WHS reviews: Bicycle components tests 2 (less significant smaller scale tests)

If you want to support my site send me suggestions, perhaps even stuff to test, and you could subscribe to my youtube channel (WHS reviews and comment there.

My other youtube channel is since August 2018, only about critical analysis of events/situations and the people responsible for them (some of those will be bicycle related).

Tests the way they should be done...

• To come in Jan/Feb 2024: Mud flaps. Important to keep your feet dry in the rain, not just because of riding through puddles, also from water picked up by the tyres.
• Various topics:
  1. Average speed in a city with bicycle and pedelec, indicated pedal power by a pedelec,
  2. Anti-social behaviour from motorists in NL vs. what I saw in the UK, Poland, Ukraine,
  3. Some experiences with a velomobile: The Alleweder (early version).
• 2022-11-28: Spoking a wheel. Tools, spoke patterns, place of the valve, asymmetry in the rim.
• 2022-4-3: Spoke nipple measurements, spoke wrenches and spoke rulers
• 2021-8-8: A first test with asthma medicine doping...
• Pocket lamps (torches/flashlights): For use with travelling and for night rides for say repairs
  
  I look at various pocket lamps such as the Sofirn SC31 pro, I modify them with different LEDs such as the Nichia 519A, and try various optics.
• Bicycle trailers
  

  2021-3-7: In progress: Experiences with bicycle trailers, in particular the Roland Traveller (which sucks!), an examination of what is availabe on the market, what sizes are useful, and whether to buy a ready made one or a DIY build.

• Bicycle panniers for getting groceries and for touring
  

  2021-2-23: Due to the failure of the hanging clip on one of my MSX panniers after 7 years, and as their bottoms are disintegrating, I have been looking for a replacement. I discuss some of the good and bad points of some bags by Arkel, Crosso, Vaude, Ortlieb, Buechel, Thule.

• Suspension comparison: Front fork, springs on the saddle, fat tyres, sprung seatposts
  
  Fat tyres running at a low tyre pressure are NOT at all comparable to proper suspension...
  2024-1-9: The Suntour NCX sprung seatpost.
• Bicycle bells, including 3 youtube videos
  
  I had not seen a proper test of bicycle bells, so I decided to do it myself testing all sorts of bells.
• Grips: Which types work best? Leather and cork-based, anatomic and round
  How is comfort, do they get hot in direct sunlight, advantages of anatomic grips vs round grips etc.
• Gears Various transmission types tested and compared + optimal gears determined
  
  About derailleur systems with various number of rear sprockets, gear hubs such as the Rohloff 14 speed hub and Alfine 11 speed hub, the NuVinci continuously changeable gear hub, Pinion 12 and 18 speed gearboxes, experiences on how many gears you really need and what difference they make to your speed.
  
  • Experience: Gears: How much do gears (number and gear step size) influence your speed, and what is optimal?
  • Analysis: Cadence and gear step size: What step size is possible to allow you to always ride with a comfortable pedalling frequency?
  • 2023-3-24: Brief comparison the Pinion C1.12, P1.18, and Rohloff speedhub with Gebla Rohbox with modified SRAM shifters.
  • 2008/2010: Review of the original Nuvinci hub and the Nuvinci N360 hub
  • 2022-2023: Review of the Rohloff speedhub (14 gears)
  • 2022: Review of the Alfine 11 hub with mechanical shifting
  • 2023-12-31: The Pinion 18 gearbox in a Stevens P18 bike (I already posted my experiences Aug.-Sept. 2023 on my youtube channel). Here I go into more detail and combine all experiences.
  • 2024-1-31 Added information to the page on the Kindernay 14 with various information now that Kindernay went bankrupt.
• Bicycle computers & navigation systems
  
  Not a buyer's guide for bike computers, as I don't review enough of them (because I don't see the point!), but showing the problem areas in bicycle computers to guide you. I don't see much point in reviewing most bike computers which are every year just miniscule changes compared to the previous models. But on 2012-11-5 I added a section on navigation using Android devices, which is not big enough for a guide, but I think interesting and useful anyway.
• Tyre levers and repair kits to take with you for repairs on the road
  This means no big and heavy workshop tyre levers!
  2016-2-5: Review of the Crankbrothers 'Speedier lever' and Maxxis tyre levers, comparing them to the best (of the non-metal ones) so far, the Specialized Pry babies (ca. 1993).
• Chain life: 9 vs. 11 speed and chain checkers: Comparing Rohloff, Wippermann, Cyclus, KMC.
• Floor pumps
• Bicycle mini tools, are they useful? Or is it better to carry separate tools?
  2016-5-12: Storing separate tools: Use a pencil case!
• Bicycle kickstands
  2016-8-27: Update on the Pletscher Zoom (bracket kickstand), and measurements of forces on bracket mounted narrow and wide kickstands, and rear fork kickstands. 2016-7: A few more Pletscher kickstands.
• Water bottles
  
