Cyclesense interbike 2010 More spokes, more electricity, and the missing trend by John Schubert

steel, and this makes the spoke less aero- Recently a reader wrote and asked me what I dynamic. Carbon fiber has an excellent thought about the trend back toward lugged modulus of elasticity, but its failure mode is to shatter, creating a full-employment steel frames. Lugged steel, I replied, was a act for ambulance drivers and those who tiny artifact. Major companies, the ones that would chase ambulances.) Goofball wheels are still widely avail- have all the floor space at bike shops and trade able, but more and more, high perfor- shows, haven’t sold lugged steel in 20 years. Yeah, mance bikes have wheels that can be serviced by a shade-tree mechanic with there are frame builders here and there, but this is an ordinary spoke wrench. One excellent example is the full-carbon, sub-20-pound a buggy-whip industry, barely hanging on. Turns Jamis Xenith Endura series of carbon- fiber road bikes (jamisbikes.com). They out I was wrong. Very, very wrong. range in price from $1,750 to $3,100 While it’s true that lugged steel will and have 28 tangentially laced spokes in never be the default construction of front and 32 in the rear. Those are wheels a typical $300 bike, nor will it appear I could have serviced with the spoke in Trek’s top bikes, it has emerged as wrench and spare spokes I had back a significantly popular folk art bike of in 1965, and they perform very well in this century. More than 100 new frame competition. builders learn their craft every year Every year at Interbike, I look for the from two major frame-building schools few touring bikes amid all the less-capa- — United Institute (bikeschool. ble bikes that remain fashionable. This com) and Michigan’s famous artisan Doug year’s bad news: Rocky Mountain’s tour- JOHN SCHUBERT Fattic (classicrendezvous.com/USA/fat ing bikes are, for now, only available in tic_doug.htm). Many old-name frame The lugged steel Pashley Clubman. Canada due to a change in warehousing builders can’t keep up with demand. and distribution. This year’s good news: (Connecticut’s J.P. Weigle has a waiting Philadelphia expo, that person would Marin has entered the touring market list three years long). think carbon fiber was quite rare. with a very well-spec’d model, the Four And I didn’t learn any of this at this All that said, Interbike did show a Corners, at $999. The Four Corners has year’s Interbike, the bicycle industry’s trend I consider quite exciting: spokes a beefy welded steel frame and fork, annual trade show. No, Interbike was full are making a comeback. Vittoria 700 x 35C tires, all the mounts of carbon fiber, aluminum, occasional Huh, you say? What could I mean? you need, and a spare spoke holder on sightings of titanium, and welded (not For many years, writers have the chainstay. lugged) steel — all viable ways to make a bemoaned the prevalence of what I call Another of my new favorites is the bike, but not the full story. The flush of goofball-spoked wheels, which have 16 KHS Flite 223. KHS (khsbicycles.com) lugged steel showed up a month later at or fewer spokes, sometimes made out of doesn’t even call the 223 a touring bike the Philadelphia Bike Exposition, where goofball materials (carbon fiber or alumi- — they reserve that description for their booth after booth displayed exquisite num), and which can’t be serviced unless $1,099 TR-101 — but the Flite gets special frame building, and the attendees’ bikes the mechanic has specific training, parts, honors because it is touring capable for a parked out on 23rd Street included many and tools. (Note: aluminum doesn’t make mere $519. It has rack mounts front and vintage-looking steel steeds. sense for a spoke because of its low mod- rear, three chainrings, an eight-cog STI All of which goes to show you: trade ulus of elasticity — to get the stiffness drivetrain that should be more durable shows may not tell you everything. you want, you have to use three times than the more expensive 9- and 10-cog Heck, if one were to only attend the the cross sectional area compared with drivetrains, and gobs of clearance under

32 ADVENTURE CYCLIST DECEMBER/JANUARY 2010 ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG ADVENTURE CYCLIST DECEMBER/JANUARY 2010 ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 33 its long-reach side-pull brakes for fenders tion, Cat Eye (cateye.com) has a new ing a comfortable saddle, bikeanalyse. and/or tires bigger than the 26C ones that Urban Wireless computer that computes com uses computer wizardry to measure are standard equipment. Since I have long your carbon offset and calorie consump- the pressure points in your buttocks and believed that the entry barriers to touring tion data. Cat Eye’s Inou has GPS, and custom-molds a saddle to minimize pres- should not include high price, I’m glad to a still camera and video camera, all in a sure on any one point. They have a simi- see a touring-capable bike this cheap. Once again, it’s a big year for electric- assist bikes. Just about every company you can name, from Trek on down, is in the electric-assist business. Purists throw rotten fruit at me for saying this, but I think electric assist is a wonderful option. It allows some people to ride for utility without that undignified post-ride sweat problem, and others to continue touring when their bodies don’t have the power output of yesteryear (or decade). Recently, I received a letter and photos from a member who’d done a week-long, 500-kilometer tour of northwestern Canada, made possible only because he had electric assist. That much range was once just a dream but electric assist has

BRIAN HODES - V E L O IMAGES come a long way. Electric assist also brings out delight- ful inventiveness. One cute example is tiny box on the handlebars (Their Reflex lar custom orthotic system for those who the Ridekick electric-assist cargo trailer rear lights turn on automatically when suffer from tingly toes. (ridekick.com). Your bike can be all pur- darkness and motion are detected.) And famed California frame builder ist for normal riding, and when you take Our all-winter commuting friends will Bruce Gordon (bgcycles.com) has a deal the trailer to the grocery store, the elec- want to treat themselves to AME electri- for people wanting to build custom tour- tric assist goes with you. The Ridekick cally-heated handlebar grips (amegrips. ing bikes: He’s offering his famous tour- is too small for the grocery errands I com). They use about 30 watts to get up ing frame with fork, racks, headset, and do with a , prompting me to temperature, and, depending on con- stem for $975. to give the booth attendant a cheer- ditions, about 10 watts to maintain grip ful “ have road rights” pep warmth. A complete system is $350 for Technical Editor John Schubert regrets that last talk about not being afraid to make the a or $370 for a road bike. month’s article didn’t say when and where the next Family Cycle Tour would be. It’s September 2 to 4 Ridekick wide and tall enough to hold Geeks who want to supply their own bat- in Painted Post, New York (near Corning). For more all those groceries. tery power can buy the grips for $130. information, contact me at [email protected]. At lesser levels of electricity consump- If you have nagging problems find-

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32 ADVENTURE CYCLIST DECEMBER/JANUARY 2010 ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG ADVENTURE CYCLIST DECEMBER/JANUARY 2010 ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 33