Kona Blast Product Launch, Bellingham WA

Kona Blast 2011 Recap.

One Kona Launch in the wraps. Locating in Ferndale, Washington, we arrived in the city of Bellingham, about a two hours north of Seattle. Great location on the water and with Galbraith Mountain looking over the city. This was Kona’s 1st private launch and they did a perfect job of mixing business with killer riding. It’s always a great experience to be immersed in what I would call the “Kona Culture”. This company lives and breaths all things bike, from their Africa Bike programs to the new Operator DH, Kona is all about your ride in all sense of the word.
Kona has a stunning line up this year! New highlights include the 2x2, a Magic Link Full Floater that changes between 80 and 100 mm. perfect for N. Ohio’s XC. They have revamped the Cyclo Cross line up, with lighter Jakes and a Full Carbon Cross bike coming in at $3000. These will be on the floor just in time for cross season. One of the simple yet stunning bikes was the World Bike, a simple 3 spd. The name Nunu is back in a perfect XC hardtail machine. The 29er line up expands a bit, and a new all around full suspension bike the Tanuki comes out.
After a morning of some actual work it was out to the demo crew to get set up with bikes for the ride. One really fast group, led by Ryan Trebon and Barry Wicks ( who have got to be the most down to earth pros ever! More on that later), one medium pace ride, and one recreational ride. I am the lucky guy who gets to ride a Cadabra build for the Sea Otter Classic. Scandium frame, Sram 1x10 drive train ( I am now fully sold on 1x’s or 2x 10’s, no going back) Rock Shox Black box fork, this puppy weighed in at 23lbs for nearly 7” of travel. I settled in about mid pack of 40 or so riders an up up up up up up we went. We climbed about 1500’ of steep but relatively easy single track then the real fun began. Cory, a rep was our ride leader, took us around the trails on the top with names like intestine to ----- well you get the idea. The decent was amazing. Tight, twisty and down does not begin to describe it.! All said a great 2 ½ hour ride.
After a few celebratory beers with fellow dealers, it was off to the Kona USA HQ for some beers, BBQ, and basketball. Tons of vintage Kona’s hang on the walls marking the company’s great history. Then came the basketball game. In the first round my team of 5’8” dealers took on Ryan Trebon and Barry Wicks. I think the score was 11-0. Lets Just say they race 23” Kona Hei Hei 29ers.
The following day came meetings with all the inside Kona peeps. Kona has a great “ Family” of employee’s and dealers. It is clear they are not like any other company in the industry. The core values share many of MRC’s values. The bikes are innovative, sensible and just like MRC, it’s not just a ride around the block, it’s a way of life.
A quick stop in Seattle for the night also showed an amazing bike culture. As we sat having a beer in Olympic Park ( home to Space Needle) I watch hundreds, and I do mean hundreds of local riders coming by, listening to a free concert and socializing. This is what they do on a Friday night…..

sram xx product demo...

i was lucky enough to hit sram's product demo today. the sram van pulled up with a truck load of bikes all decked out with sram xx 2x10 mountain system.

as a shop we could get all the literature on a product. get talked up about it from our reps. but until you get a chance to ride it...that's another story.

the 2x10 system is an amazing system, and it is nice to see it already trickling down to some of sram's other groups, so you don't have the sticker shock of xx.

the advantage of the 2x10 system is:
weight. it's a lighter system than anything else out there.
cross-shifting. coming into a shop we tell you all the time not to do this. well this is what it is made for. it gets rid of the granny gear and riding big to big is not a problem.
shifting. the chainring ratio; the small ring is exactly 2/3 of the big ring. this allows crisper shifting up front. four point up shift locations. and with this ratio, the chain is always engaged on the chainrings during shifting. what does this mean? you never loose power during your shift, even under load.
cassette. the main body of the cassette is a single piece forged stainless steel piece. except for the 'low gear'; which is aluminum.
less clutter. the brake levers, shift levers, and the lock out for the shock are all able to be on one clamp with their patiented match make technology.
custom fit. the shifter levers are able to be rotated 30 degrees for reach. and the brake levers are able to be adjusted for reach also.

so if you're looking to upgrade your existing drivtrain, or interested in a new bike; i'd seriously take a look at what sram is doing, both on road and off. come on in and talk to us about it.

the beginning of...

august is never too early to start thinking about cyclocross. this is a new site that i found for the cleveland area 'cross races; neocx.

it just started up, and it will be nice to find all the races in one spot, instead of me checking at least three different sites to get the info. on all the races.

so get those cross bikes out, bring 'em in to get work on, and start riding; because cross season will be here before you know it.

Giant Product 2011, Deer Valley

Why is this a great industry?? because the people, product, and lifestyle. After a busy "Right Side" Tour on Sunday I headed out to Deer Valley, Utah; for Giants 2011 Product Launch. After Trying to pack up in the morning...do I bring the body armor..wait it won't fit ....wait what am I missing, I made the trek out.
Tues: Product meetings 8-3...then ride. That sounds like a good day! 2011 looks great! Great speech from Elysa Walk, General Manager of Giant USA. Great Trails at Deer Valley. 5 Runs in, 3 with a Giant Trance( 5" travel) 2 w/ a Faith ( 7.6 Travel). The Faith just handles like a bike that should be 28 lbs. Awesome.. Then out to Olympic Park for dinner, drinks and a killer show of future and former Olympic skiers in their training ground. It was a true athletic spectacle. Most impressive by far was Giant's General manager taking the first run. Video footage to follow, but not quite that tech savey in the mountains.
Now they have to bus all the dealers ( the top 10% of Giants Dealers mind you) back to the hotel...Back to why I love this industry. As soon as we get on the bus someone says " we need a beer run", the next guy says " we want to got to the bars on Park City's main st"...more "beer run" request follow. Mind you the driver of the big bus is just supposed to take us back to the hotel. BUT the bikers win, he will take us on a beer run and take the others to the bar, then the rest back to the hotel. After the quick drop off at the local store we emerge with beer and get back on the bus... now this is where the difference occurs...the next dealer emerges from the store and hands out ice cream bars with chocolate to every one on the bus....