Guppyzine Blog

Posts Tagged ‘bike’

I have a black lab and this is wonderful! I can’t even explain the amount of hair that it removes. I should have bought it a long time ago!
Hobby Bike Balance Bike

One of the difficult things cyclists face is safety to the rear. We need to be visible to drivers at night — and the current tradition is a red light. Some riders like to have it blink (I do). Some have it on constantly. If you put a rack on your bike and carry stuff, then the traditional location for the blinkie (the seat post) is often blocked. Enter the PB tail rack bracket. I mounted this on my Blackburn rack on my commuter, and it is a superb solution — my PB #5 rear blinkie fits fine. The PB bracket is very sturdy, and my tail light does not wobble or feel that it will come off, at all. The bracket is designed such that the light (once mounted) sits somewhat below the top of the bracket, so neither the light nor the bracket interfere with loads on the rack itself. I have one minor complaint. The bracket comes with four holes and sufficient nuts and bolts. The heads of the nuts and the bolts fit the recesses in the bracket. That’s all fine. My rack came with a metal l-shaped bracket that I had to adapt to fit this (no problem there, and not PB’s responsibility), but it aligned only with the two vertical holes in the center if this PB bracket. I used some zip ties to grab the outer two holes on this bracket. I think PB should include some small zip ties with the product.
Planet Bike Tail Light

This deshedding comb is truely exceptional. My cat is kinda small, a 10 lb 3-year old american shorthair. The size of this comb is perfect and my cat loves it so much that he purrs loudly every time I remove his hairs.
Planet Bike Protege Tandem

These are awesome fenders.

Yes, they are plastic and light. But it is not a big deal. One reviewer said they are flimsy -well duh! They are plastic and lightweight. If you want heavy steel fenders than go get yourself a set of 10lb steel fenders if you want to be able to lean your bike against the wall in such a manner that the fenders push against something solid and all the bike’s weight is supported by the fender.

But if you want something light and strong that won’t rust or dent then plastic is the way to go. The Fender stays are fairly strong and well-designed so that they can telescope to adjust to different tire and wheel sizes. The hardware is pretty well thought out and the fenders snapped onto my 30 year old MTB without so much as going to my junk box for extra fasteners. The M5 x 10mm screws were of pretty decent quality and better than what you get with many cheaper accessories. They have combo 8mm hex/Phillips heads and seem fairly well galvanized. Still, I’m swapping them out for stainless M5 x 10mm Button Socket Cap screws as soon as they arrive from fastener-express -a box of 20 costs just over $5 plus shipping. I bought a lifetime supply for all my bikes while I was combining the shipping. The adjustable rear fender mid-clamp is an engineering work of art and well designed to fit just about any bike as well as allow the fenders to nest in the eco-friendly packaging and be more secure in shipping while fit in a smaller box. Very green and smart!

Cons:

One thing I would suggest with any fenders is visibility. I put some 3M retro-reflective tape on mine to improve conspicuousness to the clueless cagers out on the road. I don’t put much stock in cheesy bike reflectors and battery-powered electronics like blinky-lights can and do fail (although I do still believe in & use both -I want MOAR visibility when I’m on the mean streets after nightfall). My life is worth a few bucks in shiny tape in addition to stock reflectors and head/ta
Planet Bike Full ATB

This is by far the best value available in upright vacs. I’ve been through the $400 self propelled, HEPA filter, wind tunnel, etc. monstrosities and got rid of them in favor of this. It pulls a tremendous suction, is very light weight, and doesn’t cost much. The wind tunnel is such a mess dumping the chamber. Much better to just replace the bag. The bags don’t cost much.
On the negative, the cord is a bit short, but I just keep a 10′ extension attached to it to compensate. Also the cord is attached at the bottom so it is hard to control. No problem again. I ran the cord up to the handle and taped it with electrician’s tape, so it is now effectively attached at the handle.
The other negative is they apparently removed the headlight. I bought one a couple of years ago and it had a light. I gave it to my son when he went to college (like he’s going to actually use it…) and ordered another to replace it, and it did not have a headlight. Gonna swap next time I go see him.
Occationally it gets clogged and won’t pull a vacuum. Just open the bottom as if you were going to change the belt, and pull out the clog from the suction path. That happens about once a year, and we have a big dog that sheds a lot. Without the dog it probably would never happen.
Over all, a great value.

