If you’ve ever ridden a bike outside of your home country you may have noticed that the position of the front and rear brakes differ depending on which country you’re in. For example, here in Australia the front brake is located on the right-hand side of the handlebars, and the rear brake is on the left-hand side. In fact, all countries that I’m aware of that drive/ride on the left side of the road are set up this way. Of course you can change this quite easily which doesn’t make it illegal.
On stock bikes entering Australia, this comes from the following Australian Standards clause:
Australian Standard AS1927 – 1998 Pedal Bicycles – Safety Requirements, page 16 Section 2.14 Braking System 2.14.2.1 states the following: Handbrake lever location: The brake lever for a front brake shall be positioned on the right-hand side of the handlebar, and that for a rear brake on the left-hand side.
In North America and many parts of Europe this is the opposite. You ride on the right side of the road and your front brake is on the left-hand side, the rear brake is on the right-hand side.
Do you know why this is? A brief history of time…
Cycling hand turning signals originated from the same signals that cars used before they had indicator lights. For example, in America when a car wants to turn left, the driver (who sits on the left side of the car) put his left arm straight outside the window. If the driver wanted to signal right, he had to make a “L” with his left arm out the window (because he wouldn’t be able to reach out to the right side of the window with a straight arm to indicate a right turn). Similarly in places like Australia and the UK where you drive on the left side of the road, the driver (sitting on the right of the car) would have extend his right arm straight out the window to turn right, and same arm in a “L” shape to signal to turn left.
These turning signals were adopted by cyclists and the national standards organizations in each country got involved. There was concern that the cyclist should be able to make hand turning signals and still be able to reach the primary brake. The logic is accompanied by the premise that the rear brake is the primary brake. These standards organizations misunderstood braking and thought that using the front brake was hazardous and would cause the cyclist to abruptly topple over the front when hitting the front brake (endo!). In reality, very few accidents result from braking from the front.
All Bukit Kiara trails*, all of them, including their name and waypoints! Just for you… how cool is that?
- Download the Bukit Kiara Trail .gpx file (.zip)
- Download the Bukit Kiara Trail map by Pat Brunsdon (.pdf)
*Except The Office, Coronary ByPass and the not-so-new Magic Carpet
Many people think that real trip planning requires big commercial software packages. If it doesn’t have a price it can’t be good. Well, commercial software surely has it’s charm and there are some very nice applications out there. Usually, however, they are Windows only and designed to make you spend money over and over again. I think that as long as you’re not a polar explorer or the reincarnation of Indiana Jones, you get by with QLandkarte GT quite well. Many tour planning features have been added to QLandkarte GT over the last few years making it pretty serious tool for the task. Let me show you some of these by taking you on a trip.
But the real beauty is this: you can add any kind of tile maps such as Google Terrain, Google Satellite and Google Maps. Free. I love Open Source !!!
Addin Tile Service Maps
As of version 1.3.2, QLandkarte GT has a simple way of adding a TMS map:
- Right click on a map entry in the streaming map tab.
- Select “Add TMS map”
- Enter the TMS server URL in the dialog. Make sure to provide the placeholders ‘%1’, ‘%2’ and ‘%3’
- Google Map http://mt.google.com/vt/x=%2&y=%3&z=%1
- Google Satellite Map http://mt.google.com/vt/lyrs=s&x=%2&y=%3&z=%1
- Google Terrain Map http://mt.google.com/vt/lyrs=t&x=%2&y=%3&z=%1
Tires: Rolling, Puncture & Cut Resistance Tested - Pick Yours !
29″x140mm bikes are faster than 26″x160m. Period.
27.5” vs. 26” wheels, fueling the debate… No future for short riders !
There’s two ways of doing it.
1. Either you go to MFM-Garmin Map (cGPSmapper) Installation Step-by-Step Guide and follow the procedure - which can be a bit tricky for the non IT-savvy, especially if you want to add the topo contour lines, such as described in Free West Malaysia Topo GPS Map: MFM-SRTMWM 090918…
2. Or, since we are very nice here at KLMBH and we just love our members, we did compile the MFM road and topo maps. Just download the all stuff from this link (130.9MB) and follow this simple procedure to install it on a Garmin Edge 800:
1. Insert a SD card of 2GB in the GPS
2. Replicate the internal file structure on the SD Card as follows:
- root/Garmin
- root/Garmin/Activities
- root/Garmin/Courses
- root/Garmin/NewFiles
- root/Garmin/Workouts
3. Drag & drop the file “gmapsupp.img” in root/Garmin
4. Reboot the GPS; in Settings chose “malfreemaps” and uncheck “POI” unless you do mind about every McDonalds and Petronas locations are, it makes the screen very confusing with all the icons
5. You have now the topo map for Malaysia including contours. For free.
You may want to use some .gpx files created by others, just drag & drop them in the folder root/Garmin/NewFiles. They would appear in “Courses” once the device is rebooted.
And stay on paper !!!
Wheel size: it makes sense finally
Due to popular demand Zero2Hero has just updated their calendar with new and exciting classes that have been requested by you!
We have a choice of 2 different Maintenance Classes, another Kids class (back by popular demand), and the one many of you have been waiting for – a LEVEL 2! Spaces are limited so go to www.zero2hero.asia and book now to secure your seat. See below for more details.
AND, on top of all the new classes our new “Bike Spa” for Graduates is now operational. Choose from a complete overhaul including a full strip and service of your bike, right down to a simple service. We will treat your bike with love, care and attention to detail. We specialize in Maverick Bikes, Ashima PCB brake systems and Rohloff Hubs and all our work is guaranteed for 3 months.
Course Details below – see you on the trails!
Maintenance Mastery
It’s on THIS weekend and is designed for all of you who want to be able to service your bikes at home, or simply just want to know your bike a whole lot better. In this class you will be doing a full strip and rebuild of your own bike. Class runs over 2 days – this Saturday and Sunday. (only a few spaces left so hurry book now)
p/s. Amazing special deal for Z2H Graduates - use the Coupon Code: GRADUATE
Trail Maintenance Mastery
Full strip and rebuild too much? Try our Trail Maintenance Mastery course. Designed for those who would like to learn how to do basic bike troubleshooting on trails and also receive handy tips on how you can quickly fix common bike problems and get back to enjoying your ride! This class is set for Sunday, 26th August.
p/s. Very Special Offer for our Graduates – use the Coupon Code: TMM
Level 2
This will be held in Bukit Kiara – what more do we need to say?!
Note: you must have completed a Level 1 class to be eligible for this class.
Date: Saturday 8th September
Level Zero and Level One Classes
If you or a friend are currently looking to book into a Level Zero or a Level One class, you will now need to book into MAD! Our all new Mountain Bike Adrenaline days! Details coming soon ….
Munchkins Kids Class
Back by popular demand the next Kids class is on Sunday September 9th.
All New Bike Spa
We have very exciting news as Zero2Hero has officially launched its own Zero2Hero BOUTIQUE BIKE WORKSHOP! We do EVERYTHING from a Bike Assessment to a Full Bike Strip right down to every bearing and pivot that needs some love and care. We specialize in Maverick Bikes, Ashima PCB brake systems and Rohloff Hubs. Call Chris now on 019 3898 310 or email us at marketing@zero2hero.asia to set an appointment to bring your bike in.
p/s. if you are trying to get your friends to register with no luck, send us their phone number and we will call them for you and send them all the info! (Because we both know how much fun they will have!)
To the exhilaration of Bike Riding…!
Zero 2 Hero
www.zero2hero.asia
