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Lake MXZ 303 Winter Boots
If you are a winter rider, you know it can be hard to keep your toes warm when temps get below freezing. Over the years, I've mostly relied on my traditional leather riding shoes with wool socks, and...
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New Record Commuting Numbers
Well, I'm just days from wrapping up a semester at work, and I'm pleased to say that I've racked up a new personal record for bike commuting. With just three days left until Winter Break and the end of...
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Merry Christmas From The Grouch
Our weather isn't permitting me to go for my traditional "Christmas Day Bike Ride" this year - unless I can put some chains on my tires.If you're cold, they're cold. . . Bring them inside!So I'm...
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New Year's Day Non-Ride and a Look Back
It's currently a frigid 5° (windchill -6°) in Akron, and our roads (at least around my neighborhood) are covered with a layer of packed snow and ice because apparently the city is trying to conserve...
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Retrogrouch Reads: Vintage Bicycles
As I have been pining with the arrival of winter weather for a good bicycle rehabilitation project, I recently finished reading Gianluca Zaghi's Vintage Bicycles: How to Find and Restore Vintage...
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Baby It's Cold Outside
This is Ohio.On Wednesday I rode to work, and the morning temperature was 18º American. By the afternoon ride home that day it was 40º. Yesterday I rode to work and the temperature in the morning was...
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Campagnolo Corkscrew to the Rescue
The Campagnolo Big Cavatappi corkscrew is probably regarded by a lot of people as an indulgence. A bike-geek/wine-lover affectation. Yes, I have one. What can I say? Bike-geek/wine-lover? That's me....
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Cycle Cinema: Quicksilver
Sometimes a person can't help but find himself (or herself) in an ironic/nostalgic mood where they feel compelled to wallow in a cheesy '80s pop music video masquerading as a gritty drama about plucky...
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Vintage Greats: Eileen Sheridan
Recently on the Classic Rendezvous group there was quite a nice run of posts about a great racer from the past, Eileen Sheridan. In the 1940s and '50s Sheridan was a time-trialing powerhouse who not...
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Presidents Day
It's Presidents Day, and like most government employees I'm off work. That means I'm spending the day with the retro-kids, but I have a few minutes for a quick post.In honor of the holiday, I've...
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Ethical Conundrums in Driverless Cars
Driverless cars used to be the stuff of science fiction. But more and more it seems they are becoming the reality of today. Most major car manufacturers are working on the technology, as are tech...
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Bikes and Guns
No mistake about it, the Retrogrouch blog is about bicycles. Any grouching and occasional ranting that happen here mostly center on debates about older bicycles vs. new. "Old school" vs. "new school."...
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Self Driving Car Death
It was just last month I wrote about the potential problems that surround driverless cars. Even as automakers and tech companies are racing forward on the technology, they admit that they still have a...
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RIP Jon Williams - Drillium Revival
Photo from the Biciak blog. There's a nice articlethere about Jon and his work.The vintage and classic bicycle world lost a good friend this week. Jon Williams, whom some may know through his Drillium...
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12 Speeds - You Know Where This Is Going
Well, they did it. Your "Goes to 11" drivetrain is now obsolete, as Campagnolo this week has introduced the first 12-speed drivetrain for road bikes. We knew it was going to happen eventually, right? I...
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Major Taylor - What's Your Wild Rabbit?
At the end of the 19th Century, bicycle racing was arguably the most popular sport in America, and without a doubt, the greatest athlete of the day was Marshall "Major" Taylor - a man who battled...
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Ben Lawee Designed
If you were riding good lightweight multi-speed bikes (or ten-speeds, as we called them) back in the 1970s or '80s, there's a good chance that a guy named Ben Lawee had some connection to the bike you...
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Michigan Steelhead Ride II - Riding the Spine
Some readers might recall last Spring I took part in an early season vintage bike ride in Michigan, dubbed the Steelhead Ride (after the steelhead trout). This past weekend my friend Jim T., who...
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A Tour of the Cave
Regular readers know well that I'm a full-time teacher, and right now I'm wrapping up my 25th year on the job. The last 14 have been spent in the same classroom, which has been dubbed "The Cave" -...
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Wrapping Up Another Year of Bike Commuting
I've reached the end of another school year and it's time for a look back to recap and assess my bike commuting numbers. Overall, this was a really successful year. I always start out the year by...
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