Sending a clear message...

Whatever illusions certain fools in the pro peleton may have had should well be erased by now. The constant bickering between the UCI, ASO, and the Pro-Tour teams aside - a clear message has been sent: you cannot use performance enhancing drugs and participate in the Tour de France.

Today's ejection of climbing "phenom" Riccardo Ricco - after two stage wins in the tour and some amazing climbing performances in this year's Giro d'Italia: all now under question - marks the third rider within the first half of the current tour to be caught and expelled for EPO use. Ricco's team, Saunier-Duval/Scott followed suit and removed themselves from the race voluntarilly (for reasons yet to be known as I write this).

Can't we all just get along?

I don't know how far-reaching this story has been; but a Portland road rage incident took an interesting twist last weekend. I'll leave the story-telling to Jonathan Maus at bikeportland.org if you'll promise to return for my commentary:

Cyclist meets driver with a twist

I'm on TV!

A Portland area news crew for Fox TV/Better TV wanted to do a story on choosing the right bicycle - now that it's summer and gas prices are what they are. So they came to Bike Gallery and I was chosen as the lucky individual to work with them. So, in the name of shameless self-promotion; enjoy:



I'll be sending a bill for my time if you use any of my advice to purchase a new bike. Watch your mail...

If it's not one thing it's another...

Tom Boonen tests positive for Cocaine...seriously...

Story on VeloNews.com

O.k., so while I was a successful competitive athlete in several sports, I've never attained the level of an elite athlete and personally known the pressures they're under. But frankly, some of these stories really read like an intelligence test:

Examiner: "Are you smart?"

Pro Athlete: "Uh..."

Examiner: "Here's a hint: It's a yes or no question."

Pro Athlete: "Oh, I get it! Um...yes?"

Examiner: "Try to pose your answer in the form of a statement, please."

So it seems that we may have made some great progress in the fight against performance enhancing drugs. But the world of recreational drug use is still alive and kicking in professional sports and has now taken another swing at our beloved sport of cycling.

Dura Ace 7900 Officially Unveiled!

Something myself and the industry press at large have been talking about for some time now - and here it finally is: Just in time for the Tour de France.

The Velonews.com story has some great technical info which rings true with what my inside source with Shimano had told me about the group (but made me promise not to say...). I'll certainly be waiting anxiously to finally get my hands on it - and you'll read about it here when I finally do!

Until then; look here for the details:


http://velonews.com/article/76923

http://cyclingnews.com/..../shimano_dura-ace_790008

Continental Gran Prix 4000 s

I've been meaning to write about these tires for a while - I received a set last summer from my Continental Sales Rep, Adam (back in Tennessee) and then neglected to mount them on any wheels before moving to Oregon. Well, Oregon winter weather came and went - spent on my favorite winter tires from Michelin - and I've now switched back to using my Bontrager Race X Lite Aero wheels; on which I had installed the 4000s'.

I've spent a lot of time on Michelin tires - which I love; but I don't really like the break-in time required to scuff them in and wear off the waxy residue on the rubber. I've never had that problem with and of the Continentals I've ridden. I can install them and immediately go take a nice, fast, aggressive descent and not hear the "chirping" sound that I've come to know as my new Michelin's skip through a corner. The Continental tires bite the pavement beautifully in a loaded corner from day one and the 4000s iteration is no different. In fact, in the 250+ miles I've ridden on them so far (with plenty of high-speed, twisty downhills) I have yet to find their cornering limit. I can't push these tires hard enough through a corner at 40+ (or a tight hairpin at 25-ish) mph for them to let go and make me wish I hadn't done that. I'll attribute this to Conti's claimed 30% improvement in grip. Hard to measure exactly - but noticeable in cornering confidence.

Pro Road Racing in Portland!

Just a quick update - the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic is currently underway in Portland and NW Oregon. Jonathan Maus at bikeportland.org has been attending some of the stages and posted some great pictures of the event. Check it out:

Photo Gallery of Naito Parkway TT and Mt. Tabor Crit

Do The Wave!

So, there's a number of blogs that I visit regularly. Some of them are by people whom I have some kind of strange connection to, others are just ones I've run across that I like. Davesbikeblog.blogspot.com, authored by Dave Moulton - famed frame builder, is one I visit with frequency. I learned a lot of what I know about custom bike fit passively from Dave - which is another story that I'll have to tell later. That's just to say that Dave is one of those with whom I feel a connection.

One of Dave's recent posts deals with a pet peeve of mine: the fading courtesy of the "wave".

A Little Housekeeping...

As noted near the top of the page, I've started a new blog entitled PDX Pro Road to highlight the cool things we have going on at the store. And so, I'm making the conscious decision to make the PDXPR page more product and service oriented while my own page will include things of a more personal nature. My personal opinions, experiences, and thoughts will still be found here. I'll also double-post some of the product highlights and reviews for items that I'm particularly excited about or personally using. PDXPR will be more product oriented and focus on what we are doing and have in stock at the store.

However, I'm a pretty flexible guy and I mostly want to keep things interesting for those who regularly read my mindless drivel...so if you have an opinion one way or the other: love or hate; leave a comment on this post and let me know what you'd like to see.

So, that said; my promised Parlee updates can be found at PDXPR, while I'm continuing to format and draft my thoughts on my conversation with Bob Parlee at NAHMBS and will post that here, probably linked (or double-posted) at PDXPR. Stay tuned...

Thanks, as always, for reading!

Don't believe everything you read...why published weights don't matter.

This is one of my favorite topics. It annoys me to the core how much emphasis people will put so much "weight" (sorry, I had to) into companies' claims of their bikes' total weight. "Yeah, but this bike weighs x.xx lbs and this bike weighs x.xx lbs more..." blah, blah, blah... There's an excellent example in one of the latest stories at cyclingnews.com.

The "New Arrivals" feature is one of my favorites that they run; as they receive some of the newest gear sooner than many other publications and it lets me know what to expect to see tests on in the near future. For example - I believe they've released the first comprehensive test of Sram Red. This time, they're highlighting three top-end road bikes that have just rolled into their stable: the Jamis Xenith SL, Serotta HSG Carbon, and Isaac Sonic. All somewhat obscure bikes that you're not likely to see in the bike shop on the corner or hear long discourses on at the next Saturday club ride. But the story provided some very interesting information; buried in the specifications list about each bike, that I think slipped by most people. The weights of the complete bikes, the weights of the frames, and the other details of the bikes' builds. "Not exactly rocket surgery there, Matt."