The march into the 21st Century for me continues. I have a sport action camera now. But first, before I delve in to all of the gizmo-tastic details, I must tell the story of how this happened, because....trust me...I wasn't planning on getting anything like this. I still haven't totally figured out my Olympus TG-3 or my Lezyne Super GPS yet, and adding another gizmo to the mix only sets me deeper into the knowledge gathering rabbit hole.
Anyway, as a mechanic, I am entitled to access the Shimano "S-Tec" site which gives me all the details and technical know-how to work on Shimano's stuff. Okay, so they came out with the new Ultegra 8000 series of components recently and I decided to check that out and see the video presentation Shimano had on S-Tec. There is a quiz you can take afterward which I did and passed. That automatically entered me in to a drawing for the Tour de France promotion which Shimano was doing. They are giving away two prizes daily to mechanics who took the Ultegra 8000 module. Well, on the first day, I won a Sport Cam CM-2000.
Weird.....
Anyway, it showed up last week and I have just gotten around to unboxing it and getting it charged up. The general specs show this camera has some impressive features, if you geek out on such things. First of all, it can record on the command of certain Bluetooth generated parameters like your heart rate, speed, or power out put. This means that, let's say, you have a very steep descent on a mountain bike trail. This might be a section you want recorded, so you can set the camera to start recording at a threshold of a certain speed and above, then shut off after that speed threshold has been gone under again. Or, maybe this raises your heart rate, so you could do the recording by that. Power output could be used to set off the camera recording on a climb, for instance. The theory being that you only get footage of parts that are worth watching.
The display and function buttons are pretty simple.
The cam is certainly outdoors friendly being waterproof and dust proof. There is a lens cover included which has a treated glass which can help shed water which may get splashed up on it for better video results.
The water and dust proofed access door to the battery, SD card slot, and USB connection. Here also is the mount provided.
There are the usual accessory mounting options which are available separately. I may pick up a handlebar and chest mounted one. For now, it'll go on my helmet. I actually already have a mount which this should work on for my Bell Super helmet. So, that is probably where I'll start out with this.
So, here we go down another gizmo rabbit hole..........
The march into the 21st Century for me continues. I have a sport action camera now. But first, before I delve in to all of the gizmo-tastic details, I must tell the story of how this happened, because....trust me...I wasn't planning on getting anything like this. I still haven't totally figured out my Olympus TG-3 or my Lezyne Super GPS yet, and adding another gizmo to the mix only sets me deeper into the knowledge gathering rabbit hole.
Anyway, as a mechanic, I am entitled to access the Shimano "S-Tec" site which gives me all the details and technical know-how to work on Shimano's stuff. Okay, so they came out with the new Ultegra 8000 series of components recently and I decided to check that out and see the video presentation Shimano had on S-Tec. There is a quiz you can take afterward which I did and passed. That automatically entered me in to a drawing for the Tour de France promotion which Shimano was doing. They are giving away two prizes daily to mechanics who took the Ultegra 8000 module. Well, on the first day, I won a Sport Cam CM-2000.
Weird.....
Anyway, it showed up last week and I have just gotten around to unboxing it and getting it charged up. The general specs show this camera has some impressive features, if you geek out on such things. First of all, it can record on the command of certain Bluetooth generated parameters like your heart rate, speed, or power out put. This means that, let's say, you have a very steep descent on a mountain bike trail. This might be a section you want recorded, so you can set the camera to start recording at a threshold of a certain speed and above, then shut off after that speed threshold has been gone under again. Or, maybe this raises your heart rate, so you could do the recording by that. Power output could be used to set off the camera recording on a climb, for instance. The theory being that you only get footage of parts that are worth watching.
The display and function buttons are pretty simple.
The cam is certainly outdoors friendly being waterproof and dust proof. There is a lens cover included which has a treated glass which can help shed water which may get splashed up on it for better video results.
The water and dust proofed access door to the battery, SD card slot, and USB connection. Here also is the mount provided.
