Wired has a feature on concept bikes which includes a square wheeled bike and this cool bike from a company called pilen concept bicycle by eric therner
The bike looks like a modern retro racer. You would have to wear leather goggles when riding this with a skater helmet since anything else would look out of place.
The only issues with the bike seem to be a lack of front brake and no adjustable seat. The concept is interesting though.
This one makes it into the list because it looks so cool. Based on 1930s Le Mans racing bikes, the Pilen Concept is designed by Eric Therner for Swedish company Pilen Bikes. Is might look retro, but hidden behind the styling is a lot of high-tech gear. LED lights are built in to the frame and the saddle is in two parts for independent shock absorption.
Well, the Crimanimalz have some competition on the 405 with an Etnies skateboarder guy. Pretty soon with all of the bikes and skateboards riding on the Los Angeles highways you may start seeing moms with baby joggers and senior citizens with matching track suits and giant headphone radios walking down the fast lane of the 405 during rush hour.
Seems that the two un-sponsored American teams now have major sponsors. This is great news after last years folding of Discovery Channel due to the lack of new sponsors. Team CSC also found a new sponsor with Saxo Bank and Quick-Step has their sponsorship extended for three more years. Most of the top teams seem to be reporting good news on the sponsor front despite the constant drubbing of doping scandals for the past few years.
Columbia Sportswear will take over the main sponsorship of Team High Road. The sponsor seems like a perfect fit for cycling and slides into the lead sponsor role of one of the most successful teams of the year so far.
Garmin has been a smaller sponsor for several teams such as Milram. Now they step into the main sponsor role taking over the Slipstream team. Garmin is perfect for cycling especially with the 705 model which includes a map. Previously the Slipstream team was using Powertap computers to monitor their training. With Garmin coming in will they drop the Powetaps in favor of the Garmin 705/ SRM combo or will they have a very crowded set of handlebars with both Powertaps and Garmin GPS devices on the handlebars?
Here is my somewhat crowded cockpit with an iBike and Garmin 305.
Campagnolo decided to take cassettes to the next level and unveiled that all Campagnolo gruppos including the new (old name) Super Record will have 11 speeds. Pretty cool news, but just imagine how ultra narrow those chains will be now. When asked why the move to 11 speeds, Campy reps could only respond with “Why Not?”
Obviously, the key point is the extra sprocket on the cassette and plenty of hardened roadies will be asking ‘Why?’ We put the same question to Campagnolo and the quick answer came back “Why not?”
The new Campy 2009 gruppos feature a distinctly new shift/brake lever with an extra curve near the hood. It is said that the extra curve up top provides better aero positioning but it is not as pretty as the older models.
They rode around Paris with an anti drug (droggi.com) message posted on their rears. The Droggi girls will help you get in the mood for the Tour de France while advertising women’s underwear.
The video has been everywhere. This is a crazy crash and fortunately Frank Schleck made it out alright. Seems the racers who careen off of mountain roads usually make it OK. Oscar Pereiro crashed on the Col D’aubisque in the Tour in 2005 while busy with his musette and made it out OK. Jan Ulrich crashed on the Col de Peyresourde in 2001 in a very dramatic fashion, bike and all, but seemed to recover OK too.
bicycletutor.com is a nice new site that contains several tutorials on how to fix and maintain your bike. Even though I’ve been riding for ages there are some things that escape me and I go over to the local shop for help. This site help to demystify fixing your bike.
In Los Angeles and other places rush hour traffic is so slow that you could get places faster with a bike. The Crimanimalz a group in LA decided to take to the highways during rush hour as a protest/demonstration?
In LA most of the people in traffic were either too busy doing other things such as texting/using cell phones to notice or simply just too jaded to ever flinch.
Drivers scarcely looked up as the riders passed. Many were too busy texting messages on their cell phones in the bumper-to-bumper traffic. The riders grew bolder, weaving in and out, riding faster and faster. They had sent scouts for an initial stretch but decided to extend the ride. Two miles and 15 minutes later, they were back on city streets.
The result was bolder Lucas Brunelle type riding where they weave in and out of traffic. I can’t decide if I admire these riders for their bravery and sheer balls in doing something so scary. Or if I am disgusted by the action since they could easily cause a bigger controversy and backlash if one of them were to get injured or killed. Cyclist already don’t get much sympathy when there is a report of an accident. The Mexican bike race that was hit by a drunk driver helped the cyclist cause since the picture was so gruesome and vivid with carnage. But there was the occasional troll that would post things such as “strike” or they “got what they deserved” for being on the road. An accident with a cyclist being on the highway where they don’t belong would not be helpful in getting more bike friendly roads developed.
There are better ways to advocate cycling in your town, but sometimes doing something bombastic seems cooler.
As a side note there are certain states and areas where you are allowed to ride on the highway. I rode on the highway when I went to see the Tour du Pont in Wilmington Delaware. I was with a local cyclist to escorted me and two other friends to some nice roads to ride after seeing the race. I did not expect to ride on the freeway with 55mph+ traffic. The experience was scary and exhilarating. Once we merged back off I was excited to do it but did not want to ever do it again.
Cervelo took a huge risk when they became the main bike supplier to Team CSC. The risk paid off nicely with the huge success of the team making Cervelo bikes one of the leading brands out there. Originally Cervelo was a small boutique brand with an emphasis on providing better aerodynamics with their airfoil downtubes. Their biggest market is triathlon with their slippery fast P2 TT bikes that are some of the most lusted after TT bikes on the market. Their approach is less is more in some respects as they have a limited line that is very high-end. There are no cheapy sub $1000 bikes in the Cervelo lineup and they are always in demand.
Despite the negative drug related press, with the Ivan Basso debacle in 2007 and the Riis revelations of 2007 their sales are still strong. This is especially with the premium lusting baby-boomers who are getting into cycling.
Originally I was going to title this post Riiis is “bringing Saxo Bank” into cycling. Apologies to Justin Timberlake for the bad reference to his song. But I decided to keep it basic.
Bjarne Riis successfully found a new sponsor to replace the outgoing CSC in Saxo Bank. Effective immediately Saxo Bank will cosponsor the team with the highlight being big exposure at the Tour. In 2009 Team CSC will become Team Saxo Bank marking a smooth transition over to the new sponsor. With the advent of sponsorless teams such as High Road and Slipstream and the loss of Gerolsteiner as a main sponsor it looked like cycling would have a tough time getting new sponsors into the sport. With Riis’ success at attracting Saxo Bank hopefully more sponsors will take another look at cycling.
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