About bikes, cycling and cycle to work - Tredz Blog

MTB that tears strips off my car

An Austrian, Markus Stoeckl, has broken the land speed record for basic mountain bikes in Chile. The 6 foot 2, 15 stone man (nicknamed Hercules) rode his Intense M6 at a face warping 130 mph down the snow covered slope in La Parva, Chile. As his visor kept fogging over, he held his breath for the 40 second run.
Speaking as someone who gets all jumpy on the brakes at 20mph, this man is my new hero. Check out his fixed shoulder helmet and nice red latex speed suit in action.

Dangerous Dave news

Dangerous Dave updates, and exciting news, we’ve got a new record for the ‘furthest distance with head in the sand’ discipline. Werner from Austria has managed to send Dave a massive 1560 meters before landing sunny side up.

Plus, we’ve got a pretty high standard score from Asaf in Israel. It goes straight into third in our global Dave table, behind T.Y. (1850m) and Thierry (1840m).

True champions all.

Cycling for weight loss - week 10

Thanks to his new Cateye wireless onboard computer Gus can give us a full rundown this week:

Ridden: 33.49 miles (53.7 km) (Last week: 36 miles, 57 km)
Average Speed: 13.5 mph (22.6 kmh) (Last week: not given)
Time on bike: 2hrs 27mins (Last week: not given)
Current Weight: 18 stone 13 pounds (120.2 kgs) (Last week: 19 stone 1 pounds, 124.6 kgs)
Weight loss: 2 pounds (907 g) (Last week: 1 pound, 121 g)

Remember

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

Faddish diets can only dream of providing that kind of steady weight loss.

Bike friendly Britain?

Just as I was hoping for some Brit entrepreneurial copycats, I found out that there are some Velib stylee ventures already in place in the UK. Reading, Southampton and some boroughs of London are already using a similar project, with more to follow possibly in Manchester and Oxford (what odds can I get for Swansea being the last to take advantage?).
The projects in Britain are run by Oybikes, a British company, and if a keen sounding Ken Livingstone does decide to run out a bike rental scheme properly in London it’ll probably be either them or JC Decaux who run it. Either way a genuinely green transport plan could finally be on the way for some of Britains major cities.

How to attatch an onboard computer

As I mentioned in the last cycling for weight loss post, Gus is having problems with his on board computer, so he'€™s invested in a new Cateye Micro Wireless. A mid range on board computer that has all the features and functions Gus needs to keep tabs on his programme, whilst thanks to its wireless connections its not as susceptible to the omnipresent Welsh rain as his old wired one.
When he told us he was fitting a new computer we insisted on getting some pictures of him showing how simple it is, but the humble bike pro insisted on always staying out of shot whilst he worked. Spoilsport.

Anyhow here's our pictorial account of how to fit an onboard computer.

Cycling to work is faster than driving

An annual race takes place in Edinburgh that pits cyclists, car drivers, motorbike riders and public transport users against each other in a series of time trials at prime commuting times across busy routes. In the 2007 event, the motorbike riders won two of the races and the cyclists (not tree trunk thighed, logoed pros but ordinary cycling commuters) won two. Don’t really need to comment on this, it speaks for itself.

Innovate or die...

Specialized and Google have recently unveiled a competition attractively entitled: “Innovate or Die.”
It invites wannabe engineers, designers and garden shed inventors to send in a video of their pedal powered creation in action, where it will be judged on design, environmental impact and creativity.
The prize? Aside from the warm fuzzy glow of helping save the planet? A Specialized Globe bike for all finalists and a check for $5000 for the outright winner.
It's evidently a great idea and the best bit is that you can see the good, bad and bizarre entries on YouTube.

Green money?

You’ve probably heard about the success of the Velib program in France.  Following a successful run out in Lyon, Parisians are being convinced in ever increasing numbers to give up their cars and take up the mutual bikes in what is obviously a brilliant achievement.

Paris is getting quieter and cleaner, its easier to park, congestion is down and the time it takes to commute has reduced.

But aside from it being all green and cuddly, the scheme is being run by the local Government using a patented format called Cyclocity, courtesy of JCDecaux, who also happen to be one of the world's biggest outdoor advertisers.
Which basically means that in Paris, Lyon, Vienna, Brussels and Seville (to name a few) there is a viable, highly visible transportation scheme that both satisfies environmental/health concerns and is working commercially.  Now that is something to get excited about. Here’s hoping for some Brit entrepreneurial copycats.

Cycling for weight loss - week 9

A slightly delayed update on Gus. His computer is playing up so the only information we've got for you this week is his weight loss and the distance ridden. His computer may be less than dependable, but the weight loss is as steady as ever.

Ridden: 36 miles (57 km) (Last week: 69.45 miles, 103km)
Current weight: 19 stone 1 pound (121 kg) (Last week: 19 stone 2 pounds, 121.5kgs)
Weight loss: 1 pound (453 g) (Last week: 2 pounds, 907 g)

Tour Bore

It’s official: we’re fed up/bored/done with le Tour (at least until next summer anyway). It may be a little churlish for a cycling blog, but if you’re looking for an arbitrary remonstration of Landis and/or ‘the panel’ then you’d best go elsewhere. We’ve got eggs to boil and paint to watch dry.

Who cycles to work?

We've again straddled the heights of technology here at Tredztalk... Presenting our 'how do you get to work poll'. Aside from doing what it says on the tin, our little counter is here to try and provoke a discussion and get the voters to question their choices. Including me.

It’s raining, or at least it was this morning when I was weighing up whether to get the bike out or drive in. I'm ashamed to say that I drove. My cycling programme is far too fair-weather at the moment, due in part to the kit I'm wearing on the way in. Cotton t-shirt, baggy shorts and a skate backpack might satisfy my vanity but they ain’t suitable for the foibles of the Welsh autumn. Which is a pretty ridiculous state of affairs, I mean I work for a bike shop that's got a great selection of kit suitable for riding to work in wet, windy and grey weather and it's about time I took advantage off it. I'll let you know what I think of the stuff I use.

Opinion Polls & Market Research

The Tredz Downtown Race

         

If you didn't know anything about it already, the Tredz Downtown Race is happening in Penarth on the 21st October 2007.

Downhill racing in an urban environment, Downtown, is rapidly becoming recognised as a class all of its own. Which isn't too surprising.

What's not to like about riding bikes offensively fast down steps and over cars?

There’s good pedigree too, the annual Lisbon event is huuge, and there have been big races in Mexico, Puerto Rico and… Bridgnorth. Seriously. last years inaugural UK event is already spoken about in hushed tones and if you have a look at this video you'll see why.

The man who's organising this event is David 'Chopper' Harris. A vet of the downhill scene, here’s hoping that he can recreate his success at Bridgnorth in Penarth.

The event is open to both pro riders (the list is constantly growing) and the public. Download your entry forms here. For more information check out the Tredz Downtown Race official site and the event's Myspace page.

Jody Update

Jody has given us another video of his incredibly successful time at the World championships in France.

For those thinking that he breaks records every time he gets on a bike here he is snapping his chain in a training session. Probably due to peddling too hard.

In other news he's been planning for the distant future by getting some coaching qualifications and the near future by getting a new lighter, more aerodynamic leg. Hopefully in time for the national championships in October.

Tredz employee breaks

The man you can see riding a downhill bike on your left is Gavin, a brand new Tredz employee. Brand new and already broken.

A little accident after a sketchy landing during a dirt jump session on some local trails led to Gavin ploughing his head into the ground. One snapped collarbone later and below we have the before and after x-ray pic’s showing his break and where they put the nuts and bolts to fix him together.

He's on the mend now though and recovering well. We know this because he's been spotted pulling one-handed wheelies on his bike.

Cycling to work on a sausage and a prayer

Thanks to the meal I ate last night, the cycle in to work seemed to be a sluggish ride this morning, it really felt like riding in a wind tunnel as the sausages and buttery mash sweated out of every pore… Anyway I made it and feel a million times better than if I’d just suffered motionless in my car, and I’m hoping my arteries will thank me one day.

If I'm going to keep riding to work as regularly as I have been, then I might need to pay a bit more attention to what I chow down on the night before. Helpfully, I was pointed in the direction of this cycling performance site. It's a bit bare bones but the content, covering everything from diet to technique, is top quality. Benefiting no doubt from the author being a doctor.

Bike modding

Shopping in style.

Probably got the turning circle of a canoe but this little beauty is high on our wish list.

Ferdie follow up

Ferdie’s cycle to work route has motivated some interesting responses, varying in tone from admiration and support to shock. Here’s a selection of comments we’ve received that stood out:

“The man must be built like a t-rex.”

“I started cycling the three miles to my work after I read about Ferdie, bit sorry compared to his ride, but an achievement for me!”

