Hasta La Gadget!

A lamp this cheap and ugly would never usually get a mention here at the Lab, but as you will have guessed, there is a clever twist. Instead of hooking up to the mains or even a USB port to get its power, this 8-LED reading light plugs into the telephone socket.

Yes, at last you have a use for your abandoned landline socket, something for the person whose phone never rings. The cord ends with an RJ11 jack and takes power from the phone company, the supplier of the trickle of electricity to your phone. And remember, this power stays on even when your regular power is out.

Which leads us to the question: Is this legal? I know that in the UK, anything that you can hook up to a phone jack need to be certified for that use. It’s hard to see telcos being happy about this freeloading lamp, so we guess you should grab one of these pink plastic monstrosities while you can. The price? An almost-free €3.18 ($4.73).

Product page [UXSight via Oh Gizmo!]

Some people buy cases for their gadgets, and some don’t. For my friend Pedro, buying the case for a new gizmo is actually more important to him than the months spent browsing catalogs and web reviews to justify his purchase. He recently bought my old MacBook Pro and is currently in the process of importing a cover from Australia. It’s an obsession.

So Pedro, this one is for you. These hard cases from Idox fit the iPhone, iPod Touch and the latest Nano, and turn them into something resembling a tiny netbook, one of those that has the huge (and cool) oversized hinges. When closed, the hard shell keeps the iPod as safe as Han Solo encased in carbonite. When you unsnap and flip the top of the case around that huge hinge, it becomes a steady base with rubber feet that holds the screen at a comfortable viewing angle.

A nice double-use case, it might be a little too bulky for everyday use, but as they are called the “Traveler Series”, its pretty clear what is their intended purpose. $25 for the Nano case, $35 for the bigger ones. in black, silver and, recommended for Pedro, pink.

Product page [Idox Thanks, Ashley!]

Yesterday’s post on the venerable Brooks saddle brought a few good comments (and one from somebody who appears not to have actually read the article). The most interesting pointed us to a seat from Selle An-Atomica, a Californian company (unrelated to Selle Italia) that makes leather bike saddles.

The product, the Titanico LD Watershed, is similar to the Brooks B17 in that it is made from leather strung between metal rails, only it has an anatomical cutout to ease perineal pressure. Brooks makes the B17 Imperial, which has a similar hole, but its perineal hole is smaller. The other big difference is that, being from sunny Fairfield, California instead of the rainy gray Midlands of England, the Titanico comes in colors! Alongside the more usual brown and black you can choose pink, white, red and yellow.

The leather is also said to be more flexible than that of the Brooks, and the shape is certainly more rounded. I’m very interested, not least by the opportunity for color-matching seat to bike. The catch is that the seats cost $180, but they do ship internationally. And even if you don’t want one, check the website. It’s not pretty, but it has a lot of great, in depth information about bike saddles and their design.

Product page [Selle An-Atomica. Thanks, Underwhelmer!]

See Also:

• Gadget Lab FAQ: Six Things You Should Know About Brooks Saddles …

It would be a little odd to review a product that has been around for 110 years, so we won’t. I have noticed, though, that whenever I stop and talk to other cyclists, they almost always ask about my Brooks Saddle, especially the few-months-old B17 I have on my fixed-gear bike (my other city-bike came with a twenty-something year old Brooks already attached). These English Bicycle saddles, hand made by the recently-independent company (it was owned by Raleigh Bikes since 1962) are both feared and revered due to the high price tag and the old-school style. So instead of a review, I’ll answer the questions that come up most often about these legendary bike seats.

How much is it?

Expensive, if measured in money alone, and dirt-cheap if measured in value. My basic B-17, the springless leather and steel flagship model, is listed at $120 in the US, and that’s the cheap one. It is, however, the only seat you’ll ever need to buy. If looked after, it should last longer than you, which makes it much more of a bargain than dropping $30 a year on some cheap plastic junk.

How long does it take to break in?

It depends. This particular B17 is the “standard”, and therefore has the hardest leather (there are pre-aged versions but the treatment makes the leather weaker). For me, it was comfortable from the moment I mounted it, although it took a few weeks of hard riding to get the thing to start changing shape. The ‘sit bones’ eventually make depressions in the seat, keeping your butt in place and making the seat feel softer, even though it isn’t.

Others report breaking-in periods of several hundred miles, and there is a magic lotion available from Brooks which can be applied to help soften the leather quicker. But don’t bother. The seats, even the ones without springs, are comfy from day one.

It’s very hard. Is it comfortable?

Surprisingly, it is comfortable because it is so hard. Instead of filling all your crevices with gel pads, which effectively give many more points of friction and cause saddle sores, the Brooks saddles are effectively a very stiff hammock hung from each end. This provides a measure of shock absorbance, and as your rear-end really only presses at the two pressure points on your sit bones (where the pelvis touches the saddle), there is no rubbing. The shiny surface, too, helps stop chafing and even heavy cotton jeans have moisture wicked-away quickly by the leather.

In short, it might look uncomfortable, but it is in fact the most comfortable kind of seat you can buy. Don’t believe me? Here’s what Sheldon Brown had to say:

Plastic saddles have four advantages over leather ones:

They are lighter.

They are weatherproof.

They do not require breaking in.

They are cheaper.

Leather saddles have only one advantage over plastic, but it is a big one:

They are much more comfortable!

Why is it pointed up at the front?

Because you sit on the back, wide part of the seat, and that section is at an angle to the nose, you need to tilt the seat back a little farther than usual. If not, you’ll slide forward onto the nose and put pressure onto the soft tissues of what my brother calls the “biffing skin”. Tipping it up makes the rear section flat enough to sit on comfortably.

Did that (saddlebag) come with it?

No, and it cost another $100. It’s an expensive D-Shaped Tool Bag, but like the seat, I expect it to last forever. That and it looks good and holds my toolkit without reminding me it is there by swinging around under the saddle.

Aren’t there other brands that are just as good?

Perhaps. Once upon a time, all bike seats looked like this, but today Brooks is about the only brand that is easy to find new in pretty much any bike shop.

Anything else? I’m sure some of you use Brooks saddles, and love them or hate them. And I know for certain that our cyclist readers are our most vocal readers. Let us know what you think.

Product page [Brooks]

Photo credit: Charlie Sorrel

See Also:

• Selle Italia Relaunches Cult Classic Turbomatic Saddle
• Fizik's 'A-Team' Saddles Get A New Addition
• New Bike Saddle Promises Smooth Ride
• 5 Inexplicable Fixie Fashions

Black & Decker’s ReadyWrench is like a full socket-set in one handheld spanner, although the marketing claim that it has 16 different socket sizes is a little misleading.

The handle has kind of bicycle fork at each end, only instead of a wheel, it has a four-way cross of sockets that spin into place. Each end has four different sizes and the handle can be tilted away and twisted as you work, allowing continuous turning in one direction, effectively working like a ratcheted handle.

And because those sockets are held from the sides, a bolt on a long shaft can actually fit through the hole, letting you get places you couldn’t with a regular socket-set. The only thing we don’t like is the claim to work at 16 sizes, when there are clearly only eight sockets. Black & Decker gets to this figure by assigning a metric and SAE size to each.

We guess that any serious mechanic will want to splash out on Snap Ons, but for a compact, take anywhere tool, this $30 wrench looks pretty good.

Product page [Black & Decker via Uncrate]