Need For Speed :: Steel Speed, that is...

Just got this from the good folks at Trophy Bikes who somehow think that steel is still relevant enough to have a dedicated TT race category. We, of course, know that it is not just crazy talk, since we love us some steel bike goodness.

There has to be some of the IF faithful out there in the greater Philly/tri-state area that can show up and represent at what sounds like a great event.

News from Trophy Bikes and Tri-State Velo Club

CONTACT:

Michael McGettigan Trophy Bikes cell 215.990.9275 (not for publication) michaelmcgettigan@mac.com

Ron Ruggerio Tri-State Velo Club tri-statevelo@verizon.net

SHOW YOUR METAL in the Steel/Vintage Class Time Trial

The 2011 Philadelphia Amateur Time Trials, June 4^th

Presented by the Pro Cycling Tour and Hosted by Tri-State Velo Club

The region’s largest cycling time trial has added something new—and old—a class exclusively for steel bicycles, both new and vintage.

The “Steel/Vintage” class is sponsored by Trophy Bikes and will be restricted to bikes made of steel—including the fork. That’s right: no aluminum, no titanium, and none of that new-fangled carbon fiber. But don’t be surprised to see some brand-new machines at this event. For many independent bike crafters, steel remains the best material for making frames.

“With the resurgence of steel as the material of choice for many top American frame builders, the time seems right to showcase the steel racing bike,” says Trophy Bikes’ Michael McGettigan. “Steel bikes can be light—that’s a fact. Steel still rivals any other material for ease of construction. Of course, steel has been under development for more than 150 years—it’s no surprise that it still offers advantages that carbon fiber and aluminum can’t match.”

McGettigan says he expects to see plenty of classic machines from the 1970s and ’80s—and maybe even a few from the 1890s—when the first lightweight steel racers were already appearing. Thousands of vintage racing machines are still being loved and used every day by their owners, even if they own carbon fiber bikes for racing.

Grand Prize—a handcrafted steel fork from Bilenky Cycle Works.

For Steve Bilenky, owner of Philadelphia’s legendary Bilenky Cycle Works, steel is a favorite as well. Bilenky will be making the grand prize for the time trial’s top male and female finishers. Each will get a handmade steel fork.

The rules for the Steel/Vintage class are simple: the entire bike frame and fork must be steel. No carbon fiber on the bike. Aero components aren’t banned, but riders are asked to honor the spirit of the competition by using parts appropriate to their bike.

On race day, McGettigan and company will be on hand to ensure that the bikes entered in the steel class are really made of that material. “It’s pretty simple,” says McGettigan. “We’re bringing a magnet.”

For more information, go to www.tristatevelo.com

To enter: www.bikereg.com Bilenky Cycle Works: www.bilenky.com

Background

Trophy Bikes est’d 1998. Two stores: University City 3131 Walnut Street, and Northern Liberties 1040 North American St.

Brands include:

Jamis. Surly. Brompton. Waterford. Independent Fabrication. Marin. Gunnar.

L'enfer du nord

Paris-Roubaix is the race that got me interested in cycling. Ever since I first saw it on television back in 1987 with commentary by John Tesh. Now don't get me wrong, I love the Giro and the Tour, but Paris-Roubaix is my favorite hands down. Fast forward 24 years and a bunch of miles later, I finally got my wish. My good friend Dan Farrand got the idea planted in my head and I couldn't say no.

For those who don't know, northern France is SUPER flat, fast and smooth roads as far as the eye can see. That is of course until you hit the cobbles. The first section I rode was Wallers/Arenberg. When I finally stopped and took a look around, I couldn't believe that I'd made it here. All the memories of races I've watched over the years comes right back. After taking a bunch of pictures, I was ready to ride. The road leading up to the forest is flat, straight and fast. But once you hit the cobbles everything goes downhill fast.

The only way I could describe it would be to imagine yourself riding over land mines and your handlebar is red hot and hard to hold. After about 300 yards I stopped with fear that I was going to crash. My hands already had blisters the size of silver dollars. After about 5 minutes I made it to the end with my teeth intact.

The day of the race is like no other. Locals are already dressed up with flags flying by 8 am. You pretty much have only one section to watch the race and since Arenberg is our favorite, that's where we went. As we were waiting, a reporter and camera man interviewed me for Belgian TV (which we saw later that night).

