Fatbike Generator Hub

The 135mm spacing world of Fatbikes has felt overly neglected by the lack of a front generator hub.  Having a generator hub has been immensely popular over the years to touring cyclists all over the world.  The ability to generate power for a light and for your electronics, makes travel so much easier.

In the world of Fatbikes, especially in winter, this has been a key missing component to those that venture out into the extremes.  Cyclists have been creating home-brew solutions to keep batteries warm and functioning in the battery life sucking cold temperatures.  Well, yesterday, I got to hold one of the first Schmidt Son 135mm spaced hubs in production. 

The unit was a work of art, highly polished, and ready for testing.  I don't have the details on a release date, but I was told this was a near production ready unit, so I am making the assumption that mass production will be here by the fall.  I am working to get more details, so stay tuned.  I know for me, this will be part of a wheel build for my next Fatbike expedition.

Road Trip

I am on the road, but even that is not enough to stop the Fargo Love.  Here, bikepacking the Atlas Mountains in Morocco.  An absolute must see destination for adventure cycling!

Delorme InReach – The good, the bad, and the UGLY

I had hoped to do a full-blown review of the unit, but I find myself incredibly busy with a few other projects right now.  So in an attempt to at least get some useful information out to the community, I thought I would throw out some quick observations.

First some background.  I have traveled for 3 years using a generation one Spot unit so I have a good feel for the whole concept of how I, as an adventurer, want & need to use these units.  I am also one of the lucky few that have had the pleasure of initiating a full blown rescue by accidentally hitting the emergency button on my unit while out in the middle of the Bay of Fundy on a sea kayak expedition. Not something I would recommend by the way :-)

For me I am looking at main features in a tracking device:

1. The ability to send ‘OK’ messages and leave bread crumb trails
2. The ability to send ‘pre-canned’ messages
3. The ability to request emergency assistance
4. The ability to carry on a two-way conversation

When my Spot unit finally died, I was forced with making a decision on what to do.  I could go with the new Spot device or I could give the InReach unit a try.  I had been watching the Delorme unit for a while, following the threads and patiently waiting for iOS support before jumping in.  Why the InReach? Primarily because I wanted the two-way communication feature when paired with either an iPhone or an iPad.  I knew that for the trips I was doing, the ability to have a two way conversation was critical and I did not want to have to use a Sat Phone.  These criteria led me to choosing the InReach unit for my recent Alaska expedition.  In short, here is what I learned, in bullet form. 

The Good:

• The unit is rugged and dealt with constant exposure to temps in the -36 range, snow, sleet, etc. in brilliant fashion.
• Virtually impossible to hit the emergency button accidentally as a slider is required to initiate the button press
• Battery life was on par with what I expected for a device used in these conditions.  I like that it supports lithium batteries for cold weather usage.
• The buttons worked well, and I did not mind the mechanism by which you manually transmitted the pre-programmed messages.
• Messages seemed to go through fine with no apparent lost messages.  Something that I always had difficulty with on my gen 1 SPOT device.
• When paired successfully, the mapping feature of the Delorme App was very nice and useful.  Unfortunately it did not pair often enough for me to comment on how it may have helped on battery life, a claimed benefit of using the InReach as your GPS receiver versus using the GPS receiver in your iOS device.
• Integration with social media worked.

The Bad

• Setting up integration with social media was the most convoluted, painful process I had ever gone through.  That was until I experienced the pain of trying to pair the unit with my iOS devices.
• The web interface for setting up your device and account is oh so painful.
• In my opinion, the pairing with a iOS device is absolutely worthless.  I mean ABSOLUTELY worthless!.
• Yes, when it worked it was ok, but the frequency that it worked was so low, that I could never rely on it.
• Each time I turned the unit back on I was forced to go through the very painful process of attempting to pair the devices, which more than not either never worked or required so many power cycles and weird permutations that I would eventually give up!!

Conclusion

Since I don’t like to do negative reviews I will stop here because I get too frustrated and would just continue to rant about the negatives of the iOS side of things…  For the life of me I don’t understand how companies do this.  It just seems like with some moderate beta testing they could produce a completely useable product, but alas, that does not seem to be the case. Heck, even this unit has had a major firmware upgrade, which should have allowed for any and all major issues to be fixed.  Its not like Bluetooth pairing is a new thing!

