IF Deluxe For Sale

This could be your next ride...


New, never ridden steel Deluxe w/ traditional New England segmented 1" rigid steel fork. This is a must for any serious IF or Fat Chance collector, based on the famous Yo Eddy geometry, this single speed is the perfect mix of yesterday and today. Features include:

Independent Fabrication steel Deluxe non-suspension corrected geometry & Phil Wood EBB Serial # 493D818
Igelheart segmented 1" steel fork (steerer tube is 1 1/8")
Custom Lavender Paint with White Script logos
Purple King Headset
EDGE AM 32 hole carbon rims on KING Single Speed Disc Hubs w/ silver DT Comp spokes (handbuilt by Light-Wolf (www.light-wolf.de))
White Industries ENO cranks, 32t chainring & stainless steel BB
Crank Brothers Purple Eggbeaters Cro-Mo
Thomson setapost & stem
Fizik Gobi saddle
Magura Marta SL disc brakes 180 front/ 160 rear
Connex 9x1 stainless steel chain
Hutchinson Python MRC 2.0 tires
Purple Oury grips



Size & Geometry

Seattube CtoC - 46cm (18.1")
Toptube Effective 60cm (23.62")
Standover - 79.2cm (31.18")
Headtube angle - 71.5
Seattube angle 72.5
Headtube length 14cm (5.51")
Toptube angle 7.4
Wheelbase - 1064.1mm (41.89")
Chainstay length 42.5cm (16.73")
Fork height axel to crown - 39.6cm
Fork offset - 39
Trail - 70.6

Retail on this bike would be 5800EUR, our asking price is 3950EUR

Frank's Bike

Just finished this bike for a customer out of Basel Switzerland, one fly Ti Planet Cross. Very nice build, check out the custom made Dugast Rhino's with black sidewalls. Edge composites, Tune and Sram Red, I still have to throw it on the scale but it feels like 15.5 lbs...






Just an update on the weight...7.55kg

einfach geil

Having watched this a couple times, this is one of the better home videos of riding I have seen. Not too mention it gets the blood pumping for the coming season...enjoy!

Photo Dump

Riding a single speed is such a refreshing, pure experience. Rarely do you feel like you have the 'wrong' gear, and more than not, you actually can ride more efficiently without added mechanical advantage. With a freshly mounted set of Dugasts, some strong legs, my brother in-law was in for a tough ride.

The ground was still fairly frozen, making for a frim and tacky ride, 25lbs in the front and rear tubulars made for superelative traction. Feeling punchy, the climbs were gobbled up with small accelerations, and the descents went by in a blur. as the ride wore on, the ground began to soften, and in areas exposed the solar gain, where sloppy mud bogs, splattering both bike and rider full of mud.

Each acceleration from the one was met with counter-resistance from the other, and with the passing of each surge, it came clearer that my 'schwager' wasn't able to hang on. It did not matter who was stronger that day, we both had good digs at the other, but in the end, we enjoyed the other's company and more so that extra push on a great ride.

Here are some pics of my dressed up single speed following the mud-bath:

Keeping it simple


The best bike I have ever owned



A combination made in heaven



A customers Ti Planet X we are building up

And now the forecast...

The wheels are spinning

Almost a month in 2009 and my go-to blogs and online journals are a buzz with plans, resolutions and to-do for the last year in the first decade of the new millennium. There are some really cool events out there to consider, one that stands out to me is the Single Speed Worlds in Durango. Having ridden many of those trails, been a force in the Colorado single speed myself, it would be something that is a no-brainer, but life keeps me in check. A trip this spring back to the high-altitude Colorado desert with fam and my 29er would also satisfy my appetite for primetime singletrack (ie Cortez, Fruita, Eagle and Carbondale all make the list).



Another event on our list if the Bike Festival at the Gardasee. For ifbikes.de it is a great consumer event, and for Sandi at least, a cool marathon. The EHBS is another must for us, we will be showing off the delicious line-up of ferrous and not-so ferrous IF-creations from Sommerville, MA. Topped off with a night ride on Saturday eve in cooperation with Waridi Sport Lights. We will also be showing a Limited edition IF bike, only 20, so get you credit card warmed up and stay tuned for more details…


Dice-K

I haven’t, go check out IF’s Japanese frontman and Rapha stewart, Dice-K's Flickr page. His booth for the Japan show was the absolute best I have seen and is what we want ifbikes.de to become. The bikes he had on hand, where nothing short of stunning and beautiful. Dice-K has long been a fixture in the cycling industry, beating the pavement for companies like Cateye before doing it for himself as the IF and Rapha rep in the land of the rising sun.

