Interbike is really amazing. Walking through the isles of exhibitors you get to see the latest and greatest. At the same time you see the entire spectrum of the cycling world. With that said, there is a bike for everyone!
One of the things that caught my eye is this bike from overseas… it really stopped me dead on my tracks! Could this be a bike for Moe?
Popularity: 3% [?]
Fresh from a warranty vacation with a fresh rear triangle -
We can rebuild him, we can make him better….
My Intense Tracer, awaiting a rebuild this weekend, along with a new Crank Bros Joplin R. This is now my “light” bike, a Titus El Guapo serves as my “big” bike and the KHS Lucky 7 is the “DH/Shuttle” bike. It’s official, I’m addicted. I can’t wait to ride the Tracer again, it’s been just under a month, but felt like forever!
Share your story, what bike/component has had you stoked like a kid at Christmas? Was it something you had ordered and were waiting for in the mail? An ebay find that took forever to arrive? A new product you anxiously awaited for it to come to market? Isn’t it amazing how one new component can make you eagerly await a ride you’ve done a hundred times?
Popularity: 4% [?]
So I was perusing through the STR* forums and found a thread titled Tapered Head Tubes – Debate.
[*STR = So Cal Trail Riders, my handle, dwsand3r]
I went ahead and threw my two cents in and decided to share my response here, but I added a sketch for extra dork points!
“Most of the force from your fork (a really long lever arm*) is dispersed into the lower headset cup. That is why the lower is 1.5″.
Note: for all the engineering types, I did not show all forces, nor did I balance these forces. This is not an accurate free body diagram, just a quick conceptual sketch.
Remember many years ago, just before the switch to the 1.125″ standard, how common it was for a frame and/or lower headset cups to fail. The remedy was to move onto thread-less oversize (1.125″) headsets & steerer tubes. This also was during the time frame when 100mm of fork travel was huge and a 2 foot drop was gnarly! Also the fork was a pretty weak, noodle like member.
Most bikes offering the 1.5″ or tapered head tubes are designed for 140mm+ travel forks (even longer lever arm, that is why you’ll void many warranties by running a fork longer than the manufacturer specifies*), the forks are incredibly stiff (35+mm stanchions), and a 6 foot drop won’t even get you a photo in your friend’s blog.
The 1.125″ standard is fine for XC and 90% of trail riders out there.
The 1.5″ and/or tapered is a great thing for the rest of us. That is why 1.5″ stems are only available in shorter lengths. It is assumed if you’re running 1.5″ you’re a free rider or D/H and you’re running a short stem.
*lever arm : imagine if you were to put a pipe in your bike’s head tube and then pulled on the pipe in an attempt to break the head tube off the frame. It be a lot easier to do with a longer pipe than a short one.
“Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.” – Archimedes”
Comment with what you think, should the whole industry go to 1.5″? Should 1.5″ be abolished? Is taper the ultimate middle ground?
Popularity: 5% [?]
Only Tuesday however it feels like a long week already for me. Earlier this afternoon I went for ride at Santiago Oaks in Orange, CA to relieve some stress. It was pretty warm so I wore my favorite MtnBikeRiders sleeveless jersey. The ride was nothing out of the ordinary; Santiago Oaks was a great as usual!
The ride made me feel better. As I packed my gear and left, I had that nagging feeling that I forgot something. When I arrived at my house I began to unpack my gear. Everything was accounted for except for my jersey. I rummaged through my car and no luck. Man I was bummed… 
Never had I forgotten any of my gear, packing up after a ride. I’ve forgotten things before a ride, like my shoes and ended up riding in my Crocs, but I’ve always been good getting my things together.
I quickly took a shower, jumped on my motorcycle and headed back to the parking lot. I wish I had a camera. When I arrived at the parking lot, I saw my jersey hanging on a tree branch, next to where I had parked.
I recall as I left the parking lot that there were a big group of riders getting ready to ride. This parking lot is typically filled with mountain bikers in the afternoon as it’s a popular after-work ride.
I just want to give a BIG THANKS to whomever left my jersey on the tree. No doubt it was fellow mountain biker and they knew I would be coming back for it. After all it’s a limited edition jersey 
Thanks again!
Popularity: 4% [?]
Exciting news from USA Today:
Now Google Maps is expanding to biking and hiking trails. A Google employee on a tricycle rides around to snap the same wide-area views.
“Much of the world is inaccessible to the car,” says Daniel Ratner, a Google senior engineer who designed the trike. “We want to get access to places people find important.”
Starting out with 1 trail in Monterey
The project just got underway. So far, only a bike trail in Monterey, Calif., is up and running. Google has cyclists out now in California, Italy and the United Kingdom. The company says to look for hiking and biking images from those locations over the summer — along with shots from U.S. theme parks. Google won’t say which ones.
The addition of biking and hiking trails to Street View is a smooth marketing move, he says. “I see Google saying, ‘You’re freaked out by Street View, well, look at this. What’s not to like about biking and hiking trails?’ It makes the whole project now seem warm and fuzzy.”
Ratner’s trike is a modified three-wheeled bike, like the ones used to take tourists for a spin, with a huge antenna and camera on back. It looks so different from a normal bike that when people see him, they ask, ” ‘Is that a Google robot?’ ” Ratner says.
This is great for bike commuters or trail users. To read the entire article, click on this link http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2009-06-09-biking-maps-google_N.htm
Popularity: 5% [?]
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