Black on black is now in lights

Sun rise is now about 6.30 am and sun set is about 6.20 pm, so guess what - you need lights on your bike if you plan to ride with the group at 6.00 in the morning. There is quite a choice, ranging from the $30-$40 simple led front lights, to those running over $200 (and up to $600!!!!).

The cheap front lights are fine if you just want people to see you from the front, and for slow 'I must get home soon' riding, but if you want to see what is on the road when doing 30 km/hr or more, you need more expensive and stronger lights.

There are some very good flashing back lights for about $30, so check out bikes on the morning ride and ask. If a car is going be a problem, it is the one that is coming from behind, so ditch that old generation flashing light and buy a good high intensity LED flasher.

And who is it that rides a black bike with no lights and wears black cycle clothing? Mr Stealth!
[UPDATE: I've been warned that the lights are now on, but there will be special noise baffles to mask the approach and whooshing noise at it goes past!]

Adjusting those derailleurs - Online video tells you how

For some of you without the experience of adjusting front and rear derailleurs, these videos may help.

• Bicycle Maintenance: How To Adjust a Rear Derailleur
• How to Adjust a Front Derailleur (a bit slow to load so give it time)

The first one gets good feedback, Not sure about the second one.

Sometimes you need to stop and sharpen the chainsaw

At least, that is the story I use when 'just do it' means that the chainsaw is blunt, or in this case, the bike chain was stretched, the chain rings looked like shuriken (throwing stars), and the back tyre had so many nicks and was so worn that I was expecting it to blow at any moment.

So I did not go for that ride, and changed the tyre, changed both chain rings, fitted a new chain and checked the bottom bracket (fine - sealed bearings in those things are fantastic), and 'oiled' the cleats. And then made the best coffee this side of Melbourne (who's to argue?).

I really should grease the headsets on all three bikes,, but that will have to wait for another weekend.

Well, how about the ones that did the ride getting on here and telling us about it?