“He’s nuts.”

Heard that last one more than once.

Now we want some competition. Do you or any one you know perform a heroic/mad ride on your cycle to work? Any one who can compete with Ferdie’s distance is welcome, but anyone that follows a downright odd path to work is welcome. The weirder the better, motorways, fields, streets, parks, pitches, staircases… We want to know how you get to work and what kicks you get on the way, whether it’s the burn of cycling hard for half an hour or the thrill of bouncing down a double set of stairs in your city centre that gets your juices going. Whatever helps wake you up in the morning and wind down at night.

Get in touch with us here.

The Cycle Show 2007

The Cycle Show 2007 is at Earl Court this year, open to the public from the 12th to the 14th of October. It’s a great opportunity to go and drool over some 2008 models. Bikes you can afford, bikes you can’t, silly looking bikes, bikes so beautiful you’d swap your first born…
Book online for this year’s event and be in with a chance of winning one of two Specialised bikes worth (a first born swapping) £1999.
Posted by Oliver

Cycling for weight loss - week 8

Gus has gone well this week with a healthy 2-pound weight loss, that’s despite answering the call of the take away over the weekend.

This weeks stats:

Ridden: 69.45 miles (103 km) (Last week: 47.23 miles, 76 km)
Average Speed: 14.1 mph (22.6 kmh) (Last week: 13.3 mph, 21.4 kmh)
Time on bike: 4hrs 55mins (Last week: 3hrs 32 mins)
Current Weight: 19 stone 2 pounds (121.5kgs) (Last week: 19 stone 4 pounds, 124.6 kgs) 
Weight loss: 2 pounds (907 g) (Last week: 1 pound, 453 g)

Remember

Starting weight at 19/07/07: 21 stone 3 pounds (134.7 kgs)

Target weight for 01/01/08: 16 stone (101 kgs)

Tour of Britain second stage

The Tour of Britain is well underway and Tredz was at the second stage finishing line in Taunton, jostling for (camera) position.
From where we were standing we saw Nikolai Trusov from Tinkoff Credit Systems take the yellow jersey on the gruelling 105 mile leg, but didn’t see the four man pile up that took place 100 odd metres from the finish.
Despite that the Tredz representative had a good view of most of the good stuff, and apart from the photo to your left, a giddy mix of bikes, blood, booze and more can be found at our home on Flickr.
Posted by Oliver
 

Does shape matter?

My body shape being fairly thin (muscular, handsome, dashing etcetc), I know that if I go running with someone older or carrying more weight than me than I have pretty good chance of going faster and longer than them.

Not so on two wheels.

Bill Bean an American cycling activist blogging about a New York Times article, reveals that your weight doesn't affect the stability of your centre of gravity like it would on a run.  The best hill climbers will have a high strength to weight ratio (think of the typical Tour de France shape), on the flat your weight doesn't matter too much whilst the extra weight is only going to help down hills.

What this means is that as long as you have a good cadence your weight shouldn't prevent you from being an extremely proficient rider, so your body isn’t necessarily forced into the tiny mould we usually associate with athletes.

This information could have a direct impact on Gus and his weight loss program. As he cycles harder he will lose weight, but he could become ultra fit without becoming ultra thin.

As for me, although it's nice to know there's an actual scientific reason why I get overtaken with depressing regularity by grizzled chubby olds, it's not gonna help me sleep at night.
Posted by Oliver

The 2008 Trek 3700's

Just a quick note to say that the 2008 Trek 3700’s are coming, and pending a review from us check out this funky Indian blog/bike shop that has a brief photo comparison with the 2007 model.

Guilt tripped into cycling to work.

We love hearing about the variety of conditions people face cycling to work, and its fair to say that this guy is something else. Crohn’s disease hasn’t stopped him from riding his first 40-mile each way commute to work recently. Serious credit is due.
Thanks to people like him and Ferdie I couldn’t justify to myself using my car today, so I cycled in this morning on my Specialized Allez for the first time, a brisk 13 mile ride, that went via a windswept marsh (where the only hazard is the occasional suicidal sheep) and busy roads packed with cars, school kids and broken glass...

It was fantastic.

