Titus RacerX 29er Demo

We just added a Titus RacerX 29er (size medium) to our quiver of demo bikes. I am anxious to demo this ride my self as I have yet to enjoy a full ride on one of these steeds.

Thanks and Happy Holidays

Thanks to everyone who helped make this a great year for the shop. Enjoy your holidays and ride your bikes while we have this great weather.

Press Release: North American Handmade Bicycle Show

Here is a press release I received regarding the 2008 NAHBS I kept all of the original typos to preserve the authenticity of the document, enjoy.


SPEEDWAY, Indiana – Following a promising buildup The North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS), the world’s largest trade/consumer show for custom-built bicycles, is on the verge of selling out all 185 exhibitor spaces as it heads to the cycling-friendly city of Portland, Oregon, for the first time in the show's three-year history.
The 2008 show will be held in the Oregon Convention Center, Portland, February 8-10.
Show director, Don Walker, the founder of NAHBS, and the show's presenting sponsor, says "I am truly delighted. The show has had three good growth years already, but heading into our fourth we are growing beyond my expectations. I am very confident we will sell all our booth spaces. With seven weeks until the show, we only have ten spaces left, and I am talking with companies that wish to fill those spaces."
The 2007 show, in San Jose, California, was the largest to date, featuring 103 exhibitors who collectively occupied 130 booth spaces. So far 134 exhibitors have signed up. That's almost exactly 30% growth over '07 in exhibitors, and 43% growth in booth spaces sold.
On a recent visit to Portland, show organizers noted considerable public, as well as industry, interest in the show in the Pacific Northwest region, extending as far north as Vancouver, BC.
About The North American Handmade Bicycle Show
The North American Handmade Bicycle Show is dedicated to showcasing the talents of individuals around the world whose art form is the bicycle. It aims to be a gathering point – online and in person – for frame builders and consumers looking for custom-made bikes, for the sharing of ideas and promotion of this industry and its traditions. After three years of growing by leaps and bounds, NAHBS 2008 will feature still more exhibitors, consumers and a wealth of seminars. For more information, see http://www.handmadebicycleshow.com/

Attendees:
333 Fab, Ahearne Cycles, Ahrens Bicycles, Anvil Bikeworks, Baylis Cycles, Bicycle Forest, Bilenky Cycle Works, Black Cat Bicycles, Black Sheep Fab., BME- Brano Meres Design, Bringheli Bicycles, Brooks, Bruce Gordon Cycles, Calfee Design, Cane Creek, Castellano Design, Challenge USA, Chris King, Cicli Polito, Cicli Zullo, Cloud Nine Design, Coconino Cycles, Columbus/Gruppo Spa, Co-Motion, Continental Tires (Highway Two), Courage Cycles, Crumpton Cycles, Cycle Monkey, da Vinci Designs, Davidson Cycles, Dedacciai, Delta 7 Sports, Desalvo Custom Cycles, Dirt Rag Magazine, Dominguez Cycles, Don Walker Cycles, El Camino Fab, Engin Cycles, Fairing Industrial, Fi`zi:k (Highay Two), Frances Cycles, Full Speed Ahead, Good Times Bicycles, Grognard Bicycle Co., Groovy Cycleworks, Ground Up Designs, Henry James, Hufnagel Cycles, Hunter Cycles, Igleheart Custom Bicycles, Independent Fabrication, Ira Ryan Cycles, Jeff Jones Custom Bicycles, Keith Anderson Cycles, King Cage, Kirk Frameworks ,Kish Fabrication, L.H. Thomson, Landshark Bicycles, Litton Cycles, Llewellyn Custom Bicycles, Luna Cycles, Maietta Cycles, Marcroft Cycles, Marschall, Framework, Momentum Magazine, Monsere Designs, Moots Cycles, Mountain Flyer, Naked Bicycles and Design, Nice Bicycles, Nobilette Cycles, Nova Cycle Supply, Oswald Cycle WorksPacenti Cycle Design, Palermo Cycles, Paragon Machine Works, Paul Component Eng., Peacock, Groove, Pegoretti, Pereira Cycles, Phil Wood & Co., Proletariat Bicycle Co., Rapha Racing, Rebolledo Cycles, Rene Herse Cycles, Renovo Hardwood Bicycles, Retrotec, Rex Cycles, Richard Sachs Cycles, Roark Titanium Bicycles, Rock Lobster, Rohloff USA, Rolf Prima Wheels, Rue Sports, Sadilah, Screen Specialties Shop Ink, Selle Italia/Pronet, Sheila Moon Cycling Apparel, Shimano America Corp., Signal Cycles, Soulcraft, Southwest Frameworks, Spectrum Powderworks, Sputnik Tool, SRAM, Steve Potts, Strong Frames, Sweetpea Bicycles, Sycip Design, Terra Nova Cycles, LLC, Thursday Bicycles, Townsend Cycles, True Fabrication, True Temper Sports, United Bicycle Institute, Vanilla Bicycles, Velocity USA, Vendetta Cycles, Ventana Mountain Bikes, USA, Vertigo Cycles, Vicious Cycles, Villin Cycle Works, Waterford Precision Cycles, Wheel Fanatyk, White Brothers, White Industries, Wolfhound Cycles, Wound Up Composites, Ybarrola Bicycles, Yipsan Bicycles, Zipp Speed Weaponry





