One for the road.

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This should just about wrap up my take on Interbike 2010. Give it a read, then we can get back to shit-talking dopers, riding, and drinking.

By the time Thursday rolled around, I really had nothing else to do. My show was pretty much over as soon as I took a drink with Eddy. The experience was just that awesome.  So I did what any red blooded American would do. I got myself two bottles of booze from the mini bar and wandered aimlessly. I instantly ran into some folks from T.B.A.G, my local bike organization, and start drinking. They tell me word on the street is that Alessandro Petacchi is signing autographs. I stumble over and wait my turn in line just to find out that he doesn’t drink.  Ale-Jet is not a drunkcyclist. But he was super nice and even tolerated my horrible attempt at speaking Italian.

That conversation wasn’t over more than five minutes when I walk around the corner and run into a sure thing.  Steve Peat is a drunkcyclist.

 peatyjaeger

From there I wandered over to see my old friends from Kink bmx. I offered them a drink but they were looking a little green around the gills from the night before. Good job boys.  I then sauntered around and found the boys from Ritte Racing. I just wanted to introduce myself and let them know that I’m a fan of their bust balls style. (like this and this) I never got a chance to talk to anybody but I did see their cross bike, and it was a good looking machine

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For the most part, everything else was pretty standard from the past few years. There was a huge amount of worthless crap in the China section. Specialized still wouldn’t let you into it’s booth unless you were a dealer. Everything is coming with 10 or 11 speeds next year whether you like it or not. But there has been an entertaining addition the past few years with the large influx of hipsters roaming around looking ridiculous. Like this young man who was overheard complaining that he had to have plastic pink pedals on his bike that didn’t quite match because he forgot to pack his other ones:

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But what was my number one surprise of the show? One word, Raleigh.  Their new line of steel road bikes were impressive. Everything from a lugged International to the full fendered singlespeed One Way. It may have been my favorite bike of the show, with it’s Brooks saddle and trick new SRAM hub that goes from freewheel to fixed with the turn of a screw. Or the Sojourn touring bike that seems to be perfectly named and will be able to set you free just like another Sojourner that I am a fan of. They were all solid rides at great prices and I hear that the Raleigh guys and gals read this site. Class acts all around.

That about does it for me. The weekend is fast approaching and after the past month of activity, I think I am going to stay in town and be domestic. Well, I say that now but we’ll see what happens. Until next week…keep it dirty

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About dirty biker

I am a fan of singletrack, singlespeeds, single women and single malt. Currently in Carbondale, CO Follow on Instagram @dirty_biker

38 Replies to “One for the road.”

  1. Nice wrappup Dirty!

    Totally agree … Raleigh rocked it this year. Funny you bring up the Sojourn … picture this, Sojourn, in Ti, S&S couplers … gonna be a reality soon!

    Kanuck, OUT!

  2. Yeah, I am a Specialized dealer, and I went 0-3 on trying to get in and see product I sell. Specialized can go fuck themselves. Wait until the Rep gets a load of that.

  3. Newest Raleigh in my shed is a 1976 Supercourse Mk II set up fixed with a Noodle bar and Technomic stem. But I’d ride that One Way for sure if I didn’t already have all the bikes I’ll ever need.

    And that International is a quill stem away from perfect.

  4. Hey D2! Every set of cantilever brakes suck, right? Even those pictured above, right? Clearly, this person is in need of V-brakes.

  5. el jefe, some German company (best I can do; it’s late and I’m cleaning up the leftover Bourbon) came out with a mechanical lever-to hydraulic brake linkage recently. It looked kludgey as fuck to me, but I think it was posted in Fixed Gear Gallery.

  6. Yeah Raleigh rocks. I had a chance to demo one of their new steel road bikes with ultegra, beautiful white frame. If only budget and space allowed – oh well, back to reality.

    Great series of reports from the show, thanks, and I wish you all a speedy recovery.

  7. The outfit is called Tr!ckstuff. The linkage dropped at Eurobike. It is, in fact, a means by which you can use mechanical levers to control hydraulic discs. And on closer inspection it still seems kludgey as hell. But what do I know? I think a freewheel and more than a front brake is a hamfisted and ill-advised attempt at improving upon perfection.

    If that will be all, sir, I’ll go back to my Bourbon now…

  8. I’m betting the big three have hydraulic brifters at least in the planning stages. Shimano and SRAM certainly. Just like in MTB, people will complain about the weight, until they realize the benefits. They have to add weight to the top pro bikes already, to meet the weight limits.

