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.

Harlan Price will joining in the fun!

We are excited to announce that Independent Fabrication endurance racer Harlan Price will be joining us on our Sunday morning road bike ride the day following our IF party. For those of you who have been on the moon with your fingers in your ears singing “Bang, Bang, Bang Went the Trolley” and are unaware of our event here it the low down:
We will have IF bikes available for demo from 10:00-6:00 on Saturday, August 25. You can take a spin on the award-winning XS, the SSR stainless steel frame, and even some of their bikes that debuted at the 2007 North American Handmade Bicycle Show.
Saturday evening at 7:00pm the president of Independent Fabrication, Matt Bracken and CFO Joe Ingram will give a presentation.
On Sunday, August 26th at 10:00am there will be a road ride with Matt, Joe, and Harlan. Riders should bring their own bike but may have the opportunity to ride an IF demo bike if they so choose.

White Brothers & Origin8 29er Forks

Recently I had the opportunity to compare two carbon 29er mountain bike forks, White Brothers Rock Solid and Origin8 Black Ops. I have not ridden either of these products for any length of time so this is not an evaluation or ride report. What I noticed was based on appearances these two forks are identical. From the crown to the drop outs every detail (except graphics) appears the same. The Origin8 fork sells for around $249.99 and weighs 784.2 grams. The White Brothers costs around $359.99 and tips the scale at 821.5 grams. The difference in weight could be with in the range of expected variance.

With this information it is clear that both companies are using the same Asian manufacturer. It is possible however, that the forks are made in the same plant but different materials and carbon weaves are used. I can not assess the materials used in the forks or construction methods. This post is not intended to be discouraging and I make no claim as to the quality of either fork. I simply found it interesting and wanted to share. I should also note that I have no fundamental problem outsourcing and view it as sometimes necessary. I, for example, am not even typing this entry myself. I have a contract with a firm in Asia that I let pound the keyboard for me ;)

Tom Rinker Dictated but not read

Single Speeds and a Lazy Blogger

Single speeds seem to be the order of the day here at The Bicycle Escape. Two of the newly released Specialized bikes, a super slick commuter recently went out the door and we have an IF on the way. Things have been really busy here so I am sorry for falling asleep on the blog. I will get my act together and post again soon.

2008 Specialized StumpJumper FSR 29er

Here is a sneak peek of the brand new 2008 Specialized Stumpjumper FSR 29er (Green Bike). This is a sample of the new Stumpjumper platform. The frame has about 4 inches of travel and should sell for around $4100 dressed up with top end components. The full suspension 29er also has a Brain Fade which seamlessly goes from 20% locked out to full travel. There is still a wait for these bikes to hit showroom floors but it is great to see that when Specailized jumps into something they do so head first. Expect big wheel bikes to play a strong roll in 2008 for The Big Red ‘S’.

Check out the Specialized fork with Fact carbon crown on the 26" wheel Stumpy! This bike has 5" of travel and tips the scale at 23lbs.

16 Years on the Road for MS

The other day a man on a very loaded bike stopped by the shop. For the past 16 years Thomas Beasley has been riding his bike around the United States to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis. Thomas stopped by asking for assistance. The shop and a representative of the Frederick Peddlers (the president in fact) made donations to help him along the way. Good luck Thomas we wish you a pleasant journey.

Frederick's Finest

On the 4th of July The Bicycle Escape had the misfortune of having a Specialized bicycle stolen. We called the Frederick Police Department and with in 6 minutes Officer R. V. Brown Jr. took my report. A few days later I learned that the individual had also stolen a pair of shoes from The Trail House. I called to notify Officer Brown of this latest piece of information. Today Officer W. H. Milyar Jr. came into the shop and told me that he had arrested the suspect on an unrelated theft. Officer Milyar recognized the suspect from my description and got him to confess to the bicycle theft. The Officer was even kind enough to return the bike to the shop. We would like to publicly thank the Frederick Police Department for the hard work throughout the year. Job well done!

Q Ball and Quiring Mountain Bike Frames

We recreantly added Q Ball and Quiring frames to the list of fun stuff that we stock. The Q Ball pictured is a USA made steel 29er mountain bike. It has a horizontal dropout, derailleur hanger, and sliding disc mount which means it can be built as a multi speed or single speed without adaptors. A large Q Ball frame tips the scale at 5.42 lbs. www.qballbikes.com

Industry Nine

I just wanted to share this beautiful set of custom Industry Nine Wheels that recently arrived. As you can see the wheel was built with blue and black spokes laced to a polished silver hub. The wheels have Industry Nine's super smooth bearings and their near instant engagement freehub. To broaden their offerings the company has also started to manufacture their hubs to accept a traditional j-bend spoke.

Make sure you enlarge the picture to check out the attention to detail.

Jamis & Titus Demo with an XT Twist

This past Sunday we held our Jamis/Titus demo at Gambrill State Park. The weather was perfect and lots of folks enjoyed test rides. Everything from a Jamis Exile 29er single speed to a Titanium/Carbon Fiber Titus RacerX was present at the event. The folks who came to the demo got an extra treat. We were showcasing the brand new 2008 Shimano XT equipment complete with shadow technology and pierced logos. Thanks to all who participated in the event as well as Robert (from Jamis) and Craig (from Titus/Shimano) for helping us out.