My friends and I could maintain about 15-20 mph through the cobbles. The pros on the other hand were going at least 25-30. You could tell when they were approaching by the roar of the helicopters, motorcycles, support cars and of course the fans.

The ghost train has arrived.

L to R; Me, James Mason, Dan Farrand, Andy Mason

On Monday we decided to head up to the Roubaix velodrome and check it out. One word, impressive. The track is so smooth and the banks are STEEP. This is the last year that the race will end on the original track. Next year, it will finish in the new one which is being built just a stones throw from the old one.

About 50 paces from the track is the office/museum for the track/race. Since this is northern France and Belgium is not too far away, it only makes sense to have a bar inside. Above it are listed all of the riders who won over the years.

No matter what you see on tv, real pave is 1000X harder than it looks. I guess that's why I have more respect for the riders who focus on the classics instead of one race. They turn themselves inside out on the worst roads and weather. The one with the best handling skills wins, it's that simple.

-Ronaldinho

Ps. go see this race in person.

Thanks Adam! :: Go Bruins!

Ever been in one of those situations where you're up to your eyeballs, you don't know what you're going to do, and then someone comes along and extends a hand?

I think we've all been there, and as the song says, we get by with a little help from our friends. I consider myself very fortunate to have had the helping hand of Adam Deemer over the past few months.

Adam is off to New Mexico to start a new adventure with his family, and we will miss his mad mechanic skills, willingness to do any crappy job that needs to get done, and most important, his enthusiasm and love of all things bike.

The best thing that we could do to show our appreciation to Adam was to help him build his dream bike, which had to be done in Boston Bruins livery. I was hoping to get this shot properly in our studio, but it hasn't stood still long enough, so here are a few snaps from the build stand and a link to a recent Bike Rumor outing of Adam's new ride:

Adam, best of luck to you and your family in New Mexico and many, many thanks for your support.

Go Bruins!

TiFLW :: Cycling Weekly Review

Our good friends at Mosquito Bikes in London have been introducing our Sprout Green Titanium Factory Lightweight to the press since showing it off at the London Bicycle Show back in January (excuse the cell phone pic, there are some great detail shots in the online article linked below).

Cycling Weekly recently did an online preview and then a print review after throwing a leg over it.

We set out to make a modern metal (mostly) race bike in the same spirit as the muscle cars that came out of Detroit in the late 60's and early 70's (e.g., everything you need for performance, and nothing extraneous, wrapped in aggressive aesthetics).

Modern in the adoption of standards such as BB30 compatible bottom brackets and head tubes for 44mm in-set head-sets, which provide the platform for large diameter tubing to create an extremely rigid frame-set, yet retaining the sweet ride of titanium.

On the aesthetic front, I've taken some heat for limiting the paint scheme and color options on the TiFLW, and even forgone some orders as a result, but after reading Neil Webb's last line in the print review, "the TiFLW is exceptionally well finished, the bike will fit perfectly, and the paint job itself is worth 20 watts!", I feel justified in taking a firm stance on the bike's aggressive aesthetics.

It's not for everyone, and that is a good thing, worth reflecting on from time to time. We make custom bikes, and that is often over simplified into "we make exactly what the customer wants". While we aspire to exceed customer expectations, we aim to do that within the unique context of what makes an IF an IF. Marketeers can go all buzz-babble about brand DNA and such, but sometimes it's best to just be who you are and let the customer decide if they want to dance with you.

Let's face it, lots of folks can join tubes together and make a decent bike... just look at the expanding list of exhibitors at NAHBS. What separates those that can just make a bike from those that will endure over time is the unique emotional context they create for themselves and their customers.

We are an American brand. No faux Euro nomenclature or heritage rip-offs here. After 16 years in the game, we have our own point of view... we make stuff that gets us excited in the morning.

Sprout Green, Omaha Orange, Velocity Yellow, Barracuda Purple, Boss Blue... good for an extra 20 watts? Not sure about that, but if looks fast and has some attitude, you will be faster.

Let's dance,

G

Fit Science :: Retul Fit System

Joining steel, titanium and carbon fiber tubes together to make a bike takes a lot of capability based on sound principles and science. Ensuring that it will properly fit the rider takes knowledge and science as well.

