posted by Tyler (Editor) - February 28, 2011 - 9pm EST
Bronto is a fairly new company out of Oakridge, OR. They had four bikes on display, all mountain, and the eye catcher was definitely this creamy white number. Called Willy, it’s their singlespeed 29er with really, really short 16.8″ chainstays.
Bronto uses Platinum OX main tubes on all of their bikes. On most of them, there’s a thicker straight gauge tube used at top of down tube b/c OX is too thin to bend, then it’s slipped over the OX downtube and brazed on. All of tube bending is done in house.
Check the rest, and some detail photos, after the break…
posted by ZachOverholt - February 28, 2011 - 3pm EST
Warning:the above video is fairly graphic, and will most likely infuriate any cyclist, and should anger any non-cyclist with any modicum of common sense.
Critical mass rides have long been a hotbed of discussion among many as to whether they are actually beneficial to the riding community at large, and horrific scenes such as this only serve to further polarize the competing sides of the argument. What is widely seen as a peaceful demonstration by cyclists who wish to bring attention to individual riders safety by taking to the streets in large numbers, the practice seems to draw more anger than the attention of many motorists, and even police officers.
The carnage shown above was from a recent Critical Mass Ride in Brazil, which clearly seemed to be a peaceful affair until the driver of a VW Golf plowed through about 130 riders, injuring 20, 9 of which were badly injured and had to be sent to the hospital. According to Brazilian news, authorities have recovered the car, but have not yet found the driver who is presumed to be the registered owner of the car, Ricardo José Neis (Not Neif, as it states in the video).
While the intentions of the ride are good natured, it seems that Critical Mass rides and group rides have now turned into a type of bicycle shooting gallery, where the irritated public is able to take aim at defenseless cyclists. Whatever your feelings on the matter, I think we can all agree that behavior such as this is completely unacceptable, and should be punished to the fullest extent of the law (even though it never is).
“This is the most exciting collaboration since James Franco and Anne Hathaway teamed up to host the Oscars!” – TBP
No, it’s really much more exciting than that.
Storck Bicycle, a company known for producing carbon fiber frames that allow for the building up of 12 lb complete bikes, is stepping into the E-Bike world with the Storck RADDAR line. And, as you might imagine, they are not messing around. Storck is teaming up with Cosworth, makers of high tech components used in Formula One, Marine, and aerospace and defense applications…it’s like Gandhi said: “Go big or go home.”
Storck has some interesting ideas regarding the E-Bike model. For one, they basically built a bike that looks and handles like a bike They didn’t build an E-thing that looks like a piece of avant garde furniture and probably handles like…a piece of avant garde furniture. Remove the battery and swap out the rear wheel and you’ve got a normal, everyday, carbon fiber hybrid made by one of the highest-end bicycle manufacturers in the world branded with the logo of a company that creates unmanned vehicle systems and “Pectel Engine Controllers” (whatever those are). Although, allegedly, the bike with motor weighs in at about 47 lbs, while the bike, sans motor, weighs in at about 28 lbs. Not exactly the crazy-light, king of the bike path hybrid you’d expect from Storck. But this is without Cosworth’s re-design of the electric motor (the current motor is built by a Swiss company). Who knows, maybe the bike with the re-designed motor will actually weigh less than the current bike with the motor, and there are rumors that the new motor will also provide “accident data recording and blast event monitoring capabilities.” (Made up.) (more…)
posted by Tyler (Editor) - February 28, 2011 - 12pm EST
Mounted up on those new Ritchey P-29er mountain bikes were these almost-in-production Syncros FLavor 29er tires. Word is their first shipment of production samples lands in a couple weeks, and we’re on the list for a set to check out as soon as they do. Basics: 29×2.25, dual compound casing and tubeless ready construction. Judging by the “FL” caps in the name – code for Freakin’ Light in Syncros parlance – and the low profile tread pattern, we’re thinking this could be a real XC killer!
Given Ritchey’s just-now entry to the 29er market with a bike and the fact that Syncros (which they own) has been more geared toward the bigger, rougher side of mountain biking, this kinda, sorta helps explain why Tom’s new tires were 26″only.
posted by Tyler (Editor) - February 28, 2011 - 12pm EST
Oddly enough, just a few days before the show I overheard some folks talking about how Ritchey has had blueprints for a 29er (and a full suspension bike, too) on and off the drawing board for years. Every now and then they get pulled out, dusted off, tweaked, then shelved again with no particular impetus to bring the projects to fruition.
