Ann and her new Bike.

In one of the funnier test-ride incidents we've ever experienced, Ann took a cruiser out for a spin and got caught in a road construction mud bog near Rosedale Ave. Luckily for us, she went ahead and purchased the bike! Enjoy your new Manhattan Aero, Ann.

PCB featured in Fort Worth, Texas Magazine

Panther City Bicycles was mentioned in Fort Worth, Texas Magazine in an article about the revitalization of Fort Worth South (a revitalization we're very proud to be a part of). The cover photo for the story was of our used bikes in front of the shop. Link below to the Fort Worth South website, where the article has been posted for easy reading.

Apparently meteorologists are right sometimes...

I rode today and got nice and wet. Probably would have stayed drier had I not taken the long, long way to work. I had a flat about 17 mi. out, and believe it or not, it was on the front tire! It's been a while since I've had one of those. Seems like 95% of flats are on the rear wheel. I also saw 3 deer just past the marina at Benbrook lake. That was nice. I called to them, "hey, deer," but before I could ask them if they were glad to see the rain, they turned and ran away.

Monday Night Ride Report

The ride was lots of fun last night. Our seats were pretty darn good for "freebies," the ride was just long enough without getting us too tired to enjoy the game and ride back, and it's just plain hard to beat a summer evening at a ball game with beer, nachos and hot dogs.

Thanks to all of you who joined us; hopefully we can do something similar sometime. Anybody got any connections to get free tickets to stuff?

There was a yellow Giro helmet left by the front door last night, so if you're having trouble finding yours, it's probably here.

This coming Monday Night Ride

I have 25 field box tickets to Monday night's Cats game, so the Monday night ride will be from here to LaGrave field. And then after the game, we ride back.

First 25 to let me know they want to be on the list get the tickets. Anybody after that is welcome to join us, but will have to buy a ticket.

Hour record broken!

I've always wished that customers would believe me when I tell them that lighter is not necessarily better... and now I have this story to use as an anecdote.

A relatively unknown time trial specialist who rides for the Acqua e Sapone team, Ondrej Sosenka broke the world hour record today in Moscow. He broke the record using a 7 pound rear wheel! His total bike weight was 21.5 pounds... a far cry from the 16 pound hill climbing machines winning the Tour de France.

Though it takes a little more effort to accelerate a heavier wheel, once it's up to speed it actually takes less effort to keep moving at that speed. Since there's no elevation change in a velodrome, light weight is a non-issue.

So here in the 817 where the climbs are short, heavier wheels may slow you down a bit on the hills, but will make up for it by being easier on the flats. A 7-pound wheel might be a bit overboard, but definitely save your money and buy a sturdy, handbuilt wheel instead of the latest gee-whiz superlight. We guarantee our custom built wheels against spoke fatigue for life. Try getting that kind of guarantee from any of the big wheel manufacturers (whose wheels are robot-built and therefore poorly tensioned)!

Click the link below to read more about Sosenka's brilliant ride.

Il Falco

Looks like Lance won't get his usual 3 or 4 stage wins this tour, but I'm OK with that. Besides, his Disco Train is certainly picking up his slack in the stage victory department. First Georgie, now Paolo. Tomorrow should be Popo's turn... How about it, Johan? Send the rookie up the road!

EU trade group lobbys for Bicycle tax break

Hit the link below to read a story about how they are working on making bicycle products and services exempt from Europe's "Value Added Tax."

Wouldn't it be nice if the U.S. was interested in integrating environmental and fiscal policy in such an encouraging way?

Yesterday's Stage

Story on Cyclingnews.com:

When Lance Armstrong was interviewed after the stage, the maillot jaune was only too happy for his teammate and best
friend, and even went as far as saying he could be Discovery's man for next year's Tour de France.

"I'm trying to deal with one thing right now - I just won the biggest race of my life!" smiled a bemused Hincapie. "Let me
think about this and other stuff later. You know, I've been working for Lance a long time, and for him to say stuff like that
is pretty amazing; if they want to give me a shot, I'll do what I can."


See... what'd I tell you about Georgie? That would be super-sweet next year if Postal gave him a shot.

Ride your bike!

Today was the first time in a long time I've actually had to ride to work in the rain. It's rained a lot this year, but some how it always seems to hold off when I'm headed to and from work.

Today was beautiful, though. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy riding in the rain. I suppose it just reminds me of being a kid, when my younger brother and I would tear around the neighborhood on our bikes, ride them through the mud until we were caked in it ourselves, and just generally be kids. Of course, then we'd come home, bikes and bodies covered in mud, and have to wash our bikes while our dad explained how we should treat our stuff better.

The point is: ride your bike. Even if it's raining. Just be careful, and when you get home dry it off and re-lube the chain. Everything will be alright...

B

Mmmm... tour.

Vino and Santi, where did those legs come from today? Once again, Ullrich gets a free ride through the high mountains.

To me the big story today is Hincapie, though. Hincapie was one of the last with Armstrong over the climbs yesterday, and today he finished with the yellow jersey. A big man who can climb? Who does he think he is, Miguel Indurain? Maybe Georgie should be the Postal leader for the tour next year. Imagine what he could do if the whole team was working for him! Somebody please forward this to Johan Bruyneel A.S.A.P. (Plus, how cool would it be to see somebody place high in Paris-Roubaix and the Tour in the same year. Not since Merckx has that seemed likely...)

