Trek Tri Island Support

It was the 25th year of the American Lung Associaion Trek Tri-Island and the 7th year of our supporting it. The route was changed up a bit, no Victoria or San Juan Island this year but the ride was great for those who came out, despte a "little rain".

The Trek Tri-Island continues to be one of the best supported rides in the state. Not only do they provide a great route, cool places to stay the night and good food, there are three, count them, three vehicles with mechanics in them to help a rider out when they need it. I was in "Mechanic 1", naturally.

The weather was great on the first day and this rider enjoyed the sun at a rest stop on the way to Port Townsend for the first night at the Blue Herron Middle School.

The second day was not quite so nice, but there was a SUB (Sports Utility Bicycle) in the house so she was ready for what ever the weather threw at her.

The second day was wet. But 3 hours of constant rain didn't stop the riders or the support staff from completing the 70 mile second day. More pictures below in the slide show.

Ultimate Ride III

The Ultimate Ride has come back to the Seattle area again. Later, this weekend, there will be a public demo but this one was for dealers only. Ten of us, including the store managers from all three stores and Stan Gregg went out to Fall City to ride the trails near there.
Dax, Kurt and the Demo van was all set up and after some quick adjustments and sizing we were ready to go. A three hour ride was the plan, just enough time to get a really good feel for the bikes. We had our choice of the '08 Trek Fuel EX 9.5, '08 69er 3x9, '08 69er Top Fuel, or the '08 Gary Fisher HiFi Pro Carbon. Not bad choices.

Kurt gave us some last minute instructions and we were off to ride the bikes.

The Trek line up for 2008 is really solid. It helps that we have all had a good chance to ride the bikes in situations other than a quick test ride. Make sure to check out the public demo at the Colonnade on Saturday the 8th and at St. Edwards on the 9th.

Bumbershootin It

Along with title sponsors Clif Bar and Camelbak we sponsored the Bike Corral at Bumbershoot this year. With room for 500 bikes the bike corral was a huge success. Each day the corral filled up with all kinds of bikes and all kinds of riders who were very appreciative of the service. This is the first year that One Reel, the organization that puts Bumbershoot together, has done the bike corral and I don't think it will be the last.

We set up at the Broad street entrance and were there to help secure the area and help people out with fixes if they needed them. We pumped up a few tires, trued a few wheels and adjusted some shifting. But mostly we just talked bikes with folks.

This is Dan and Tony. They came out on Sunday to help out. Good fun was had by all. Thanks to Dan, Tony, Justin, Glen, John, Wayne, John Y, Garet, Rebecca, Jim, Kailey, Julian, Mary, Heather and David for coming out and helping. We couldn't have done it without you!

Mary and Heather took some time to chat with the local Law enforcement. But for the most part they stayed out of trouble.

Below is a little slide show of some of the great old bikes that people rode to the event. Cool stuff.

In the short video below Tony knew that he was having his picture taken but just before the footage below he decided that he should wave at the camera. This is the result...

New Stuff: Shimano Dura Ace Receives Carbon Crank Option

IRVINE, CA: Shimano will debut a carbon fiber laminate Dura Ace hollow crank at Eurobike 2007. While carbon cranks are not new to the market, Shimano opted to continue to study and develop different types of construction in an effort to create a well balanced use of the material that is not only light weight, but also exceptionally rigid. Using knowledge gained by years of successful manipulation of carbon fiber in cycling shoe soles, rims, and other components, those goals have been realized with the new Shimano Dura Ace carbon crank. Prototypes used by professionals in competition over the summer provided final real world confirmation.

The Dura Ace FC-7800C carbon crank uses an aluminum hollow-core base that resembles an aluminum Hollowtech II crank design. The difference is that the aluminum is significantly thinner because a carbon fiber laminate layer completes the construction to achieve the uncompromising Dura Ace level rigidity and strength at a weight lighter than all aluminum construction. The aluminum base ensures that the achieved stiffness is multi-dimensional for better performance in the field where cranks are stressed in more than one plane. At just 709 grams including bottom bracket, the carbon construction manages to save over 30 grams from the standard aluminum Dura Ace crank/bottom bracket assembly and actually increases rigidity by 10%!
The bottom bracket and left arm construction is the same design as the latest version of XTR allowing for a lighter bottom bracket assembly and more precise adjustment of the bearings. Pricing is still being finalized, however the crank will be available in Spring 2008 in 3 crank arm lengths and 2 chainring combinations.

Specifications:

• Hollowtech II construction
• Hollow carbon fiber laminate arm
• Gear combinations: 53/39, 52/39
• Lengths: 170, 172.5, 175
• 709g including bottom bracket
• Available: Spring 2008
• MSRP: TBD