Then, lo and behold, the P-29er mountain bike took center stage in their booth at this year’s show.
Displayed in both geared and singlespeed version, with two different paint options under consideration, the steel frames are named in accordance with their historical project naming code. Years (decades) ago, they’d name a bike based on the target weight – the P23 would be a 23lb bike, etc. – except that this bike is definitely not 29lbs. Like most of Ritchey’s high-end SKUs, this one’s geared toward racing.
Check the specs, and their all new Swiss Cross steel cyclocross bike and other surprises after the break…
posted by Tyler (Editor) - February 28, 2011 - 11am EST
Signal Cycles debuted their first ever “production” bike, the Saltzman, which brings their handmade craftsmanship down to a more affordable level by letting them produce in batches. True to their beginnings, though, their full custom work ended up winning Best City Bike, too.
Pictured above is their Randonneur Bike. It’s a lugged steel bike with Paul’s Racer brakes and built for light touring. Front rack is made specifically for Japanese Guu Watanabe pannier bags (sitting behind the bike). A dynamo front hub has a hidden wire that runs thru rack to front light, then thru the fender to the frame, inside the frame to rear fender then to the rear light. Price is $9,500 as shown, but you can get it with fewer fancy options.
Signal’s basic lugged bike is $2,200 and $250 for the fork. Brazed bikes start at $2,000. Check out tons of detail photos on all four of their display bikes, including a singlespeed 29er mountain bike, after the break…
posted by Tyler (Editor) - February 27, 2011 - 9pm EST
The 2011 North American Handmade Bicycle Show has wrapped, and we’ve got more than 1,300 photos on Tyler’s camera alone. Max Leonard, our man on the UK scene was there to help cover it, and we’ll have a flood of booth-by-booth coverage hitting the site all week. For now, we’ve got the winners list with a few images of the winning bikes. Without further ado, here they are:
After our build report and initial review of Singular’s Swift frameset was published last month, US distributor The Prairie Peddler was in touch to share details about the company’s newest offering. Built of titanium in Italy by the craftsmen at Nevi, the Firebird is a Singular road bike designed for long road rides at tempo. Not strictly racing-oriented (though Singular would hardly be offended if one were used in this way), the Firebird is designed to offer a smooth, yet lively ride.
Like the titanium Pegasus (a Ti version of the Swift), the Firebird is plain beautiful. The matte logos are classy and the details really do bear close inspection. Though Firebird geometry is stock, frames are built to order and the buyer has the opportunity to choose any of several head tubes as well as a couple of bottom bracket choices: Read on for more photos and Singular’s sensible take on headsets and BBs:
posted by MaxLeonard - February 26, 2011 - 6pm EST
Shin-Ichi Konno's Cherubim concept bike
Causing constant roadblocks at NAHBS was Cherubim master builder Shin-Ichi Konno’s concept track bike.
Though it must break about every single rule in the UCI book, the aerodynamic bike is intended as a thought experiment for the track bike of the future. “We’re too wedded to the traditional diamond-shaped bike,” said Konno when talking to BikeRumor. “We have to challenge accepted designs. That’s why I’ve made a bike like this.”
Konno comes from an illustrious line of Japanese framebuilders. His father started Cherubim in the 1960s, and his father’s brothers were the creative talents behind San Rensho and Miyuki, famed for their Keirin-certified track bikes.
The frame took around four days to design, and features a bespoke chromed seatpost and… one hesitates to say handlebars, so perhaps hand-rests would be better?
It was difficult to find the space to get decent pictures, but we’ll return to the stand early tomorrow, to grab some close-up shots for you when there’s nobody else about.
posted by Tyler (Editor) - February 26, 2011 - 5pm EST
L.H. Thomson showed off this prototype quick release seat clamp that borrows a ratcheting mechanism similar to DT Swiss’ RWS skewers. It’ll simply (and very smoothly if this prototype us any indication) twist up to release and down to clamp. Once you got it tight enough, the lever will pull out an rotate to several fixed (ratcheted) positions to line up where you want it. This one doesn’t look anything like the intended finished product, they’re looking at doing a longer lever that matches the curve of the collar. Should be ready to ship by the end of the year.
