Sirius Stuff

We’re starting to talk about some of the things that we’ve been working on with MyAd.com. One of my favorite features is the Display Case, which lets you put items you’ve posted on MyAd in a widget on your own site.

Many businesses have a site that doesn’t get updated very often. This is an easy way for a business to show what they have to offer on their own site.

I ordered from BicycleTrailers.com a Baby Jogger Tailwind trailer that I ended up returning. I ended up returning it mostly because it had no storage room at all. I’m toting my son in the trailer and he needs his lunch, sometimes a change of clothes, etc. And it’s nice to have that behind him where he can’t get at it. The trailer itself, while a bit on the heavy side, was extremely well built and had some very nice touches compared to our Burley LadyBug trailer. It seems likely that the Baby Jogger folks were aiming this at people who want to jog with young kids and that having no storage room was a feature, since the missing space gives a runner room for their legs to step forward.

Part of the packaging was a flyer from the parent company TipToeTurtle.com . As well as BicycleTrailers.com, they have 8 other domain names that focus on high chairs or travel beds or child carriers and so on. They seem like a really nice, organized company.

I was expecting to have problems when I sent the trailer back - it’s never as easy to package it back up . However, they were as fast and responsive with updates on receiving the trailer and processing the refund as they were on the order. I would happily do business with them again.

I bought a Dell Dimension 9200 with a Quad Core processor. It hasn’t helped a lot but I’m reserving judgment on that until I get a second hard drive into the box. I’m suspecting that things are more I/O bound. Anyway, I didn’t want to pay what Dell wanted for a DVD R/W drive instead of a DVD drive so I got the box with just a DVD drive. I tried buying a DVD R/W drive at Target but the connections are wrong for my box. So I ordered a DVD R/W drive from NewEgg. I thought I was getting a deal because the drive had free shipping but as an OEM model, it didn’t come with a cable … and it turns out that SATA drives use individual cables (meaning they run directly from each drive to a port on the motherboard) instead of the IDE cables I’m used to. So I had to pop for a cable for $6. Got the right side of the case off easily without tools but couldn’t figure out how I was going to put screws into the left side of the drive - the left side is riveted to the rest of the case and is clearly not meant to come off. Got it and working with Ubuntu without too much trouble. Had to enable the drive in the BIOS but that was the only issue. After browsing for info, I came across Removing and Installing Parts: Dell Dimension 9200 Service Manual

Turns out that you can remove the 3 screws screwed into the back of the blank faceplate for the 5 1/4″ drive, put them into the drive you’re installing and then slide it into the case. Very, very neat. Gotta get my camera hooked up to the box so I can show you. This was the nicest design that I’ve seen in a while.

I really liked this article from Bike Hugger called Why I ride fixed. It fits very well with why I ride a Redline 9-2-5. I’ve got fenders, which I need for the wet here in Portland. It’s got brakes, which I need to slow Ben and I down in the trailer. And to slow me down - my legs aren’t up to stopping the bike by themselves yet.

I read Sheldon Brown’s article on Breezer Town where he says

The Breezer Uptown 8 is the best commuter bike available in the U.S.

There’s a lot of things to like about the Uptown 8. I was able to test-drive one at Veloce Bicycles on Hawthorne.

Pros

Shimano 8-speed hub
Hub-powered headlight and taillight - no batteries, hard to steal
Full chainguard - reduces wear

Cons

No disc brakes - want to pull trailer down a steep hill in the rain
Noise from rack and fenders
26″ x 1.5″ tires - seem slower than 700c tires

The deal breaker for me was the disc brakes. How much of an issue this is really going to be, I don’t know yet. The downhill is at the start of my ride, so the bike will be relatively dry and any brakes might work well. On the other hand, the end is the top of a “T”. If I can’t stop and manage to avoid being hit by the SUVs and mini-vans taking kids to school, I’ll run right into a house.

The twist shifter worked OK and would work well with gloves. I preferred the feel of Shimano’s RapidFire shifters but not sure that they’re as glove-friendly. I’ve also found the twist shifter seems to have more issues shifting smoothly than I would have thought. Some of this definitely may be due to my inexperience as a cyclist but I haven’t liked the sloppiness of my SRAM shifters (old Specialized Crossroads) or the Shimano 7 on an Electra Townie 7. I test-rode the Townie from the Bike Gallery on Sandy.

I’m pulling a trailer with my son in it 3 days a week for 3.5 miles. Not very far compared to some commuters. Because of the trailer and a couple of close calls the first week of riding, I’m picking routes with lots of bikes but also lots of stop signs. I can start my road bike in any gear - have more trouble with getting my foot in the pedal cage. But with a trailer on the back on the slow Crossroads bike, it matters a lot more. I’m assuming that it’ll be helpful to have the ability to shift up and down easily (without having to pedal) with the trailer. And after I’ve dropped the trailer, a chunk of riding is on one-way downtown streets with red lights. Again, useful to pick the gear on the spur of the moment.

Another issue may or may not be front shocks or lack thereof. I love the ride of my road bike, where the carbon fiber forks and seat stays tell me I’m hitting bumps but my hands don’t feel tired. I hate the feel of my old Specialized Crossroads, where the aluminum transmits all of the shock. In riding the Uptown 8, it seemed fine without the front shock. And I’ve been warned enough times about the loss of efficiency front shocks cause to believe in it. On the other hand, pulling a trailer over speed bumps causes its own issues. I’m guessing my preference would be for a commuter bike with carbon forks … which nobody makes.