Further to yesterdays post, Im still feeling indignant about this bike:It just seems to me they basically retrofitted a disc brake road bike to work with rim brakes, which is a rather roundabout way of going about things when the rim brake bike had already been more or less perfected.I mean couldnt they have consulted a company with with rim brake road bike fabrication expertise likeFirefly?[Liberated from here.]Like, couldnt they have just made that but with medium-reach brakes?I know, too easy. Also, objectively, of course I get it: whats the point of being a custom bike company if you dont dream up and build hot rod bike projects every now and again? Its just that, as the self-appointed President of the Rim Brake Road Bike Preservation Society, it offended my brittle sensibilities, thats all.Also further to yesterdays post, I included this photo in it:[They made me wear those clothes, Id never have chosen themand yet I kept them and wear them regularly, because they were free. As for the facial hair, I have no excuse for that. Same goes for the leg hair.]I enjoyed riding that old hunk of plastic way more than I thought I would, and even though I returned it to Classic Cycle over three years ago now, I still think about it sometimesthough I never think of asking for it back and giving it the JBARA* treatment like this one got:*[Just Buy A Rivendell Already]I do like how they preserved the original Campagnolo hospital bed urine thingies:[Holy crap, Bens Cycle really does have everything Campy!]The Vengeance Bike actually had one, tooBut I removed it almost immediately because I was scared to drink out of it.Meanwhile, Ive been spending a lot of time on my own medium-reach brake road bike recently:Please note that what some of you have been mistaking for a bad fender line or an abysmal fender line or even a vomit-inducing fender line is in fact the result of many hours in the wind tunnel, and that this configuration actually improves air flow and minimizes turbulence.No, I just cant be botheredeven though it kind of bothers me, too. But it doesnt bother me quite as much as I cant be bothered. So I dont bother.As for the brakes, theyre Tektros:Not the prettiest, but they work perfectly well. The Shimano brakes I had on there before were a little nicer:But Bens sent the Tektros along with the new drivetrain I got from them last year, presumably because theyre similarly black and angular:The R7000 stuff is also not the prettiest (you could even call it ugly and I wouldnt argue with you), but it represents the very last mechanical-and-rim-brake road drivetrain from Shimano at the Dura-Ace/Ultegra/105 level and it works extremely well:In fact, you know that book OJ Simpson wrote, called If I Did It?Well, if I got a really nice road framelike dream bike material, say a Richard Sachsthe R7000 stuff works so well Id even consider putting it on there.But like the murder description in If I Did It, my obtaining a new Richard Sachs in addition to the one Im currently riding is merely a hypothetical scenario.Wow, that is eerie. The AI even came up with the subtitle by itself! However, I hope Joe Bell never sees that paint job, because if he does hell feel like Enrico Pallazzo watching Frank Drebin sing the National Anthem:And nobody should have to suffer through that.

Madison has taken on exclusive distribution of the Chinese cycling brand iGPSports in the UK and Republic of Ireland, bringing its range of bike computers and other electronic cycling accessories to the distributors retailer network.iGPSports offers a range of cycling computers, and is a budget competitor to heavyweights such as Garmin and Wahoo.Madison will stock five GPS bike computers from the Chinese company, with prices ranging from 39.99 to 219.99.The distributor will stock an iGPSports sportswatch for 199.99; a smart light range including four front lights from 29.99 to 79.99; a 79.99 rear radar light and other rear lights. Chest and arm heart-rate monitors, plus speed and cadence sensors, will also be available.Complementing Coros Madison already distributes Coros. Scott Windsor / Our Media Madison is the UK distributor for cycling brands such as Shimano, DT Swiss, Park Tool, Mavic and Vittoria, as well as operating its own in-house brands.It says iGPSports will complement Coros, which it has distributed since last October, in the companys range.Madison CEO Domic Langan says iGPSports range gives retailers an exciting range at a truly compelling price point.Together with Coros, we now have a very strong and complete technology proposition that can challenge the long-established names in the category, Langan says.Competitive pricesMadison is yet to reveal further details of its iGPSports range, but the distribution of its products in the UK and the Republic of Ireland follows the growth of Chinese cycling brands in the West.Several Chinese cycling brands, including iGPSports, have developed a reputation for competitively priced products.In road cycling, Astana now rides X-Labs bikes in the WorldTour, having previously ridden Wilier bikes.Groupset brands such as L-Twoo and Wheeltop are also challenging Shimano, SRAM and Campagnolo. Meanwhile, we recently spotted Whaleroads 14-speed drivetrain at Sea Otter Europe.Panda Podium is an online retailer of Chinese cycling products. British founder Joe Whittingham told BikeRadar in March that the difference between Chinese cycling products 10 years ago and today is night and day.According to Whittingham, Chinese cycling brands have benefited from Western brands moving production to the country. As more and more brands moved production to mainland China, the local expertise and supply chain grew rapidly, he said.Whittingham added that the rise in Chinese brands should put pressure on Western brands to lower their prices.Warren Rossiter recently argued that this is whats happening. According to Warren, Chinese brands have sparked a price war, with brands such as Canyon, Cube and Ribble beginning to offer well-priced bikes again. But he also cautioned that other cycling brands still need to react to this changing market and the increasing popularity of Chinese brands.