• Pedals, click systems (SPD and others), toeclips, power grips and other methods to keep your feet on the pedals.
  2023-11-4 and 2024-1-13: Review of the Ergotec EP-1 pedals with large surface area.
  2023-2-28: Updated with how to service the bearings on the Shimano PD-EF205 which uses a large surface area, and short term experiences with the Union SP-890 which uses sandblock surfaces for grip.
• New 2022-7-7: Frame locks: In progress
  Issues such as hitting the key or know with your heels. Locks tried out: Axa SL-7, Axa SL-9, Axa Defender, Axa Victory, Abus 5850, Trelock RS 453.
• To come: Bottle cages: Issues such as being too loose or too tight for standard bottles, how easily you can take out bottles.

Experiences with various equipment on a long tour:

• Tests of various equipment on a long bike trip August-September 2013
  I tried out (and still use) MSX panniers, various lighting (self made, Luxos U, self made taillamp, other taillamps), navigation (mainly Osmand), USB power generation, and a modified B17 select. 2016-1-11: Added some impressions about front wheel flex while turning.

To end a page that is not about specific reviews but related to companies and how they deal with customers, especially enquiries about products:

• What do companies do with emails? Do they reply? Here are my experiences
  
  2021-3-21: A new page listing the replies, if any, to emails. Some companies never reply, why? There is a reason for this from a few factors which are esp. an issue with big companies. I mentioned this problem somewhere on my site long ago already, and that I mainly experienced it with big companies.

Support this website, for more critical reviews

If there is enough support I could do e.g. a comparative review of all of Berthoud's leather saddles with the best of the Brooks saddles (esp. the B17 and Imperial, Team pro) and with bicycle lighting there are ways to go such as finally make full comparison videos with switching between lamps while riding to show the differences, and of course some more of the latest dynamo headlamps and pedelec lamps.

To support the extensive reviews and the brief reviews in section 2, use the paypal link below... [ Please then indicate in a message if there is something specific you would like to see reviewed/analysed, I will use those inputs then to decide what to test next (besides what I want to buy for myself to use, I will review all the products that I buy for myself in any case) ]
Paypal deleted, I will not use paypal anymore, they wasted my time multiple times this year blocking my account, last time was for a donation from a link here, they wanted information on selling, posting, etc. There is nothing being sold, the description also says it is for support for this website. I no longer have time to deal with these idiots..

If you have other ideas/suggestions to continue, send me a message. One idea I had but it is likely not of that much general interest, is a series of videos on the StVZO rules, what is good and bad about them, how deviations from the rules are allowed etc. I could even publish my entire StVZO analysis if there are enough donations (but that would require a lot of donations as it would mean not being able to use that as a large part of the value of the service I provide to get companies to make compliant lighting/e-scooters).
In case there is interest in a subscription type service, to say, buy more bike lamps or more types of the latest dynamos, or even saddle types that could be interesting to try out, to compare with the leather saddles I tried out. If you want to support in this way, spread the word on this (send links to people who may be interested to my youtube channel or my website), and have a look here: https://www.subscribestar.com/whs-bike-reviews.

[ Note: I deleted patreon as it is part of the problem of removal of free speech by deplatforming people. The importance of free speech (so also of views by people you disagree with!) is related to finding the truth, as I will explain in my upcoming project soon. They also gave the terrorist organisation BLM a donation, which is an organisation similar to all complainers and whiners about western society: Trying to destroy society and its achievements and revising the truth to untruth. ESAD to BLM! ]

If there is enough support I could do e.g. a comparative review of all of Berthoud's leather saddles with the best of the Brooks saddles (esp. the B17 and Imperial, Team pro) and with bicycle lighting there are ways to go such as finally make full comparison videos with switching between lamps while riding to show the differences, and of course some more of the latest dynamo headlamps and pedelec lamps.

If you are interested in supporting my site, you could consider sending me a sample of a bike light you have which I've not yet tested.

Last modified: 2024-1-9