Road Rage - Matt Magee

Departure from Sunset Cycles

2011-06-22T14:19:00.001-06:00

There are many who read this blog who are regular customers of mine. Some of you I have been able to contact; others I have not. For those of you who do not already know - here is the latest as I do not want anyone to be surprised: Last Thursday night, June 16; Roger laid me off from my job at Sunset Cycles. Reasons cited were 1) failure to follow through on small, around-the-store tasks

Fascinating Article on Tire Testing

2011-02-02T23:49:00.000-06:00

I've long admired cyclingnews.com's James Huang's technical writing and referred to it often as the best in cycling journalism (although - VeloNews has really stepped it up lately). One of his latest pieces highlights a tire testing facility in Finland that seems to finally be coming up with some good data on tires in real-world type scenarios and less-so in the controlled laboratory conditions

What Size Bike do I Need?

2011-01-07T07:01:00.004-06:00

Answer: it's complicated... I received a question from a reader in the comments section this summer and I've finally written an article in response as I promised. (Keep using comments, folks - I do read them and respond when I can - but I have a family and a full-time job; so this "hobby" of blogging sometimes takes a back seat). Here's the question; my responses; and the article. Enjoy!

Why Cyclists Need GPS

2010-12-24T10:32:00.002-06:00

...and this is not a sales pitch disguised as a new story. Really thought provoking - this one. I may have finally been pushed over the ledge toward getting one myself after reading this. I ran across this story during my almost-weekly "try-to-catch-up-on-the-news" trip to bikeportland.org. Jonathan ran a story he'd received as a tip from a friend (I guess this story is going viral...)

Internal Cable Routing

2010-10-28T22:24:00.003-06:00

Internal cable routing has been around for a while now - some executions better than others... And in today's reality of electronic shifting and increasingly more "organic" designs it is surely here to stay. As great as it looks - and as much of a benefit as it may be for keeping grit out of your cable systems - internal routing presents some unique challenges and requires extra care. We

How to fit a Cyclocross Bike

2010-09-01T11:31:00.002-06:00

As I have discussed (at length) before - there is a lot of good and bad info out there about bike fitting and selecting the right size frame. One of the more common topics I run into this time of year is how to select the right size of Cyclocross bike. A common guideline I have heard is that you ought to size-down from your road bike frame size to obtain the right 'cross frame. As a universal

Worn Tires and Flatting

2010-08-01T05:50:00.002-06:00

This post also appeared on the store blog - but I figured the audience here is a little more broad and it's a good topic; so I'm sharing it here as well. This time of year we seem to more commonly be addressing common causes of flat tires and how to prevent them. A frequently overlooked cause worth talking about is worn-out tires. As your tires wear their flat protection is reduced because

Do I Need a Bike Fitting?

2010-07-20T23:39:00.003-06:00

Driving around town the other day I saw so many people who were so obviously uncomfortable on their bikes (and suffering a loss of efficiency because of their lack of comfort along with other factors). So, since so much of my material is inspired by my experiences - I was inspired to write another post: A few quick pointers on how to know if you need someone to assess your bike fit. Several of

Quick note: Bicycle Fitting "Apps"

2010-06-13T09:14:00.000-06:00

First - don't get me wrong. I'm not a Luddite. I love many things that have come along in the technological revolution. But, we still must be careful how much gravity we give these tools and applications that actively or passively claim to replace humans. I've talked some about the bike fitting calculators which can be found at various locations online and how; while they may be based on good

Bike Mistakes - Part 1: Handlebar

2010-06-07T12:26:00.002-06:00

I've been talking with Chris at the shop about a series of posts about common mistakes that most everyone (even some shops) makes on bicycles. I'm going to give this a stab here and see how it goes. Some of this may also appear on the store blog or newsletter: we'll see. I'll be focusing on mechanical mistakes as well as those that may effect comfort, handling, or safety. I don't know how many

Choosing the Right Road Tire

2010-06-01T05:26:00.005-06:00

You'd be amazed at how many of these topics are inspired by my daily conversations with customers and clients in the store (and even further amazed by how many of them I never get around to writing...) This is actually a frequent conversation I have. There are so many choices out there that it is hard to sort through the marketing spin and quasi-technical data to the stuff that really matters.

Shimano WH-6700 Road Tubeless Wheel Review

2010-05-16T22:02:00.003-06:00

The single most-viewed page on this blog is my review of Shimano's WH-7850-C24-CL wheels. And, it's no surprise to me - they're amazing; revolutionary wheels (no pun intended). Why do I mention this? You see, these wheelsets are related. The WH-7850-SL is the predecessor to the WH-7850-C24-CL and is Shimano's first tubeless road ready wheelset. It features a Scandium alloy rim with a sealed

Cycling Nutrition - a basic guide

2010-05-10T05:55:00.002-06:00

Comments from my recent post on Fitting, Fitness, and Fuel prompted me to post this article (with a few edits...) I recently wrote for a newsletter. It is geared heavily toward the Hammer Nutrition products - as that's what I use and what we were emphasizing in the article; but it's still a good guide whatever your brand of choice may be. Enjoy! Proper nutrition during exercise and endurance

Improve your cycling: Fitting; Fitness; Fuel

2010-04-28T09:02:00.005-06:00

Photo: Chris WareThis conversation came up on a Saturday ride with some of the members of our race team. In addition to the usual conversation about new, cool bike gear that usually crops up on a ride; one of the members was commenting on the results of the fitting I'd performed for him a couple of weeks prior. We had eliminated his knee pain and increased his efficiency and balance on the bike.

