Tuesday on BicycleRetailer.com I read that Dick Burke, founder of Trek Bicycles, died Monday night, March 10, due to complications from heart surgery. It was sad to hear the news. It made me think about what Dick and Trek have accomplished and about what bicycles have done for me.
When I was in high school, my brother Steve was an Italian fanatic who had an Alfa Romeo Spider and a Pogliaghi road bike. I wanted to ride road bikes like him, so I bought a Japanese made Centurion (I couldn’t afford a nice Italian bike). I didn’t ride the Centurion too much. Riding bikes wasn’t the cool thing to do in high school. Continue Reading »
Wow. It’s been a busy few months since my last post on September 20. I need to learn how to juggle blogging, while at the same time serving our clients.
I have a lot of things I’d like to blog about since my last post, for example, working with the media at Interbike, meeting my cycling hero Greg LeMond in the Media Center at the show, and taking a road trip vacation to Colorado - mountain biking and hiking along the way, etc. I’ll write about those later.
This week was a busy week, but a good one. Monday, November 12, we were in New York City for the PepCom Digital Focus media reception. We took our new client, Delta 7 Sports. They make a $12,000 carbon fiber/Kevlar reinforced Arantix mountain bike using a unique tube design called IsoTruss. Before the evening event, we met with “Popular Science” and “The Wall Street Journal.” The staff at both publications were very interested in the Arantix and its IsoTruss technology for possible stories.
Following those meetings we went to PepCom. Even though PepCom was predominately a “digital” high-tech event, we knew the media outlets slated to attend would also be interested in the IsoTruss, because of its highly engineered, science-based, well thought out design.
Continue Reading »
I’ve been putting off writing something for our blog for a couple of reasons. One, life here at SOAR has been incredibly busy. Our biggest client, Interbike, is having their annual bicycle tradeshow in Las Vegas in 4 days and we have spent the last couple of months ramping up for that. The other reason is, I’m new to blogging, and I wasn’t sure I had anything interesting or significant to post. Now I do.
I’m bummed. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency found Landis guilty of doping (see AP story here). I haven’t ridden regularly in a while, but I’m still an avid fan of cycling and racing. My wife and I cheered loudly at the TV during Stage 17 of the 2006 Tour, only to stare silently again later while learning that Landis was accused of doping.
I’m not even going to pretend to understand the facts surrounding the case and spout my opinion here in this post. I’m just bummed for Landis, racers in general and for recreational cyclists and potential recreational cyclists who might think twice about participating in a tainted activity.
The news about Landis will make for an interesting next few weeks, especially with the industry’s largest trade show, Interbike, and the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) World Championships taking place at the same time. I’m sure everyone will be talking about the verdict and will have an opinion.
Continue Reading »
Check out Ergon’s new Outdoor Tourenrucksack, Outdoor Daypack fur Tagestouren and Outdoor-Allroundrucksack (the Outdoor Touring Pack, Outdoor Day Pack and Outdoor Allround Pack, respectively). Very cool!
What I love about these lightweight packs is how well they’ve been ergonomically designed to meet the needs of the active outdoor adventurer.
On page 6 of Ergon’s online product catalog you’ll note what the company calls its Flink ball joint. This feature allows the back to rotate from side to side while enthusiasts are bombing down a hill on a mountain bike, straining across an untracked meadow on cross country skis or starting mile four on a 12-mile run.
The company literature also explains that the strapping system of its packs allows users to keep the bulk of the weight (up to 80 percent) distributed to the hips rather than the shoulders, making for better posture and easier/safer activities while on the go.
Ergon’s packs will be priced at $199 and less. Look for ‘em in booth #71018 at Outdoor Retailer, Summer 2007. (Ergon will be at Interbike 2007 too.)
