We just got word that Giant’s 29ers on on the street.  Halters Cycles in NJ has ‘em on their floor, and they gave us the 411 on pricing:
There’s still nothing up on the Giant website about these bikes, so Halters must be on the top of the list.  Hit ‘more’ for a pic of the “2″, and check out our previous post for spec lists on these bikes…
Dear Friend,
Had a great time with you this weekend. The wind whipping by as we rode through the hills. The sun was shining and we were laughing. It sucks you had to go to work today. No matter, the weekend will be ours!
XOXO
Your Bike.
PS- photo from ctgrande7‘s flickr photostream, taken just past Shelton, Washington.
Schmaltz Brewing Company sent word that Micro Beer Jerseys (yes, there’s such a company) has just released two retro jerseys with their Coney Island Lager and He’Brew brands’ logos.
All jerseys are $69.90 and share the following feature set:
There are several other brands represented on MBJ’s site, too.  Hit ‘more’ to see the He’Brew jersey…
FROM FELT: The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Felt Bicycles has a voluntary recall of about 1450 2007/2008 F1X Cyclocross bicycles. (2008 model shown at left)
The bicycle’s fork steerer tube can break, causing the rider to lose control, fall and suffer injuries. There have been six reports of these forks breaking with minor injuries reported in two of the incidents.
The recall includes all 2007/2008 Felt F1X Cyclocross Bicycles. These bicycles are available in Semi-Matte Black and have aluminum frames with carbon fiber forks with aluminum steerer tubes.
Bicycle specialty stores nationwide sold the 2007/2008 Felt F1X Cyclocross between July 2006 and April 2009 for between $1,449.00 and $1,499.00. They were manufactured in Taiwan.
Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled bicycles and contact their local Felt Bicycles dealer to receive a free inspection and repair.
For additional information, call Felt Bicycles toll-free at (866) 433-5887 or (866) 4-FELT-US, or visit the company web site at www.feltbicycles.com
Lightlane, a prototype device by Alex Tee and Evan Gant, creates a laser-generated bicycle lane of light on the pavement beside and behind your bike, giving drivers a visual cue to give you more room.
Granted, it only really works at night, and then generally under darker conditions, but the concept is sweet.  Developed for a design contest (which they didn’t win), interest was sufficient that they’re moving forward with development.  Despite the picture above, the actual unit is being designed to have a standard red blinky light, and green laser lines on the ground.
Hit ‘more’ for a real pic of prototype in action and video after the break…
Chris Horner had to say Bon Voyage to Armstrong and Leipheimer during their last group training session in Colorado last weekend after getting the call from Johan Bruyneel explaining why he wasn’t selected for Astana’s Tour de France team.
“Politics seemed to once again be what was holding me back from doing what I love, racing at the top of my sport. Johan gave me many reasons why he couldn’t take me, and all of them made sense to me from a political standpoint, but absolutely no sense from a straight up who deserves to go standpoint.”
In his blog on OregonLive.com, Horner explained that there were really only two spots open to “lobbying” amongst the team members, and at the last moment, someone else got them.  Here’s how it went down in Chris’ words:
One spot would go to a Kazakh, for the sponsors. Dmitriy Muravyev got it.
Four would go to our top GC riders — Alberto Contador, Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer and Andreas Kloden — all of whom have finished on the podium at the Tour.
Two went to Haimar Zubeldia and Yaroslav Popovych, who were selected early as support riders.
The eighth spot went to Gregory Rast, a big guy who could help tackle the flats.
That left one final spot — the spot I had believed to be mine.
But instead, Alberto, whom the team was being built around, wanted to take one of his “boys” with him as a support rider. So Sergio Paulinho was in and I was suddenly the odd man out.
Most recently, Horner had been performing well at the Giro d’Italia before exiting the race earlier with a fractured tibia. Read Horner’s full blog entry on the matter here, and read our previous interview with him here.
If you haven’t heard, Nissan has dropped its sponsorship of the UCI World Cup Mountain Bike Series for 2010, leaving it without a major title sponsor to pay the bills.  As such, the UCI has dropped pretty much every event outside of Europe and Canada.  Apparently, the only reason the U.S. is getting one (after several years of being left off their calendar) is because Canada’s hosting the World Championships just a few days later.  Good thing they’re so close to us!
The news came as a huge disappointment to Pietermaritzburg, host of the inaugural 2009 event after race organizers there pulled out all the stops to wow both racers and the UCI.  They felt certain they had put themselves on the permanent calendar after such a great show. (Related links here and here)
That’s a lotta words going on in that headline…but it’s hard to pigeonhole this gold-zinc painted bicycle from Rasmus Gjesing.  Originally designed in 2008, it was built to offer a quality option to the lesser quality, mass produced commuter bikes being offered in his hometown of Denmark.
Built from steel with aluminum bars and a Brooks leather seat, it’s painted with zinc paint then powder coated for a flashy gold appearance.  Want one?  $4,300 and it’s yours.
The picture’s kinda wanky, but it looks like a pretty slack head angle…should make for some interesting handling if you actually decided to “race” it around town.  Plus, given that there are no brakes shown, it’s probably out of the price consideration of most fixie kids…sadly relegating it to just another rich boy’s toy status.  Unless, hopefully, those Danes ride better commuter bikes than we Yanks.
This photo was in cyclotourist‘s Flickr photostream. This is one of many pictures he posts from his rides around southern California. You should check them out, his titles and captions are pretty funny and the pictures make you wish you could ride along with him. This one is not noteworthy, except that it will bring a smile to your face when you read his caption below…
“Flying Spaghetti Monster wishing me the best as I ride by.”
If you don’t know what the Flying Spaghetti Monster is, click here.
The NiteFlux Photon Enduro 8 Single falls in the middle of the company’s product line in regards to maximum output and is the least amount of light I’d recommend for racing. It is stocked with all the great NiteFlux technology such as the high intensity LED, Constant Watt Technology, Race Mode, and more.
In the NiteFlux Photon Enduro line there is the Enduro 4 and the Enduro 8. You can buy either light separate or a combination of two 4′s, or one 4 and one 8. We tested out the Enduro 8 Single (which is one light with a maximum output of 540 lumens) in a wide range of conditions to simulate every riding style. All said-and-done the Enduro 8 Single is an exceptional light for commuting and recreational mountain bike riding. During competitive mountain bike riding at higher speeds the light is adequate, but not exceptional. Everyone likes to think that they are fast, but if you really are faster than all your friends, I would recommend as many lumens as you can afford. And faster friends.
Full Review after the break….
Outlier Tailored Performance has released their summer edition pants. The summer fabric is incredibly light for pants (lighter than Empire Tee Marino). It has a fractal like surface texture that increases the surface area to amplify both the water resistance and the wicking; along with a whole list of other neat selling features. Check ‘em out but don’t drag your feet. The production run is super limited with only 36 pairs being made, split between two different cuts and selling for $220 a pair.
In the news release they point out that their goal for the summer line was to make pants that feel like you’re not wearing pants at all. My only hope is that someone goes to work w/o pants on at all thinking they are wearing the new line. In fact I may do that next week and see what the editor says. My guess is he won’t be happy.
For those of you who didn’t check out GnatLikesBikes photos on Flickr, here’s another one:
You can just feel the cool grass on your legs as you take a break from a long ride. Ahhh…
Now get off the computer and go ride your bike!