There are the usual accessory mounting options which are available separately. I may pick up a handlebar and chest mounted one. For now, it'll go on my helmet. I actually already have a mount which this should work on for my Bell Super helmet. So, that is probably where I'll start out with this.
So, here we go down another gizmo rabbit hole..........
Leadville 100 Announces Riders To Get More Support:
There's a newsy bit out the other day saying that Mavic will have its famously yellow vehicles out on course supporting Leadville 100 riders. So, if you win the lottery to get into that event, maybe you can lighten your load now and not have to carry stuff to fix a flat tire anymore.
However that might work out for riders in reality, it was a certain comment about the proposal that I found very interesting. It came from a well respected mountain bike magazine's Twitter feed, and stated that this would send up Leadville's status to "a real race" level. Okay, that's a comment from a mountain bike magazine. Really?
I remember when mountain biking and self-sufficiency went hand in hand. Heck.....I can remember when all mtb events were accomplished on one bike! Boy.....we've come a long way away from that ideal! I'm cool with the different tools to get the different jobs done, but all the creeping in of things to make racing easier is really sucking the spirit of the sport out, in my opinion. Especially when it comes to mountain biking. Yep, it would not at all surprise me to see Mavic getting the nod to do neutral support at a gravel road racing event sometime in the future either. Maybe they already do here in the US. (No.....Strada Bianca doesn't count.)
Well, there's that.......
The idea of a variable speed crank isn't a new one
Wave Transmission: A New Bicycle Drive Train For The Future?
Bicycle innovation has been ongoing for well over 100 years now, and since there are many old ideas that weren't possible to produce due to manufacturing and materials technology limitations, we sometimes see things resurface. The idea for a variable speed crank without using multiple, fixed chain rings, isn't new, but it wasn't really possible to manufacture back a century ago.
As an example, I got this e-mail the other day concerning a "new" transmission for cycling. It's a "proof of concept" exercise at this stage, so you'll have to look past the crude, industrial, "works" nature of the component, but click the video here and watch what this does. It is pretty crazy.
Some of you might remember the Browning Automatic, or as it is known now, SmartShift. This isn't like that, although they both claim some similar benefits. The Wave Transmission does its thing by an expanding sprocket. I cannot comment on exactly how the system works, because the fellow behind this is trying to sell the idea to a bigger company to have it produced. He's guarding his secrets until that time.
I gotta say that it is pretty cool, but I am not sure it has an application for much of the cycling I do. I also have to say that my first inclination was that something maybe not quite as "wide ranging" could be used in tandem with an internal gear hub or gear box set up. Changing the initial drive ratio slightly in tandem with 14 to 18 internal gears might become something interesting for several applications, like cargo bikes, ultimate touring fat bikes, and the like.
Chris Holloway, a student at London's Brunel University, developed this variable ratio crankset in 2010
Again, the above is not anything new, not as far as the concept goes. A bit of "innergoogle" searching turned up another prototype by a student engineer from the UK. How long will it be before we see a variable ratio crank set without multiple chain rings? Well, we already have.
Think about the Hammerschmidt, the Patterson crank, or the Schlumpf Speed Drive. All attempts at putting a variable ratio on a crank/bottom bracket without multiple chain wheels. Then you could even throw in the Pinion gear box system into this conversation, although it doesn't necessarily have to be a bottom bracket/crank mounted system.
Will anything like these examples supplant the traditional multiple chain wheel/front derailleur set ups prevalent today? Will materials technologies and manufacturing processes become advanced enough that these alternative ways of driving a bicycle will become competitive in terms of efficiencies and weight?
Well, that's the thing, innit? The derailleur drive train surely has the fewest moving parts, lightest weight, and highest efficiency of any of the alternatives. Maybe someday we'll see a takeover, but there is a pretty solid reason we've seen the drive trains the way they have been for so many decades, and it has nothing at all to do with marketing.
Gizmo alert! A Bell Super with a 360° camera?
