Test The Best

Here comes another opportunity to "Try it before you buy it". We certainly understand that it's tough to throw down hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a bike that you've ridden around the block once or twice. Because of this we've done our best to work with our suppliers and get them to come out and give people a chance to test ride bikes in real world conditions. Earlier this season Trek came out with their "Ride the Best" tour and now Specialized is here with their "Test the Best" tour. Now, we won't get into any discussion about who's product is "the Best", all we know is that this is a great opportunity for people to really get out and ride the bikes.

The Test the Best program comes to your neighborhood to give you a
chance to test ride a wide array of mountain bikes, road bikes, and
equipment. You provide the desire to ride and we'll provide everything
else. Our highly educated Demo Team will be there to answer any
questions and better inform you about the Specialized product line.

Here are the details for the Specialized "Test the Best" event:

• May 10 and 11th: Dirt and Road demo at St. Edwards Park in Kenmore, WA
• May 17th: Women's Specific Product Demo at Gregg's Greenlake Cycle

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.

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

Who's Ready for 'Cross Season?

If you're not, it's time to get ready! Cyclocross is a huge scene in the Seattle area and it's getting ready to go. Today we had a quick clinic on Redline's 2008 line up. Tim Rutledge was out to tell us about all the new bikes.

The Conquest 24 (above) shares the same look as the Pro as well as the frame upgrades of the Conquest and the Conquest Sport. Slightly shorter chainstays and new straight leg front fork improve the ride, curved seatstay and chainstay bridges add it its versatility. New 28 spoke wheels add to the racing look.

The '08 Conquest (above) sports new graphics and a brilliant blue with black and silver trim make this model a standout. Subtle improvements to the 6061 frame (while retaining disc mounts) increase versatility. They added gently curved seat and chainstay bridges with threaded inserts for better clearance. Other enhancements include Maxis Raze tires, Trektro's new rounded shape aux. brake levers and leather like bar tape that provides greater comfort on the bars.

The Conquest Team (above) is Redline's most expensive offering and also their best. When only the best will do, you need the one endorsed by "Mr. Cross" himself (we're assuming this is Mr. Rutletge as he's won a couple of National Championships in his day). this new bike features a scandium frame with a CNC machined right chainstay interface wich allows the use of a singel chainwheel and guard up front without sacrificing vital mud clearance. Add a WCS carbon cross fork, mix in Ultegra shifters and derailluers, Ritchey WCS wheels, bars, stem and post, Hutchinson Bulldog tires, TRP carbon canti brakes with new cross levers, plus a deep drop front cable hanger and you've got the "best of the best". Only 18.5 lbs out of the box! (56cm w/o pedals)

The best deal of the bunch is the Conquest Pro. The Pro for 2008 offers several frame improvements: the U6 frame now has the same oval top tube and teardrop downtube shapes as the Team model as well as a similar CNC machined right chainstay interface. Brake and chainstay bridges now have a slight radius to them for better mud clearance, as well as a threaded insert for fastening fenders. Also new for 2008 are the Sram Rival Deraillures and shifters, and our exciting new graphics. Carbon forks, Ritchey wheels, Avid brakes, FSA bars, stem and post round out the details.

The Ultimate Ride Comes to Greenlake

The Trek Ultimate Ride has come to us! Dax and Kurt from Trek drove in this morning in the "Ride the Best" truck to give our employees a day long clinic on the new EX trail bikes and the new 2008 Madones.

Both bikes are radically different then the 2007 models that they are replacing so a little extra knowledge is needed to sell them effectively. We want to make sure that we get our customers on the best bike for them so we have to know as much as we possibly can about each bike.

Trek does a great job makeing sure that our employees understand the new technology. We need to learn how to size these bikes correctly and also we need to get out and ride them.

The 2008 Madone has created a huge amount of buzz this summer. We recieved ten of them earlier in the summer and sold them all in about 8 days. So far people have loved this bike and we already have orders for a few more Madones. We do have a few in stock right now in the triple configuration but they are sure to go fast.

Ultimate Ride II

I promised more would come later. I was hoping it wouldn't be this much later but here it is all the same. On the second day of the Ultimate Ride we headed up to the Warm Springs Trail and although we couldn't do the upper part of the trail due to Elk calving, we had a great time on this perfectly built trail. Hats off to the group that built the trail it really was superb!

