I am not sure if I have a couple weeks that go by where I don’t see someone talking about their stolen bike on Facebook. A friend of mine even had one stolen off the top of his SUV in his company parking lot.

It may not surprise you that the FBI statistics claim that 204,000 bicycles were stolen nationwide in 2010, but those are only the documented thefts. The actual number, I would imagine, is much higher.

So the big question of the day is “what can we do to protect ourselves?” This is obviously a problem that is not going away. With the price of equipment going up, the street value is as well. And…let’s face it…even if that were not the case, bicycles are a highly sought after item for the people low enough to steal.

We can bitch, moan and complain, but the reality is that petty theft is a real problem and bicycles are a big ticket item in that category. We need to protect our two wheeled treasure as best we can given the conditions. However, even when it seems like we have done everything, bad people will still try and succeed. Our hope is that what goes around comes around and they pay for it eventually.

6 Tips To Secure Your Ride

So what can we do to decrease the odds and keep our bikes…well…ours.

1. Forget the cable…go steel or chain – While cable locks look like they protect you from theft, all they really do is keep someone who doesn’t know how to steal bikes from performing a grab and go (think kids). By using a chain like the Kyrponite I personally use or a heavy duty u-lock made out of hardened steel, you greatly increase your chances of the thief going to the next bike to save the trouble.
2. Bike rack locks are worthless – Yes, that lock on your Thule T2 arm looks like it does something, but even I can un-rack your bike from the bike rack in under a minute with those things. All you have to do is take the front wheel off the bike. Any cable lock or locking system on bike racks only prevents the thieves mentioned in the tip above. Anyone who knows how to steal a bike will have yours quickly if that is all you rely on.
3. Never leave your bike outside overnight – It’s dark, they have almost unlimited uninterrupted time and you can’t do anything about it. Even the best locking systems fail in these conditions. Take your bike inside or put it in the trunk of a car if you can.
4. Avoid really flashy looking parts – If you are going to be in situations where your bike is going to be in danger a lot, try not to lust after the matching ano and carbon bits are you are just creating more attention to your bike.
5. Ride a beater – Sounds funny…but think of this as a different horse for different courses. If you have certain situations where you know you are more at risk for theft, have a cheaper bike for then and your staple, high end bike for when you know it isn’t going to get taken. That way, you aren’t quite as upset when your cheap bike gets stripped down or taken. You can get anything off of Craigslist and eBay that it is great condition on the cheap.
6. Get Insured – Auto insurance doesn’t normally cover stolen bikes. If you really want replacement cost taken care of if your bike is stolen, get a renters insurance policy or an adder to your homeowner’s insurance to cover the bikes while you are out driving around with them or riding them. You also need to be sure to accurately document all parts with pictures so they can be provided for the claim. These insurance policies are crazy cheap and can save you thousands.

Nothing is truly ever safe and at the end of the day…it is still just stuff. It is never worth dying over a bike trying to save it from getting stolen, but at least we can increase our chances of it not happening to begin with.

So…here is the footage of Chris Akrigg falling off a cliff and the progress on his recovery.

From the crew here at Bike198, we hope Chris continues to recover well and thanks for the update!

Harry Main 2011, #VX Edit. Hope you enjoy. head over to www.facebook.com/harrymainfanpage hit harry up with your thoughts on edit and show some love!

Drew Bezanson is back! Shot at Joyride 150 Bike Park.

Music: Pretty Lights – If I Could Feel Feel Again

Shot with:

Panasonic HMC150
Canon 60D
Canon EF 24-70mm f2.8
Canon EF 50mm f1.4
16×9 EXII Fisheye
Rode NTG2 mic
Rode Video Mic

Filmed & Edited by: Justen Soule

But…I would be interested to see what actual bike messengers in NYC think of this movie. Did they just take what they do for a living too mainstream? Did they cheapen up the fixie subculture by laying it over a pretty weak “you are going to die if you don’t do this” plot?

Regardless, it will probably include some incredible riding even if the acting and subplot is lacking. For that alone…it might be worth watching. Check out the trailer and let us know what you think.

Dodging speeding cars, crazed cabbies, open doors, and eight million cranky pedestrians is all in a day’s work for Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the best of New York’s agile and aggressive bicycle messengers. It takes a special breed to ride the fixie — super lightweight, single-gear bikes with no brakes and riders who are equal part skilled cyclists and suicidal nutcases who risk becoming a smear on the pavement every time they head into traffic.

But a guy who’s used to putting his life on the line is about to get more than even he is used to when a routine delivery turns into a life or death chase through the streets of Manhattan. When Wilee picks up his last envelope of the day on a premium rush run, he discovers this package is different. This time, someone is actually trying to kill him.

