2008 NAHMBS - Portland, Oregon

Wow! How to begin?!

I've attended plenty of bike industry trade shows and events. Quite frankly, after the first couple of years, it's the same ol' stuff, only now they make it in carbon, and everyone's is better than everyone else's. Oh yeah, and it's horizontally stiff and vertically compliant...

I don't know whether it was the more "homegrown" nature of the builders and exhibitors or the "open" nature of the show - unlike the other industry-only shows; or it might have just been that Portland is a bike-crazy town. Whatever it may have been, this was the coolest bike show I've been to. What a great experience. The combination of cutting-edge innovation and traditional, proven methods creates an atmosphere where it seems almost anything is possible. Creatively-minded technical craftsmen used common materials in uncommon ways or uncommon materials in traditional ways (yes, there really were bikes made of wood and bamboo/hemp/bull's horns). Contrary to popular belief, not all of the innovation in this industry comes from the big brands. The free-thinkers present at NAHMBS are using this platform to bring some truely great, original, practical ideas to the big stage of the bike industry's consciousness.

O.K., enough of my blabbering; here's what I saw that really caught my eye:

Shimano R300 shoe update

I received an anonymous comment on my post about my now not-so-new Shimano R300 shoes; and so I figured I'd post my reply here as well as in the comments field as I'm sure "Anonymous" is not the only one wondering about how a pair of $350 shoes hold up. My reply is as follows:

Anonymous said...

How are the shoes holding up?

Matt Magee said...

Good question. Thanks for asking.

The shoes are great. I took a good hard ride just last Saturday and did a great deal of climbing (West on Skyline Rd. past Cornelius Pass for those who know the area...) and still hold to every comment I made in my original review. Stiff, stable, comfortable.

1/21/08 - Bike Insurance

Turning onto my street after driving home from the store today I noticed that our garage door had been left open and one of my worst fears surfaced again (yeah, not the first time the door hasn't been closed...). Would I walk in to see one or all of my bikes missing? I think that's a genuine fear of anyone with a well loved bicycle - or three in my case. This reminded me of a topic that I have meant to address here for some time now. How timely that I'd just talked the proud owner of a new Trek Madone through it in the store today and now I was wondering if I'd be calling my own insurance agent. So, I won't delay any longer - an neither should you...

1/17/08 - New Trek Madone 6.9 Now Here!

(Pictures posted 1/28/08 4:50p.m pst)

What an amazing machine!

Wednesday at the Beaverton store we received our first Trek Madone 6.9; the top bike in Trek's road series and what would have been the team-issue bike had the Trek sponsored Astana Pro Cycling Team not signed a deal for components with SRAM. None-the-less, this impressive bicycle is still drool-worthy.

Of course, the first thing we had to do was take it over to the scale and see what it weighed in at. The model we received was a 56 cm , "performance" geometry bike featuring the Trek OCLV Red fuselage, Bontrager Race XXX Lite carbon clincher wheels wrapped in Race X Lite 700x23 tires, and Bontrager Race XXX Lite carbon stem and handlebar. The component spec was mostly Shimano Dura Ace with a Bontrager Race X Lite carbon compact crankset and SRAM OG 1070 cassette with a 12-26 tooth count. As built (including the geek-tastic, but required wheel reflectors) the bike weighed in at 15.03 pounds - just above the 14.96 lbs allowed by the UCI in a sanctioned road race.

The "new and improved" Trek Madone 6.9 Performance

12/19/07 - Tour of Missouri Pictures (finally...)

As some of you know, while driving cross-country from Nashville to Portland in September, I planned a stop in St. Louis for the final stage of the Tour of Missouri which just "happened" to be there while I was passing through. No, I'm not shallow enough to plan such an important trip around a bike race, but I wasn't upset when I finally saw that the race route coincided nicely with my itinerary.

So, I'm a little behind all the major cycling websites in reporting and releasing photos from this event - about 3 months late to be exact. But, you can't rush the kind of journalistic depth that you get from me. These things take time.

O.k., so the truth is it just took me this long to get my pictures developed and edited. Which leads me to the photo quality. They're not exactly Graham Watson or Casey Gibson; but I'd like to see what they would come up with if they had to use a Fujifilm disposable camera...not much better than this, I'll bet!

12/4/07 - "Rights" and Lefts; part 2

If you've been watching the national news the last two days, you know that we in the Pacific Northwest just got "wolluped" by Mother Nature. A huge store packing 125+ mph winds and over 12" of rain hit the Oregon Coast and by the time it hit Portland was still packing 60 mph gusts and most of that rain. Many road closures, flooded rivers and streams, downed power-lines and general craziness ensued. Still, I'll take the occasional high winds that we get in our winter storms in exchange for the tornado warnings of the summer storms in the Mid-South. Ah, home-sweet-home. In fact, it's currently not raining and I can even see a bright spot behind the cloud cover that I can only assume is the sun. I don't know, because I haven't seen it in so long that I may have forgotten what it looks like. The sky is normally grey, right? Hold on, let me take another sip of coffee...

Mmmm, that's better. While doing my regular morning reading of cycling-related websites I came across a great article on one of my new favorites; bikeradar.com (thanks for the heads-up, Charlie). In keeping with my last post (sorry it's been so long), I thought this was a great follow up. Sort of a "now that I know my rights on the road - how do I best use them safely and responsibly?" This is written more from a commuter perspective; but most of these tips are ones I use even when riding recreationally. Pretty universal stuff.

