My [Bike's] Name Is Earl

You've heard the song by The Dixie Dicks. You've seen the TV show. Now meet the bike.


What is the Earl?

The Earl is a new offering from Trek. Without a doubt, the Earl is designed for city riding.

Here's why, in my opinion:

• single speed or fixed gear for ultimate simplicity (stock configuration: 44T chainring, 17T freewheel)
  
• chromoly steel construction, while heavy, soaks up the bumps on the road
• double top tube that is designed to hold a U-lock while biking to work or running errands
  
• 28mm tire with a good tread pattern can handle wet or sandy spots or the occasional gravel road
• tall stem with riser bar to sit up high in traffic
• flat handlebars make for lots of leverage when navigating city streets, sidewalks, and curbs
  
• long wheel base means no toe clipping when track standing (or trying to) at stop lights
• chain guard to keep pant legs from getting dirty or ripped, or having to wear a pant leg strap
• bosses and eyelets for mounting a rack and fenders, plus two sets of bosses for bottle cages or other accessories
  

A Good Value

At $439, the Earl is a fairly inexpensive bike. The simplicity of the bike with its lack of shifters, cabling, and derailleurs probably keeps the cost down. The brakes, levers and tires, while adequate, aren't anything special.

Things I Really Like About Earl

• the blue paint job, called "Earl Blue". Sure there's a "Gloss Black" version, but everyone sells a black city bike. The mix of blue with black accents makes for one pretty bike. Nice job, Trek.
  
• frame graphics are a nice touch. The Earl has its own head badge, and a very regal Earl himself, with trucker hat and scruffy beard, makes an appearance on the down tube design. There are also also a few graphics placed here and there that you'll never see unless you're working on or cleaning the bike.
• saddle designed just for the Earl features a custom logo impressed into the seat
• relatively narrow handlebars go easily up and down my old apartment building's stairwell
• cool bend in the frame where the double top tubes become the seat stays. Very interesting looking
• fun to ride! The 44x17 makes for pretty quick starts from stop lights. The balance is solid, and the saddle is quite comfortable.
  
• I can open beer bottles on the frame. How cool is that?
  

Things I Don't Like About Earl

• scuffed up the top tubes after carrying a lock just two miles. I've since wrapped several layers of tape around the each end of the barrel of my U-lock, and I secure it tightly with a Velcro strap to keep it from bouncing around
• the chain guard clangs against the crank arm when I hit bumps
• ugh, it's heavy, but it's a real steel bike... what do I expect?
  

A Winter Commuter's Dream?

What has me most excited about this bike is the generous clearance between the seat stays and the fork blades. My plan is to use fenders and 35mm studded snow tires to make this one mean winter commuter. No more frozen derailleurs or stiff shifter cables.

Jake at the Trek Omaha store put on some really useful Bontrager quick release fenders. Unlike strap on fenders, these have nifty ball mounts that go into the frame eyelets on the rear dropouts and fork blades. The fender stays have a socket that snaps sturdily on to the balls. Also a clip/guide mounts to the rear brake bridge to hold the top of the rear fender, and a cam lever goes at the top of the fork to secure the top of the fender. Basically, these behave like permanently mounted fenders when they are on, but come off in about 30 seconds, leaving behind very minimal attaching hardware.

I'm pretty sure that the 44x17 gearing is too steep for me in the snow. Riding the bike up and down Leavenworth a couple of times this week actually has me wondering if it's too steep for me in general, but that's another story. I'm thinking that for pedaling through snow and fighting harsh winter winds, an 18, 20, or even 22 tooth cog might fit the bill.

Video

How to open a bottle on the Earl's frame.



Pictures

The chain guard makes riding in pants a little safer and more comfortable.

The head badge

The aftermarket add-on quick-release fender guide under the brake bridge.

The quick release fender stay ball-and-socket joint

This cam lever binds the fender to the quick release mount

The custom Earl saddle

Two views of the double top tube design

How to carry a U-lock

Single speed freewheel or track cog... take your pick

The custom logo and on the chainring is a nice touch

Two sets of bottle cage bosses

Open beer here

Retro "TREK" design

Earl sports a trucker cap and carries a wrench

The Earl design also hides in places not normally seen

So far, I think I've got the only Earl in town. Does that make me the "Duke of Earl?" I hope to see more of these on the road soon.

Photos From "Oh! What An Alleycat!"

Omaha's first annual Oh! What An Alleycat! event was a huge success! Read the official blog here.

When Sean announced that he was going to organize an alleycat race, I knew I wanted to help make it happen. Rather than participate, I offered to help run a checkpoint. I'm not terribly fast, and sometimes not the best navigator, so helping out seemed to be the thing to do.