So, if you want to use this as a standalone unit, well, things seem to work well.  If you want to use it as an integrated messaging device, it, well, not so good.  If you want to use it as a GPS receiver for your iOS device, the same is true, not so good.  If you can actually get it to pair, then it works nicely, but oh the headaches.  When I am out in the wild, especially the cold, this is just too much to deal with.  I will be going back to a SPOT.  Thank goodness for paper maps…

Anyone want to buy a used InReach device?

Weekly Fargo Love

A little late in posting this week, the weather has been spectacular so I have been out riding and exploring.  This photo is from last year biking the English Countryside.  Beautiful rolling hills and amazing people.

English countryside, self portrait

Nikon Coolpix A

There have not been a ton of glowing reviews on this camera so far, with most people feeling that Nikon was late to the game and a little short in delivery. However, Ming Thein just posted his review, and while he has issues with the usability of the camera, he appears to be blown away by the IQ from the sensor/lens combo, comparing it to results from the Leica M9/ 28/2.8 ASPH or 28/2 ASPH combinations.  Pretty impressive for a camera/lens combo that cost thousands of dollars less than the Leica combo. 

Because I am looking for something that is incredibly pocketable, think fit in my bike jersey pocket, the Coolpix really had me excited when it was announced.  With Ming's reviews, I think I will have to rent one and check it out for myself.

Check out his review here:

Available at Amazon:

Nikon COOLPIX A 16.2 MP Digital Camera with 28mm f/2.8 Lens (Black)

Site changes

Spring brings new life into everything, including my site.  After 2 months of down time on a bike, in the middle of no where, my brain is over flowing with ideas on how to change things up on the site.  Two of the biggest changes coming are to introduce my personal portfolios into this site and to somehow consolidate old information and make it easier to find specific questions that readers may have. 

The former will be easy, just time consuming.  The latter is a technical issue with Squarespace, to which there seems to be no easy answer...  Thus the solution my end up being a bit cludgy so my apologies in advance.  As things evolve, your feedback is greatly appreciated. 

Cheers,

Glenn

Weekly Fargo Love

I arrived in Boston after biking from Florida to Seattle on the Fargo via a flight across the country.  I started the trip pulling a BOB trailer and ended with a homemade foray into bikepacking.  Little did I know that this would be the true start of my UL biking pursuits.

Like last weeks image, this not only shows the versatility of the Fargo, and its Adventure By Bike heritage, but it also what a little creativity can do to transform the way you travel.  I unloaded the bike from the baggage claim area, put the bike together, trashed the box, and rolled out of the Airport on my way to Canada.

1,000 Miles Across Alaska - My Photo Kit

Life is full of trade offs and the same applies to traveling with photography gear. Questions like do I go ultra light? What camera will give me the best image quality?  How will I carry my gear in a safe and accessible manner?  All of these questions are key elements in choosing what camera gear will accompany me on each of my trips. Once gear is chosen the questions of processing, sharing and backing up, not too mention power, need to be addressed. For my Alaska trip, everything became more complicated by the fact that I would be traveling by bike, in the middle of winter, across south central Alaska, with incredible photographic opportunities at hand.

I am now 4 years and more than 17,000 miles into this little adventure of mine and my entire photographic thought process continues to evolve. I have traveled with multiple DSLRs and a wide selection of lenses by kayak and gone uber light with nothing more than an NEX and two lenses on a bike.  While the smaller cameras and their lenses are getting better every year I have still yet to find a small solution that matches the quality of my Nikon bodies and my Zeiss MF lenses (barring a $40K investment in a Leica M9 and Leica Glass, something I am happy to do should Leica wish to make a small donation…). At the end of each and every trip where I have opted to not bring my larger bodies and lenses, I have been disappointed with the overall IQ of what I captured.

With those memories in mind I opted to bring a large kit for this trip. I knew that I was going to experience some stunning locations and vistas, and I wanted to capture those scenes in as much detail as possible.  I knew that I would be happy with nothing less than my best gear, even if it meant going heavy.

