When I put the Slidepad system on my 6 year-old eZip (electric-assist bike) I didn’t follow the directions to the letter (of course not, for some reason everything I seem to do bucks the norm). In fact the Slidepad system is respected enough to be standard equipment on the Jamis Hudson Sport (more bikes coming soon I understand). The system can also be installed by your local bike mechanic if it seems too daunting. In addition to the needed parts, it comes with a complete set of quality brake pads to round out the package. If you can do your own basic bike maintenance, then installing and adjusting the Slidepad system won’t take long.

Slidepad has a complete installation video on their website. It also acts like a anti-skid device, something that is seen on all kinds of modern vehicles today.

In reality it is so simple it’s hard to image that no one has come up with this before. This way the front brake will never be over-powered and cause a stability issue. What we have here is a rear brake pad that has a sliding mechanism, as it slides from the pressure and movement on the rear rim, it transfers that movement to actuate the front brake. Now that I have it installed on my old-school E-bike, I am more impressed than ever.Įvery part you need for the installation (except tools and a bike) are included in the box. As you look a little closer and get the info on the workings, you begin to see why it makes so much sense. Even with the short time on board, I was impressed with the way it worked and the cool technology involved. I got to try it out at Interbike (although inside the hall on the carpeting). I first learned of this innovative product earlier during the year. Although at first thought and glance it can seem complicated, in reality it is quite simple. With the Slidepad system, one brake lever is all you need to grab hold of, with the system doing the rest. Too much front brake and your stability can be compromised (especially while turning or on a slippery surface), too much rear brake doesn’t slow you in a timely fashion. Why is braking tricky you ask? Most know that the quickest and most controlled braking on your bike requires a fairly precise input on the two brake levers. It’s quick to do, not too pricey and I found it to work in the best of ways. Converting your bike’s brakes with a Slidepad up-grade can do just that. On top of that, everyone can appreciate a way to make a bike ride safer and easier. Shifting and braking come natural to many, yet no so much for others. There are many things about riding a bike that can seem confusing. Overall, Slidepad is a pretty useful tool if you find that switching to a different window just to access a website or app is too much of a hassle.As delivered to my door, the complete kit comes in a well marked display box. However, while you can also move it up or down, its vertical position is not saved. If you don’t want the sidebar to appear from the right, you can move it to the other side of the desktop. Slide it over from the right or left side of the screen The app can display its desktop or mobile version, as well as enable or disable sounds and notifications. Naturally, you can also add any website you need to have at hand. They are even organized into categories to make your job easier. To add some useful stuff to the sidebar, you can begin by selecting from tome popular web apps suggested by Slidepad. When setting up the hotkey, you can use pretty much any key and modifier combination, just remember to press Enter after selecting them in order to save your choice. It can also be activated using a keyboard shortcut or from the menu bar icon. The sidebar should pop up, and then disappear when you click anywhere else.

Hidden sidebar for useful thingsĪfter installing the app, just move the cursor to the right edge of the screen. It even supports notifications and allows you to define sound settings for each app or website. You can add any number of web apps or websites to the sidebar, and then switch between them with a single click. It’s called Slidepad, and it is pretty darn useful. It takes its inspiration from the iPad, allowing you to open a slide-over window that provides easy access to websites and web apps. It seems we never run out of ideas for doing more things at once, and this is yet another app that can make multitasking that much easier.

Slidepad alternative