Australasian Dirt Bike

Seriously, why would you pay more? This cable performs as well as any other category 1 (Monster ‘cough’) for a fraction of the price. I bought a new 720p TV a couple of weeks ago and new I could find a better deal that what the salesman was trying to sell me ($25 for the cheapest HDMI they had and more for ‘cough’ Monster). I was shocked to find this thing for around $2 and figured what did I have to lose.

Bottom line is this cable rocks and works perfectly. Unless you need a category 2 for 1080p or 3d (there’s a high speed cable on here for around $10 too) don’t throw your money away.
Bike Rack Rear Alloy

I got this book a lot faster than I expected! It’s a birthday present for my cousin and she got it early!
Bike Rack Rear Silver

I purchased this helmet for summer road cycling. My mountain bike helmet just did not provide sufficient ventilation (or comfort). I read numerous reviews on cycling helmets and decided to purchase this one. I was very surprised at how comfortable this helmet is. I place the helmet on my head with the adjustment strap (two sliding tabs on either side along the back) fully open and then adjust the tension to provide a comfortable fit. This helmet covers more of the sides of your head and reduces the “mushroom head” appearance. The ear/chin adjustment straps are easy to manipulate and are of quality material. The interior pads, which attach to multiple areas of the helmet with Velcro, are more comfortable and of superior quality (stitched padding strips) than other helmets I have used. The kit contains a full replacement set of pads as do most others. The ventilation is superb- far exceeding my already high expectations. I did not find the increased ventilation bothersome in any way as several other reviewers have observed (even at 35 mph). I have very short hair and have found that a absorbent skull cap (Under Armour Mesh Skull Cap) worn under the helmet is VERY effective in controlling sweat (no fogged sun glasses for 2+ hour rides). The only minor issue I have come across is that the highly aerodynamic design results in surfaces which make attaching a rear view mirror marginally more difficult. My local bike shop (Wamsley’s Cycles, Morgantown WV) was able to find a mirror that could be securely attached to the helmet after some flexing of the base plate. The helmet is expensive ($160 USD via Amazon back in July) but I feel it is worth the expense- this thing is extremely comfortable, high quality build and will last as long as I am accident free…

Update (8-21-10): Fell while road riding and hit my head onto the road at about 18 mph. Helmet absorbed the entire impact and has impact damage. This possibly saved my life today. Will be purchasing a replacement u
Giro Ionos Road Bike

Book: Artemis Fowl
Author: Eoin Colfer
By: Marshall Cartwright

Would you like to be a criminal mastermind? Well by the time he was thirteen Artemis was. Artemis beat chess champion Evan Kashogi on an online chess tournament with a prize of over 140,000 pounds, he forged a lot paintings that sold all around the world for almost 1 million pounds each, and was involved with the goblins population increase. Artemis also stole a substantial amount of gold from the Lower Elements Police. They are the fairy people.
Artemis now rules the criminal empire from California to Berlin.
But Artemis does not know what he is dealing with when he captures a fairy captain from the Lower Elements police. Then Artemis must overcome many other things that could lead to the end of his life. In the book Artemis fights wars with fairies and triumphs with trolls. As the fairy captain trys to get out of Artemis’s cages and traps, the fairies do all they can to stop Artmis, including trying to blow him up with a bomb.
You will love this book! It is breath taking and it will be like watching a movie from the details Eoin Colfer gives. After every chapter comes a cliff hanger and after every page you read comes a feeling like the book is telling you to read on.

Odyssey Twisted BMX Bike

This tool is unbelievable! Our Lab/Golden Retriever mix has an undercoat that never quits shedding, and our Westie has a rough terrier coat that is hard to get through to the undercoat with regular combs/brushes. So far, this tool has given me at least two bags full of fur (I just got it a bit ago in the mail, so I’m not done yet–just taking a break!)and all I’m doing is brushing in the direction of the hair growth on top of the coat, not parting hair or going underneath to brush. The dogs seem to love it, too.

I’ve been intrigued by this tool for some time, but was put off by the price in our local stores. When I found it for about 1/5 of the price on Amazon, I thought it had to be a knock-off, but it’s the real thing! It has a substantial weight, is well made and feels “tight”–exactly the same as the one I almost paid way too much for! If you have a pet, don’t pass up the chance to get the Furminator at a very fair price on Amazon!
Schwinn Magnetic Bike Trainer