Floyd Landis has frequently been described as a dirtbag, but that’s on his better days. Personally, I really don’t care who has been doping when it comes to road racing. But I read an article like this one, on Velonation, and I have to wonder one thing - who would believe Floyd in the first place? He spent so much time denying his drug use, then came out and claims that everyone else did it too. Why is it that when he was obviously lying, no one believed him, but now that he’s admitted to lying, and there is a reason to question his motives, suddenly folks are starting to listen?

Please explain.

While normally having many bikes means having a choice, that’s not the case any more. I loaned my neighbor’s son my bike so he could ride to work, and he’s been having such a great time, I feel bad asking for it back. His old school ten speed needed too much work, and we were going to convert it to a single speed, so I let him try my Windsor The Hour. He was amazed at how much faster he could go with only one gear, rather than ten. Sure, he probably dropped nine pounds of bike too, but he’s hooked now, and I feel responsible.

Before he appropriated my bike, I had thrown on a pair of Fyxation Session 700 tires. These whitewalls on my yellow bike earned it the nickname “Scrambled eggs”. They’re 700×28c tires, with 120 TPI construction, a Kevlar belt, and a diamond tread pattern. While I’m not into either tricks or skidding, (riding single speed, not fixed) I certainly appreciate both the cushion a wider tire offers on our crappy streets, and the massive traction these tires provide. It could just be in my head, but it seems like the wrap-around tread has saved me more than once when cooking through a corner with more speed than I have any business going. And they hardly look worn, even though they’ve got a couple hundred miles on them already. My guess is that they should hold up well for quite some time.

Based on my time riding them, here are some observations.

Pros: They look good, handle great, and seem to be built well. Wide color choices, including solid colors, or colored whitewalls. Since the Fyxation guys are less than an hour from me, I can count on next day shipping. If you can’t find them locally, you can probably get them shipped within a few days.

Cons: Price may be a factor for some. While $50 is hardly expensive in the world of bicycle tires, that may be steep if you do a lot of skidding and go through a back tire every month. Weight may also be an issue, but since they seem to wear well and resist punctures, that too may not be a deal-breaker for everyone.

And let’s face it. Some guys (and girls) and going to get them just so they can coordinate them with the Fyxation BMX and Track grips. As long as you’re riding, it’s all good.

I have to admire this guy. He’s creative, and he’s got balls.

HORS CATEGORIE, FRANCE (CFEpr+) July 21, 2010 - - Dave Mayer, founder of Clean Bottle, a revolutionary sports bottle that unscrews at both ends for easy cleaning, didn’t have a lot of money to launch his business. So he got creative. Mayer put together a five-foot-tall replica costume of his product, booked a flight to France and has been running alongside the riders at the tops of the climbs of the Tour de France.

In the process he’s become a minor celebrity.

“From what I hear I’ve gotten some good television time” said Mayer “my inbox is flooded with people telling me what a kick they get out of “Bottle Boy” running along with the cyclists.”

Creates “Bottle Boy” Costume for National Product Launch

Buoyed by his initial success, Mayer decided he needed to do a national product launch. But, he didn’t have the hundreds of thousands of dollars it takes for this kind of effort.

Instead, he came up with “Bottle Boy” and launched a plan to run along the tops of the climbs of 12 stages of the Tour de France.

“The Tour de France is the Super Bowl of cycling.  By running with the riders I’d essentially get free commercial time focused on my exact target audience. I’d do it in a creative, funny way that hopefully would get people’s attention.”

Sales are Climbing Through the Roof!

So far, Mayer’s plan is working. “I’ve gone from $4,000 a month in sales to $4,000 a day.  And people are constantly emailing me about the bottle and what a great idea it is. Driving all night to get to the next stage and then hauling the costume some times as much as 20 kilometers to the top of every climb is a lot of work, but it’s definitely been worth it.”

Click Here to see Clean Bottle Coverage on Versus…

Look for Clean Bottle on Thursday’s Tourmalet Climb!

Clean Bottle’s Tour de France concludes with Thursday’s 19 kilometer climb up the Tourmalet, one of cycling’s toughest climbs. Look for Bottle Boy near the top, cheering on the riders and bringing smiles to the faces of cycling fans worldwide.

You can also see Clean Bottle’s ’stage reports’ at the Clean Bottle blog, http://cleanbottle.wordpress.com and its Facebook page www.facebook.com/cleanbottle

About Clean Bottle:

Clean Bottle was founded and is run by David Mayer, a road and mountain cyclist. Dave’s dream is to create phenomenal products that customers love and raise money for good causes.

Clean Bottle supports charities including Engineers Without Borders, Nature Conservancy, Yield to Life, Water1st, the California Bicycle Coalition and more.

Call Clean Bottle at 650.281.7681 and email info@cleanbottle.com to get on board the Clean Bottle Revolution!
cleanbottle.com

[Note: this was written a while ago, but got saved rather than published while I was in the middle of sorting out some hosting issues. Happily, I have a new, reliable web host]

It’s been a while since my last post about the Wabi Classic, and I’ve made a few changes to it, so this is as good a time as any for an update.

First, I’m still in love with this bike. Even non-cyclists comment on what a sexy looking ride it is. With nearly non-existent graphics, and only minimal cabling, (front and rear brakes) it looks sleek and fast even when I’m going slow. And after doing a few “upgrades”, I’ve come to appreciate the stock component selection even more. When I got fitted for a tuxedo a few months back, I realized that I’m not quite the same chest size I was twenty years ago, so I replaced the original bars with some slightly wider Ritchey Pro bars. This necessitated a new stem, and a friend offered up a Thomson at a price I couldn’t refuse. At this point, I was thinking it would look better with a black seatpost and headset. Well, talk about being half wrong. The headset looks fine, but I ended up not using the seatpost, as silver just looks right after all. While I was at it, I figured it was silly to have those sweet Tektro Campy-style levers, but not have Campagnolo brakes. So off came the stock brakes, and on went a new set of Campys.

A couple hundred bucks into “upgrades”, and I have a bike that feels exactly like the stock bike, with probably no weight benefit, other than a slightly lighter wallet. Lesson learned. Richard Snook has plenty of experience not just riding and racing, but sourcing components too. Unless you like spending money for the sake of spending money, the only thing your Wabi really needs is a set of pedals. Save the upgrades for that day when something actually needs to be replaced. Given that this bike is so enjoyable to ride, that will most likely be the tires. I’m hard pressed to suggest swapping anything else, other than the seat, should you have a personal preference.

My only complaint to date is that I would have preferred a standard headset. Not that there is anything wrong with the integrated one, it’s just a personal choice. The bike has such an old school look to it, the headset is a bit out of place.

Heinrich Haussler in the Tour of Switzerland, just before he entered a world of pain. Ouch. Hope he’s feeling better soon.