The 2011 edition of the Love Wheels Nagoya calendar is now on sale. The publisher says it’s now more lady friendly thanks to less erotic images than last year, but it still looks like nice workshop breakroom decoration. $20 with free shipping anywhere in the world.
Via UrbanVelo.
The Tour d’Afrique bicycle race from Cairo to Cape Town is underway. The riders finished the 1,000 km stretch in Egypt and were in Aswan on Sunday, getting ready to board the ferry for Sudan.Photo credit to Tour d’Afrique rider, Kristian Pletten. Another of her photos after the break.
Artist Peter Miller recently made the rounds thru the bicycle internet community for his “yellow card.” The passive idea is a self-produced magnet, which you can toss onto offending vehicles for later discovery. Suppose it is better than my current way of handling these situations, which involves a couple of flying fingers…
In an attempt to work towards a fully sustainable business model, women’s clothing brand Loeka announced today that it would be implementing the industry’s first clothing recycling program.
The idea is that women with either gently used or well worn Loeka gear, that they no longer wear for one reason or another, can send in their old clothes in exchange for gift vouchers towards new threads. The gently used clothes will then be donated to charity, and the abused will be recycled into one of many uses.
A few North American Retailers have already jumped on board as participating dealers, find out who they are, along with the formal press release from Loeka, after the break!
Fair warning, this is a “mini” review based on one ride. Ben Coffey, Cinelli’s rep within U.S. importer BTI, swung through Greensboro over the weekend with a cadre of 2011 bikes. As fortune would have it, the only bike in my size (close enough, anyway) happened to be the all-new Saetta, Cinelli’s first completely new carbon mold in years.
Available in two models, the higher end Saetta Sprint and the regular Saetta (tested), they’re meant to be a mid-level, full carbon road bike for any type of riding. Of course, being Italian and being a Cinelli, they’re completely race worthy, and based on my time with it, the Saetta would hold its own on any club ride.
Before we get any further, a couple bits o’ good news for Cinelli and/or Italian bicycle fans:
Jump past the break for pics, details, pricing and the ride review…
But while PiCycle may stop traffic on the world’s street corners and is developing a loyal early-adopter following, PiCycle continues to meet resistance in traditional bicycle distribution channels and because PiCycle has pedals, in traditional motorcycle channels.
The PiCycle: yet another solution to that troublesome “actually moving your body and getting a modicum of exercise” problem. It is alleged to reach speeds equal to urban car traffic — pretend for a moment that italics denote sarcasm — which is a great freaking idea. What the world needs now are more inexperienced cyclists being propelled through urban environments at terrific rates of speed. The people who think bicycles that can go 25 mph with no effort on the part of the rider are a good idea, are the same people who think energy drink/alcohol combos like 4 Loco are a good idea — “I have no judgment, but I’ve got tons of energy…let’s flip that cop car!” Is not all that dissimilar from “I have no idea how to ride a bike at 8 mph…but I’m gonna go 25!”
It may look more like a bike rack than a bicycle, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The PiCycle’s designer said this on the company’s blog:
In fact position a PiCycle next to a Ferrari and watch the Ferrari fight for attention. Which begs another question: would a Ferrari still be a Ferrari if it were attainable by the masses? Some questions – like this one – can’t be answered but in time we’ll know if PiCycle has the same curb appeal when there are a million of them running around.
In fact…in fact?
And you think zombie movies are scary? Imagine a million PiCycles screaming through the streets of your city or town. Not scared yet? Now picture them all being driven by people drunk on 4 Loco — “I have no judgment, but I’ve got tons of energy (which I’m not going to use right now), I have no idea how to ride a bike at 8 mph…let’s ride bikes into cop cars at 25 mph!”
The PiCycle also boasts “PiFi,” a feature that beams crucial PiCycle-related information to your iphone. This system facilitates recovery in the event of theft using Apple’s “Find My Phone” technology. Although, when it comes to anti-theft features, the PiCycle’s best defense is camouflage. It is exceptionally hard for thieves to distinguish the PiCycle from the bike rack it is locked to.
Specs and a really terrible joke after the break.
Found via Miss Moss, the Bicycle Portraits project shows, in stunningly beautiful photography, people who use their bicycles for reasons other than just exercise and fitness. It includes videos, one’s after the break along with more photos, that tell some of the people’s stories.
The project is from Stan Engelbrecht and Nic Grobler and started in 2010. It captures the bikes and the people while exploring the commuter and utilitarian bicycle culture of South Africa. It’s now in its third stage, with funding coming from a Kickstarter deal. Interested in supporting it? You can pre-order a print collection book from their website soon.
It seems Kona has a tendency to tease us with their newest carbon products, like when they were first introducing the new all carbon Jake the Snake. So it should come as no surprise, that their newest hint at what’s to come, takes the form of a grainy camera phone shot to be “leaked” online.
What can we tell you about the new bike? Well, for starters it is a beautiful full carbon 29′r hard tail frame. It appears to have a pressfit 30 or BB30 bottom bracket, tapered head tube (most likely ZS), and braze on front derailleur mount. It also appears to be one of the first hard tails that I have seen with a 12mm thru axle out back, that’s right, thru axle on a hard tail! No way to tell whether it would be 142 or 135mm spacing (confirmed as 142), but the prospect of a super light hard tail with full thru axles, is exciting. Hard to tell, but it looks like it may also feature the post mount standard for the rear disc brake. If this is a sign of things to come, more shops might need to start purchasing tools like this.
While some were quick to criticize Santa Cruz for being “late to the carbon 29′r HT party,” it seems that they may not be the last company to enter the market. It is safe to say though, that if everything seen here makes it into final production, this will be one of, if not the most technologically up to date carbon 29′r on the market. That’s all for now, but keep an eye out for future updates!
According to the reader from Sweden who sent this along, one of the riders is a World Cup CXer, and another the captain of the national MTB team. Pretty impressive riding in those conditions… Thanks Stefan!
I’m not exactly a fashionable dude. My idea of dressing up involves a fresh pair of black Dickies and some “dress clogs.” (Yes, dress clogs. In my world there is such a thing.) So when I received a couple Rapha items in the mail last week, I was a little freaked out. A Rapha clothing item looks about as appropriate on me as one of those UFC Affliction shirts would look on Queen Elizabeth. But I thought “Hey, what the hell, I will rock this thing and see what happens.” And I did. And I was impressed.
Being the owner of several merino wool hats, (they give the things out at MTB endurance events like they’re key chains) I have a lot to compare the Rapha hat to. How does it compare… (more…)
So you’re stuck there, reading BikeRumor at the office, sneaking peeks at anything cycling related you can while the boss isn’t looking, with your hands hovering ALT+Tab just waiting to switch to the Excel spreadsheet you’re *supposed* to be working on…
I know you’ve already played out Cyclomaniacs, only the greatest Flash-based cycling game ever made, unlocking every level and character. Well, you’re in luck because TurboNuke has released the sequel, Cyclomaniacs Racers, “this time with more characters, bike special upgrades and 24 brand new tracks.”
You’re welcome.
Campagnolo has just unveiled their new Tech Motion lineup for women, including the windproof jacket shown above, and a jersey and shorts.
The jacket features the same Light Textran windproof, breathable fabric as the men’s cycling jacket and has a hydrophillic membrane to wick moisture away from the skin. The front and rear zips have reflective piping along them, and there are IQseen heat-applied reflective inserts on the front, back and sides to greatly increase all-around visibility at night. Inside, the bottom has a gripper bead running all the way around. It’s available in Titanium (shown), Lake and Argal from XS to XL.
Jump through to see the shorts and jersey…