Monday Night Ride Report

The ride last night was lots of fun... we had a pretty sizable group (11 riders!), and rode about 27 miles. If you didn't come this week, but were thinking about it, definitely come next week. Afterward, we may even stay till midnight drinking beer and watching Andy's helmet-cam videos on the internet.

T-Mobile trickery?

I've developed this theory about T-Mobile in this years tour. Read on:

The other day the Directeur Sportif, Walter Godefroot, said that Ullrich was "not pulling his weight with the team." Ullrich responded to the press, "I don't know what people want from me. I'm not the same Ullrich from 4 years ago."

Then Jan proceeds to stay with the front group, never really appearing to be experiencing any difficulty. Plus, in yesterdays stage, Jan gets a free ride toward the end. He doesn't have to work at all in the yellow jersey group, because first Vino attacks, then his teammate and fellow German Kloden actually gets up the road. All this time, Lance is having to personally limit time losses to the leaders, because his team has pretty much blown up.

My theory is that the disparaging comments to the press by Goodefroot are made up. A bluff, if you will. I even think Jan might have intentionally looked a little "off" in the prologue. The way T-mobile is attacking, the team's morale is clearly not as low as they want everyone to believe. When riders resent working for a "washed up" leader, the attack at times that don't make sense (like when Hinault attaked Lemond in the '80s, although Hinault was the supposedly "washed up" one). T-Mobile's flurry of attacks at the end was too well-orchestrated to have been a product of the young guys trying to get a leg up on Ullrich.

What do you think? Is T-Mobile bluffing their way to their biggest victory in a long time? I hope so, 'cause this bluff would kick the crap out of the one Armstrong pulled off on the bike, pretending to be tired. If Vino and Kloden keep attacking, watch and see if Ullrich sit's comfortably on Lance's wheel. Then look for a huge ITT performance, like the one we saw in '03 when Ullrich rode for Bianchi. This could be end up being the most exciting tour in years...

What would Trek say?

Apparently one of our former bosses at "The Shop that shall remain Nameless" has been working under an assumed name at Javelin Bicycles.

Scott McCaskey, aka "Scott Warren" can be seen in the following spy photo, proudly holding a Javelin frame... What's up?



(this blog entry is not meant to be taken as fact. any resemblance of this photo to any actual person is purely coincidental. please don't sue us. It is pretty funny, though)

wtf?

So, I leave my house at 6:30 this morning to ride for a couple of hours before work. The temperature was nice and cool thanks to the incoming rain clouds, so I was excited to hit the Trinity Trail and head out towards Gateway Park.

Unfortunately, my happiness to be riding quickly was overshadowed by my disappointment in my fellow citizens when I got into Trinity Park. The place is absolutely trashed this morning... firework remains and garbage as far as the eye could see. I mean, it was on the trail (I had to ride around several piles of debris), scattered throughout the grass, and even floating in the river.

July 4th is an important holiday for America, and I'm all for the traditional outdoor celebrations. But take your @#!*ing garbage with you when you leave the park.

Unless, of course, I was just sleeping in elementary school when they tought us that Independence Day was a time for Americans to come together to get drunk and trash the country.

-Bernie and his soapbox OUT-

Early closing today...

We’re closing 1 hour early today
to enjoy a long Independence Day weekend.

We reopen Tuesday morning at 9 a.m.

The Tour is almost here

When you work in a bike shop this time of year, everyone asks you if you're excited for Lance Armstrong. My answer is usually "no, not really...." I mean, I respect what he's done in his career; he's legendary. And I really REALLY respect his work in fighting cancer. Cancer's touched almost everyone's life. I lost my dad to it a year ago.

But when Le Tour rolls out tomorrow, I'll be cheering for the big man in pink, Jan Ullrich. I really think he's got a big one in him this year. Even if he just gets 2nd again. The 2003 tour, when Jan pushed Armstrong all the way into Paris, was one of the most exciting Tours I've ever watched. And he did all that without much of a team (I'll send a 20% discount coupon to anyone who can name another member of the 2003 Bianchi team... without consulting the internet or your old pile of Cycle Sport magazines). Plus, he's German... and you just can't go wrong there.

Click the link below to visit Jan's website. It rocks... he has a journal and everything. But my favorite feature is the Jan Ullrich e-card selection. Send one to your friends!

Bernie

Monday Ride

The regular Monday night ride will not happen this week because of the holiday (July 4). We encourage all of you instead to participate in the ride benefitting Streams and Valleys, the organization that builds and maintains Fort Worth's precious Trinity River Trail system.

Registration is available the morning of the ride for $40. Registration price includes a breakfast catered by the Reata (score!). The ride starts at the Tarrant Regional Water District Office (800 E Northside Dr) at 8 a.m. sharp, so be there early if you need to register. Decorated bikes/riders are encouraged for the holiday. Helmets are mandatory.

Jason and I will be there and hope to see you all there...

Click the link below to email streams and valleys for more info.

Bernie