About 15 people showed up to race, and several more to help out. Our gathering at the arch in the Gene Leahy Mall was certainly noticeable. There were bikes everywhere of all kinds. Fixies, single speeds, racing bikes, mountain bikes, and hybrids. It was a beautiful thing.

We helpers showed up early and Sean briefed us on the protocol. We each were given a grease pen for marking player's playing cards, and an index card telling us where our checkpoint was, and the location of the next checkpoint.

I rode off to my post in the Heartland of America Park. Sean had directed me to an area on the lake that was near the boat ride piers, describing a boardwalk. I think most people interpreted their clue, given by them by the officials at the first checkpoint, as the wooden footbridge over 8th and Farnam. In the confusion, some people rode all the way to the wooden bridge leading to the riverfront before seeing me waving from my checkpoint. Please explore the map below.

I got a kick out of seeing the leaders trying to get to me at great speed. Some bombed down the steep grassy hill (on fixies, no less), while some hefted their bikes on the shoulders and ran down the steps from 8th Street. I think everyone ended up finding me. However, I had forgotten to ask Sean how many riders there were, so I wasn't sure when I was done.

Just to be safe, I moved out more in the open to the boardwalk at the boat piers, waited, and fed some cookies to the ducks.

Finally I got a message from Sean telling me to rejoin the group at the arch. By the time I got back, all prizes has been awarded. A few of us went on to Upstream for some post ride refreshments.

After some snacks, some of Upstream's finest beverages and some fun conversation, I rode off toward home. Ben was looking to get some more saddle time, so he joined me for the ride to my house. I think afterward he might have continued on to the Keystone Trail for some more miles.

Everybody I talked to seemed to enjoy the alleycat, and is looking forward to the next. Thanks to Sean for putting this together, at his own personal expense, and thanks to everyone who came out to race or to help. Also, thanks for The Douglas for making the special event spoke cards. That's something you don't see every day in Omaha.



View Oh! What An Alleycat! Checkpoint #2 in a larger map


Here are some photos I took.




Click here if you can't see the slideshow above.

It's Going Around: Single Speed Fever

A curious malady is making the rounds in my barn. Symptoms of single speed fever are spreading.

My true single speed, the 1976 Schwinn Le Tour II is now my favored city bike and fair weather commuter. There's a 40 tooth chainring on the front and a 17 tooth freewheel on one side of the rear hub, and a 17 tooth track cog fixed on the other side. I find that this combination is perfect for me for tooling around town tackling the typical hills in my stomping grounds. With the addition of a new saddle, I'm all the more eager to spend a lot of time on this bike.

I've gotten comfortable standing to climb, spinning on the flats and coasting when the road turns downward.

This weekend I went to clean about 100 miles of Nebraska gravel road dust and Iowa Wabash Trace crushed limestone dust from my Specialized Tricross when I noticed something odd about the cassette.

A couple of Sundays ago combined a Bacon Ride with my first century ride, and last week I did a Taco Ride. Without realizing it, I'd been riding the Tricross as if it were single speed; standing to climb and spinning when not climbing. I got into a nice pace and spent most of the time pedaling.

As I got my degreaser and cleaning rags ready, I noticed that all the cogs but one were covered with white dust. The one that was cleaner was obviously the one I'd been using for my recent rides. At 34 x 14, I was cycling at a gear ratio just a tad stiffer than on the single speed Schwinn.

This weekend, I grabbed the grocery panniers and my Trek 7300 hybrid and headed out to Whole Foods to stock up one some specialty items that I can't get at my local Bag & Save or Hy-Vee. With 35mm tires and a cargo rack, this is my hauling bike. Again, I noticed that I was doing all the pedaling in a similar gear ratio. I did have to shift down to climb out of the Papio Creek valley into my neighborhood, as I was loaded down with groceries.

Incidentally, I saw Rafal D. with Megan, and Steve O. with some friends at Whole Foods and talked for a moment with each.

So, look out. If you ride near where I ride, you might want to keep your distance. If your bike gets too close, you might find it, too, afflicted with single speed fever. I just hope single speed fever doesn't jump over to humans in the form of some kind of knee pain!

Bike Burrito: A Better, Beautiful Bike Blowout Bag?

Since the recent single speed/fixie conversion of the Schwinn Le Tour II, I've been trying to keep the overall style at a simple, minimalistic level. One simplification was in achieved in replacing the original brake levers with newer, aero style brake levers with under-the-bar-tape cabling, resulting in a really clean handlebar. A beefy, silver single speed chain now accentuates the simple transmission of energy from front chainring to rear cog,

The purpose of the single speed Schwinn is to have a comfortable, simple, fun bike for tooling around Omaha, be it commuting to work or visiting the local restaurants or pubs and coffee shops. I don't plan on any epic adventures on this bike, but you never know. One must, in my opinion, when traveling more than a mile or two from home without a backpack or messenger bag is a "blowout bag." Typically a blowout bag is a saddle bag with a tube, pump or CO2 cartridge, tire levers, and necessary tools for fixing a flat on the go.

Most saddle bags these days are made of nylon or sometimes recycled rubber tubes, but for the Schwinn, I wanted to try something a little different. Here we come to the topic of this post; the Bike Burrito.

The Bike Burrito is an artisan made cloth tool roll. It's essentially an apron of cloth with pockets on the inside that can be stuffed with tools and a tube, rolled up, and secured underneath the seat on the rails of a saddle with a leather strap. You could think of it as an old timey looking seat bag.

I visited the Bike Burrito shop and placed a custom order. I wanted colors to match my bike (namely, red, black and white), but since I didn't see anything in their shop, I placed a custom order, asking the artisan to use their own judgment. I supplied a photo of my bike and trusted their artistic eye to match a suitable pattern.

A couple of weeks later, my Bike Burrito arrived. I found the packaging so cute that I photographed it, almost like one might document a new product "unboxing" event. The first thing I noticed was that the burrito was wrapped like a, well, a burrito, in aluminum foil. Inside the envelope was also a little Bike Burrito pin, a tiny bottle of Tabasco sauce, and a card showing the proper way to secure the roll under the saddle.

I put an extra tube in the big pocket, a set of wrenches (13mm, 14mm, and 15mm), a multi tool, and a mini pump in the other pockets, rolled it up, and tied it under my seat. I haven't ridden the bike with the burrito yet, but I noticed that the wrenches clang against each other if I bounce the bike around. To solve this, I rolled the wrenches in a rag before stuffing into the pocket. This seems to help, and also provides a way to wipe my hands, should they get soiled during a repair job.

I will post comments later after riding with the Bike Burrito for a week or so. I'll know better then about how well it rides along tucked under the seat.

Thanks to Jayme for the custom order. The Bike Burrito looks great on my bike.

The photos below show the Bike Burrito in detail.

It's a burrito, wrapped in foil.

I was pleased with the red and black tartan print.

Burritos should come with hot sauce!

The right tools and supplies for fixing a flat. I rolled the wrenches in a rag later to help avoid clinking and clanging.

My custom Bike Burrito installed on the bike. This would look so much cooler under a Brooks saddle.

Snake Bite!

I wasn't really bitten by a snake. Read on.

This evening, I took the Schwinn, in fixie mode, on the Keystone for a short ride. I'm not able to commute to work by bike this week, so I'm trying to make sure I get some rides in. Right after getting on the trail, I noticed poor handling and looked down for a flat.

Sure enough, the rear 25mm tire was all squishy. I stopped to check, and dang it if the tire had no air in it.

I turned the bike over and pulled out my shiny Ace Hardware 15mm wrench and pulled the rear wheel off. I used a lever to pop out the bead, but was able then to get the tire and tube off by hand.

I had an extra tube, but had never used a glueless patch kit and wanted to give it a try. The weather was nice, and I had plenty of light left, so why not? I used my mini pump (also never used) to connect up to the Presta valve, gave it some air, and found not one, but two tiny holes next to each other.

Snake bike! I guess this is a pinch flat.

I had a nasty nail puncture last year on my hybrid, but the pinch flat was new. I am not sure how I got it, but I do know there's a bad gap on a bridge joint near where I get on the trail. I'm not used to hopping and popping obstacles in fixie (where I can't brace on the pedals), so maybe that was it.

I got the warm fuzzy about cycling when a handful of people, including one guy who "pedals" a recumbent using his arms, slowed and asked if I needed help, a tube, or CO2 cartridges. I do the same, so it all works out. I even helped a retired gentleman change a car tire once while out on a commute.

I didn't need any help, and in a few minutes, had the pressure up, good enough by feel, to remount the wheel and continue riding a bit. When I got home I saw that I had reached 60 PSI of the recommended 90 PSI maximum and topped it off with my floor pump. The patch seemed to work well enough to span the two tiny holes and hold pressure. My mini pump has settings for high volume or high pressure, so if I had been more patient, may have been able to get to 90 on the mini pump, but 60 was good enough to ride a bit.

I'm curious to see if the patch holds over the next few days. It sure beats the messy glue and rubber patches I used as a youth.

In the meantime, I'll be sure to watch out for more snake bikes on the Keystone!

Lessons Learned

• Who needs expensive CO2 cartridges? If conditions allow, the mini pump is effective, and free to use, and if I mess up, I just reattach the pump and try again.
  
