How to Build Your Home Workshop

Posted on June 27, 2017 in How To / FAQ

There are a few ways to build your home workshop. One is to purchase all of the tools you need at once. Most people won’t be able to do this. Another way is to purchase tools here and there as you can afford it. And a third way is to purchase the tools as you need them. However you decide to do it, here is a list of tools that will make a fairly (not fully) complete workshop. This list isn’t all possible tools, but the ones that will help you get just about any job done. Without further ado, here we go:

All sizes metric unless otherwise noted

Gear brush
Chain lube (waxless) Rock n Roll or Pro Gold
Spray lube (GT85)
Degreaser (Simple Green)
Waterproof grease
Good floor pump
Hex wrenches
Tire levers
Torque wrench, the kind that clicks (one up to 15m)
Sockets (3 to 10)
Allen wrenches that go on sockets
Dedicated chain cleaner
Open ended wrenches (7mm – 19mm)
Cone wrenches
Screw drivers of various sizes
Chain checker (Park)
Digital pressure gauge
Needle nose & regular pliers
Patch kit (glueless for tubes, glue type for tubeless)
Chain tool (dedicated one)
Chain hook (usually homemade out of a coat hanger)
Bike stand (ParkTool PCS-4)
Lock ring tool, Whip chain, Crescent wrench (For removing cassettes)
Spoke wrenches
Picks (with different kinds of tips)
Park CNW2 (For holding back of chainring bolts)
Wire cutters (Cutter that does both the inner and outer wire)
Park BBT-9 bracket tool
Truing stand
Rim wrench (For taking dings out of rim)

 

Why Get Into Bicycling?

Posted on June 27, 2017 in Bicycling

You don’t have to be a hardcore cyclist, riding 50-100 miles a day (although, you may if that’s your thing) to experience the joys of cycling. There are numerous benefits of getting into cycling. Including, but not limited to:

  • Getting some exercise: Nothing like breathing nice fresh air and getting a little cardio in at the same time. Nice way to get in shape and lose a few pounds!
  • Reduce stress: This one kinda goes with the first one. It was been proven that exercise can help reduce stress and anxiety, and even help cheer you up when you’re feeling a little down.
  • Save Gas & Go Green: Gas is expensive. Cars pollute. Why not do your part, when you can, and go green?
  • Explore Your Environment: How often we drive by beautiful scenery, surroundings/architecture in our cars. On your bike, you can take it in and enjoy it all at a slower pace.

So let’s go, what are you waiting for?

Stravistix

Posted on June 27, 2017 in Fitness, Tech

Stravistix is a free analytics and monitoring utility that is somewhat comparable to TrainingPeaks, SportTracks and the like. It’s a Google Chrome Plugin that adds more data and information to your Strava data. It is recommended to have Strava Premium to get the most out of it.  While it’s not as robust as the previously mentioned tools, it’s a great addition to your Strava data.

Works with Google Chrome and Opera

Stravistix for Google Chrome

Stravistix for Opera