About bikes, cycling and cycle to work - Tredz Blog

It's only four miles...

Between working in a call centre for the last few years, my Friday nights of drinking and my love of take-away mean I've put on a few pounds and am nowhere near the level of fitness I would like, let alone should be. Oh, and the fact that I smoke 10-20 cigarettes a day doesn’t help matters either.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not fat and lazy, I go to bike test days and enjoy quad biking but I’m lucky if I get to do this once a month.

With the introduction of this Cycle to Work scheme and my boss going on about the fact that I drive the 4 miles into work and how I should be riding, I thought why not? It would help me lose weight and also get my fitness level nearer to what it should be, oh yeah, plus I would be helping the environment.

I got myself the Felt Q920, which is lightweight but I can also use it off road (much more fun) and it looks good (very important I know) through the Cycle to Work scheme, which saved me quite a lot of money. I’ve been cycling to work since then.

I’m not going to lie to you and say that my life has been changed by this, I still drink smoke and eat take-aways but I am smoking less, I’m a lot fitter and have lost some of that excess weight.

A few pearls of wisdom that I have learned:

• Get some mudguards and waterproofs. There is nothing worse than arriving covered in crap and working all day with dripping wet feet (if nothing else).
• Get some semi slicks. These are seriously underrated. I switched over to these and I am far less tired and going much faster thanks to the lower rolling resistance.
• Cars can be a nightmare. Most drivers are fine and do you the general courtesy of either overtaking you with generous room or slowing down to fit behind you (depending on how fast you are going). There are those though, taxis especially, who feel the need to beep the horn, drive as close as they can behind you or try and force you off the road and onto the pavement.

Think about investing in a comfy saddle, a pair of padded cycle shorts or both. I went for the padded shorts and wear them underneath my baggies.

I’m now starting to ride after work as I plan on doing my first charity bike ride early September. While it’s only 20 miles (the easy course) I’m going to need to do more training if I am to finish it (in any decent sort of state) plus I’m hoping this will the first of many.
Posted by Ron

2008 Stumpjumper

Specialized have released pics of the new 2008 Stumpjumper.

Well what can I say? A ground up redesign of the Stumpjumper platform using the new technology developed for the Enduro. Now whilst I don't want to join the nay sayers who already seem to be fueling the fires raging in bike forums everywhere, I can't help but be wary. The 2007 stumpy was by many people's accounts one of the finest trail bikes ever designed (according to Chris who is the biggest bike snob you could hope to meet!) and probably our best selling full suspension mtb of 2007.

Now dont get me wrong, I really respect Specialized for pushing the bounderies of cycle design, the new model is lighter than its predecessor thanks to the new rocker design and Specialized's own design future shock project, and you can't deny that the technology gone into it is astounding.

I'm just worried that the public arent ready for such a massive departure from the well loved predecessor. In laymans terms have Specialized "weed on their chips". The 2007 Enduro rework was very much a marmite affair (love it or hate it) and it looks as though the stumpy will have the same debate
surrounding it.

I hope that this bike gets the recognition that it deserves, as taking light weight full suspension design to the next level, and it rides as good if not better than the 07 model. But I will say this, it's got some pretty big shoes to fill!

	Thanks to Singletrackworld for the pics - lots more info in their 2008 Specialized Stumpjumper article.

Posted by Simon

Dangerous Dave - new variant

The variant of record scoring in the Dangerous Dave game seems to present a new challenge to our readers:

Good afternoon.

I refer to the email you received from Y.C in Taipei regarding longest and shortest records.

Well I'd like to submit my score for the longest distance hiding Dave's head in the sand.
Regards, Larry

Should we be concerned that it's always the 'furthest' that's most popular on account of a hidden streak of agression in our readership? I'll blame it on the weather.

Brake a habit not your skull

The guys over at Fat Cyclist can ride. Really ride. I mean 10,000-feet-of-climbing-in-about-80-miles-on-a-Saturday-morning type of riding. But criminal stupidity can even be found within such clear cycling enthusiasts. Yep, this is a use-a-helmet-you-prat type of post.

This is Kenny. Kenny sounds about as hardcore as you can get on 700Cs with joining the peloton. He takes his track bike — modified to have a freewheel and a front brake — as his ride of choice when other are presumably on Roubaixs, Madones and the like with 9 or 10 gear choices donning their rear wheels. But Kenny's talents for strange choices includes riding in a cycling cap and no lid. I’m thinking he may be regretting his anti-helmet stance having bombed on a fast, slippery decent last weekend.

