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The Tune Bug Shake is a small portable speaker that takes the place of headphones or earplugs. It uses a standard 3.5mm audio jack that plugs from your mp3 player into the Tune Bug Shake. The Shake can then be mounted onto a normal vented mountain biking helmet or a skater type helmet as well. Power up your mp3 player and you get music from the Tune Bug Shake (msrp: $119.95).

Tune Bug Shake, small, clean design with just two buttons… very Apple-esque if you ask me.

When I ride solo I like to have my mp3 player with me. I enjoy rocking to some tunes when out on the trail but doing this has its downsides: not hearing what is going on around you, ear plugs falling out or moving around at inopportune times and having so many accessories and necessities in and around my ear. With the Tune Bug Shake I am able to eliminate all of these problems which makes this device pretty cool in my book.

Not being able to hear what is going on around me is probably the main reason I have enjoyed the Shake. I HAVE to be able to hear what is happening on the trail. With earplugs I lose out on this even when the volume is very low. I have a difficult time hearing people communicate with me and I feel disconnected since I can’t hear the tires on the trail. I have had more than my share of people scare the crap out of me when riding with earplugs but with the Tune Bug Shake I am able to hear the surrounding sounds including the other riders or hikers around me. I also hear the tires as they interact with the trail helping me be in tune. Sorry, I had to.

3.5mm audio jack.

The Tune Bug Shake has also eliminated the ear bud falling out of the ear problem. I have tried a variety of different ear buds: buds, buds that wrap around the back of your head, buds that wrap around your ear… all of them have a tendency to become dislodged at inopportune times. When using the Tune Bug Shake it always stayed on top of my helmet except for the one time I crashed and I found it on the trail a few feet away, none the worse for it.

When riding, it doesn’t add much weight; definitely not notice-able after you put the helmet on.

Lastly, the tune bug eliminates having anything on my ear. With ear plugs, sunglasses, a head sweat band and a helmet I can have a lot going on in and around my ears. This occasionally led to minor headaches while riding and I normally had to give up on something… usually the music. With the Tune Bug Shake I am able to keep the necessities while still playing my music too.

I did find that the Tune Bug Shake’s sound quality was not as good on a vented helmet as it was on a skater type helmet. The sound on a vented helmet had more treble and needed a bit more bass but it was still listen-able. I would also prefer to have a wall charger rather than a USB charger but it does charge quickly. These issues are a small price to pay for all the advantages the Tune Bug Shake brings to the table.

Although sound quality is better on a non-vented (skater type) helmet, I would still listen to the Shake on my vented helmet.

The Tune Bug Shake is a great, safe way to play your music while on the trail. For more information on the Tune Bug Shake, click here.

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Looks to me like the Limestone Canyon train. All pictures courtesy of Dan Burdett

Dan & I got to ride another Open Access day this past weekend. This time it was Limestone Canyon. Limestone is also part of the Irvine Ranch Conservatory. It is best known for a beautiful canyon commonly referred to as the Grand Canyon of Orange County.

Front loading the climbs allowed us to take advantage of the marine layer that was starting to lift by this picture

Limestone Canyon was a shade under 12 miles and about 1750 feet in climbing. Most of the climbing is at the beginning of the ride which was nice this day as the marine layer was still around when we started. The marine layer kept things cool during our initial ascent but also made the views non-existent. We were lucky to see 20 yards beyond our front tire. The Voodoo Canzo did great. Since the previous ride report, I did a rear tire swap and removed one of the headset spacers. Still working on dialing in the fit, but its turning out to be a fun bike.

Dan on the singletrack Box Springs Trail

The ride was done at a comfortable pace considering Dan was under the weather and it was just a week ago that I was experiencing incredible quad cramps and two days ago when I got a bad calf cramp on a ride. I can be cramp prone.

Jeremy taking a quick breather before continuing on the singletrack ridge

Highlights included two great sections of singletrack. For the most part, Limestone canyon is a fireroad ride, but the two singletrack sections make up for it. The first section, Box Springs is pretty short, but very tight and fast. The second section of singletrack, name which I forget, is towards the end of the ride and is a singletrack ride along the ridgeline paralleling Santiago Canyon Blvd back to the main drag. This singletrack was wide open and rolling. It had a few short climbs and some fun descents. The best part of the 2nd set of singletrack was the speed with which you could ride it at. I was definitely able to big ring it through certain sections.

Yummy, King snake.

We also got to see the remains of someone’s meal, a half eaten King snake. I came upon this while I was climbing because my front tire almost ran over the remains. Scared the bejeezers out of me. After getting everything under control, I turned around and waited for Dan to get to the snake. A few feet away, we found another piece of the snake, but we never did find the head.

Pretty small snake, with missing head. We found another few inches of it a few feet further along the trail, but still no head.

Lastly, I got a glimpse of an owl. As I was waiting for Dan to come through a small tree covered area, I heard a brand breaking in the trees above me and saw an owl fly away. The distinct flat but round face and light brown coloring was beautiful to behold.

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Is life getting you down? Do you feel that you haven’t had any motivation to ride or do anything other than work and go to sleep.

