Minneapolis has become a favorite cycling destination of mine—over the years I’ve made a number of friends in town that manage to get me in just enough trouble to keep it interesting, and out of jail. In town for Stupor Bowl XV and whatever I could get myself into, a few emails later and I found myself having dinner at Haute Dish, witnessing beer willing poured all over Gene Oberpriller’s pants while we discussed nanosphere technology and what kind of underwear each preferred. And while this did truly occur and isn’t surprising given the company, there was grown up business at hand, namely the launch of the Levi’s Commuter Series in the Minneapolis area and the limited Car-r-Coffins, One on One Bicycle Studio, and ARTCRANK trucker jackets to match along the same lines as the first batch created last September. Tech was talked, designs discussed. Custom altered jackets of some of the more prominent Minneapolis cycling culture brands will exist soon enough. The Levi’s fabric purports to be the first natural fiber to incorporate this particular Nanosphere waterproofing technology, maintaining its water repellency longer than ever without any sort of plastic bag feeling—50+ full wash/dry cycles under relatively harsh test conditions. The beer testing on Gene’s well worn Levis pants beaded up and ran right off onto the floor. Being Stupor Bowl weekend, we ended up out too late.
Look for the Levi’s Commuters to make their Minneapolis retail premier in the coming months, with the custom art jackets showing up on the backs of a lucky few associated with the Minneapolis legends behind the brands. No matter what you may personally think about the skinny jeans and denim jacket style, the fact that a company the size of Levi’s is taking urban cycling style and tech seriously bodes well for all involved, from the business side to the everyday rider all benefitting from the further mainstreaming and legitimization of cycling as more than quaint sport.
Fat bikes are becoming more and more popular—a recent Minneapolis trip showed a number of them being ridden on city streets, not just confined to winter trails and Iditabike adventures. Up until now the only suspension available has been in the tires, which seems to be more than enough for most people, but no doubt this old Cannondale Lefty conversion as seen on Drunkcyclist.com is of interest to some. As a lover of custom and over the top bike tech I just had to share it. Contact Mendon Cyclesmith if you want your very own.
Trash Bags is a small messenger bag manufacturer out of Minneapolis, run by local courier Andy Larson. Started in 2008, Trash Bags has a few years of bag making under their belt and many miles of testing in some of the harshest winters around. I’m in town for the Stupor Bowl alleycat, and figured a visit to the shop the created this year’s prize bags was in order. By tomorrow afternoon we’ll know who will be rolling around town with the pictured prize bags on their backs.
Trash Bags is a small shop, housed on the fourth floor of a downtown building, you enter through the first floor hardware store and make your way up to the roughly single car garage sized space housing a few sewing machines and lots of fabric and thread. Besides their messenger bags and backpacks Trash Bags has started to develop winter riding gear for the all-day, sub-zero riding that courier work in Minneapolis entails throughout the winter. Their wind and waterproof cordura Trash Picker Mittens are out there now, keeping hands warm with their removable Polartec fleece liner. Potentially too warm for anything but the coldest of days, when you need them you need them. Same with the as yet nameless winter hat—cordura outside, insulated inside, with a buckle to keep the ear flaps tight against your head. While it looks thick, the hat is remarkably thin, enough so to fit under your normal helmet. Overkill on all but the coldest of days, and potentially a recipe for a cold sweaty head if it’s not cold enough outside, but this hat should help you to continue riding even when you’d otherwise just not be able to. The mittens retail for around $70, the hat is expected to go for roughly $50. See more or inquire about ordering your own at www.trashmessengerbags.com
Bicycle themed jewelry incorporating repurposed bicycle parts is nothing new, but neither are bicycles themselves. VeloGioielli has been at it since 2009, and has a selection of various affordable items at their Etsy Store.
So far this season we in the northeast USA have been more or less blessed (cursed?) with a mild winter. While there has been some cold weather and snow, it’s not been nearly as persistent as in the past, making winter riding and commuting that much easier for people. For the past two season, when it has gotten cold I’ve pulled on the pictured lined merino wool cycling cap by Pace Sportswear. It is 100% wool, giving it all of the reasons that people are coming back to wool performance garments—it doesn’t hold odors and it remains warm even when wet. It is marked as machine washable, but I’d say it’s a better idea to wash it in a bucket of warm water and light detergent, letting it air dry as I do my other wool garments. The one size fits most cap has a light bit of stretch to it, and is constructed to be reversible, though I’ve never used it other than black side out. Unlike some similar caps I’ve used, the ear flaps on these extend plenty far down to completely cover your ear lobes without constant readjustment. Available for $57 from Pace Sportswear.
We reviewed the wired Boombotix portable speaker last summer, with Jeff and I each still using our review copies as extra speakers on our laptops or in the workshop. I very rarely ride with music, perhaps once or twice per year on long, solo trail rides but some people prefer music more often on the bike, and headphones are illegal in many places and arguably not the safest to ride with in the first place. Boombotix just released the $17 handlebar mount kit for their speaker, providing an easy way to securely attach it to most bar setups for legal music beamed right at you while you ride.
We had the chance to visit the New Hampshire Bike Factory this past summer and posted a photo preview as it was under construction, a couple of weeks from being operational. Now it is fully up and running, producing Independent Fabrication bikes as you can see here.
