Newsletter Issue No. 1184
July 31, 2025
New Road Bikes With Lower Gearing
Jim’s Tech Talk
By Jim Langley
For the past two Tech Talks, we’ve been discussing lowering the gearing on slightly older bikes (thanks for all the helpful comments with your tips on how you did it to your classic bikes). If you were so distracted following the Tour de France that you missed those articles, here they are: The Long Story of Lowering the Gearing on My Old Road Racing Bike and Your Feedback on Lower Gearing. Read more.
Let the Idea Behind Japanese Walking Enliven Your Bicycling
By Kevin Kolodziejski
“A fish is not a monkey.”
While you may be surprised to see those six words at the start of a Road Bike Rider article, an even bigger shocker to me is how frequently we fail to integrate the essential idea behind them into our rides. For any gaga grammarian who considers The Chicago Manual of Style an absolute page-turner, an equally disturbing discovery is the use of quotation marks with those words. Yes, I’m well aware that recalling someone’s ordinary ones does not require that, but that’s just the point. If you honestly apply those ordinary words to your rides, you can enliven them and make them far from ordinary. Read more.
High Above Supernatural Hydration Pack – Quick Review
By Sheri Rosenbaum
One of my objectives is to discover new brands at Sea Otter Classic, and High Above is one of those brands. A Seattle-based company, they have been designing mountain biking gear since 2012. Typically, what works for MTB translates perfectly to commuter and gravel riding. And that’s precisely what the company’s newly designed Supernatural Hydration Pack does. With its vest-style hydration pack design, this pack is built to be rugged, secure, and offers generous storage to tackle various cycling adventures. Read more.
Wind Reverie
By Stan Purdum
“May the wind be always at your back.” So goes one verse of a well-known old Irish blessing. And, as any bicyclist knows, it’s more wishful thinking than prophetic benediction.
Headwinds, which slow forward progress and tire riders quickly, are a fact of life for those who bike. (Of course, this blessing was clearly not written for cyclists. Its opening salvo is, “May the road rise to meet you,” which is hardly the prayer of any rider who has pumped up a 7-percent grade!) Read more.
How Can I Cure My Terror of Descending?
QUESTION: Am I really the only rider out here with enough self-preservation instinct to be afraid of going fast downhill? I’m a (shudder) descentophobic! Can you help? — Alice C.
RBR REPLIES: Don’t feel bad. Lots of cyclists feel apprehensive on fast descents. It’s not paranoia because bad things really can happen if you fall off while going fast. Read more.
Now Hear This
By Scott Martin
Cycling might seem, blessedly, like a sport of silence – no droning motor, no sneakers squeaking on hardwood, no thud of foot against ball. But if you pay attention, bike riding is full of sounds. Some good, some bad. Read more
Other Cool Things to Read
Outside Magazine: Cyclists: Rivendell Has Crafted the Rear Derailleur of the Century
Cycling News: New test used by WorldTour pros sheds light on the individuality of carbohydrate intake
Question of the Week
Do you carry a bike lock on rides where you stop at a convenience store or cafe?
Most Clicked Last Week
Your Feedback on Lower Gearing
End Notes