Now, the website is UK-based, so it's written from the perspective of people who ride and drive on the other side of the street; but if you just trade the lefts for rights and vice-versa, the article is a great one. Also, they refer to "pavements" about 3/4 of the way through the article. That's fancy "brit-talk" for sidewalks. I know I don't have to interpret that for my friends Keith F. and Dawn W., but I'd like to assume that they're not the only ones reading this... :)

So, without further adieu, here's the link; enjoy.

http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/article/technique-road-positioning-197
Thanks for reading. Ride safely.

11/19/07 - Know your rights (especially when turning left...)

"O.K., Matt. So, now that you've slapped some wrists and spoken out about our responsibilities as users of the road and being a part of the solution, not the problem...are you going to follow your own advice or just let us wallow in the uncertainty of not knowing how the law expects cyclists to behave?"

I'd love to be cool enough for that to be an actual question from an adoring fan and follower of my blog, but I've not yet attained that level in cyberspace...so I have to make up my own challenging, pointed, and introspective questions. Sad, huh?

It's quite clear though that in the light of recent events, it is more important than ever for those of us who use bicycles on the road - whether for transportation or recreation - to know the laws. Probably more important than for us to know all the intricacies of how they relate to us when we're driving our cars. If we know the laws, we can operate safely within them so as to not be at fault in the terrible instance that one of us be involved in a traffic incident. So, it is time for me to cross the line from amateur public opinion journalist to public service announcer and reference librarian.

10/15/07 - Ceramic Bearings on test!

Shortly before making the big move back to Portland, OR from Nashville I ordered up a ceramic bearing kit for my beloved Bontrager Race X Lite Aero wheels from some of my favorite people on earth; parts distributor The Hawley Company in South Carolina. I opted for the budget offering from Enduro - a well respected cartridge bearing manufacturer - instead of the current gold-standard FSA cartridge bearings. After all; I am a 1) father of a 19-month-old 2) measly sales-person in the bike industry and 3) making an expensive cross-continental move. The Enduro bearings offer nearly the same performance at a slight reduction of the cost of the FSA bearings.

So; first - what makes these things so special? Why have ceramic bearings been getting all this buzz lately?

10/07/07 - Andwebike.com

Portland is lauded as a cycling utopia by many: bloggers, respected publications, and cyclists' word-of-mouth. But, unfortunately; utopia in it's truest form never really exists, and this cycling haven in the Great Northwest is not without it's own issues.

Andwebike.com; an awareness website and organization sponsored by the Washington County Bicycle Transportation Coalition (www.washcobtc.org), Portland's Bicycle Transportation Alliance (www.bta4bikes.org) and Bike Gallery (www.bikegallery.com) among others; was created to memorialize Oregonian Tim O'Donnell who was struck by a car and killed while riding with friends. From the website:

"This tragedy brought increased attention to the safety of cyclists using Washington County roads. Tim's wife, Mary, established a memorial fund to address this problem. The Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA), working with the Washington County Bicycle Transportation Coalition (WashCo BTC), is spearheading an effort to increase awareness of these serious safety issues.

The campaign will include life-sized cutouts of people with their bikes that will remind motorists that bicyclists are their relatives, friends, coworkers and neighbors, "and we bike". The cutouts will be placed around in front of businesses and community gathering spots around the county. The message is, "Be careful; the cyclist could be someone you know." Printed material will include a list of ways motorists can more safely interact with bicyclists. Presentations will be made to community groups throughout the month, and various other activities will also help promote the campaign."
This campaign is exactly the kind of thinking that I wish I had thought of while living and riding in and around Nashville. Nashville, while lacking the bike-friendly infrastructure of Portland, is a popular place for cycling - and like Portland, is soured by frequent - and sometimes violent and fatal - interactions between cyclists and cars. I think these random acts of road-rage sometimes occur without the thought that the object of the rage might be someone they know.

But the point goes beyond that. That person on the bike that the motorist is frustrated with (in spite of their inherent, law-given right to the road) is someones son, daughter, mother, father, friend or neighbor. The crime against humanity occurs regardless of the rider's relation(or lack-thereof) to the motorist.

What a great, thought-provoking campaign. Spread the word.

Thanks for reading

9/30/07 - A New Beginning!

It's been a while since my last update and I apologize for being out of touch - I've been pretty busy.

Since my last post, I've wrapped up my career with Allanti Bicycle Company in Brentwood, Tennessee; driven 2500 miles cross-country to Portland, Oregon while stopping to watch the Tour of Missouri and to ride in Boulder, CO and Boise, ID (more on the trip later once I have the pictures ready...); spent time with my wife and son whom I hadn't seen in 7 weeks and travelled to Las Vegas for the Interbike trade show. One busy month!

Well, this coming Tuesday hopefully marks the beginning of a new page in m life with new opportunities to forge relationships and help people to love this sport that is so important and meaningful to me. Tuesday morning I'll start working for the venerable Bike Gallery in their awesome Beaverton, Oregon store (pictured above). Bike Gallery is Oregon's largest bicycle retailer and may be the largest Trek dealer in the United States. They have a long reputation for emphasizing the relationship and integrity over the "sale" and I can't wait to begin working with another company that shares my values. Bike Gallery also sells Lemond, Gary Fisher, Orbea, Co-Motion and a wide array of other fantastic products. I'll say again; I'm really excited for this opportunity.

You can learn more about BG by visiting their website: http://bikegallery.com. For those of you who are friends and former clients (or both...), I'll invite you to stop by and visit. The address, phone number, and a map to the location can be found here on the website.

Finally, if there is anything that I can do to help you better enjoy your cycling experience - I now have a new medium to help you - so don't hesitate to ask. Stop by the store and I'll see what I can do. I'll look forward to seeing you!

Thanks for reading.