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Welcome to Velo Vision, the practical cycling magazine.Print edition: Subscribe and/or order sample copies, back issues, PDFs, T-shirts etc...here! Digital edition: details or subscribe! The current issue is Issue 39. The next issue is out in December 2010.
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Gadgets and gizmosMinimalist brake levers, e-shifting for Rohloffs, alarming your bike, and finding it, hub gear widgets and ressurecting an old bell... Sue Archer writes: An end to massive brake lever misery? Spotted on Mocoloco, a combined stem and integrated brake lever from CWandT. Apparently many brake levers are just too massive and ugly for the minimalist fixed gear crowd, so this neat little integrated lever hides away next to the stem and is operated with just two fingers. It's also an open source product, so if you have a steerer or handlebar size they don't offer, you can download the plans and machine one for yourself. Presumably you could also adapt it so that the stem itself wasn't quite so massive and ugly... Electric Rohloff The Rohloff Speedhub has become a byword for quality, offering 14 speeds in a reliable and low maintenance package. However, one issue for some riders is that the twist shifter used to operate it is not readily compatible with drop bars. Seen on the Lazy Randonneur blog is a potential solution, an electric shifting system available on Australian Ebay. The trigger button can be placed wherever is convenient, and the system is powered by a battery that gives 600-1000 shifts per charge - although, as some of the comments say, that might be quite a short time in hilly terrain. A sting in the tail for thieves The University of Portsmouth is expanding an innovative security system which makes use of CCTV cameras to monitor bikes. The WASP or "Wireless Asset Security Protection" system consists of a sensor inside a D-lock. When a user locks their bike, they activate the sensor with a text message, and send another to deactivate it for unlocking. Any motion detected by the sensor without deactivation sends a message to a CCTV control, and if the images show a thief at work, a security officer intervenes. Staff and students can trial the system free for four weeks, and then if they wish, rent it for around £8 a year. Obviously the system only works with bike racks overlooked by CCTV, but the University say it's already helping to reduce theft on campus. Now, where's my bike... If you lock your bike up at a popular set of racks, it can take a moment to spot it again amongst all the others. Michael Asberry got in touch to point out the Bspot device, predictably from the Netherlands. The device is not only a rear light, but at the push of a button on the remote control it flashes and sounds a tone to help you find your bike in the crowd. A solar panel keeps the light topped up with power. Of course, once you've found your bike, you still have the fun of unpicking it from a crowded rack... Find that widget! If you're a hub gear afficionado, and like to do your own maintenance, Fietspunt could be the website you need, providing a source of all manner of parts and widgets. Although currently mostly in Dutch, there are helpful pictures of the parts, and English translations are in progress. And if nuts and bolts aren't your thing, the site offers many other products, including this page of baskets and garlands to decorate them. Ring my bell... Finally, spotted by John Isles, this little film shows you how to rescue the dome of an old style bike bell (perhaps one whose workings have irrevocably rusted) and renew it as a ping bell, using old Schraeder and Presta valves. Indeed, if you don't have a bell dome, then any disc of metal with a nice ring to it would do... Posted on 12 November 2010
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