KSM Kashimax Five Gold Top Tube Protector

There is something about top tube protectors that I find very cool. Maybe it is the track star image or the gel encased steel. I don’t know what it is about them but I am now the proud owner of a Kashimax Five Gold top tube protector. I put it on my Surly fixed gear. Sure the tubing is thick enough that it would probably never dent but still I think it looks great. It is also fun for me to stock an item with such cool and imported looking packaging. Checkout more of our single speed stuff here.

Fit Bike Co. and More

The Bicycle Escape is pleased to welcome Fit Bike Co., Blk Mrkt Bikes, Metal Components, and S&M Frames to our family. We are excited to make this addition and increase the variety of our products. For all of our readers who like 20 inch wheels or aggressive hardtail mountain bikes come on in and check them out. You can view our current stock and weights of Fit bikes here: http://www.thebicycleescape.com/bmxbikes.html

Wednesday Road Rides

The Bicycle Escape Wednesday road rides are in full swing. If you have been missing out on the fun show up at the shop every Wednesday at 6:00pm with a bike and helmet… it’s that easy! The rides have been around 20 miles long at a pace of about 17mph. In case you did not realize it TODAY is Wednesday which means, of course, the ride is tonight. I hope to see you their.

Fun Project

Yesterday we completed a fun project: an IF Steel Deluxe Single Speed with a customized XTR crank (a la Jeff Jones). The bike is painted Vanilla Shake with green decals and has the Paragon Sliding Dropouts. It is built up with the Pace carbon fork and tips that scale at 21.7lbs. More pictures here: http://flickr.com/photos/thebicycleescape/

Warning: this post has nothing to do with bikes

HAPPY 3rd ANNIVERSARY TOM!

Breezer Zag8 Winner

Well folks the winner has presented herself! Today a very excited Jennifer Eberhardt of Frederick came in to pick up the Breezer Zag8 folding bike that we raffled off to promote Bike to Work Day. We are equally excited to see our little folder go to such a great home. Enjoy the bike Jennifer and thanks for participation in Bike to Work Day.

My Trip to Specialized

The first week of May I traveled to Morgan Hill, California. For the second year in a row I attended Specialized Bicycle Component University (SBCU). These are classes put on by Specialized to educate their dealers. It is an intense 3-day program that crams your brain full of Specialized Propaganda. It's great!

I went to bed the first night before my roommate showed up. Around midnight I was awoken to the sounds of someone dropping their bags on the floor and closing the door. Ahhh…my roommate…was a guy! I was half asleep with drool on my pillow. After an exchange of awkwardness we decided they must mixed my name up with the name Daniel and it would be best if he got another room. The situation was weirder than a dude walking into the girl's bathroom. I ended up getting my own room complete with cable TV…what a treat!

During the class we learned about the newest products like their soon-to-be released 29er mountain bikes. We also met several of the engineers behind some of the coolest bikes like the Roubaix and the Enduro Pro. Another cool part of the course was company tour. They walked us through their testing areas, and the museum of crazy bike ideas.

The test rides are a big part of theses seminars (well, that and the good food). Everyday we got to test ride different Specialized bikes. This year I rode the women's specific Ruby, a carbon Roubaix, a carbon Tri-Cross and a women's specific Epic mountain bike.

My two favorite test ride bikes were the Roubaix and the Epic. I was anxious to compare the Epic to that of my Stumpjumper Expert. The Epic was great on the climbs, some of which were wretched, but it definitely felt a little more XCish than my Stumpy. I like my mountain bikes to be on the beefy side.

I really enjoyed my time in Morgan Hill.

Frederick Bike to Work Day

Danielle, Roger and I had a lot of fun at this past Friday’s bike to work celebration. The event attracted riders both young and old atop all sorts of bicycles. We were offering free coffee and bagels to warm up the slightly chilly riders. The transit folks did a great job. This year’s event was the best attended in Frederick’s history. After the event we randomly select the winner of the Breezer Zag8 folding bike that we are giving away. We are still waiting to hear back from the lucky winner… Thanks to all of the participants, we hope to see you on the road the other 364 days of the year.

2008 Specialized Bicycle Sneak Peak

Ok, don’t get all excited just yet these bikes will not be available for some time but I wanted to share some pictures with you. In 2008 Specialized will be offering increased options for riders who prefer one gear. This includes a single speed cross bike as well as a whopping 6 versions of their fixed gear/single speed road bike, the Langster. They have modeled all but one of these bikes after various cities: London, New York, Seattle, Chicago, and Boston. The sixth is variety their general Langster. The bikes designed to reflect the different cities have colors, handle bars and accessories to reflect the style of each region.

Specialized is also releasing at least three 29er mountain bikes: Stumpjumper Comp 29, Rockhopper Comp Disc 29, and a Rockhopper Disc 29. These bikes have been much anticipated bike big wheel fans everywhere.

The “Big Red S” also has a supper slippery tri bike in the works. The bike, Specialized Transition Pro, offers very aggressive styling has an integrated brake system in both the front and the rear. If this bike is half as streamlined as it looks Specialized might just be onto something.

Bicycle Commuting

It is always fun for me to talk about bicycle commuting. The benefits are many and I would encourage everyone to use a bike as basic transportation at least once. We kicked off bike month with a commuter clinic. The clinic was lead by Single Speed Outlaw team member and area blogger John Gorham. He covered the basics of bicycle transportation and offered some valuable tips. An important point to remember is that any bike can be used as a transportation vehicle and it is not hard to do. Maybe it is impossible for you to cycle to work. If so try to pick something local that you can do by bicycle: go to the Post Office, the grocery store, etc. If you give it a try I firmly believe you will have fun in the process.