Category Archives: Reviews

Datatag Bicycle Security – My Experience

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What’s Datatag?

Datatag is a simple idea, combined with a few technically effective ways of reducing theft and improving the chances of recovering your valuable item.  In my case, the item was my new bike.  The kit supplied by the Bike Leasing Company which came from Datatag included some simple, easy-to-use gubbins:

1. A highly visible big sticker which is adhered using strong resin-based glue, making the bike less attractive to thieves;
2. A few stickers with a clearly identifiable registration number, which are designed to fall apart if any attempt to alter them is made;
3. A bunch of microdots in a clear glue solution, which can be painted onto inconspicuous bit of your frame or parts and which the police can read using magnifiers;
4. A rice-grain sized transponder to place inside your bike somewhere, which the police can scan to identify you on the database which Datatag shares with them.

On top of this lot, a registration form is needed which the Datatag people use to get your details – and your bike’s – onto their database.  They give the police 24-hour access to this database so that they can trace you in the event of picking your bike up from some thieving scumbag, or purchaser of your lovely bike after it’s been fenced.  If the stickers are vandalised, the transponder will still work and it can be triggered using a hand-held reader, very much like the things used for cats & dogs, if you’ve ever seen one of those.

How Did I Do The Datatag Thing?

All in all, I reckon the process took me about half an hour.  I simply wiped down the areas where I was going to attach the stickers & microdot solution to make sure they’d adhere properly, then got to work.  You can see from the photos how they look.

The microdot solution looks grey here because it’s wet – it dries to a clear coating so you can put it anywhere, but it doesn’t dry to a gloss finish so it’s best to put it somewhere inconspicuous.

The photos don’t show every sticker or each location of the microdot stuff, but I needed to make sure all the expensive bits were identified.

Also, the transponder can be glued somewhere it can’t be seen, but can’t easily be removed either.  Any good quality resin glue can be used for this.

And Finally, Don’t Forget!

The job isn’t done until you fill in your registration form and send it back to the Datatag people.  Otherwise, if your bike is stolen and the police recover it, the database wont’ have your name on it!

In my case, the kit came from the people I got the bike from, but if you’re concerned about your bike and if you’d like to be able to get the best insurance prices possible, this idea might put your mind at rest, and save you some money!

Tell ’em Phill sent you 🙂

The Bike Leasing Company, My Experience

By 6 commentsReviews, Rides, , , , , , , ,

You Can Lease Bikes? Really?

I didn’t know that leasing a high end bike was an option until seeing BLC’s stand at the Cycle Show in Birmingham: I’d always assumed that the only way to afford one without a major windfall was to seek 2 or 3 years’ interest-free credit.  So I picked up a leaflet and read it at home later.

First of all I checked the BLC website and noticed a few bike brands which weren’t commonly advertised, which impressed me.  Up to that point I’d only looked at 0% credit options, so my shortlist had been limited to the high volume brands sold through major retailers.  BLC opened up a wider range of boutique options.

So, How Does It Work?

Paul at BLC talked with me about where and how I ride, to help narrow the search to a couple of strong choices.  A little thinking and advice later and I’d made my decision to lease a 120mm full suspension bike to progress from my previous hardtail.  A Merida One Twenty fitted the bill perfectly.

My lovely Merida One Twenty

Phill’s Merida One Twenty

The choice of leasing options was helpful: I chose to pay a heavier initial payment followed by 24 months at a very affordable rate.  I’m only paying for around 2/3 of the bike’s overall value, so in two years I can decide whether to purchase my bike, or hand it back and begin a new lease.  The biggest reason to lease instead of buy was the way that BLC’s lease option makes higher-end bikes available with affordable payments.

The bike was delivered to my work at my convenience, even though Christmas got in the way of deliveries for a short time!  BLC put a mechanic in touch with me, who came to my home – at a time that suited me – to set the bike up.  He (Ben) was pleasant, professional and remarkably skilful, setting the bike up quickly and perfectly with no fuss.  After a quick test ride around the street to confirm that everything was right for me, he made sure I had his number in case anything went wrong and left me to it.

Cut To The Chase: Is It A Good Idea?

