 19:29:54 +0000

Few things are said to be easier than riding a bike but scientists investigating our ability have discovered that it is actually extremely complicated.

The researchers from three different countries took more than three years to come up with a mathematical formula to mimic what most children can do by the age of 10.

The complex equation, which takes into account inertia, gyroscopic and centrifugal forces as well as gravity, has 31 numbers and symbols and nine sets of brackets.

The formula boils down to: Inertia forces + gyroscopic forces + the effects of gravity and centrifugal forces = the leaning of the body and the torque applied to the handlebars of a bike.

Or put more simply, if you do not pedal fast enough to keep moving while keeping the bike straight, you fall over.

The equation produced by scientists from universities in Holland, the USA and Nottingham has come to light during research by Halfords to compile tips for parents teaching their children to ride a bike.

With National Cycle Week this week, more people than ever are being encourage to get on a bike and Halfords was hoping to help cut down on the agony suffered by youngsters when going though that rite of passage when first taking to two wheels.

Paul McClenaghan, the commercial director of Halfords, said: “It turns out that getting off on the right foot on a bicycle, ditching the stabilisers and speeding away from your anxious parents is actually much more complex that people realised.

“Once you master the technique as the saying goes it’s something you never forgot, but there is a great deal of science behind the skill.”

Dr Arend Schwab of Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands who helped develop the equation explains that ever since the inventions of the bicycle in the 1860s mathematicians have been trying to use Newton’s laws of motion to explain its unique movement and ability to balance.

“People more than a hundred years ago were trying to figure out why a two wheeled bicycle, given forward momentum, like a push, would seem to balance by itself,” said Dr Schwab.

The meticulous mathematical account of bike riding and their continued research may eventually lead to better bike design with improved stability and safety, something that has also attracted the attention of British bike retailing giant Halfords.

Dr Schwab said: “Using our equation we can simulate the motion of a bike and predict whether it will remain stable or not, under certain conditions, such as if it goes over a bump, or is hit by a gust of wind.

“This equation is aimed at enabling a bike designer to change certain features and to see the overall finished effect on the bike, without having to actually manufacture it first.

“For instance if you are designing a folding bike with smaller wheels or one with a shorter wheel base this equation allows you to interpret how design changes will affect the stability and behaviour of the bike.”