Shifting the scoop, scooping the shift

While the big time cycling press is falling all over themselves to review, photograph and gush over the new Shimano Dura Ace electronic road group and the new Campagnolo 11 speed Super Record group, nippleworks has the scoop. Nashbar just began selling their own 10 speed shifter set for the bargain price of $149 a pair. Want to spruce up that old road bike with more modern components? Need to replace the stock Shimano shifter on your crashed bike? Packed your Ultegra's full of mud during cyclocross? Not sponsored or independently wealthy? Pick up a pair of these.

Photos from nashbar.com

The ultimate downhill road bike

On some recent ride up to Skyline and down highway 84, I started thinking about what would make a great descending bike. The right geometry, the right rubber, the right brakes. Then, I let my imagination roam a little bit, and considered what might make the ultimate descending bike. No, not a downhill mountain bike, or even a road bike, but something purpose built for carving up road descents. What's out there already? Some companies in Hawaii used to truck people up to the top of Haleakala and then send them down with a jumpsuit, motorcycle helmet and modified cruiser bike.

Fun, but you'd sweat buckets pedaling it up hill, or even across a flat section. Plus, the position is probably too laid back to be fast and what's with 26 inch tires? Anyone who's ridden their mountain bike down a screaming road downhill ala Super Walker knows that it works pretty well, if not for cornering on those sketchy tire knobs. So, start with that platform and begin perfecting.1

Here's my dream component list for a downhill road bike:
-Disk brakes to save your rims from failing and your tires from exploding
-Brakes accessible in an upright riding position (on flat bars or bar tops)
-700C wheels for the best selection of road going tires
-28-34mm smooth wheels for the perfect combination of low rolling resistance and pavement imperfection absorbency
-Aluminum (or otherwise lightweight) frame
-Some flavor of gearing for uphill, flat and downhill riding
-Maybe just maybe, an adjustable seatpost to drop for the downhill

So, I thought about how to build one.
-Start with a Niner Air9 Scandium frame. Light weight, 700C, upright position.
-Put a carbon disc brake fork on it for light weight and smooth riding (like the On-One Superlight Carbon)
-Any available drivetrain with a nice wide range
-Some hydraulic or mechanical disc brakes (not sure what rotor diameter would be the best)
-Michelin Dynamic 700c x 32 tires
-Nitto alloy mustache bars
-Maybe, just maybe, a Maverick Speedball Seatpost

Then, it got sent to me in yet another Performance bike mass marketing spam-0 mail:

The Mongoose Sabrosa Ocho commuter bike. Ok, so you need to dump that coffee thermos, but it's got everything. The disc brakes, the big fast tires, and a Shimano Alfine internally geared hub with a nifty dropout adapted attachment. Then, when you're done riding the railway up to some fantastic Swiss mountain pass and bombing down on your bike, you can throw your panniers back on and roll on down the road.

Anybody got any other ideas?

Pics purloined from www.buzzhawaii.com, www.performancebike.com

One stop shop

For the bicycle courier that finds themselves strangely attracted to car doors. This website, ilovemybike.co.uk, is offering a gold plated fixie with brakes and cycling insurance.

And you thought the Bianchi was velo origami

The recently completed Bianchi folding bike, while beautiful, functional, and classic, is nowhere near the Rubik's Cube of complexity that the Suitcase Bike is:

Road bike tire icons - the universal language

After a recent descent down highway 84 (why the hell was that video made? "Loook, dey don even hav to pedal!), I got the road bike home and discovered a nice gash in the sidewall. Now, I've heard these can be patched with a dollar bill, power bar wrapper, or a specially made Park Tire Boot, but I decided that prevention was worth a pound of cure so I began tire shopping and was thoroughly confused. Does "Aramid Tek" mean that there's a kevlar bead, a kevlar belt, or the tire was designed by a guy named Aram? What's with all the wacky tread designs on road tires? Do they need tread? Luckily, I discovered Michelin. Fair price, and the features are printed right on the packaging in easy to understand, universal icons. Long mileage? Check. Puncture resistance? Check. I grabbed the package and checked out.

If only pregnancy tests could be so easy to understand.

Boulder Roubaix 2008

I volunteered for this year's Boulder Roubaix road race. It was a slop fest.

Put on by Chris Grealish and DBC Events, the Boulder Roubaix is a road race, mainly on dirt roads north of Boulder, CO. This year, it was held on the second consecutive day of nonstop rain. Temps were in the 50's. What's the ultimate bike for a race like that? I'd guess that it would be a cyclocross frame with road bike gearing and a pair of fat (700x25-30) road tires. Maybe something like Continental Touring Plus in a 28 width. Of course, the fastest riders would probably be on road bikes with sew ups if they had access to them.

Some riders took my advice:

Everyone tried hard, and a few abandoned:

The woman's race was lead by a pro from Team Columbia. Here's the transcript of nipplework's first ever pro interview:

me: Did you win?
pro: Yea! I had a rough start though.

me: Congratulations.

pro: I think I'm going to use this spot to change.

The pro, as it turned out, was Mara Abbott from Boulder, CO who also won the North Boulder Park Criterium the next day.

Sorry I didn't get a more flattering picture, Mara! Best of luck and may you add the maglia iridata to your stars and bars.

New rims

Ah, the possibilities. The miles they will see. So shiny, soon to become so dirty. I knew I needed some spoke hole covering solution for these new wheels and so while I was in Boulder, I picked up some yellow Pedro's rim tape. I measured the bead-to-bead distance as 19mm on my Mavic A719 rims. I didn't have them with me, so it was a guess (although a safe one) that the 17mm rim tape would be the right width. It was, although I could have gone wider. Not as wide as mountain bike tape though, and narrow road bike tape probably wouldn't cut it. When I was done, the tape was still kind of tacky and I was worried that it would stick to my tube, pulling out during a tire repair. So, I'll let them sit for a week allowing the glue to dry out.

Anyone try those little plastic rim plugs? They claim to be lighter, and for spoke repair on a touring bike, they may be far more convenient. They are, however, much more expensive.

Photo from http://veloplug.com/

In the mean time, I figure I can't go wrong with the plain old fabric stuff.