There’s no feeling quite like riding a new bike for the first time. Snowy conditions didn’t keep us indoors on the first day we had the daylight and the time to get out.  Making fresh trails in the white powder was even more of a pleasure than when I’d done it in the past, and the bike performed beautifully.  I’m looking forward to spending more and more time enjoying the great outdoors, climbing and descending the pennine foothills on my shiny Merida.

Thanks very much to the Bike Leasing Company for making a potentially complex process very simple, and for delivering and setting up a fantastic top-end bike for me to play out on!

You can look at BLC’s website here, and connect with them on Facebook and Twitter too.

Tell ’em Phill sent you! 😉

What Works? A Blogger’s Navel-Gazing Conclusion

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Blog Review 2011

As the year draws to a close, I thought I’d have a look at my analytics over the last 12 months to work out what people liked to read in 2011.  It’s easily possible to spend too long thinking about stuff like this but a broad-brush gander at analytics stats can’t do any harm, can it?

What Did I Find?

Well, I’ve read a few blogs about blogging, especially when I was new to this lark and I had a few haughty-taughty ideas about actually treating the whole experience seriously. That was before I adopted my current policy, which I’ll tell you about in a minute.

Anyway, the blogs about blogging taught me that reviews are popular on blogs. This is because people decide that they might want to buy something, then they look over their shoulder at work to establish that the boss isn’t looking, then they fire up google and type “(Thing They Want To Buy) Reviews“, or “Thing They Want To Buy” on its own. Then they scour the search results for:
(a) the costs of the Thing They Want To Buy and
(b) reviews of the Thing They Want To Buy.

I do it myself, to reassure myself that the Thing I want To Buy isn’t actually an overpriced piece of useless tat. Although I do it in my lunch break or at home, of course 😉

My own findings back this up.  The little pie chart below sums up what people have been looking at over the last 12 months.  In fact, two particular reviews of bike gear scored about half of all the review hits, to be honest.

Phill's Irregular Cycles Readership Breakdown

Analytics Findings 2011

So, if you’re thinking of taking blogging seriously, think about building a review site. But, bear in mind that lots of people have gone before you, and might be putting a lot more time in than you can.  But it’s a good way to gain new visitors: then all you have to do is give them reasons to come back, and possibly milk the affiliate & ad networks for all the income you can!

What’s My Blog Writing Policy?

I said I’d tell you about this, didn’t I?  To quote Mr. Krabbs (ask your kids), I like money.  But, to stop quoting Mr. Krabbs, I don’t like money so much that I’ll put it above engaging and having fun.  What I love most about blogging is the act of writing, the photography that I enjoy before the writing ideas come to me, the riding of bikes which inspires most of my ramblings (and reviews) and I love the engagement of the circle of friends that blogging, social media and cycling has brought me.

When I’m ready to stop having fun, I’ll go to work.  The value of blogging, to me, isn’t the income, and that’s a bloody good job.  Income-earning blogs are springing up all over the place, and most of them show a marked reduction in the quality of writing, in favour of remarketing other people’s ideas.  If I ever write a book (and I wish I would, one day) then I’m going to be quite uncomfortable about hawking around the internets, I think.

So balls to your analytics. It’s interesting and it helps get new visitors, but you’ll come back to my blog again if you find the writing or the pictures interesting.  If you don’t, you won’t come back.  Simple.

Finally For 2011

Enjoy your Christmas break (or your chosen seasonal feast linked to your chosen deity, pagan festival or coincidental time of winter happiness), enjoy riding your bike if you’ve got one, and enjoy this wonderfully engaging world that the internets have brought into our lives.

See you in 2012 🙂

Merida One Twenty 800 D Carbon 2011 – My First Review

By 1 commentReviews, Rides, , , , , , , , ,

My Marvellous Merida

After (almost) two years happily thrashing my hardtail Fat Boy around the trails of Rochdale, Littleborough and further afield, I gradually came to the decision that I wanted a bit more bike.  Since I decided to buy the Fat Boy, my mileage has increased and with it, the amount of time I spend thinking about bikes in general.

I toyed with the idea of going roadie at one point.  A neighbour offered me a good bike at an excellent price but after much soul-searching I decided that mountain biking was my true love.  I’m lucky enough to live in the foothills of the Pennines, not very far from where Singletrack Magazine is based, so their features and photos never fail to inspire me to get out into the hills where I live.

So, I started to look around and to think about buying options.  My research was in-depth and extensive.  But I’m not writing about the purchasing process here: I’ll do that in another post.  This one’s all about the bike.