Look for Yipsan frames at TBE soon...

The Bicycle Escape Family Grows

Yesterday, The Bicycle Escape welcomed a longtime friend and world class mechanic Adam Piece into the TBE clan. You might know him as “the guy who can bunny hop that log at Schaeffer Farms” or “the guy that tuned my suspension fork” or “the jerk that cut me off in his Nissan” but we know him as Adam. Stop by and say hi to our newest crewman and help us make him feel at home. If you want to do some extra kissing up for your next emergency repair, he likes his Sam Adams brew. :) Welcome aboard old friend!

The Final Installment

This bright and cheery 29er was built as a demo bike and to be enjoyed by Crazy-Danielle. The 16” built bike weighs 26.69 lbs and has custom blue pin striping on the Fox F-29 fork. Keep your eyes open for this bike. You are likely to see it at the Frederick Watershed or Gambrill State Park. Watch out for the rider though, she gets grumpy when she goes up hills.

Classy

Lucky rider George just got a custom powder coated 29er (decals applied after photo). The color is almost an almond tone that did not show too well in the photo. The frame is dressed with a Brooks saddle and a pair of their leather grips. This 18” 29er weighs in at 26.67lbs. The warm feeling you get when you look at this bike makes you want to reach for some dark chocolate and Grand Marnier. Cheers!

Build Fest

We have been working on a couple of bikes over the past week and now it is time to share them with the world. The next few blog entries will be pictures of the bikes along with a blerb… that’s right folks a BLERB.

The frame pictured was powder coated candy orange and the Thompson stem and Salsa seat clamp were coated in white. The E-13 bash guard and Straightline Components upgrade brake levers are both available in white as a stock option. The 18” bike (w/ pedals) tips the scale at 27.68 lbs. I can’t wait to test this bad boy on the trails.

Long Live the Hard Cores

The Bicycle Escape Gambrill Night ride was well attended in spite of Mother Nature. With 4 inches of snow on the rocks and leaves you might think that the ride would be canceled… not the case. 9 riders were up to the challenge. Unfortunately, I was not one of them. I spent my time wrestling with a snow thrower and shovel. I am glad some of us enjoyed the night.

Thanks to Ian for the picture.

The 2008 Bottles Have Arrived

Yes folks after months of speculation our 2008 water bottles have arrived. This year we have faster colors and a more aerodynamic logo! Stop by and take a sip from the water bottle that we think Bicycling Magazine should designate “the greatest thing in cycling hydration in over a decade.”

Come into the shop between now and Christmas and tell me what movie I quoted in my previous post and you will win yourself a free bottle.

Limit one bottle per customer while supplies last.

Gambrill Night Ride Shirts

A year in the planning, the Gambrill mountain bike Graveyard Shift T’s have arrived. The super comfy and stylish shirts were produced in very limited quantities. If you would like one you must act quickly. You can pick yours up at the trailhead or at The Bicycle Escape. They are a steal at 15 clams-"to use the parlance of our times!"

If you want to ride some of the best trails of the Mid-Atlantic at night you can sign up here.

Titus Launches Holiday Promotion and 2008 Web Site

Press Release from Titus:

November 26, 2007 - Tempe, AZ – Titus announced today the launch of Holiday Promotion on two of its key titanium full-suspension bikes. The promotion which kicked off this week and will run though the end of 2007, is intended to drive new high-end sales to its retailers during the Christmas selling season. Consumers can save over $1,000 on popular models such as the Racer X Ti and Motolite Ti. The promotion is tied into the introduction of the company’s completely re-designed website which was launched this week as well – www.titusti.com.

“We just kept seeing all of the incredible Holiday promotions happening with high-end carmakers like Mercedes, Lexus, and Infiniti and figured why not us?” said Pat Hus, CEO for Titus Cycles. “We had the inventory and wanted to do something special to show our dealers how much we appreciate their support. We’re confident this will create some strong activity during the holidays that might not have come about without a little nudge from us. Based on early dealer response it seems to be working already,” said Hus.

The re-designed 2008 site features a greatly improved layout with easier navigation, all new photography, including a high-resolution image gallery, technology highlights and media reviews. Additionally, the information-laden site contains articles about the latest suspension designs and how a Titus stacks up against the competition, as well as articles on bike fitting and custom frame-building.

Titus Cycles out of Tempe, Arizona is a leading manufacturer of high-end mountain and road bikes. The company builds frames from aluminum, carbon fiber and titanium and holds exclusive licenses for numerous frame technologies.

Fire Bike

I stumbled onto this picture while I was roaming around on Flickr. I thought it was interesting so and had to share it. By the way did you know that we have a photo album available online also hosted by Flickr? Check it out.

La Ruta

Our friend and racer Kevin Clark just completed one of the world’s most grueling mountain bike races, La Ruta De Los Conquistadores. This multi day race takes its participants 225 miles across Costa Rica. The race is famous for clinging mud and over 40,000 feet of climbing. Welcome home Kevin! No doubt you will be able to read all about the adventure on his blog Single Minded Endurance. (Oh yeah, Kevin was riding a fully rigid single speed. What a man!).

Bicycle Repair Man

via videosift.com

Every so often you witness something that strikes you in some indefinable but monumental way. Yesterday, while researching online, I stumbled across a video that shocked me to my core. This video, better than any I have ever seen, represents my life in an uncanny way. Watching the short film was like being removed from my body and being forced to look down on myself as an omnipotent observer. Some of you may have already seen this but for those of you who have not please enjoy.

Gambrill Night Rides Have Begun

The Gambrill night rides commenced last night. 12 riders joined in the special kind of fun only possible on a mountain bike surrounded by cold and darkness. There were a few mechanicals but fortunately most occurred at the end of the ride within walking distance of the tail head.

If you are comfortable riding the trails at Gambrill and own a high output light come on out and join us. Sign up here.

Photo Ride

This past Sunday several riders showed up for the second installment of The Bicycle Escape’s Photo Ride. The 18 mile ride was very casual with several stops to take photographs. We enjoyed the country roads in Walkersville and Thurmont. As you might note from the bike pictures the ride was somewhat of an unintentional Surly fan club ride. Afterwards we ended up a Cacique for some delicious Mexican/Spanish fare.

Dark Chocolate

A couple days ago I finished my latest project bike- Dark Chocolate. I wanted this bike to be striking to look at but with mellow styling and colors. We chose black and brown to accomplish the desired aesthetic. The Velocity blunt rims, Spot bash guard, Oury lock-on grips, Salsa seat clamp, and Thompson stem parts were all powder coated gloss chocolate brown. We also had the Shimano XT crank powder coated in a high gloss black. The headset and hubs are Chris King and the Avid Juicy brakes were outfitted with Straightline levers. The complete bike weighs 23.54lbs.

Thanks to Final Touch Powder Coating for the great job!

The next step is to get this beauty dirty!

HELP! Local Parks in Danger

It has come to my attention that eight Maryland parks are under immediate risk of closure. Gambrill and Greenbrier are on that list. It is imperative that we as riders, voters, and activists contact our local officials to let them know that this is not acceptable. A good way to find out who your officials are is to visit this website: http://mdelect.net/electedofficials/ It is too late for letters to be sent so use email and phone calls instead. Please do this TODAY as there is a lot at stake for anyone in the area who loves the out-of-doors.

