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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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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Review: Road Holland Jersey

Let’s just get it out there – most bike kit and jerseys are plain awful. They either scream LOOK I’M A RACER or fall on the same hackneyed design cliches (i.e. flames and skulls on men’s jerseys and flowers on women’s). Thankfully, within the last few years there have been many options for more subdued biking clothing. We have always been intrigued with Road Holland‘s classy and austere jerseys but never were able to see them in person. They offered us an opportunity to try out some of their gear and hopped on it! Road Holland sent us two jerseys to write about. I got the midnight blue version of the Utrecht a quarter zip short sleeve jersey and Laura received the Breukelen, a full zip long sleeve jersey.

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Review: Velo-Orange Grand Cru Cranks

I have to admit, at first it was my previous Epicurean Cyclist and randofile leanings that attracted me to the Velo-Orange Grand Cru cranks. They are definitely easy on the eye with the fluted cranks, 50.4 bolt circle and the way the wide range double creates a nice concentric ring pattern. Modern Shimano cranks, in my opinion, are ugly and look more like some Alien/stingray/circular saw mashup that look out of place on steel bikes.

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Gear: Which Camera for Bicycle Touring?

I get this question a lot and finally got around to making a longish video describing my kit and rationale. Prior to our New Zealand trip I always brought a Nikon DSLR and a point and shoot. My current Nikon is a D700 which I love and feel is more or less the perfect camera for me. I carried it on our trip from Oregon to Glacier National Park and loved the images but hated the weight and bulk (esp. on the Bromptons). When that trip was done, I swore I was through with big DSLRs for touring and searched for a good alternative. Just around the same time the Micro 4/3rds cameras looked like they were maturing. I pulled the trigger on an Olympus EP3 and eventually a Lumix GH2 and haven’t looked back ever since.

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