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Jersey Bin Product Review

Tyler Ford — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 17:11:26 +0000

The JerseyBin is a super lightweight waterproof pouch designed to store personal items for all cycling enthusiasts. They are constructed of high quality, long lasting, durable 8 gauge vinyl recyclable material with a strong zip-lock zipper, rounded corners and designed specifically for cycling pockets. Superb waterproof pouch for keeping cell phones and money dry from rain and sweat!

The JerseyBins come in two sizes and are fully customizable.

I have been using my JerseyBin that Rob Kortus the owner and founder hooked me up with. I have to say I love it!

No more pulling in to Circle K in the middle of nowhere to pay for a drink and Power Bar with soaking wet sweating money. Plus it keeps my cell phone nice and dry.

Last month I was caught in a rain storm and had my phone in my pocket and the rain ruined my phone. The JerseyBin is well worth money which will save you tons of money in the long run by protecting your cell phone and other items.

To learn more about the JerseyBin visit them at http://www.jerseybin.com/

Can I put a bike rack on my Toyota Prius? Rear hitch and bike rack is the way to go for Toyota Prius owners!

Tyler Ford — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 13:01:10 +0000

Prius installation of rear hitch and rear bike rack: prius-bike-rack-instructions

Have you been thinking about getting a Toyota Prius but have wondered how you will be able to carry my bike around?

There is an answer! Why not have the best of both worlds; great gas mileage and the ease of carrying two bikes around. A rear hitch-mounted bike rack is one of the best option for Toyota Prius owners or shoppers looking into buying a Prius.

Although the Toyota dealerships will install the trailer hitch for you, installation is easy and something you can do on your own. You can install the hitch in about 30 minutes or less.Things You Will Need That Are Necessary:

Trailer hitch Curt Model 11468
Socket wrench with a 14m and 17m socket
Hand socket wrench with a 10m socket
Flat head screw driver for releasing the plastic rivets holding the underbody fascia in place
Heavy scissors or tin snips to trim the plastic under-body fascia
Extra set of hands to help you lift the trailer hitch into place

Things That Are NOT Necessary But Helpful:

Mechanic’s Creeper
Drive-on Ramps

STEPS

Step One

First, back Toyota Prius on drive-on ramps if possible to make getting getting under the car easier (this step is not necessary for the install of the hitch). Then remove the two tow hooks under the rear of you Prius using a socket wrench, unbolt and remove the tow hooks from the under-body frame rails at the rear of the Prius on both the driver’s and passenger’s sides.

Step Two

Remove plastic under body fascia saving the plastic rivet hardware for the reinstall later.

Step Three

Lift the hitch into position under the Prius and secure with bolts and washers provided with the hitch. Tighten the bolts. This may require some help from someone. Holding the hitch in place and securing the bolts may be difficult to do alone but possible. A second set of hands is helpful for this step.

Step Four

Place the fascia up under the car so you can see where you will need to cut a slot in the facia so you can reinstall the fascia. Using heavy scissors or tin snips cut a slot in the fascia on the driver’s side. Extend the slot all the easy to the back edge of the facia and remove the small segment of fascia. Now the fascia will fit around the driver’s side of the newly installed hitch. There is no facia on the passenger side to worry about

Step Five

Reinstall the under body fascia with the existing hardware you set aside in Step 2. You are now ready to install your hitch-style bike rack.

Recommended Bike Rack

Hollywood Racks – Pro-Rider Hitch Rack 1 ¼ – this is a cool rack and the one I recommend. Although you will have to take your front tire off when placing your bike on the rack the profile of your bike stays behind the car making your car more arrow dynamic and prevents bugs from hitting your bike.

Yakima Rack – Hookup 1 ¼ – This hitch mount is tough and versatile. Kind of like Coach. It carries any bike, from monster freeride bikes with funky frame designs to little pink bikes with training wheels. Plus, it’s extremely easy to use. All you do is flip a lever and it grabs onto the wheel. Bikes on and bikes off in 10 seconds or less.

Recommended Place For Curt Model 11468 Trailer Hitch

Click here for: prius-bike-rack-instructions

Dooit Activity Trailer – TriFest Best of Show

Tyler Ford — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 03:35:25 +0000

This past weekend was TriFest in Tucson, Arizona. There were tons of exhibitors at the TriFest expo. There were a lot of cool new products but one that really stood out was the new Dooit Activity Trailer.

The Dooit Activity Trailer is a lightweight sport trailer that allows you to haul all your outdoor gear with safety and style and still economize on fuel.

You no longer need to drive an environmentally UNFRIENDLY vehicle all week just to have room for all your weekend or vacation necessities, nor do you have to strain to mount your gear on your vehicles roof and suffer the reduced fuel economy that results.

