Moots NAHBS Preview: Mooto X YBB Adventure Bike

Being the handmade in Steamboat Springs Colorado bikes that they are, Moots will be one of the many  fine companies with wares on display at this weekend’s North American Handmade Bike Show. In addition to showcasing their unbelievably tidy titanium welds that we all know and love, they will also be showing off a few new bikes including this Mooto X YBB Adventure bike!

The Mooto X Adventure bike starts off as a Mooto X 29r frame with the classic Moots pivotless softail design, and is then built up with a mix of mountain and road parts to create what Moots refers to as the perfect Monstercrosser, adventure bike, or get-outta-dodge-rig. With a full compliment of Brooks honey leather, and full panniers front and rear, the Adventure bike sure looks like a bike that could take you just about anywhere.

More Moots goodness is sure to come at the show, we’ll be sure to keep you posted!

Bikerumor Pic Of The Day: A Taste of Brakes to Come…

(Sorry…Avid said the pics were a little TOO revealing! March 15, all will be revealed…)

This blurry sneak peek is all we can show you until March 15 of the new brakes from Avid, but they’re sweet and look to be a solid refinement over current gen Elixirs. Until then, let your imagination run wild…and check out the blurry cam pic of the levers after the break…

To see more Pics of the Day, click here, and to submit your own photo to be shown to the world, go here.

Race To NAHBS! ADHD Interview: 11 NAHBS-Related Questions For Calfee Design

This is the final installment in our Race to NAHBS! series, we will have news from the trenches in Austin, Texas throughout the weekend. Today we have handmade-heavy-hitter Calfee Design. From bamboo bikes, to S & S couplered carbon frames, to Di2 bikes with custom batteries housed in the seatpost; Calfee is one of the most innovative frame builders out there.

11 NAHBS-Related Questions:

BR:  Are your plans for NAHBS a secret, or can you tell us a little bit about what you’re showing?
CD: We’ve got a bunch of new stuff: Internal Di2 bikes, all carbon custom BarStems, a new Adventure bike and a secret project bike.

BR: What about the booth, anything extra-special-crazy in the booth department?
CD: Heavily tattooed crowd control staff.

BR: What do you see as the hot trend at NAHBS this year?
CD: Tall bikes

BR: What is the lamest frame building trend ever? (more…)

Spy Shots! Trek 29er Downhill Mountain Bike Prototype

prototype trek 29er downhill mountain bike concept

MTBR.com grabbed these photos while on a tour of the Trek factory…looks like that whole 29er downhill bike thing we explored a while bike is getting some play by the big boys. They also hinted at (in code, no less) that a redesigned 140mm Roscoe-like-but-Trek-branded all-mountain bike is in the works!

Apparently, this prototype has seen some action at Whistler already, has 7″ of travel and is still undergoing design changes. More pics after the break, or head on over to MTBR to see all of them.

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Siren Cycles Adds Titanium Builds, New Hardtail Mountain Bike is First Up

siren cycles titanium mountain bike made in the usaSiren Cycles has started building with titanium, and first up is this hardtail mountain bike frame dubbed Sinatra.

Actually, Sinatra is simply build #1 and is already claimed. The frame is simply called Ti Siren and can be built up pretty much any way you like…like with sliding dropouts as shown here.

The bike is 100% handmade in the U.S.A. from all U.S. materials, and as much of it is as local to their California HQ as possible. Even the cardboard box is sourced from the U.S.

The frame is here is modeled after their John Henry with the curved top tube and hourglass seatstays.

Check more photos after the break…

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Video: Rapha + Paul Smith

Check out the rest of the collaboration, which covers the casual yet stylish side of things, over at Rapha’s site.

Problem Solvers’ BB30 Eccentric Bottom Bracket Adapter

problem solvers bike parts bb30 eccentric bottom bracket ebb adapter for singlespeed

Thanks to Jason for sending the link to this: Found at Frostbike by Halter’s Cycles, the Problem Solvers E46 BB Adapter lets you run a singlespeed drivetrain using a standard crankset inside a BB30 PressFit30 (PF30) shell. The eccentric design tightens up chain slack, so you can basically take any BB30 frame with standard vertical dropouts and convert to singlespeed.

