June 2010 Archives

The finish of the first Tour de France with the first winner, Maurice Garin, at the right.

Uploaded by Nationaal Archief | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

This is the latest. What are you using?

Uploaded by Hugger Industries | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Just riding along, a ride I do along the i-90 lid, and there was Haulin’ Colin, his peeps from Madison Market, and the Bicycle-Powered Parade Float. I stopped and they did a quick demo:

I’m sure it was well received for Seattle’s Pride Parade.

This is filed under, crazy shit I see on the bike, along with just riding along, and sometimes I wonder if it’s the blog that moves me or the other way around.

There’s always a post to write from every ride I do.

Technote: shot with iPhone 4 HD video, initially edited with the iMovie App, and uploaded. The embedded movie in this post was imported from the iPhone and edited with iMovie HD.

Well, I was waiting for it, and now Shimano just announced it a couple hours ago.

New XTR with 10sp double and triple cranks, new hydraulic brakes, and a new tubeless wheel system.

It looks like Shimano will pursue both 2x10 drivetrains for XC and 3x10 for “trail” riding. The new crank design seems understated compared to previous offerings. Cassettes will be in either 11-34 or 11-36 offerings, with an updated “Shadow-type” rear derailleur. Pretty hot.

Yeah yeah, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visits Twitter HQ, but what is that bike! Not that Scattante, the swoopy red one …

Photo from Getty Images, via Daylife.

Custom, wood wicker seat with adjustment dial. Nice.

Uploaded by gregraisman | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

It’s official: the UCI has declared that disc brakes will be legal for all cyclocross competition for the 2010-2011 season. The rumour circulating the interwebs is that Shimano made a push to convince the UCI to make the rule amendment.

Among the advantages of disc brakes is that rims can be made lighter because they wouldn’t need to act as braking surfaces. Riders will be able to brake more effectively in all conditions particularly mud, and there wouldn’t be brake pads next to the rim to pack on mud. However, forks would need to be beefier.

All this has been mentioned for years, but now it seems that with the UCI’s blessing, we are perhaps now on the eve of the next big revolution in bicycle equipment. Cyclocross is the doorway through which disc brake systems integrated into dropbar shift/brake reach the consumer as well as the natural path for discs to reach UCI acceptance to road racing.

That said, there’s a number of design issues which I’m gonna love seeing Shimano and SRAM overcome….

Just riding along the Burke Gilman on a sunny, summer afternoon and met Andreas with his self-described shitty bike and panda mask, made an iPhone mobile video.

Also drafted behind a Mom with a trailer

wondered what STMB was — is that a rat or mongoose?

Barrel NY has made a Tall Bike Poster in Limited Quantities at $30.00 with free shipping. Check how they made the poster on their blog.

From Amsterdamize’s A Tale of Fixies & Cycle Chicas set on Flickr.

Uploaded by Amsterdamize | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

We were working on the best way to organize iPhone screens with the new iOS4 and realized we could make some art. Each successive swipe reveals more of the background wallpaper.

The photo is a clay wall with a magician poster that we shot last year in India during the Mobile Social Worldwide.

Swipe 1

Swipe 2

Swipe 3

Uploaded by Hugger Industries | more from the dreeping set on Flickr.

I’ve seen it done before, but the customized eyewear is a nice touch.

from Cliff Nordman’s flickr

5mi outside of downtown Bend, OR and you have good roads, rolling hills, and stunning views of Mt. Bachelor and the Sisters. I think Chris Horner has it figured out - Bend’s most famous cycling resident.

Puma Bikes launched 5 new bikes, designed by Biomega, including this BMX style, folder with a big basket.

Pico

This will fire up Mark’s interest, considering the S&S BMX he built last year. Also see the Funk with flip-flop hubs and huge top tube.

Bombastic marketing language aside (about re-inventing urban mobility), these bikes are certainly interesting; especially the Pico. They are shipping now and available online: ship to your home, dealer, or buy at dealer.

Chasing Cinzano and Breaking Away.

Uploaded by rdf1249 | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

That’s some fork rake.

Uploaded by lovely_bicycle | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

We’re spending the weekend with family. John Wells took this photo yesterday at the Fremont Solstice Parade. The Naked Bike has a long history, some controversy, and now it’s just part of the event.

Photo: John Wells

Bonus in this shot is single/fixed and with toned, cycling legs, and I think that’s a Panasonic bike. See more photos, some NSFW, on John’s Facebook wall.