  9. ‘raleigh one way’…nice fucking ride, guys…that ain’t a hipster bike but it is one hip bike…props to whoever ‘raleigh’ is these days……

    …single speed, belt drive cross ain’t too shabby either…

    …now, steve peat…i’d kinda expect him to lift an elbow @ ‘the show’ so that hardly counts…

    …i think some year a crew of disparate misfits from different shops around the country needs to set a day & hour to meet at the show in say the food area to organize, disperse with everybody walking over to the ‘***specialized***’ booth from different directions & bum rush it all at once…“hey mikey…we just wanna see whats so cool over here…share the love, dude…weren’t you an ol’ pot smokin’ hippie ‘back in the day’ ???”

    …ok…i’m bettin’ i don’t get invited to the next company picnic…

    …& ‘sojourner truth ???…well, dirty, i’d say some day i’d like to shake your hand…we might all think we’re cool, we might all think we’ve been through a lot (& i know i have been through a lot) but man, you take a minute to read about someone like that & if that doesn’t ground your head in reality, if that doesn’t humble you, then you just might not have what it takes to be a real human being…

    …i like me some flashy painted bikes, fancy ass gruppos & crazy ass cycling amigos but i also never wanna lose touch with just how hard some folks will persevere to be free…

    …props, again, dirty biker…

  10. …& el jefe…i’d have to fully agree on that…all three…

    …not only is it kind of a practical idea, it makes good sales sense…

    …look how many new companies are vying for “brake bucks” besides the big 3 these days…it’s an untapped market, it’s gonna be a high price-point market & not every new component company will be able to jump on that bandwagon due to initial costs…

    …the u.c.i. made that first big step by allowing them in cx, so the road can’t be too far behind…

  11. @BGW thanks man. If one person learned something from that Sojourner Truth wiki link than i feel better about my day. beers and handshakes all around hombre.

  12. …cheers, amigo & consider my large-ish ego humbled, prob’ly as yours (humbled, not large-ish) by someone truly worthy…

  13. Joe – you’re a dipshit. Think of something better to say. To me. The Francis shit is old, old, and stupid. Think of something better to say. … or I’ll kill ya.

  14. LJ. your months old reintroduction of a stale and useless argument only serves to embarrass you and risks another wearisome back n forth that I doubt anyone wishes to see.

    If you really can’t let the ‘cantis suck’ thing go, then at least present a free body diagram of cantis vs v’s in optimal setup and offer something new and verifiable over the limp old “I think therefor I’m correct” or even worse the “look, that pro guy uses them therefore they must be awesome” bull.

  15. i have had discs on my cross bike for over two years…they are rad!
    biggest difference is you can drop real single track in dry or wet
    the faster you can stop means the faster you can go!

  16. …i dare say, el jefe, old chap but don’t you find this popcorn a tad stale & the beer somewhat flat ???…

  17. Not to spew the rageahol, but FUCK SPECIALIZED! Sue small bike companies, rip off small bike builders, and get all “You can’t come in here” at Interbike. Classy.

  18. My boss brought me back a signed Jens Voigt pic with “Rule #5” written on it.
    I guess Jens asked my boss what rule #5 was, and my boss pointed at him and said “you’re rule #5 Jens”.

    If you need discs on your cross bike…..see rule #5.

    Smoochies ladies:)

  19. KT, going faster and being able to ride in worse conditions means you are adhering to the tenets of Rule #5. Just sayin’. Howz ’bout a scan of the photo?

  20. If I gave a fuck about riding faster, I wouldn’t be on a fixed gear. As to riding in crappy conditions, I’ve already got the ultimate weapon.

  21. Sorry Joe, you seem like an awesome dude but to ride 1 way all the time seems so limited. Having a flip/flop hub would seem like an ideal compromise and give your legs a break.

  22. “Break”? From what? From feeling more like I am the bike than just riding on it? From the instant response when I stand on it? From the incredible control when things get dicey? From the sweet satisfaction of knowing that when I conquer that hill it’s ME, and not, as DeGrange said, “the artifice of gears”? No thank you.

  23. Oh, and besides that, when I ride a freewheel I tend to coast. Not as much as I did when Saint Sheldon led me to the one true cog, but I coast. I’m arthritic as fuck, and sitting still on a bike like that-it’s just not good for me. Hey, run whatever works; fine by me. But I know what I like, and everyone should at least give it a shot. Otherwise how will they know what they’re missing?

  24. Tip your libation of choice to the inventor of the freewheel and drink heartily me mateys, for ’twas he who elevated us above the ignominious status of the runner (or jogger…I think it’s a soft “j”). For to not be able to coast the downhills, one may as well be reading drunkjogger.com.
    Not sure, but doubt that’s a site.

  25. If that makes me a peasant, so be it. But I’ll tell you what-God must really love the common man. Look how many of us He made.

  26. And I’ll tell you what else-Mr. Garro may indeed hold fixed gear bikes in contempt. But he’ll build them as long as your money holds out. Can anyone say “world’s oldest profession”? I knew you could.