Fyxation has a a few tires stocked already, the multi-colored Session 700c and the fixed-freestylish Session 700c. The Session 700c was made popular for it’s urban durability, not necessarily for speed. Now the Accela is stocked and available, designed for those that want to go fast. This tire serve a dual purpose – the treads are minimal for long rides on the open road, while the puncture resistant layer keeps party-boy trash out of your tubes in the city. The puncture resistant Street Guard is “a hard rubber matrix that helps keep road debris at bay”. It is located under the treads. Fyxation claims that the treads are made with hardened material, for a prolonged lifetime.

Accela comes in a couple sizes: 23c (260g) and 28c (305g) with 60 threads per inch. The foldable bead costs $36.95 while the wire bead runs $25.95. Colors offered are black or white. More pictures after the break…

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From the brand that brings you the 29er cruiser bikes comes some BMX-inspired cockpit pieces for your big boy (or girl) bike.  SE creates some boss rigs, with style and function in heated competition.  Weight-weenies, turn away now – no carbon here.  These are just good lookin’, affordable components.  I’d say they are great for building up a custom around-towner or replacing stock components on BMX and fixies.

Three new products are offered -  Floval cruiser bars (featured above), retro seat clamps, and fluted seatposts.  Specs and pics after the break…

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The urban warriors at Chrome have just been in touch with news that several new versions of their Yalta roll-top pack are now shipping.  The 3M Reflective Night Yalta is pictured above and below: low-key during the day with massive visibility come night.  Special olive green Jungle Camo and white Snow Camo are also available.  Hit the jump for more pics and pricing…

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Most of us haven’t heard of Leicester Cycle Company.  This is because they went out of business about a century ago.  The Peregrine bike (pictured above) was one of their most popular models.  Leicester Cycle Co. sold the Peregrine across the UK and mainland Europe, producing over 500 bikes each week.

Cyclemagic, a non-profit organization that caters to special needs cyclists, discovered that they were occupying Leicester Cycle Co.’s original space in Leicester, UK.  Now, in the spirit of history, they are resurrecting the Peregrine.  No release date is listed, but they promise to provide one soon.  Cyclemagic already produces a line of Penny-Farthings, but this bike requires a revamp of their facilities to meet increased demand.  For more information, stay tuned to Cyclemagic’s website.

Click more for a stunning video of a tweed ride in DC…

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Fyxation just released a new pedal, the Mesa MP.  This is Fyxation’s first metal pin flat pedal and it looks super grippy.  Ideal for Mountain Bikes, BMX, winter riding, and urban commuting, it’s designed to take a beating.  It features a wide platform, thin 15.5mm profile, and impact grade nylon material.  Fyxation claims that when this nylon pedal takes a hard hit, it merely absorbs and flexes around the object, as opposed to alloy pedals that don’t flex as much upon impact.

Derived from the Mesa, which has proven itself highly since it’s release, we look forward to seeing the Mesa MP in action.  The weight of these are 351g/pair, lighter than their alloy counterpart.  The nested steel pins throughout the pedal are replaceable with an Allen key in case of breakage.   The Mesa MPs have sealed bearings, but Fyxation states that these bearings are easily serviceable. Unfortunately, the Mesa MP is not compatible with the Gates strap by Fyxation, so no foot retention there.  But, if you value foot retention, the original Mesa is compatible.

They run $59.99 per set.  Click here to check out the Mesa MP pedals at Fyxation’s website.

See all of our Project 24.2 posts here!

For the most part, it’s hard to get too excited about stems.  If they do their job well (and most do), they’re essentially unnoticeable.  Of course, if they don’t they’re ugly, flexy, or (if they do their job especially poorly) fail catastrophically.  That said, when we posted early word of Ritchey’s new C260 line of stems this fall, people got pretty excited.

Owing to its 260 degree clamp and gently curved 3-bolt steerer clamp, Ritchey’s WCS C260 stem tests 3-4x stronger in its aluminum form than any previous Ritchey stem- while being 30% stiffer than the preceding 4Axis design.  Throw a unidirectional carbon wrap over the same basic design and weight goes up by ~15g (to an actual 110g in our 90mm size) and stiffness by an additional 16%.  Oh, and it’s prettier, too.  After a couple of months on my Project 1.1 single speed and Project 24.2 race bike, has the C260 lived up to its light/strong/sexy billing?  Hit the jump to find out…

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Fyxation just added two bullhorn bars to their urban goods arsenal – the Rodeo and the Rodeo Pursuit.

The Rodeo and the Rodeo Pursuit are both bullhorns, but each bar welcomes a different style of riding.  The main difference is the Rodeo Pursuit gets a 40mm drop, giving you a bit of extra power for sprints while the basic Rodeo bar is a good all-around city bar.

