Archive for February, 2010

Nicole Freedman gets stuff done!

Posted February 26, 2010 Comments Off on Nicole Freedman gets stuff done!

I reported a pothole at the beginning of the inbound Washington St. bike lane in Roslindale using the Hazard Reporting tool on the city’s website:

http://www.cityofboston.gov/contact/?id=179

I submitted the request at the end of the day Monday, expecting to hear back maybe in a few weeks. But I got a note back from Nicole Freedman, Boston’s Director of Bicycle Programs, on Friday morning saying that the pothole had been fixed.

Needless to say, I was floored. I rode by to check, and sure enough the pothole was gone.

Beacon St. in Brookline: best bike lanes

Posted February 13, 2010 Comments Off on Beacon St. in Brookline: best bike lanes

dropped my car off in Needham for repair this morning but still needed to get to work. green line to red line = unfun. I so rode up Needham/Centre st and then Beacon pretty much the whole way to MIT.

I was amazed at the bike lanes in Brookline on Beacon St., especially near the Chestnut Hill Reservoir. Not only are the bike lanes nice and wide, but they are separated from the car lane by 2-3 feet of stripes.

absolutely fabulous. sort of makes me want to move northward…only sort of though 🙂

Trek Soho: the 100-mile review

Posted February 5, 2010 * Comments(17)
I waited until I had ridden 100 miles before writing this review in order to give the bike a fair shake.  I should start by saying that I got the bike 40% off, so I have nothing to complain about.
There is a lot to like about the bike. Looks great, fenders match, reflective tires, internal gears are great for shifting when stopped, brakes work the same in the rain, nifty mug (for carrying my leftovers for lunch), seat doesn’t absorb rain. Gets up to speed quickly.
Oh, and the belt drive…absolutely looooove the belt drive. Super quiet and a real conversation starter. Some guy in a 5-series even rolled down his window to say he is considering one and wanted to know what i thought!
Things I don’t love:
* brakes are really weak. tried to come to a quick stop on a downhill at 20mph and the power just wasn’t there, had to swerve.
* downshifting is rough for some reason. upshifting is fine. also, the belt makes a noise when I’m pedaling really fast – LBS could not fix.
* Thin grips. Had to spend $40 to upgrade these to stop my hands from going numb.
If I had to do it over again I would go for disc brakes and the Alfine hub. The Giant TranSend EX would have been a better pickup for the same money, as ugly as it is (white chainguard on a forest-green bike?). Alfine, disc brakes, and Ergon grips. Wouldn’t surprise me if the 2011 Soho has those features…

Next pickup is definitely a Xootr Swift