Redline Conquest Team. The 2015 models are all disc-brake, so my cantilever brake version is almost a throw-back. Personally, I’m not convinced that disc brakes…
Mark V
Happy Medium at Gran Fondo Leavenworth
This past weekend yours truly blindly leapt at the opportunity to participate in the Gran Fondo Leavenworth, an 87mile loop in Chelan County, in central…
XTR electronic SYNCHRO shifting: God help us when our bikes become sentient
Shimano officially announces M9050, an electronic shift system for their flagship offroad component group, XTR M9000. In many ways, this is one of the least…
New UCI Rules to reinvigorate the Hour Record; makes a big mess of it
Under the direction of new president Brian Cookson, the UCI has announced that the rules governing the prestigious Hour Record will be amended to allow…
Why “Anatomic” and “Women-Specific” Handlebars Suck
From a distance and even to the untrained observer, the drop handlebar is the giveaway that the bike is meant for the road. Arguably, this…
QOTD: “I’ll never underestimate the power of cat urine”
A customer came into the shop yesterday with a Mavic Ksyrium SL front wheel. It’s a second generation, circa 2002-2005, the black one that first…
Chris King XD driveshell and the evolution of cassette cogs
Everyone wants to talk about whether the latest mountain bike drivetrains have one rather than multiple chainrings and the range of the cassettes, but not…
Spurcycle’s sweet little bell
I saw this keen little bell on a bike today and discovered it came from a Kickstarter project by Spurcycle. Besides having a loud yet…
Replaceable Derailleur Hangers: Clever Design or Achilles Heel
Replaceable Derailleur Hanger As a mechanic for almost two decades, I have seen numerous developments in bike hardware, but I try to keep a perspective…
XTR M9000 Debut, Part 1
Irvine CA: Shimano today introduced new XTR M9000, its most advanced XTR mountain bike components and wheels to date. With this totally new XTR line…