Cirque du Cyclisme photos

Full photostream here. I didn't ride out, as I've picked up a nasty cold somewhere, and am really suffering in this weather. A couple of extra-special bikes:This Cinelli city bike was just beautiful. I stumbled upon it around the same time as Brian Baylis and Johnny Coast, who were both impressed with the work done on the integrated stem/handlebar/brake levers/shifter braze-ons.One of my favorite bikes, a JP Weigle. A bit less flashy, despite the braze-on taillight, then others on show, but just really nice.Richard Sachs was there with a frame-in-progress, which was very neat to see in person. Seeing the filemarks around the brazing, uncovered by paint, hammers home the point that these are truly handmade frames. My pics don't really capture it.
Hypnowheel says, "Buy me!"It takes awhile, but if you stare long enough, you can see the jumping dolphins. Just relax your corneas. Other side of the same wheel:Classy, and deep, like Love/Hate knuckle tattoos.

Anyway, this cold has me pretty zapped. So just persuse the photos, I might post a few more here when I shake off the effects of the Hypnowheel, and add some descriptions to the photos.

Frostbike Schwag Bag

Hooray for free stuff! Positive behavior, like giving me things, should be rewarded and encouraged. So here's the rundown of Frostbike schwag, please note and patronize the maker of each of these doubtlessly fine items.

First item was from Surly, a ridiculously long toe strap, suitable for restraining prisoners or lashing things to a rack. They had a sign imploring grabby showgoers to not take one unless it would actually be used, so below is me using my Surly toe strap to haul the 10 pounds of vendor literature to the recycling station. Thanks, Surly!
Next, a nicely machined bottle opener from Thomson. My girlfriend gave away my Park bottle opener (a freebie from some other shindig), so I can now ween myself off of twisties. Thanks, Thomson!
Oddly, I got no t-shirts. But they did have arm warmers. Maybe they cut the sleeves off a long-sleeve shirt, gave them away, and the shirt remainders will follow at Interbike. Who knows. Thanks, Frostbike/Michelin!
Wool socks from DeFeet. I did not notice these in the bag until I unpacked at home, these might have come in handy that night at the Pugsley races. Thanks, DeFeet!
And here's some brake pads from Jagwire. I don't actually own a bike with road cartridge pads, so these will be regifted, but thanks, Jagwire!
Our Chevy Chase store manager, Nick, is quite the Europhile. Now, I may never approach his level of sofisticazione, but I can try, one comically-small sip of caffè at a time. Thanks, DT Swiss!
Finally, my favorite. A painter's cap from Belgian helmet maker Lazer. It doesn't even fit my stupid-large head. But look closely at the label -- "Lazer -- Since 1919". Before we examine this, let's see the pic:
So anyway, the 'Since 1919' assertion didn't quite ring true. The first laser was demonstrated 41 years later. It wasn't until the 1980's that marketers seized on the term as product-worthy, with such items as the Chrysler Laser:
...and American Gladiator "Laser":
Turns out, they really did start in 1919, as “Etablissement Lacroix”, maker of, "all fine leather goods for motorcyclists." OK. Thanks, Etablissement Lacroix!

Frostbike Day 2 -- Civia

Blazing a new frontier, Civia is a purpose-built line of serious commuters. The difference between Civia and Breezer, besides price, is that Civia bikes are a bit more speedy, aggressive, with the target customer being an enthusiast cyclist who decides to commute, and wants the best tool for the job.

Here's the Shimano Alfine rig, in blue. $2K or so, and a derailleur version is available too.
And the Rohloff version, $3K or so:
Both bikes have disc brakes, premium internal shifting, dynamo hub and light, Thomson stem and seatpost, color matched fenders, rear rack, channels for brake lines, sliding rear dropouts, and a super tough matte finish. They'll also offer the frame, fork, fenders, and rack (with entirely-too-large diameter tubes) a la carte.

