Still being somewhat tied to the industry I keep an eye on what others are doing. For the most part, the American bike industry seems to be hopelessly mired in a game of "me too" pursuit of trying to get people to buy either impractical racing bikes or tank like "comfort" bikes. There's precious little in the way of truly interesting or practical bikes. If your idea of fun is a nice, long ride in the country and you want to stay dry and be able to pack a lunch you're probably out of luck with most companies. Ditto if you want - GASP - to use your bike rather than your car to run errands. Fortunately, a few smart product managers still exist and more importantly they were somehow able to sneak the following bikes into their lines:
1) Breezer Citizen
If Joe Breeze has his way this is the bike that will save the world. Even if it doesn't, it's great to see bikes like this. Fenders, a rack, generator lights, internal gears, and a chain case make this bike WAY more interesting than any carbon racing bike. More companies need to make bikes like this. More importantly, they need to actually MARKET bikes like this!! See it here.
2) Novara Safari
I work for the 800 pound gorilla and I know that some in the industry take glee in pointing out that REI is typically a leader rather than an innovator. This is the bike I'd like to use to smack those people upside the head. Show me one other company cranking out an off-road touring bike! In many ways this bike is the spiritual descendant of the Bridgestone XO-1 - it even has the funny handlebars! It's about as unique a bike as you'll find anywhere - the perfect bike when you REALLY want to get away from it all. If I had the time I'd love to take this bike on a week long tour of the logging roads up in BC. See it here.
3) Kona Sutra
This bike has the best of both worlds. It's a traditional steel touring bike fitted with modern disc brakes. Having experienced the terrifying combination of cantilevers, pouring rain, steep mountain pass and 40 pounds of panniers I love this bike! Discs on touring bikes make soooo much sense. Can't believe someone didn't come up with this earlier. See it here.
4) Bianchi San Jose
It's a steel, single-speed cross bike. Seriously, what more do I need to say? If you can't have fun on this bike you have no right to call yourself a cyclist. See it here.
5) Redline 925
Pretty much an off the shelf messenger bike. Fixed gear, solid steel frame, moustache bars and fenders. People will be copying this bike next year, just you wait and see! See it here.
6) Gary Fisher Rig
The single speed MTB thing is old news so GF came out with a 29" single speed. In many ways it's a BMX bike for big boys. Cheap enough to own, light enough race. It's a hard bike not to like. See it here.
7) Bianchi Castro Valley
This is the bike many people eventually end up with. You start with your basic steel touring bike. Then you add fenders because who wants to show up with a skunk stripe? They you add a dynamo hub because it's dark in the winter and you eventually realize that rechargeable batteries are a pain. The Castro Valley is perfect for longer commutes and is ready to roll right out of the box. See it here.
I'm sure there are others out there. I no some people will say "What about Surly/Soma/Rivendell/Kogswell/etc.?" Well, I'm keeping this list strictly to complete bikes and not framesets. The frameset list will come later.
Monday, April 17, 2006
Saturday, April 08, 2006
L'Enfer du Nord
Tomorrow is the 104th running of Paris - Roubaix. It is - in my not so humble opinion - hands-down the most exciting race of the year. Roubaix requires a unique blend of tactical smarts, teamwork, and toughness found in few other races. This year promises to be extra special due to the return of the Arenburg Trench - a 2.4km section of especially bad pave that was recently "restored" after being absent for a few years.
This race has always brought out cycling's hard men - guys who have an unbelievable tolerance for pain. Guys like Sean Kelly, Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle, Johan Musseuw, Francesco Moser, Rick van Looy, and Eddy Merckx (naturally!) In recent years Tour contenders have shied away from this race and for good reason. Paris - Roubaix has one of the highest DNF rates of any race on the pro calendar (last year only 80 riders crawled across the line out of 248 starters) and many of those are due to injuries sustained in crashes on the pave. No Tour contender in their right mind is willing to take that risk.
My hopes for tomorrow rest with George Hincapie. George is an all around nice guy who has made numerous sacrifices over the past few years in support of Lance Armstrong. Many would argue that the Postal/Discovery teams all-consuming focus on le Tour has cost George some major classics wins. Several times George found himself in the winning break with none of his team mates to be found while other teams had 3-4 riders in the break. This year things look very different for Discovery. This year the team looks pretty well stacked with classic specialists including British cyclocrosser Roger Hammond, Belgians Stijn Devolder and Leif Hoste (himself looking like a possible contender!), as well as Australian Matthew White. Piloting the team car will be '88 winner Dirk Demol. Safe to say this is probably the strongest classics squad fielded by Discovery/Postal.
Good luck George!
This race has always brought out cycling's hard men - guys who have an unbelievable tolerance for pain. Guys like Sean Kelly, Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle, Johan Musseuw, Francesco Moser, Rick van Looy, and Eddy Merckx (naturally!) In recent years Tour contenders have shied away from this race and for good reason. Paris - Roubaix has one of the highest DNF rates of any race on the pro calendar (last year only 80 riders crawled across the line out of 248 starters) and many of those are due to injuries sustained in crashes on the pave. No Tour contender in their right mind is willing to take that risk.
My hopes for tomorrow rest with George Hincapie. George is an all around nice guy who has made numerous sacrifices over the past few years in support of Lance Armstrong. Many would argue that the Postal/Discovery teams all-consuming focus on le Tour has cost George some major classics wins. Several times George found himself in the winning break with none of his team mates to be found while other teams had 3-4 riders in the break. This year things look very different for Discovery. This year the team looks pretty well stacked with classic specialists including British cyclocrosser Roger Hammond, Belgians Stijn Devolder and Leif Hoste (himself looking like a possible contender!), as well as Australian Matthew White. Piloting the team car will be '88 winner Dirk Demol. Safe to say this is probably the strongest classics squad fielded by Discovery/Postal.
Good luck George!
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Win some, lose some
Recently it was announced that Cycles Gaansari in Ohio would be closing their doors and indefinitely shelving their Gaansari and Fisso brands. As someone who had a Gaansari on my wish list this is something of a bummer. Of course part of the reason great bike companies fold is because too many people have wish lists that never turn into actual purchases.
Normally when a shop folds the reasons are clear and the story usually goes something along the lines of: a well intentioned individual opens a bike shop because he loves cycling and then finds out the hard way that loving bikes and running a business are completely different things. This time the story takes a different route.
For starters, Gary Boulanger, the man behind Gaansari is a bona fide industry vet with stints at Rivendell and writing/PR work for a number of brands. The boy knows the industry. What really puts Gary apart from many others in the business are his personal beliefs. Gary is a pretty religious guy with some deeply held convictions. Now I'll be the first to admit that people with strongly held religious views tend to make me nervous. Really nervous. Think unarmed narc at a biker rally nervous. The number of people who have thumped the Bible in an effort to push all manner of agenda that are, at best, directly contradicted by the teachings of Christ is too long to go into. Gary is different. He's the kind of Bible thumper you wish the media would show more of.
Along those lines, he's partnered with fellow thumper and cycling genius Tom Ritchey to organize Wheels of Mercy. Wheels of Mercy (http://wheelsofmercy.blogspot.com/) is a project aimed at using the bicycle as a tool to improve the economic and social development of Rwanda. When he's not busy trying to save the world Gary will be helping Ritchey/Syncros with PR work.
I've only crossed paths with Gary on a few occasions but they were enough to convince me he's one of the nicest guys in the business. I wish all the best for Gary, Jean and their kids as they head out west to the Bay Area. The loss of Gaansari will almost certainly be a win for humanity and it's hard to be disappointed by that.
Normally when a shop folds the reasons are clear and the story usually goes something along the lines of: a well intentioned individual opens a bike shop because he loves cycling and then finds out the hard way that loving bikes and running a business are completely different things. This time the story takes a different route.
For starters, Gary Boulanger, the man behind Gaansari is a bona fide industry vet with stints at Rivendell and writing/PR work for a number of brands. The boy knows the industry. What really puts Gary apart from many others in the business are his personal beliefs. Gary is a pretty religious guy with some deeply held convictions. Now I'll be the first to admit that people with strongly held religious views tend to make me nervous. Really nervous. Think unarmed narc at a biker rally nervous. The number of people who have thumped the Bible in an effort to push all manner of agenda that are, at best, directly contradicted by the teachings of Christ is too long to go into. Gary is different. He's the kind of Bible thumper you wish the media would show more of.
Along those lines, he's partnered with fellow thumper and cycling genius Tom Ritchey to organize Wheels of Mercy. Wheels of Mercy (http://wheelsofmercy.blogspot.com/) is a project aimed at using the bicycle as a tool to improve the economic and social development of Rwanda. When he's not busy trying to save the world Gary will be helping Ritchey/Syncros with PR work.
