Campagnolo Record Red Ergopower Shifters Available To Non Pro Cyclists

You might have remembered a post a while back about "Campagnolo Red". Campy released ErgoPower shifters with red logos for professional bike riders who wanted stronger spring action. The pros wanted to feel immediate shifting action during critical race shifts. Campy said they were making these Record red levers for the pros only, since the general cycling population usually opted for smooth shifting and light shifting action. But now, after I am sure some Academy-Award-winning whining and crying for these new toys from amateur cyclists, Campy has changed its mind and plans to release about 600 pairs of the red Record levers. It is unclear as to whether all 600 are going to be released in the USA in April or if they are making a total of 600 pairs for release in Italy, where they are already available, and the USA.

(Photo lifted from the Velonews site.)

Velonews

Wheelgirl is Hiring: Wanted Bike Mechanic with Shop Experience

It is that time of year again. We are looking for bike mechanics with at least 4 years of shop experience.

If you are interested, please click here, and email your bike mechanic resume in the body of your email. (No attachments will be opened, so please do not attach your resume to your email. We don't want to get virus spammed.) In this plain email, list your experience and education and/or bike mechanic school certificates.

The pay depends on experience, but we pay between $14.00 and $17.00 per hour. You are expected to perform services and tune-ups as well as build custom high-quality road, mountain, and track bikes from the frame up as well as custom wheel sets. We are a dealer for custom Independent Fabrication and custom titanium Lynskey Performance frames. We have over 30 specialty vendors, so we can spec and build just about any type of bike a customer can imagine. If you are reading this and have checked out the website, you have a clue as to our sensibilities.

All resumes will be read and considered. We are primarily considering those mechanics with current bike shop experience or industry experience, such as working as a race team mechanic. If you in the process of relocating from another part of the country, this could be a great opportunity.

The coffee and the atmosphere on 4th Street, an open-air shopping district with lovely restaurants, is sweet. Our customers are appreciative and polite. We are 1 mile from the North Berkeley Bart station. (Our cross street is Virginia.) so you can easily ride your bike from the Bart station if you are planning on commuting via Bart. We keep sane hours, 11 am to 6 pm, so you can usually get in some great riding before or after work, if you are training and/or racing. We offer sponsorship opportunities for those who can race and wrench responsibly.

   

Interview with Matt Bracken, President of Independent Fabrication

If you know of and love Independent Fabrication (IF) custom bike frames, you will want to check out this interview with Matt Bracken, the President of IF by Marcus Farley of Bike Radar.

Matt talks about the history, logo, and philosophy of IF as well as the Fat City Cycles connection. Here are a few tasty photo treats from the 2008 Independent Fabrication Catalog. I left out the Crown Jewel road bike, so you are encouraged to click on the catalog link and drool. We have a bunch of the new IF catalogs at the shop. We are very pleased with the way the frames look, build, and ride.

Also, in response to the 29er single-speed bike comments, we are waiting to finish the build on a lovely Independent Fabrication single-speed 29er according the the requests and design considerations of customer Robert. Trendy for a fleeting fashion moment it is not. Gorgeous and able to gracefully withstand the test of time and a thrashing on the trails and asphalt, it most certainly will be. (Check back soon for the photo of the ride Robert designed.)

Photos lifted from the IFbikes.com site. Crown Jewel track bike, Independence touring bike, Deluxe hard tail mountain bike.

Shimano SLX Mountain Bike Groupset, Baby of LX and XT with Compact Mountain Double Crankset

Shimano has come out with a new mid-priced groupset, SLX, which combines the durability of LX with some of the more performance-oriented features of XT and a compact double mountain crankset.

SLX offers you the choice of a new compact 36T/22T double crankset with a bash guard, as well as the option of a middle chain ring that goes to 36T. You can also opt to have the steel-composite middle chain ring currently offered in the 2008 XT groupset. If you want the traditional triple chain ring set up, you can choose a big ring of either 44T or 48T. The 48T comes with an outer chain ring guard. In addition, the crank arm pedal inserts are made of steel, so you are less likely to cross-thread or strip your cranks. Make sure you pick the correct derailleurs for your crank set choice. Just like road bikes, you will have to make sure that the front and rear derailleurs have cages that specifically suit the number of teeth and jumps between ring sizes of your chosen crank set's chain rings. The Hollowtech II design is designed to fit both 68mm and 73mm bottom brackets. (Hollowtech II cranks require external bottom bracket cups.)

You have six front derailleur options from which to choose, so just about any bike frame should be able to accommodate this group set. The SLX Rapid Fire Shifting pod option appears to be the same functioning quality level as XT. The rear derailleur uses the Shimano Shadow profile (which was release in XTR September of 2007). "Shadow" basically means the profile of the derailleur is slimmer; thus, it sits closer to the bike frame, so you are less likely to smack and damage your rear derailleur on a rock or a log. SLX brakes consist of the Shimano Servo Wave system, which is cam assisted. You can opt for a 20mm front axle. (But there is not of yet a 15mm axle option offered with XT and XTR.) The Deore LX group set is now being groomed to be more of a dependable commuter or enthusiast group set.

The SLX group set was not on the Shimano site when I searched. But the word is that Shimano has given attention to improving the performance as well as the look and feel of the SLX group set. (If you ride on this group set this season, put up a post and let us know what you think.)

Photos lifted from Bikeradar. Most currently info taken from bikeradar.

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Powered Bikes

Deutsch Telecom, the German-based telecommunications company, is commercially testing bikes with hydrogen-powered fuel cell motors in Berlin. Two German companies, Masterflex and Hawk Bicycles, have collaborated on these bikes, which are intended for eventual use for transporting  mail, refrigerated goods, or other types of products that lend themselves to delivery by bike in urban areas.

Hydrogen-powered bikes already exist in England. In 2007, Valeswood distributed the Pearl Hydrogen Cycle. But the Pearl Cycles are used primarily as industry examples of hydrogen-powered fuel cell transportation, not working delivery bikes. Also, there is not a current delivery service for hydrogen gas, so Pearl Cycle owners need to "access their own hydrogen gas container to use for refueling," as stated by Valeswood's Managing Director John Turner during his interview with Bike Radar.

Hydrogen-powered fuel cell technology, as applied to bicycle transportation, is in the beginning stages. The 250-watt motors on the Masterflex/Hawk bikes are exempt from motor vehicle laws, just like regular bikes. In addition, hydrogen is believed to deliver up to three times the power of a battery, and the by-product of the hydrogen reaction is water, not carbon emissions. However, as you well may know, creating a system by which to extract, store, and process hydrogen in environmentally friendly fuel cells at a competitive price is the challenge. (You can read more about fuel cells by clicking here and here.)

(Photos lifted from the bikeradar site and the Valeswood site)

via bikeradar.com