Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Geoff Kabush starts off the season with a win

Geoff Kabush (Rocky Mountain-Maxxis) took the win on the season opener at USA Cycling’s Pro Cross-country tour (ProXCT), held at Southridge Park in Fontana, California. The Victoria based Kabush (he's from Courtney) therefore remains undefeated at the Fontana race wich has been on the race calendar since 2006. Velonews reported on this event:
"Both ShoAir riders came into the Fontana even with races in their legs — Australian Taberlay won the U.S. Cup opener at nearby Bonnelli Park on March 1st, and Plaxton finished tenth at last weekend’s Continental Championships in Santiago, Chile. Both took turns attacking Kabush, but the cagey Canadian said he didn’t lose his cool.

“I was dealing with a bit of team tactics from the Sho Air guys but I felt pretty in control; I just wanted to ride a smart, smooth race, which is my trademark,” Kabush said."

We as Victorians and Canadian residents (at lest if not citizens...ehemm) should all be rooting for Geoff. Not only is he a superb bike rider, but he's freaking cool too, with his signature sideburns and eccentric taste in shoe and shade color options. Kabush sometimes races in a "Cross on the rock" race or two and usually tries to go for the beer price for the fastest first lap. I had the opportunity to see him race last fall, and it was inspiring and humbling at the same time. He's a super smooth racer with mad skills and a cool attitude, in that race he would ride the "unrideable hill" every time with a smile on his face. This was not for speed, but just to please the fans, which had a blast seeing him put that hill to shame. Nobody else rode that hill, allthough some did try which is worth applauding.
Congrats Geoff and keep up the good work!

Monday, March 30, 2009

Commuting by bike...

Even though it has been chilly in the last few weeks, conditions have been favorable for commuters. The streets have been relatively dry and after the rains we got a while back, the roads are not as gritty, glassy and full of oddities such as nails and washers etc. as they were last month. Therefore it was with a smile, that I got on my Bianchi this morning and I rolled silently out of my building and onto the street (I love the silence of fixed gear bikes, you feel like a ninja riding those things). I rolled up the road towards the store in at my usual lazy pace, practicing trackstands and skids at lights and enjoying the ride. Then something interesting happened: As I pulled off on a set of lights on Vancouver, a Toyota Echo pulls out beside me and quickly overtakes me. But as the coke can of a car passes by me I see something dropping off it from the engine compartment. Being a (sort of but not entirely) reformed car nut I immediately recognized the item as an oil filter, a Pennzoil one to be exact. It bounced off the asphalt spilling it's oil in a jovial way, seemingly glad to escape the hellish labour camp underneath the hood. The rest of the engine stayed in the car as it put-putted down the road spilling its oil in a steady stream onto the road. I felt bad for the driver as I knew that if he kept driving like this his engine would die a horrible smoke infested dry death somewhere in the downtown traffic. Therefore, I tried to get the drivers attention by whistling and waiving my arms like crazy...He didn't notice, but a Gentleman on a Honda Ruckus scooter decorated with about 50 yellow rubber ducks did, rode up next to me and I pointed out the car to him. Then he took off after the Echo, and a couple of lights later I saw the car and the scooter parked on the side of the road and the two drivers looking underneath the hood and scratching their heads. "Good good, they've got it under control" I thought and kept riding. Thinking that I've done my good deed of the day and so for the rest of it, I can be a total unrepentant jackass.
Ahh... the joys of commuting.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Sram XX and the death of the triple crank



I'm of course a little late reporting on this stuff, but since they will probably debut this stuff at Sea Otter (april 16-19) I think it's worth looking into.

I just read this tonight on bluecollarmtb.com

And since they swiped it from The Bike Lab.
I'm going to swipe it from blue.

Is the Triple Crank Dead?

Recently there has been a flurry of rumors and products that might indicate that the triple ring crank may be in danger of becoming extinct. Not only on road bikes, where the move to compact cranks has been well established, but also for the mountain bike. The signs of the triples demise are hard to miss. Let’s take a closer look.

Internal geared crankset
Innovations like SRAM’s Hammerschmidt are only one of the recent signs of the fall of the triple ring crankset from favor.

The “triple”, as three chain ring equipped crank sets are often referred to, have been around since the dawn of the modern mountain bike in the late seventies. Used to give off road riders a low enough climbing gear without sacrificing down hill speed, the set up has been basically the same since that time with some tweaks along the way to the specific chain ring sizes and bolt patterns for the rings themselves. However; there also have been instances along the way where riders tried to eliminate the multiplicity of front chain rings. Nothing on the scale of today’s developments where we have seen and heard of many things that may change the way we motivate up and down the singletrack.

