The SkiBike Shop

Today I had an undercover and quite thoroughly sneaky skibike session at SnoZone in Milton Keynes. It is an indoor snow slope only 100m long and with about 30m of vertical, but the joy is perfect conditions the whole year round. It is also the only indoor centre, so far, that doesn't have issue with experienced skibikers turning up and riding skibikes right in and amoungst all the other snow users.

I aim to get along every other month during the off season in an attempt to retain my frail skibike mojo. The great news, for me, was that the session went very well, I still had my mojo from the 1st run on, I felt as if I could have done the descent with my eyes closed, mostly standing, plus a couple of seated runs, with hockey stops, side slipping, short radius turns with tail swishing, etc.

The main thing I still found awkward was using the Poma drag lift. I am getting a bit tired of this and I want to investigate a skibike towing device using the same type of quick release snap shackle that the sit skiers use. If I can perfect the design indoors, I can see it being invaluable for both teaching purposes and those places that don't have chairlifts, Scotland springs to mind immediately.

Interestingly snap shackles are used in so many disparate sports and activities; sailing, climbing, kite surfing, dog sledding, horse riding. I will investigate further which size is appropriate for the job through Disability Snow Sport  and hopefully have a working prototype ready before my next visit.

Quick release snap shackle - used in many sports

I had a different type of unsolicited mail the other day, which makes a change from laser eye surgery and car leasing. Tom Fortner from Monroe Michigan, (just above Toledo Ohio) has an unusual Porsche 212 skibob to move on.
Note that these images are not of the item on offer and are for illustrative purposes only.

I can't find out too much about this model, possibly it was more of a promotional item than a serious tool and I can't imagine the ride would be a patch on even the cheapest of DIY skibikes. However, riding merits aside, is still the ultimate James Bond gadget, in a very 70s way.
I can just see Roger Moore stepping into the cable car in his dinner jacket with the suitcase under his arm. At the top he pops on his footskis, assembles the skibob and is off to fight to the death with baddies, before entertaining a babe for the night "More Champagne Darling?"

I have already passed someone his way who was very interested, but you never know. So if you fancy having this curious item in your collection drop me a line or leave a comment and I'll put you in touch with Tom.

Things are afoot at French skibike manufacturer Firem, I've been tasked to translate the Operating Instructions, Safety & Maintenance Notes leaflet for their all new VS512 model due to reach the end of the production line in the next couple of weeks.

My school boy French often fails me though, it has taken 30 years to realise that I should have listened to my mother, turned off the television and done my homework. But what she didn't know back then, was that here in the future we have every bluffers own dynamic duo super-heroes, namely; the Internet and Google Translate.
These provided me with a translation of "doigt d'indexage" well sort of anyway, but I really needed to be sure and queried Serge from Firem. He came up with this alternative, "goupille de sécurité à verrouillage rapide", oh no, it was getting more complicated not simpler.
It was time to bring out my secret weapon, a gent by the name of Crispin who has not only spent far too much time biking in the Pyrenees, used to run a bike shop and devours language and grammar almost as fast as a good pudding.

He went quiet for a while but came back with "quick-lock safety stud", what a genius. This small component, is the key link that joins the head tube to the body of the VS512 and allows it to be split, to fit in the boot of a car or carried into one of those tiny bubble like gondola "tele-cabines" dotted around the Alps.

Le "doigt d'indexage"

The leaflet is now translated and the next item on the Firem hit list will be an on-line shop as there have already been sales enquiries from the United States.

I want to pay tribute to 10 excellent items that I have used whilst skibiking, they didn't cost much and have all delivered fantastic value for money.
All of them cost under £60, to stay in budget, some had to be bought from secondhand from eBay, usually in nearly new condition having seen a weeks use or less. SkiBike related bargains are out there to be had, providing you buy at the end of the winter season right through to late September.

Item: Canterbury Knee Braces

Price Paid: £25 each

What was so good about this item then?

It was tough finding the number 1 skibiking essential of 2012, but on reflection I chose a product that is of great personal significance, but should prove valuable to skibikers young and old alike. Life is so full of irony, if I had worn knee braces when I first tried skiing, I might never have damaged my knees and found myself on a skibiking odyssey. Now, I wear them whenever I head for the slopes whether that's on a skibike or skis.
There have been a number of occasions where I have got into the sort of awkward twisting falls that in the past caused havoc and I have felt the metal side straps take the load and hold me together. I am certain that without these there would have been a fair few situations where injury would have compromised my skibiking enjoyment.