Dice-K's stand w/ a sweet track bike

Besides the above mentioned events, we are looking to open a showroom in a soon to be named location, and continue to build the brand. We have our eyes on several of races and consumer events, and are courting a couple of new companies to fill out our product offering. The ifbikes.de website is slowly getting a makeover, and we will also be updating the Crossracer.eu site for our two race events we are organizing, a Hochspeyer MTB race June 14th as part of the Saar-Pfalz Cup and our second annual Hochwald Milchideen Crossduathlon.

2009 looks to be a promising year despite the gloomy economic forecast and other world issues, but I think things will be just fine – think positive!

winter pause

Once and while comes one of those few times in racing and in training where you have a great day physically align one with external forces that produce a high like no other. They are tattooed forever in your memory bank often providing the motivation to train and perform just so you can reach that high again.

During our visit to Seefeld, Austria and the Olympic nordic skiing region over the holidays with Sandi and Colin, we planned 7 full days of nordic skiing and training. Armed with our quiver of both skate and classic gear along with a Chariot equipped with skis, we were ready to explore the nearly 300km of trails in the valleys and mountains of northern Tirol.

Many top pro's utilize nordic skiing for training, and for good reason. It pushes your conditioning and power to the max. Throw a 30 lbs in a trailer in tow, and you know you have done some work. Our first few days there were spent exploring the trails in and around Leutasch often skiing between 2 1/2 to four hours, two of those days were pulling Colin. The sauna and a ritual of big breakfasts and lots of coffee were my ways of battling fatigue. On the fifth day we drove over the Seefeld proper to ski the black runs and the World Cup course, where the soon to be held Nordic Combination World Cup will be held. (BTW. an American Bill Demong is at the top of the rankings, and a bonus for us is that EuroSport carries all of the nordic action from biathalon to Tour de Ski so we will be able to catch it on TV).

Heading out on the the World Cup loop on my own, I was feeling a little sluggish but was able to eventually open it up. Zipping along about 10k in, I passed two skiers on the flats who were moving at a good clip. Having to stop to check my orientation, they came back by, and I would fall in behind them for the long steep climb.

Like in cycling, we skied together in rhythm, pacing up the climb. First taking up the rear, I assessed the other two nameless and obviously very strong compatriots. The lead skier had a strong, clean technique while the second was also efficient but close to his limits whenever the trail turned upwards. Eventually the stronger of the two lifted his pace to the point where the second skier and myself slowly drifted backwards.

Content to sit in, I waited to see if we would bring him back, but it slowly came apparent that would not happen. and that is when I went. Leaping past the second skier on a steep section, I quickly dropped him and began chipping away at the deficit before me. Stronger on the false flats and descents, I brought the first skier back. As we hit the last steep sections of the climb, full of sweat, and a pounding heartrate in my ears, I was in the lead skiers shadow, and wasn't planning going anywhere.

Checking to see if I was his friend in a heavy Oestereicher dialect, I answered nein and it was game on. The pace went up with the final steep grades of the climb, and I was doing all I could to hang on. Fully between somewhere of agony and a trance, I was just following the tempo of his skis. Just at the top my grip was broken and a few meters between us opened up as we coasted down a little and on to the flats on top of the plataue. I was quick to thank him for an awesome ski up and he invited me to continue on with the two, and I graciously accepted. We flew around on the trails on top, taking turns pulling and setting pace, all the while I had an ear-to-ear smile and enjoyed the company.

With wife and child waiting below, I bid them Servus and thanked them again as I peeled off for the descent back down. High on a great ski, I had to return focus on some of the most technical descents I have done on two skinny skis in my life. Deaf with the loud rush of wind in my ears, I got a glimpse of someone from behind. Giving way, two skiers blasted by, it was Anette Henkle, World Cup German biathlete, and her male training partner. I quickly latched on for one hell of a ride on the descent. It was great to follow them and to see their lines down. Believe me, television does little to convey the speed and precision of top nordic skiers on a descent. It was nothing short of beautiful and scary.

