New from two members of the Rollapaluza crew is FIXED, a “high quality photo-driven book about the fixed wheel bicycle, unlike other fixed culture publictions and blogs it has a lot on the history of the bicyle and racing as well as the modern trend of fixed wheel riding.”
It’s available on Amazon.com for $16.47 (MSRP is $24.95). Check out some of the pages after the break…
Halo Rims‘ 7075 anodized colored fixed gear track rings are CNC machined and made for left hand thread, 24T cogs. They come in blue, purple, red, black, gold and green and retail for £6.99.
They also have some “V” shaped freestyle fixie rims that are wider and stronger than typical road hubs and made to take the abuse of trick urban riding. Hit ‘more’ to see them…they come in colors, too!
Alberto Contador and his current team, Astana, have reached a preliminary agreement to fulfill the remainder of the contract that binds them until the end of 2010.
The agreement reached by both sides includes a number of prerequisites in order for Contador to continue with Astana during the 2010 season. Essentially, they are:
• The team retains its ProTour license
• Strictly complies with the code of ethics
• Maintain an internal doping control system that will be implemented by the new leadership of the team
Contador decided to fulfill this agreement with Astana once he found that both Yvon Sanquer, the new team manager, and Giuseppe Martinelli, primary director sportif, ensure the reliability and competitiveness of Astana’s new project, since they have managed to gather, despite the short time span, a group of high-quality riders who are sure to be capable of successfully facing next season’s goals.
The contract to be signed will be for one year only. Since it is a new project for Astana, Alberto Contador wants to reserve the option to decide about his future in the longer term, and be fully free to choose at the end of 2010.
Momentum Sports Group (MSG) and Floyd Landis have mutually agreed to terminate Landis’ Rider Agreement and thereby release both Landis and MSG from their respective obligations under the Rider Agreement for the remainder of the 2009 and 2010 racing seasons.
Landis returned from a well-documented serious hip injury and subsequent hip resurfacing procedure to assist MSG’s professional cycling team in winning the Nature Valley Grand Prix, The Tour of Elk Grove and the Joe Martin Stage Races during the 2009 racing season.
For the 2010 season, Landis expressed to MSG that he desires to ride the longer, tougher stage races offered in Europe and internationally that better suit his strengths. Accordingly, given that MSG will be focusing its 2010 racing season primarily in the United States, MSG and Landis mutually agreed that it would be best for both parties to part ways at this time and allow Landis to seek a position with a team that could better accommodate his desires.
“I wish to thank all of the sponsors for their support this year. I would also like to thank everyone at Momentum Sports Group,” Landis said. “While I’m excited to pursue other opportunities, I will miss all of my teammates and everyone on staff.”
There was simply no vantage point to capture the entire crowd of cyclists that gathered in the High Point Regional Hospital parking lot. Estimates range between 500 and 600 riders, and the photo montage above was from panning my iPhone across the start of the 50-mile group from atop a small hill (click to enlarge).
Thankfully, the ride garnered a ton of local media coverage, increasing the likelihood of more drivers seeing that there are so many people in their community that ride bicycles on the road. Maybe the more they realize that it could be their neighbor, friend, pastor, doctor, attorney, co-worker, boss, employee or relative out there, the more they’ll realize that it’s a life on the road, not an obstacle. Check out some of the coverage:
http://www.myfox8.com/wghp-memorial-bike-ride-091115,0,6616660.story
http://www.news-record.com/content/2009/11/16/article/a_ride_to_remember_we_ride_for_dave
http://www.digtriad.com/video/default.aspx?aid=238912&storyid=133212
Heck, even CyclingNews mentioned the event in an article about Dave Zabriskie’s Yield to Life advocacy campaign, which was the benefactor of the money raised from the memorial ride:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/david-zabriskies-yield-to-life-seeks-safer-roads-for-cyclists
And if you’re big into Facebook, you can check out the massive photo gallery from the event here. I even made it into a few of the pics and *gasp* am wearing a competitor’s jersey! See Maurice, I told you I’d wear it!
PRESS RELEASE: Australian ‘golden boy’ Graeme Brown will lead the Dutch Rabobank team at the Santos Tour Down Under in January.
Santos Tour Down Under Race Director, Mike Turtur, welcomed the return of Brown, a Santos Tour Down Under veteran and dual gold medalist at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
“Graeme Brown had a great start to the 2009 season with a stage win at the 2009 Tour Down Under and two stage wins at the Vuelta a Murcia race,” Mike Turtur said.
This season Graeme took overall victory at the European semi classic single day race, the Nokerre-Koerse making him one of only five non Belgium or Dutch cyclists to have won the race since its inception in 1944.