The first big technological change made popular was SRAM’s Hammerschmidt which is basically an internally geared two speed crankset. It eliminates the front derailluer and two of the front chainrings for a gear spread equal to what roughly was the “granny” ring and middle gear on a traditional mountain crank. This has found popularity with All Mountain, Freeride, and Downhill riders that rarely if ever use a big chainring on their cranks anyway. Obviously, too much weight and a lack of a high speed gear up front would limit the usage of this idea, but we may not have seen the end of the development on internal geared cranks yet.

Now for the high speed, cross country set, the news is all about 10 speed drive trains utilizing two front chainrings. SRAM is set to hit out first with the new and yet to be launched “XX” group. Featuring a purpose built two chain ring crankset, the idea is much like “compact” gearing for road bikes, with a nearly identical gear spread to a triple chain ring set up, but with better chain lines, and lower “Q” factor. Also rumored to be making the leap to 10 speed/dual front chainring mountain groups is Shimano. They are rumored to be readying a 10 speed mountain group with a two chainring crank set in the XTR and XT levels.

Not only that, but the scuttlebutt is that Shimano will stop production of triple crank XTR and XT cranks altogether in the future. Will this signal a “trickle down” through all of the mountain groups in SRAM’s and Shimano’s line ups? One industry insider I spoke with on the condition of anonymity said that the trend would trickle down eventually. However; he also stated that recreational groups and trekking cranksets looked to remain as triples for the short term.

My take on it is that it would be a big mistake for SRAM and Shimano to cease high end production of triple crank sets. While racing pursuits lend themselves to such set ups, the common trail rider is not well served by fewer choices in gearing. I also feel that adding more cogs to the cassette is not what trail riders and all mountain/free ride folks are looking for. Actually, fewer cogs and a dishless rear wheel are much higher on the agenda here.

While details are scarce and solid info is months away yet, it is alarming to see that this may be on the table. The jury is still out, but things don’t look so good for the common triple crank these days.


It's Official: SRAM is Going 10-Speed

(12/14/2008)
By: R. Cunningham


We got confimation that SRAM will be releasing a 10-speed mountain bike rear cassette. Expect it to be announced and shown at Sea Otter this spring. The shifting precision and reliability of its 10-speed road ensemble, and the fact that it already has DoubleTap handlebar shifters in production underscore the viability of the project. We expect that SRAM's XX two-by-ten mountain bike drivetrain will gain acceptance well beyond cross-country racing circles.
SRAM's breakaway into 10-speed mountain bike shifting will put pressure on Shimano to move its Di2 electric shifting system from Dura-Ace to XTR. Because Di2 is already a two-by-ten shifting system, If Shimano chooses to go with a two-chainring XTR crankset, there will be no need for Shimano to re-engineer the electronic or mechanical aspects of the system beyond adapting the rear derailleur to handle a wider range cassette.
The race is on.

Indeed, but will this benefit us here on the Pacific northwest? That is to say, those of us who are not into XC riding? I think it might be a nice system, and by eliminating the third ring (wich almost none of us use anyway) we'll be saving some weight but getting two extra gears. I can see it being nice to have two more gear choices, but I'm a little worried about reliability. Narrower chains and more precise shifting is going to be a must if you're running a ten speed cassette, and in my opinion the current nine speed setups out there are a little finicky to keep tuned. I know I've had a hard time with mine, and it's getting to the point where I'm adjusting the derailleurs at least once every two weeks. Mine is only a XT though so probably it does not paint a fair picture of the 9-speed category in general. Road derailleurs are awesome though, and the shifting is usually super-crisp on those, so if Sram (and Shimano) can translate that crispness to the mountain category, in a superlight package that is still burly enough to handle all-mountain riding, count me in. New stuff is always exciting.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Nice wheels


For you unfortunate souls out there who, like me, can't wake up without a couple of cups of coffee and a visit to the fixedgeargallery.com, this might be of interest: Prowheelbuilder.com has a pretty cool website, and the nice thing is that you can build your wheel on the website from the hub outwards. So you can choose from, hubs, spokes (colored or not) nipples and colored nipples, rims and rim color. From there you're asked your weight and how the rim is going to be used, and if you have any special instructions. For example; drill for schrader valve and alternate black and red nipples and black and red spokes (black spoke/red nipple) or any such eccentricities. The next screen will show you your total cost, plus the weight of the built wheel.
In my case it looked sort of like this:

FRONT WHEEL
Rims: Velocity VELOCITY DEEP V TRACK 700c BLACK RIM NonMachinedSideWall
Hubs: PHIL WOOD TRACK RED FRONT HUB (drool...)
Spokes: DT Swiss DT SWISS CHAMPION 14 GUAGE BLACK SPOKES
Nipples: Red
Weight: 1100.4 grams
Price: $272.00 plus $32 shipping.

mmmm....tasty, and the price is not bad either even though it's in US$. However, the question remains whether or not prowheelbuilder can build the same quality wheels as our resident Zen master, Stevie-Wan Kenobi. This remains to be seen.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Lots going on for the rest of March and in April

So fresh off the Viking cat, next month should be a great biking month. The Season is officially on in the Island Cup Series, with a Super D coming up on the weekend in Nanaimo and a downhill on the 29th in Cumberland. For those of you that are not really up for the mountain biking there will be lots to do for you as well. Most notably the 2009 Bike Prom, here's their mission statement from their facebook group:

"Victoria! Flip yeah! The third annual Victoria Bike Prom is on like Goldie Hawn, April 24, 25, 26!

Victoria is hosting three glorious days of bike events. Bike polo, bike art, bike films, bike spoken word, bike rides, bike race, bike posses, bike performance troupes, bike bizarro, BIKE PROM, for the locals and beloved bikey out-of-towners.

More info to come, including events, billeting, transport, and so on. For now, just get geared up for a weekend of good times by bicycle, Victoria style.

In the meantime, check out our blog: http://victoriabikeprom2009.blogspot.com/"

This weekend will be lots of fun and the Bike Prom Alley cat was lots of fun last year. We have not decided what we're doing for April here at the shop, but I think there might be a pedal and a pint in the works. Also in the not to distant future there will be a riders Zoobomb at an unknown location. So start looking around for a kid's bike (16") and get ready to rock the downhill in your spandex and knee pads.
Image shamelessly stolen from bikeportland.org photostream...

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Snow ride.








I thought I'd share a few photos from our ride on Monday. We decided to head up-island to Duncan to ride Mt. Tzouhalem. There was a fair bit of snow on the mountain, and it made for a great ride...








...Although, the wet and sticky snow made riding up very difficult. On more than one occasion we were forced to pick up the rear ends of our bikes and push our the bikes on their front tires because the snow was packing up so badly that it would lock the rear wheel.








Once we made it to the top however, the snow made the trails fantastic to ride. It was so much fun to slip and slide down the hill with the barest resemblance of control.







Fresh tracks are always great, with skis or bike.


















Chevy and Claire starting out on 'Finality', an amazing trail.


Chedda' B. riding a clearcut.



The tricky conditions made for some hilarious moments...







Towards the bottom of the hill, the snow was gone and the sun came out. Twas a grand ride.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Viking Cat pics

New pics from the Viking Cat posted here.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

unconscious ordering syndrome

One thing that not all our customers realize is the fact that we have stacks of books and brochures underneath the counter filled with stuff we can order. These books are a source of a lot of very nice parts that bike-junkies like us have a hard time to resist. Therefore, looking through those brochures sometimes causes the "unconscious ordering syndrome." This sickness can be diagnosed if the patient shows symptoms of: Glazing over the eyes, seems to be in a trance like state, or even a shock and is thumbing through the brochures in a very methodical way and punching numbers into the calculator. Occasionally you'll see the patient reach for the "Custom Order Form" and start to drool profusely. If you spot this it may be to late to do anything about the patients condition. But all is not lost, try for example to approach the patient cautiously but be aware, they may have spotted something that they're extremely protective of and they might snarl at you or even bite (there are known instances). However, it is imperative that you do not let that phase you, unless it's just after payday and you know the patient can afford the part that they're ordering in their drooling rage. If it's not, try a gentle warning like: "Yeah these rims are really nice, but can you afford them right now?" If "-Grrr leave me alone!" Is the subjects answer we might be in trouble. They're entering the final stage...Now everything goes, try anything that might possibly snap them out of the trance such as: "Hey I was just going to go across the road and get a muffin and a coffee, do you want one?" - Grrrrr snarl grrr... BITE! At this point there is no hope, try and distance you from the patient and practice Unicycling or something that takes your eyes of this very unnerving sight. Let the patient go ahead and order the part and if they're lucky they'll have a "POST-unconscious ordering syndrome" which is described as a feeling of angst and hyperventilating in the patient that may prompt the person into running downstairs and ripping up the order form before our basement ordering monster orders the parts and there is no turning back...
The "Unconcious Ordering Syndrome" happens to me just like everyone else at the store, for example I ordered this little tool (cleverly named Jethro Tule) by Surly , from NRG the other day, and there was no stopping that...all my coworkers were just hiding in the shop as I ran around drooling and muttering: "Sweet!!!" in a way that the word "sweet" should never be uttered:

