Moving!

UPDATE: Opening a new bicycle shop in Fort Worth, TX. Not just a bike shop, but a full-service commuter hub. Check it out: Trinity Bicycles.

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My Apologies...

UPDATE: Come see me at Trinity Bicycles.

... for letting this blog sit inactive for so long. So, does anybody still check here occasionally? Should I resurrect this blog, or start over from scratch?

Bike Tour

This video has me itching to go on another bike camping trip... maybe sometime in early November.

For those of you who missed it...

Google had a really cool "doodle" in honor of the Olympics Friday:

Cranksgiving 2008

Yeah, that's right. I'm bringing Cranksgiving back.

It's going to be Saturday, November 15, and it will be a good time guaranteed. One you can feel good about participating in, too.

Two years ago, we gave 320 lbs of food to the local food bank. This year, our goal is 500 lbs!

Stay tuned for more details...

Alleycat Results

Trae and Toria put on one hell of an AlleyCat yesterday evening, so kudos to them. I really appreciate them doing all that work, and it has inspired me to bring back Cranksgiving this year...

The race crowd was pretty decent sized for the first event in Fort Worth in a while. I'd say there were almost 20 racers.

The organizers decided not to give any "route-making" time, not even 5 minutes. I thought that was kind of a curveball... we just did a Lemans start, and then rode a block and a half to the first checkpoint, where we picked up our manifests. Not the usual alleycat M.O., but it certainly made it a little more interesting riding the first mile while trying to read a manifest and plan a route.

There were 9 stops, equally scattered around the Near South Side, Downtown, and the Cultural District.

When I started the race, I thought for sure I'd be in the running for the DFL prize, because I haven't been riding much, other than my daily 2-mile commute.

When we got going, though, I felt decent. Bryan and I teamed up, and at first I had trouble keeping up with him. As I warmed up, though, I was able to stay with him better, and even lead on occasion. It's always good, too, to have 2 heads choosing routes. You both have an idea, and then you choose the faster one.

When we had completed All but 3 of the stops, I realized that we were pretty high up in the standings. We were playing cat and mouse with another duo, Jason and Brad, who had chosen approximately the same route. They would beat us to one checkpoint, and we would beat them to the next.

I knew that Bryan had a bit better speed than I did, so we decided that I would work to help him win. Who says you can't have domestiques in an AlleyCat?

As we approached the infamous zoo hill, which led to the next to last checkpoint, I attacked with the intention of blowing up Jason and Brad as they tried to chase. It worked, sort of.

I beat them both up the hill handily, while Bryan sat comfortably on their wheels. Brad blew up, but Jason stayed close. When I got to the top, though, I couldn't find the checkpoint. Jason found it first, and took off. So we dropped Brad, but still had one more rider ahead of us (actually two, but Shaggy told us he had missed a checkpoint, so we knew he'd be DQed).

We followed Jason's taillight, and made no real attacks... I guessed that since he had never been to the last checkpoint, he would have a little trouble finding it. Sure enough, Bryan and I blasted a shortcut to 1919 Hemphill, and beat Jason there by a couple of seconds. I let Bryan take his ribbon from the checkpoint and take off, and then I took mine, taking my sweet time to do it. I grabbed two ribbons on purpose, put one back, stood there while I stuffed it into my pocket. Then I slowly and awkwardly turned my bike around and got out of the way.

It worked. I looked up and Bryan's taillight was a pretty good distance ahead of us. I knew I had done my job; I sat up and let Jason lead me to the finish, figuring we had the win.

The Damnedest thing happened, though... when we got to the finish, Atticus was already there. We had never seen him along the course. He led the entire way.

So the final official top 5 results were:

1. Atticus
2. Bryan
2*. Shaggy
3. Jason
4. Bernie
5. Brad

*Shaggy finished second, but he didn't get his ribbon at the Water Gardens stop. He did go there, so there was some debate about his placing. Hence the asterisk.

I won a $20 Spiral Diner gift certificate for my efforts... not bad for a race I thought I was going to lose badly!

Fort Worth AlleyCat

I got home from NY last night, and was pleased to have a message on my phone from Bryan indicating that there is an Alleycat tonight, starting at the Chat Room at 7:30.

I don't think there's been an AlleyCat in Fort Worth since I put on Cranksgiving here a year and a half ago. If you find events like this fun, you should put one one... they don't take much in terms of production/effort, but if only one person has to put 'em on all the time, he or she will get burned out and they will stop.