Just as we strive to continuously advance our frame building skills, we've recently taken steps to significantly upgrade our fitting and frame design capability. This upgrade began with bringing Jesse Fox on board to lead our design efforts. Jesse is a certified fitter and has many years of direct fit experience in top stores in NYC, Portland and DC. He has also been through several frame building schools so he can link both fit and fab skills together.

On the science side of the equation, modern technology has advanced to the point where much of the traditional intuition, and all of the guess work, can be taken out of the process. The leader in modern fit systems is the Retul 3D Motion Capture Fit System.

We recently purchased a complete Retul set-up, and Jesse and I spent three days at Retul's Denver fit studio undergoing training and conducting actual fits on paying customers.

The Retul System utilizes light emitting diodes placed on the rider in specific anatomic locations to capture the full range of motion as the rider actually pedals their bike (or a size-cycle).

A bank of cameras captures the light and processes the data through sophisticated software to precisely measure all critical fit parameters in 3D.

When combined with power measurement, traditional physical assessments, and subjective rider input, it provides the most comprehensive and accurate gauge of rider fit and performance potential available anywhere.

The data provided on this comprehensive fit summary is more than sufficient to build a frame design in BikeCAD, which, when taken together with the riders desired ride qualities, will result in a custom build that rides and fits better.

The system is also extremely helpful at dialing in the fit of an existing bike, albeit within the constraints of the existing bike's geometry. Before making changes to the contact points of an existing bike through saddle height, fore/aft adjustments, etc., it is necessary to understand where the rider's contact points are. Traditionally this involved lots of time and manual tape measurement.

Here Jesse is using the Retul Zin tool to electronically capture the exact geometry of an existing customer bike. The system captures all of the bikes measurements to be used in before/after comparisons. This greatly reduces the risk of operator error, especially considering the contoured shapes of modern carbon frames, which make it very difficult to get precise manual measures of existing frame center to center coordinates.

We are excited to be incorporating such an advanced and easy to use tool into our fit process, and look forward to helping customers design their custom dream bike, or better dial in the fit of the their existing bikes.

Jesse and I would like to thank Todd, Ivan and Holly at Retul for being great teachers and partners.

G

Cyclocross :: Rallycross

Don’t let the quiet demeanor fool you. Underneath his calm exterior lies a pilot light ready to go off. I first met Kevin over 10 years ago when I was living in Vermont. Since then, he has never been one to stand still. At the time, he had just started working for the Land Rover Driving School in Manchester, Vermont as an assistant driver. With his hustle and driving skills, that quickly turned into a full-time head driver position.

After years of hard work driving all over the world for Land Rover, and with a European commercial under his belt, he joined Team O’Neill Rally School up in northern New Hampshire. Coming from a mountain bike background, it only made sense that Kevin would gravitate towards rally driving.

He and I would always swap weekend racing stories; me, road/track/cross, and Kevin, rally/road/track. When I told him I got a frame building spot at IF, it didn’t take long for him to hound me for a frame. So naturally he bought a Planet Cross. In his words, “Cross racing is just like rally racing.” “You go flat out from the start and try like hell to keep things together!”

So here he is with his new “ride”. We painted the bike just like a rally car, complete with tow hooks and rally race plaques.

Building a frame for one of your best friends is the toughest challenge. But as you can see, it turned out perfectly. Thank you Kevin and much luck on the course!

Ron

NAHBS 2011 :: We win!

Some folks don't like the awards at NAHBS, but that's just because they didn't win!

Austin was a great venue, made even sweeter by Shawn taking home the cash and prizes for "Best TIG Welded Bike" for our prototype ti Factory Lightweight SS Deluxe.

Awards are handed out in essentially three categories; 1) type (e.g., road, off-road, commuter, track), 2) materials (e.g., steel, carbon, titanium), and 3), construction method (e.g., lugged, fillet brazed, tig-welded).

We've now won in every category, which is very gratifying as it shows our versatility as builders; 2007 for Best Track, 2009 for Best Carbon, and now 2011 for Best Tig Welded.

Here are some more pics of the award winning bike:

The show really is about a rendezvous of folks who share a passion for bikes and the various lifestyles around them.

Not sure what was better, winning the award, or the sweet potato pecan pie that we had for desert after our celebratory dinner.

It was a blast, thanks to Don and Lesley for putting on such a great show, and thanks to all of you who stopped by to say hello and check out our stuff.

Check out all of the NAHBS 2011 award winners here. See you all in Sacramento next year.