BMX Parts-a-Plenty

Over the last week we have received several shipments of BMX goodies. We got stuff from Fit BMX, S&M, Animal, Fly Bikes, Primo, Haro, The Shadow Conspiracy, Odyssey, We The People, FBM, SNAFU, and more. As I was unpacking the parts I was reminded me of my skateboard days. Not that I was ever any good on a skateboard but I use to sell skate stuff in a previous life. Like skate stuff the packaging is cool and all of the parts are highly stylized. One thing you will instantly notice about the current 20 inch scene is colors. You can get nearly every part in a wide array of colors. This can be fun when you are dressing up your rig but good luck if you want to do the same to a mountain or road bike- black and silver is still the order of the day.

If any of you BMX fans stop by the shop ask for an Animal poster and we will hook you up.

Bicycle Commuting Clinic

Today we held our second bike commuter clinic. Basic bike commuter tips were covered as well as winter commuting tips. Once again John Gorham (Single Speed Outlaw team member) headed up the discussion. Everything from proper planning to safety and equipment were discussed. We look forward to seeing more bikes being used as transportation. It is the best way to fit cycling into your busy schedule. Happy riding.

Iron Cross on a Fixed Gear

Not that many people would consider competing in a 62 mile cyclocross race on a fixed gear, especially one with 6300 feet of elevation gain. But one of our racers, Kevin Clark, was up to the challenge. After a little over 5 hours of mud, sweat, and non-coasting-bliss, Kevin took 6th place. If you think Kevin took it easy the day before- NOT SO! He raced his bike to a 2nd place finish in the Monster Mash. Congratulations RacerK!

Jamis is Triathlon Crazy in 2008

The 2008 Xenith T2 is the new super slippery Tri bike from Jamis. The company has had super competitive road and mountain bikes for years but 2008 seems to be the year that they make major waves with the multi-sport community. The company hid the front brake behind the fork to reportedly improve aerodynamics. The $6300 dollar bike is not cheap but when you dissect the build kit one will realize how reasonable this elite race bike is. Triathlete Magazine did a write up which is available here.

2008 Breezer Bikes

It looks like Breezer has a new bicycle for the 2008 model year. The bike will be called the Finesse and looks to be billed as a high end commuting bike or just as a super versatile road/fitness machine. In classic utilitarian style the bike is all dressed up with a rack, fenders, generator lights, and a multi position handlebar that I’ll call a “Joe-bar” which was custom made by Ritchey Logic.

This new ride is spec’ed with the Shimano Alfine components. The hydraulic disc brakes coupled with an 8 speed internally geared hub are sure to offer low maintenance and reliability. This ensures good stopping power and reliable shifting even on foul weather rides. The bike is equipped with a carbon fiber fork to smooth out the rough roads.

I hear that the final price of this bike is not yet determined but it should fall somewhere in the $2000-$2300 price point.

Check out our stock of Breezer bikes frequently and you can bet on seeing a Finesse in the line up soon.

2008 Titus Bikes

Here is the latest information that we received from Titus regarding their 2008 line of mountain bikes.

New profile to the Racer X Aluminum and Motolite Aluminum top tube saving weight adding an aesthetic appeal and further optimizing the ride based on the axial shaping of the tube.

RACER X and MOTOLITE 2 made in the USA, the two high-end aluminum frames were brought back the United States for manufacturing, partnering with SAPA in Oregon we were able to get the performance we wanted and further improve our production processes. Now we can have all of our frames in production at once through the best manufacturing partners in the industry SAPA in Portland, OR and Kinesis in Taiwan.

The complete frames are still manufactured by Kinesis and all of the tolerances are better than ever, the additional manufacturing partner will improve delivery times and mean more regularity to inventory receipts.

New color schemes and additional complete package option, the Motolite Complete gets a complete new graphics package with three color blocking and a new more aggressive logo.

New Racer X Complete, to follow in the success of the ML1 from 2007 a price pointed complete Racer X.