I'm just saying.

Here's the details:

FWTX Sightseer alley cat July 20

Details:
Sunday July 20th 7:30pm
Chat room pub is the meet up.
Bring 4 bucks for entry
Prizes canbe won from what I understand.
This is all the info I have for now I will keep you updated as more is announced.

Perhaps I will see you there.
Let's make this a good turn out for this race!

Hmm... what else can I fit on here?

Anybody got a kitchen sink they need moved?



I'm absolutely loving my Surly Big Dummy. Read about our adventure to PrairieFest.

Tonight we ride...

though it won't be your normal Monday night ride. Tonight we attend Fort Worth's critical mass ride. With the great weather, there should be a pretty good turnout for this one. We meet at the ITC station downtown (9th and Jones), and ride leaves at 6:30.

Monday Night Ride

Because I spent 21 hours at Will Rogers Memorial Center Saturday through Sunday morning, and slept the rest of the weekend, I'm afraid I'll have to skip tonight's ride and do all the stuff I was supposed to do this weekend... BUT you shouldn't let that stop you from riding. You're always welcome to start and end your ride here at the shop; you may even get some riding company.

The Times They are a-Changin'

It's not every day you get to start off a blog post with a line from a Bob Dylan song... but it's true, we're undergoing some big changes here at PCB right now.

We just had our third anniversary, and these three years have been great ones. We're growing every year, and we're proud to have been a part of an emerging cycling scene here on Fort Worth's Near South Side.

The success of the bike shop has made a recent decision of mine ever harder. Here's the skinny:

This week I accepted a position on the Wendy Davis for Texas Senate campaign staff. I think Wendy is the right person for this job, and I'm looking forward to helping her win this race.

Some of you may remember Wendy's opponent, Kim Brimer, as the most outspoken opponent of the Safe Passing Bill for cyclists last state legislature. Wendy is actually a skilled cyclist, as attendees of Fort Worth's Clean Air Ride know. Of course as a bicycle advocate, that gives me a special motivation to help bring new leadership to our district's State Senate seat.

Unfortunately, the time I will devote to this campaign will mean very little time in the bike shop over the next several months. Along with my absence, you may notice some new faces in the shop in the near future. We'll also probably be making some other minor changes which we'll be announcing over the next few weeks.

As part of this transition, we have started a process by which Jason will be purchasing my interest in the business so that PCB can continue taking care of our wonderful customers. Until that process is complete (probably a few years) I will continue to have a limited role in PCB operations.

My time here has been one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had, and I'd like to thank each and every one of our customers for supporting us. We've succeeded in building a vibrant urban bicycle business in a town many tried to tell us wasn't ready for it, and I'm proud that PCB will continue to be a part of Fort Worth bicycling culture for years to come.

I'll see you all out on the road,

Bernie

Sketchy Weather

Looks like we're in for some possible strong storms this afternoon and evening; to avoid getting caught out in some dangerous conditions, I'm going to declare tonight's ride cancelled. Enjoy your St. Patty's Day and stay safe.

More Commuter Rail coming to Fort Worth

Next week there will be some public meetings about the T's proposed Southwest-to-Northeast commuter rail line that will connect the Granbury Rd/South Hulen area to DFW airport, with connections to other Transit options Downtown.

The LMRA Bicycle Club is planning on attending the Tuesday evening meeting to show support for inclusion of cycling facilities and improvements at the stations. Join them if you can, the bigger our numbers, the more likely we are to get some consideration when the stations get built.

Click here for info on meeting times and places.

Ride Your Bike. Look at Art.

If you like Bikes and Art (or if you just like free drinks and are willing to ride your bike to get 'em), you should check out the inaugural "Gears and Galleries" bike ride, hosted by our friend, The Whistler.

The banana peel is your invitation:

Awesome group ride tonight...

The first group ride after daylight savings time is always a great one. We couldn't have asked for better weather on our 20 mile jaunt. The only crappy part was having to pass the newly installed Chesapeake gas drilling rig. Nothing ruins a beautiful grove of trees and a pleasant trail like a noisy drilling rig lit up like an airport tower.

Anyway, other than that I had a great time. Thanks for the ride, guys.

Proud to be Tree Huggers

When people dismiss me as a tree hugger, I take it as a compliment. I just came across these photos from the labor day picnic in the Trinity Trees (which now unfortunately have a Chesapeake gas drilling pad in the middle of them) last year. Good Times:

Time Change means... group rides!

