About bikes, cycling and cycle to work - Tredz Blog

Core bike show

Core bike show is one of the 'biggies' for the cycling industry. A chance for the suppliers and sellers to get together, schmooze, drink and generally just mess around on new bikes.

We wish... A five hour drive either side for us means little chance for hanging around. Our trade shows are planned with military precision, meaning the photos we snap at the events take on even more importance, giving us the chance to be bike geeks at a more leisurely pace when we get back.

Here's some of our Core Bike Show 2010 highlights...

Cycle insurance guide

You don't have to have insurance for your bike.  As it's not the law, the majority of people either don't consider it or just assume their house insurance will cover it.

If you fall into either category, or (like me), you have natural tendency to assume the best till the worst happens, it's really worth taking five minutes just to consider what might go wrong...

Giant Faith 0

The revamped Giant Faith has been causing waves. A massive gestation period (where it spent a lot of time being thrashed by Kurt Sorge) has created one of the lightest, most off the peg ride-and-affordable freeride bikes available today. 

They're now available to purchase in all sizes. If you're looking for a reason to make the purchase check out the video we got sent recently: 

Top 5 cyclocross commuting bikes

Update: If you're looking to race rather than commute, take a look at our guide to cyclocross bikes.

Cyclocross bikes have to cope with pretty specific demands placed on them in their discipline. The dropped handlebars and 700c tyres means they're extremely fast, whilst the knobbly tyres, strong brakes and better frame clearance (preventing mud from stopping play), mean that they can maintain that speed over mixed terrain.

They can go where road bikes can't, and at a speed mountain bikes can only dream of.

Hardly surprising then that they've been picked up by many astute commuters as the perfect cycle to work bike. Able to cope with a daily battering far better than most road bikes and quicker than a mountain bike on all but the most technical terrain (sadly most commutes don't include any rock gardens or sudden drop offs), cyclocross bikes are probably the ideal jack of all trades bike that would suit most cyclists on their ride to work, most of the time.

So in the spirit of the season, we're picking our five favourite cyclocross commuters. Since we want our bikes to be suitable for cycling to work, we're keeping them underneath the magic thousand pound mark (making them available on most cycle to work schemes).

Nalini Pro team clothing

The Tour down Under is in full swing, and frankly, it's about time. We've had enough of Lance tweeting about what he's eating for breakfast, we want to know what he's eating for breakfast on tour!*

Other side affects of the road season getting under way include our mounting desire to copy our heroes. For those of us eager to emulate those emaciated Gods, we're now accepting pre-orders of Nalini pro kits. The full shebang, from the jersey down to the socks.

Want to look like you ride for Astana and haven't got the ear of the Kazakh government? Or maybe you just show your support for your favourite Manxman, either way check out our full range of Nalini pro team clothing.

*The same apparently

Cycling jersey guide

What to look for in a winter cycling jersey? How about high wicking, windproof, shower resistant, good insulation and ventilation for a start. Oh, and since they'll likely be a top layer a lot of the time they've got to look sharp too.

Cyclists are picky beasts and we're picky cyclists! We've scoured the cycling world to pick our favourite mountain bike and road winter jerseys. 

Dirty Weekend review

A month late (thanks again e-mail gremlins!), but better late than never and a chance for us to relive the what must have been both the wettest weekend of and most aptly named event of the year: Mens Fitness Dirty Weekend.

Over to Ryan Evans. Course designer, Tredz sponsored rider and one of the fastest men we know on a mountain bike (especially in galoshes and walking boots...).

IMB issue three

It's free, it's better than many of it's real paper counterparts, it's got flashy adverts - yup, IMB is back for it's third issue.

We genuinely hope this mag gets the readers it deserves. Well produced with some great content every month.

It's really providing a viable alternative to just copying and pasting content onto a site. Naming no names...

Lapierre bikes

The most critically acclaimed, sought after bikes of the moment? Lapierre! 

The likes of the Zesty, the Froggy and the Spicy are literally selling quicker than they can be made at the moment but fear not! You too can own a little piece of Lapierre, regardless of availability or spare cash.

Lapierre wallpaper! It's almost as good as having your very own Spicy 916.

 Almost.

Globe Live

The new range of Specialized Globe bikes caused something of a stir when the pictures and specs were first released. With good reason. They looked drop dead gorgeous.

Months of being able to look and not touch was driving us crazy - so when our mechanics rolled out the our first shop ready Globe Live we had to run and cop a feel.

Trust us, this is built as well as it looks. The basket and mudguards are no after thought but integral and very well made. For the money, this is one hell of a stylish and practical bike.