Aslo see Bike Intelligencer.

We’re working on videos from Toronto and then planning a Fall Mobile Social. Considering Vegas for Interbike, San Francisco, and other cities that have asked us to bring what we do there.

This Cutters shot is from Austin and by David.

Uploaded by davidjschloss | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Spotted this on a ride Friday afternoon and It’s the largest Surly size you can order. Looks even bigger with the 26-inch wheels.

Uploaded by Hugger Industries | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Not only had I never seen a Kronan before, but saw two of them within a block of each other in Toronto.

Green

Orange

More Kronan photos in the Mobile Social Toronto photoset.

A busy weekend is ahead for cyclists with the Fremont Solstice parade — featuring naked cyclists — a book reading from the Bike Snob, an all-night bike ride, and Livestrong.

• Parade — 12 PM
• Book Reading — 2 PM
• 9 to 5 All Night Bike Ride — 9 PM

Cyclists are riding for Livestrong this weekend too.

We’re riding big miles this weekend and relaxing after the Mobile Social in Toronto.

Women like Jen race hard, sometimes crash, and don’t complain. Race again when they can. Don’t want no girly bike from the bike industry, just one that goes fast. See more of them in this video from Jim Fryer/BrakeThrough Media

Jen was getting stitches in this photo. She was in the Cat 4s and one the best races of the day. The Mens 3s and 1/2s were too calculating, looking back, sitting up, going for points and racing defensively. These girls just went hard. Maybe it’s cause they don’t know all the strategies or they just wanted to hurt each other out there.

Uploaded by Hugger Industries | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

We talked with Gary this morning about his collection at Trek and what exactly that means. He’s very positive about the news, feels good about the changes, and excited to do what he loves.

Joking around, we asked him how it felt to be the Martha Stewart of the industry, with a collection. His reply:

“I’m going to show you how to ride a bike in style.”

And that’s Gary. With his steampunky style, he’s now a brand ambassador for Trek.

I tweeted our concern,

Will @gary_fisher end up on Tires, Stems, shoes like Bontrager? Does the average Trek consumer know that Bontrager is a dude?

In a year or so, we’ll know and I’m sure Gary will tell us more about it over beers at Interbike later this year.

What do you think?

Met Ze Frank at NXNEi and he liked my cap, so I gave him one. Looks good.

Uploaded by Hugger Industries | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Back in the old days before drop bar levers had adjustable reach, a savvy mechanic could bend your levers for your small hands. I’ve never seen it done, so when I decided to modify my early ‘80’s Modolo Professional levers I just winged it.

Those Modolo levers are drilled out to a ridiculous extent, so there was definitely the risk of snapping the levers in the process. So I made a couple of forms from a two-by-four, stuck the levers in between, and then clamped down on the sandwich in a vise. Voi la! Accurate, controlled bending on both levers.

I bought these levers from a teammate in 1995 for $20 with the matching blue calipers. Every few years I forget how much better new stuff works than old, and I start a retro bike project…which is usually me stripping off the Dura-Ace STi from my steel Bianchi and throwing on the Modolos with some Superbe Pro. But this time I’ll be able to reach the brakes much better… the braking power still sucks though.

We’re riding the Mobile Social Toronto today at NXNEi. Meet at 6 PM, In front of the Hyatt Regency. We’ll cruise around town and back for the NXNEi Networking Reception.

We’re en route to Toronto today and talking about design at NXNEi on Tuesday. Then the Mobile Social Tuesday night. We’re looking forward to riding with and talking to the locals about bike lanes, bike thieves, and more.

We’re following Toronto cyclists on Twitter

• @biketo
• @BikeLaneDiary
• @bikeunion
• @torontocranks

Facebook and Flickr.

Uploaded by Martinho | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Hey Tacoma, apologies for our lack of knowledge of your scene. We were there for a bike race and saw art bikes, cruisers, fixed, and so on.

Reminded me of the time we visited Boise and were amazed by the amount of cyclists.

Fixed

Art Bike

Crusiers

It’s not just the usual suspects: Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis, and so on. Bike Culture is worldwide. More photos of Tacoma in our photostream.

Target skid contest. At this point the rider Kevin knows that it’s gone wrong.

First clear visual confirmation that skid has gone wrong.

The misfortune unfolds.

