Category: Mountain Biking

Concept Bicycle Helmet That Tucks Into A Water Bottle – UPDATED

jimmymac

UPDATE 2/21/2020: Following up on the much-hyped Park & Diamond foldable bicycle helmet, it appears the company has not yet delivered a single helmet. The company’s last update to their 13,040 backers explains that the latest delivery delay is due to…wait for it…the Coronavirus! This is six months after the company claimed that a production “bottleneck” had been resolved to assure a higher production rate and faster delivery. I can’t find verification that the helmet meets or exceeds the U.S. CPSC cycling helmet standard. I suppose the company could get…

Jimmy Mac On Two Wheels’ Most-Viewed Stories of 2019

jimmymac

I’m not sure why the top stories of 2019 are very important. I don’t have advertisers to appease and I don’t monetize my loyal readers. It is not a fair measurement because the stories posted in the first part of the year had more opportunity to build an audience than the stories from a month ago. I guess I’m just curious what stories spiked the status quo and if you missed them, you get another shot to read them. So here you go. The most-read stories of 2019. E-Bikes Not…

The Amazing Bob Sutton Shocks His Docs

jimmymac

I was introduced to Bob Sutton by the late Steve Tilford. That should tell you something right there. We became fast friends. Bob even spent some time working for the same publishing company I used to work for and Dirt Bike published a few of Bob’s adventure stories. Bob was recently diagnosed with a very serious medical condition that required a surgery. When Bob showed up for the procedure, his doctors were shocked at a good amount of bruising on Bob’s body. Bob explains in an email received this morning;…

Antagonizing Motorists Does Not Improve Rider Safety

jimmymac

I’ve noticed a number of well-meaning experts touting the use of pool noodles by cyclists to keep motorists from passing too closely. I believe this is bad advice that may be counter productive and potentially dangerous. Here’s why. Years ago I was given a jersey that read “3 Feet To Pass” and had graphics of a big arrow and an automobile passing a cyclist. I thought it was pretty cool. My first ride in it dampened that enthusiasm. It seemed like an inordinate number of vehicles passed dangerously close (by…

The Major Flaw in Brigham Young University’s E-Bike Paper Revealed

jimmymac

A flood of headlines last week appeared to be clickbait because of their preposterous claims. The articles from Outside, The Verge, Men’s Health, KSL.com, Adventure Journal and Electrek referenced a study from Brigham Young University claiming that riding an E-bike requires close to the same amount of energy as riding a bicycle. Anyone who has had the pleasure of riding an E-bike knows the main attraction of electric-motorized bikes is how much they reduce the energy needed to ride. These media outlets were claiming the study proved this perception wrong.…

How Much Trail Do You Use In An Hour? (A Trail User Speed Comparison)

jimmymac

Four major user groups share unpaved recreation trails designated for non-motorized use; hikers, trail runners, equestrians and mountain bikers. A change in California law (that other states may adopt) has permitted electric-motorized bikes access to these same trails, thus adding a new user group into the mix. While these five different user groups share the same trail, how do their speeds and amount of trail used in a specific amount of time compare? Anecdotal answers abound, but finding quantitative data on the question is difficult. My solution was to conduct…

The 2019 Mike Nosco Memorial Bicycle Ride 11 Years Strong

jimmymac

Last week we had hurricane-strength winds, major power outages and wildfires that seemed to negatively impact every family in California. Well, all that changed on Sunday November 3rd because it was time for the 11th Mike Nosco Memorial Bicycle Ride and Mike must have been pulling some strings from up in Hero Heaven. Riders were treated to the best weather imaginable (I was tempted to hop off the moto and jump in the ocean) and the riders again showed up to support the event in impressive numbers. Cyclists are good…