This is Kenny with an ambulance man

This is Kenny The Wise’s head minus tarmac, oil, grit etc. V.nice.

Before seat belt laws were introduced, many said they were safer without their belts because you could exit the car quicker if an accident occurred. No kidding genius – through the front window. Likewise, how can anyone pretend not wearing a lid actually makes them safer?

Cycling for weight loss - week 1

Mark’s diet was outed last week which turned up his motivation another notch and he’s had a blinding opening week in the kitchen and on the bike. Check out these outstanding stats:

After week 1
Ridden: 54.1 miles (87.09 kms)
Ave speed: 11.9 mph (19.16 km/hr)
Time on bike: 5 hrs 20 mins (5 hrs 20 more than previous 3 months)
Current weight: 20 stone 7 lb (130 kgs)
Weight loss: 10 pounds (4.5 kgs)

Remember
Starting weight at 19/07/07: 21 stone 3 pounds (134.7 kgs)
Target weight for 01/01/08: 16 stone (101 kgs)

Welsh Cyclosportive 2nd Sept

Here at Tredz we keep believing against the odds that we'll eventually see a dry day. With this mindset we look forward to up-and-coming events such as the first cyclosportive hosted by the University of Wales, Newport, on the 2nd September.

As well as routes for experienced riders (95 miles) and intermediate riders (50 miles), they offer a beginners or family route of 20 miles, ideal for a day out and a cyclo sportive 'taster'.

The routes take the riders through the beautyful countryside around Usk, Carleon and Pontypool and will raise money for the British Heart Foundation. Entries are £15 for adults and £10 for under 16's and there's overnight accomodation available. Further information from their website, or call Mathew Harvey at the Sports Centre (01633 432933).

Cycle to work with Tredz

A new bike in your pay packet?

For the official bit: 'Cycle to Work is the government's UK cycle scheme. It provides savings through tax breaks for employees and also financial incentives for employers to encourage people to take their bike to work, not their car.

In other words, you can save up to 50% on the cost of a bike by loaning it through your employer as a salary sacrifice. You get twice the bike for your money!

I know, I should not even be mentioning saving lots of money as no doubt everyone just loves cycling for the fun and health benefits, and we all support green transport and healthy living. Well, maybe so, but you never know who will read this and even cyclists love a good deal. (That includes me for a start!)

Explain more

I have to admit it took us in the office a little while to work out how to best explain the savings before the penny dropped (no pun) and it all made sense.

In a nutshell: the government helps to pay for your bike and safety cycling equipment.

Payments are made before NI and tax are taken out of your salary, so you only pay tax and NI on the remaining (gross) salary.

This means the whole amount goes to paying for the equipment, including the amount otherwise taken out for NI and tax. That part is the government's contribution towards your equipment.

If your employer is VAT registered, the VAT can be deducted which reduces the costs even further.

Have we still managed to confuse you? Then have a look at how this works by clicking on the table above. It shows examples and potential savings. 

As you can see, the scheme means huge cost reductions and the spread payments (usually over 12 or 18 months) together make it easy to afford a bike.

If you're an employer, think of fitter staff, reduced sick leave, less car parking spaces, a 'greener' corporate image and staff who cycle to work despite traffic jams. Ok, there are of course also financial advantages such as reclaiming VAT on these purchases, reduced Employers National Insurance Contributions and claiming capital allowance on the equipment. Not a bad set of incentives.

Want to know more?

The Cycle to work information on the Tredz website lists the advantages and savings for both employers and employees, with examples for higher and for lower tax earners which can mean halving the cost of a bike.

Give us a call (01792 560651) if you want to know more or to find out how easy it is to get the scheme going.

Giant 2008 launch invite - not

It seems you need to be a fully-fledged journo to be invited to the launch of Giant’s 2008 bikes. The new Maestro range was being shown off in Morbo, California and we weren’t invited. The cheek of it, eh? I’m only small and could’ve flown from Cardiff if that makes it any cheaper. I guess not...

Anyway, the line up looks mighty fine (if not radically different) with the Trance X fitting right between Trance and Reign and further improvements to their Maestro suspension.

Trance X is 5” travel on the plush and very capable Maestro system, begging its XC riders to explore across more varied types of terrain and really test it.