Spectators react with a mix of shock, involuntary wincing, and for the guy in the white shirt, unabashed glee.

Rare.

Uploaded by tkurnia | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

While we debate kits v. plain clothes and some are riding in tweed as the new old thing, dude shows up at the local Tuesday worlds racing in gym shorts and a tee.

He’s got series points.

Meanwhile, Jeremy made this silly pig-and-a-top hat helmet cover.

A photo looking downstairs at a Hugga Boo Hoodie.

The Hoodies are a bamboo blend, very comfortable, and on sale with the rest of our gear for 25% off. We’ve also featuring more Fathers Day gifts in our Amazon Affiliate store.

I stumbled upon this vintage Popular Mechanics magazine from 1973. Wooooooo, funny. Most of the bikes in the article would make me cringe if I saw them coming into the shop for service today. I have no nostalgia for cottered cranks and steel rims. The one really nice bike pictured, a Schwinn Paramount on the cover, had “suicide levers” on it, thereby broadcasting the owner’s newb-status. And the clothes! This is the early 70s, but if you watch the documentary Stars and Water Carriers, Felice Gimondi and Ole Ritter on the Bianchi team look so suave at the ‘73 Giro d’Italia…whether in team kit, casual, or a suit. I guess that would be the difference between Europe and America. Makes me wish I was there in Italy back then.

But these guys…not so suave. However, if the guy above had a moustache and some thick plastic rimmed glasses, he would look at home on any Friday night on Pike & Broadway on the hill. When you see him tomorrow night outside the ChaCha, make sure you buy him a drink:

In the trend of social-media-sites sharing people’s data, The Register is running an article that points out that the Garmin Connect website makes ride data public by default. What’s the big deal? Well potentially (since you don’t have to log in to see the rides posted on Garmin Connect) a burglar could look for people in their area who always ride at the same time, and burgle their house.

I’m not sure this is a really huge issue, after all most people are working during the day, so not really home anyhow, but it’s another good reminder that if you don’t want the world to know what you’re doing, don’t tell the ‘net. And check your privacy settings on any social tool you use before you start sharing data.

Those are lasers in the background during the fit process at Cycling Northwest. After busting my ribs up last week in an accident, decided it was a good time to adjust my fit and visited Russie’s studio. Russ is a former pro, elite cyclist, and looks damn good in a Hugga Cap.

Regarding the lasers, he said:

The Laser is simply a point of reference for alignment of the knee over the foot. Using the knee dots placed on the Tibial Tuberosity and centering a plum laser line with your foot and ankle, a fitter can see how the Patella (knee cap) tracks laterally. This will show you in which direction to move the foot to achieve knee over foot alignment. Some fit systems use light capture or video to achieve the same view. This is one of the most important (and often overlooked) pieces of a thorough bike fit. Without proper knee/foot alignment the risk of torsional strain and risk of injury to the knee join goes up. It also improves power and efficiency… all things any cyclist should strive for.

Old school builders and bike shop fitters may scoff at this, as who needs freakin’ lasers, but where it definitely helps is for the cyclist to see changes to a fit in real time. That’s much better than looking down at a plumb line from the saddle. The changes made to my fit include

• 1cm down
• Wedges under cleats
• cleats all the way back
• 20 m axle spacer
• Stem up 1cm
• stem shorter by 1 cm

That gets me slightly more upright and breathing easier.

The rib is healing and I’m back to racing and training this weekend and will report on how this fit works. Traveling as well to Toronto and we’ll also start the big touring miles this Fall before Cross Season.

Eric Rice hooks his droid up to his bike with an Amzer Bicycle Handlebar Mount.

Uploaded by Eric Rice | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Our next Mobile Social is in Toronto next Tuesday (6/15), during NXNEi, at 6PM. We’ll start at the Hyatt Regency Toronto, cruise around the city and end up at HTO; chill for a while, and then ride to the NXNEi Networking Reception.

Photo by Vic Gedris, related post.

The MoSo TO is well-timed because Toronto has made bike headlines recently. We’ll have lots to discuss with the locals.

Update

Just got an update from the event organizers that the event is sold out.

Well this is a cool infographic, even if we don’t read Italian. Note the Trek District in the legend and the Dahon Mu. Via @rick_vosper. It shows bicycle manufacturing and usage.