We've officially sprung forward, and that means more daylight hours after work for bicycle riding!

Our official Monday night group ride starts tomorrow; meet here at the shop at 6, and we'll roll out between 6:15 and 6:30. This is a road bike ride, but at a fairly casual pace so a fast hybrid or mountain bike can probably keep up, too.



Be sure to bring lights, just in case we get carried away and decide we want to ride a little longer/farther. You can expect a ride of 20-25 miles.

See you tomorrow night!

New Limited Edition T

We had a VERY limited edition (6) our very popular "I [heart] FW" T-shirts made in Military Green. Price is $25:



We also have the black short-sleeve Ts ($20), and White/Black baseball Ts ($25) in stock. Come get 'em!

Want a Big Dummy?

If you want a Surly Big Dummy, and you would ride either a 16" or 22" frame... you have about two hours to let me know. After that, they'll probably be sold out until summer.

Rahr Ride!

Doh! I forgot that today is March 1st... the First Saturday Rahr Ride. I assume the usual suspects will arrive at the shop around noon, for the usual bike-riding beer-drinking affair. Be there.

Tarrant County's first Big Dummy:

Look at this proud papa:



We got 2 20" frames today, one of which Hasty purchased. I knew the frameset was going to be big, but damn... this thing is huge. 18" and 20" framesets are already sold out until summer (both sold out in just a few hours), but if you want a 16" or 22" frame, let me know quick!

Product Review - Topeak Bikamper EXP

This is an innovative product that has caught my eye at Interbike last year: a superlight (2 lbs) one person tent that uses bicycle innertubes for it's structure:



Chris and I each got one of these before our tour, and I think once we learned how to pitch them properly, we're both pretty pleased with their performance. It's kind of cool that in a pinch you have a spare innertube in your tent, too.

After pitching it and sleeping in it a few times now, I'm ready to give the world a product review. One of the things that confounded Chris and I is that after 2 years on the market, there is nary a review of the Bikamper or Bikamper EXP to be found on the internet.

First off, I think we probably pushed the temperature range of this tent to its lower limit. While good sleeping bags kept us plenty warm, even in freezing temperatures, this is a single-wall tent, so some condensation inside is unavoidable.

On the overnight where it wasn't freezing, I had no condensation buildup, and was much happier with the single-wall design.

The ventilation is adequate, with vents on both ends, on the far side, and a roll-up door with bug screen. I slept with this open on dry nights. The key to pitching it well is the tautness of the end stakes (do these first). Topeak includes some very high-quality aluminum angle-stock stakes that stay put nicely. I didn't have any of these work loose during the night.

This is not a tent for the claustrophobic! I'm a sound sleeper, and I pretty much roll in place, so I had no problems with the small interior space. Not much gear fits in here with you, so have an alternate plan for keeping your stuff dry (waterproof panniers were my waterproofing plan).

All in all, I was surprised at the quality and performance of this tent, since Topeak is not known as a tent manufacturer. For Spring/Summer/Fall bicycle campers, I think it's a great option, and at $160 pretty reasonably priced, too.

It's also very, very compact. You can strap it to your handlebars, on top of your rear rack, or pretty easily find a place for it inside your panniers.

If you're traveling light, and by yourself, the Topeak Bikamper EXP deserves a look. These tents must be special ordered through a distributor, so if you need one for a trip be sure to give us about 3-4 weeks notice. That way you can have yours for at least a week to try it out before departing.

Read Chris' Bikamper review.

Back in Fairmount

THIS JUST IN!

This is very exciting, PCB has just been contacted by
David Cooke the man who started European cycle speedway
racing here in the States. How cool is that ?
Stay tuned for more information as it developes.

place this in your browser
www.cyclespeedwayusa.com

From the Road:

We're waiting out a storm in Hamilton, TX. Here's a picture of my bike on a bluff in Somervell County:



And here's what a vegan dinner looks like on the road:



For a cool story about someone we met on our first day travelling, click here.

Another cool tour to check out:

I'm excited that loaded bicycle touring seems to be getting more popular. I think as the modern life continues to get more complicated, more people will look for ways get away from it all and to remind themselves of what they're capable of. Our trip starts tomorrow, but there's another cool trip coming up in March: The Soldier Ride.

In fact, they're headed in a pretty similar direction we're going, so maybe we can give them some routing tips. Go visit the Soldier Ride Blog and give these guys some support!