I've only crossed paths with Gary on a few occasions but they were enough to convince me he's one of the nicest guys in the business. I wish all the best for Gary, Jean and their kids as they head out west to the Bay Area. The loss of Gaansari will almost certainly be a win for humanity and it's hard to be disappointed by that.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
La vie bohemme??
Was checking the results of today’s running of Gent – Wevelgem to see how George Hincapie fared. As I scrolled down to the bottom I noticed something rather interesting in the Nations points listings: France is second to last for the season to date! They’re ranked lower than such traditional cycling powerhouses as Estonia (14th), Norway (7th), and Kazakhstan (13). I scrolled back up to the G-W results and sure enough in the top 30 there were only two Frenchmen. In the ProTour standings the highest ranked Frenchman is Sylvain Chavanal way down in 46th place. These are just the latest embarrassments in the 2 decade decline in French cycling that began with the retirement of Bernard Hinault.
It’s easy to point the finger at outside causes such as the demise of the Soviet Union and subsequent lifting of the Iron Curtain that as allowed a steady stream of Eastern European riders into the professional peloton. The French would like to pretend it’s all the cause of foreign teams who rely on doping to win – never mind the whole Cofidis and Festina scandals which both involved numerous high profile French riders.
In reality, I suspect the cause is more a malaise on the domestic front. I recently read an article in The Economist that cited a pole in which three quarters of French youth aspired to be civil servants! Can you imagine what would happen in the USA if the majority of our young people aspired to be postmen, DMV workers, or employed by the Social Security Administration? Don’t get me wrong, civil servants fill much needed roles in our society but it’s not exactly the sort of work that taxes ones ambitions. When the youth of a nation have become so risk-averse is it really any great surprise that they can’t turn out world class athletes? The drive and ambition required to be a contender in the Tour de France are completely at odds with quest for cradle–to–grave job security currently being demanded by French youth. The troubling news is that the French youth are protesting to keep this system in place ensuring future generations will be able to earn a comfortable living through minimal effort and without risk.
All of this is quite sad both for the youth of France and for cycling fans around the world. It is unlikely that we will see anytime in the next decade another rider with the aggression of Bernard Hinault or the style of Laurent Fignon. There’s something sad when a country that helped make a sport great struggles to compete in it. We Americans recently witnessed this in the World Baseball Classic in which the final two teams were Cuba and Japan and also in the last Summer Olympics when the US baseball squad didn’t even qualify. As happy as I am to see so many Americans riding at the front of the peloton I’m also a little sad to see so many Frenchman dropping off the back.
It’s easy to point the finger at outside causes such as the demise of the Soviet Union and subsequent lifting of the Iron Curtain that as allowed a steady stream of Eastern European riders into the professional peloton. The French would like to pretend it’s all the cause of foreign teams who rely on doping to win – never mind the whole Cofidis and Festina scandals which both involved numerous high profile French riders.
In reality, I suspect the cause is more a malaise on the domestic front. I recently read an article in The Economist that cited a pole in which three quarters of French youth aspired to be civil servants! Can you imagine what would happen in the USA if the majority of our young people aspired to be postmen, DMV workers, or employed by the Social Security Administration? Don’t get me wrong, civil servants fill much needed roles in our society but it’s not exactly the sort of work that taxes ones ambitions. When the youth of a nation have become so risk-averse is it really any great surprise that they can’t turn out world class athletes? The drive and ambition required to be a contender in the Tour de France are completely at odds with quest for cradle–to–grave job security currently being demanded by French youth. The troubling news is that the French youth are protesting to keep this system in place ensuring future generations will be able to earn a comfortable living through minimal effort and without risk.
All of this is quite sad both for the youth of France and for cycling fans around the world. It is unlikely that we will see anytime in the next decade another rider with the aggression of Bernard Hinault or the style of Laurent Fignon. There’s something sad when a country that helped make a sport great struggles to compete in it. We Americans recently witnessed this in the World Baseball Classic in which the final two teams were Cuba and Japan and also in the last Summer Olympics when the US baseball squad didn’t even qualify. As happy as I am to see so many Americans riding at the front of the peloton I’m also a little sad to see so many Frenchman dropping off the back.
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