If you have, don’t fret! I’m sure there are some guys and gals out there that can relate. Heck man I’ve been there. I’ve often called it being in a funk. Some of my funks have lasted for months and others it lasted a few minutes. From personal experience, I think this occurs when I start taking mountain biking for granted. It’s easy for me to forget or not see the benefits of an activity if I am not doing it.

For example, working out and eating right. How many of us sit around thinking about wanting to drop weight or eat better? I’m sure most of us do, but what lacks is the motivation to execute. All the benefits of it is easily forgotten because we don’t remember how great we felt when we were working out 3 days a week and eating good quality food. In the present stage, you and I think it would be far more difficult to get started.

Well that’s how it is in mountain biking. If you’ve been out of the saddle for a while. The best remedy for that is to get on your bike. It doesn’t matter how out of shape you are, the point is, you NEED to get out there. I’m sure you’ve read all the benefits that exercise has on a person’s brain. Stuff about endorphins and other scientific stuff like that get released and makes the activity pleasurable. Besides, mountain biking is just an awesome way to get rid of the stresses you’ve accumulated through out the day.

Here’s something else you gotta think about. Do you remember that time when you had to convince the Mrs. that you NEEDED that expensive bicycle. She couldn’t understand that the bike you had wasn’t right for the type of riding you were going to start doing? After months and months of negotiations, your wife finally gave you the Ok to get that nice bike you’ve been wanting. Well, if you’re not riding your bike, she’ll see you on the couch, and the bike in the garage. Then she’ll come to the conclusion that the purchase was a waste of money…and guess what…she’ll be nagging you! Oh man, just think about the constant nagging and jabs she’ll take at you just because you are not riding your bike. I don’t know about you, but that’s enough motivation for me to make sure I’m on that bike as often as I can. But then again, Priscilla isn’t a nag at all. Nope. She’s awesome in every way.

In closing, Ride your bike, it will help your sanity. Don’t ride your bike, then your wife will nag you. Nuff Said!

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One great thing about mountain biking is that it gets your legs nice and tone. Nothing says sexy than a good looking set of calves, quads and of course, the buttocks!

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“Pcych…I’m a bag, not a gas tank! Gas tank”, Ya, that’s what I kept hearing from my fellow trail users …then after explaining exactly what it was that was strapped to my frame, most were like “Oh cool, how does it work?” I then proceed to demonstrate how the bag attaches to the frame via Velcro strap at the seat tube, ratchet at the head tube and Velcro strap at the down tube. I then get, “where is the bladder?”. Again, I explain that each side of the bag holds one small bladder capable of holding the equivalent of 2 standard size water bottles connected in parallel, definitely enough for a long ride. At this point I get “that’s cool! no more stuff on your back”…Ahhh the epiphany of the passer-byer. Such a simple concept, so very well executed.

Descending with Pcych

The bag (not really a bag, but I don’t think it has a category) is very well constructed and very well thought out. Every facet is robust enough for MTB’ing demands, from the double pull zippers to the reflective piping. Multiple pockets inside including a water resistant pouch for any electronics makes organizing easy. Your gear will ride allot lower than on your back thereby lowering your center of

The problems inherent with the idea of locating a storage device on the triangle of full suspension bike which needs the capacity equivalent to that which is normally carried by one’s back is quickly evident. Single speeders, forget it. I tried to stand and pedal uphill with minimal gear inside and my knees were quickly introduced to the bag. How about a 30 mile plus trip on SART? It won’t hold enough gear especially if you prescribe to the “better safe than sorry” theory when it comes to preparation.

Hydration won’t be a problem but the little bladders on each side of the bag inflate to such a degree that it makes the bag just that much wider and takes up too much of the limited space for much else. You can’t use a bigger bladder as it will indubitably leave you with room for nothing else.

From the top you can see 2 additional external pockets and the handle on top

The bag actually worked out nice for my suspension design but what about others where the shock is mounted on the top tube like Santa Cruz, Pivot, Cannondale, Yeti, Fisher etc.? Will the bag interfere with the linkage or will the linkage rub on the bag? It could be a potential problem for some suspension designs. What about a night ride? Where would the battery go?, with some light designs this could be an issue as well.

I certainly got allot of attention with this bag. I usually get stared at while riding my bike as I am considered an emerging “Raddist“, currently a Protégé of Jeremy but with this bag, man and beast were indubitably drawn more to the innovative Psych bag and not me!

The bottom line with this bag is that it definitely has a market with a certain application. I’m not sure if it will be a game changer in the world of personal hydration and storage. But I do like to ride with nothing on my back and I certainly appreciated being able to bring more stuff with me than what 3 small jersey pockets will accommodate but, if I’m riding 15 plus miles in an area that I will most likely not see anyone, I need storage for emergency type gear, better safe then sorry!

Internal Pockets, there are also 2 additional pockets on the inside of the wings

Everything was very well thought out including the available pockets. It is clearly evident that the Pcych bag was given full effort and attention by the design and management teams. I can’t wait to see the other products this company comes out with in the future; based on this one bag, I can confidently say that anything these guys do, will be of first quality and they will be thinking “outside the bag”.

Traget Price: Around $100…give or take a few bucks.

If you’re interested in the PCYCH, you can email Lee Gomez at customerservice@pcych.com for more information.

Here’s a video taken by RL while at the Fullerton Loop where Lee Gomez explain the Pcych Hydrator Trail Bag

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