About bikes, cycling and cycle to work - Tredz Blog

Madison iceBike 2010 review

As much as we like concrete cows, roundabouts and Milton Keynes in general, there's got to be a very good reason for us to spend five hours in a car being subjected to each others musical tastes. Madison iceBike is one such reason.

The uber distributor/manufacturer's trade show is one of the events of the year. Hardly surprising when you consider the brands that come under the Madison umbrella: Shimano, Commencal, Saracen, Cervelo, Genesis, Ridgeback, Giro, Ogio, Park Tool... To name just a few.

Stand outs this year? 

Well they weren't to our taste, but the Saracen urban bikes were unmissable. Literally.
The innovative new Kryptonite lock.
Ogio bags. Going all Hokusai on us.
Getting to see all the Genesis bikes up close...
And from afar. Their steel mountain bikes look about as bespoke as a mass manufactured bike can look.

Checkout our Flickr range for the rest of our iceBike 2010 pictures. 

NAHBS

 Nope, chances are you won't get to see, let alone own any of these beautiful hand built bikes. Browsing the North American Hand Made Bike Show (from the 26th - 28th Feb) website might seem at best a little pointless. At worst painful.

It's in Virginia . We can't touch them, can't ride them and short of a small fortune on shipping, can't buy them.

 There is another, more positive, way of reading the situation. You can be sure the big bike manufacturers, the people that make the very bikes that we will be riding and ogling at next year, will be very aware of what's popular at shows like this. The influence of indie bike makers shouldn't be underestimated. It's an influence that can be seen in the bigger guys output. 

So take a look at some of the bikes from the 2010 exhibitors and hope that Specialized, Giant, Trek, Cannondale et al are thinking the same thing as you: "I'd love to ride that bike"!

Cervelo induced jealousy (day II)

Day Two of James' Portuguese Cervelo jolly. Wherein James (AKA lucky bastard) gets to ride more pro-level Cervelos with three women from Cervelo Test Team...

 A chilly morning but the lovely clear blue sky promises it's gonna be another good day. It's an early one today, quick breakfast and on the bikes for 8:30am. Today our tour guides are three girls from the Cervelo Test Team who were the number one ranked womens team in 2009. It just so happens the mens team were also ranked number one as well. Pretty impressive for a pro team in their first year of competition. 

My ride on day two is the new Cervelo R3. Again equipped with the same groupset, but this time the bike had full carbon Zipp 404's fitted with tubular tyres (which are almost 400grams lighter than the wheels I used on the S3).

As we head off lead by our pro rider I could feel the bike wanted to accelerate straight away. Was this just the wheels, the frame or me? I think the first two had something to do with it.

We took a different slightly flatter route to start which did cross a few rough sections of tarmac and railway crossings and the bike just glided across each obstacle with ease. You do know your riding across rough stuff but the frame really dulls every thing down leaving you feel fresher and less beaten up. As we hit a few climbs I gave it some juice and quickly find myself near the front of the group each time, leaving me with a massive grin on my face.

The R3 again has large chainstays which keeps the frame undercontrol at the back when putting power down. The razor thin seat stays are so thin they are almost on the bike just for show (and also to comply with the UCI regulations for racing bike design). The other feature of the bike is the Cervelo 'Squoval' tubes which have a square/oval shape. The frames tubes change shape along the length of each tube. This is NOT to look cool like some brands but to actually cope with the different stresses that occur on different parts of the frame. This bike was engineered first and then tweaked to look like a bike second.

I think the R3 just looks great. It's ultra-modern design, using the latest materials but still has the minimal looks of a classic bicycle. Having ridden many sportives in my time on different bikes I definitely think the R3 is up there as one of the best bikes I've ridden. 

Although 2008 TDF winner Carlos Sastre uses the Cervelo R3SL as it helps him as a climber the other bike in Cervelo's catalogue is the Cervelo RS. This bike uses all the same   technology of the R3 but is 20mm higher at the front to provide a more upright position for us mere mortals. You may also notice that the thin seat stays are curved to help absorb vibrations quicker.

Anyway it was another afternoon in the classroom to learn a bit more before it was time to pack up for the early morning flight the next day.

So was it a good trip? did I learn anything? do I want one? Yes,yes and yes (now just need to convince the wife we need a new mortgage).

Cervelo induced jealousy

"You're going where?"

