BikeBrake

HOT! simply solves simple problem durable material and construction fits perfectly on handlebar and blends in maintains shape after stretching

NOT! can be tough to grip when fingers are sweaty even with “grab tabs,” hard to pull away from handlebar

www.bikebrake.com    Colors:  black, white, purple, red, green, blue, pink, orange, yellow Material:  thick rubber Features:  form-fitting, durable, functional Cost: $2.99 (includes free U.S. shipping; international shipping extra) How obtained:  sample from company RBR advertiser:  no Tested:  several weeks

The solution typically is to find a position with enough points of contact (edge of saddle, side of handlebar, pedal) that somehow arrests the roll. Or, as a last resort, to give up and lay down your bike.

 

In the category of “the simplest solutions are often the best,” enter BikeBrake. It resembles an extra-wide, extra-thick rubber band the diameter of a handlebar, with two curved “grab tabs” extending beyond the edges in one spot.

 

The BikeBrake unobtrusively fits around the handlebar near the front brake lever. When parking the bike in a situation like that just described, you simply engage the front brake and stretch BikeBrake over the lever to keep it engaged. Then you can lean the bike against almost anything – even with only one point of contact, and on nearly any slope – and it won’t go anywhere. 

 

 

I put BikeBrake to use on a number of recent rides over the past few weeks. At my typical watering hole on my regular route, and at store stops on longer rides, it made parking the bike fast and worry-free.

 

No matter the terrain or the surface against which the bike was leaned (wall, tree, car, whatever), with the BikeBrake firmly engaging the front brake, my bike was steady and could be easily parked.

 

Using it, I no longer experienced those couple of tense moments in certain tenuous parking spots where you slowly release the bike from your hands, closely watching to see if it will remain in place.

 

While I didn’t have occasion to test it on such “extreme” terrain, a photo on the BikeBrake website shows a road bike parked on concrete steps, heading down.

 

 

BikeBrake founder Kendall Kelsen says the product arose from the need to build a better rubber band, which is what he and a friend had been using for the same purpose.

 

“Because rubber bands crack and fail, I came up with the idea of creating the BikeBrake,” Kelsen says. “After researching many material and design options, I finally settled on what we have today. It is made to last a long time. The grab tabs were added to make it easier to lift off the grip.” 

 

The “grab tabs” are helpful, but the product is still hard to pull away from the handlebar when you want to stretch it around the brake lever. If you try to pinch the tabs between moist fingers, they’re apt to slide away. I found that linking the index finger and thumb behind the entire BikeBrake provided the surest grip for removing it from the bar and brake lever. It’s not much of a drawback, and the grab tabs may work just fine in conditions other than the extreme humidity of an Atlanta summer.

 

 

The website advertises BikeBrake as a money clip as well, but I doubt I ever use it that way. It is great for other instances when you want to keep your bike steady, or keep the wheels from spinning. I used it to lean my bike against a wall in my office when installing a new saddle, so I could keep it steady and almost completely upright on the flat surface, making it easy to use a bubble level on the saddle.

 

And next time I put my bike on the hitch rack on my car, I’ll use it to keep the wheels from spinning while driving (it’s an easier solution than tying down the wheels with tubing).

 

 

The BikeBrake is a simple, inexpensive solution to bike parking issues. Like other simple products, you could use something else around the house to do the same thing. (I immediately thought of the comparison of a sandwich bag to a JerseyBin.) But, just as with the JerseyBin, the BikeBrake is an evolved, better solution.