About bikes, cycling and cycle to work - Tredz Blog

Charity bike rides

We’ve just been informed of two pretty awesome sounding cycling events, both organised by Breast Cancer Care. They are the UK’s leading provider of breast cancer information, practical assistance and emotional support and are organising two bike rides to take place next year. One uses the classic London to Paris route, taking place on 18-22 June 2008 or 3-7 September 2008 via Kent, the Channel and Northern France. Lots of undulating roads, pretty views and such.
The other, which has really got our attention is the Vietnam to Cambodia event, on 23 February - 4 March 2008, taking in some stunning scenery in two of Asia’s most interesting countries and ending up in Angkor Wat.
Both rides are going to require a workable fitness (about 80-110 km a day) and some cash up front but both are for a fantastic cause and both should be a hell of a lot of fun.

Cycling in the city

Bikes in London look all the more likely as it’s become apparent how popular the large scale bike hire in Paris has made the Parisian Mayor Bertrand Delanoë. The upcoming London mayor election could make Ken Livingstone, who’s visited Paris to see the Velib scheme twice, all the more ready to role it out on a large scale (80,000 bikes) across our congested capital. Which is all well and good but anyone can see the real way to people’s hearts is to get on the bike and ride it, a la Cllr Gwyn Roberts, during the Tredz Downtown Race…

Pre-Christmas picks

Our Christmas gift ideas page for cyclists is up and awaiting your perusal. Lots of stuff to keep the cyclist in your life, well, the cyclist in your life. Nothing like a well chosen bike related xmas pressie to keep us MTBers, Roadies and BMXers happy.

We’ve put up with years of cruddy, non-bike presents ourselves (I got a pillow case once! A pillow case!), so if you’re the cyclist, point your loved ones in the general direction of our presents page and let them choose a Christmas gift to suit their budget. They’ve all been hand picked by a group of cyclists sick of years of lame presents.

We won’t let you down; even the socks we’ve picked are pretty special!

Vote for Sustrans' Connect2

Give the thumbs up to better cycle paths by voting online for Sustrans in the National Lottery £50 million give-away.  Until 12 noon on Monday December 10th it's your chance to alert your cyclist friends (and enemies if necessary) to help secure £50m for walking and cycling routes throughout the UK.

Sustrans' Connect2 is competing against three non-national organisations, with the winner being decided by public vote. So, voting at thepeoples50million.org.uk for Sustrans' Connect2 can help bring new local travel routes to many doorsteps, making it easier for people to walk and cycle for everyday journeys according to Sustrans.

Almost eighty communities would benefit from the sustainable transport charity winning the grant in the Big Lottery Funds: Connect2 plans to build bridges, foot and cycle paths and even reinstate a ferry, giving people easier and healthier access to their schools, workplaces, shops, parks and countryside.

On December 4th, ITV1 will highlight the Sustrans bid in a special programme.

Bike friendly cities

The 11 most friendly bike friendly cities in the world. What a surprise, no British entry. Is that because the list is compiled by a company with a vested interest in getting you to fly or because we are undeniably light-years behind the rest of the world in terms of accommodating cyclists? Maybe both.
Can't disagree with the list though, I've been to 6 of the 11 (a well travelled corporate blogger am I) and can happily recommend them to cyclists, especially Portland, which definitely had more microbreweries and bikes than is sensible.

A bespoke social network

Aah social networks, those strange places where you collect 'friends'. Ever wonder if you’ve got anything in common with most of them at all? Hmm? All those school friends that you forgot about, adding you to their collection like a rarefied stamp: to be looked at but never interacted with. Don't forget there was a reason you forgot about most of them. Well now there's a social networking site for people with a great shared interest, something that'll actually keep you interested.
It's called meandmybicycle, it's already got a bunch of cool people on it (not to mention a bunch of cool bikes) and is one on-line community that's actually worth signing up to.
And, bless em', they've featured our blog on the front page so they've obviously got standards.

