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.