Coffee and cycling are so intertwined that it feels like International Coffee Day should become the sixth cycling monument. While I work on getting it officially ordained, I dug through the Early Amazon Prime Big Deal Day listings to find nine great coffee deals that will land on your doorstep first thing tomorrow (if you're a Prime Member, of course)! 32 Early Prime Day Big Deal Days offers for cyclistsInternational Coffee Day is observed on October 1 to celebrate this wonderful beverage in all its forms. From those who see it as a near art form to those with busy lives, or those running late for the group ride and needing a hit.This wide-ranging use of the dark nectar is reflected in the deals I found this International Coffee Day on Amazon. While, like many, I would much prefer to head out to a local roaster, from time to time, convenience takes precedence. Believe it or not, you can get great coffee delivered directly to your doorstep, with some excellent offers to be had. My personal recommendation for those in the UK is Ushima Mountain Coffee. I rarely buy their beans, but I'm a huge fan of their Nespresso-compatible pods. US Coffee Deals Stumptown Coffee Roasters Whole Bean Medium Roast, Hair Bender 18 Oz Stumptown Coffee Roasters Organic Medium Roast Ground Coffee - Holler Mountain 12 Ounce Bag, pack of 3 Verve Coffee Roasters Streetlevel Whole Bean Coffee | Flagship Latin American Espresso Blend | Medium Roast | 12 Ounces La Colombe Draft Latte Variety Pack, 11 Fl Oz Cans (pack of 12) Peet's Coffee Ground Coffee Dark Roast, Major Dickason's Blend, 18 Ounces Peet's Coffee Espresso Capsules, Medium and Dark Roast Variety Pack, 80ct UK Deals Ueshima Coffee Company Fuji Mountain Coffee Beans 200g (pack of 6) Starbucks Discovery Variety Pack by Nespresso, 100 Capsules Jimmy's Iced Coffee Original Slimcan 12 x 250 ml (pack of 12) If you don't need any coffee today, but your paycheck is burning a hole in your pocket, then why not check out these deals my colleague Paul dug up earlier in the week: Sigma Sports Massive Warehouse ClearanceLego Bike just hit 88

Movistar Team continues to shape its future with the signing of Mads Landbo, a Danish rider born in Hrsholm in 2004. He will join the telephone-backed squad from 2027 and has signed a three-year deal through 2029. A major move in the cycling transfer market. Landbo arrives at Movistar Team after...

In the second installment of The Cut List, Lucas shares a dozen things he once considered essential but now sees as dead weight after two busy decades of bikepacking, traveling, and obsessing over gear. Find a sweeping mix of habits, equipment, and beliefs hes learned to leave in the dust in The Cut List Vol. 2 hereThe post The Cut List (Vol. 2): Gear Lucas Has Left Behind appeared first on BIKEPACKING.com.

If I had to design the ultimate hidden tool to go on the bike, it would probably end up looking just like the Granite Stash RT. This compact unit sits inside the steerer tube, has a two-way ratchet with all the right bits, and stays perfectly secure and out of sight until needed.In fact, I like this so much, Ive put one on several of my and my family members mountain bikes. You should to, and heres why1. It Does EverythingOne of the biggest challenges with normal multi tools that fold open is trying to adjust saddle angle. Most posts dual bolts on the head arent as tool-friendly as the Fox Transfer with an angled bolt, but even this one is difficult with a bulky mini-tool. But a tiny ratchet and bit? Easy peasy.And it works everywhere else on the bike, too:That includes pedals, thru axles, seatpost clamps, cockpit bits, brake rotor bolts, and more.It even makes bottle cage installation and removal super easy, because bits can insert into the end of the handle, too. I put the 8mm bit into the ratchet part to serve as a little handle for more leverage, and use the long, thin handle to reach between the curves of a bottle cage!2. It Has Everything You Needas long as you dont need a flat head screwdriver. But it has a Phillips Head with an extended length. The Ratchet nests into the backside of the sleeve, and all of the bits are held in place magnetically. So, theyre easy enough to remove even with full finger gloves, but secure enough to stay in place during handling.3. Its Super Easy to AccessEven if youre using the Hammerhead Karoo computer mount, which protrudes rearward over the steerer using the K-Edge mount as shown, its easy to access the tool. Just swivel the cap out of the way and the Stash RT pops up from a spring-loaded base.Granite also makes a replacement cap with a Wahoo/Garmin-compatible computer mount, so you can combine all the things into a single unit.4. Its Easy to InstallThe Stash RT only fits inside tapered suspension forks with an open steerer, which is a shame because Id love to have this on my road and gravel bikes, too. But for MTB, its an incredibly easy install. Just choose the right length bolt from the three included, drop it into the sleeve, and thread it into the base that covers the hole on the bottom of your fork:You cant tell from these photos, but theres a tall sleeve on the lower nut, giving you a lot of thread depth for a secure mount. This replaces the star nut, so youll need to pound that out through the bottom of your steerer tube to install this. Or just buy a new fork.5. Its LightweightThe entire system is just 158g (with mid-length bolt). Thats about the weight of a comparable folding mini tool on its own, but you cant hide that on your frame and still have it instantly accessible. I have a lot of different brands mini tools on various bikes, including several that mount inside the steerer tube. But none are as quick and easy to use as the Stash RT. For road and gravel (or just any carbon fork without an opening at the bottom), Granite makes a version with a standard mini-tool that has tiny fold-out bits, and its fine, but its nowhere near as easy to use IRL. Still good, but if youve got a suspension fork, the Stash RT is the best mini-tool you can put in there.Granite-Design.com

