Interbike and Something More Fun Than Interbike

The Sands Convention Center.  The last year Interbike will ever be held in Vegas!  WOOHOO!

Salsa Fargo.  Rumor has it we may have a few of these in stock this year...  Salsa completely redid this bike for 2011.  Suspension corrected fork, 2x10 Sram drive-train, Thudbuster seatpost, and a higher bottom bracket to name a few modifications.  Yeah.  Its awesome.

This was the silliest thing I saw.  Yeah.  I laughed.  Impromptu over the bar tracheotomy anyone?

But enough about Vegas and Interbike.  Stop in if you want to see some more pictures or hear why Vegas is a strange, strange place.  Moving on to something a little more enjoyable.  USGP Cyclocross in Sun Prarie.  This race was amazing to watch.  It is always a humbling experience to watch atheletes at the top of the game compete and we are very fortunate to have such a venue in Wisconsin.  Here's a few shots from the race.

Ryan Trebon on the new carbon Major Jake!  Sooooo cool.

Barry Wicks and Sean Babcock going all out towards the run-up.

Nice vantage point for an aging man I'd say.

Ryan hitting the run up.  Man that thing looked brutal.

Tim Johnson wound up winning the day by a huge margin.  It was an incredible display of athleticism and pain rolled into an hour.  The Kona Boys had a strong showing and as always were super positive and good to hang with.  Thanks guys.

-CTBF

New Shop DEMO!

Yep.  We sure do.  Its a cute little Surly Pugsley.  Stop in and take a cruise around the block in style.  Its a 16" frame so most people can at least run into a curb or two with it.  

-CTBF

Labor Day

A group from the shop went down to the Southern Kettles for a little mountain biking.  It rained early in the morning (unlike the downpour Milwaukee experienced) which made for perfect trail conditions.  The sand was hard packed and the hard pack was firm but not dusty.  Doesn't get much better.  Here's a few shots from the parking lot.

Didn't manage to get any actual riding pictures, as we were too busy...uhh...riding?  Yeah.  Hope you got out and rode.

-CTBF

Shop bike of the day

This thing is a BEAST!  It belongs to none other than shop legend Eric Koester.  The 1x1 has been a Surly staple since the first production model rolled out 12 years ago.  The Rat Ride is a hopped up re-issue of the original setup.  Surly's 11 year anniversary was the same year as this bike.  (1x1... 11 years... get it?)  Koester's been rolling this thing around Milwaukee for the last year and he loves it.  Some modifications were a P35 Velocity SS wheelset. 

 

Mounted on these beefy rims are some 2.5 WTB Weirwolves. 

 

As well as some hot green Ergon grips.  (no one said he liked complimentary colors, but hey, they're comfy)
 

All and all a sweet sweet steel monster.  I'm sure you'll see it this fall and winter.

Ian

Kona Launch 2011

As you may know Kona bikes is an awesome company.  They are based out of scenic Ferndale WA.  Actually Ferndale isn't quite that scenic, but Bellingham, where most of the Kona staff resides, is.  Galbraith Mountain is just outside of Bellingham and that's where the Kona crew elected to let us try out the new rides.  That's Mount Baker in the distance.  What a rad place to ride.

Yours truly rode an Abra Cadabra.  

For those not familiar this is the all mountain ride.  It's suspension uses the patented Magic Link technology which allows the bike to sink deeper into its travel when needed but isolates the suspension during climbing.  Check out the video.  The Abra Cadabra is a 6" travel bike that climbs like a 4" XC rig.  Awesome.

Just a parting shot to show you some more of the awesomeness Kona let us check out.  The new bikes are on the web at konaworld.com

Ian