With much advice, much checking, much thought and much procrastination, I decided that I definitely needed a 120mm full-suspension steed.  Any more would be too big a step and the bike would be bigger than both my talents and my usual trails.

Merida One Twenty 800 D Carbon 2011

Merida are arguably the biggest bike company in the world.  They hold a 48% stake in Specialized (apparently) and their Taiwanese operation turns out huge numbers of bikes of all shapes & sizes.  Their MTB design team is German-led and the mountain bikes seem ideally designed for European conditions.

The One Twenty range is designed to merge go-faster XC with go-more MTB riding.  The geometry is reasonably steep by modern standards, but noticeably slacker than my speed-intended Focus.  As such, the bike feels like a fantastic plaything beneath my feet and hands.

So, How Is It?

I’ve only covered around 8 miles so far, on a beautiful winter’s day.  There was plenty of snow, a little ice and some trepidation about staying upright!  The bike feels incredibly stable and is a simple pleasure to propel along.  The Carbon frame and lightweight wheelset accelerate amazingly and the Shimano gears click into place instantly.

The forks and shock are a total revelation.  I have no frame of reference, since this is my first full-bouncer, but the comfort and grip offered as I pootled along in the snow were excellent.  I deliberately avoided locking either the front or back, so I could get a feel for how active the suspension was at each end.  There seemed to be no stiction when I hit any bumps, but I certainly didn’t feel to be bouncing as I pedalled along my path, even when I climbed out of the saddle.

I can’t wait to get out into my local hills when the weather’s a bit better and I have more time.  The new bike’s been a total revelation so far, even with the tiny little ride I’ve managed so far.

Bring it on. 🙂

Schwalbe Smart Sam Review – New MTB Tyres

By 2 commentsReviews, Rides, , , , , , ,

New Mountain Bike Tyres

I noticed last week that my Schwalbe Racing Ralph tyres, which came with my Focus Fat Boy MTB, we wearing desperately smooth.  The front tyre in particular was looking pretty bald.  On wet rides, the handling was getting very sketchy and I was spending more time clipping in and out of my pedals, waiting for a washout.

So it was time to do something about it.  Especially as I’m off out on a ride with Joby, Chris and Adrian on Saturday.

Schwalbe Smart Sam

I bought the tyres from On One Bikes, a bike store who retail some special bikes as well as carrying perfect stock for the conditions I ride in.  I got a 2.25inch tyre for the front and a 2.1inch for the rear.  I’m hoping that the big front will stop the bike washing out on me (my greatest fear when clipped in) and slow down the rate of wear, too.

The tyres are made from a hardwearing compound which means they shouldn’t degrade on the miles I do on the road.  Added to that are some nice big shoulder lugs which should bite on corners and in the slippier gloop away from the traffic.  Since I also hit the canalside a lot, the hardwearing central tread should hold up well on the gravel surface of Rochdale Canal towpath.

Fitting And Riding

Putting the tyres on to the bike was simplicity itself.  I chose the “light” flavour of tyre, and the bead was very easy to get onto the rim.  I just left a few psi in the inner tube and thumbed the bead onto the rim, using a tyre leve for the last couple of inches.  No sweat.  My only advice would be to check that the bead is seated properly all the way round, as previously I’ve experienced a “ran over a snake!” bursted-out innertube after a rushed tube repair with the old Racing Ralphs!

When riding, the tyres roll fast on tarmac – a real blessing on the way to your favourite trail if, like me, you’d rather not throw the bike in the car to get everywhere.  I got them up to 28mph on a downhill road stretch where I usually hit around 26, so they’re at least as quick as the Racing Ralphs on the black stuff.

Off the road I felt much more confident on wet & slippy mud, as well as the limestone and gravel trails on my usual autopilot loop.  I don’t think this was new tyre bravado as I’m pretty sure I was being scientific about it!  At this stage I’ll promise to post a follow-up comment below after our Saturday ride 😉

In Short

These Schwalbe Smart Sam MTB tyres are not expensive: a very reasonably-priced, hardwearing, all round MTB tyre.  If you ride mixed surfaces like me, I think you could do a lot worse.  If I change my mind, I’ll post below so check the comments for updates once the initial post-purchase euphoria has worn off.

 

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