Remco Evenepoel has chosen to made a last-minute alteration to his European Championships preparations, delaying his journey to Slovenia by 24 hours in favour of one more training day in Belgium following a mixed World Championships in Montreal. Evenepoel had been scheduled to fly to Slovenia on Thu...

As a Sea-To-Sky local for nearly 19 years, it sure was a treat to have a UCI World Cup Downhill race finally happen in Whistler, B.C.! Ive never had the chance to attend a World Cup event, so it was great to check out the pits, the expo tents and watch the highest level of downhill racing in person. Of course, there were a few interesting bikes and products to be found at the raceNorco had several examples of their brand new Team DH bike displayed at various locations, including team and production spec builds. Cruising around the event was an Ari 32 prototype as well, which is most likely an incoming Signal Peak XC bike. There werent a ton of products on display, but Lazers dazzling carbon and gold A-Line full-face helmet and Michelins everyday rider-friendly Performance Line tires caught our attention.Norco Team DH Bikes:Norco just launched their new Team DH downhill bike while the racers were practicing on Friday. Not surprisingly they had several bikes built up and displayed around the event grounds. In the title photo is a full production spec Team DH 2 Rockshox model, which was featured at the RideWrap expo booth. As the above photo shows, this models frame boasts an eye catching blue-over-silver paint job (protected with RideWrap, of course!).Over at Norcos tent in the pits, they were showing off a team spec build of the new DH bike. Since the team is supported by Adidas, they also teased us by displaying a pair of the new Adidas Freerider Pro BOA Clipless shoes right next to this bike. Follow the link to check out our article covering the new Freerider shoes.Finding Greg Minnaars prototype Team DH bike was a nice surprise! Maxxis had the prototype Minnaar raced throughout 2024 on display at their Race Vault pop-up in Creekside Plaza.One interesting thing about Minnaars bike is how Norco was wrapping the aluminum chainstays with layers of carbon fiber to experiment with different levels of stiffness. Its always cool to see a working prototype, especially when there are production-ready builds nearby to compare it to.Ari 32 MTB Prototype:Just as I was leaving the race, I looked over at Foxs booth and spotted this! No-one on hand was sharing much info on it, but it appears to be the aluminum framed Ari Signal Peak 32 XC prototype Bikerumor spotted back in April. It looks to be running the Fox 34 SL prototype fork we saw on the bike previously (this one had Fox stickers on it), and it definitely has a set of Maxxis Aspen tires. The dropped stem on this bike bore the word PROTOTYPE on its side.It sounded like this bike was quickly assembled as a showpiece, as someone in the booth mentioned there may not be fluid in the brake lines. Aris website currently has a teaser page for the incoming 32 bike, where you can sign up to get news updates. Lazer A-Line KinetiCore Full-Face Helmet:On display at Shimanos booth was this awesome looking A-Line KinetiCore full-face helmet from Lazer. Ive always liked bare carbon patterns, but Ive never seen anyone incorporate gold into the carbon like this! The gold gilded backside of this helmet looked amazing as the sun bounced off it.The Lazer A-Line KinetiCore helmet was announced back in July, but retail stores just recently received their first shipments. Michelin Performance Line MTB and eMTB Tires:Michelin was showing their line of Wild Enduro MTB and E-Wild eMTB tires in Whistler. The grippy single compound Racing models of these tires have been available for a while, but at the beginning of this year Michelin introduced the Performance Line models. These newer versions are aimed at recreational riders who want a longer lasting tread, rather than a super soft race day tire.The Performance Line tires feature the exact same tread patterns as the equivalent Racing models. They utilize a dual compound design, with firmer rubber in the middle and Michelins racing compound rubber on the sides. This offers longer wear and faster rolling speed versus the Racing tires. The Performance Line tires also feature more compliant sidewalls than the Racing models, and weigh in a little lighter. Shown in Whistler were the Performance Line E-Wild front and rear tires, and the Wild Enduro MS and MH models.

