Re-Inventing the "Throwback Bicycle"

 It seems, more than a few bicycle manufacturers are re-living the old days of when bikes were bikes, 

kids played in the streets with slingshots in their pockets rather than an iPhone. 

When curbs were used to jump rather than sit on and check facebook.

 Much like Ford bringing back the early Bronco, or GT Bikes bringing back their 80's freestyle bikes with 26" wheels. Schwinn has decided to yet again, release the Sting-Ray.

Enter the Fritz Fifty

This is not a publicity stunt on Schwinn's behalf, It represents the 50 years of Sting-Ray Memories. Believe it or not Schwinn is still around, a company rich in history and that is not to be forgotten. Even though its Chicago roots have been uprooted, this is a brand many of us have lived with throughout our lives. 

 With Sting-Ray production ending in 1981, this design has been re-released several times since. 1998, 2004, 2008, 2011 and now 2014. 

This year is in memory of  Al Fritz who passed last May just after he helped with the design of this new chrome clad release.

Original Advertisement- 1968

The Fritz Fifty is due to be a collectors piece. 500 were made and allocated to dealers across the US. We were lucky enough to get one. Stop by and check it out. Also in honor to Al Fritz, a portion of sales will be donated to the Alzheimer’s Association in his name.

The days of steel chain guards are not over.

 

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Timeless design or a re-invention of class?

Enter the Schwinn Rendezvous

Designed for the ladies, this classy little cruiser packs a whole bunch of features, and contrary to popular belief that Schwinn went the way of the not so classy retail establishments, this is not the case. Fit and form are very well executed on this Schwinn Signature Series, Rendezvous Cycle. Steel Fenders, detailed paint and machined rims, steel bar chainguard, details down to the cable routing on this beauty all show that Schwinn still has the touch. 

Details, down to the last thought. Thanks Schwinn.

Internal 5 speed hub keeps things simple.

Heres the scoop on Schwinn Signature bikes.

   Schwinn has two different lines of bikes, a low end "non bike shop" retail line, and their Signature brand level which can only be sold in authorized shops. Schwinn is trying to stay afloat in this tough market. Maybe in the near future they will have a high end brand and be back on top of the market. The Signature brand though will have to suffice and they are doing a great job with the quality and design of these niche group bikes.

• All new Schwinn® Rendezvous step-thru steel frame with double top tube and rigid steel fork.

• Sturmey Archer® internal 5-speed drivetrain with Sturmey Archer® twist shifter for smooth gear changes.

• Schwinn® comfort stitch grips, fender set and front basket with wine bottle holder are perfect for a summer outing. 

The Schwinn Rendezvous starts with a steel step through frame.




 A touch of subtle colored accents bring character to this ladies bicycle. 



The painted rims with machined braking surface accent the grey paint and leather wrapped seat and hand grips. 




Bamboo inset wine rack forward of the bike provide safe travel for your new cellar additions. 

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Remember when clunkers ruled the mountain?

Clunker Hybrid? Enter the  Schwinn Super Deluxe

 

Bottle opener on top tube

So much history comes from the steel framed cruiser, the 26" fat tire bike of the past. Schwinn put some thought into the details of this bike as well. Taken design cue from the modern fat bike, the rims speak for themselves. The two speed kick back hub, custom chain, the three piece crank set. Even the FSA headset and threadless stem set this aside from the classic cruiser yet there is the springer fork, old clunker style bars, and a fat, stitched seat which makes this a cruiser again. What say you? Strip it down to essentials and create your own throwback clunker? Leave it and hope that in thirty years it will be sought after? 

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Re-Invention Part

The aforementioned bikes have truly reminisced of past times, evoked a bit of nostalgia and if you havent checked your bank account yet, this bike here may have you doing just that.

 Bronx Cycles, US Distributed by Huntington Beach Bicycle Company

This is a recent re-invention of the mountain bike, a re-invention of the beach cruiser, and heck, a re-vision of the modern fat bike. The Bronx. Here is an idea of something to simply have for fun. Something to have for cruising the beach, or for a ride around the neighborhood. Something to have cruising the snow covered streets of Mammoth or Big Bear.

Nothing turns more heads than a Fat Bike. Especially one like this.

 

High Modulus Carbon Fiber and the Cannondale Evo High Mod: Dura Ace 2

What is high modulus carbon fiber?

