Cycling
Tyre Pressure Is a Trade-Off, Not a Race to the Top
Harder is not faster past a certain point. Pressure balances rolling resistance against the energy your body absorbs from a rough…
Joel Pereira
Workshop writer, Ride Banana
Joel writes the repair pieces and believes most bikes are one cable adjustment from feeling new.
Contact Joel through our contact page — mark your message for their attention and it will be passed on.
9 articles
Cycling
Saddle Height Changes More Than Comfort
A saddle two centimetres out feels like nothing for the first ten minutes. It shows up later as a sore knee, a rocking hip or legs…
Cycling
Hub Gears and Derailleurs Solve Different Problems
One is efficient, cheap and exposed. The other is sealed, heavy and shifts while you are standing still. Which is right depends on…
Cycling
Folding Bikes Trade Ride Quality for Somewhere to Put It
Every hinge is a compromise with stiffness. What you buy back is a bicycle that fits under a desk and travels on a train without an…
Cycling
Chain Cases, Belts and the Case for Less Cleaning
An exposed chain collects grit, throws oil at your trousers and wears out in the rain. Both alternatives cost you something else.
Cycling
Spoke Count and Rim Depth Decide How a Wheel Survives Potholes
A bicycle wheel is a pre-tensioned structure, not a solid disc. What breaks it is usually a spoke going slack, not a rim being weak.
Riding the City
Learning the Back Streets Beats Learning the Main Roads
The road that gets you there is the one you already know from a car. The one you will enjoy is usually a street over, and nobody…
Riding the City
Wayfinding Is the Cheap Fix Most Cycle Networks Skip
A route nobody can follow is a route nobody uses. Signs cost a fraction of the infrastructure they connect and are usually the last…
Riding the City
Who Rides Tells You What a City Got Right
Count the riders and you learn little. Look at who they are, and you learn almost everything about how the conditions actually feel.