Luka Mezgec already knows what comes after the finish line on Sunday. The 38-year-old Slovenian, who will end his professional racing career at the European Championships on home roads, has signed a deal to become a sports director at Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe in 2027. The agreement was actually c...

A new draft plan for the Markets area in Dublin between Smithfield and Capel Street has strong words of support for cycling, but little or no practical measures are provided in the plan beyond bicycle parking. The firmer public realm concepts outlined would remove cycle lanes and add more one-way streets, with no clear mention of providing for contra-flow cycling.The Draft Markets Public Realm Plan which is currently out for public consultation includes firm outline concepts for public realm upgrades, including pedestrian improvements and greening. This is the latest in a series of public realm and greening plans from Dublin City Council which do not fully provide for cycling. In countries such as the Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium, and at least parts of the UK, streets similar to the local streets in this plan would at least include provision for contra-flow cycling cycliing. Modern projects in those countries would likely also look to cut all through traffic between the main roads, lowering the need for dedicated cycling infrastructure, improving safety and livability. The page titled Proposed Cycling Infrastructure includes the following text: Dublin City Council recognises the importance of cycling routes. The Markets Area Public Realm Plan presents an opportunity to create quiet cycling routes through the city block. The strategy proposed in this Public Realm Plan also addresses the issue of cycle parking within the Markets Area recording the existing banks of cycle stands and identifying suitable locations for additional cycle parking.However, none of the concept plans or overall plan which shows traffic movements includes any provision for cycling. IMAGE: The Proposed Cycling Infrastructure page.The proposed cycling map (above) includes the BusConnects quietways or low-traffic route (shown in a dashed purple line), which was largely included in the project to compensate for the removal of continuous cycle lanes on Church Street in favour of bus lanes.The city councils draft plan now also removes cycle lanes on the nearest parallel street to Church Street, Greek Street, without adding traffic reduction measures (see the last section of this article below). This means there will be poor cycling provision on both a primary and parallel secondary cycle route outlined in the Greater Dublin Area Cycle Network Plan. Other routes link routes in the GDA plan (shown in dashed lines in the extract map below) are just excluded from the citys new draft plan. While there are potential low-traffic routes between Capel Street and Smithfield, there are no such east-west routes provided in the GDA plan.The only defined westbound cycle route with the Markets area plan, on North Kings Street, may also be made harder to deliver if concept greening in an extended central island on that street is built and the city is reluctant to reduce traffic lanes.IMAGE: An extract from the NTAs GDA Cycle Network Plam.The general transport and movement page also includes promising platitudes about cycling. It states that: Cycling within the City Core offers a low-Carbon, space-efficient and accessible mode of transport that supports both climate objectives and vibrant urban life. Prioritising quiet cycle routes through the Markets area will help to improve air quality and cycle safety, enhancing the overall public realm by creating safer, more people focused streets. A well-designed cycling environment encourages short local trips, strengthens connections between neighbourhoods and supports local businesses through increased footfalland dwell time.Integrating cycling into the City Core is therefore not only a transport intervention but a placemaking opportunity that aligns with wider sustainability intervention but a placemaking opportunity that aligns with wider sustainability cycling network that balances strategic connectivity with local permeability. This includes clearly defined primary routes that link the area to the wider city cycling network, alongside a series of quiet routes on lower-traffic streets that prioritise safety, comfort and accessibility for all users, including less confident cyclists, it continues.In could be seen as firmer measures, the transport section adds: Quiet routes can be achieved through traffic calming, modal filtering and reduced vehicle speeds, Our objective is to create a network of safe, legible connections that complement busier corridors. Together, these elements should form an integrated, intuitive system that supports everyday cycling, enhances street vitality and ensures the Markets area is fully connected into the evolving city-wide active travel network.But beyond speed-reduction measures, the plan includes no clear examples of these measures.Concept plans include making streets or parts of streets such as Marys Lane and Halston Street one-way, without any clear provision for two-way cycling.IMAGE: The concept plan, including narrowing of the carriageway on Marys Lane.Greek Street is technically a local street, but in reality forms part of a 1970s one-way traffic system from the arch at Christchurch down Winetavern Street, across the River Liffey, and by the Four Courts. The plan includes no traffic-reduction measures but removes the cycle lane and narrows the carriageway on Greek Street, leaving people cycling to mix with high volumes of traffic in a narrower space. There is also no contra-flow cycling provided for on the street.IMAGE: The concept plan for Greek Street.