Any gripes or whinges about this item?

The are produced in a "one size fits all" design, which I believe will inevitably lead to some compromises in the fit. After roughly 6 weeks use the velcro straps are starting to loose their grip.

Canterbury Knee Braces - #1 skibiking essential

I want to pay tribute to 10 excellent items that I have used whilst skibiking, they didn't cost much and have all delivered fantastic value for money.
All of them cost under £60, to stay in budget, some had to be bought from secondhand from eBay, usually in nearly new condition having seen a weeks use or less. SkiBike related bargains are out there to be had, providing you buy at the end of the winter season right through to late September.

Item: SixSixOne Wrist Braces

Price Paid: £18 each

What was so good about this item then?

In 2011 I made my first attempts to ride mostly in the freestyle / pegger method of riding. In retrospect, I think I must have been riding with a large amount of my bodyweight supported by my wrists. If you have followed this blog, you will know that I have skinny, weak, girls wrists, so this is a bad thing. I am certain that I stretched tendons and put a lot of pressure on my median nerve during that period and suffered mildy from the ill effects for many weeks afterwards.
For the 2012 season I was determined to amortise the risk of similar symptoms re-occuring and also guard against wrist fractures due to hyper-extension during the anticipated crashes and wipeouts. True to form, I had many crashes and wipeouts during th 2012 season, during some of which, I really thought I was going to do permanent damage.
Whether these wrist braces were a placebo or whether they really did save my physical integrity I will never know. All I can be certain of is that; they were comfortable to wear, easy to put on and it did me know harm to have them and I would have felt naked on a skibike without them.

Any gripes or whinges about this item?

After roughly four weeks of use, they are beginning to look worn, I had hoped that they would be a bit tougher for the money.

SixSixOne Wrist Braces - # 2 skibiking essential

I want to pay tribute to 10 excellent items that I have used whilst skibiking, they didn't cost much and have all delivered fantastic value for money.
All of them cost under £60, to stay in budget, some had to be bought from secondhand from eBay, usually in nearly new condition having seen a weeks use or less. SkiBike related bargains are out there to be had, providing you buy at the end of the winter season right through to late September.

Item: Cooper Winter Tyres

Price Paid: just under £60 including fitting and balancing

What was so good about this item then?

Incredibly this was my first experience with winter tyres in 5 decades of driving experience (I first drove a car in 1978 - true!) and I wasn't entirely convince that it wasn't all a scam, placebo effect, Emperor's new clothes, etc.
Following some research I discovered that in certain Alpine countries winter tyres are mandatory, at least for locals and I have heard stories about how the fine Gendarmes of France love to fine Les Rosboeufs and how legal action is possible if an accident is deemed to be caused by failure to have the correct boots installed.
My only benchmark was to compare the result of equipping Uncle Fester the tired old Fiesta with a pair of Cooper 155/70 x 13 winter tyres and see the difference compared to my "all seasons" tyres from Matador, an economy brand from premium tyre manufacturer Continental.
Cheekily, I only fitted winter tyres to the front wheels (driven) wheels and I discovered this season (2012) that such is the difference in grip from these tyres, that the rear of the car will tend to slide out and oversteer quite readily, even in the wet!
Driven gently, there was no noticeable slip driving on freshly snow covered roads. If provoked the driven wheels will spin, but even then they still shovel snow behind you and exert purchase on the snow. Likewise, if you brake too heavily and lock up wheels, they still provide friction, even when locked.
Such was the difference in grip between the front and rear wheels on a snow covered car park in Switzerland, that it was possible to drive away with the rear wheels totally locked by the handbrake and drive the car around like a sled.
It is worth noting that these Cooper winter tyres have also worked exceptionally well in wet conditions too, at the time of writing (April 2012), the UK is experiencing a cold snap and I have delayed swapping back to my summer boots. Considering the tread pattern, road noise was no different on the motorway to my normal tyres and fuel economy remained the same.

Any gripes or whinges about this item?