The only real problems I had were my pointy shoes burrowing in my back and getting to the office twenty minutes too early and being forced to eat my lunch.
I can't wait for the ride home
A journey that usually entails sitting in a barely moving traffic jam for thirty minutes in my aged non-air conditioned car, whilst steam gently escapes the car's bonnet and my ears, should now be spent in comparative bliss. When I free wheel past the jam today I won't be able to keep the massive grin off my face.
Posted by Oliver

Cycling to work, Tredz style

The story of Dr. Stuart Emerson, the ‘Mad Max’ of bike commuters who cycles a return trip of 100 km to get to and from his practise down under, got us here at Tredztalk thinking about our very own inspirational 'uber Commuter'.

Many people, me included, would consider the journey between Swansea and Cardiff (about 43 miles) to be a considerable distance to drive to work. Not Ferdie, our king of the A48, as for the last three months he has been cycling to the Tredz Bike shop in Cardiff and back home to Swansea every day.

Clearly this is a man worth talking to.

Tour Of Britain starts on 9th of September

The 4th Tour of Britain, the UK’s leading professional cycle race (not to mention the biggest spectator sporting event in the country) kicks off this Sunday. It goes via thirteen different venues throughout Britain. Beginning in London and taking in the South East, Somerset, West Midlands, Yorkshire, the Northwest, before finally finishing in Scotland.

This is our very own answer to France's Tour (none of that single leg in London every 50 years nonsense) and Giro d’Italia, the proof being the participation of of Pro tour teams like: T-Mobile, Quickstep, Phonak and CSC.

So get your hot drink and little flag to wave and go soak up the atmosphere at your local event’s finishing line.
Posted by Oliver

Cycling for weight loss - week 7

Gus is into week 7 of his weight loss program here's the latest:

Ridden: 47.23 miles (76 kms) (last week:58.9 miles/95kms)
Ave speed: 13.3 (21.4 km/hr) (last week: 13.87 mph/22.5km/h)
Time on bike: 3hrs 32 mins (last week: 4 hrs 12 mins)
Current weight: 19 stone 4 pounds (124.6 kgs) (last week: 19.7 stone/125.1 kgs)
Weight loss: 1 pound (453 g) (last week: 3lbs/1.35kg)

Remember
Starting weight at 19/07/07: 21 stone 3 pounds (134.7 kgs)
Target weight for 01/01/08: 16 stone (101 kgs)
 
Inspired by the his hard work, we've decided to gather his results up till now into a graph form.

Marvel at our technical wizardry below, click on the images to enlarge - and watch Gus shrink. Metric on the left, imperial on the right...

 

Bike magazine Shred

The popular biking magazine ‘Shred’ has gone online. 

Steve Tozes’ small yet perfectly formed gem of a mag has been around since 1996 in the real world, and with great news, articles and reviews about all aspects of cycling is well worth a read.

Whilst its new online format isn’t so easy on the eye, the ability to search for exact content and browse specific articles is really handy. Now its gone and gotten itself a home on the internet and is free there’s no excuse for those of us that prefer our information to come to us.
Best of luck with the new venture Steve from us at Tredz.

50 Tips for a better lifestyle

Good to see the two top tips out of fifty about being more environmentally friendly are 'less commuting' and 'more cycling to work'. Ignoring the overly American topics, there are possibly quite a few useful tips for the rest of us to ponder.

Free cycle hire for commuters

Inverness is going to put its abandoned bikes to good use on September 12, when the bikes at the Northern Constabulary's lost and found department will help solve the city's traffic congestion.

To encourage commuters and shoppers to leave their vehicles at home, people coming into the city by public transport can pick up a bike at the ground floor of the Rose Street multi-storey car park and cycle to their place of work from there.

The initiative is part of is the EU's "In Town Without My Car" day which is one of many evens taking place in the week of 16-22 September throughout the UK and the rest of Europe, under the banner of 'Streets for People'. In Inverness it's also known as the 'Re-Cycle' scheme .

People wishing to register to use a bike on the day can do so through the INTRANS website at or at the Rose Street car park office.

I would love to ride my bike to work, but…

Un-butting the arguments about cycling to work

As a Tredzblog reader you're likely to know the benefits of cycling such as being healthier, fitter, saving money on petrol and parking etc. If you cycle to work there are also the benefits like arriving in work more invigorated, possibly ahead of colleagues stuck in traffic (assuming no punctures) while cycling home after work is a great way to unwind.

Despite all this, there are still plenty of arguments to overcome when going into discussion with non-cycling friends or colleagues (or yourself): 'love to cycle to work, but....'

The Sietch post 'How to ride your bike to work' tackles these arguments head on. Have a read for a great set of arguments up your sleeve next time you need them.