Take the sidewalk or the road? This is the pressing issue of safety for some many bike commuters. And many new cyclists make the mistake of sticking to the sidewalk because it seems less intimidating when you consider the other optional traffic-filled road. I myself, came to the decision after a dangerous accident with a car making a left turn when I road my bike through a crosswalk. The car struck my bike, throwing me off and caused severe injury to my right leg which forced me to spend 6 months in rehabilitation. Luckily I was smart enough to contact a personal injury lawyer in Denver, which is my hometown, and seek compensation for my injuries.

Surprisingly, many cyclists are dead set on the sidewalk because they assume it’s the safest place to ride. Unfortunately, they are mistaken, the sidewalk isn’t very safe for bicycles at all and this is why:

1. The sidewalk offers poor maneuverability on a bike. Sure, you don’t have to worry about being struck by a car from behind, but you’ll have to dodge running kids, people walking dogs, elderly folks who are unable to clear the way fast enough and other cyclists coming at you head on. So youíre not only a danger to yourself, but to pedestrians as well!
2. Drivers in cars on the road are not looking for fast moving objects, like bikes, on the sidewalks. This is why it’s imperative to get off of your bike and cross street on foot while pushing your bike. Otherwise you risk getting struck by a left or right turning car.
3. The surfaces of sidewalks are not maintained for bike traffic. You could be facing potholes and other uneven surfaces for riding.
4. In many cities, itís illegal to ride on the sidewalk and cyclists face tickets should they choose the sidewalk and endanger pedestrians.

Equally dangerous, for entirely different reasons, is choosing to ride on the extreme right side of the road due to the following threats to cyclists:

1. You increase your chances of getting hit when car try to squeeze past you in the same lane.
2. You ride in a blind spot of any approaching cars. Imagine you’re a car approaching the tail end of another car. The car in front is moving very slow so you follow a little too closely, but what’s the harm? Suddenly, the first car swerves around a cyclist, but as the second driver you didn’t notice the cyclist as it was traveling in behind the first car. As the second driver, it’s too late to stop because didn’t realize the cyclist was on the road until it was too late.

6 reasons why claiming the lane is your safest option as a cyclist

1. Drivers will automatically make room for you.
2. Drivers will be forced to slow down when you claim the lane in order to pass you.
3. You are now in the field of vision of other drivers. It’s important to be visible to other drivers on the road and ahead, in the middle of the lane is where drivers keep their eyes peeled for other cars. Claiming the lane means you will be seen by cars approaching you from behind and the side, just as much as you will by oncoming traffic.
4. You will protect your tires this way. Where does all the dangerous debris and litter collect? It pools on roadsides where it can cause a fall or puncture your tires. Take to the roads for the flattest and safest riding surface available to cyclists.
5. You’ll enjoy a stress free ride on the road where it’s safer, easier to peddle and the risk of being struck by a car is lessened.
6. You are making the roads safer by riding there.  Cyclists who claim the lane have a long term effect on road safety by spreading a ‘share the road’ mentality. If drivers are forced to watch for you, they will be more aware of sharing the roadways with other cyclists, motorcycles, pedestrians in crosswalks and other vehicles.

This article was written by Colleen Harding who is a freelance writer that loves commuting by bike.

It is the season for giving, so Bike198 and Huck N Roll teamed up to give away a $250 gift card to Huck N Roll! For those of you that don’t know, Huck N Roll is an awesome online retailer of bikes, parts and accessories. You are sure to find something you need and $250.00 can go a long way.

How do you win this gift card?

Over the next 2 weeks, you need to do 3 simple tasks to be eligible to win.

1. Click the like button at the bottom of this article.
2. Start 2 threads on the Bike198.com forums (register by clicking here)
3. Reply to 5 other threads on the Bike198.com forums.

It’s that simple. The winner will be picked and announced on December 20th, but go ahead and jump on it so you do not forget.

For the purposes of this review, Global Gear provided two models out of their lineup: the W660 and N230. Let’s take a look at the specs.

Nocturn W660 LED Lighting System

• 660 Lumens Aluminum LED Head Unit
• Machined Aluminum Bar Mount
• 2-Cell 3.7V Lithium Ion Battery Pack
• Compact 100-240V Travel Charger
• Travel Case
• System Weight: 280 grams
• Flood Beam
• 2 Light Power Levels
• Retail Cost: $99.00

NocturnN230 LED Lighting System

• 230 Lumens Aluminum LED Head Unit
• Machined Aluminum Helmet Mount
• 2-Cell 3.7V Lithium Ion Battery Pack
• Compact 100-240V Travel Charger
• Travel Case
• System Weight: 290 grams
• Spot Beam
• 2 Light Power Levels
• Price: Not currently listed on Global-Gear.com

As you can see by the pictures above, the Nocturn lights come in foam encased travel cases to protect the aluminum constructed bike lights and mounts. The N230 is a spot beam and the W660 is a flood, so the crew at Global Gear recommended we run the N230 on the helmet for accurate focused light where our head was pointed and the brighter flood light on the bars to cover the wider spread on the ground.