Looking for something different to do on your bike?

Try John Roberts' Tour of Fort Worth Architecture on Sunday, Feb 24 at 2 p.m.

Hasty's Bike.

Chris will be touring on Surly's cyclocross bike, outfitted specially for a loaded tour:



Read more about Hasty's bike here.

My bike, loaded.

It's 90% loaded for the trip, anyway. Bryan and I are going to do a test ride to Benbrook tonight. That way we know our bikes still work when loaded, and whether we need to redistribute any of the weight.

I guess I have the most predictable of the Surly touring bikes: the purpose-built Long Haul Trucker. I needed either a 54cm or 56cm frame; the 54cm uses 26" wheels and the 56cm uses 700c wheels. I chose the 54, because 26" is the most universally available world-wide tire, and I have a life goal of touring across place like Cuba one day.

The front and rear panniers are Arkel, which I think are simply the best available today. Even if they are Canadian. The rack-top backs are Jandd, a U.S. company whose quality is a close second to Arkel.

Bryan thinks that I'm probably the fittest of the three of us, but he also says he's pretty sure I'm the most overpacked... so hopefully that'll level the field a bit.

Full Frontal:

Touring Rigs...

Only four days until Bryan, Hasty, and I embark on a week long, fully-loaded bike tour.

Our destination is Enchanted Rock State Park, and we should make it down there in 3 days. We'll spend an extra night there, as there's lots of hiking and exploring to do, and maybe make a day trip for german food and beer into Fredericksburg. Then, we'll start the 3-day trip home via a different route.

I'll post pictures of each of our touring rigs over the next few days. Incidentally, they are all different model Surly Bikes. It's a testament to the ultimate versatility Surly imparts into all its frames that all 3 of us, when we surveyed our stable of bikes, chose a Surly for a no-nonsense, reliable ride.

First, here's Bryan's Karate Monkey. A 29" wheeled mountain bike can make a great loaded touring platform:




Of course, my favorite touch is the DIY fenders, made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic. There's a downtube mounted front fender:


And a pretty much full-coverage rear fender:


I don't know whose idea this was, but it's pretty brilliant:

The 'stache is back.

It's not fully matured yet, but it's back by popular demand. Check it:

Going to Leadville!

I'm psyched... after finishing the race in 2006, I couldn't get through the lottery system last year. I'm on the entrants list for August 9, 2008, though!

I guess I have to start training now.

R.I.P. Sheldon

Sheldon Brown, the man who pioneered the use of the internet to disseminate obscure and semi-obscure bicycle information, a man who kicked it old school no matter how much the industry tried to convince him of the merits of the latest technology, died yesterday of heart failure.

I can't count the times I've used the gear calculator on his website, or the number of times I've heard in response to a question about cycling minutiae "I bet you can find it on Sheldon Brown."

He was a teacher and guide to millions of people he'd never met. He and his opinions will certainly be missed.

First Saturday Rahr Ride

Yeah, I should have posted this yesterday (or even a couple of days ago)... but today is the First Saturday of February.

You hardcore PCBers know what that means: Rahr Ride!

Ride leaves @ Noon. Since my business partner is still down w/ the flu, I won't be able to join the ride. Don't let that stop you, though... the beer flows just as freely when I'm not there.

Good news for FW mountain bikers!

The FWMBA (Fort Worth Mountain Bikers' Association), which has done a great job building new challenging trails at Marion Sansom Park, has gotten permission from the city to start building a trail on the east side, in Gateway park. They plan to begin work Feb. 9, and they'll need all the hands they can get. If you ride a mountain bike, you should consider giving a little help back to the folks that make the trails possible....

The Soulville in black:

Don't forget about the Swap Meet!

Come see us at the Great Southwest Bike Swap on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Here's a little sneak preview of the very special, swap-meet-day-only specials we'll be offering:

Innertubes: $3.00 each or 10 for $25
Ultra-bright LED taillights: regularly $35, just $15
Serfas Interchangeable Sunglasses, W/ 4 different lens colors: regularly $50, just $35
All winter clothing: 50% off
Hammer Gel Bulk Bottles: regularly $20, just $15
Serfas FP50 floor pump, w/built-in gauge and dual head: regularly $25, just $15

This is not even close to all the great deals we'll have, but it should give you an idea of the kind of discounts you can expect. We'll have a few of last years bikes on sale as well.