Working in the cycling industry, I'm used to envy. Envy of bikes I can't afford, fitness I can't attain and Atherton's I'll never meet. But when James, our resident road expert told me he was "off to Portugal to test ride some top of the range Cervelo bikes", along with some Cervelo test team pro riders, I must admit I felt particularly resentful.

Sure you will too...

So the boss has asked me to go abroad to learn more about and test ride some of the best road bikes on the planet. What can I say? When does the plane leave?

Day one

Having arrived in Faro, Portugal for the 2010 Cervelo Bike Brain training the evening before, I was determined to get a big breakfast knowing I had 50k to ride later late morning. So with a belly full of food it was off to the classroom for an overview of the new 2010 Cervelo Range. Once we were gen'd up it was time to put on the replica Cervelo Test Team kit that we had been issued with and go down to the storage area to find the bikes.

Today I would be riding the Cervelo S3 (editor's note: this is around the point I start getting really sick with envy).

Cateye Orbit Spoke light

 Cateye Orbit Spoke lights have just arrived after what seemed like an age on pre-order. They've proved to be very popular before they've even been released, so we thought we'd crack the box and take a look before we sent any out.

First impressions, they're very well built. Like their stablemate the Cateye Loop which we took a look at a while ago (they'll soon be available as a package), they are designed very well to be weatherproof, sturdy and not easily switched on or off in your bag. 

For someone like myself who regularly flies through battery juice when the light gets stuffed in his bag, this is a big deal. 

The light fixes very neatly and firmly to your spokes and once on is highly visible from both sides. The orange flash is suitably bright and flashy enough, but when in motion it looks like a bright orange ring. Cool and much more importantly, very visible.

They look like they're going to provide a very important 3rd dimension of visibility on the road.

Mountain Mayhem 2010

Back for it's 13th edition on the 18th - 20th June, Mountain Mayhem is among the world's premier 24 hour mountain bike events. Certainly the biggest in the UK, it's 2500 odd riders ensure it's one of the biggest anywhere.

As well as being big, it's also insanely popular. Tickets go on sale on the 28th of February at midnight, and will sell out quickly.

How can you ensure you'll get in?

Cake, lots of cake?
Hand delivery of entry?

But to be honest, the best chance is to stay up on the 28th and as soon as the entry forms are released, fill it out and get it sent as soon as possible!

By the way, for those who prefer their tyres skinny checkout the Mountain Mayhem sportive.

Fearless Duathlon

Fresh(ish!), from his successful stint at course designing and racing in Margam, Tredz sponsored rider Ryan Evans heads North for the Llandegla off road Fearless Duathlon. On the way encountering bizarre cotton t-shirt rules, icy conditions and radio only coverage of the rugby... 

This is going to be tough. 

The Athertons

Pinkbike, where half of us spend half of our time (the other half live on Road.cc in case you were wondering), has just put together a very nice interview with Dan, Gee and Rachel too. This being 2010 there's also every edition of the 'Atherton Project' embedded on the page.

More Atherton speak, photos and videos than you could ever ask for. Enough to satisfy even the biggest, most stalker-like Atherton fan in the office (that'll be Pete).

Bike demo series

Our bike test days are being hammered out now, but our test fleet isn't quite ready for action.

Yup. Our boss is pulling rank and getting them muddy first. 

So we're grateful for some dates to hang our hats on. The British Mountain bike series is getting bigger and better and so is their mountain bike demo series. An astounding line up of brands are now going to be present and competing to show off their new rides. 

A large range from Giant, Specialized, Trek and Genesis bikes (to name a few) will be available to demo.

Checkout the site and start figuring out which date you can make. Whether you're racing, demoing, or just grilling sausages at the campsite (ideally all three). Each event is going to be well worth attending.

Ibis bikes

Ibis, favoured ride of such cycling luminaries as Brian Lopes and umm. Well, Brian Lopes. He is the only rider Ibis actively sponsor.

Not that it's a drawback. The guy's an out and out hall of famer, World cup winning MTB legend.

Oh. Fat Cyclist likes Ibis too. He's a future hall of famer. If enthusiasm, the ability to write a funny blog and an unremitting urge to ride Leadville on a singlespeed counts for anything.

If the fact these two guys ride Ibis doesn't swing it, checkout this video of Lopes tearing through Whistler on an Ibis. Filmed by none other than Cedric Garcia.

Brian Lopes railing it down A-line at Whistler... from GoPro on Vimeo.

All of the above makes us very happy indeed that we hope to be able to actually ride sell them soon. Stay tuned.