Good looking re-cycling

 With a little help from Bike Man Dan the old Raleigh is looking pretty sweet now. There are quite a few new bits and pieces on it now including a new seven speed rear cassette and derailleur, NOS front chainset plus a lovely new Brooks saddle. She rides really nicely and I'm hoping it should be able to take me through the various rides I've got coming up including the ridetoweymouth.com. Plus, it looks good enough now that I could put it on one of those wall shelves once the ride is finished!

Great bike storage by Elevated Woodworks

Once you've finally got that perfect bike you've always wanted surely you to show it off? Well these shelves by Elevated Woodworks would certainly help with that. I really like this idea, what better to decorate your walls than a nice vintage bike? And at $60 for the Cedar version shown here they are also great value too. They would definitely create a focal point at home, mind you the British weather might stop your bike looking this clean. Or I think a few of them in a lofty office would look great. Not sure my employers would use them.

Genesis Equilibrium

I've entered myself in for a few charity rides recently and plan to do big ride from Birmingham to Weymouth to raise money in memory of brother in September. As such I'v been out on my road bike a bit more which has led to me to start thinking about buying a new one too. The old Raleigh frame is pretty heavy and is a little bit too big for me too but there is one thing which keeps stopping me committing to a new bike. That is most of them look dull, samey and are lacking real style.

Well that was until I found the Genesis Equilibrium, I'm already a big fan of their fixed wheel Day One and I was glad to see the Equilibrium shares it's retro styling and Reynolds steel frame. It's had  some great reviews and as they say on their site 'it proves that steel is still a material to be reckoned with for a fast road bike.' I wish more bike designers in this field considered the look and ride of the bike rather than just the weight and speed but I don't think I'm your average road biker.

Best get saving some pennies though as the entry level 00 model comes in at £899.99 which is a bit out of my price at the moment. But seeing as they are a British company surely I would just be helping out the country's economy by buying one, right?

Helmet B

                         

Should you always wear a helmet when you ride a bike? This is one of those issues that crops up regularly on blogs and in the media and more often than not written by people who don’t ride regularly. I’m not going to go into it now, it’s a personal choice and people should be left to make their own mind up in my opinion.

One of the reasons people cite not wanting to wear a helmet is they are often bulky, heavy and can be quite hot too. Well French designer Julien Bergignat has come up with an idea called Helmet B, also known as ‘Tatou’ or Armadillo. Using the Armadillo as inspiration for the form of the helmet it creates a protective shell when riding but can be laid out flat when you’re not on the bike.

I think it makes a pretty nice looking helmet but not convinced it would protect you that much on impact. It’s just an idea at the moment but I would love to see it put into production to offer something different in the helmet market.