So, the question of the day is, will hardcore cyclists plunk down $2-3K for a fully-outfitted, super nice, purpose-built commuter? Ideally, bicycle manufacturers would provide some of these answers to dealers, by doing things like market research, and sharing it with prospective dealers. It would make it a lot easier to plunk down the cash to buy into a product that is no doubt pretty cool, and we all want to live in a world where the commuter bike is lavished with such great spec and engineering. But come on, bike brands, at least TRY to do some research into your market theories before developing your products.

That's a long way of saying, I have no idea if City Bikes will buy any of these bikes. They are cool, but it's an entirely new market that may exist, or may exist only in Civia's imagination.

Frostbike Day 2 -- Ya down wit BMC?

No, not really. Eric was a bit interested in their Fourstroke mountain bike, but every time he went by, and displayed the classic retail mating ritual (squeezing brake levers, compressing suspension, inspecting pivot points), he was met with maddening Swiss neutrality. No greeting, no pitch, nothing.

Anyway, 15 minutes gone, but here's a pic of the Fourstroke 01 (note the hole in the rear of the saddle of the lower bike, Eric guesses it's for crotchular airflow, I say "speed holes").
Here's a really bad pic of me holding a gin-yoo-wine Yoo-nited States quarter up to the comically-large chainstay of their roadbike:
The equally girthy downtube/bottom bracket intersection from the same bike:
Here's the BMC time trial rig, a design which has carried all of it's most prominent riders to doping positives:
I wonder what Tyler, Floyd, and Alexandre saw when they looked at themselves in this mirror finish?

Frostbike Day 2 -- A few other interesting bits

The first item I'll mention is a sock. Not so much for it's socky merits, but for the sales pitch. The very friendly saleswoman at the DeFeet booth was showing Eric and I her wares, and I suppose we were showing all the enthusiasm we could muster while hung over and discussing socks. She came to the women's model seen below, and noted that it is obvious to Jane Sockshopper that it's a women's model, because, "See, the rider has boobs." Fair enough.
Next, Cane Creek showed a wooden (either maple or ash) headset, noting that it's lighter than their carbon model.
Is it a carbon fibre garden tool? Is it a bottle opener for a 5-gallon Heineken? It's actually a saddle with an integrated bottle holder, suitable for aero-fetishists, and maybe for my '74 Motobecane with no bottlecage mounts.
Knog showed a new pannier system. The knob in the center twists, the whole pannier mount comes off, and you can then twist on backpack straps. Pretty neat.
The bags themselves looked a notch below Ortlieb in stoutness and water resistance, but as an around-town bag for 99% of commuters, these looked pretty good. Though, those 'Nightmare Before Christmas' graphics are pretty out there.
Wheels Manufacturing showed this chain tool with an emergency derailleur hanger. Several weeks ago, I botched a Shimano chain installation on my Moots, the chain failed 8 miles from my hotel in a strange town, it jammed in the derailleur, and sheared the derailleur hanger off. This would have come in handy. I suggested to them that adding a holder for a Powerlink would make this a great option for the 24-hour racing crowd, and they seemed pretty excited about that prospect.

Frostbike Day 2 -- Surly Hangover

Not much new from the folks at Surly:
Here's a logo variant that's on the Pacer, their road steel bike:
And here's the Long Haul Trucker in a new color:
And it's hardly new, but their Xtracycle frame, the Big Dummy, is finally shipping:

Frostbike overload

I'm beginning to burn out on Minnesota in winter, grainy pictures of bicycles, energy bars, riding in vans, skinny white guys with facial hair resembling Hetchins lugwork, and Frostbike in general. So for variety's sake, here's a pic of our CFO Erik and his enormous dog, both reflecting on the wonderful absurdity of things.

Frostbike Eve 1 -- Pugsley Race!

Surly makes a fun bike called the Pugsley, which is designed to lurch it's way through soft terrain, like the Minnesota snow. And every year at Frostbike, they put on the Pugsley races, or as one straight-arrow QBP wag titled it, "The Surly Pugsley Race Powered By Bud Light."