• Make sure tires are properly inflated. I understand skinny road tires can lose air more quickly than wider, lower pressure tires. Not sure if I headed out on low pressure, but maybe I did.
• Glueless patches seem to work pretty well! At six patches per kit, it's way cheaper than buying a new tube.
• Even for short rides, bring a blowout kit. Sure, I could have pushed the bike two miles, uphill, home, but where's the fun and adventure in that?
• Pack two tire levers. For some reason I only had one. I didn't need two, but if I had, I didn't have it.
• Cyclists are so cool, always looking out for each other.
• Be comfortable fixing flats! I did this some as a kid, and have changed tires and tubes some for riding in different seasons. Anyone serious about cycling, (men, women, and children) should learn how to fix a flat. You will get flats! It's not that hard, and can be done in a few minutes with some practice.
  

Further Along On Fixie: A Fun Fad?

I've still not tried my 10 mile round trip daily commute on the fixed gear; I'm too chicken to play in traffic, especially on some of my downhill runs.

However, I've spent maybe two hours on the Keystone Trail riding fixie. In short, it's fun, but I don't know how practical it is. Maybe it doesn't have to be practical.

Navigating starts and stops and slow speed turns is different than when on a freewheel. It's almost like learning how to ride a bike all over again. Also, my legs are a little sore, as if I'm new to cycling, all over again. The back pressure required to slow down (unless I cheat and use brakes) requires a different force to be applied from the legs. Even when using brakes, the legs are never along for a free ride. I can never simply ignore what my legs are doing. My mind must always be on pedaling strategy.

I suppose there are some good things to take away from the fixie experience. For one, I like to coast. Perhaps I coast too much. If I can get in the habit of always pedaling, as if I were on the fixie, I'd be a better rider.

Secondly, I think the constant pedaling, and standing to climb and back pressure on the pedals to slow, could make the fixie a great workout bike. I wonder if I could get a better workout in an hour of fixie than I would on single speed or with gears.

Lastly, I think fixie gives me better balance. Since I don't ever want to have to stop and unclip, I'm more likely to slowly approach my stop and balance at slow speeds, or even stand for a few seconds.

I wouldn't want a straight up fixie bike, but I'm really having fun with the flip-flop hub on the Schwinn that let's me ride single speed or fixed gear depending on the experience I want to have.

First on Fixie - I Didn't Die

When I did the single-speed conversion on the Schwinn Le Tour II, I was left with a rear hub that has mysterious threads on the non-drive side. "So this is a flip-flop hub," I thought.

Curiosity got the best of me today when I went to the bike shop and got a Surly 17 tooth track cog and lock ring. Let's try fixie!

Fixie, or fixed gear, is when there is no freewheel or freehub allowing the rear wheel to coast when not pedaling. If the wheel is turning, so is the chain, and so are the cranks, and so are your feet. A flip-flop hub allows a regular freewheel cog on one side and a fixed cog on the other. By taking off the wheel and flipping it around, one is able to ride either single-speed (with coasting) or fixed gear (with no coasting).

Mike at the Re-Cycle bike shop was kind enough to let me use his work stand and tools to put it on. The cog was too thick for the multi-speed chain I was using, so I also had to throw on a beefy, silver single-speed chain.

Having never even sat on a fixed gear bike, I didn't dare try to ride home in this configuration. So I flippity-flopped the wheel back to single-speed and rode home normally.

Once home, I grabbed the wrench and flipped around the wheel and tightened up the chain and took it for a spin. Actually, the bike took me for a spin. I had trouble just getting out of the driveway. I live at the top of a pretty steep hill. I was riding both brakes at a slow crawl all the way down the hill.

My plan was to ride down to a nearby parking lot and just get the hang of the track bike style pedaling. The first parking was being resurfaced, so I rode neighborhood streets to a shopping center and practiced a while there. What pitiful track standing I had learned to do on my single-speed didn't seem to help much on the fixie. No longer able to ratchet the cranks to keep my best foot forward, I was all over the place, backward and forward, and thowing a foot out constantly. At one point I fell over when I couldn't get my foot out quick enough. Embarrasing, but expected. Standing for only a few seconds was the best I could do. Maybe some practice will help.

Finally I felt comfortable enough to try some back streets. I rode around a couple of blocks, ascending and descending hills. I was completely unaware of how the whole back-pressure on the pedals would feel. Once or twice I went to wipe sweat or shift in the saddle and forgot that I couldn't brace myself on one leg for a moment. Gotta keep pedaling!

Want to stop? Gotta keep pedaling!

Want to slow down? Back pressure, but keep pedaling! I felt no shame applying both front and rear brakes.

The 17t cog was a little steeper than the 18t that I've been riding, but it felt kind of aggressive and snappy. I zipped up the hill to my house a little more quickly.

I doubt I will try this configuration when riding the streets on my commute. It just makes me too nervous. The real fun will begin when I get to a trail or lonely road, flip the wheel around, and see what happens on a nice, long flat.

Even if I don't ride the fixed cog often, the thick silver chain looks a little sharper than the previous chain I had on.