“Rabobank is fielding a very strong and competitive line up for next year’s Santos Tour Down Under with the inclusion of two Dutch national champions in their chosen cycling discipline with Stef Clement, National Time Trial Champion and Koos Moerenhout, National Road Race Champion,” said Turtur.
Rabobank’s line up for the 2010 Santos Tour Down Under will be led by Team Manager, Frans Maassen (NED) and includes riders:
Graeme Brown (AUS)
Stef Clement (NED)
Rick Flens (NED)
Tom Leezer (NED)
Koos Moerenhout (NED)
Jos van Emden (NED)
Pieter Weening (NED)
La Gazzetta dello Sport is reporting that Alberto Contador has signed an individual agreement to ride Specialized bikes for 2010 with options to renew annually.
It’s likely that the rest of the Astana team will follow suit, assuming they can get theer Pro Tour license back from the UCI. It’s reported that the UCI will make a decision and announcement this Friday regarding letting the Astana team back into the swing of things.
Contador, a two-time Tour de France winner and one-time winner of the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España, signed a €700,000 (roughly $1,000,000 US) deal to ride Specialized bikes next year. What remains to be seen is if he’ll be doing so with the Astana squad or taking advantage of reported offers from Quick Step or Saxo Bank (both Specialized). Silence Lotto (Canyon) is also reportedly courting him.
Meanwhile, Contador has been talking with Ivan Basso, who came off a two-year doping suspension recently and is under contract to ride for Liquigas (Cannondale) for 2010. Rumors are swirling that Contador is trying to recruit Basso to ride with him on Astana in 2011 and beyond. Why? Because Contador’s brother/manager says they’re in talks to extend their contract with Astana (there were some crazy rumors last week about salaries over $10 million per year, but those were quickly dispelled) beyond 2010.
It’s enough to make your head spin, but at the very least makes for some off-season drama. FTR, riders on a team are allowed to use different brands of bikes.
Here’s a link to the Google Translated story from La Gazzetta. Photo by G.Watson.
Here’s the poster for the 2010 North American Handmade Bicycle Show, this year held on the East Coast (yay!) and pretty close, relatively speaking, to Bikerumor’s office. We’ll be there covering all the sweet bicycle goodness from the growing list of exhibitors.
Who’s exhibiting? Well, just click ‘more’ and you’ll see the current list as of Friday, Nov. 13…
Sexy Bicycles is a new brand out of Perth, Australia, that’s put together a collection of limited edition single-speed, fixed gear and internally geared urban road bikes. They come in a rainbow of colors and are designed to be as much a fashion statement as a mode of transportation.
Above is the Purist Green, a “cool classic styled urban fixed gear,” of which only 18 will be made. Other models are only available in limited editions, too, of 9, 18 or 27, and they’re only available for direct order through their website. MSRP is $1,650 AUD (€ 965).
Hit ‘more’ to see the other eight models…
INTERBIKE 2009 - Scott’s new CR-1 line of road bikes meld performance and comfort in a very fast package. The CR-1 is the top of their “Performance” line, and versus the top-of-the-line “Race” bike, the Addict, it gets a taller headtube and shorter frame, putting the rider in a more upright position.
There are five versions available Shown here is the CR-1 PRO (SL shown after the break). They share the same geometry, but the SL gets HMX high modulus carbon fiber with a lighter weight carbon cloth and higher thread count in the weave. The CR-1 uses a slightly lesser fiber, though still high mod. This leads to a weight difference of 70g per frame (790g SL vs. 860g non-SL).
Besides the geometry, other measures were incorporated into the CR-1’s frame to increase long-ride comfort. The stays use Scott’s SDS (Shock Damping System) to allow for 0.6mm travel at the rear axle. This doesn’t sound like much, but Scott says it’s enough to soften the edge and keep you feeling fresher over the long haul.
Hit ‘more’ for detail shots, specs and complete bike weights…
FROM BRAIN (Bicycle Retailer & Industry News): The instant Mike Mayefske saw the man pushing a $12,000 Pinarello Prince signature edition into Revo Cycles, he had a hunch.
And his hunch proved correct.
The man, wearing board shorts, flip-flops and no shirt, asked Mayefske to install flat pedals on the Pinarello. The man didn’t seem to know much about the bike, so Mayefske reasoned that something wasn’t quite right.
While spinning on some inexpensive Wellgos, Mayefske scribbled down the bike’s serial number and snapped a photo with his cell phone. The bike, a Prince of Spain limited edition, features a distinctive color scheme (yellow
and red) as well as a full Campy Super Record set up and Fulcrum Racing Zero wheels.
“When he asked me to put on those pedals, I thought to myself, ‘Why would he want to do that?’‚ I then casually asked where he had gotten the bike. He told me he had just moved here from Arizona and a friend had given it to him,” the 27-year-old Mayefske said.
