Slack Randoms: Universal Grip Heaters, Viral Tattoos & Chaotic Council Meetings

We use Slack as our workplace communication tool at Pinkbike and we have a #randoms channel which we use to share an assortment of videos and stories from all corners of the cycling world and beyond... We thought a couple of the moments from the past week were too good not to share with a wider audience, so here are some of the highlights.


A Chaotic Viral Council Meeting from the UK


This video of a Handforth parish Council meeting has taken the UK by storm this week. During the meeting, which took place on 10 December, Jackie Weaver had been called in to host and "support" councilors after fractious previous meetings. She emerged a stoic hero after the meeting descended into name-calling, shouting and eviction. It really has to be seen to be believed.

You can watch extended highlights of the meeting, here.

Universal Heated Grips


We've seen a fair few attempts at producing heated grips throughout the years, including some homemade-hacks from pros, but the problem has always been that you can very rarely find a heated version of your favourites. Yes, your hands may be warmer than Bernie Sanders in knitted mittens but if you're trying to cling onto cheap rubber with an unfamiliar tread, you may well be better off with frozen fingers.

That might all be about to change thanks to Polar Plug. Polar Plug is a rechargeable heated handlebar plug that sits inside a standard bicycle handlebar and provides up to four hours of heating at 40°C. As it slots in your handlebar like a bar end, there's no need to change whatever grip you currently run.

At the moment, Polar Plug is on Kickstarter and the pre-order pledge amount is $99, with retail price expected to be between $150-200. More info, here.

When Your Mini Flip is too Mini


BMX rider Schalk Vermeulen posted this video of himself going a bit too mini on the mini flip.

Jeff Lenosky Hits the infinity Skinny on a Scooter



SpaceX SN9's "Rapid Disassembly"


SpaceX conducted a 10 km test flight of their SN9 prototype vehicle on February 2. This flight was supposed to be a repeat of the largely successful SN8 test flight, with some possible minor flight profile changes, but the landing didn't quite go to plan. This video from Tim Dodd, an enthusiastic amateur astronomer best shows off what Space X has called a "rapid disassembly".

The lift-off is at 4:24:00 but it all starts to go wrong at 4:29:00.

When You Absolutely, Totally, Completely Refuse to Unclip for a Gate


Watch the full video of Alex Howes (EF Pro Cycling) being interviewed by Scott Piercefield on a fixie while climbing over 3,600 feet on Colorado Highway 103 to Echo Lake, here.

A Full Send Horse


A Viral Tattoo With a Mistake


A gold star to whoever spots the mistake on this tattoo first.

Excavators 'Dancing' to an Orchestral Version of Metallica's Nothing Else Matters


Bertrand Ostiguy Inc, in Quebec, have picked a novel way to advertise their skill with excavators - ballet dancing. Julien Ares, the filmer and nephew of the owner, told Montreal's CTV News, "We did a Zoom for Christmas and the idea came about doing some dancing excavators. We just laughed at this but we were thinking about it all night. At the start I wanted to do something that was slow because excavators are really big and can't make really fast movements."

According to Metal Hammer, the version of the song comes from Finnish cello band Apocalytica.

A Trials Bike Prank

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