Gus weight loss - week 18

It’s been a bit hectic round here recently. An office move for Tredz online and a whole series of events we’ve been getting involved with has kept us on our toes.
Gus has been off his feet like the rest of us, which has kept him from his bike and from hitting his weight loss targets lately. He’s also been on the road a lot so there hasn’t been anyone to shout at him whilst he gorged himself on family size Toblerones in motorway service station car parks*.
I spoke to him this morning and he told me he has gotten back on the bike despite all this. The first time in two weeks and it has made an instant impact on his weight:

Ridden: 21.98 miles (35.3 km) (last week: nil)
Average Speed: 13.7 mph (22.4 kmh) (last week: slow)
Time on bike: 1 hrs 36 mins (last week: none)
Current Weight: 18 stone 7 pounds (117.4kgs) (last week: 18 stone 11 pounds, 119.2 kgs)
Weight loss: 5 pounds 2.2kg (last week: zilch)
Remember
Starting weight at 19/07/07: 21 stone 3 pounds (134.7 kgs)
Target weight for 01/01/08: 16 stone (101 kgs)

The original target of 16 stone looks very unlikely at the moment. Short of a miracle, it looks like Gus is going to fall a bit short even with a huge effort in the final run in. So we’ve set a new, more achievable target of 18 stone. Our boss is pretty adamant that the iPod isn’t happening (“We said 16!”), but I’m sure his already impressive efforts will be rewarded with something. Maybe a carrot.

* Probably not true

Retro Cycling Jerseys

I spent an hour last night with my clicking finger hovering over the mouse, weighing up the pro's and con's of buying one of these amazing retro cycling jerseys.
Pros: I'd look even more dashing on my bike.
Cons: I'm skint.
Common sense won out for me. Still, if anyone out there has got any disposable income (after buying a couple of the Tredz front specials), it's definitely worth a look. Hundreds of designs and some of the coolest looking cycling jerseys around.

Tredz Golden Ticket Winner

Anyone who’s seen Tredz at any of our sponsored events, general days out or just come within poking distance of us recently will know about our Golden Ticket competition. The chance to win £200 worth of Tredz vouchers to spend in our shops was always going to result in a healthy response and we had loads of entries, even after we’d removed all of the pseudo-names and family members of Tredz employees from the bag.
We recently drew the winner in our Cardiff store – with eagle eyed Gus looking on to ensure fair play, and can announce that the winner is… Andrew Dutch! Well done Andrew that’s £200 pounds worth of vouchers on their way to you.

Tredz Test Bike Day

It's getting closer to the final Tredz test bike day of this year on Sunday the 25th of November 2007 in Afan Argoed. Our brand spanking new 2008 test bikes are straining to be let loose. Whilst the hard working employees of Tredz have to wait till you’ve gotten them all muddy (bitter, me? Nooooo), this Sunday will see us giving you some of our 2008 Specialized and Giant bikes for a spin around a shortened Penhydd in glorious Afan, gratis.
You’ll need to bring two forms of picture ID, a credit card and all the other gubbins that you’d normally take with you on a day out in the hills (helmet, tubes, food, drink, first aid etc). You can turn up on the day without having pre-booked but be aware that it’s on a first come first served basis, so if you’ve got your eye on a specific bike it’s best to pre-book. For more info check out the official site.
All that’s left to say is, for my sake, ride slowly. If you feel like there’s any chance the bike might get damaged, push. And if you have to fall, try and fall underneath the bike.
See you on the 25th.

24 hour road race

24 hours in the saddle. Whilst that sounds like a recipe for blisters in unholy places to me, to some people, (including some of the more masochistic Tredz employee’s) it sounds like a great weekend. Well good news self-flagellators, Shimano are sponsoring  the world’s first 24 hour road race (organised by Provelo Support) in the Brecon Beacons next July, where the endless hills and insanely changeable weather is sure to keep the gutsy/insane participators happy.
At least the race is split into teams of five and they’ll get to race on a closed to the public 8.9 mile army training ground circuit that is guaranteed to be spectacular.
Still need to be a bit batty though.

Gus weight loss - week 17

Gus may have lost weight this week, then again, he may not have. He neglected to get on the scales to find out. Apparently it's been another 'hectic week' and he's been 'rushed off his feet' on 'official Tredz business' etcetc.
The solitary chocolate smear running down his chin tells another story though.
Nah, only joking, he has been busy this week so we'll let him off this time. He's promised to get back on the saddle today though so next week we expect to see some actual weight loss in this weight loss program.

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

Customer care down under

This is a story about a man called Neil, a Topeak Prepstand and freakishly good customer service from Tredz.