I don't have a very compelling narrative to offer, as I (a) was extremely intoxicated, (b) was very cold, and (c) was extremely intoxicated. Here's Eric grimacing from the cold:
I didn't race, as I left my gloves and extra layers back in the hotel room. I considered lying, and saying this guy was me, but I'd like to think I'm outgrowing such shenanigans:
The rest of us huddled around the bonfire on the frozen pond, and listened to that guy in the foreground mutter insults about the racers into a megaphone.
And finally, here's Eric crying about the cold, but hiding his tears from the camera. There's yet another topless guy. At least half the folks coming to start/finish on the pond wiped out on the ice, adding another layer of absurdity to the toplessness.
One of the topless racers later popped up in our hotel bar, but sadly, I was without camera, and he was dragged off by a very spry waitress.

Frostbike Day 1 -- Salsa Completa

Salsa has made some interesting bikes and bits for quite a few years, but has really failed to establish much brand consistency. Scandium TT bikes mixed with steel hardtails. Some models were funky, some models were racy, and none were marketed in any meaningful way.

Then, at Interbike '06, Salsa showed a frame called a Casseroll. Designed around the beautiful dropout I showed at the bottom of this post, it became the #1 unit seller in framesets this past year. We liked it, but weren't keen on taking it on just as a frameset. Now, they're offering it in two complete bike variants. A single speed version, check out the chainguard:

And here's the road bike, with mostly 105 stuff:Note the color matched stems on both:
Finally, the La Cruz, a disk-only steel cross bike with vert dropouts:
We'll definitely be discussing these in some depth in the coming weeks...

Frostbike Day 1 -- Mountain Spew

I'm out of my comfort zone, but here's what I've been able to pick up about mountain bikes here in Bloomington.

650B -- Not just for the wool knicker crowd anymore, 650B is clawing its way up to Ross Perot status in the hearts of MTB product folks who are sick of the 26 v. 29 partisan warfare. Maybe it is the plain-talkin alternative to those kevlar beltway insiders, or maybe it's just a well-financed crackpot idea. Regardless, four manufacturers are tooling up 650B mountain tires, so if tire choice is holding you back, stay tuned.

Disc Powertap -- For mountain guys who wanted to quantify their lack of training, see below. The everpresent Saris randomly raffled off a few of these, and one of the lucky winners was a nice guy named Michael. Michael works for a shop called the Old Spokes Home, asked if this Powertap thing powered a dynamo light, requested a three-speed internal version, and professed a willingness to trade for boxfuls of Sturmey-Archer spares. Here's their homepage pic, for contextual purposes:
Reba 29er -- Apparently new, and somehow novel, I'm told. I nodded politely. The graphics are slated for revision, for those who care.That's all I can muster. With that out of the way, I'll post up some stuff I can actually talk about intelligently pretty soon.

Frostbike Day 1 -- The Majestic Sperm Wheel

Posted as bait for BikesnobNYC, here's the latest in powdercoating cheekiness from the fertile imaginations at Velocity. Picture those buggers swimming upstream on your brakeless Pista. Hmm.

Frostbike Day 0.5

Oh howdy from Frostbike, Quality Bicycle Product's annual tradeshow here in the most picturesque industrial park in Bloomington, Minnesota. For those unfamiliar, QBP is the biggest, fastest, and at least for us, most reliable parts supplier in the bike industry. They're very efficient like WalMart, but with the soul of Ben & Jerry's. Pass the Kool-Aid, please. Most every shop does at least some business with them, so yeah, good guys can finish first.

Food and coffee is a bit hard to come by in our remote Crowne Plaza lodging, but that Minnesota friendliness is making up for it. I spent Day 0.5 in a borderline psychosis, having endured a caffeine and food free 9 hour adventure on US Air, complete with late departures, wind sprints through terminals, and some snags finding and securing lodging. Next was a blur of seminars designed to excite me about enhancing the profitable paradigms of our new world of outside the box something something. I need coffee....

My traveling companion, our Chevy Chase buyer Eric, led my bedraggled shell to a charter bus, which hauled us to a happy hour (sponsored by Saris) and dinner, featuring more people saying doubtlessly profound things, and me gulping down water like my airline peanuts were meth-roasted. The highlight was the video tour of Saris played on the bus, on the video monitor, located 9 inches from my bloodshot eyes, Clockwork Orange style.

Anyway, gear postings to follow, here's a teaser: