Jim’s Tech Talk By Jim Langley At Road Bike Rider, we have a special service called Ask The Coach. It allows roadies to ask any of our experts almost anything and receive a personal reply from an RBR editor if they are a premium member. Even if you're not a premium member, we do our best to answer, or might respond to it in the form of a column. … [Read more...] about Helping John Lower his Gearing
Inspecting ICAN Cycling’s Aero 40 Chinese Carbon Wheels
Jim’s Tech Talk By Jim Langley A few months ago, I wrote a story about ICAN Cycling’s Chinese carbon wheels, the Aero 40s. These 40mm profile Toray carbon tubeless-ready aero clinchers weigh only 1,314 grams and cost only $640. Lots of roadies looking for inexpensive carbon wheels have discovered that they’re widely available on eBay.com. While at RBR, we knew this, we … [Read more...] about Inspecting ICAN Cycling’s Aero 40 Chinese Carbon Wheels
Follow-Up on Wolf Tooth’s Amazing New Tool and Head Badges
Jim’s Tech Talk By Jim Langley Thank you for the thoughtful comments and questions about last week’s product review on Wolf Tooth’s revolutionary derailleur hanger alignment tool. In case you’ve been out riding and missed it, here’s a link to catch up: https://www.roadbikerider.com/wolf-tooth-pack-hanger-tool-review/. … [Read more...] about Follow-Up on Wolf Tooth’s Amazing New Tool and Head Badges
Wolf Tooth Components Pack Hanger Alignment Tool Review
Jim’s Tech Talk By Jim Langley Rating: Hot Game-changing derailleur hanger alignment Easy to use - sight across rods then adjust hanger until rods are parallel More accurate alignment Affordable Small and light to take along as a ride-saver … [Read more...] about Wolf Tooth Components Pack Hanger Alignment Tool Review
Setting Up My Park Tool BX-3 Toolbox
Jim’s Tech Talk By Jim Langley Last fall, while camping, which always includes riding, of course - I needed to lubricate the rear brake cable on my Litespeed. When I went to yank my trusty Plano toolbox (photo) out of the RV storage compartment, the box’s plastic handle broke off. Upon further inspection, when I flexed the box and drawers I discovered that the whole … [Read more...] about Setting Up My Park Tool BX-3 Toolbox
A Classic Finishing Touch
Jim’s Tech Talk By Jim Langley Every spring it’s one of the most-read cycling magazines, so you may already have seen Bicycling magazine’s 2019 Buyer’s Guide issue (all-white cover, which reminded me of the Beatles). It hit the newsstand back in March and arrived in the mail even before. If you read closely, you might also have seen a couple of small pieces by me on pages … [Read more...] about A Classic Finishing Touch
Q&A: Wheels for Bigger Roadies
Jim’s Tech Talk by Jim Langley Some of the feedback on last week’s look at a budget, super light carbon clincher wheelset from the new Chinese company, ICAN Cycling surprised me. So, this week I’m sharing the unexpected comments and responding to provide some thoughts. … [Read more...] about Q&A: Wheels for Bigger Roadies
Unboxing ICAN Cycling’s Aero 40 Chinese Carbon Road Wheelset
Jim’s Tech Talk By Jim Langley A couple of weeks ago, we received an interesting request from a new company to us. It was from Rita Müller, the COO of ICAN Cycling. ICAN is located in Shenzhen, China. They sell carbon bicycles, frames, components and wheels. Rita asked if we’d like to test and review their new superlight tubeless-ready carbon Aero 40 clincher wheelset … [Read more...] about Unboxing ICAN Cycling’s Aero 40 Chinese Carbon Road Wheelset
Safety Tips for Cyclists: Don’t Get “Doored”
Jim’s Tech Talk by Jim Langley In most parts of the USA, May is National Bike Month, one of the biggest pushes of the year to get more people pedaling. It’s been put on by the national organization, The League of American Bicyclists since 1956! State and city biking organizations almost everywhere pitch in with their own Bike Month, Bike Week and Bike To Work Day … [Read more...] about Safety Tips for Cyclists: Don’t Get “Doored”
Two New Cool Cycling Tools
Jim’s Tech Talk By Jim Langley Before getting to the new toys, I want to pass on a few of the excellent tips that were posted in response to our feature on fixing clogged or malfunctioning Presta valves last week. … [Read more...] about Two New Cool Cycling Tools
Tips for Fixing Tires that Won’t Accept Air
Jim’s Tech Talk By Jim Langley As the designated mechanic for our couples group who bike together some weekends, I run into interesting issues. Like last week, when Marc disappeared off the back and I went looking for him. He was a half mile behind standing on the shoulder trying to pump up the tubeless rear tire on his Santa Cruz. … [Read more...] about Tips for Fixing Tires that Won’t Accept Air
NAHBS Virtual Show Part 3
Jim's Tech Talk By Jim Langley This is the third and final installment of our coverage of the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, that took place March 15, 16 and 17 in California's capital city, Sacramento. We're wrapping up with a selection of the beautiful and innovative creations that make this show so unique and wonderful (everyone is welcome to attend). … [Read more...] about NAHBS Virtual Show Part 3
NAHBS Virtual Show Part 2
Jim’s Tech Talk By Jim Langley Last week I wrote a little about the North American Handbuilt Bicycle Show (known as NAHBS), which took place in Sacramento, California on March 15, 16 and 17. The focus in that first story was on Jet Bicycle Wheels. Because I learned so much watching Mr. Jet, Charles Wells build a wheel that I wanted to share it, wheels being so important … [Read more...] about NAHBS Virtual Show Part 2
Wheel Building with Jet Bicycle Wheels at NAHBS
Jim’s Tech Talk By Jim Langley Last weekend, March 15, 16 and 17, the 15th edition of the North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS) took place in the Sacramento Convention Center in Sacramento, California. As the name suggests, this is the show for small bicycle makers doing things mostly by hand, along with companies that support the handmade scene. So, you won’t … [Read more...] about Wheel Building with Jet Bicycle Wheels at NAHBS
Observations on Lower Gearing
Jim’s Tech Talkby Jim Langley Recently, RoadBikeRider.com supreme leader Lars Hundley, former head John Marsh and yours truly were trading emails discussing new developments in road bike gearing options. SRAM had just announced their new for 2019 AXS 12-speed parts group with its X-Range gearing. The most interesting feature of this innovative drivetrain is the use of a … [Read more...] about Observations on Lower Gearing