The highlight of the week for me was heading down to the Warm Springs Lodge on amazing single track following Gary Fisher with Keith Bontrager and Travis Brown somewhere behind me (not that either of them couldn't have been miles ahead of me, they just happend to be in the group behind me this time :) )

Keith Bontrager and Travis Brown

Some of the other dealers as we wait to regroup at the top of a climb.

Gary Fisher enjoying the day like only he can!

Some of the bikes I got to ride. The Trek EX9.5 and the Gary Fisher HiFi 29er. Both bikes that will be available in 2008.

A close up of the APB on the '08 Trek EX series of trail bikes. Coming soon to a dealer near you!

Here's a close up of the "Full Floater" which makes the EX feel like it has at least 6 inches of travel. (It only has 4 inches, but you'd never know it!)

A quick look at the 69er Top Fuel with the "Inverse Mullet" design. Party up front, business in the back!

Another look at the HiFi 29er. Probably the most stable bike I've ever ridden. Just point and shoot down just about any trail. Just make sure you keep your momentum up as you climb.

Sneak peak on this one. It wasn't ready to ride but I sure looked cool. This is the all new, all carbon Gary Fisher Supercaliber. It just looks fast doesn't it?

All in all it was a great week of riding and learning about the the '08 Trek Mountain Bike line up. The hardest thing for me to do was stay objective during the whole thing and not drink too much kool aid. I've ridden a lot of bikes (Rocky Mountain, Specialized, Santa Cruz, Cannondale, Ventana... the list goes on) and the new EX series stacks right up with the best of them. Like I said in my last post about this topic, Trek Mountain Bikes haven't been that exciting for the last few years (even they admitted it) but that will change in 2008. Look for Trek to be launch a serious challenge to the leading Mt. Bike brands.

The Ultimate Ride

Sometimes the perks of working in a bike shop really pay off. This year I was lucky enough to be chosen to go to the Trek Ultimate Ride in Sun Valley, Idaho. What is the Ultimate Ride? It's a chance for about 15 or 20 dealers to to get a chance to ride the new '08 Trek and Fisher Mt. bikes in the beautiful setting of Sun Valley. I know, I know... it's a tough job, but someone's got to do it!

We started the day with a presentation on the new technology for the Trek Mt. Bike line. Admittedly, Trek mountain bikes have been less than exciting over the last couple of years. That is all about to change. The Fuel EX has undergone some major changes from the Fuel EX 7 to the carbon fiber Fuel FX 9.5. Most of the changes are in the rear suspension design. Here are the buzzwords:

1. APB - Active Braking Pivot
2. Full Floater
3. EVO Link

All of these things are bringing better handling to bike, but what are they? Quickly, let's go through them.

1. APB: Ok, this a little tough to explain, at least for me. You've heard of "brake jack" right? The tendency for the rear suspension to compress when you brake hard, (try this for a full, really full description) and basically robbing you of the control that rear suspension can offer you in all kinds of terrain. So how does it work? I'm going to quote this just so I don't get it wrong! "APB puts the rear suspension pivot concentric to the rear wheel axle, as opposed it other designs that place the pivot above or below the axle. The new pivot location allows the disc caliper to keep a near constant relationship to the disc rotor so that the caliper's rotation in relation to the disc rotor is minimized through the bike's range of travel. There is one disadvantage that I can see, but it's a minor one. Because the ABP requires bearings at the rear drop out the skewer has to be a little longer and you have to take the skewer completely out of the bike to get the wheel out. There is a good picture and more info on cyclingnews.com


2. Full Floater: The Full Floater promises not more travel but smarter travel. Trek has taken the rear shock off of a fix lower frame mount and placed it on a floating mount letting the rear shock to float between two suspended attachment points. This allows the suspension to be tuned more effectively then ever before. This all means that the Full Floater gives you the suspension feel of a long travel bike without the added weight.

3. EVO Link - They basically made the rear link both stiffer and lighter through a one-piece design which allows the elimination of extra bolts and small cross braces. The difference in stiffness is huge.

All of these upgrades appear on the EX line and having ridden the bike today, I can say that they work. The bike rode great and inspired a giggling last run of the day. The bike did exactly what they said it would, it was laterally stiff and tracked like a hard tail and the rear end stayed on the ground through all of my panic braking as I rode an unfamiliar trail on an unfamiliar bike.
Along with the Trek FX 9.5 I got to ride the new Gary Fisher HiFi 29er and the Hifi Pro. I'm too tired to go into the specs on these but let it be said that 29ers are here to stay and the Hifi is another great trail bike.

The Hifi 29er a really fun bike!

Not a bad way to spend the day!

More to come tomorrow.