Thursday, January 29, 2009

Orange Headsets, White Headsets....


Fans of the shop know that one of our favorite tasks is customizing bicycles. The most resent step toward making every bike extra special has been to stock custom color items. We noticed that it seems impossible to get a white, orange or yellow headset. Well, we put an end to that. We had these Cane Creek S-8 headsets transformed to expand our headset offerings. The lower grade multi colored headset is for a special project... more details to come…

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Lill' Q

We just got in a very special and very custom little bike (12" seat tube) for a woman we will call Jaja (not her real name). The frame is a Ti Quiring single speed with Paragon sliding dropouts. The finish is a matte to polished star fade. What a special bike for a special lady. As always more pictures can be viewed here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebicycleescape/

Monday, January 26, 2009

Wax on Wax Off


The time had come and gone. We ran out of excuses and postponed it too many times. We could no longer put off waxing the damn floor. So late Saturday/EARLY Monday we stashed bikes in every corner of the shop and did the deed. I am glad it is behind us!

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Rainbow Fixie



Rainbow Fixie
Originally uploaded by thebicycleescape


We just received a shipment of fun stuff that lends itself to dressing up a fixed gear. Origin8 has lots of cool new parts in tons of colors. Stop by the shop to be the first to see these new items which include: Orignin8 chainrings in several colors, Origin8 Track pedals, Colored toe clips and straps and cheap fixed gear wheels. Also, make sure you check out the Ale toe clips and straps their quality is great.

Sunday, January 04, 2009

Ergontastic


Ergontastic
Originally uploaded by thebicycleescape

If you have not tried Ergon grips yet do your self a favor and give them a try. Love at first ride.

Saturday, January 03, 2009

Counterfeit Specialized Frames

Mockery is the best form of flattery but good grief. This article came from Bicycle Retailer and Industry News.


More Specialized Fakes Turning Up
MORGAN HILL, CA (BRAIN)—The current batch of counterfeit Specialized Tarmac framesets circulating the Internet isn’t the first time Specialized has dealt with sales of fake products, but it is the brashest case the supplier has seen, according to Mark Schroeder, director of engineering for Specialized. “Specialized is one of the more popular brands to copy in China,” Schroeder said. “We have long been the target of counterfeits in China, but this was on low-end bikes that stayed in China. This is the first time we have had a high-end product so blatantly ripped off.” Specialized issued a press release recently detailing the fake S Works Tarmac framesets that its investigators started discovering on eBay and Craigslist earlier this year. They are blue and red 2007 and 2008 frames and forks in sizes 52 and 54 centimeters with no serial numbers on the frame and/or fork or a fork serial number starting with K85L, or a headset carbon cone with FSA logo. The fake frames are near duplicates of the Outside 3D frame shape, but the composite construction is different, meaning an outside factory is responsible for their production, Schroeder said. “These frames are not being sold/diverted out the back door of our factory, but are instead being made somewhere else. Where we do not know, nor have our investigators been able to find this counterfeit factory,” he said. They do know that the factory is in Taiwan or China as many of the customers who have purchased the fakes said the frames were shipped from China. Specialized also has reports of people buying counterfeit framesets while in China. There is no way for Specialized to estimate the number of fake frame sales, and it’s nearly impossible to stay ahead of the issue. “The problem with tracking down the factories and sellers in China is that the Chinese government is unwilling to cooperate at the level we need to solve the problem. We proactively try to shut down sales on eBay and other sites through our team that monitors fake Internet sales. We monitor these sites every day but the problem is we can’t stop every auction. Schroeder said counterfeit S Works Pave seatposts have also been discovered and that counterfeit clothing is also a huge problem for the company. The company posted a notice on its Web site this week informing consumers that they only way to guarantee the authenticity of Specialized bikes and products is to make purchases through an authorized Specialized dealer. Anyone with any questions regarding the authenticity of a Specialized product, should contact Specialized customer service at (877) 808-8154 or store_customerservice@specialized.com. —Nicole Formosa