15 posts tagged “cycling”

Velonews has more details on the new Shimano Dura-Ace 7970 electronic shifters. There's enough information there to convince me that this is definitely different. No cables, self adjusting derailleurs, potential for more than a single set of shifters.

I'm not going to be jumping on this bandwagon very quickly, but I'm intrigued at least.

This is a fundamental shift in cycling technology that hasn't been seen before. The basic mechanics of shifting have been the same since the 50s and 60s. Shift levers have changed to be sure, but in evolutionary ways. Still cables pulling on springs at heart, with a chain to tie it all together.

Old technologies have a habit of sticking around the longest. The book has been remarkably resilient, and the bike ha been extremely persistent. I suppose we'll see what happens now.

The marriage of spandex & velvet is surely the kind of unholy alliance that should be banned.

I have some political objections to Critical Mass (most notably, I've seen the flagrant breaking of traffic laws) but the New York City police department's recent response to the event is just disgusting, and might be enough to make me start riding every month.

I confess to not quite understanding the point of electronic shifting but Shimano is apparently hitting the market next year.

Cables stretch, but are cheap and easy to replace. Perhaps the electronic version will remain snappier for a longer period of time, or perhaps forver.

I just don't want my batteries to die when I'm on my way up Cypress Bowl.

With stories of bike racks being overfull in communities around the continent, it's nice to see someone trying to do something distinctive.

Contest picks best designs for Ballard bike racks
By JENNIFER LANGSTON
P-I REPORTER

Later this year, Ballard cyclists could find themselves parking their bikes between two toes of a giant concrete foot.

Or maybe inside the rusted husk of a car sculpture, meant to symbolize the decay of the automobile and fossil fuel age.

Personally, these racks have long been my favourites, combining function with good visual design. The City of Toronto's are also good, although the locking circle is affixed to the post by two bolts that can be removed which is a problem. I've never seen these ones at the ROM but I like the idea of doing something unique.

Despite (or perhaps as a result of) the pure joy that my newly acquired Eddy Merckx Team Alu Mega bike provides for me, I would dearly love one of these.

According to the Globe and Mail, cycling in T-dot is picking up at a pretty good pace.

Cycle mania hits high gear; good luck getting tune-up
Soaring gas prices, bad traffic and the TTC strike are getting a lot of people back on their bikes
SUSAN KRASHINSKY
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail May 7, 2008 at 5:43 AM EDT

For cycling enthusiasts in Toronto, it was the perfect storm.

Every year around this time, a stream of people bring their bikes in for tune-ups and repairs. Cycling is growing in popularity, and it's not easy to find a good mechanic. But this year, high gas prices, nasty weather and a traffic-choked downtown core meant tune-ups were in high demand. And when the TTC strike hit in April, a flood of desperate customers descended on Toronto's bike shops.

"The TTC strike just blew our minds. That was the busiest day of my life," said Eric Kamphof, a manager at Curbside Cycle near Bloor and Bathurst Streets. Curbside was so busy that it had to reject repairs. "To reject bikes is a horrible thing to do, it's nothing we want to do. But if you're a mechanic, you want to protect your level of quality.

The truth is, weather aside, Toronto's actually a pretty good city for cycling. The Don Valley Bike Path is a spectacular stretch of pavement with no cars that I used to use to get downtown from Scarborough. Streetcar tracks can be a bit of a challenge, but only on a few roads. The city is relatively flat (at least compared to Vancouver) and the Waterfront path provides a convenient way to move East=West along the Lakeshore through the Beach.

December is a whole different story, although I used to ride through the winter it would be harder to commute. Vancouver's rain can be relentless, but it's relatively...clean.

The biggest problem in Toronto is the seemingly endless sprawl. In a city where people have the longest commute on average in Canada, cycling is tough. Commutes less than 10 km are easy on a bike: commutes farther than 20 km are quite a bit harder.

Still, it's good to see.

It's old news by now that Floyd Landis has won today's time trial, all but clinching victory in Paris tomorrow.

This has been the most exciting tour to watch since 1989, when Greg LeMond faced Laurent Fignon in the final time trial and snatched the closest victory ever: 8 seconds.

That Landis' victory today came as much as a result of Oscar Pereiro's failure as his own effort does not diminish from his achievement.

This was a great race.

You're the man. Point taken.

Lance Armstrong to run in Boston Marathon
Associated Press / January 17, 2008

BOSTON -- Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong plans to run the Boston Marathon in April to raise money for his foundation.
more stories like this

Armstrong, 36, qualified for Boston by finishing last year's New York City Marathon in 2:46:43, good enough for 214th place among men. The Boston qualifying time for men ages 35-39 is 3:15.

As expected, after one of the greatest days in the history of the tour, Floyd Landis and the other race leaders took it easy today and hung together in the Peloton.

Tomorrow's penultimate stage is a 57km kilometre time trial. They call the time trial the race of truth -- there is no hiding in the peloton, no group times assigned, no moments of rest to be found in the French heat.

3 men are separated by only 30 seconds, a difference so small that it will be impossible to know who has won this race until the last man crosses the finish line -- barring major incident.

The evidence of yesterday's ride suggest that Landis is able to dig deeper than most at moments that matter to find those extra precious seconds that separate those who have the will to win from those who have the desire to win.

All bets are off, but if I were a betting man I'd put my money on that will.