      Carbon fiber in its simplest form is a filament fiber, much like but smaller than a strand of hair. These strands are bundled in what is called "tow." Different types of filaments have their own set of structural values and properties which also throws another variable in the mix.

This tow is then woven into sheets of fabric much like a wool blanket is made from yarn. Or it may be laid into a unidirectional sheet which is used to make into structural forms. (designed to be stiffer or have built in flex.)  

High Modulus Woven Fibers

Tensile Strength and Modulus

Tensile strength rating is based on the force it takes to break the carbon fiber by pulling it apart from end to end. Tests do vary, but in the simplest explanation, however the tests are done, a designation of tensile strength is given. 

Tensile strength testing based on UV and Oxygen effects with High Modulus fibers...  Science!

 

Modulus on the other hand is how stiff the carbon fiber is. The higher the modulus, the stiffer the overall product. But it comes at a cost of tensile strength. Low modulus carbon fiber may stretch more than high modulus. Modulus is rated in High, Medium, and Low.

 In the application of modulus carbon to cycling, the much desired stiff frames of today are able to utilize the stiffness of high mod carbon without needing to use as much material as a lower modulus carbon built frame. Manufacturers use their own "recipes" to build in frame handling characteristics. 

Cannondale's High Modulus: Super Six Evo

 

EVO Carbon:

By using a higher percentage of intermediate-modulus fiber to tune the stiffness, we are able to expand the EVO line with a super high-performance, sub-950 gram frame.

Continuous Carbon: 

A continuous network of high modulus stiffening fibers runs around joint areas and along the outer edges of the frames tubes, connecting all parts of the frame and allowing precise tuning of stiffness and ride quality.

                                                                                         -cannondales design team

As far as the process of forming and shaping carbon fiber goes, that's probably Cannondale's secret and more in depth than I would like to go in this much long overdue blog entry. 

Here are some examples of the handy work Cannondale has done with their High Modulus Carbon shaping. Keep in mind the amount of material used to do this.

The dropouts are clean cut and very stout.

Very thin seat stays allow the carbon to be more flexible vertically and very stiff laterally.

High Modulus Insignia on the fork and seat stays.

The Bike

           Enough of the carbon and the weave, lets see how that one strand of carbon evolved into a sheet of fibrous weave which was molded into this beautiful Evo frame, and finally, built up to roll. FAST!

This Cannnondale Super Six Evo, High Mod frame is built up with the newest Dura Ace 9000 components. Manual shifters, front and rear derailleur, brakes and the fancy polymer shift-cable and housing set for buttery smooth shifting.

Cannondale's flagship Shimano equipped bike, the Dura Ace 1, will incorporate the newest Dura-Ace Di2 with the appropriate 9k cassette and D-A 9k chain. The Dura Ace 2 bike is equipped with an Ultegra Chain and cassette. The weight savings in regards to parts is much less than the weight savings your wallet will incur. (429g Dura Ace 9k chain and cassette vs. 465g of the Ultegra 6800 11sp)

 Brakes are easy to modulate, have a ton of power, and look fantastic.

 ..........

Internal rear brake cable routing is very low key, the external routing of the shift cables works seamlessly, and allows for easy cable change. Don't let the lack of internal cable routing ruin your perception of function over form!

..........

 

The ever popular Si crankset is installed on the frame along with a FSA Chainring set. (this was switched out to the Si milled spider-ring Set. This is much smoother shifting, and ~50g lighter)

 

 

 To round out the group,  Fizik's newest Arione seat is used with the Cannondale C1 alloy seat-post. The seat took some time to get used to but after a few hundred miles time on it, the seat is actually not that bad for a very flat profile top. The materials used are mg rails a suede feel inner fabric and the outer edges are standard vinyl material.