Uploaded by Francesco Franchi | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Some things you do in cycling to prove a point — to yourself. The point is made by climbing a steep hill fully loaded with your commuter gear and laptop, finishing a charity ride with the front group, or mastering a new trick on your fixed gear.

For this racer, it was crossing the line with her bike. She didn’t have to do that. In the last lap of a crit, racers in a crash get the pack finish and time, but she did. It was to say, “I finished this damn Boat Street race.” She had crashed the day before at Ballard.

Met this crew en route to Ballard. They’re riding 49 States and were very happy the sun was shining.

Uploaded by Hugger Industries | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Video of the new, 2011 Zipp Carbon Clinchers.

We’ll have these on test soon. Summary: Zipp waited until they could make a carbon clincher their pros would ride, according to the rep.

Note that Zipp shares the toroidal shape patent with Hed and the wide C2 rim that Hed introduced. Bontrager also uses the toroid and wide rim, as the wings for their wheels are made for them by Hed.

After we ran our piece on women and the bike industry, we had a great conversation with the women at Specialized that run the women’s product divisions. It was such a great conversation that we asked them to contribute their thoughts to Bike Hugger. What follows is the first of two pieces from the women that create the products for women at Specialized. This first piece is from Rachel Lambert, Women’s Product Marketing Manager.

Since BikeHugger’s recent blog, Women as Outcasts in Cycling Industry, I have been anxiously awaiting each new post and comment that has been added to the discussion. I can’t imagine a more relevant topic to address or a better opportunity to truly gauge the concerns, interests, and issues that women face in cycling. I am an industry veteran of 8 years who to this day gets uncomfortable walking into a shop I have never been to. I have had my fair share of being blown off or walking through a shop like I was invisible.

I have also had many positive experiences and witnessed LBS who go out of their way to draw women into their store and make them comfortable once they are there (If you need proof, just check out Bicycles Plus in Folsom, CA who hosts annual women’s events that draw 1,000 women in one night on top of group rides and well stocked inventory).

I also understand the frustrations of trying to find products to fit my needs only to be discouraged and walk away empty handed. Even as recent as 5 years ago when I was working in my LBS in Washington state, most companies were only making one or two token women’s bike models that inevitably were feminine in color and in a low to mid range in components. The legacy and bad impression that this established has to been VERY hard for the industry to rebound from.

I have worked at Specialized for 4 years now in product development working to change these stereotypes and change the direction the products are going. I am lucky enough to follow in the footsteps of a woman whose principles about product development were clear. Focus first on the riders needs. This principle has meant everything to what we have done at Specialized in design. We do not start with a men’s frame and then modify it to be different. We do not take a men’s geometry and cut a few cm off the top tube and call it a day.

Spotted these new, 2011 Zipp Carbon Clinchers at Boat Street this weekend. On test soon.

Uploaded by Hugger Industries | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

A quiet week with busted ribs for me …

Mechanical Doping

A term we wished hadn’t got coined, cause it’s not “doping,” it’s using a motor on a bike and a conspiracy theroy was floated that Cancellara accelerated away from Boonen with a Gruber Assist.

Near Miss

Nope the cyclists doesn’t notice he nearly got killed cause crazy shit like that goes down all the time in China. Reminds me of the time we saw a scooter slide into a bus. Dude’s scooter is smashed, he gets up, waves at us and rides on. Bus driver and passengers are unphased.

Bike Charger

Gadget blogs all noticed Nokia’s bike charger. Also see Dahon’s charger and Pedal Power.

In a Wired article by Neal Pollack about the the great check-in battle between Gowalla and Foursquare, the Mobile Social SXSW is mentioned

Meanwhile, a few blocks away, 32-year-old Josh Williams, the cofounder of the location-based social-networking game Gowalla, is hanging out with some fellow Texans. Mellow Johnny’s, a bike shop owned by Lance Armstrong that happens to be across the street from Gowalla’s offices, is the final stop of the “Mobile Social”, one of Gowalla’s signature events at SXSWi, the annual gathering of a leisurely four-hour bike tour of Austin that starts at Brush Square Park, cruises over to the State Capitol, and ends with live music and a barbecue.

Note: Gowalla was a sponsor of the Mobile Social SXSW, along with Google, and our other partners.

We hung out with Josh and Neal for a while at that massive party he mentions in the article, then with KK+, Fierce Kitty, et al.

