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The Bikeman Blogs section is our collection of blogs from our Team Bikeman members and friends of Bikeman. Contributions from regular riders and commuters, bike aficionados, and world class racers.
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Howdo. My name is Zach Magoon and I have been commuting year-round by bike for the last 7 years in both Boston, MA and Portland, ME. Because each day brings new challenges, whether it be changing weather conditions, crappy drivers, sore muscles or mechanicals, I think my ramblings will be, at the very least, moderately amusing. | |
Commuter Files Archives. |
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Greetings and salutations. My name is Rick Nelson (no, not that one damnit) and I am a rider for Team Bikeman.com. You can check out my profile in the team rider section. “Racin Rick” covers my trials and tribulations as a mountain bike racer, commuter, new father etc. In truth, its just a way for me to kill time at work and to see pictures of myself on the web. So here are some excerpts from all my blogging, hope you enjoy. | |
Racin Rick Archives. |
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Welcome to Tales From The Soiled Chamois. This is going to be an online journal taking you through my season of training for and racing marathon, 6, 12, and 24 hour solo endurance races all while working a full time job, being married with a two year old son. I'm no pro, even though I do occasionally race against them. I'm just out there having fun pushing myself. | |
The Soiled Chamois Archives. |
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Not to be confused with the time-trial and women's-specific 650C wheel, the 650B wheel is all about comfort, versatility, and speed over varied terrain. The key to this is all in the tires. A 650x38B setup is about the same diameter as a 700C wheel with a 19mm tire... | |
650Blog Archives. |
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Fiat Lux |
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Written by Zach Magoon
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Wednesday, 08 October 2008 |
 | | NiteRider MiNewt.X2 |
Fiat Lux. I took four years of Latin in High School. Although I don't consider it a total waste of time (calculus takes that cake) I'm able to intersperse little phrases like fiat lux into my daily life. It basically means "let light be made." So as we creep towards the bike commuters darkest time of year, I would like to share my initial thoughts on bike lights. You can check back to my last year's blog post for the lights that have failed me in the past. I also got some great recommendations from readers as well. But this year, after some research online and asking some folks at the shop, I think I've found a great lighting system.
The first step in my decision was establishing a budget. This might be the hardest thing for most people and my only advise is don't skimp. While there are some adequate systems out there the less expensive ones that use AA batteries just don't last. Don't even consider these for anything more than a backup. For a daily commuter or even a couple times a week, you really need a rechargeable Li-Ion or a NiMH battery. My experience has been that the NiMH are much heavier and require either a bottle cage mount or some other velcro frame attachment. I've had several of these systems over the years and they only lasted about a season of charging on a nightly basis. That's not a great track record for something that costs over $100.
This year I've stepped up my budget and my light/battery selection. I've gone for the NiteRider MiNewt.X2. This system has a Li-Ion battery pack that is so small it mounts on the stem of the bike. The lamp is an LED which cranks out a blinding (commuting standards) 150 lumens of bright white light on high for a good 3.5 hours. I think I could make it home in that amount of time. The most impressive thing about this unit is the size of the headlamp. Pulling it out of the box I just laughed at the size--it's tiny--like golf ball size tiny and super light. The connection is so simple--a little rubber mounting ring that has a nice integrated pull tab for easy on and off.
I will give an update as to real run time later in the season, but for now, I'm so very ready for the night to come. Be safe and get that light charging.
Zm |
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; "NiteRider MiNewt.X2")