Specs:

15lb 2oz (with cages and pedals)

Frame: SuperSix EVO, BallisTec Hi-MOD Carbon, SPEED SAVE, PressFit BB30

Fork: SuperSix EVO, SPEED SAVE, BallisTec Hi-MOD full Carbon, 1-1/8" to 1-1/4" steerer

Wheels: Shimano RS81 Carbon (Not Shown in blog) Novatec R5 Clincher shown 1560 grams

Tires: Schwalbe Z1, 700x23c, folding

Chain: Shimano Ultegra 6800, 11-speed

Stem: Cannondale C1, 31.8 6 deg.  (Not Shown in blog) Cannondale Fire 120mm

Handlebar: Cannondale C1 Compact

Front Derailleur: Shimano Dura Ace 9000

Rear Derailleur: Shimano Dura Ace 9000

Shifters: Shimano Dura Ace 9000

Crank: Cannondale HollowGram Si, BB30

Bottom Bracket: Cannondale Alloy PF30 BB Cups, FSA BB30 Bearings

Cassette: Shimano Ultegra 6800, 11-25, 11-speed

Saddle: Fi'zi:k Arione, w/ Mg Rails

Seat Post: Cannondale C1, Lightweight 2014 Alloy 27.2x250mm

Headset: SuperSix EVO, 1-1/4" lower bearing, 25mm carbon top cap, 5mm Hidden top ca

Brake Callipers: Shimano Dura Ace 9000

Brake Levers: Shimano Dura Ace 9000

 

 

SRAM XX1, another online review...

                                    SRAM XX1

                                    Worth the change?

 It seems there is a large demand for the new SRAM XX1 line of components these days. Lets do a big one over on the specs and oogle at some pics of what the big fuss is all about.

Recently, here at the shop, we have done 4 complete build ups with the new XX1 components within the past month. The feed back is a general consensus. Smooth, quick shifting, quiet, and it looks so good. Coincidentally, these installs are all on 650b bikes. Wait till that blog comes around!

Lets run through the parts then we can put some science into the mix.

Lets start with the shifter. 
Take your pick. 
Trigger style or Gripshift

                                                              

                                                          

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SRAM XX1 X-Horizon Rear Derailleur

MSRP: $305

ROLLER BEARING CLUTCH™ technology reduces bounce and chain slap. CAGE LOCK™ technology makes wheel removal and installation easier than ever before.  

• Large upper pulley offset automatically adjusts chain gap
• Straight parallelogram design with horizontal movement reduces shift force and improves drivetrain performance
• 12T X-SYNC pulley wheels
• TYPE 2 technologies: ROLLER BEARING CLUTCH™ and CAGE LOCK™
• New silent pulley tooth design
• Weight: 220 grams

 

 A bike we put it on was John Hall's Turner Burner 650b

He likes every bit that the 11 gears gives him. He has the climbing gears and the small ring gives plenty of top speed.

Also, this has been circulating around the internet for the past week but in case you have not seen the build up video yet, here it is. 

Cannondale SuperSix EVO Black

 Cannondale SuperSix Evo: Black Edition

For a purely informational blog, I'd like to introduce Cannondale's flagship road cycle.

                   
 However you consider it, let it be known that a bike out of the box can weigh in at 11 lbs 9oz.
 

 
With small shimmers of titanium and the powder blue accents, 

Cannondale keeps the details quite subtle.
Dura Ace 11 Speed Derailleur/ Cassette Shown Above

 

 Hollowgram SiSL 2 Crankset
An Evolution of the original Hollowgram Si 
Lighter, Stiffer, One Piece Forged Spider and Double Ringset

Enve Parts Throughout
Stem, Bars, Seat post, Tubular Rims

As a whole...
 
Frame: Ballistec Nano Carbon
Gruppo: Dura Ace9000
Crank: Hollowgram SiSL2 w/opi Spider Ring
Wheels: Enve Rims, DT Swiss Hubs & Spokes
Mfgr Weight: 11.60
MSRP: $11,999

John Doing finger exercises.
No Sweat.

 

First Blog

First Words

   Well,  there comes a time when one needs to find new ways to reach the masses.

   Here it is.

    The Bike Shop Temecula, as we are, bike-a-holics, cycle nerds, roadies, hard core mountain shredders, two wheeled aficionados, fly by fixed gear traffic busters, we, however spelled or titled are going to be starting a new way of introducing product, new ideas, cycling concepts, diy mechanics, cyclist requests and whatever types of shenanigans we can get away with publishing here on our shiny new blog.

    To start off properly, there needs to be an introduction of some sorts. Not of our staff, yet, but of the facilities. There may be a myth of sorts about our shop way down on the east end of Temecula Parkway and there needs to be some sort of proof that we do exist.

This blog entry is secondly, a test run to see if this stuff will work.
Feel free to share and comment.

    -#4

Till next time...

Welcome!

Shoe Fit Area

 

The Back Room   

The Shop