About bikes, cycling and cycle to work - Tredz Blog

Stickiest ever bike tyres

Having trouble staying on the trail? You need a pair of these!

Specialized Tricross Single

My new bike! Cycling on a coastal path every day was going through chainsets quicker than I could afford. Answer? A Specialized Tricross Single. Fast, sturdy and best of all cheap and easy to maintain.

I've spent an age trying to decide whether I should get a new mountain bike or a new road bike. In the end I dithered to the point of getting the best mongrel I could think of.

This is my perfect bike to cycle to work on.

Yeah it's just a stock photo, but as soon as it's arrived and I've got a bit of mud on it I'll post some real pictures...

Priorities...

You've got a spare twenty minutes. Only one of these is gonna get cleaned...

Ospreys and Tredz

The Ospreys have started this season in some fine form. Which is great news for us (well, at least those of us who work in our Swansea bike store).

We can exclusively reveal the reason.

Gus.

One of our store managers and a keen former amateur player (well, he's got the physique of a former player...), took some of the boys for a spin round Penhydd in Afan forest recently. "Incredible fitness on those boys." Gus panted, when he came back in the office all bloody kneed and smiling.

Good luck for the rest of the season!

Cyclocross Season!

Its getting colder, damper and, well, a bit grim outside. That can only mean one thing... Time to ride circles in the mud round a squalid field till, exhausted you fall off. Hopefully past the finishing line.

Yup Cyclecross season is here!

For a good intro to this slightly sado-masochistic entry to a sport that is already chock full of self harmers checkout the Crosstube website for a good selection of videos. 

There are some very good reasons why Cyclocross is getting more and more popular each year. For a start its the perfect way to keep fit in the off season. Then there's the fun (seriously). The mass start and more party atmos at the events means that even if you've finished 50th, you've enjoyed beating 51st. Getting a real sense of achievement as you finish and winning your own personal battles.

For those looking to get into this sport, the best place to start is the British Cycling website. If you're looking for a bike; the Kona Jake the Snake, Giant TCX or the Specialized Tricross are some of the best around at the moment.

Photo courtesy of North West Cyclocross Association

Sonic Isaac for Beijing

We mentioned a little while ago that we had Simon Richardson, a Paralympic cyclist, in the store picking up his Cervelo P3C and dropping off his Isaac Sonic frame to be built up.

Chris ‘Wow’ Hughes* spent a couple of days putting it together. Worth taking a couple of days over and doing properly since it’s going to be raced in Beijing (no pressure Chris!).

Simon came in a little while ago to pick the bike up and we got a few shots of him, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Well, so would you. Like the ever entertaining Isaac website says:

"The vast majority will never own an Isaac, let alone a Sonic. Is the new Sonic too good and finer than necessary? Of course it is, for this is the very definition of luxury. Few will ever sample its delights."

Good luck Simon!

* ‘Wow’ because Chris is the sort of person to get excited over cassette cleaners.

Cwmcarnage

Matt and Glen, two of our Cardiff bike store staff are making something of a habit of hitting local trails together.

Must be something to do with them being about as bad as each other on the local trails...

Kidding. They're both pretty good. And I certainly can't really talk as I seem to spend more time bleeding than riding when I hit the singletrack.

Anyways they took a bunch more photos of their day out in Cwm Carn, which you can find on our Flickr home. If you like what you see, why not come to our last test bike day of the year in Cwm Carn on Sept the 7th.

Bikes for Beijing

On one of my frequent trips to the kitchen (where the location of my peanut butter is a closely guarded secret), I happened to walk past this:

Even the thought of my impending toasted bagel wasn’t enough to drag myself away from it.

But why was this Cervelo P3C, a TT animal, hanging around in our warehouse? I got the answer to my question as soon as I popped my head into our Swansea store.

Not everyone has one of these tattoos (or those tan lines), and Simon Richardson was pretty happy to show his off. As well as his new Isaac Sonic frame that we are helping build.

My god that thing is light. 880g frame weight on a 54. According to Isaac’s burbling page: “The mere sight of a Sonic will inspire powerful envy and painful longing. Isaac offers no apology. Ownership is the sole remedy.”

Well quite.

Anyways after a pronlonged spell of powerful envy and painful longing on my part, Simon told me he was off to Switzerland for some chocolates. Or intense training. I forget which.

Seriously, the entire get up was very impressive and we wish him and the rest of the GB Paralympians the best of luck in the build up to Beijing.

A walk in Afan

Perfect weather, a car, a Specialized Stumpjumper Expert and a Giant Reign X1. Whaddya gonna do?

Post work jolly to Afan!

Simon and myself drove up straight after work with a couple of test bikes. The conditions were perfect. Hot not boiling, almost empty, dry not dusty. You can see how excited I was.

Excitement didn't last too long though.

Downhill carnage

The latest Tredz DH session went a little off as we all had a bit of a duff ride.

Rhys crashed on his head resulting in back scuffage, Gav hit his leg on a tree, and rob crashed into a tree shoulder first. A great ad for buying full face helmets and body armour! the guy on the floor is Fraser, he didn’t crash at all, but had a bad case of trapped wind.

That’s gotta hurt.

Posted by Simon