The West Side

It's hard not to be reflective during the Holidays.  I will keep this simple.  I'm thankful for everything I have.  I am looking forward to 2011.  There are better things coming.  Of this I am sure.  I hope each and every one of you have a great Holiday, a very Merry Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year. Chris

It's nice when you can take something and make it usable again. Take this old Cannondale hybrid for example. It had clearly seen better days, but it had some sentimental value, and the owner wanted to see if we could inject some new life into it.  But of course we could. For the sake of full disclosure it should be noted that this bike belongs to my girlfriend, and was not what you would call a normal case. Nearly every part was replaced. Not something we would expect most people to do, but many of the parts used had been languishing in boxes for years.  They were cast offs from old bikes of mine.  It was nice to see them used again.  She loves the bike, and it's a great example of what can be done to make a bike useful again.  Check out the photos.  I think it's a pretty dramatic before and after. Ride on! Chris

Things are happening at the bike shop, but it's winter and it's slow going.  I've been meaning to update the blog.  As soon as I organize my thoughts a little better, I will.  Promise, or threat?  Take your pick. Ride on!

For as long as I've been around bikes there have been rules.  They were mostly unwritten.  I believe this was mostly by design.  Unwritten rules keep the "unwashed" from your chosen method of worship.  The rules went something like this; if you ride this type of bike, you wear this type of clothing.  Don't you dare wear this type of shoe with that kind of bike.  Don't even think about that kind of accessory on your bike if you're going to ride with that group. I'm here to tell you that any rule that keeps you from enjoying your bicycle is dumb.  I'm throwing out the rules.  From this day forward there is only one rule. Ride your bike, and have fun. I guess that was two, but you get my meaning. Ride on!

I bought a Salsa single speed road bike a couple of years ago.  It seemed like a good idea at the time.  It was simple, made of steel and relatively inexpensive.  I never really took to it. I've offered it up to a few customers over the last year or so.  None of them really took to it either.  I started playing around with it a couple of days ago.  I installed a different handlebar, put on some different grips and took off the clipless pedals.  You know what?  I love this thing now. I'm not saying that I'm going to ditch the carbon road bike, or the pedals and shoes. It just seems like having a bike that is easy to ride; a bike that is comfortable to ride just makes sense. The trend in the industry has been to make the bikes lighter, and stiffer.  Make 'em just like the pro's.  My sense is that there is a push back coming.  Maybe it's been there all along, and I just didn't notice.  If you could have a bike that had all the component technology, bu

This is the greatest catalog I've ever had the pleasure to carry home from a trade show. Thank you SBS, thank you.

Another Interbike is in the books.  It was my first show in a couple of years, and it probably will be my last for the foreseeable future.  The thinkers have decided to move the bike show back to Anaheim CA for the next 3 years.  I did my first couple of shows in Anaheim.  I'm in no hurry to return. I don't know what the thinking really was behind this move.  I do know that there has been plenty of whining about the show being in Vegas.  Not family friendly they say.  You are there for a trade show, are you not?  Dirty, loud, obnoxious and smoky.  Not the right city for a industry that trades in good health.  Maybe so.  Las Vegas is all of those things, and probably a couple more.  I know this.  There isn't another city in the world with as much entertainment, and really fine dining within walking distance of your hotel.  There is one thing stuck in my craw.  The people that have screamed the loudest about the "waste, and excess of Las Vegas" are the very same

I've worked in retail for a long time.  There are always stories about crazy, or funny things customers would say.  I was thinking about one the other day, and I thought I would share. A guy, and his wife come into the store.  They are looking at a particular bike, and we start to discuss the features.  The conversation turns, as it usually does, to the other colors available.  This particular bike was only available in the color we had, which was black.  This customer was not a stranger to us, so I said "You can have any color you want, as long as it's black".  He paused, gave me a quizzical look, and then laughed.  I was, of course, recalling Henry Ford, but felt like I had to explain myself.  "You know, just like Henry Ford" I said.  The man laughed again, and then his wife exclaimed "That's why he ain't President anymore". It's a true story. Ride on.

I wrote a radio ad several years ago that talked about your first bike. It's a transformational thing when you stop and think about it. For me it was my first taste of freedom. Traveling, under my own power, anywhere I wanted to go (as long as I didn't leave my block). Since then I've had several cars, and motorcycles but none give me the feeling I get when I ride a bicycle. What was your first bike? Do you remember? - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Labor day is just around the corner.  Summer is almost in the rear view mirror.  Cyclocross season is here!  I love cyclocross, I really do.  For those of you that don't know what I'm talking about, let me explain.  Cyclocross is done on what looks like a road bike, but there are sections of grass and dirt trails.  There are steep sections that you sometimes have to run up while pushing, or carrying your bike.  There are obstacles that require you to dismount, run over said obstacle, and then remount.  What's not to love about that?  It takes finesse, bike handling and a tremendous amount of fitness to do all of that well. Cycling elders tell us that in the "old days" European pros would modify an old road bike to accept wider, somewhat knobbier tires so they could continue to train in the winter.  Those were hard men. Cyclocross is small.  It's growing here in the US, but it's still small.  People do this because they like it.  There are no glossy mag

There has been much talk lately of bicycle advocacy.  Cities in Europe are always used as examples of what could be.  It is a bit Pollyannaish to think that we can snap our fingers and create the infrastructure of cities hundreds of years older than ours.  However, I find it inexcusable that city planners do not consider alternate transportation when designing, or redesigning streets. This also seems to be a topic that gets split along political lines.  Democrats love it, Republicans not so much.  As a conservative, I find this odd.  It isn't about making people ride bikes.  It's about allowing people the option to ride safely if they choose .   The gears of the big machine turn slowly.  Indiana has made great strides in the last few years, but comparatively there are miles to go.  Luckily there are groups out there fighting for your right to ride safely.  Local groups like the B&O Trail Association ( www.botrail.org ) have, for years, been slogging through the process

There are pluses, and minuses to owning your own business.  I'm sure the same can be said for lots of things.  One of the pluses (especially if you have a seasonal business) is off season travel.  I had logged enough air miles to circle the globe 3 or 4 times by the time I signed up for my Trek Travel vacation. I don't know that I had ever thought about riding my bike as being a vacation.  I guess it had been too close to my work for too long.  My time in the saddle had severely diminished since becoming an owner, and I wanted to get back on the bike.  This seemed like a perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.  I am not used to being.......pampered.  This was something I had to get over pretty quickly.  Ever wonder what's it like to get up in the morning to find that your tires had been pumped up, and your bottles filled?  That was the daily routine.  Our guides Dan and Jess did everything.  It's funny, you get used to it pretty quickly. I've had

*Originally posted at www.a1cyclery.com  Since my last Tri Club presentation, I’ve had a couple of people ask me to further explain why I chose to use a compact crank on my new road bike.     They specifically were interested in why I chose to run the chainring sizes I am running (42/50 and now settled on 40/50).     I thought it would be better to put “pen to paper”, and put it in writing for all to see. I’m older now (NOT old though), and I’m not going to be pushing a 53 tooth big chainring anymore.     I don’t ride enough, and I don’t want to hurt that much anymore.     So, the 50t big ring was attractive.   However, the 34t little ring that comes with most, if not all, compact cranks is not (IMO) a good choice for Central Indiana.     The primary reason is the terrain is just too flat.     I would spend most of the time in the big ring, and this would limit my gearing choices not expand them.     The other problem with a 34/50 combination is that every front derailleur gear chang