I am excited to see the new Look S-Track pedals. I use the Look Quartz Carbon on my Sycip cross bike, and have loved their performance. The new pedals promise to provide instant entry and release no matter the conditions. I’m curious to see if it is a huge improvement. Further information can be found at Bike Rumor.
Today I had the opportunity to meet Eddy and Hugo, the owners of 18 Velo Vintage. The shop drew me in by the description on their website speaking of “the inspiration for the shop coming right out of the 80’s.” The 80’s is when I bought my first proper road bike, a pearl white Peugeot. The bike was stolen in 1984, and I have since longed to replace it with something similar. 18 Velo Vintage would be the place to look for it if I lived in Paris. They have an eclectic mix of bikes, all mostly original. Eddy apologized for the lack of inventory, as summer has seen the bikes fly out of the store. Despite the low stock, the shop was really fun to see. Eddy and Hugo are incredibly friendly, and speak English, which is a big help for a non French speaking blogger. The shop is in an intersting part of Paris, just behind the Lamarck Culaincourt Metro stop, good for a trip off the beaten path. There is also an associated blog that has photos of all the bikes they’ve sold or are selling. It’s slightly addictive going through and looking at everything that has come through their hands. 18 Velo Vintage is worth a trip if spending time in the City of Light.
I’ve already spent an incredible amount of time riding the streets of Paris on this work trip. The Velib is the bike rental scheme instituted by the city of Paris, and I must say it works very well. I signed up for a 7 day pass online, which provides a code and pin, all that is needed for renting the bikes. Once these are entered, and you’ve chosen a bicycle, you are off. The bikes are not speedy, but they are functional city bikes that can be ridden most anywhere. They can be rented and returned all over the city, which makes this system really convenient.
With the luxury of being able to travel easily around Paris, I decided to check out a shop I had tried to visit once before on an earlier trip. The shop is called the biCyCle store. It is a small and well designed shop selling city bikes and track bikes. The house brand is Heritage Cycles. These frames are made in France, and from what I could understand, are completely customizable. I really liked the build I’ve pictured above. Very simple and elegant. The shop also has a selection of Le Coq Sportif clothing as well as Mission Workshop and T-Level bags. It’s a beautiful space with a very complete selection of high end cycles and accessories.
Sidi is releasing the top of the range Wire Collection this fall. The shoes incorporate their own Techno 3 ratcheting system which should provide for an even fit around the entire foot. There are three different versions in the range, one with a Speedplay SP Carbon sole, another with the Wire Vent Carbon sole for standard three hole cleats, and the Wire Vent Carbon Women, a shoe specifically for women. I still have and use 16 year old Sidi Dominator mountain bike shoes, and they work as well today as they did when new. Sidi reliability and fit are a cornerstone of their products, and I suspect the Wire will continue in that tradition.
This photo of the Salsa Vaya Travel has reignited my desire for a travel bike. Stainless steel tubing, disc brake mounts, and S & S Couplers elevate this to the top of my list of production bikes. I am really looking forward to seeing this at Interbike. There is a great post on the Salsa website describing the design process behind the Vaya Travel, a process that included real world travel. Through this process, it was decided that the Alternator dropouts would be used for ease of packing the bike, as well as offering the option to run an internally geared hub, or going single speed. This frameset is meant for travel to the farthest reaches of the globe.
Light and Motion are an amazing company producing lights for biking, diving, and sport. I’ve written often about their amazing product line, specifically the Urban 500. Now the company has upped the output to 550 lumens, hence the new designation of Urban 550. At Interbike, I am looking forward to seeing the Taz 1200, a top of the range crossover light. As the name suggests, its output is 1200 lumens. This seems mildly insane to me as the Urban 500 was already blindingly bright at 500 lumen output. The Taz 1200 should easily alert drivers to your presence while making it possible to see the terrible state of the streets in your city.
Interbike is only a few weeks away, so I’ve been formulating a list of what I’m excited to see at this year’s show. First up on the list is the Whispbar by Yakima. The base rack has been available for a bit now, but the accessories are beginning to make their way to store shelves this fall. Most interesting to me is the fork mount bike carrier. It looks like an amazing piece of sculpture, and in keeping with the line’s name, it is one of the quietest systems available. I think this rack package will complement any car it rides atop of. GearJunkie.com awarded the WB200 bike fork mount Best of Show at the Outdoor Retailer show last month, a well deserved honor.
Cycling bibs are certainly one of the most personal items any cyclist will ever purchase. There are very strong opinions about one brand versus another amongst cyclists. In my opinion, the best way of testing such an item is a ride of 50 miles or more. Most bibs do fine for anything shorter than that, but hit 50 miles, and everything changes. What you thought was comfortable suddenly becomes an object of extreme discomfort. So, in order to try out the new Cervo Rosso CR Strada S3 bibs I needed a good long ride. I set out from my home on what turned out to be the first day of a two week long heatwave in Southern California. I headed into the valley via Mulholland, and out to Topanga Canyon. I enjoyed the climb, and then the descent to the beach and the cooler temperatures before heading back to Hollywood. The ride totaled out at 60 miles with about 3600 feet of climbing. The entire ride I knew I was supposed to be thinking about something, but my mind wandered off into that wonderful state where ideas start flowing. It wasn’t until mile 55 or so that I realized I was wanting to form an opinion on the Strada bibs. I hadn’t thought about them because they performed perfectly. Or, to put it bluntly, my bottom felt no pain whatsoever even after finishing up the ride. I chalk this up to the design and quality of the Strada bibs. The HG11 Technology padded insert is nothing short of miraculous. The 3 panel Xtra Life Lycra construction with flatlock stitching and soft elastic silicone leg grippers round out the package. The Cervo Rosso CR Strada S3 bibs are true performers begging for long rides in the saddle. Cervo Rosso has added more fuel to the debate of best bibs, something I welcome.
I have not had much time in NYC to see the sights, but I did manage a stop to NYC Velo. I really like this shop with their eclectic selection of bikes, and their very complete selection of clothing. The staff is always friendly and ready to help out. Looking through the shelves and racks always rewards you with a treasure of some sort. One such item is the Chris McNally t-shirt you see above. The drawing strikes a chord of nostalgia, and is an excellent graphic. It is incredibly well produced for this tee, and at $25.00, seems like a bargain. It is available online from NYC Velo, but is going fast.
I’m afraid bicycles have joined the ranks of automobiles by way of “super bikes”. For those of you thinking your $15,000.00 bicycle just isn’t enough, you have the option of buying the Aston Martin One-77 by Factor Bikes of England. State of the art everything for a price not quoted on the website. The old saying of “if you have to ask, you can’t afford it” applies here.