Friday, March 13, 2009

Viking cat and Halo hubs

The Viking Cat was a hoot!!! We had 17 racers coming out and there were no serious crashes although a few riders did go down. For those of you who missed out, don't panic. Other events will be coming up, and definitely more alley cats since we all love them. Other ideas that we're milling around are Zoobombs, Time Trials, jungle cats and casual rides. We'll be trying to have something fun happening every month, this spring and summer and also there are lots of races coming up in the Island Cup. We'll be present at most races with a repair stand and tools, a tent and perhaps some beverages and barbecue.
I'll write a more detailed post on the Viking cat in coming days with explanations to strange clues and the race results and lots of pictures of course.
In the meantime check out these bad ass hubs that Justin got for his single speed project. These hubs are Uber smooth and run on cartridge bearings, they should make Justin a bit faster. They're made by Halo and come in this very tasteful purple which Justin wisely chose.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Viking Cat Tonight!!!


Check out this kick ass video from the Flight of the Conchords.

And now that you've laughed a little bit, it's time to get serious: The Viking Cat is on tonight...that's right people, and it's going to be cold. they're calling for ZERO degrees and clear skies...so wear your long-johns and pucker up. It's perfect conditions for the Viking Cat and once you get moving it'll feel fine (unless you're a sissy) , just remember that they do winter alley cats in Minneapolis so this should be a cake walk. I've reserved tables for us upstairs at the Bent Mast so once you finish the race you can warm up with a hot toddy, or cool down with a cold brew or a cold glass of milk whichever works for you. Then when everybody makes their way to the Mast we'll have a little awards ceremony and then people can hang out for a few or call it a night. It should be good.
See you tonight and good luck!
PS: Bring a pencil and a lock! you'll need 'em....

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

New bike magazine

There's a new bike mag on the shelves... The good folks of DirtRag which is one of my favorite mountain bike magazines, are publishing a new magazine called Bicycle Times (disappointingly unoriginal name). Dirt rag has always been one of my favorite mtb mags although admittedly I don't read a lot of them (I stick with I couple I know I like). Dirt Rag has always been ready to explore and embrace the more off-beat paths of mountain biking and dirt riding in general and I've always preferred their layout to most of the other magazines out there. Mountain bike magazines have a tendency to get cluttered. I found Bicycle Times' mission statement on-line:

"Welcome to Bicycle Times, the new media venture from us folks at Dirt Rag. While we’re all mountain bikers at heart, our passion extends beyond the trail. There’s a whole world of cycling out there, as we’ve covered in Dirt Rag over the years.

But Bicycle Times will give us space to cover the larger world of cycling, while letting Dirt Rag better focus on the dirt side of things. This idea came out of our growing belief that bicycles are the best invention ever created. Bicycles have this innate power to improve the lives of those who ride them, and their world around them. It is our mission to perpetrate these ideals.

Bicycle Times will be about fun. Riding a bike is fun. It was fun when you grew up. Now it’s even more fun, and practical too. You do it for many reasons, but you do it your whole life, and there are tons of niches to interest yourself in along the way.

There’s riding to be done every day. Commuting, exploring, touring, transporting, racing or just riding along. There’s city rides to be done, and country rides too. And it’s all fun. This will all be presented with an informative, no attitude style, on the web and in the quarterly print magazine.

Everyday is an adventure, especially when you saddle up and ride!"

This magazine will tackle a section of the market that has been underrepresented in the past, but one that the Vancouver magazine Momentum has covered in past years and in turn grown exponentially. Momentum is a great magazine, but it's a commuting/advocacy magazine with a feminine slant that, surprisingly enough (given that Momentum is meant to bring in those riders who feel alienated from other cycling magazines) alienates us riders who are dirt riders at heart, and want to read about something a little more, hmmm extreme, for lack of a better word.
So I feel that there is enough room for both these mags in the market, and I trust the Dirt rag crew to do great things with Bicycle Times. Should be an interesting read


Night Ride & Trail Maintenance

Tonight is our weekly 'Night Ride' up at Hartland. I am expecting the weather to be clear with some sunlight at the start of the ride, but it will be chilly. I am also pretty sure there will be a bit of snow from the little dump that we got yesterday. However, the weather and conditions won't stop any of us from enjoying ourselves on the ride tonight. Please come and join us; we should be at the parking lot no later than 6:45pm.

It's SIMBS Trail Maintenance this Sunday morning at Hartland. I will be there and I am fairly certain I will be able to recruit one or two more riders from the store to be up early Sunday to play in the dirt. If you RSVP to Chirs Oman by 9 am this Friday you will be able to put in your sandwich order of either roast beast, turkey, ham or veggie. Tools, gloves and training are supplied. There is always tonnes of swag given away as well. So if you enjoy riding Hartland please help us keep the trails in good condition for everyone to enjoy.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Viking Cat update...

uh..oh...
Brute force mechanics
Final trim

Well, the Viking Cat is upon us in only two days...I did a "pre-run" with the help of Shawn Embree (he'll be selling information for the right price I'm sure). We rode out of the store at around 6:20 and did some modifications on the locations and the clues as we saw fit. Shawn made comments about what was good and what was bad which was very helpful. We obeyed traffic laws and rode at a leisurely speed. The time it took us to finish the course was about 1:45. This included an accessory failure on Shawns bike (a stunning retro Specialized Allez), when the toe overlap caused him to jam his front fender in his front wheel, luckily at slow speed. We ripped the fender off with the help of a pocket knife and brute force and kept riding. Given the casual speed and stops we made, I still think that the fastest racers will finish around the one hour mark.
I've noticed that some people feel a little intimidated by the race, but rest assure that it will be an easy ride. There will be lots of clues, which should even the playing field since there won't be long sprints between spots. Nobody needs to feel that they're not fast enough or that they don't have the right bike etc.
Again, I want to stress that this is a FUN event. Not so much about racing as it is about hanging out with like-minded people and friends and about reveling in the bike community. I'd like to see lots of people coming out, both guys and girls. So bring your better half with you and do the race together. Four eyes are better than two!

Friday, March 6, 2009

MTB Licenses for Residents

Ok, the saga of licensing continues. Since there's no GRMBA anymore we all have to get CBC licenses. IF you've never had a CBC license....well if you didn't have one last year, when you come into the shop to fill out your paperwork, bring in either your passport or birth certificate for us to photocopy and send to CBC. If you're planning on racing the Super D on the 15th get your butts into the shop so we can get the licensing dealt with before the event.
cheers,
Chevy

Cycling BC Citizen License for Landed Immigrants/Permanent Residents

Hey guys,
so i had an interesting conversation with Richard this morning regarding licenses for landed immmigrants or permanent residents...apparently he was havig some issues acruing one. Here's the skinny on it. There have been some rule changes this year regarding the licensing, however i spoke with CBC and IF you are a landed immigrant as long as you've lived here for at least 6 months out of the year then they just need a photocopy of your landed immigrant status card, passport, and you need to check off that you have health care coverage in BC. So, yes you can race, it's just going to take a little more paperwork for you than most. This also applies for a UCI license as well.
That is all,
Chev

First Island Cup Series XC Race

Well it's that time of year again....Time to pull out the "little" bike and get those legs a-burninatin'; the first of the Island Cup Series' MTB XC races is this weekend up in Port Alberni. So, for all of you XC racers out there, we hope to see you up there pedaling away like your life depends on it. Some of our club members will be attending and racing. For those of you looking to carpool, feel free to post comments up here and use this place to network yourself a lift up island. Andrew has started a bit of a google calendar for the whole series, here's the XC link with some very basic directions for getting to the races. Sadly the weather looks to be turning on us, you wouldn't guess it with the beeeeautiful sunshine outside right now, but it's suposed to snow this sunday so dress for the worst and hope for the best.
Keep the rubberside down kids,
-Chevs

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Bikes for the ladies...

Not a kona, but still a woman's bike
We don't sell Kona bikes at Rider's Cycles...Kona is doing something right though, because parents come in all the time asking for Kona bikes, because that's what their kids like. So somehow the Kona marketing is enticing the youngsters...I could go on a little ramble here on why a Kona might not be a great choice for the kids...but no! We're above such mediocrity here at the shop. Honorable staff here, with good intentions. Heck even my mum and dad ride Konas, but their commute is all of a kilometer or two down to the staples to feed the horses or a leisurely cruise around my village (5k). The funny thing is, that since they live in Iceland, the brand name Kona takes on a bit of a different meaning. You see "Kona" means woman in Icelandic. So this immediately becomes cannon fodder for the humorous types. Not only is my dad ('6,3" /260lbs.) riding a "women's bike." Funny in itself, but if he braves the comments and rides down to the pub, he's in danger of getting the ever popular: "Oh, I can see you rode your woman here tonight...how was that?" Or any variation of the same observation with increasing vulgarity depending on the speakers drunkenness. In situations like those you just have to smile and say: The ride was wonderful!

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Rider's Club Mountain Racers!!!!

Hey guys,
so here's the DL on the Rider's Cycles club shtuff this year...we're doing the Royal Stealth Jersey and 661 Evo gloves, Cycling BC mebership and club dues for $156...the license will allow you to race anywhere in BC. If you want to race BC cup and have your points tracked, then you need a UCI licence which costs about another $100. The gloves alone are worth $80 retail so it's a pretty killer deal for gear...the catch is we need to get the jerseys out and printed ASAP so people have them for the first Super D...so get in this week if you want your jersey soon....otherwise there'll be a wait on jerseys to be printed. See you kids soon!
PS: roadies....your kits are being designed and we'll have pricing for you guys sooooooon

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Night ride!!!

The weather was not ideal this morning for the commute to work, a bit of rain and wet streets, which made for soggy bottom commute on the Tractor (EX8)...It was not all bad though, at least it was not poring. The weather is supposed to be like this morning for the rest of the day, scattered showers and mild. That's the key word here "MILD." For my commute home last night I did not even wear my jacket and I swear I can smell the spring in the air. Daylight savings time is this Sunday as well so it won't be long until the night rides will actually be in daylight. Compare that to the weather right now where I come from:
So remember to be thankful for the privilege of being able to live here. There are a lot of bad things you can say about Victoria, but the pros definitely outweigh the cons. In 25 min we're out of the city and on the trails, and that's including a stop at the beer store. Try that in any other major city in Canada...Speaking of trails, night riding is tonight and it's looking like it's going to clear up by the evening. I'm going to ride and so is Justin, and perhaps Chevy as well. My wrist is still sore but I'll tape that up and see how I do. I'm sure I'll be a bit apprehensive of some stunts tonight though, as my last RSCT put the FEAR in me.

Monday, March 2, 2009

google petition for bike friendly maps...


There's currently a petition going on the intranet pushing for google to add "bike there" to their "drive there" and "take public transport" options on google maps. To sign the petition follow this link. This option would offer cyclist the fastest route and also take into account other options such as the safest route, or most bike friendly route where bike routes and bike lanes would be utilized.
this is a really interesting petition and would be great for cyclists visiting other cities. I for one have always wanted to take my bike on the train down to Portland for the pedalpalooza. That bike festival is huge and Portland is supposed to be one of the bike friendliest city in North America. But even with that distinction, I think that having everything mapped out on google before I got there would make things a lot easier. So check out the petition, sign it if you feel so inclined and hopefully google will add this feature.

On a side note I'd like all you facebook users to sign up for the alleycat on facebook. Either as attending or maybe, or not attending... this will give me a better idea of how many people are going to show up and then I can take that number to the pubs and see if we can get a Viking Cat special on beers.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

A customers new ride...



I just thought I'd share a picture of a new Trek Madone that was built for a customer yesterday. The frame is a 47cm. And I think it's compact lines look fantastic. The customer can not comfortably use a drop bar, so a carbon riser, (yes... riser), bar was installed along with a new set of shifters, brake levers and a higher-rise stem. As I was looking at the parts prior to install, I thought it was sacralige to put a riser bar on a road bike as nice as this one. But as soon as the stem and bar were installed I loved it! The tiny frame combined with the new cockpit reminds me of a 50's cafe racer. I think the bike looks badass like this... plus with a frame this small it almost looks like one could take the bike dirt-jumping... not that one would of course...