Winter Season - Bike vs Board

404

Winter was not found.

Winter In Germany

404

Winter was not found.

Board Vibes - Season 2

It's been a long time, eh?

But today I'm back with new motivation, topics and a huge load of news. Of course there were other reasons besides procrastination  for me to stop writing. But those deserve an extra post. Also, there are two more winter themed posts in queue and then, finally, I am personally done with this season.

Following up on Saturday, there will be a roundup of "Season 1" of Board Vibes. I'll just briefly go over the highlights and developments made in those six months. Also there are two spots - one for the board, one for bike - that I had planned since early fall last year that might finally get live.

That's all updated so far, so see you on Saturday.


Follow my blog with Bloglovin

One Day In Hamburg - Christmas Time

One thing that's perfect in Hamburg in December is all the bright Christmas decoration that is spread all over the city. This here is just a tiny piece of it spread over maybe half a mile through the city. But I had a really good time trying out some stuff with the town hall and how it was lit from below and the clouds hushing by.

The scale of Christmas trees.

Love how this picture turned out with really warm colors..

While this one is really moody, especially the dark top.

A little too bright but I love how the buildings pops out from the background.

I like how the seagull sneaked in on this one.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Cold Days Longboarding Outfit

Of course there are many longboarders that only ride in the summer because of the trend and the style. But if you are like me and the longboard is your major way of transportation you might know the struggle of iced hands and cold air inside your jacket. I found myself some ways to fight the cold so that I can stay on the board not only on the glaciers.

Softshell jacket. One of the major problems is that the warmed up air inside your jacked gets pushed out by the cold air because of wind and your own movements. First step to counteract that is to buy a wind proof softshell jacket. You might want to find one with a little strip of fabric behind the zipper - I often felt the cold sneaking through that cracks.

Flexible gloves. When choosing your gloves you might want to go for the thinner ones. There is nothing worse for me than loosing the grip on my fingers, so I always use my winter biking-gloves for longboarding as well. They have the right balance of keeping your fingers warm and usable. If you have a bad day and it's too cold for your fingers, just get the blood into your hands by closing and opening your fists repeatedly.

Oversize and layers. I generally like to wear larger cloths when I'm on the board - in the summer they provide good air circulation but when it's cold they have another effect. Your shirts make your jacket tighter around the waist because of the excess cloth. Also you get the possibility of working out warm wind proof joints at your hands and feet. Layering up shirts and jackets also helps with that.

Beanie and scarf. There is one thing I love about the cold season: Hiding my face behind a fluffy and warm scarf. I pull it up tightly over my nose so that the warm air I'm breathing out flow all around my cheeks and over my eyes - all the condensing water gets caught in your eyelashes but that's totally worth it. Even better is to have a beanie on your head as well so there is nothing more than your eyes exposed to the cold and your ears are protected by two layers of fabric.

So do you have your own ways to tackle the cold or do you prefer public transport as soon as it gets colder?


Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Winter Season - Cleaning Your Bearings

First of all, there are two reasons that there came no post on Wednesday. It was the day after my birthday, so I didn't really have the time to sit down and write. But also I was busy with preparations for this upcoming mini series: Winter Season! In this case "mini" doesn't mean in short time because I'm going to stretch it out until maybe February - not sure yet - but there won't be many posts of the series. It will be all about getting your board ready for spring, starting with cleaning your bearings. I personally do it every three or four months but it might be different for you because of different products and the difference in use. Actually you could do that every other week as it is so easy.

To begin with, get your wheels off the board - I use a 13mm socket on a ratchet. Be sure to collect all the speed rings as it's quite easy to loose one or two of them. Sometimes, the inner speed rings stick to the truck because they get pressed together pretty hard - just use the tip of are small screwdriver to get them loosened and pull them off the truck with your fingers.

Then get the bearings out of the wheels with that same screwdriver: Get it halfway into the core, push the spacer aside and leverage it out from all sides. You could actually do it without moving the screwdriver around but I would surely get it in my eye some way.

 You should now have eight speed rings, eight bearings, four spacers and for lock nuts. As I said before, these small parts get lost so easily.



The next step is to get the covering off the bearings by simply pushing the tip of your screwdriver in between the covering and the bearing's inner ring. Then gently pull it up - it might stick a little if it is very dirty. They also stick to your screwdriver if it has a magnetic tip as the inside of the covering is made of metal.

Repeat that for both sides of each bearing. Some like to  keep one covering on, but I personally don't think they get really clean that way.

Prepare a empty can of vitamin supplements by getting the resin out of the cap. Just cut out the paper-like covering in the middle. Then put the parts that you want to get cleaned - I usually clean all of the other parts as well, but separated from the bearings -  inside there, add a drop of dish detergent and fill it up with water. But leave some space for the fluid and the parts to move inside the can. Shake the can with the cap on for a minute or two, wash it out with some fresh water and repeat the cleaning two or three times. By the way - I advise you, not to hit any animals that are interested in what you're doing. Dry all the parts properly with paper towels and a hair dryer on low temperature.

Then use your speed lube - I used some left-overs from our latest car servicing - to get the bearings working again. Don't use too much as that slows the bearings but. Then simply put the covering back on, assemble the wheels and get them onto the trucks again. That's it. You might need some time when doing it for the first time but once you know how to get it done, it's a task of maybe half an hour.

Do you have any shortcuts or tips? And how often do you think is it necessary?


Follow my blog with Bloglovin