Click more to see pictures, specs and opinions…

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Nitto has issued a recall on their model B259AA aluminum handlebars because they have been reported to break during use and cause riders to potentially fall or lose control.

Thus far, Nitto has received two reports of handlebar breakage, one break causing the rider to fall and cut their leg.  More than 2,000 of these handlebars were sold in North America from January of 2008 through July of 2011.

This model is manufactured in Japan and sold in red, blue, black, gold, green, pink, and silver; the brand “Nitto” and “B259” are printed at the edge of the handlebar.  Riders are warned to stop using the Nitto B259 handlebars and contact Euro Asia Imports to receive a free replacement.  For more information on the recall, visit Euro Asia Imports website or contact them at 888-662-1814.

Scapin is breaking into the fixie market with the 2012 release of the Eleanor. They weren’t looking toward the track with this one, instead developing it to handle the daily beat-down of the streets.

Riding a track bike on the road is like buying a Ferrari to drive to the grocery store.  I personally own a fixie and enjoy riding it around town, but feel like I need to be somewhat apologetic at times.  A fixie should, in my humble opinion, be a mixture of aesthetics and sport.  It needs to look great, feel great, and bring some wandering eyes to it when locked to the bike rack.  The Eleanor looks to hold of all of these traits.

I’ve noticed many 1980s-model Scapin road frames stripped down to nothing and converted into fixies. I take it Scapin finally caught onto the raging trend their old frames have been fueling with the production of the Eleanor. The Eleanor is forged with vintage-appeal in mind, the bike molded around a Columbus Spirit steel frame with chromium-plated lugs.  The complete bike is featured in a variety of colors (Black, Blue, Creamy White, and “Old” Green). More to come about the Eleanor and Scapin’s new 29er after the break.

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My cycling buddies and I pledge at least once a month that we will finally buy the tandem bike.  But we never do.  Why don’t we?  Because if we buy the bike, we will in fact be riding tandem.  By all means, tandem riding is a skill and involves complex maneuvering, planning, and coordination, but regardless of the skillfulness, there is still some hidden comedy to riding a tandem bicycle.

This tandem concept is named the “Twist” and is conceived by Spanish designer Jose Hurtado.  The Twist allows the riders to both conjoin individual bicycles to ride tandem and split the tandem to ride apart.  Hurtado perhaps had in mind the couples that ride into the city together during the week and subsequently depart to their separate jobs.

This is a concept bike that might best exist in a future Utopian world.  In this Utopia, all cyclists would be the same size and own the same perfectly symmetrical bike.  All cyclists would be acquaintances and could proceed to “hook up” tandem to each other when they are so happily inclined.  In this Utopia, there would be no brakes to get in the way of friendship, and no mechanical difficulties with hubless wheels.

As beautiful as this rendered concept is, I’m as scared of this tandem as I am of an actual Utopia. See why, along with more renderings, after the break…

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The Bike Valet by Reclamation Art + Furniture is a simple, minimalist wall mount for indoor bicycle storage.  It supports one bicycle and features two hooks to serenade your helmet and gear.  The Bike Valet looks to be in the same price range as the Cycloc wall mount, so it isn’t the cheapest on the market by far.  But, if price isn’t an issue, this wall mount is endowed with maximal style and character.  The Bike Valet looks more like a piece of Second Empire furniture than a wall mount.  My only complaint is that there is no integrated coffee-cup holder, but I guess some things must be sacrificed for the art of minimalism.

On that note, the Bike Valet will come powder-coated in a variety of majestic colors: black, blue, cream white, grey, pale green, and red.  They give a choice for the product to be equipped with either leather pad or neoprene pad to prop the bike on (keeping the Vegans in mind I assume). The Bike Valet is laser cut, hand bent, and made from 1/8” quality steel.  On a side note, the mount extends 12″ from the wall, so it shouldn’t provide any issues with most handlebar widths apart from mountain bikes.    More about this classy rack after the break.

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With only 600 pairs produced, I have to say that Chrome’s special COG edition of their Southside shoe is the company’s best looking shoe.  Distinguished from the standard gray Southsides only by an embossed tongue and -wait for it- colorful custom footbed, the Chrome X COG version is ever so slightly cooler, but it’s enough to put it at the top of my own Chrome shopping list.  The oiled leather uppers should gain character over time and the blown rubber midsole should make them just as comfortable off the bike as on it (probably more comfortable off, truth be told).  If you’re looking for a classy sneaker that whispers rather than screams bike, the Chrome X COG Southside wouldn’t be a bad place to drop your $120.  Cross the tracks for more pics and the full release…

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