My camera kit included:

   * Nikon D800e
   * Zeiss 21 2,8
   * Zeiss 50 1,4
   * Zeiss 100 1,4
   * NEX -7 with 50 1,8
   * 2 Nikon batteries
   * 4 NEX batteries
   * Beat up Gitzo  carbon fiber tripod with RRS ball head

I used the D800 for the majority of my shots with the NEX picking up the slack as a sort of quick draw camera for snapshots.  The Zeiss glass, as you may know, is simply stunning. I have shot some of Nikons finest lenses and for me, there is a magic in the Zeiss glass that does not exist in most of Nikons lineup. The exception for me would be the stunning 200 2,0 but that is a beast of a lens with very specific application. The Zeiss lenses are simply works of art, fashioned out of medal with a smooth, almost buttery, focus throw.  They are still adorned with good old fashion
 f-stop and dof markings. The weight of these lenses balances very nicely with the medium weight of the D800, making the combination a very hand holdable kit.

An advantage to shooting the Zeiss glass is that the manual focus lenses draw no power from the camera. I remember when I first got the lenses being amazed at how long a single battery lasted. As you can imagine, in the winter of Alaska, power management is a huge issue. The Zeiss lenses did exactly as I hoped and the two batteries were only recharged once in two months of shooting.

One of the challenges with this setup is that I do not like to carry backpacks when riding a bike. This meant I had to figure out a way to carry a base camera weight (Nikon + Zeiss) of 6.6lbs, plus all the other photographic kit on a bike in a manner that would both protect the gear from the elements and provide me with quick access.  I hate to say it, but this whole issue is still a work in progress for me as I found no real good solution.

I worked out a system that used a very old Arc'teryx hip pack strapped to my handlebars.  This pack carried the D800 with one lens attached and one other lens stored in the bag. My third lens was stored in my frame bag. The little makeshift camera bag has waterproof fabric and zippers which provided a basic level of protection. I wrapped each lens in a zip lock bag and used a large turkey roasting bag to protect the camera.  Those turkey bags are big, and very tough, not too mention cheap. 

I stored the NEX, lens down, in the water bottle pockets on the side of the pack. It was always wrapped in some form of plastic bag. My favorite general purpose bag is the kind you get in the bulk food isle.  They cost nothing, are large and are reasonably durable. When I needed to carry the camera off bike I used my favorite piece of UL kit, the Sea to Summit sil nylon backpack. It weighs 2 ounces and stuffs the size of two golf balls. 

Now that I had sorted a way to carry my gear I had to find a way to process and share images.  Typically I would carry my MacBook Air, but I did not want to do that on this trip.  The elements were going to be extreme, and I was unclear of my route. I could not afford to have anything happen to that computer, so I opted to go the tablet route, choosing the basic ipad mini.  Having never owned a tablet before, this would prove to be a very frustrating choice.  While there a clearly lots of apps out there for photos, I was unable to find anything that solved all of my issues.  Instead I was forced to cobble together a workflow that allowed me to import images, do basic adjustments, including black and white conversions, and then distribute the images to social media.  Here was my basic workflow:

The D800 allows you to shoot to both a CF card an SD card.  In addition, it allows you to shoot Raw to the CF card and jpegs of varying  sizes to the SD card.  This allowed me to keep one 16gb SD card in the camera the entire time as a sort of simple backup, while shooting to over 20 CF cards.  I had no ability to backup anything other than the small jpegs I was shooting on the SD card which were dumped to the iPad mini on a selective basis.

When I had the opportunity to do some edits, I would remove the CF card from the camera and then connect the camera to the Ipad mini via the USB connection kit.  I did this so that I was using the camera battery to power the USB connection instead of the opposite.  Using the native photo app on the iPad, I selected specific images to import.  Once the images were imported, the real challenges began.  Because I had decided that Google Snapspeed app provided the best image editing capabilities I had to find a very simplistic way to do my 'selects'.  Obviously what I wanted to do was go through images, choose the ones to edit, and then edit them. However, the choice of Snapspeed forced me to work in what I would call a very kludge way.