Reader Ryan Stamero is heading out on a quest to ride across the country from Philadelphia to San Francisco on his fixed gear, solo and unassisted. He plans on documenting the trip on 35 mm film, blogging throughout the way on his One Country, One Gear site. The entire trip is meant to bring awareness to Half United, a USA clothing company dedicated to giving away meals to needy children with every purchase—some 30,000 so far since the company founding in 2009. Ryan is running a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the trip if you’re interested in helping out.
When it comes to riding all day or riding hard for just a few hours, I do everything I can to not have a backpack. Seatpacks have long been a mainstay of my stable—the very first one I purchased back in 1994 still sees regular use. When the Green Guru Shifter saddle bag showed up for review, I more or less immediately stocked it for use on my next road or cross ride.
Green Guru is a USA company, producing durable goods out of reused and recycled materials whenever possible. Many of their products utilize reclaimed bicycle tubes from shops, including the main construction of this saddle bag, along with a reused piece of wetsuit for the neoprene strap securing it under the seat. It’s a fairly generous size, easily allowing me to fit two road tubes, a small multitool and patch kit inside the single zippered compartment. The bag doesn’t bulge beyond my seat meaning that I don’t rub my thighs on it as I do some wider profile bags, and the neoprene and hook and loop closure keeps the bag secure. The small light loop on the back is a useful touch as the bag will otherwise likely prevent you from using a seatpost mount blinkie.
While I’ve not used the bag in an all out storm situation to test how absolutely waterproof it is, in my use in light rain and muddy trails I’ve not noticed the contents getting wet in the least. My only real complaint is that the metal zipper can vibrate and jingle when I’m riding—easily fixed with a diagonal cutter and a knotted piece of paracord.
The Shifter saddle bag is available for $25. See the Green Guru website for their entire line of bags and accessories made from similar repurposed materials rescued from the landfill.
Year after year the debate continues — does cycling cause erectile dysfunction? Do the benefits of being in shape outweigh any potential risks in this area? The Chicago Reader recently ran a story about a recent University of Illinois-Chicago study on the subject.
Previous research on bike seats and erectile dysfunction has been based on “sketchy” data, Niederberger says. “The problems with the data collected was that it would measure pressure on just the seat. I know that if someone sits on the seat, they’re going to exert force on the seat. How would that help us figure out if the seat is causing erectile dysfunction?”
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Niederberger advises bicyclists not to buy into the hype when a seat design is heralded for preventing blockage and improving blood flow. Bicyclists whose seats are comfortable should stick with their seats “until there are better seats out there actually based on data.”
Urban riders in Cincinnati have been gathering at 8pm on Thursday evenings for 3+ years now for loosely structured group rides around town, starting at Hoffner Park and ending in downtown Cincinnati. Summer numbers can swell to 125+, while winter rides get down to just 15 riders at times. You can read more about the group in this article from back in August from WXVU Cleveland.
The first episode of the newly coined Pedal Powered Talk Show is live, featuring Daniel Baldwin of all people. The entire studio setup is built into a cargo bike, and everything is pedal powered allowing on-site production no matter how remote the location. Links to episodes 2 and 3 and besides the scenes photos are available at www.pedaltalkshow.com
Sunday February 12, from St. Petersburg With Love comes the Bakrupt! alleycat. Check out the start location, The Steel City Brewhouse, clearly a Pittsburgh ex-pat and close to our heart.
Profile Racing is better known for their heavier duty offerings, but they also delve into the lighter weight offerings from time to time. Pictured are their latest hubs, some ultralight road or cyclocross hubs, weighing in at a mere 88 g for the front hub and 300 g for the rear hub. Completely serviceable and USA made, hubs like these don’t come cheap and run $450 retail for the set. See more at www.profileracing.com
The 20th annual Cycle Messenger World Championships will be held in Chicago this year, August 3-5th 2012. Part party and gathering of the tribe, part serious competition to determine the fastest courier rankings, the CMWC is a remarkable event and part of urban cycling history and lore. The Chicago running should be quite excellent, as the core group was involved in the 2008 Chicago running of the North American Cycle Courier Championships which by all accounts went quite well. We hope to see you in Chicago this coming August.
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Minneapolis has become a favorite cycling destination of mine—over the years I’ve made a number of friends in town that manage to get me in just enough trouble to keep it interesting, and out of jail. In town for Stupor Bowl XV and whatever I could get myself into, a few emails later and I found myself having dinner at Haute Dish, witnessing beer willing poured all over Gene Oberpriller’s pants while we discussed nanosphere technology and what kind of underwear each preferred. And while this did truly occur and isn’t surprising given the company, there was grown up business at hand, namely the launch of the Levi’s Commuter Series in the Minneapolis area and the limited Car-r-Coffins, One on One Bicycle Studio, and ARTCRANK trucker jackets to match along the same lines as the first batch created last September. Tech was talked, designs discussed. Custom altered jackets of some of the more prominent Minneapolis cycling culture brands will exist soon enough. The Levi’s fabric purports to be the first natural fiber to incorporate this particular Nanosphere waterproofing technology, maintaining its water repellency longer than ever without any sort of plastic bag feeling—50+ full wash/dry cycles under relatively harsh test conditions. The beer testing on Gene’s well worn Levis pants beaded up and ran right off onto the floor. Being Stupor Bowl weekend, we ended up out too late. 
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