After the man left˜paying cash for the pedals Mayefske, suspicious of the man’s story, called Gita Sporting Goods‚ local rep, Frank Raduziner. He asked Raduziner to look up the serial number to learn where the bike had first been sold.
Wanna ride your road bike for 24 hours on an airfield test track? Here’s your chance: The 2010 RIDE24 endurance relay has just opened registration. The event started this year and drew 25 teams, mostly from corporate firms, so get your shop team out there for 2010 and hammer those blue chippers.
Entry fee is £240 and includes food and drink, free massages, music and entertainment, a T-shirt and a medal (everyone’s a weiner!) and the opportunity to ride the 4.5km Top Gear test track on your bike. Register before the end of November and it’s half off. Proceeds benefit Action Medical Research, a children’s health charity. The event is scheduled for June 19-20 at Dunsfold Aerodrome.
Brodie’s 2010 lineup carries over a lot of the models we liked from 2009 (like the Section 8), but they’ve spread some updates across the range. Here are the changes:
The Remus, above, takes the same butted Chromoly steel tubing from their used-to-be-a-cyclocross bike Romulus and welds it into a simple single speed road bike. The Remus comes with a flip-flop rear wheel, so you can run it as a fixie or keep it as-is. For $699, you get the complete bike with Chromoly fork, Brodie-brand seatpost, bar and stem, Tektro brakes, Suntour cranks, Wellgo pedals and Formula hubs laced to Kore rims with Kenda tires.
Hit ‘more’ to see the rest of the new stuff…
The BMC Racing Team today announced the signing of current World Professional Road Champion Cadel Evans to a three year contract. This partnership will create mutually beneficial opportunities for both the current World Champion as well as the BMC Racing Team.
“Cadel brings a wealth of experience in the Grand Tours to the team.” BMC Racing Team President Jim Ochowicz stated. “As I said earlier, our team will have multiple chances to measure ourselves against the greatest teams in the world. We are pleased that we will have the opportunities to send out our most successful riders, now including Cadel Evans, to tackle these challenges,” Jim Ochowicz added. Cadel Evans compliments the current team roster that consists of seasoned professionals and young emerging talents.
Winning a Grand Tour
Cadel Evans took second place in both the 2007 and 2008 Tours de France. Now Cadel Evans wants to win a Grand Tour. “Cadel Evans heard about how our team was expanding by signing big-name riders like George Hincapie, Alessandro Ballan, Marcus Burghardt, Karsten Kroon and other strong racers, and this news immediately fired him up with the idea of riding for such a flexible, engaged and passionate team,” explained BMC Bicycles owner and BMC Racing Team co-owner Andy Rihs. The thirty-two year old Australian cyclist who lives in Switzerland is looking forward to building a newly fortified program with the BMC Racing Team. Cadel Evans believes the BMC Racing Team will help him accomplish his goal of winning a Grand Tour.
A great opportunity
The signing of Cadel Evans is not only an enormous chance for the BMC Racing Team but is also a great move for the current World Champion. “A great opportunity has come for me to join a growing team of like minded individuals at BMC. I look forward to working with the BMC group toward the same goals including the Tour de France. I see the BMC Racing Team as a growing but very well structured and organized Team”, an enthusiastic Evans said about his new employer. “Obviously, I would like to do better than my two second places at the Tour de France”. For Director Sportif John Lelangue, it is clear that the team is now established in a way that they will be able to be competitive in every major race of the season.
“We have a plan to go to the biggest races, including the Grand Tours. That includes the Tour de France,” he said. “This will be possible since our sporting level has greatly increased in standard.”
Huge motivation
For BMC, as a manufacturer of high-end bicycles, this surprise signing is a huge step forward. “We want to increase BMC awareness, popularity and sales worldwide. By signing Cadel Evans, we have laid the groundwork to promote the brand not only in Australia but around the world. We have now put our cards on the table and hope to be on the start line in the 2010 Tour de France,” according to Andy Rihs. “The current World Champion, Cadel Evans, as a BMC Racing Team member, will be giving his input into the advancements of our high-end product range which is an enormous opportunity for the company since for the best riders, only the best equipment is good enough,” stated Mike Hürlimann, BMC CEO. “Having a rider like Cadel under contract will be a huge motivation for us. We will enthusiastically aspire to stay true to our traditionally cutting edge innovations and work daily to make the BMC brand as good as it can be. ”
Four new exhibitors recently joined the ranks of cycling companies that will be showing off their custom work at the 2010 North American Handmade Bicycle Show. They are Bishop Bikes of Maryland, Form Cycles of Arizona, Villin Cycle Works of Florida and Industry Nine of North Carolina. The 2010 NAHBS is scheduled for February 26-28, 2010, in Richmond, VA.
Shown above is the Bianco Rosso from Bishop Bikes. Pictures of bikes from the others are shown after the break…