Good news was, I was able to stick with them on the descent even on the short punchy climbs. The descent finally dumped us out on the lower loops where i just cruised back to the car. It would have been an awesome day had I just skied with my two new Austrian friends to the top, skiing with Henkle on the descent, was just icing on the cake.

This was one of those memorable days that will keep the fire burning for some time to come. For that matter, so was our whole trip which was then capped off with two more days of pulling Colin, logging many more km's and hours of training. Exhausted and sore, it is time to pull the single speed out, and ride towards that next high.

the chain is broken

the chain is broken, i have neglected my blog for some time, but things are changing. back to blogging, riding and living. soon i will be leaving this 6 to 6 world in my rear view mirros and get back to what i love, and best of all be sharing it with you. thanks to all of the blogs i love out there for quenchening my thirst during this drought!

stay tuned...

Oh Nein...

Your Name here.
They call cyclocross the NASCAR of cycling with its fast pace, some rubing and the fact that we go around in tight circles. While I don't entirely agree with annology, Tim Johnson is not helping the cause. Recently he has been showing up to cross events with a Red Bull helmet, the ultimate sellout. I wonder if he actually drinks that crap?

I realize he is not the only one plastered with logos, and actually his 'Nine-Ball' kits are pretty sweet. Not too mention Tim is an awesome guy, and I am all for a starving cyclist to make a decent income, but Red Bull? Besides, I thought they only sponsored anti-skinsuit wearing, gated-racing, non-pedaling huckers?

Halloween Revisted

It's almost Thanksgiving, but when I saw this, I laughed out loud. Good stuff.

Euro-Cross

Over the weekend, Colin, Sandi & I went to Mannheim (which via the Autobahn is less than half an hour away) for the Iron Cross Days cyclocross race. Unlike the Iron Cross know in the states, this was just a 1.5km course, that could have been much batter than it was. With the start and finish on the local velodrom, we would cross over the tunnel at the north end riding towards the first dismount.Sandi floating over the transitions

The slight uphill had three barriers on it, with just enough grade, combined with the water soaked groud, there was no means of bunny hopping these. Which was fine, it made for a nice long run up. After remounted on top, it was almost a full lap arond the outside of the velodrome before pealing off towards an appartment/ park area. Here is where the course wa a bit scetchy. A barrier on otp of three flights of stairs that we ran down! If it had been at all any more wet, it would have been way more dangerous than it was, and probably would have seen some torn ACL's if not worse injuries. As it was, my ankles and kness still hurt from hitting the concrete at speed and running down cobbled steps.

Sandi was her competition

Through a sidewalk passage, it was around a sweeping grassy bend with an uphill at the end heading back towards the velo-club grounds. Around the club house, across the north end perimeter of the velodrome, and a tight switchback before dropping down through the tunnel and into the track.
Sandi railing the hairpin
I went off first, racing the open men’s race against 17 others. Normally you can count on some crazy fast Euro’s at small events like this. My first years of racing were spent over here in the ‘hobby’ class getting my ass kicked. That was not the case on Saturday. Grabbing the hole-shot, I wanted to hit the first run-up near the front after having watched several of these guys stumble through the transitions. Clear of the others, I remounted at the top to find myself with a gap, but was still expecting a counter attack from behind. Semi-soft pedaling I glanced back to find no one was chasing, so I punched it.

On the run up

After my acceleration, I would only see the others as I started to lap the field. I was still on the gas for most of the race, not 100% but still getting my monies worth. After a dizzying 10 laps and 40mins of racing, I had lapped up to 3rd place and probably could have ran the last lap and still have won. My lap times were around 3:40 to give you an idea of how short the course was.

The best part came taking Colin up on the podium with me, which he loved the people clapping and joined in. He liked the shiny prizes and awards too I think.

The track in Mannheim

Sandi’s race lacked competition, well almost. One poor junior girl got lapped two times and Sandi was always on the heels of the lead junior men, much to their disliking… She too made her own workout of it, pushing hard through the entire race. She was really surprised how quickly the dismounts and remounts came back to her (as was I for myself).



Taking over the wheel

The great thing about small events like this one are the people you meet, other who share your own passion for the sport. We met a few different people, talked about bikes, kids and organizing events. No matter where you go in the world the cycling community is an extended family

World Cup DH MTB Fashion Police

You must be kidding me??? An immature and obviously grossly confused Rachel Atherton would rather succumb to fashion than win races. Not only that, but her dissing the skinsuit flies in the face of much bigger champions than she, Tomac, Nico, Chausson, Stiefle, HBall and of course Borat.

Her sponsors should really re-think their connection with this superficial, spoiled wanna-be.

Photo ©: Mark Gunter
UCI ban skin suits and open face helmets for some mountain bike competitions

By Matthew Cole, BikeRadar.com
Tracy Moseley rode this skin suit to a slim win in Australia


The UCI, the governing body for competitive cycling, has made some interesting changes to the rules for the 2009 season and beyond including banning the wearing of "tight-fitting clothing" and insisting that full-face helmets must be worn when racing and practising for downhill and 4X.

The wearing of skin suits has been a point of contention over the last year, notably in the Australian round of the mountain bike world cup. A skinsuit-clad Tracy Moseley (Kona) won the women's race by four seconds ahead of Rachel Atherton (Animal-Commencal), who claimed that the skin suit gave Moseley an unfair advantage.

"Fair enough to Tracey if she wants to do that to win, but for the sport and the longevity of the sport, to wear cool race kit and to make an image for yourself is more important than the odd win here and there," said Atherton.

Schnapps & Cyclocross

Having an affection for things crafted by the hand of a master, I have always enjoyed handmade bikes and components along with wines, food and schnapps. The latter mind you, is not your typical American flavoured-syrup with a good dose of alcohol, rather it is made from pure fruit, no additives or anything else. Being on the receiving end of some of the best homemade schnapps out of the fatherland the past ten years in the US, when the opportunity arose to produce my own batch, I jumped at the opportunity.


Bobbing for apples?

My friend Sascha Wenzel invited me to help harvest some apples and take part in the process of making schnapps. A couple of weekends ago we began the journey from fruit to brandy. With three sorts of apples on his piece of land, we picked some of the biggest, juiciest apples I have ever seen, and all organic. We gathered enough to fill three big barrels (and then some!), which we spent the better part of an afternoon dicing up into smaller cubes, then we mashed them and filled our barrels.


Apple mash

From there, it is a game of patience, stirring daily, they have slowly begun to ferment. At first we were met with lots of resistance when stirring each barrel, we are about half the way along, stirring the half liquefied mash is done with ease. One can already smell the alcohol as they are very ripe.

A few more weeks and they will stop fermenting on their own, then they are ready for distilling. We will make an appointment at a local distillery around mid-January, where we will spend the day, and probably need a ride home from…as we have our mash turned into a clear liquid that would remove paint from a car. Depending on the duration of distillation will determine the alcohol content, which will be around 40%. Our three barrels will probably yield around 40 liters.

What the hell do you do with 40 liters of schnapps??? My half will go in a large glass jug with a tap on it to fill bottles. The longer schnapps ages, the smoother it gets. No doubt it will have to be tried immediately, but I plan on letting it age a little, and then next fall, start to gift others with hopefully will be a good bottle of apple brandy.


Sunday morning spin


On the bike front, Sandi & I are going to Madburg in a couple of weekends for our first cyclocross of the season, and have been enjoying some spectacular fall riding. It has been crisp and cool with lots of sun drenched days. Riding through thick beds of leaves, it makes it hard sometimes to define where the trails go. My new training loop in Hochspeyer is a blast on the cross bike, maybe a training series this winter???


from a different angle



I have our crosscountry course already planned, sehr anspruchtsvol! Very techy, and if it is wet, muddy and even more techy!!!

Autobahn

My new Dugast’s Rhinos (both cross and mountain) are oh so sweet, nothing rides better than tubulars. You can feel the attention to detail and quality in each rotation of the wheel across the trail. Once again, it is my affection for the handmade things in life.

Mike's new bike

somewhere above Rico, Colorado is a cross bike eating up some of the best trails in the world...

Mike Guskea is a character, a personable guy but a bit of a sour puss. Oh he owns two ti Indy's so don't dis on him just yet. Not too mention he is one of the best chefs in the world. His shops in TRide CO produce some the finest eats you ever have the pleasure of putting your mouth. Soph and he lead a simple life of working too much, enjoying their new home in Rico and lots of riding (only when they are not working).

Mike has a new bike (pictured) and blog...surely to be entertaining. stay tuned.

http://iwishmybloghadwheels.blogspot.com/

Behind the 'Nine-Ball'

Put this one on your wish list. Timmy-J getting some, check Wells out in the trailer showing Page where the line is...rubbing is racing!

http://streaming.cannondale.com/flash/player/index.php?vendor_id=363&video_id=7809&ignore_popup=1

the evidence..

Joe at Demo Day
game of cups
one helluva marketing strategy
Jason, Phaty, Me & Joe

EuroBike part 2

I’ve got to wrap this up, I mean EuroBike is so like tow weeks ago, maybe more???

The final two days were much like the first two, watching the chaos of the main halls from a far while core-fans and enthusiasts sought us out. This was especially true on the public day, Sunday. Fans from all over Europe passed through our booth for a gander at the quiver on hand. The EDGE wheels also had a draw over the course of the week, and I see big things on the horizon for them as well.

Afterhours. Joe & I took full advantage of our fellow industry insiders hospitality, munching and chugging down whatever tasty delights they had on hand, actually it was more of the chugging variety. Jason Schiers from EDGE joined in the final two evenings that included a proper introduction to Phaty, a guy you have to cross paths with sometime in your life. Put it this way, if Dejay Birtch says keep your eye out for him, that is saying something. Phaty is the mastermind behind SiS and a rude obnoxious SOB, but still likable and warm as your old childhood teddybear. Having Phaty tell it how it is to Joe and Jason was not only enjoyable, but down right entertaining.

We knocked back some beers at the Conti booth before rolling out trying to find the Metro, no not the train, but the club as in rider party. Typical Americans, we were way too early, so we rolled in to a café/ bistro, unfortunately for us, they had stopped selling food, we were in semi-drunk limbo. After sweet talking the waitress a little, some badly burnt pizzas that were still not cooked on top were served to us, hey all of the food at tradeshows sucks. After a couple of brews, and some really bad pizza, it was back to the Metro. What was once empty was now pulsating with techno beats and a line way out the door. Little patience and pretty tired, we packed it up for the evening.

The last evening kicked off with the SRAM party, or should I say SCAM party… The one thing about being associated with IF is everyone has a story to tell you, and you are instantly their friend. I tried pimping a couple of passes for the festivities from a reluctant Dirk Belling and his kronnies, even in rejection we had an Ace up our sleeve. Two party goers spotted Joe’s IF tee and chatted us up talking about Fat and all. Moments later the lovely madel in the group was wrapping a get in free pass around my wrist, and the thug at the door let all three of us in as soon as I mentioned IF.

Joe greased the wheels at the massive beer line and we were off. Since it was raining, festivities were contained in a small side room and under the umbrellas from the beer and food stands. After a couple mugs of suds, we were looking for some different action. On our way out the door, Joe won an improve game of ‘cups’. Dropping your plastic beer cup from chest-high into a cup sitting on the ground.

This time we made it to the Metro, and the rest of the night became a blur. RedBull Vodka and a mosh pit can erase your memory pretty quickly. Joe got his picture taken on the way home courtesy of one of Germany’s many roadside radar-photobooths, can’t wait to see how that one turns out, or how fast he was going.

Joe & Jason flew back on Sunday leaving me to fend off the masses of public day on my own. The day went smoothly as it could and by the end I had no business card, postcards, catalogues, sticker, you name, it was gone. Not too mention the box of tools, a reto-Fat tee a friend gave me during the show, some tires and saddles someone walked off with. Karma will get them.

EuroBike was an excellent experience for us, and IF. We grew a lot during the show, and have some great opportunities that lay before, albeit some challenges too. But most of all I appreciated the love we received from so many. It was always surprising to me how many people knew IF, the story and appreciated the work. Passion sums it up pretty well. Something not many other people at EuroBike could boast.

EuroBike Part 1

With little time for a proper follow-up on my Blog, forget even trying to write something during the show!, I have been surfing the coverage from the show on various sites around the net. If you were to follow what the main websites (VeloNews, Cyclingnews…) and many of of the smaller guys are reporting, you would think the show was about more carbon light bikes, new grouppos from S,S&C and bikes from pros, particularly the Olympians (as it seemed everyone was showing an Olympic bike, even if they were off the podium. For the most part, you would be correct, however there was also a riptide in the halls that the media and internet did not register.

Steel – Ti bikes, especially of the handmade sort are back. Maybe as a exhibitor for IF I am looking through a bubble, but if you looked closer at the show, there were sweet bikes all over the place. Our ‘official’ friends at Fixie Inc. were sort of leading the charge, taking 3 Eurobike awards for their creations. Seven, Lynsky, Serotta, Baum and a plethora of other small European builders all had representation at the show. Then there was IF.

Relegated to the Zeppelin Hall (you have to do the ZH proving your worth before getting into the big time show in one of the main halls – look out in 2009!), we had 5 beautiful creation packed into a 10x10’ space. I had planned on a bit more for the show space, but after several plans and using my uncle’s terrace over here as a reference (being it was the same size), I went simple, black carpet and two corrugated metal walls to frame the stand. Joe Ingram from IF flew over to help out, and we ended up testing our wall papering skills last minute as the section of wall behind us was not finished – way ghetto.

Demo Day kicked things off, Joe and I delivered some rides to Hutchinson, and they sent out my ti 26’er and Achim’s 29’er – to the delight of many riders. One guy had the 29er for a long time riding around with perma-grin (he would stop by the booth during the show and is wanting a 29er now). I ran into Elyana from FOX, it is always great to see her and she has one of the best jobs around hitting some fun events. After cutting the steerer on my new 29er, we walked the demo day with our two new IF’s which drew a lot of attention from the show goers. We threw the bikes back in the van, and went out on some bikes for our own demo day. We tried Focus (Mike Kluge’s band) and Look, neither were impressive. I just can’t wrap my arms around carbon bikes, particularly the off-road set.

After baking in the sun all day, we made our way back to the show, and tidied up our booth for the first day. Staying 45min away from the show kind of sucked, especially for the post-show daily social hours…

Day one: Suprisingly, it was very busy out of the box, well for ZH parameters. Little did we know of the craziness in the main halls. The good news was is that media previewed us for the show and people sought us out in the Eurobike Guide. We also had bikes in a couple of other booths. The first three days were for the dealers, the last for the public. As I have tried to focus on direct sales, I was surprised that so many dealers were looking and finding us. I spent a lot of time talking about the bikes and EDGE who we are also distributing over here.

Our booth had my new lime green 29er, Phaty’s YoEddy inspired single speed, my SSX, Sandi’s Ti Deluxe and a Sweet XS from IF. AS people rolled through, they would study the workmanship and details, combing over the bikes in awe. Catalogues, business cards and price lists were flying out the door. I also took two orders the first day from big IF fans. Following day one, we rolled over to the Mavic stand for a happy hour, too bad my friend Dan Crean did not make it over, but we stilled enjoyed some good wine and appetizers.



Day two was more of the same, busy. Actually besides the public day, it was our busiest. Jason from EDGE stopped by and was checking out our stand. It was great to meet with him and talk about new products, and projects for the future… Besdie our stand was a café with standing tables, it became our parcours for demoing my two-niner. IF cranked out an amazing ride that turns on a dime – but more on that in another post… Once again we had dealers requesting catalogues and pricelists, lots of IF love was being spread around. Funny thing was, people would stop by and would be back later. Time and time again I heard how great it was that IF is in Germany and Europe. Someone even gave me an old Fat City Cycles YoEddy T, only to be stolen out of our booth (along with tires, a saddle, and other items…)

More to come.

EuroBike Preview

Sneak peak of one of the show bikes...to see the whole picture, stop by booth ZH-400

We are in the final stretch before Eurobike kicks off and we are still not ready, but then who ever is??? I have two complete bike builds (one frame and most of its parts aren't even here yet), two bikes to do some re-building on, and have to wash and polish up some others. My stand looks good though, simple, clean, easy to manage. For us things are going well, we have a couple articles hitting the newstands as i write this, one on the SSR, and one on a custom Deluxe we did for an editor at BIKE over here. Plus Bike Sport News did a nice little preview on us being at Eurobike. Even over here people like to spread the IF love...