Bell Introduces A New Integrated Camera/Helmet Concept: 360 FLY
You can't get it until Fall of this year, and no one knows exactly what it will cost, ("Expensive" would be a good guess), but this new helmet/camera product should be the wave of the future for active sports video capture fans. No more funky looking "box on the head" craziness. Or so it is hoped.
Okay, as a concept, I like this idea. It's streamlined, looks great, and makes a lot more sense than what passes for helmets and cameras these days. But the technology that this set up promises is radical. By the way, Bell is doing this on a MX motorcycle helmet, a road motorcycle helmet, a snow sports helemet, and this mountain biking version. I can't imagine that at some point a road cycling helmet option wouldn't be offered, but that isn't in the cards for now. Anyway, check out the list of what it is claimed to do:
360° perspective video capture
Shoots video at 2880 X 2880 @ 30FPS
Also Shoots Conventional 16 X 9 Video
Developed In Conjunction With 360fly
Uses 360fly's Mobile Ap To Stream Live Video To Social Media
Built In GPS Sensor, Barometer, Altimeter, Accelerometer
WiFi and Bluetooth Enabled
2hrs Battery Life
AutoPilot action tracking – Allows users to track and follow the main subjects in their videos, making it easy to create dynamic edits with the rider at the center of it all.
Collision Avoidance Alert – Senses and automatically notifies the rider of potential oncoming dangers that are outside the rider’s natural field of vision
Live Streaming -- For professional, commercial or advanced users looking to live stream 360-degree video, the integrated camera pairs with its Micro-HDMI accessory base (sold separately) and is able to output a real-time full 360-degree HD video stream
I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. (<===HA!) No....I'll probably not be getting one of these, but I think you can expect to see the lowly bicycle helmet become a device sooner than later. In fact, just this week Garmin announced a HUD display unit that can be used with any eyewear you might have. Oh, and did you see that Nikon sports camera? Yeah......cyclists could end up looking like a rolling Robocop sooner than you think!
Now.......where did I leave that USB cord? I have to plug my helmet in for the night!
That's all for this week folks! Stay warm and roll those wheels when and where ya can!
Leadville 100 Announces Riders To Get More Support:
There's a newsy bit out the other day saying that Mavic will have its famously yellow vehicles out on course supporting Leadville 100 riders. So, if you win the lottery to get into that event, maybe you can lighten your load now and not have to carry stuff to fix a flat tire anymore.
However that might work out for riders in reality, it was a certain comment about the proposal that I found very interesting. It came from a well respected mountain bike magazine's Twitter feed, and stated that this would send up Leadville's status to "a real race" level. Okay, that's a comment from a mountain bike magazine. Really?
I remember when mountain biking and self-sufficiency went hand in hand. Heck.....I can remember when all mtb events were accomplished on one bike! Boy.....we've come a long way away from that ideal! I'm cool with the different tools to get the different jobs done, but all the creeping in of things to make racing easier is really sucking the spirit of the sport out, in my opinion. Especially when it comes to mountain biking. Yep, it would not at all surprise me to see Mavic getting the nod to do neutral support at a gravel road racing event sometime in the future either. Maybe they already do here in the US. (No.....Strada Bianca doesn't count.)
Well, there's that.......
The idea of a variable speed crank isn't a new one
Wave Transmission: A New Bicycle Drive Train For The Future?
Bicycle innovation has been ongoing for well over 100 years now, and since there are many old ideas that weren't possible to produce due to manufacturing and materials technology limitations, we sometimes see things resurface. The idea for a variable speed crank without using multiple, fixed chain rings, isn't new, but it wasn't really possible to manufacture back a century ago.
As an example, I got this e-mail the other day concerning a "new" transmission for cycling. It's a "proof of concept" exercise at this stage, so you'll have to look past the crude, industrial, "works" nature of the component, but click the video here and watch what this does. It is pretty crazy.
Some of you might remember the Browning Automatic, or as it is known now, SmartShift. This isn't like that, although they both claim some similar benefits. The Wave Transmission does its thing by an expanding sprocket. I cannot comment on exactly how the system works, because the fellow behind this is trying to sell the idea to a bigger company to have it produced. He's guarding his secrets until that time.
I gotta say that it is pretty cool, but I am not sure it has an application for much of the cycling I do. I also have to say that my first inclination was that something maybe not quite as "wide ranging" could be used in tandem with an internal gear hub or gear box set up. Changing the initial drive ratio slightly in tandem with 14 to 18 internal gears might become something interesting for several applications, like cargo bikes, ultimate touring fat bikes, and the like.
Chris Holloway, a student at London's Brunel University, developed this variable ratio crankset in 2010
Again, the above is not anything new, not as far as the concept goes. A bit of "innergoogle" searching turned up another prototype by a student engineer from the UK. How long will it be before we see a variable ratio crank set without multiple chain rings? Well, we already have.
Think about the Hammerschmidt, the Patterson crank, or the Schlumpf Speed Drive. All attempts at putting a variable ratio on a crank/bottom bracket without multiple chain wheels. Then you could even throw in the Pinion gear box system into this conversation, although it doesn't necessarily have to be a bottom bracket/crank mounted system.
Will anything like these examples supplant the traditional multiple chain wheel/front derailleur set ups prevalent today? Will materials technologies and manufacturing processes become advanced enough that these alternative ways of driving a bicycle will become competitive in terms of efficiencies and weight?
Well, that's the thing, innit? The derailleur drive train surely has the fewest moving parts, lightest weight, and highest efficiency of any of the alternatives. Maybe someday we'll see a takeover, but there is a pretty solid reason we've seen the drive trains the way they have been for so many decades, and it has nothing at all to do with marketing.
Gizmo alert! A Bell Super with a 360° camera?
Bell Introduces A New Integrated Camera/Helmet Concept: 360 FLY
You can't get it until Fall of this year, and no one knows exactly what it will cost, ("Expensive" would be a good guess), but this new helmet/camera product should be the wave of the future for active sports video capture fans. No more funky looking "box on the head" craziness. Or so it is hoped.
Okay, as a concept, I like this idea. It's streamlined, looks great, and makes a lot more sense than what passes for helmets and cameras these days. But the technology that this set up promises is radical. By the way, Bell is doing this on a MX motorcycle helmet, a road motorcycle helmet, a snow sports helemet, and this mountain biking version. I can't imagine that at some point a road cycling helmet option wouldn't be offered, but that isn't in the cards for now. Anyway, check out the list of what it is claimed to do:
360° perspective video capture
Shoots video at 2880 X 2880 @ 30FPS
Also Shoots Conventional 16 X 9 Video
Developed In Conjunction With 360fly
Uses 360fly's Mobile Ap To Stream Live Video To Social Media
Built In GPS Sensor, Barometer, Altimeter, Accelerometer
WiFi and Bluetooth Enabled
2hrs Battery Life
AutoPilot action tracking – Allows users to track and follow the main subjects in their videos, making it easy to create dynamic edits with the rider at the center of it all.
Collision Avoidance Alert – Senses and automatically notifies the rider of potential oncoming dangers that are outside the rider’s natural field of vision
Live Streaming -- For professional, commercial or advanced users looking to live stream 360-degree video, the integrated camera pairs with its Micro-HDMI accessory base (sold separately) and is able to output a real-time full 360-degree HD video stream
I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. (<===HA!) No....I'll probably not be getting one of these, but I think you can expect to see the lowly bicycle helmet become a device sooner than later. In fact, just this week Garmin announced a HUD display unit that can be used with any eyewear you might have. Oh, and did you see that Nikon sports camera? Yeah......cyclists could end up looking like a rolling Robocop sooner than you think!
Now.......where did I leave that USB cord? I have to plug my helmet in for the night!
That's all for this week folks! Stay warm and roll those wheels when and where ya can!
Note: I am not really too keen on doing "product reviews" on this
site, (that's why I have the other sites), but I know this blog has a
lot of readers that may wonder "what works for me" and what doesn't. So,
I've come up with a series that will allow for my recommendations
called "WW4M", (What Works For Me"), and here's another one....
Bell Helmets are the ones for meeeeee! Ha! Well......it is true. They are. There's a good story behind this too. It goes back a ways to my high school football days.
My time spent playing football from 9th grade through until 12th grade was all done in the same helmet. The school had to special order my helmet because my noggin was so big! It's a 7 7/8ths hat size, or about 64cm around the "dome". The high school, figuring that I had soiled the helmet for four years running and that they probably wouldn't ever need it again, let me have it after the senior season was over. Yep! Ever since then, finding a proper hat, let alone a bicycle helmet was frustrating.
In fact, I never wore a helmet for years. That is, until one day I crashed and came millimeters from hitting my skull on a concrete water collection box. That was my "wake up call", if you will. So, I set out to find a helmet that might work. This would have been about 1992.
I stumbled upon a Shoei model, (precursor to Troy Lee Helmets),which looked close, and ordered it up. It had a ton of foam material that I was able to dremel away to get a custom fit. I ended up owning two of those, and then moved to Giro helmets, which always fit weird on my head. A friend suggested I try a Bell Helmet, and it was love at first fitting. I've been wearing size Large Bell helmets ever since. Nothing else I've tried, (and I've tried others), works as well for me.
So when it came time for a new helmet to fit my longish, narrowish, egg shaped brain case, I went with the newest mountain bike helmet from Bell, the "Super". In many ways, I feel it is the best Bell helmet yet for off road.
Actually, it sort of reminds me of that old Shoei helmet I used to have. The Super sports a big visor, that moves up and down a fair amount. It has a thicker-than-road-bike helmet shell and thicker absorbing foam under that. It's got a big aluminum fastener for the visor, just like the old Shoei did too.
But the Super is very different in some key areas. Of course, fit is the major one. I didn't have to dremel away any material on the Super! But there are some cool details I like. One of them is the strap system, which instead of being a webbing that intertwines into the helmet structure, is much more like my old football helmet, in that the straps are anchored into the "tabs" of the shell that come down either side of your ears. This makes the Super fit like a "helmet", and not like a "bicycle helmet", if that makes any sense. That said, it does have a rear structure that grips the back of the head via an adjuster knob.
The Super also comes with a removable mount for a Go-Pro type camera. In fact it is a Go-Pro mount. I do not own a Go-Pro, but this might be a cool detail that you may appreciate. I happen to like the back of this helmet, which doesn't look all "aero" and pointy. This appeals to me on the looks basis, but also should prove to be hood friendly in Winter. The Super's visor is removable, but I have kept it on, and I like it for deflecting the odd branch, dirt clod, and it does a fair job of keeping the sun out of my eyes.
I was a bit put out that I could not place my eyewear in the vents above the visor though, but I did discover the trick. You have to push the visor up, and then stick the glasses in the vents underneath the visor, then everything is right with the world again. Okay- with that crisis averted, I was settled and I can say the Super is, well.........super! I like it, and it works really well for me. It is no hotter than my roadie based helmet, and it has more coverage than that helmet does, which is probably a good thing for off roading. My only complaint so far is that the Super is heavy. A long ride might make me feel a bit like I wished for my lighter helmet, but sometimes I don't notice this. The Super weighs in at 430 grams. My roadie helmet, a Bell Ghisallo, weighs in at 350 grams.
Bell has a trick goggle system for this helmet I want to check out for winter fat biking. But even without that, I know this is my off road, fat bike in Winter helmet of choice. It's got all the bells and whistles: X-static padding, the little dial in the back to fit the thing onto your skull, and adjustable straps with cam locks that are easily adjusted. The Super comes in several arresting color combos for about $125.00, which I find quite reasonable.
So, yeah....this works for me really well.
Note: I purchased this Bell Helmet Super with my own cashola, and I was not asked for this review, or compensated for it in any way. So there!
Note: I am not really too keen on doing "product reviews" on this
site, (that's why I have the other sites), but I know this blog has a
lot of readers that may wonder "what works for me" and what doesn't. So,
I've come up with a series that will allow for my recommendations
called "WW4M", (What Works For Me"), and here's another one....
Bell Helmets are the ones for meeeeee! Ha! Well......it is true. They are. There's a good story behind this too. It goes back a ways to my high school football days.
My time spent playing football from 9th grade through until 12th grade was all done in the same helmet. The school had to special order my helmet because my noggin was so big! It's a 7 7/8ths hat size, or about 64cm around the "dome". The high school, figuring that I had soiled the helmet for four years running and that they probably wouldn't ever need it again, let me have it after the senior season was over. Yep! Ever since then, finding a proper hat, let alone a bicycle helmet was frustrating.
In fact, I never wore a helmet for years. That is, until one day I crashed and came millimeters from hitting my skull on a concrete water collection box. That was my "wake up call", if you will. So, I set out to find a helmet that might work. This would have been about 1992.
I stumbled upon a Shoei model, (precursor to Troy Lee Helmets),which looked close, and ordered it up. It had a ton of foam material that I was able to dremel away to get a custom fit. I ended up owning two of those, and then moved to Giro helmets, which always fit weird on my head. A friend suggested I try a Bell Helmet, and it was love at first fitting. I've been wearing size Large Bell helmets ever since. Nothing else I've tried, (and I've tried others), works as well for me.
So when it came time for a new helmet to fit my longish, narrowish, egg shaped brain case, I went with the newest mountain bike helmet from Bell, the "Super". In many ways, I feel it is the best Bell helmet yet for off road.
Actually, it sort of reminds me of that old Shoei helmet I used to have. The Super sports a big visor, that moves up and down a fair amount. It has a thicker-than-road-bike helmet shell and thicker absorbing foam under that. It's got a big aluminum fastener for the visor, just like the old Shoei did too.
But the Super is very different in some key areas. Of course, fit is the major one. I didn't have to dremel away any material on the Super! But there are some cool details I like. One of them is the strap system, which instead of being a webbing that intertwines into the helmet structure, is much more like my old football helmet, in that the straps are anchored into the "tabs" of the shell that come down either side of your ears. This makes the Super fit like a "helmet", and not like a "bicycle helmet", if that makes any sense. That said, it does have a rear structure that grips the back of the head via an adjuster knob.
The Super also comes with a removable mount for a Go-Pro type camera. In fact it is a Go-Pro mount. I do not own a Go-Pro, but this might be a cool detail that you may appreciate. I happen to like the back of this helmet, which doesn't look all "aero" and pointy. This appeals to me on the looks basis, but also should prove to be hood friendly in Winter. The Super's visor is removable, but I have kept it on, and I like it for deflecting the odd branch, dirt clod, and it does a fair job of keeping the sun out of my eyes.
I was a bit put out that I could not place my eyewear in the vents above the visor though, but I did discover the trick. You have to push the visor up, and then stick the glasses in the vents underneath the visor, then everything is right with the world again. Okay- with that crisis averted, I was settled and I can say the Super is, well.........super! I like it, and it works really well for me. It is no hotter than my roadie based helmet, and it has more coverage than that helmet does, which is probably a good thing for off roading. My only complaint so far is that the Super is heavy. A long ride might make me feel a bit like I wished for my lighter helmet, but sometimes I don't notice this. The Super weighs in at 430 grams. My roadie helmet, a Bell Ghisallo, weighs in at 350 grams.
Bell has a trick goggle system for this helmet I want to check out for winter fat biking. But even without that, I know this is my off road, fat bike in Winter helmet of choice. It's got all the bells and whistles: X-static padding, the little dial in the back to fit the thing onto your skull, and adjustable straps with cam locks that are easily adjusted. The Super comes in several arresting color combos for about $125.00, which I find quite reasonable.
So, yeah....this works for me really well.
Note: I purchased this Bell Helmet Super with my own cashola, and I was not asked for this review, or compensated for it in any way. So there!