Basically, I would go into the photo app and begin looking at images.  Once I found the one to edit I would switch back to Snapspeed and use their horrible image selection tool to find the image that I wanted to edit.  i dont for the life of me understand why they have not changed this as it is clearly intended for a phone where their is minimal real estate on the screen.  The size of the thumbnails is ridiculously small forcing me to switch back and forth in an effort to find the correct image. Once the image is selected I loved everything about the app.  The adjustment tools, including selective adjustment, are fantastic and intuitive. The B&W conversions and one or two other filters provided me with all that I needed.

Working off of these small jpegs, adjustments were very quick. Once complete, Snapspeed saves the images to a Snapspeed album. I could find no way to change this, which forced me to then go back to the edited images, using the native photo app to create a separate album containing my edited collection. That felt like a huge run on sentence which fittingly highlights the difficulty in making this work. In the end I was able to cobble it all together.  Once I had a selection of images processed I could use  the native sharing feature of the photo app to get images to Facebook and Twitter.  The new Flickr app handled my Flickr stream and the Squarespace app allowed me to upload images to my website. For additional backup I would FTP images to my Photoshelter account.

Import and Edit:

Connect Camera to Tablet -> Import Images using 'Photo' app -> Identify Image to Edit -> Switch to Snapspeed -> Find Image, Edit, Save -> Switch back to Photo App and repeat until edits are done

Once edits are done:

Open Photo App -> Select Edited Images in Snapspeed Album -> Create New Album -> Switch to New Album -> Share using Photo App, Squarespace App, Flickr App

Dearest Adobe, please introduce a tablet version of Lightroom!!

It was not pretty, but it worked and I accomplished my goals.  Would I do things the same way again? Well I don't know.  The weight of an 11" MacBook Air is really only marginally more than the tablet with tremendously more functionality. The bigger issue is the space it requires and the potential cost of replacement which must be weighed against the difficulty of stringing together a tablet based workflow.  I look forward to doing some more app evaluations to see what I missed.  With rumors of the new full size iPad having a significant reduction in weight and size, that could be the compromise solution, especially when paired with a lightweight keyboard.  While that combination would approach the weight of a Air, the cost of damaging it is significantly less.

Cameras and the holy grail of size, weight and image quality:

If I won the lottery I would buy a Leica and 3 lenses and call it a day. Until that happens I will continue to search for ways to optimize carrying my D800 and the 3 Zeiss primes. This summer I am going to take some time and evaluate a number of new cameras, including the Fuji X line and the Sony RX1. I also believe that this year we will see a full frame NEX camera which I believe is going to really shake things up.  The fact that Zeiss has committed to producing three new lenses for the E and X mounts is wonderful news. I loved the NEX 7 but was dissatisfied with the state of E mount lenses. If Zeiss really gets the new glass out and Sony and Fuji continue  pushing the bounds of small bodies, one of those will very likely become my UL travel kit.

For now I will just keep exploring and sharing. If you have questions or suggestions please let me know.

Cheers,
Glenn

The Image Frame

This is a quote from Hans Straand on the Zeiss Blog.  I love the quote because he cuts to the heart of why visualizing and patience are so important when trying to capture a scene.

Speaking of composition, as an award-winning master of composition, how do you approach a shot?

The cornerstone of my photography is my personal interpretation of a landscape. I am extremely selective when it comes to choosing the image frame. I believe that the framing is the most important ingredient in photography. Without skillful framing, the photograph will just become a registration of a situation — “I was there and I took the picture” — instead of making it your own interpretation. Photography is not about capturing what you see, but interpreting what you feel. And, of course, I pay a lot of attention to what kind of light I want to use. I love the soft light of an overcast sky. In overcast conditions, I can work with more intellectual images, such as intimate landscapes. Or shoot small-scale wonders on a patch of ground of a square meter or so. There’s no rush and I can take all the time I want to find a good composition. Sometimes I think there is too much emphasis on drama and sensation in photography. My intimate landscapes are about the opposite of that.

I have personally talked about how shooting Zeiss lenses help to slow you down and focus on what it is that you are trying to capture.  It is the combination of the manual focus and the supreme quality of the glass that makes you want to create something unique, something that represents your own personal vision.

Image of the Day - Some Street Love

I have not been posting any of my 'Street Photography' of late, so here is a blast from the past.  This is the FDR memorial in Washington DC.  It is an incredible monument with great opportunities to document the memorial in truly unique ways.