Neil received a Topeak Prepstand as a gift from a friend, before upping sticks and emigrating down under. Whilst in Australia he discovered that his bike stand suffered from a bad part.
Neil got in touch with us not knowing exactly what to suggest, more in hope than anything.
Hearing of his plight, our customer care people got in touch with some of our Ozzie friends and managed to get a replacement part sent out to our antipodean ex-pat, free of charge.

Hi Simon,
New part arrived in post and I have fitted it, so far so good... new piece has held and works nicely!
Thanks for all your help, greatly appreciated!
Cheers,
Neil

So now Neil can enjoy working on his bike using his Topeak Prepstand in the height of Australian summer.
(You dunno what you're missing mate, there's a heatwave in Britain at the moment! Hottest November on record!).

Tredz bike test day

Fancy having a go on some bikes? Some 2008 bikes? Some 2008 full-suspension bikes from Giant and Specialized? In Afan?
The 25th of November will see us handing out our precious, precious 2008 models to all and sundry for a spin around a shortened Penhydd in Afan. For free.  All you have to do is let us know you're turning up.
Watch this space as more details will be coming very shortly, but for anyone desperate to find out the exact spec of each bike give our Swansea store a phone on 01792 702555.

Whatever you do don’t break em’! I can’t have a go till you lot have!

Top Gear ruined by bike

The quickest way to get across London is on a Specialized Sirrus LTD. Don’t take our word for it, watch the segments taken from the generally anti-bike car show Top Gear where the swish commuter bike beat a car, a boat and public transport in a race through rush hour traffic.
To be honest, for anyone who has driven and cycled in a large city, this isn’t exactly news, many cities have been running commuter challenges for years and coming to exactly the same result. Still, it’s worth watching if only to see a bike beating Jeremy Clarkson.

Beer and bikes

Two of life's greatest pleasures are being mixed on the 17th and 18th of November at the Mid Wales Beer Festival in  Llanwrtyd Wells.
The Real Ale Wobble will allow cyclists to ride through the beautiful surrounding countryside during a two day bike meet, in an attempt to work off the previous days festivities.
It'll encompass a variety of distances to suit fitness levels/drunkenness, plenty of bike friendly accommodation and, best of all, a free beer at all the checkpoints. Which means you'll be glad to know that the Real Ale Wobble isn't a competitive event, just one in which it seems you're almost guaranteed to fall off your bike at some point and where even the last to come in will have a stupid grin on their face.
It's £20 for the two days worth of bike rides, the occasional free half pint and all the other festivities the Beer Festival in the littlest town of Llanwrtyd has to offer. Sounds like a bargain to this porter stout fanatic.

Unprofessional Cycling

Pro racing has gone through another spurt of shooting itself in the cleat of late. Patrick Sinkewitz, after the obligatory denial period following his drugs test failure and sacking from T-Mobile, has finally come clean: "I felt guilty about it all." He said in a recent interview for German magazine Der Spiegal. Happy news as it is that Pat is feeling a little culpable over lying about his doping misadventures, it's been quickly followed by the announcement that Adidas, having clearly had enough of the never-ending scandal, are withdrawing their sponsorship of the T-Mobile team at the end of 2008. The T-Mobile suits  have themselves recently been publicly pondering whether or not the team will exist at all in the near future. Can you hear me sighing whilst I'm writing this?
But despite it all, we'll still be watching the Tour next year and the year after that. Then getting on our bikes afterwards in futile emulation. And here's why:

Hope that cheered you up as much as it did me.

Gus weight loss – week 16

A late update from Gus this week on his cycling for weight loss program will hint towards the result. He’s been busy on official Tredz business, so he’s got a cast iron excuse as to why he hasn’t lost any weight.
The cast iron excuse isn’t washing with our iron fist boss though, who is at pains to point out the original terms of the deal. "No weight loss, no iPod!"

Ridden: 42 miles (67.9 km) (last week: 54 miles, 86.9)
Average Speed: 13.6 mph (21.8 kmh) (last week: 13.5 mph, 21.7 kmh)
Time on bike: 3 hrs (last week: 3 hr 58 minutes)
Current Weight: 18 stone 11 pounds (119.2 kgs) (last week: 18 stone 11 pounds, 119.2 kgs)
Weight loss: Nowt (last week: zilch)

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

Get pedalling Gus.