Finally, we'll be emptying out our bins of used, odd, or mismatched parts and offering them for sale. Make us a reasonable offer on any of this stuff, and we'll probably take it. We've got STI shifters, cranksets, handlebars, tires, saddles, derailleurs, and much more.

NYC Pedicab

I just came across this photo I took on my honeymoon in New York last year.



We have pedicabs in Downtown Fort Worth now... I need to undertake a photo documentary project on those guys, I think.

Click here for a couple more NYC pedicab photos.

The Masi Caffe Racer

Yet another new-for-'08 Masi that we're excited about, the Caffe Racer Solo:


This is the bike for you if you want to beat your buddies to the coffee shop (hence the name), but don't believe you should have to put on a bunch of lycra and/or a sperm helmet to do it.

Check out the muscular, great handling fork:


I thought this was an especially cool touch on several of Masi's city bikes for this year, an LED taillight integrated into the seatpost. Good luck forgetting to bring this one along!:

The Age of Conversation

Even after 3 years of blogging for my business, I'm always amazed by the increasing potential of blogging as a marketing tool. The collaboration it encourages is its greatest asset, and I know I have only scratched the surface of its possibilities.

Last year Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton, a couple of very ambitious marketing bloggers, came up with an exciting idea. They challenged 100 bloggers to contribute one page - 400 words - on the topic of "conversation."

The resulting book, The Age of Conversation was sold online. The books editors and authors all signed over the rights to their chapters and agreed that all proceeds would be donated to Variety, the Children's Charity.

PCB friend Tim Jackson contributed to the book last year and raved about the experience; when I heard from him that there would be a "Conversation 2.0," I knew I had to give it a try.

Go on over to Drew's Blog to read more about this year's book, and to vote on the topic. You need not be an author to vote.

The three possible topics are:

-Marketing Manifesto
-Why Don't People Get It? [I voted for this one]
-My Marketing Tragedy (And what I learned)

Voting ends January 31, so get to it!

New Fixie from Masi

This is a model that was very popular last year, in a new color scheme for spring. The shamrock green paint and cream panels are gorgeous, and the new lugged fork is a nice touch.

New Tubes

Well, actually they're not new. These are the same high-quality innertubes we've always stocked from Quality Bicycle Products, but they're in new packaging.

Now, you're probably asking yourself "what's so exciting about the boxes my tubes come in?"

Well, I admit that I totally geek out over green business practices. I really respect companies that do what they can to lessen their impact on the environment. QBP's new tube boxes are printed on 100% recycled paperboard, with soy inks. It's a tiny detail, but if they sell millions of tubes a year the impact really adds up!

Speciale CX

Another new Masi model for this year, a steel 'cross bike:



Though it looks great in this photo, I still don't think pictures do it justice. This bike has some very nice details that you're going to have to see to believe. And the color is just plain classy.

New Masi bicycles are finally here!

I'll be posting a few pictures of the bikes as we build them up. Here's one of the first, the awesome new SoulVille:



It's got fast-rolling 700c tires, a Shimano nexus 8-speed hub with coaster brake, stylin' flat aluminum fenders, a real leather saddle, and even cork grips. Seriously, this is as cool as cruisers get... and it's suprisingly fast, too!


Here's a close-up of the saddle:



The bike pictured is an 18" frame, and we also got a black one with a 20" frame. Come see it!

I don't really need one of these...

... but I was impressed by the sheer ingenuity, anyway.

Retro Day at PCB

By the time most of Magnolia Ave. was built in the 1920s, the day of the Highwheel, boneshaker, pennyfarthing, or standard had passed. The safety (a bicycle with two equal-sized wheels) was prevalent, but I still think it's cool that we get to display this replica boneshaker in front of the shop for a couple of days.

Big and Dumb

The Big Dummies are on the boat!

The skinny from the Surly Blog:

"Big Dummy production is now complete. Thanks to the long ass frame, longer than a tandem, it totally clogged production at the frame and paint shops. As soon as they're boxed up and shipped, they'll be on their way to our warehouse. So we should have them in stock around mid-February."

PCB now featured on YouTube

Our buddy Rowdy, who works for Brazos Film and Video, made a promo video a while back as a training exercise. It's now on YouTube... check it:



Behold the raw power of what Jason likes to call my ".38 Special" 'stache!


Update: There is now a very important, possibly life-altering poll about said 'stache at right. Please vote.