“eduardo” by mmmdirt.

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The venerable Herne Hill Velodrome opens its doors this Friday for the traditional Good Friday meet. Signalling the start of the UK season (and let’s all cross our fingers for good weather), the event, which has run since 1903, always attracts top-name UK and international talent to SE24.

Among the cream of the UK’s established and up-and-coming track talent (including Peter Mitchell and John Paul), Roberto Chiappa will continue his comeback from retirement to contest the sprint, and Olympic medallist Rob Hayles will ride the 20km Golden Wheel scratch race.

For the first time this year, paracycling tandem will be included in the Herne Hill programme.

Full rider lists, a programme of events and a link to buy tickets can be found on the official website.

After filling its 5,600 entries in just minutes, the New York City Triathlon will be moving to a lottery-based entry system for 2011.

The New York Times reports that 19,700 athletes attempted to register via Active.com last year, filling the event in six minutes on a first come, first served basis.  To prevent a similar online mad rush, organizers will use a lottery system that will remain a set period and may assign entry based on certain criteria such as number of times the athlete has raced it before, proximity and others.

John Korff said registration for the July 18 event will open on November 1 and remain open for a couple of days, with entrants being notified by Nov. 4th if they’ve made the cut.

Having watched The Make’s Niki Croft ride in person I can vouch for the fact he’s built like an ox and goes higher than anybody in the bike business. With that in mind, it’s safe to assume Croft has taken his fair share of knocks in his years as a rider. However, even Chuck Norris would have trouble taking this epic crash without injury! If you’re not squeamish turn the volume on your speakers up – it gives a pretty good indication of just how hard Croft hit the roof!

Racers spend ridiculous amounts of money, time and energy to drop seconds, and Rocket Science says their water bottle will save 53 seconds over standard smooth bottles in a 40k ride at 30mph.

Sure, you’re probably not crushing 30mph for more than a few minutes at a time…on downhills…but for $12, you can get their dimpled water bottle that’s actually been wind tunnel tested by aerodynamics guru John Cobb to reduce drag by 16%.

Rocket Science’s round, 21-ounce bottle uses the same dimples found on golf balls–and some aero race wheels–to reduce drag. Quick science lesson: As air flows over the bottle, it separates; the turbulence in its wake causes drag. Delay the separation with dimples, and voila: less drag.

That should save you enough time to fill it with bubbly before 2nd place crosses the line.

With articles in CICLISMO magazine and now March’s edition of Bicycle Europe, there is rising speculation that Campagnolo may be about to phase out its production of triple chainring groupsets.

Oft-derided by serious roadies, the triple is now almost obsolete thanks to Campagnolo’s introduction of a 12-29, 11-speed cassette in its 2010 range. Coupled with a compact 50/34 chainset, the difference between the lowest gear available with a 12-29 and that available with a 53/42/30 and a traditional 13-29 cassette is very minimal (only 30cm development, for those of you versed in continental European geekery). And, at the top end of the gear range, there’s not much different either.

The compact, 11-speed option, however, offers considerable weight benefits, fewer chainline issues and decreased Q- and U-factors, leading many to question the need for the much-maligned triple.

Ever since the compact was introduced, triple sales have been falling, a trend that was only accelerated by the new 11-speed cassettes. Could there ever have been many who used the Record triple pictured above? Nevertheless, they will be missed by a few.

So, fare thee well, O Campag triple
You weren’t much loved,
But people secretly thanked you for
Helping them
Get up
hills.

Wrote a poet, somewhere, yesterday.

Thanks to the excellent Italian Cycling Journal for the info.

To put it in Wired’s elegantly phrased terms, hipsters can now ‘cry in their PBR’ with the news that Walmart is selling a “Fixed Speed” bicycle.

The Mongoose Cachet is spec’d better than you’d expect for $149, starting with the aluminum frame but ending with the “Front and rear caliper brakes ensure precise stops” and “High-profile colored rims add urban style.”

For the chump change that this costs, one could easily sand down the frame and paint it matte, yank the brakes and throw on some gawdy neon Oury grips and most would be none the wiser.  After all, if Mongoose can make a fixie that can do serious urban street tricks, this should be able to take some beginner abuse.

And those skinny jeans, well, we’re hopefully just kidding about that…

Via SneakerNews, this unreleased ACG-inspired sample of the Nike Dunk Gyrizo BMX shoe was just sold on eBay.  The model was released in 2008 in conjunction with the Olympic debut of BMX, but this colorway wasn’t part of the retail set.

Topeak has won four Red Dot Design awards, including a spot among the “Best of the Best” for it’s MegaMorph floor pump.

Other winners include: the Air Backpack, a lightweight pack with multiple air channels on the back panel to keep you cool and an innovative air chamber system that provides the shape’s structure without the added weight of foam or plastic; the Race Rocket mini pump with 140psi capability and flexible hose to take the pressure off the valve stem; and the Mini 20 Pro multi-tool made of hardened steel with everything you’d need for trailside repairs, even a chain tool, in a compact form that comes with it’s own neoprene sleeve.

Pics of everything after the break…

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Carlton Reid’s Bike to Work booklet is now available in an iPad/iPod/iPhone/Smartphone friendly version.  The book is a full take on the benefits and statistics concerning commuting and riding your bicycle to the job, along with plenty of ads and info on all the gear and bikes that make it easy.  View it here.

“Fender Library” by METROFIETS. Check out their classic hand-crafted cargo bikes here.

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The Specialized Shiv with Nose Cone

At the Criterium International this weekend Contador was back aboard the Specialized Shiv, albeit after the bike had a little nose job. You see, recently the bike was banned from UCI competition due to the enlarged nose cone which supposedly violated the UCI’s 3:1 aspect ratio rule. Basically the nose cone made the head tube “too” aero for the UCI.

After being told two days before the final time trial of the Volta ao Algarve in Portugal that he could not ride the bike he had been training on all winter, Contador was forced to ride an S-works Transition that was built for him the night before the race. Untill this weekend, the Shiv had been sheathed and not seen in competition since.

While there are no pictures that I can find so far, keen observers of the Criterium could notice that Contador was back on a Shiv that looked a little less sharp. Apparently, removing the offending nose cone was all that was needed to appease the UCI, for now. I’m assuming Specialized is still working on a new design to re-release the bike, rather than to just ditch the nose cone and be done with it. Overall the lack of the nose cone’s aero advantage didn’t seem to harm Contador as he cruised to a second place finish in the Time Trial, just 2 seconds behind a stellar ride from David Millar. This was also the day after Contador suffered badly from supposed allergies and couldn’t keep the pace that Vinokourov was setting for him causing him to fall off the back of the lead group in the final climb.

See how Contador and Lance stacked up, with final race results after the break!

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