Photo: David Schloss

We’re more concerned here with the bike then the check in network, but the trend of mobile and social networks we spotted a few years ago continues to emerge and gadgets like the iPhone, iPad, Google Phone, Dahon’s charger and Nokia’s charger all make that more possible. @zeldman tipped us to a Read Write Web article that noticed the mobile in social media this week, as well.

After SXSW, our last Mobile Social was at Webvisions and we’re in Toronto next for NXNEi.

Kara Ginther custom engraves Brooks Saddles — yes we want of with our logo on it! Mudflaps too.

Uploaded by .Kara. | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Every now and then a product comes along that makes me wonder how i lived without it. The most recent example is this new bike bottle, the Clean Bottle, which adds a clever removable bottom to the standard bike bottle allowing for quick and easy cleaning of the moldy gunk that often accumulates in dregs of a bottle.

Brilliant, right? 100% non-toxic BPA-free plastic, recyclable, and 10% of all profits go to charity.

In use it’s just like a normal bottle, albeit with slightly stiffer sides than many cheap plastic shop bottles (needed to keep the bottom on the bottle) so it takes a tad bit more energy to squeeze out the fluids, but that’s a small tradeoff for the ability to remove deadly mold from one’s beverage.

Not a drop has leaked from our test bottle after numerous uses and we don’t anticipate any ruptures (though I do have an idea for a prank based on the old salt-shaker gag).

Bottles are $9.99 with free shipping for four or more and five bottles gets you a sixth for free at cleanbottle.com.

From the FERDINAND GT3 RS BikePorsche (Set) on Flickr. See more photos and video.

Uploaded by Ion Camborrado | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

We noticed the Nokia Bike Dashboard last year and it was in David’s presentation at the (un)Wired Future of Bicycles. Today Nokia announced a charger aimed at developing countries with limited access to electricity. They’re hoping the idea could catch on in Europe where cycling for work, shopping and errands is a common lifestyle. Or in the US!

“To begin charging, a cyclist needs to travel around six kilometers per hour (four miles per hour), and while charging times will vary depending on battery model, a 10-minute journey at 10 kilometers per hour (six miles per hour) produces around 28 minutes of talk time or 37 hours of standby time. The faster you ride, the more battery life you generate.

Photo: Nokia

The kit comes with two small brackets, in addition to the charger and generator. One bracket attaches to the bicycle’s handlebars to secure the charger and a cell phone holder. The other secures the small electric generator to the bike’s fork.

Photo: Nokia

If Nokia makes that small enough, it could slip inside a top tube to recharge batteries for secret bike motors and to further the Cancellara Conspiracy

Also see:

• Charge your iPod with your bike
• Dahon Biologic iPhone Mount Test
• Nokia N900 Bike Dashboard

Bill Zimmerman, local fast bike racer and badass, broke his collarbone over the weekend. As it was told to us,

coming out of a corner at the Woodinville crit too fast, two guys go down in front of me, tried to squeeze between them and the metal barriers - didn’t quite make it. Send all recovery alcohol to the really hot home care nurse monitoring me.

  We will NOT send him alcohol, as he’s likely on Oxycondone and those two do not mix. We will wish him well and welcome him back soon.

I finally got my new cyclocross frame painted and assembled. It’s another Davidson frameset, this time in steel. As usual, I designed the bike down to the millimeter and chose the tubes and fittings (but I don’t do fabrication or painting). A cyclocross bike is in its very nature the bastard child of the mountainbike and road bike, and as such no truly integrated component group exists to hang on those frames harmoniously. I’ve had 2 other cyclocross bikes in the past 15 years, and each one has involved a lot of fiddling with components. This time around I’ll be trying out a number of new bits

The Cancellara motor is in his legs

So it seems that the idea that Fabian Cancellara has used an electric motor to aid in winning Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders is so fantastical that we cannot dismiss the controversy. We originally linked to the issue in mere passing, but now even Cancellara and the UCI are making statements.

It has to be said that the claims are at least plausible, given that the technology for a nigh invisible electric-assist system exists. Marketed by a European company called Gruber, the system consists of an electric motor housed in a cylinder that inserts into the seat tube. A shaft extends into the bottom bracket shell where a gear engages onto a modified crank spindle.

There is some interesting video that samples an Italian former pro, who now works as a sports commentator, speculating about the use of electric motors in the pro peloton plus some footage of Cancellara’s hand movements allegedly activating the motor during his 2 biggest 2010 victories. A few people asked me if I think if he’s using…