H.U.D. cycling glasses

Woah. They may be worth a cool 700-900 euros and they may not even be released for two years, but I’m already saving up for these glasses. Head up displays are undeniably cool anyway (comeon, helicopter pilots use them), but put them in a pair of cycling sunglasses and I’m giggling like a school girl at the thought of riding with a pair on.
Just think of the possibilities, an inherent global positioning system, a voice activated phone, access to the internet; all presented through an ultra modern opaque display…

Alright, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here, at the moment the prototype only provides a stopwatch and a heart rate monitor, but the ‘Informance’ glasses from German glasses manufacturers Rodenstock are still one of the most desirable gadgets this excitable blogger has seen in some time.

Tredz winter cycling gear

Whilst writing a guide to help keep you in the saddle this winter, someone suggested that we should give a visual aid to help show what we we’re trying to achieve. “That’s a great idea” I agreed, little realising that it would end up with me playing the role of 'a visual aid', wearing a selection of ever tighter fitting lycra for the camera.
As an avowed baggy shorts man, who honestly never thought he’d ever go anywhere near a pair of bib tights, this was taking one for the team.
Following several supermodel class hissy fits (“I refuse to stand next to this bike!”) and some bad weather we had to stop halfway through. Which is a shame, as my undoubted cycling gear model ability is obvious for all to see.
Our work didn't get held up by the 'talent' though, check out our invaluable guide to cycling in winter, some incredible sale bikes and our pick of gifts for the cyclist in your life.

Ferdie is famous

A mens glossy has included Ferdie in an article about alpha male cycling commuters! After picking up on our original blog post about Ferdie and his insane bicycle commute, Arena included him in an piece that was being written.
A delighted Ferdie yesterday insisted, in the third person, that he wouldn't let his new found fame go to his head.
Watch out for the mention in the December Arena, issue 189.

High visibility pants

Making yourself visible at night during your bicycle commute might be about to get a whole lot easier, thanks to a new glow in the dark battery powered yarn that’s been developed by scientists at the University of Manchester. Even the most absent minded mobile phone abusing driver couldn’t fail to miss you day-gloing your merry way home wearing that get up. Not too sure about the glow in the dark pants mind, but the concept is undeniably brilliant.

A power bar to pedal by

Ok, A day off and sunshine! I woke up with only two thoughts in my mind:
1. Food.
2. Get outside quick!
So with these two conditions I decided to try and make my very own energy bars to accompany me on a bike ride down to the beach. I'm usually disappointed by the commonly available energy bars you find in supermarkets. Either way too expensive for my appetite or cheap, nasty and full of unpronouncable chemicals (why are ten different kinds of sugar good?). So making my own nutritious and tasty bars is ideal. Right? Well...

Budget winter gear

After umming and aahing for ages I’ve finally gotten round to opening my wallet (accompanied by a choir of angels and a flock of pigs) to buy some winter cycling gear. I was looking towards the budget/miserly side of things, but I still wanted items that wouldn’t leave me caught short in the rain or cold this season. I settled on an Endura Laser Compact (£36.00), an Altura Inter base layer (£16.59) and a Cat Eye EL300 BS/ AV100BS light set (£34.19).

Gus weight loss - week 15

Never a man to let geography get in his way, Gus managed to experience some Indian and Chinese culture as well as the local (pasty based) customs during his trip to Cornwall. We won’t hold it against him though, since he’s managed to enjoy himself and get straight back on the bike, finishing without any weight gain.   

Ridden: 54 miles (86.9 km) (last week: away)
Average Speed: 13.5 mph (21.7 kmh) (last week: away)
Time on bike: 3 hr 58 minutes (last week: away)
Current Weight: 18 stone 11 pounds (119.2 kgs) (last week: away)
Weight loss: Nup (last week: away)

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

Proper Tour news

Genuine, non 2006 TDF news! The route for the '08  Tour has been released. With the organizers looking for the Tour to "Rediscover its romanticism."
As well as the highly romantic new route, rule changes have been announced, more of which (usual anti-doping fluff) can be read on this Beeb page, whilst those who like their news in the medium of flashy bright lights should watch this video: