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What is an icon? Literally, a sacred image painted on a wooden or metal tablet. But we know that for almost every word, we have a literal meaning and a figurative one. So this term of Russian origin ended up by indicating (also) characters, objects and emblematic styles of an era. Like the Citizen Messanger bag created by Chrome Industries. Iconic at its maximum; a stylistic icon above all. Of a lifestyle, because you wear…

There are some tools that should never be missing in a cyclist’s house: one of them is a good work stand. It is not necessary to be a fanatic of mechanics or one of those who, on the evening before each riding, dismount and reassemble the bike. Because the bicycle is, after all, a simple object and, with little periodic care, it will be able to keep us company for many years. Being able “to…

And now, let’s talk about helmets; in the plural, because we will test a couple of them, both proposed by Met Helmets in the urban range: the Corso and the Grancorso. Similar and different at the same time, the family air in common and some details, but nothing more. One of them, the Corso (the white one in the picture) is a typical urban helmet both for its shape and its technical solutions; the other…

Second test dedicated to urban cycling; after the Rose Pro Duo Plus pedals, it is the turn of a pair of shoes, with a dual function too: the Truk Pro Bike Shoe, proposed by the American Chrome Industries. Dual function because the appearance is that of a normal pair of walking shoes, but the sole has a removable flap that conceals the seat for Spd cleats. So they can used to stroll around on foot…

Met Helmet decided to celebrate its thirty years with a top helmet; for the materials, the constructive choices, the performance, the comfort: the Trenta 3K Carbon. And me, who courted the company since the news launching, I could get my hands on it, or rather put it on my head, as soon as the specimen reserved for the press arrived. I have this helmet since January and we are in late April. Usually I do…

There are still people who think that the bike helmet is an unnecessary nuisance; its use relegated to the most sporting fanatics. I, on the opposite, firmly believe that the helmet is necessary, as any other safety protection, and that’s why I am proposing the test of another helmet: the Met Manta. A top one of the sport range, often used by racing professionals and characterized by the absence of the big front air intake…

There is no Mtb world in this blog; it’s my choice, it’s not a kind of bike that fascinates me. I enjoy off-road riding, let’s be clear, but I must take a racing turn to be happy on the saddle. That’s why I decided to offer you an off-road shoes test: the BRN Cross. Are you understanding nothing, eh? Yes, I know, I do it on purpose… 😀 Seriously, you know that I often use…

I tested two components devoted to comfort: a damped seatpost and a saddle with a gel padding. Both proposed by the German company Ergotec, a company that devoted to research of various solutions to make the cyclists comfortable. It has a large catalog with very peculiar products, such as several handlebars adjustable in amplitude and then in angling. But also stems and seatposts with different adjustment options, always in search of the best pedaling position….

Quick release pedals are not new to the market, but it’s worth talking about them because they represent a more practical solution than it may seem. Having to decide which model to use, I chose to turn to a top company, which already for several years has made this technical solution available to us cyclists. The choice therefore went to two models in the catalog of Mikashima Industrial Co., better known as MKS; one for…

Another unusual component for this blog: a rim dynamo. Unusual, because as you know, I am not a big user of energy producer components, as for my needs I use just a couple of battery lights and it’s better they are very small. I need a lighting system only to be visible and not to see the road, and between the two there is a big difference. But because a component does not fit into…

I like to alternate my tests of accessories or typically urban and tourist components with others more sporty. Because it’s my way of interpreting the bike; it’s my “life on pedals”, made out of sport or vagabond going out, of stints to the utmost or of slow city transfers. That is why we will see a sport helmet: the Met Strale; even if I can anticipate that, after having used it for several weeks and…

This blog is named after a bike, my Ellesar; subtitle: life on the pedals. From day one I decided that I would try to respond to the doubts of the passionate cyclist, the one who likes cycling in many different ways. This explains why I deal with sport bikes and sport accessories, emphasizing – at the same time – what we use in our daily life on the pedals, precisely. In the last few days…

The latest products to review from the Taiwanese Gearoop, those I liked the most: the LED lights. This article comes late because I was waiting for an additional shipment to meet my personal request, which we will see at the end of the article. I simply titled them “LED lights” because we will see them in different shapes , but all sharing the exquisite workmanship and the undoubted originality of the chosen solutions, as it…

Can you recall the story of the Columbus’ egg? Surely a simple solution on the outlook, but also one which no-one had thought about before. You could think similarly of the Gripster, the latest creation of the Scottish start-up By Cyclogical. It would probably be difficult to define the Gripster as something other than a wee plasticky thingy of very intuitive use. ‘I could’ve come up wi’that!’, you might be thinking. And yet, as most…

We, as cyclists, are the second riskier category on the road, after the pedestrians. With them, we share the condition of being unarmed, without the strong metal armour which shields four-wheeled drivers. We have few weapons at our disposal: our and other people’s prudence, the hope of infrastructures suitable for bikes, the utopia of traffic regulations protecting us, and making ourselves well visible to whoever shares our road. A really poor arsenal, therefore. Luckily the…

Another product against conventions, proposed by the Taiwanese Gearoop, indeed another well-known product, reinterpreted with imagination. And I did not expect less from somebody who mounts the kickstand to the crank and the lights to the QR (which we will see next time). It is an aluminum and ergal rack, or an aluminum, ergal and carbon one for those bikes devoid of specific attacks, on which other solutions, for example using some clamps, are precluded….

A bike is simple or complex? It depends on how we look at it. Who among you has ever opened a Rohloff gear or some Campagnolo Delta brakes, was amazed by the amount of mechanisms. On the contrary, if we look at a bike just for what it is, then it’s really simple: a frame, two wheels, a seat and handlebar, a gear to go around and some brakes (but not always…) to stop. There…

Lately, you may have noticed my interest in multi-purpose bikes. It’s a kind of cycles that intrigues me for many years, although I must confess that, when I was younger, I created many of them for other people and very few for myself; I struggled to resist the lure of sport bike. The gravel phenomenon sails before the wind, but in the ocean of proposals it is difficult for a captain to choose the right…