Category Archives: A Journey of Discovery

How Many Bikes Do I Need?

Posted on October 30, 2012 by

I ride my bike for enjoyment, fitness, travel and transportation. Bicycles fill more than 90% of my transportation needs (with trains, airplanes, rental trucks and cars making up the other 10%).* For all these needs, I only require two or … Continue reading →

Posted in A Journey of Discovery, Our Bikes | 55 Comments

Catalogue Specifications and Apparent Bargains

Posted on July 3, 2012 by

When I started riding seriously while I was in college in Germany, it became apparent that my Peugeot 10-speed no longer was sufficient. Not only did it lack performance, but it required repairs almost daily. So I soon started shopping … Continue reading →

Posted in A Journey of Discovery, Our Bikes | 19 Comments

A Journey of Discovery: The Lure of Racing Bikes

Posted on September 13, 2011 by

When we wrote the “A Journey of Discovery” series for this blog, we started with the racing bikes we rode a little over a decade ago. However, my “journey” has been much longer… I grew up in Germany, where all … Continue reading →

Posted in A Journey of Discovery | 15 Comments

Fully Equipped Bikes – Follow-Up

Posted on June 29, 2011 by

A little while ago, we talked about how sports cars are equipped with lights and fenders, and nobody thinks they are less sporty for it. Performance bicycles don’t have lights and fenders, because most “weekend warriors” don’t think they need … Continue reading →

Posted in A Journey of Discovery, Testing and Tech | 24 Comments

A Journey of Discovery, Part 7: The Future

Posted on April 3, 2011 by

In this series, we have explored how our preferences changed from mid-trail geometries, 700C x 28 mm tires and saddlebags to low-trail 650B bikes with much wider tires and handlebar bags. What will come next? Will we soon ride fully-faired carbon … Continue reading →

Posted in A Journey of Discovery, Our Bikes, Testing and Tech | 21 Comments

A Journey of Discovery, Part 6: The Way We Ride

Posted on March 10, 2011 by

In the previous parts of this series, we have looked at how our preferences in bicycles changed over time. More important is how the changes in our bikes have expanded the way we ride. Indeed, we replaced saddlebags with handlebar … Continue reading →

Posted in A Journey of Discovery, Our Bikes, Rides | 11 Comments

A Journey of Discovery, Part 5: Frame Stiffness

Posted on February 27, 2011 by

In the previous parts of this series, we have looked at how our preferences in bicycles changed over time. We started out on “state-of-the-art” bikes with mid-trail geometries, 700C x 28 mm tires and saddlebags. How did we come to … Continue reading →

Posted in A Journey of Discovery, Our Bikes, Testing and Tech, Uncategorized | 27 Comments

A Journey of Discovery, Part 4: Front-End Geometry

Posted on February 10, 2011 by

How did our preferences change from our familiar bikes with mid-trail geometries, 700C x 28 mm tires and saddlebags to low-trail 650B bikes with much wider tires and handlebar bags? In the previous parts of this series, we related how we … Continue reading →

Posted in A Journey of Discovery, Our Bikes, Testing and Tech | 23 Comments

A Journey of Discovery, Part 3: Wide 650B Tires

Posted on February 1, 2011 by

How did our preferences change from our familiar bikes with mid-trail geometries, 700C x 28 mm tires and saddlebags to low-trail 650B bikes with much wider tires and handlebar bags? In the first two parts of this series, we talked about … Continue reading →

Posted in A Journey of Discovery, Our Bikes, Testing and Tech | 17 Comments

A Journey of Discovery, Part 2: Handlebar Bags and Aluminum Fenders

Posted on January 24, 2011 by

In the last installment of this series, we looked at the bikes we rode when Bicycle Quarterly got started almost a decade ago. How did our preferences change from our familiar bikes with mid-trail geometries, 700C x 28 mm tires … Continue reading →

Posted in A Journey of Discovery, Our Bikes, Testing and Tech, Uncategorized | 16 Comments

A Journey of Discovery, Part 1: What We Used to Ride

Posted on January 17, 2011 by

We sometimes hear people criticize our technical analyses: “Bicycle Quarterly’s testers simply prefer they bikes that they ride most. You get used to anything, and then you prefer it.” Or: “Jan has got his preferences. He started a magazine so … Continue reading →

Posted in A Journey of Discovery, Our Bikes, Testing and Tech, Uncategorized | 29 Comments