As Scotty would have said in the original Start Trek TV series "Ye cannae change the laws of physics!", the excellent grip comes from a combination of the soft rubber compound and high void ratio, in anything but cold conditions wear will be faster than regular tyres. You have to fit winter tyres in November and remove them at the end of April. It is simplest if they live on a dedicated set of winter wheels and therefore need to be stored somewhere away somewhere dark during the summer months.

Cooper Winter Tyres - essential for skibike expeditions

I want to pay tribute to 10 excellent items that I have used whilst skibiking, they didn't cost much and have all delivered fantastic value for money.
All of them cost under £60, to stay in budget, some had to be bought from secondhand from eBay, usually in nearly new condition having seen a weeks use or less. SkiBike related bargains are out there to be had, providing you buy at the end of the winter season right through to late September.

Item: Tesco F&F Thinsulate Winter Gloves

Price Paid: £6

What was so good about this item then?

I got these as an impulse purchase whilst doing my weekly grocery shop, at the price I expected them to last a week at most. Gloves take a lot of punishment whilst skibiking, the area between the base of the thumb and the forefinger is especially prone. Over 3 weeks later and after some very vigorous activity they hardly look broken in.
They have a tough waterproof outerlayer and a cosy Thinsulate inner layer. I didn't appreciate how efficient they were till I took them off for 5 minutes on an especially cold morning when it was -10 degrees. As a result, there was one finger that didn't regain sensation in the tip for nearly a month.

Any gripes or whinges about this item?

At this price, certainly not, a bottle of beer in Switzerland was more expensive.

Tesco Winter Gloves - fantastic value

I want to pay tribute to 10 excellent items that I have used whilst skibiking, they didn't cost much and have all delivered fantastic value for money.
All of them cost under £60, to stay in budget, some had to be bought from secondhand from eBay, usually in nearly new condition having seen a weeks use or less. SkiBike related bargains are out there to be had, providing you buy at the end of the winter season right through to late September.

Item: Salomon SnowBoard Boots

Price Paid: £26

What was so good about this item then?

Another item found off season on eBay, little used and in nearly new condition for a fraction of the retail price. These are the first pair of snowboard boots I have owned, so can only compare their performance to hiking and skiing boots. What a revelation these turned out to be, if all snowboard boots are like this, no wonder snowboard dudes always look so cool, they have warm, dry comfy toes the whole day long.
These are light, almost trainer like in, yet they provide just enough protection for your ankles whilst still allowing some articulation when its time to walk uphill or jump off the chairlift.
They remained warm and dry regardless of whether I was falling over in the deep stuff or hanging around the lift station. Grip was astonishing, sheet ice was the only surface they couldn't grip on, anything else, including frozen metal surfaces provided traction, remarkable.

Any gripes or whinges about this item?

They feature laces on the outer shell and a speed lace on the inner shell, its a bit fiddly and is a job best attempted without gloves on.

Salomon Boots - Fiddly laces but otherwise excellent

I want to pay tribute to 10 excellent items that I have used whilst skibiking, they didn't cost much and have all delivered fantastic value for money.
All of them cost under £60, to stay in budget, some had to be bought from secondhand from eBay, usually in nearly new condition having seen a weeks use or less. SkiBike related bargains are out there to be had, providing you buy at the end of the winter season right through to late September.

Item: FujiFilm av210 digital camera

Price Paid: £60 including memory card

What was so good about this item then?

It is so tiny, it fits in the smallest of pockets and still leaves room for your other stuff. It is also lightweight, so won't weigh down your back pack or put you over the baggage limit on certain budget airlines. In an age where so much is driven by bewildering menu structures, I found the controls totally intuitive, you probably won't need to read the manual.
It boots up quickly and provides very good quality for outdoor photography. You can override some automatic features if, for example, you want fill flash in daylight, or to take close up macro pictures of skibike components.

Any gripes or whinges about this item?

In spite of the technological advances, it is power hungry and the rate of consumption requires the use of expensive Lithium disposable batteries or possibly NiMh rechargeables. The zoom lens doesn't have a huge range and there is some lag on the shutter, which reduces its usefulness for action shots. It doesn't have the feel of a hard wearing item designed for a long life, I hope I'm wrong as I really like it.

FujiFilm AV210 - #6 skibiker essential