Lezyne’s new Femto lights are mini blinky lights with four blink patterns plus solid. Just push the lens in to turn them on and cycle trough the modes. Housing is CNC’d aluminum. $15 each. Front and rear each available in the four colors shown, and the rear has a slightly angled back to fit the seat angle so they’re pointing straight back. They’re not super bright, mainly just to be seen rather than blaze a path. They run on a CR2032 watch battery and attach with thick rubber straps. Each light will come with two length straps, and production versions will have a pull tab on them to ease mounting.

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About a week ago, a bottle of Ernesto Bike Lube landed in our inbox.  What’s Ernesto Bike Lube?  It’s a light soybean oil-based lube that “lasts a while.”  Ernesto’s ad copy may not be precise- but at least he’s not just making numbers up.  As a bonus, Ernesto claims that frying “some good country chicken eggs for breakfast” in his lube won’t lead to cancer.  Which is a good thing.

In all seriousness, Ernesto adds non-toxic materials to his renewable soybean oil base to help it stick to metal and keep the lubrication going.  The 4oz bottle shown runs a reasonable $7.50- send your bottle back and he’ll refill it for half that.  How does it work?  It’s early to say, but it goes on and seems reasonably clean.  Watch this space for a full review…

www.ernestolube.com

• Trek Bicycle has partnered with the Summer Gravity Camps at Whistler Mountain Bike Park to offer the use of their carbon Session 9.9 bikes. Camps are available for youth and adults. Whistler is amazing in the summer and, wait, what’s this on the website? SGC qualifies for Canada’s $500 Child Fitness tax credit?!?
• Join The National Bike Challenge May 1st through August 31st to win prizes and more.
• Congrats to artist Leanna Johnson who won the USA Pro Cycling Challenge‘s official commemorative poster contest.
• BikeGuard is a free registry for your bikes. They will send you a QR sticker that, when attached to your bike, can help reunite you if it is lost or stolen.
• The League of American Bicyclists has announced 67 more Bicycle Friendly Businesses, boosting the number to over 400 nationwide. Go here for information on adding your company to the list.
• Does your child need an adaptive bike? Let the Friendship Circle know by May 10th and you could win one.
•  For our New Zealand readers: local MTB club Gravity Canterbury, Bike Cycle NZ and SPOKE magazine, are holding one of New Zealand’s first multi stage Super Enduro events called the Port Hills Enduro on Saturday, May 5th, 2012 in Christchurch. The event will consist of 4 timed stages and is reasonably priced at only $20 per racer.
• You could win one of 3 Nissan Ultimate Access Grand prize trips for 2 to meet the Radioshack Nissan Trek riders on the final stages of the Amgen Tour of California. Click here to enter and use the code word “Cali”.
• Register now for one of only 50 spaces in the charity ride “Bike For Their Right” on May 14th put on by Specialized and supported by Western Spirit. Money goes to a development organization that brings “the power of sport and play to impoverished children.” Based on donation level, participants can get to watch Stage 2 of the Tour of California in a VIP setting, go on a fully supported bike ride complete with lunch and SAG vehicles, meet the Quick-Step Pro Cycling team, receive an S-Works Tarmac SL4 with complete Body Geometry fit, have a meet and greet with Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen, and more…

Given their success with the sexy, comfy, wool Cobra hoodie (reviewed here)- but understanding that not everyone could stomach the price tag, Chrome decided to release a more accessible cotton version.  The wrist pocket and key tether stay, as do the pass-through poacher’s pocket and the cycling-oriented fit.  The thumb holes are gone and with them nearly 40% of the Cobra’s asking price.  After a couple of months’ worth of nonstop use, has the Stock Cobra made a good impression?  Hit the jump to find out…

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Volagi has just announced their second bike, the Viaje, and it’s both a retro and forward looking version of it’s carbon fiber Liscio.

The frame is double-butted steel, a throwback to classic road bikes and a material that goes hand in hand with the brand’s endurance comfort theme. On the flipside, it uses several new standards that bring it into the future: BB386EVO bottom bracket, tapered headtube and internal cable/hose routing.

