Friday was a nice day, but Saturday was cold.

Rode out to Waunakee this weekend.  Here's my setup.

I found some new roads.

The shadows got long but I made it in time.  Those snowdrifts on the side of the road were about 10 feet tall.

It was cold and windy on Saturday, but we rode anyway.  Here's a cool corner on a farm road heading towards Black Earth.

Then we saw a creepy farmhouse, so we headed back towards the car.  I like riding bikes.

-CTBF

SALSA IS HERE!

Our long awaited Salsa pre-season order has started trickling in.  We're excited, and you should be too.  Here's a quick pic of our first sold Vaya.  Lance bought it a month ago and waited ever so patiently for it.  He's excited.  If you aren't, you should be.  We installed a nice compression-less cable kit (to improve brake feel) and a Salsa Minimalist rack.  Enjoy your new bike Lance!

-CTBF

Winter is BACK

The title of this would seem to imply that winter had actually ever left.  My belief is that it took a brief respite from destroying all attempts to ride outdoors and went down to Florida.  Clearly, winter is back from its vacation.  So what are we left to do?  Some ride outside.  Some ride on the trainer.  Some XC ski, run, or do nothing.  But some of us go to Ray's Indoor MTB Park.

The view from the top of the jump roll in.

The back side of the rhythm line.  The whole line is 12 jumps long and wraps around half of the building!

One of the stunts in the expert "north shore" section.  You go over two steep little rollers, make a sharp right, put your front wheel on the outside and the rear follows on the inside.  

Tony riding the pump track.  Super fun and a great workout.  No pedaling here!

Riding the big jump line.

Another one of the stunts in the expert "north shore."

Quick video of the bigger jump line.


And a video of the pump track.

You might be asking what kind of bike we like to ride here.  I'm currently riding my Kona Steely.  This bike is awesome.  The Steely is a steel (duh) freeride hardtail.  It isn't a dedicated dirt jumper, it isn't a cross country bike, its a jack of all trades.  Hucks, jumps, pumps, bumps, it does it all. If you're looking for a bike to ride anywhere, any way, any time, this is your bike.  We also stock the Kona Shred and Kona Shonky.  The Shred is similar to the Steely in application while the Shonky is a dedicated dirt jumper/park thrasher.  If you have an interest in getting up to Rays and riding I'd strongly recommend that you go.  When you find out you want another bike that is a little more fun to ride on ramps than that single speed 29er, we'll be here for you and get something that fits the bill.

-CTBF

Super Bowl

We regret to inform....Actually there are no regrets.  Cory the Bike Fixer will be closed after 4pm on Sunday.  Our employees love the PACKERS too.  Go Pack!

By the way.  Let the .gif file load and then watch it.

-CTBF

Bar Mitts

 

If you suffer from cold hands during the winter but still want to actually ride your bike outdoors BarMitts are probably the best solution. The picture above is the Mountain/Commuter model.

 Here's a bad picture of what your arm looks like inside.  With BarMitts you can wear a substantially less bulky glove in colder temperatures without being cold.  This translates to increased dexterity.  Your hands aren't bound by a large bulky glove and therefore using the controls (brakes, shifters) is much easier.

 Here's a picture of my bike on a ride this weekend.  The air temp was about 20F with moderate winds.  I rode for four hours with just a light liner glove and was perfectly comfortable the entire time.  BarMitts are constructed of 5mm neoprene and come in configurations for Shimano, Sram/Campy, and mountain.  The road models are sized small, medium, and large which just changes the diameter of the opening by about an inch per size.  I very much look forward to using this product for the rest of the winter as I won't have to be on the trainer anywhere near as much!

-CTBF

What do you do...

 When the roads look like this?  Last week I posted about the AWESOME Schwalbe Marathon Winter tires.  Well guess what?

 I mounted a pair on an old hybrid so you can come in and take it for a spin! 

If you've ever wondered about the benefit of studded tires I strongly encourage you to stop in and take it for a spin.  I'm sure you're aware of the nasty ice which has proliferated the Eastside, Downtown, Bayview, Riverwest, Shorewood...  I guess the list could just keep going on.  Why struggle through winter without studs?  Try these out and you'll be a believer.

-CTBF

Its been a while, winter.

 Winter is back and that means its getting icy.  We have Schwalbe Marathon Winter tires currently in stock in both 26x1.75 inch and 700x35c.  We will be receiving more 700x40c tires at the end of next week.

The Marathon Winter has 240 replaceable studs per tire.  As you can see in the picture the studs are located towards the side of the tire leaving the center of the tire void of studs.  The rider can therefore inflate the tire to a higher pressure (size and rider weight dependent) to minimize the amount of stud contact on dry days and lower the pressure to maximize stud contact on icy days.  The tread is a very good shape which is not prone to clogging with snow and ice but still getting bite in the soft stuff.  Stop in and check them out!

-CTBF