As more and more frame builders move to this standard (and we think they should given the availability of adapters to then run anything you want), your options should continue to grow. The E46 Adapter will be available in June 2011 for $150. Oh, and we’re pretty sure the folks at Problem Solvers are at least a little crazy. Check out the wooden rollers they brought to the show for proof, right after the break…

UPDATE: As the folks from Team Beer pointed out in the comments, this is for PRESS FIT 30 BB shells only, which was just clarified by Problem Solvers today in a press release, posted after the break:

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Outlier Debuts Supermarine Cotton for Storm King Waterproof (!) Performance Jacket

outlier supermarine cotton water repellant rain jacket

Okay, technically it’s not waterPROOF, but it’s pretty darn close, which is remarkable given that this is untreated cotton. The water repellancy comes from the type of yarn and the weave. Basically, it means you’re getting a “hard” shell outer layer with the softness and flexibility of cotton. Here’s how Outlier explains:

From fabric to cut, a full spectrum rethinking of the rain shell. We built the Storm King Parka around Supermarine Cotton, a 21st century edit to a nearly forgotten World War II fabric. You can think of it as the pinnacle of cotton technology, extremely breathable, highly water resistant and completely windproof. It can only be made using the longest staple Egyptian cotton fibers. They are woven together in a complex and dense weave that swells up and seals when exposed to water. It’s not “waterproof” but it can keep you dry for hours in the rain without any of the sweaty clammy feeling so common in “waterproof-breathable” synthetic fabrics.

More pics, pricing, etc., after the break…

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Found: Kate’s Tram Bars – Gluten Free Real Food Energy Bars

kates tram bars gluten free organic real whole foods energy bars for athletesThanks to Gene Hamilton over at the Better Ride mountain bike training camps we just found Kate’s Tram Bars.

They’re made with real, whole foods, are gluten free and mostly organic. Three flavors mix dried fruits, seeds, oats, chocolate, rice crisps, sea salt and other tasty ingredients to fuel your rides and other adventures.

Check them out at katesrealfood.com, and for a limited time, when you call in your order and mention “Better Ride”, you’ll get free shipping.

UPDATE: Per Kate’s comment below, only the CazBar is technically gluten free because it contains no oats. While oats arguably don’t contain gluten themselves, they’re often carrying a bit of wheat that gets on them in the fields or during processing.

Whole Foods and Bike Repair?

If you enjoy shopping at Whole Foods for the type of groceries you can’t find at your local mega mart, there might soon be something else you can’t find at other stores: free bike repair. That is of course, if you know how to turn a wrench and only need the tools provided for you out at their free bike repair stands that have been popping up at various Whole Foods stores.

Originally, we were tipped off by Minh that Prolly is not Probably had the scoop on the new stand that was put in at the Austin, TX flagship Whole Foods. However, after doing a little searching I found that Austin isn’t home to the only Whole Foods with a bicycle repair aisle, after stumbling across James Bikes Green. Apparently, in November of last year, James discovered an identical repair stand at his local Blithedale, CA Whole Foods.

Both repair stands offer a way to support the bike, a floor pump, and most tools you would need for any simple bicycle repair or adjustment (the Blithedale location even has a hose to wash your bike!). Whatever your stance towards chain grocery stores such as Whole Foods, I think it’s safe to say that this is clearly a step in the right direction to get more Americans to run simple errands on bikes.

Review: North Shore Billet disc brake adapters

It’s always nice to find a well thought-out and well-made part that offers a little something extra without costing any more than the competition.  Last fall, I ran into the guys from Vancouver’s North Short Billet at Interbike, where their CNC-machined hydraulic hose holders caught my eye.  A few weeks later, a package arrived with a handful of the company’s mainstay product:  CNC’d disc brake adapters.

Available in every concievable mounting combination and four anodized colors (black, pewter (pictured), red, and gold), NSB’s adapters don’t work any differently than most others on the market- but they certainly are better looking than most.  At about $26 apiece, they’re a little more expensive than Magura and Shimano adapters- but about the same as Formula.  For something made in North America, that’s impressive.  Click on for ‘more‘ pictures and links…

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Video: Save The World, Ride A Bike

This video won the “Artists Project Earth Youth Vision Award” in the 1 Minute To Save The World film competition. Made by a group of teenagers from Nairobi, who call themselves Wafalme, and who are known for their rapping activism from a previous video “Trash is Cash“. They did an amazing job with their entry and simple message:

Most of us just sit and wait for the governments to take action about climate change
Wafalme instead think that together we can, with small actions in our daily life, make a difference.
The most simple and innovative solution is coming from a group of kids in the slums of Nairobi: using bicycles instead of cars!

via THP.