Review: Nocturn W660 and N230 LED Bike Lights

When you first open the cases, you immediately notice the black housings of the LED bike lights from Nocturn. The machining is accurate and the black ano is well done. On the surface, the lights appear much more expensive than the pricing suggests. However, due to the all aluminum construction, you will not just be throwing these lights in with the rest of your gear as the rougher edges will scratch plastics. The supplied travel cases are almost a must to keep the lights scratch free as well as the rest of your gear.

On the back, there is a simple one button on/off operation that is easy to get to and operate. Hit the button once for on, once more to bring it down one power level and then again for off. Pretty simple stuff.

Most riders I know use their helmet mounts almost exclusively. The Nocturn mount is easy to use and features another aluminum machined mount that attaches with elastic straps. The light actually slides into a collar that is then tightened with an allen head bolt. The mount is secure and the elastic straps allow you to get the light secure on the helmet. The only downside to the mount is the inability to secure the loose straps.

Due to the lightweight nature of the light kit, you are actually able to mount the battery to your helmet as well. This keeps any wires from having to run down your back if you can take a little bit of extra weight (overall 290 grams which is pretty light). There is a supplied extension cable if you would rather put the small battery in your jersey pocket or hydration pack.

The handlebar mount has a similar aluminum construction as the helmet mount. The light attaches the exact same way and a collar with a removable bolt handles the mounting to the handlebar duties.

Our battery was strapped to the top tube as our stem was too short to accommodate the battery’s length.

It still worked out well and the cable was able to be kept out of harms way.

Overall, both systems were incredibly easy to mount and secure on the bike and helmet. The mounts were well made and the pivoting point on each was strong enough to keep the lights from working their way down under heavy hits and vibrations.

Light Performance: W660 and N230 LED Bike Lights

Before we talk about the specifics on the performance of these lights, let’s take a look at a couple of pictures. These were taken with the following settings on a Nikon D7000 with a Sigma 50mm/f1.4 lens: ISO400, F/6.3, 0.5 second shutter speed. The images were imported in Lightroom 3 and left unedited to keep them looking as much like they were when taken from about a 30 foot distance.

Single W660

Single N230

Both W660 and N230

As you can see by the pictures, there is a distinct difference in both brightness and spread in the N230 and W660. The combination of the two actually doesn’t look much different than the W660 fired by itself as the N230 gets almost completely washed out.

The W660 does a good job of providing foreground light and the 660 lumens specification seems about dead on. It provides a lot of usable light out of a small package. Quoted, the W660 will run for up to 2.5 hours on high and up to 10 hours on low and the N230 will run for up to 5 hours on high and up to 14 hours on low. We didn’t test the lights under the low condition (we like things BRIGHT on the trail), but the quoted times seemed about dead on for each unit on high.

So after looking at the specs and beam patterns…are these low budget lights worth it?

Overall: Nocturn W660 and N230 LED Bike Lights

For the W660, absolutely. At the cost of $99.00 dollars, it almost makes the light disposable in the bike light world where name brands will cost you 5x as much. The lightweight nature of the unit makes it incredibly versatile and the beam pattern is great for trail use. Your friends with 1,000 lumens + will have more light, but at 660 lumens there is plenty of useable light for the trail.

On the N230, we honestly didn’t get much out of it. I understand what Global Gear is saying about using a spot on the helmet and flood on the bars, but I would rather just run a flood on the helmet and nothing on the bike. For a backup, the W660 is cheap enough to just get two and have much more usable light if you want to run a two light setup. The spot just doesn’t cover enough spread and gets washed out by the W660 anyway.

The bike light industry is really getting rocked by these low cost LED’s and we can see why. Even if the unit failed after a year, you are only out a hundred bucks! You can buy 5 of these before you are up in the range of the name brand units. That is a hard argument to make a case against if you ask me. Especially for riders looking to ride at night on a budget or endurance racers looking to keep the weight off.

Positive: Nocturn LED Bike Lights

• Unbelievable price makes them almost disposable
• Quality aluminum construction with lights and mounts
• Carrying cases included
• W660 has a nice spread and amount of usable trail light
• Spec’ed run times are accurate…low times allow for endurance racing.

Negative: Nocturn LED Bike Lights

• Aluminum construction makes the cases almost necessary
• N230 rendered about useless when paired with the W660 and we wouldn’t use it alone
• Availability: Off the global-gear.com website only
• 4 hour full charge time is a little bit long

For more information, check out Global-Gear.com.

Discuss this video here –> Flatland BMX Video

Dephect rider Matti Hemmings riding in Bristol in the UK.

Music – The Glitch Mob V La Roux : In for the Kill / Bad Wings

stephenbrooksfilms.com
dephect.com