Showing posts with label bicycle. Show all posts

Thursday, 14 June 2012

US Army bike, a 1936 Hawthorne Cadet... with saddle bags, and 2 speeds

notice the big sprocket is formed with the H of the Hawthorne bike company

Friday, 18 May 2012

Bike Lock comparison by Men's Journal

In this month's Men's Journal (June 2012) on page 120, is a new comparison, but that isn't available online yet, so here is the results, and I followed that with the 2009 Men's Journal comparison by the same writer.

Knog Strongman $100 Hawleyusa.com
Best in Class
1 minute 45 seconds with angle grinder, hacksaw couldn't beat it, boltcutters were useless against it

next best
Blackburn San Quentin $90 blackburndesign.com
boltcutters useless, hacksaw in 3:32 grinder in 1:18

Kryptonite New York Legend 1590 $175 kryptonitelock.com
boltcutters and hacksaw useless, grinder in 2:30

Judged in 2009 by Men's Journal writer Stan Horaczek, on security, usability, and theft insurance — the maximum amount a lock company will reimburse you if its lock fails.

By Stan Horaczek-

-Our Testing Methods:

We needed a lock-picker, so we called Dave LaBarge, former world-champion safecracker. When not competing, he runs LaBarge Lock & Safe Technicians, in Watervliet, New York. We also needed muscle. We tried a two-by-four (a favorite of thieves), but since that didn’t budge any of the shackles, we resorted to power tools. We even attacked one with the Jaws of Life.

Expert’s Pick: Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboudit U-Lock
Theft insurance: $4,500
New York is a playground for bike thieves, and Kryptonite invites them to try with their top-gun U-lock. Its 18mm steel shackle (2mm thicker than the Squire’s) lasted longer under the knife than all but the OnGuard, and the lock refused to be picked. Add in the second-best theft insurance and it earns our nod. [$100; kryptonitelock.com] Security: 9/10; Usability: 7/10

Abus Granit X Plus 54 U-Lock
Theft insurance: None
“Looks like you should be able to drill through the case,” said LaBarge. But even after punching through two layers of steel, the lock wouldn’t budge. Next we tried the power tool. It cut through the 13mm squared-off shackle more easily than it did the Squire or Kryptonite, but it took more time and made more noise than most thieves would tolerate. [$111;abus.com] Security: 8/10; Usability: 7/10

Masterlock 8200D Pro Street Cuff
Theft insurance: $3,500
The cuff’s short link kept us from getting leverage for a prying attack or a good angle for our power tool. LaBarge eventually opened them using a locksmithing secret we can’t reveal — “not something the average bike thief is capable of.” More problematic: The cuff’s small opening wouldn’t fit around our mountain bike’s wheel. [$68; masterlockbike.com] Security:7/10; Usability: 6/10

Squire Paramount Plus U-Lock
Theft insurance: None
“I bet that will pick,” said LaBarge, and five minutes later, he had it open. Our brute force attacks didn’t go so smoothly — the 16mm-diameter steel lasted 13 minutes against our power tool. And the Squire’s bike mount is the best of the bunch, so you won’t leave it behind to protect your garage floor. [$100; squireusacyclelocks.com]
Security: 5/10; Usability: 8/10

OnGuard Beast 5016L chain
Theft insurance: $5,001
LaBarge needed a power tool, a chisel, and 25 minutes to break one of the chain’s links. Hell, even the local firehouse’s Jaws of Life–esque cutters made only a small dent. And unlike U-locks, chains can wrap around nearly anything. The only catch: You’ll pay for great security with a hernia, as the Beast weighs 20 pounds. [$190; onguardlock.com]Security: 10/10; Usability: 5/10

http://www.mensjournal.com/tested-bike-locks

But for the most researched list of bike lock comparisons, http://www.consumersearch.com/bicycle-locks/reviews which has 20 different reviews from magazines and websites since 2006 to 2011

Sunday, 15 April 2012

Viva Las Vegas wrap up of great stuff that I enjoyed

someone is decking out this bicycle, literally.

Even clipped a playing card to the rear spokes

way cool brake light

2nd best looking DeSoto there, but only because it's not topless with women standing in it. Serious cool paint scheme, great chrome, everything is just right

RNDL that is all they needed, not 6 speeds with overdrive.

Most amazingly, this isn't the first vehicle with drive in speakers I've seen, the other was a 32 Ford delivery at GNRS

What the hell is this I asked, and someone immediately used their superior vision to read the very small print around the center of the dial to read that it is an altimeter, made by Airguide.

Tiki mask speakers, awesome

Just because the word Hot Rod was in the car show title, doesn't mean we aren't interested in looking over your old Harley! Love it!

First time I've seen a car club name on the sun visors... most ingenius! My compliments!

Glittery, ain't it

look at the seat, the stars and stripes seat. If you have no idea what that is, you've lived a long way from farms. It's a milk barrel, and it's topped with a tractor seat. That is some true redneck ingenuity.

Margarita mixer

It's very different from the norm, it's a Studebaker speedometer

It's a Hudson body dropped onto a Cadillac chassis and powertrain. Must be the only one in existence.

rolling art

Boxed in, but who needs doors to open?

Above, a Mercury I'm not familiar with, a 62 Monterey with taillights that seem to be mimicing the Chrysler 300 and Imperial style

Nice flying eyeball and color scheme

Big damn Cadillac

One of the coolest kids wagons I've seen

Best looking DeSoto and suede and chrome vehicle at the show.

handmade long runner intake for Webers for pete's sake

Interesting shifter

Hardtop convertible?

One of the best examples of lace paint I've seen in a while. Thanks Larry Watson and Von Dutch for collaborating to invent lace painting

an example of one car among many that I believe are instantly identifiable just from a corner of the whole car to a car guy, especially the musclecar era