TOUR article on the SSR

Our first customer over here, Stefan Algaier, competed in the Trans Alp on his new Deluxe, commenting on how it is the greatest bike he has ever had. He was poroud to say that it garnered many comments and admirers along the route, congrats to Stefan for completing his race!

Props have to go out to all whom have made the show for us possible, first and foremost our partner in this, Independent Fabrication who have built us sweet rides over the years, for this show and helped organize for the articles - THANK YOU!!!

EDGE for giving us leeway and product to build up the market in Germany, we are on our way! KING for so much support, Chris D & Chris A have worked and supported us all along; PAUL Components, one of our new brands and some of the best CX brakes out there; Arnaud for bringing us in to support Hutchinson at outdoor Demo and for placing rubber on our rides; Thomson - thanks David for all that you do!; Chad Roberts at Shimano rocks - 'nuph said; Fitzy & Elana at FOX; Christina & Jason at Crank Brothers, Max at FSA, Fizik, Connex, Nokon, and so many others.

I will try to keep the Blog updated daily, not just about us, but on the whole show, things I see and people we meet, stay tuned...

IF 29er Hurt in Crash

Blue pictured at the 2008 SiS was severely injured while on vacation in Germany, but will make a full recovery back in the States.
Dave Blum, owner of the sweet babyblue 29er from SiS, dropped me a line. Seems he and his 29er took a tumble while riding here in Germany, and the 29er took the worse of it.

"On a sad note, during my last day in Germany (well, before the Lufthansa
strike trapped me here for an extra week), I had a rather nasty accident in
the Teutoberg Wald which resulted in a crushed/bent the TT of my IF.", sadi Dave in his email.

On the up side, Independent is working on the injured ride, and after replacing the toptube, "blue" is expected to make a full recovery and be ripping up single track in the near future.

Get well, our thoughts are with you!

PS. if that were a carbon or beer-can bike, it would be a total loss and in some landfill by now...

Worth Their Weight in Gold.

So I have decided to boycott the Olympics, not that the IOC nor BOCC will notice, but it is a personal choice. And a political one. I know the athletes when confronted with the question, “Will you boycott the Olympics?” The answer is inevitably “No” followed by “The Olympics are about sports, not politics.” Copout answer.

The Olympics are politics, and hosting them even more so. Don’t you think that China wanted to the Olympics to not only brush up its image but also to flex its muscle with a good gold medal showing? Maybe my decision not to participate seems small and insignificant, but if we all would be more active and stand up for what is the ethical thing to do, don’t you think the world would be a much better place?

Thankfully, cycling does not need the Olympics. I mean really think about it, does the fact riders like Merck, Armstrong or other champions having not won an Olympic medal tarnish or take away from their other accomplishments or careers? No. Has a rider ever built their career off of a gold medal? Again no. So then why play the game? I am sure there is a huge money factor for many of the involved parties, but from a riders perspective it is really just another feather in their cap.

Example, Guna Rita Dahle will go down in history as one of the most dominate riders, racking up a long string of World Cups and World Championships, and oh, she won a gold medal. Same for Bettini, a great classics rider, solid stage racer, multiple World Champion, also has a gold to his name. These two riders have had careers mere mortals can only dream of, even with out a little 24k piece of memorabilia from some sporting event that takes place every four years in a far away place where politicians and business interest groups greased the wheels of the Olympic machine.

Earlier in the year I had a pole asking you what is more important. The choices were top cycling events such as Classics, World Cups, Worlds and the Grand Tours along with the Olympics. In both cases (road and mountain biking) less than 10% chose the Olympics. So in the public platform, and in the eyes of most riders, an Olympic gold pales in comparison with a rainbow or yellow jersey.

We all need to engage more with the world we live in, be it in politics, voting, activism, volunteering, and so on… That includes making a political statement when you have the attention of the world. Riders must follow their convictions and not always the ambitions nor the all mighty dollar (even though it is not so mighty right now…).

Will you boycott the Olympics?