The shock is higher mounted and no longer in the downtube, making the overall frame look rather slimline. Thanks to Singletrack for the picture, we really feel for their journalist who had to travel all that way to provide it! Yeah.

As soon as Giant let us get our hands on this baby we'll be back with more!

Jody's World Championships training

It’s been a while since I’ve been in touch, so thought I’d bring you up to speed with how things are going and what’s planned for the coming months.

Well, currently in my major block of training for the World Championships in 5-6 weeks time. Training's been going very well and am currently at my 2nd team GB camp in 3 weeks at Newport velodrome. We’ve been working hard on the team sprint at the moment, as we’ve had a bit of a history of being disqualified at major championships. So we have had the Welsh Institute of Sport down, filming our workouts so we can make sure that come Bordeaux, our changeovers and rides are legal. Everything seems to be going well and we’re looking pretty slick now.

Had my 1st major crash on the track a few weeks back. Having finished an effort I came off the track and my front wheel got stuck in the join between the concrete and the track where a fault had developed, and spat me off. I took pretty much all the force on my chin and required a quick visit to A&E for a total of 7 stitches, 5 visible and 2 inside to keep the wound together. But I was back on track the following day, and still riding hard!

Things at the moment are looking fairly positive as I’m hitting times I was doing on race wheels etc in May, so I think I’ve moved on a bit more and hopefully come Bordeaux I’ll be flying.

Cycling on the Beeb

This Tuesday, Radio 4 on the BBC devoted an hour long programme to all kinds of cycling issues, from the usual bemoaning of cyclists riding on pavements, to input from Phillip Darnton (Cycling England) and the Guardian's Matt Seaton who can also be seen singing the praises of cycling on this YouTube Video:

The programme also talks about Cycle to Work, the government's salary-sacrificing, half price bike scheme.

You can listen to the You and Yours programme on cycling online till July 24th. Something for the weekend? May be a good option given the weather forecast.....

Cycling for weight loss

Meet our man Mark, aka Gus. He’s been with us forever - man and boy - and is larger than life in every way. At the wrong side of 21 stone he’s more than a little overweight (says me at 10 stone soaking wet!). Well he’s had enough of pathetic diets and swears blind that this time it’s the real deal and that  “cycling is the key (and no bread) to me losing weight. I wanna be racing again next year.” So, to help him in his plight I said we’d publicise his progress weekly on Tredz Talk.

The big guy's vitals
Current weight: 21 stone 3 pounds (134.7 kgs)
Height: 6 foot (1m 83cms)
Waist: 48 inches (1m 23cms)
Chest: 52 inches (1m 32cms)
Target weight: 16 stone (101 kgs)
Weigh in D-day: 1st Jan 2008.

If he gets to his target weight (a loss of 73 pounds or 34 kilos) I’ve got a v.nice iPod Shuffle (1Gb) waiting as a prezzie for him along with an entry for Mountain Mayhem. If he drops less than 73 pounds I’ll put the iPod up as prize and give it to anyone who emails in guessing his correct weight (terms and yadayadas apply). Mark would then be re-nicknamed officially as Buffalo, Loser or similar…. you get the drift.

Good luck mate, get those cranks turning and stay out of the bakery.

Tredz rider wins National Downhill Championships Masters

Last weekend was another podium finish for Tredz rider Julian Poffley at the bcf downhill nationals at Rheola.

After a sunny practise and seeding on the Saturday, the heavens opened up  for the race on Sunday, with many people seen sporting bin bags!

Steve Peat  rolled his ankle early on in the day and this seemed to make everyone step up their game. Jules's Cove Shocker performed faultlessly, and his knowledge of the local track obviously paid off as he brought home a gold medal, first place in Masters class. Jules took the title from former champion Tim Pontin by 3.5 seconds.

Times below -

1. Julian Poffley - 3.32.676
2. Tim Pontin - 3.36.040
3. Andrew Titley - 3.40.074

A big congratulations to Jules for flying the Tredz flag, and getting 3  podiums in as many weeks! So where next, maybe the worlds? Who knows.

More details are available on British Cycling and on the Dragon Downhill site.

GB Squad announced for World Championships

Hot off the press

We've just received the announcement of the official team selected for the 2007 Para-Cycling World Championships in Bordeaux from 19th to 27th August 2007. It's great to see Tredz rider Jody selected for both the Track and the Road squads and congratulations to all squad members for their selection.

