Review: Da’ Brim Rezzo Visor

We like to march to the beat of our own drummer here on PathLessPedaled, so sometimes that leads us to trying things out that may go against conventional wisdom. For example, riding in flat pedals, touring with a 16 inch wheel folding bike, and touring with a paella pan . It keeps things interesting. In the same vein, we’re going to make a bold statement here: Da Brim’s Rezzo visor is the most functional bike helmet visor ever. I’m sure there are lots of roadies cringing at something so Fredtastic. Deal with it : )

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Video Review: Maplets

As some Facebook fans know, I just got an iPad Mini and have been nerding out on it. One of my favorite apps so far is Maplets. It lets you find and download regional paper maps! It’s great for touring or if you’re visiting another city/town and want to see their local transit/walk/bike map.

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Review: Velo-Orange Sabot Pedal – A Pedal Revolution?

At this year’s Interbike, one of the new items that got us the most excited were the Velo-Orange Sabot pedals. Yes, they are “just” platform pedals and aren’t clipless. Yes, they aren’t made of any exotic alloys or fiber weaves. So what’s there to get excited about? As platform pedal users ourselves (and before you ask, yes, Russ use to ride clipless as well before coming back to platforms), there seems to be little innovation or new thinking in the commuter/touring flat platform pedal, so it was good to see that Velo-Orange was taking a stab at new designs. Perhaps the last interesting flat pedal design that was targeted towards tourists and commuters were Riv’s Grip Kings (aka Battle Axes). The Velo-Orange Sabot pedals is an attempt to up the ante, but does it succeed?

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Salsa Vaya 1000 Mile Review (or our thoughts on Salsa Vaya vs. Surly LHT)

We’ve been riding our Salsa Vayas for a little over two months and have managed to put over 1000 miles on them. In that time, we’ve ridden them around town, on the 25th Anniversary Cycle Oregon ride, on our first randonneur event (the Verboort Populaire), up Larch Mountain, on a few overnight bike tours and miles and miles of hills and gravel on road rides around Portland. The good folks at VeloCult built up our frames with components that we picked out that are a little different from the off the shelf Vayas and we had the bikes fitted at Crank PDX. We’ve ridden them enough to get a good sense of how they handle and the ride qualities and what the best uses would be. So what’s the verdict? How do they compare to the venerable Surly LHT?

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Review: Burley Travoy as Post-Apocalyptic Trailer?

Let’s just get it out of the way in the very beginning. The worst thing about the Travoy is it looks like you just cart-jacked Arnold Palmer on the 18th hole. Yes, it looks funny. Yes, it looks tippy and strange. But, if you can get over that, you’ll find the Travoy is a pretty amazing trailer on and off the bike.

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Video Tour: Our 2013 Salsa Vayas!

We’ve been riding the sweet 2013 Salsa Vatya frames for a while and have been dialing in the fit and components. Here’s a quick video tour of how we built them up. There are a few differences from the stock build. We wanted lower gearing than the cross double provided so we are running a 42-28 mountain double. Laura wanted to still shift friction so we set her up with some Paul Thumbies. We’ll post a more comprehensive component list soon, but for now enjoy the video!

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Interbike 2012 Roundup

Interbike 2012 has come and gone and we’ve braved Las Vegas once again to take a look at new trends in racks and bags in the bike industry. While this year seems less revolutionary than last, with most products only getting a new color scheme or incorporating some of last years innovations, there were a few things that caught our eye. For those that want to see things in action, watch our video roundup below.

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Video Review: Small Arkel Handlebar Bag

In this video review, we take a look at the “small” handlebar bag by Arkel. I use the air quotes because for a small bag it is fairly big! The current trend is to get all rando with a small front rack and boxy style bag that sits on the platform. I’m a big fan of rando bags. I am NOT a fan of having to buy and install a small front rack for every bike I want to use the bag on. Thus began the search for just a Plane Jane handlebar bag.

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Brompton Bag and Book Special!

To help kick off the launch of The Unauthorized Brompton Touring Guide, we’re excited to announce a special limited-time collaboration with Swift Industries!

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The Brompton Touring Book is Here! – UPDATED

Over a year ago, we began a whole new style of bike travel, when we put our sturdy Long Haul Truckers in storage and started touring on the unlikeliest of bikes – the Brompton folding bike. Almost immediately, we knew that these funny little folding bikes would be capable of great adventures, and the seed was planted to write a sort of “how to” guide for other folks interested in self-supported travel on the Brompton.

We rode our Bromptons from Central Oregon across Montana to Glacier National Park. We traveled with our Bromptons via train, plane, and car across the West Coast to various bikey events. We flew across the planet with our Bromptons to explore New Zealand. All told, we pedaled these little guys approximately 5,000 miles, fully-loaded with all of our camping gear and other necessary travel accessories (such as cameras, computer, metalsmithing kit, etc.).

And we know now, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the Brompton is an amazing little machine that can take you places that it was probably never intended to see. Of course, this doesn’t mean you can treat a Brompton like a Long Haul Trucker, and we are always extremely vigilant of the amount of weight that we carry and how we attach it. While we fully trust that the Brompton can handle a responsible touring load, we recognize that we have pushed our Bromptons beyond their stated purpose, so we have always traveled this way at our own risk… which is why our how-to book is “Unauthorized.”

Introducing… The Unauthorized Brompton Touring Guide

The Unauthorized Brompton Touring Guide is 41 pages of in-depth information about how to set up your Brompton for touring, how to pack, how to maintain your new touring machine and troubleshoot any issues you might have on the road. You’ll also find links to videos we made while traveling on our Bromptons and external links to helpful resources.

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