The colors are as follows: “descriptive color names to follow”
-Racer X- Steal Grey anodized, Black anodized, and a deep red metallic powder coat
-Racer X Carbon- Raw under clear continuation of color
-Racer X 29er- Red Powder coat continuation from 2007, and an additional Silver Anodized
-Racer x complete- Royal Blue painted with white graphics and accenting component package
-Motolite 2-Dark Graphite Grey Anodized, Blue anodized, Mango Powder coated
-Motolite Complete- White base with three color WHT/BLK/SILV graphics and paint package, as well as complimenting components
-El Guapo- Black Anodized, Gold Powder coat
-Fireline Hardtail 26” or 29”- lighter sexier hard tail that breaks the barrier between lightweight performance and all around frame, new seat stay and chain stay configuration.
-Vuelo- new graphics to accent the Exogrid materials, in addition to the Titus log tubes being used on both top tube and down tube to further maximize weight savings
-Ligero- High polished finish with new Red/Yellow Graphics and high gloss clear coat finish
-Solera- satin polished titanium with red/blue graphics and high gloss clear coated down tube
-Oseo- Continued Raw/Gold/White graphics for 2008
-Estrella- all new green paint scheme with polished rear and fresh graphics package
-FCR- packages will mimic the production frames in aesthetics

As always check back for the latest updates. Also check out the shop site as well as Titus' website.

Single Speed Worlds 2007

Several members of our single speed clan were lucky enough to head to Aviemore, Scotland for the 2007 Single Speed World Champs. We would like to give the Outlaws a warm welcome home. Maybe next year we can come along. Check out this video of part of their adventure: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFj4BIM81Cg

And as always read more details on the Outlaws here: http://www.singlespeedoutlaw.com/issue5/blog.shtml

And check out some more pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/singlespeedoutlaw/sets/72157601937940928/

The Photo Ride

Today The Bicycle Escape and the Single Speed Outlaws sponsored a very unique group ride. It was a casual paced road ride led by S.S.O. team member and photographer, Maili Godwin. The cool thing about this ride was that we stopped at different points of the ride to shoot photos of the beautiful countryside. During the 20 mile loop through Walkersville and Thurmont we came across some peaceful scenery of old barns and silos, horses and cows. We also passed through a covered bridge where we sat and feasted on PBJ sandwiches and Gatorade. The weather made this ride even better with the sun shining and a light breeze blowing.

If you missed today's ride don't worry because we will schedule another one in the near future. In the mean time you and your pals can download the cue sheet of the very ride we did this morning called the "One Covered Bridge Loop."

Thank you to everyone who participated in the ride. It was a blast!!

National Champ Mara Abbott to Race Old Glory

Mara Abbott (Team Webcor Builders) will be racing a custom painted Orbea Orca at the 2007 World Championships this month in Stuttgart. While 21 year old Mara is only in her second year of cycling, she recently won the National Championship race by beating veteran and favorite Kristen Armstrong. You can read an interview with Mara Abbott at Velonews.com.

World Class Commuter Bike

As some of you may know Danielle and I recently relocated to a home closer to the shop. Part of the reason we moved was to make it easy to cycle to the shop. A few days ago I had the pleasure of commuting on an Independent Fabrication SSR Equipped with Sram Force components. This was my second ride on the Stainless Steel SSR and I enjoyed it as much as my last ride. This frame also has the Fulcrum Zero wheels which previous to my commute I have never ridden.

This bike was also fun because it was reviewed by the folks at Bicycling Magazine. Matt brought it to our IF party and agreed to leave it at the shop as a demo bike. If you would like to test ride this famous bike stop by the shop. We will have this beauty through mid September.

An Evening with Independent Fabrication 2007

The 2007 Independent Fabrication party was a blast! Matt Bracken gave a great presentation to a full house. He touched on everything from custom fittings to material selection. As promised the shop was full of exceptionally beautiful handcrafted bicycles. In addition to the bikes, Mamma Lucia keep our bellies full of top notch Italian eats.

The following morning about 16 of us ventured out on a 35 mile road ride with Sir Speedy himself, Harlan Price. We cycled on some of the beautiful back roads Frederick County has to offer.

We would like to offer a special thank you to Mamma Lucia, Lara Bar, Hammer Nutrition, Park Tools, and of course Independent Fabrication. Their combined efforts help make this years Evening with IF one to remember.

More Pics here.

Single Speed Steel IF Deluxe

As I mentioned in a previous post the single speed fever is now an outbreak. Here is a single speed Independent Fabrication Steel Deluxe that I just had to share. For you gram counters she tips the scale at 24.11 lbs. as she sets.