Tested: Chamois Butt'r Eurostyle

2010-03-08T10:20:00.004-06:00

Hmmm, well, I guess this is no more awkward than we make it out to be, now is it?That opening statement probably didn't help either.I've been a pretty devoted user of chamois cream for quite some time now (Chamois Butt'r original formula, if you must know). Any time I'm going out on the bike for longer than 1 hour - I'm using chamois cream.What's the purpose? Regular chamois cream reduces

PRO Vibe 7S - Tested

2010-01-18T12:48:00.019-06:00

First, let me apologize for not posting in a while. I've been a little busy with the December birth of my second son and all... I'm sure you'll forgive me!So, I've been looking for some time to replace the Ritchey WCS stem and WCS Carbon handlebar that I've been riding on my Waterford with something aluminum and significantly stiffer. The bar is not bad, but the stem is a little twisty. When

Stuart's completed S-Works Roubaix 7900

2009-11-09T11:40:00.016-06:00

Photos: Chris Ware - Click for large versionSorry it took me a while to get these posted. It's been a crazy couple of weeks.The bike was finished before I took off to SBCU - and this is how it looked moments after completion. Here's the details of the build kit:-Frameset: 2010 Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL2 & S-Works Pave' seatpost-Wheelset: Shimano Dura Ace 7850-c24-cl-Tires: Continental

Specialized Bike and Gear Reviews - direct from Morgan Hill

2009-11-01T09:37:00.019-06:00

I've just returned from 5 days at Specialized headquarters in Morgan Hill, California; where I had the opportunity to use a heap of Specialized branded gear. (I also spent three days riding Dura Ace Di2 - and I plan to post a separate review of that soon.) So, here's a few mini-reviews of the gear I used. I hope you enjoy and find them helpful.Photos courtesy Specialized - click for larger

2010 S-Works Roubaix Custom - in process

2009-10-23T20:00:00.013-06:00

Stuart has been away from the sport a while, but is used to riding the best. When he finally came to visit me at the store, he'd ridden just about every bike that would be on anyone's short-list. After a quick test-ride on our demo Roubaix Pro; expertly fitted before he rolled out of the store of course, I think he was pretty well sold. After talking more about what he had in mind and how he

Prototype Dura Ace Carbon Pedal

2009-10-15T08:54:00.005-06:00

To all of the Shimano reps and employees who; for the past 2 years, have been denying the existence of a carbon pedal prototype when I asked them about it: WHAT'S THIS?!?!?!http://velonews.com/photo/99261Peter, you're the only one who's been honest with me. :)

Interbike 2010 Guide - new stuff from Dirty Vegas

2009-09-26T10:24:00.007-06:00

Photo courtesy Interbike.comI described Interbike on my facebook status as one of my favorite events in my least favorite city. I love Interbike and reconnecting with old friends; but from the second the plane touches down in Vegas, I can't wait to leave! I just feel like I need to take a shower after being there. It's an interesting dichotomy.So, that said - Interbike was a pretty good show

The 2009 Vuelta a Espania is on Universal

2009-08-29T08:20:00.002-06:00

Much like the Giro d'Italia this year, the third Grand Tour of the season can be found at Universal Sports, a subsidiary of NBC. I'll probably be catching it online, as they don't seem to be giving it a lot of TV time. Versus does a great job with the Tour and I love how thourough they are. But, it's also great to see some others getting interested. And with a company as seemingly well

First Impressions - New Ultegra 6700

2009-07-29T08:30:00.004-06:00

Head's up!Photo courtesy bikeradar.comHere's a quick first-ride review on the new generation of Ultegra from bikeradar.comLink: First Ride: Shimano Ultegra 6700 ReviewWith Dura Ace 7900 moving decidedly up-market to compete with Sram Red and Campagnolo Super Record, it looks as though Shimano is positioning Ultegra 6700 as the new high-end group for the "rest of us" with nearly Dura Ace weight

Climbing tips, tricks, and advice.

2009-07-24T08:55:00.010-06:00

Again, bikeradar.com comes up with a gem of an article. If you're not making this website a part of your regular cycling-related web-surfing you are missing out on some seriously cool stuff.Link to the article: Technique: Hill climbing made easyThe title makes a big promise - one which is difficult if not impossible to deliver on. Especially when you consider that the conventional wisdom among

Online fraud in the bike industry. Again...

2009-07-15T08:58:00.004-06:00

I don't recall the last time I heard of this happening to customers of a locally owned independent bike shop:*********************Story: bikeportland.orgFraud hits local customers of online retailer NashbarNortheast Portland resident Gabriel Tiller is sort of a bicycle renaissance man. He has won a national tall-bike jousting competition, taken top prize at the Zoobomb Century, earned a spot on