Tour roundups

Wanna read some great, concise, informed opinions on the Tour? Get over to masiguy, he’s right on it despite being in the States rather than France.

Adventure cycle rides on the good food trail

Are you among those with no holiday plans yet, or have one too many strenuous cycle holidays under your cycling bib? If you don't mind travelling to the US then here's a tempting combination: gastronomy and cycling - the guilt-trip's antidote! No more calorie-counting while you

"taste your way through the farms, orchards, and vineyards of California — from the seat of your bicycle".

Trips run in September from San Francisco.

You might be interested to know that the weather forecast for California for the next month predicts all of 6 days with 'some' chance of rain....

Downhill championships Rheola

It's the National DH Champs at Rheola (Glynneath) this weekend, and Tredz team rider Julian Poffley will be gunning for another podium place, even though the weather is looking grim.

We have had Jules's Cove Shocker in the workshop for a little pre-race tune up, and due to the technical nature of the Rheola course its running a firm but slow shock and fork setup. Jules will be running with dx spd's on this track and as for tyre choice, we have put together a little guideline program for all you new to the fold dh riders:

• dry conditions (yea right!) Jules will run a pair Maxxis high rollers, 2.5 super tacky compound

• wet conditions a pair of Maxxis Swampthings 2.5 super tacky compound

• damp/mid conditions: high roller front and a high roller rear, run at about 30 psi.

Hope these tips are useful, and if you get to the race, look out for the Tredz van and cheer our guy!

Dangerous Dave - shortest record!

A creative, fresh look at the different challenges of our popular game with this email from an overseas fan of Brutal Bob & Dangerous Dave:

Hello dear friend:
I don't know how to send a new record webshot to the webpage owner, so please help me to send this mail to them!
The game "The Adventure of Dangerous Dave" is so insteresting to many many people in any corner of the world. Thanks for design this good and fantasy and excellent flash game.
I know the world record is 1,840.4m now, and it is very difficult to beat it. But I finally beat it.
And I think that there are two records must be known.
The second record is "The shortest distance of hiding Dave's head in the sand.".
The third record is "The longest distance of hiding Dave's head in the sand.".
Now I send the two records image to you. Maybe you can post this two records on the web page. And it may let other people to try other ways to build a  new record.

Have a nice day!

Y.C. in Taipei,Taiwan.

Cyclehero - be creative and win an Epic FSR Comp

If you've been to the cinema in the last week or so you may have already seen the 'CycleHero' short - a prompt to get us all on our bikes for short trips. Some interesting facts from the Cyclists' Touring Club (CTC):

MORE than four million people are using their cars to drive less than three miles to work, a three-mile commute by bicycle would take an average person 20 minutes.

The amount of CO2 emissions a couple would save over a year would equate to the weight of a small car.

There's more awareness promotion during 'Cycle Hero Week' from July 14-22 when CTC clubs in the UK organise cycling events across the UK.

Perhaps a great opportunity to try your hand at creative video which could win you £100 cash or the £1500 Specialized bike featured in the movie, which we at Tredz believe to be the rather tasty Specialized FSR Epic Comp Ladies version.

All you need to do is to make a short video of anything that includes a bicycle or CycleHero, upload it to www.youtube.com and use entry form to let CTC know. Good luck!

Ready built bikes

We do apologise to anyone who wanted a night of fiddling with chains, brake cables and other bits and especially to those fans of flatpack DIY:

Simon

The bike arrived in good nick this afternoon. Thanks for building it, I was expecting to spend my evening playing with spanners!

Regards
Ian

Better off by bike

Talking about watching video clips, if you haven't come across this one yet, it's worth a view. Spotted on the bicycle-diaries blog recently, this is the latest London cycling campaign advert.

Le Tour rocks

What an awesome weekend. Let’s be clear: I’m not the world’s biggest road racing fan but I do know that London pulsed with the prologue on Saturday. Thanks to the lovely folks at Specialized we got to see the current World Champion in the time trial, Fabian Cancellara, blow away the field with an incredible run (so fast, he nearly overtook the police motorbike!) first hand. I’m sure you saw it yourself and read enough in the Sunday/Monday papers so I wont bang on here too much.

What rocks about the weekend: Specialized bikes and equipment (66 riders are using their kit; from glasses to wheels). Robbie McEwen - the fastest man on the planet over 200 metres and a true master of his trade. Tom Boonen - the guy is a tornado and will win stages and maybe, just maybe, yellow. Bradley Wiggins finishing a very admirable 4th. The crowd being 6 deep all around the course.

