GearFlogger

Delta Chagall bike rack

If you're trying to cram more bikes into less space, Delta Cycle is here to help. Among their various bike racks is the Chagall Quick-Adjust Tension model. This two-bike model assembles quickly and adjusts easily to fit ceiling heights from 7.5 to 9.5 feet.

The Chagall looks nice enought to be used in a living space, but it's not just another pretty face. The four arms, two for each bike, swivel freely and adjust independently vertically to accomodate your bike's frame. There are two accessory hooks for helmets or whatever. All the hooks are rubberized so they grip without scratching.

All in all the Chagall is a sturdy and useful setup. The only minor quibble is that the two vertical supports are fairly close together, and if your bike needs to be supported in weird places (Gary Fisher mountain bikes, anyone?) you'll need to put the arms at a fairly wide angle. With a little creativity it should do for just about any model.

$99.00 at REI

Planet Bike Flipper rear fender

Everybody hates a skid mark. Well, almost everybody. I had this roommate in college, right? But he was a pig. Anyway, if your idea of a blissful day is squirting down muddy singletrack as fast as you can before the inevitable head plant, you'll appreciate Planet Bike having your back with the Flipper fender.

I've never been able to make those single adjustment point models work for me, and I also don't like the ones that are really narrow towards the seat post. The flipper has two adjustment points so it'll get right down where you want it, and it's plenty fat with a deep side-to-side concavity for maximum coverage.

The best part is the tool-free installation. Just adjust the camming buckle thingie, snap it on and you're good to go. OK, maybe that's not the absolute best part: that would be the reasonable price for an item that by design is at high risk of getting replaced if you're riding as hard as you should be. I use it with my Novara Expanding Wedge seat bag, which has a strap that I can loop around the Flipper to keep it attached should it spontaneously seek its freedom on the trail

$16.00 at REI

Novara Slider bottle cage

There are a few small things that cost very little yet make a profound improvement in your life. One of these is the humble bottle cage. Bottle cages are simple things, not really any features to compare, so what do you look for? That would be price.

The Novara Slider bottle cage is five bucks. This is a conundrum only if you're clutching your last Lincoln and trying to decide, bottle cage or pint of good beer? That's tricky, and we want to avoid conundrums or any other strange word we don't really understand the meaning of. So, to solve this problem, go to REI when you have ten bucks. Buy a Slider bottle cage, that should leave you five bucks, unless you made a mistake, in which case get your money back and start over. Take the remaining five bucks and go get yourself a pint.

This is what you pay me for: good advice ending in beer. You'll appreciate the Slider too; it's got a decent weld, and the design works smoothly to hold and release the bottle. You don't have to slide the bottle out too far to get it free, which is good because if you're jockeying a full-suspension bike like me there's not a lot of clearance inside the frame.

$5.00 at REI

REI Expanding Wedge seat bag

Remember the wedgies you used to get during gym class? This is different, so quit your whining. REI's Expanding Wedge is a perfect little bike bag that mounts on your seat post, with one important caveat, so read to the end for once in your ADHD-driven existence.

The Wedge has a main compartment with a side zipper and key tether that's big enough to hold a 6' cable lock, multitool, spare tube and some smaller odds and ends in a separate mesh section. When I get ready to head out I'll unzip the expanding part and throw in a cell phone, energy bar and garage remote or keys. The Wedge attaches easily to your seat rails and quickly untwists so you can take it with you when you lock your bike up at the pub. There's a velcro tab to keep it affixed to the seat post, and the webbing part is perfect for keeping your rear fender on the straight and narrow.

There's even a place to clip an LED please-don't-hit-me light or reflector on the back. OK, so the caveat is this: small bikes, specifically those of the SheFlogger category, may not have enough seat post showing to fit this bag. We'll keep searching for an alternative, but for bigger bikes this is the bag to beat. If you're in to beating bags, that is.

$24.00 at REI

REI Stowable jacket

The SheFlogger is pleased. Recently a strange mental illness overtook her and she chose - of her own "free" will - to participate in a sprint triathlon. Her first question: what to wear? At the top of the list was a lightweight shell, and REI really came through with the women's Stowable jacket, also available for men.

The wind and water resistant Stowable is a nifty little design, and by little we're talking under 4oz! It stuffs into either one of its two rear cycling-style zipper pockets, although you can't zip the pocket shut around it when stuffed. The right pocket is slightly smaller than the left, but both are at least sunglass-case sized. The front zipper is set to the side just a bit, so if you're layering it won't stack against the inner zipper.

Breathability is fairly good. There is reflective piping and soft elastic cuffs that won't scratch even while running. Not much more to say, really: for a very attractive price you get a very attractive jacket that is well thought out and disappears into your pack or onto your back. GearFlogger gives the stowable a get-out-of-the-doghouse gift rating of five out of five.

$54.00 at REI

Thule T2 hitch mount bike rack

Thule is the best thing to come out of Sweden since the Swedish Chef: Bork bork bork! If you have something you need to stow on your car, Thule can hook you up: bikes, boards, skis, boats, dead bodies. Yeah, it's true, they make a coffin thing that mounts on the roof. I used it recently when a PowerPoint presentation went horribly awry.

Only slightly less useful than the roof-mounted coffin is the hitch-mounted T2 bike rack, for two bikes with an available extension for two more. I like tray-style hitch mounts because you don't have to break the bike down or worry about your rear suspension getting hung up. The T2 is easy to load, just lift and latch. The rails are fully adjustable, it'll hold 29ers and fat tires, and the whole thing folds up and down easily. It's not clear from the product description, but take out a pin and the whole thing folds down with the bikes on it and I can lift the entire back door on my Ford Escape; pretty trick!

Available for both 2" and 1.25" hitch receivers, and capable of up to 100lb. the T2 assembles in about 30 minutes of drinking and swearing, or even faster if you're competent with the included tools and sober. Locks are not included but are an inexpensive add-on, and you can buy cores that match keys you already have. Nicely done, Thule.

$369.00 at REI

Planet Bike Dial tire gauge

Stick this in your ear, genius. The Plant Bike dial tire gauge is one of those insanely useful little devices that at $15 is a no-brainer: just pick one up. You'll end up using it for all things inflatable: cue the imaginary playmate.

The gauge has a chrome tippy thing that fits over Presta valves, like on your bike. Just unscrew it and it works with Schraders, like on your car. I keep in my car's glove box since if I'm biking, I'm usually starting from my garage where my car is anyway and if I'm not I probably drove to the trailhead. It's handy these days since many gas stations don't have a pressure gauge on their air hoses.

Easily readable it measures up to 140psi or 10 wimpy European kg/cm2. The angled valve is just right to get a good reading, and even better the reading sticks until you press a little button. Pretty tough too. I like it a lot more than the fussy gauge built into my various pumps.

$15.00 at REI