The reason the Activity Trailer jumped out at me is because I drive a Toyota Prius and the Dooit Activity Trailer can be pulled behind a Prius.

TriSports.com is now carrying the Dooit Activity Trailer.

Shimano unveils the new Dura-Ace 7900

Tyler Ford — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 15:53:19 +0000

There is a good article on PezCycling News about the new Dura-Ace 7900 group as a direct response to the SRAM Red group. Below is the link to the article.

www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=5978

Photo: Courtesy Shimano

VholdR All-In-One Video Camera

Ride-Strong Admin — Wed, 14 May 2008 04:24:24 +0000

I was excited to get my hands on the VholdR All in One Camera. The camera body is small, fits in the palm of your hand. The camera does not include a memory card so I had to run out and pick up a micro SD card, currently the VholdR does not support SDHC cards. TIP: When formatting the memory card be sure to use FAT32 like the quick start suggests. Once I had the card formatted I was ready to roll video.

My first attempts with the camera didn’t go quite like I had hoped. I ran into problems that I later chalk up to user error for the most part. For example, when you turn on the camera it needs to “boot” up. This boot up process can take 10 to 20 seconds, but if you are familiar with an instant digital satisfaction world, like myself, you might not be patient enough. When I didn’t hear any beeps when I turned it on I would start pressing more buttons and I think I froze it up. Speaking of patience, I didn’t give it enough time when I engaged the record. It too takes a few seconds to kick in. If you’re expecting it to instantly start recording (which is indicated by a single beep) then you’ll need to be patient. Once again when I didn’t instantly get the beep I started pushing buttons.

On my first time out with the camera I didn’t stop recording, actually I think I had the play/stop reversed so while I was riding I had it stopped and while driving home I had it in record mode. In this instance the resulting file got corrupted. I have 2 theories as to what happened, because the recording kept going and filled up the memory card the file was not properly closed, thus corrupting it. My next thought is that the resulting 1.4 GB AVI file is problematic. I know a few years back when working with video files we wouldn’t create AVI files bigger than 1 GB so they wouldn’t get corrupted. One thing I do while riding for extended periods of time is I stop and start recording every 20 to 30 minutes. This results in a new AVI file being written to the memory card. It is somewhat of a hassle to stop and start the recording, but it beats somehow getting a corrupted file and losing the entire ride compared to only losing 15 minutes of a ride.

The VholdR is not going to have the instant feedback I’ve come to expect from my digital camera or my DV camcorder. If you go into it with this in mind than you should be pleased with the device. Speaking of DV quality recording the VholdR is not there. The optics for the device are built for size and recording size. If you want DV quality recordings, then strap on your DV camcorder to your bike. Personally, I’m happy with the results with the camera.

The camera includes a flat surface mount that sticks to your helmet that the VholdR slides into. Looking at the surface options I had for my helmet it didn’t seem conducive to attach the mount to my helmet. Plus, I’m not fast enough to show up at a group ride all geeked out. Even if I don’t have the camera mounted it’s a drop me sign just waiting to happen. Other mounts from VholdR aren’t in production yet, their website says Coming Soon… and reading the forums the mounts are still in preproduction. What I ended up doing was building my own. I bought a cheap Bell bike light (Dawn Patrol), $9.00. The platform is wide enough to accommodate the mount. I took the top portion of the light off, just leaving the bottom platform. I stuck the VholdR mount to the bottom platform. Now I can take the camera on and off very quickly.

The software that comes with the camera allows you to transfer the files from the camera to your computer and then to upload the files to VholdR’s video sharing site. The video sharing site is a YouTube of sorts for their camera owners. At the time of this post they don’t have a Macintosh equivalent but uploading your video to youtube works fine. The VholdR software just uploads your videos it does not include any editing functionality. I’d like to point out using their software to transfer the videos from the camera to your computer is not necessary either. Your computer should recognize when you plug the device into your computers USB port and you can interact with it just like any external storage device. TIP: Turn on the camera before plugging it into your computer’s USB port. This was another frustration I ran into my first day, the camera will not show up and you won’t be able to pull off the videos otherwise.

In conclusion I’m happy with the product. I’ve been able to get it to record. I haven’t had any issues beyond my initial user error problems. Hopefully the handlebar mounts will be out soon as there is wiggle from the vibration on the flat surface mount that hopefully would be eliminated or reduced using their handlebar mount.

Sample videos:

http://www.roadbikerides.com/ride/view/limecreek_climbing_repeats/179
http://www.roadbikerides.com/ride/view/rachel_ridge_to_arboretum/494