What sucks: the crowd being 6 deep all around the course. Sean Yates’ tumble. My burnt forehead.

Two hours before the start:

All mechanics lean 'em:

Cycling around Paris

Continuing the seasonal theme of holidays and cycling, BusinessWeek/Spiegel Online alerted me to a quite nouvelle French initiative with their headline:

'Paris Tries to Revive Bicycles'

From the middle of July visitors and residents of Paris will find it easy to get hold of public bike rentals called Vélib explained as 'pedal power to the people' or, as seen elsewhere, 'liberate a vélo'.

It's part of Paris's green transportation plan and you need a chip card (available online, from post offices or certain Metro stations) to rent the bikes from public stations. To start there'll be 750 self-service stations equipped with over 10,000 rentable bikes to start with and the plan is to double this by the end of the year.

Lots more information in the Paris bicycles article - looks like this is going to be an interesting summer.

Triathlon bike survey

You know the scene: turn up at an event and see nothing but bike porn. There’s usually as much top end carbon fibre as at a F1 Grand Prix. But there’s also nearly always the obligatory first-time entrant on a hybrid or even an MTB with rear rack (good for the gels though, eh?).

Well, I got soaked in the Pembroke triathlon’s transition area last weekend counting the bikes to see which cycle manufacturers are getting triathletes’ disposable income. Had fun (yes, I can be a sad git) turning the results into a colourful pie-chart.

The surprises: That 56 brands were present (not incl own brand) 8 manufacturers had 65% of the field That Claud, GT, Raleigh didn’t have more That Spesh didn’t win That Cannondale beat Scott That Look only had 4 That Bruief were mid-table
...and if you're really desperate for the figures, here's the bike count (pdf)

Good sales service

Thanks guys for making the effort to let us know you're happy with us:

Hi guys

I received my Giant SCR2 on Wednesday and just had to contact you to congratulate you on your sales service.
I ordered the bike on the website on Saturday night, received a phone call on Monday morning to confirm the size (really nice touch!) and bang... the Giant turned up on Wednesday morning! Can't argue with that.

Just desperate for some decent weather now, only managed a short ride on Wednesday evening, but I would have to agree with everyone who has said that making the switch from mountain bike to road bike has been the best thing they've done!

Thanks again for everything

cheers
Stuart

and

Many Thanks for your phone call and advice

The bike arrived on Friday 29/06/2007 in good condition and as stated

A very prompt and efficient service

 

Regards

Lynn

Tour the France video clips

What better way to get into the mood for this week's cycling events than by watching this great 3 minute trailer, oops, I mean 'pre-publication' footage of Tour the France material. There's also a ten minute version available as podcast download and if you only have a minute to spare, the Höllentour trailer is worth a look.

Triathlon World Championship qualifier weekend

The Pembroke Triathlon on Sunday was a Welsh Championship Triathlon and an ITU World Championship qualifier! The top 4 finishers of every age band (in 5 year increments) will be invited to join Team GB at the Worlds in Hamburg on 1st September.

That high benchmark attracted quality triathletes, and not just from the UK. Germany, Ireland and the Channel Islands were all represented despite the awful travelling weather. The vast majority of athletes came across as very happy and the tough course (1 lap for sprint, 2 for Olympic distance) received no complaints. Full results are on MultiSport’s site and Tredz athlete, Phil Marland, won his age group!

Great to see the increase in female entrants which accounted for about a third of the field (5 years ago that wouldn't have been 10%).

Nicole Cooke wins women's Tour de France

Congratulations to fellow-Welsh cyclist and double world champion Nicole Cooke for retaining her title in the women's Tour de France (or La Grande Boucle Feminine).

Best of luck to Geraint Thomas in the coming Tour de France!

Specialized's Hotwalk Balance 2008 kids bikes

The 2008 Specialized kids and junior bikes are starting to make an appearance, including the brand new Hotwalk Balance bikes for boys and girls, a brilliant training device for wee 'uns who have yet to master balancing on a bike.

Forget pedals or brakes, the kids can just concentrate on balance as they scoot around on this fun piece of kit.

With a srp of £79.99 they don't come cheap, but they're built with Specialized quality that's second to none. Be the first in your street to get one now.