Like the Liscio, it’ll use their Longbow seatstay design to give it bump compliance, and it gets a standard 27.2 seatpost, which helps even more. The latter is a deviation from their custom aero shaped carbon post on the Liscio. Lastly, the rear spacing has grown to 135mm. We’re betting this is a taste of things to come for future models from them.

The Viaje will come equipped with rack and fender mounts, clearance for fat cyclocross tires, making it a versatile year ’round bike for touring, racing or just good old fashioned riding. Look for more once Sea Otter kicks off. In the meantime, the PR’s after the break…

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Two recalls announced this week: SR Suntour is recalling approximately 17,000 Suspension forks manufactured in China. The internal support tubes can possibly break and cause the rider to lose control, fall and crash. So far, there have been 12 reports of this incident.  Three brands used these forks – Giant, GT, and Trek.

Sold at shops nationwide from April 2011 through March 2012, these forks are found on Giant’s Revel 1 and Revel 1W models, GT’s Avalanche 4.0 and Avalanche 4.0 GTW, and Trek’s 3700D and 3900D. If you have one of these models, it’s recommended that you return them to any authorized GT, Giant, or Trek retailer for a repair. For more info, contact SR Suntour at (855) 205-2453 or follow the link. Full recall details at CSPC here.

Also, after the break a recall on about 40,000 Topeak Babyseat II Bicycle Carrier Seats. The grab bar hinge mechanism poses a safety hazard for fingers which could result in laceration or amputation. There  have been two reports of injury so far. Model numbers TCS2100, TCS2101 and TCS2102 were sold at J&B Imports, REI, Action and Hawley, and other retailers from January 2009 through April 2012. For more info, contact importer Todson at (800) 250-3068 or visit the website. Full recall details at CSPC here.

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Environmentally aware urbane outdoor clothing company Nau have just announced their new “Pedal” collection of clothing and bags for men and women- and are giving away a bike/outfit combo to celebrate!  Nau clothing has always been good looking and versatile: hit the jump to see a couple of pieces, a classy looking backpack/pannier, and to find out how to win…

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Nothing says racer! like white shoes. Well, except for shaved legs and sub-2in semi slicks. White, my friends, is for winners.

Targeted at the self-financed mountain bike racer (in other words: most of us) and all around rider are Giro’s new Privateer mountain shoes. Building off the success of last year’s high end offerings, the Privateers are a flashy 2 strap/1 ratchet shoe that come into more riders’ reach at a reasonable $150. Not into white? The Privateers are also available in a more earthy black/gum option as well. After a couple of months in what I (affectionately) think of as the Imperial Stormtrooper shoes, how are they feeling? Hit the jump…

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Rebolledo focuses on steel road, track and cyclocross bikes. They’re pretty straightforward with classic paint schemes, which is sometimes a refreshing break from the matte carbon or over the top things we saw.

More from Steve Potts, Steve Rex, Twinsix and Zullo below…

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Hunter Cycles had a couple of really nice touring bikes on display, with the 29er cruiser style mountain bike above being the most rugged. Complete with front and rear racks, a center storage pack and breakaway frame. The downtube is connected with an S&S coupler at the bottom, and the top breaks apart at the seat tube. A diagonal cut near the top (where the paint changes color) clamps the lower part to the seatpost to keep it all together.

More from Dinucci, Anderson, Holland and Landshark below…

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Nate Zukas has been making frame for only about a year and a half, but has been painting, repairing and modifying them for a while. His last name is Lithuanian for white rabbit, and somewhere on each frame you’ll find a painted white rabbit or two hiding somewhere. He makes custom steel road, mountain, cyclocross and other style bikes in Augusta, GA. He paints all the frames, too, and they’re really, really well done.

For a relatively young builder, his bikes showed an awfully high degree of finish quality and unique touches. The single speed/fixed gear city bike above is a fabulous example of “other” and has a hidden brake cable for the front disc. Check out more on this and his other bikes after the break…

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