Salt Lake City will never be Portland, but it gets a little closer every day.

Recently, the City Council approved a resolution that would allow all of the 150-175 unclaimed bicycles that the police collect each year to be donated to the city’s nonprofit bicycle collective. Usually, they would be kept for 90 days, then auctioned off by the city, raising a few thousand dollars. But the city is willing to forgo that money. Instead, the bikes will end up going to low income residents who might not otherwise be able to afford a bicycle.

For anyone not familiar with the bicycle collective concept, it’s very simple. They sell used bikes outright, for less than the current market value. For anyone that can’t afford to buy the bike, they can donate their time at the collective, learning a skill while earning a bike. If they’re already donating their time at another non-profit, they only need to provide documentation of that in order to qualify for a free bike.  Obviously, this only works if there is a constant source of donations, either complete bikes or parts, and people to fix them.

This resolution by the city is a big step towards ensuring the sustainability of this very worthwhile program. Let’s hope this takes hold in other cities, as it’s pretty much a win-win for everyone.

As a closing note, if you have the time, or some spares you don’t need, please look into donating to your local collective.

Not too long ago, a friend sent me a link to an article about KVA Stainless steel.

To save you the trouble of reading about the company, and the article about them, let me sum it up for you.  After being turned down by Ford, KVA decided to make tubing for bicycle frames. To say that their product is good would be an understatement. They sold tubing to Reynolds. No small feat, that. And now they are offering it to frame builders. It can be TIG welded or silver fillet brazed, and is exceptionally light while significantly stronger than titanium.

No other material can match the strength to weight ratio of steel, while offering the same ride quality. Of course, in trying to do so, frames prices have gone steadily upwards. The good news is that based on the prices shown on the KVA site, their tube sets are very competitively priced. Sure, they still need to be assembled into an actual frame by a qualified builder, but they’re priced lower than other sets that can’t match their quality. This impresses me for tubing that’s made in America. And for fans of Reynolds, Columbus, and other high performance steel tubing, this is a welcome alternative.

I’m looking forward to seeing some new bikes made with this tubing.

The bike: Wabi Cycles Classic

The details:  A hand-built Reynolds 725 frame with classic road geometry and hand-brazed Reynolds chromoly fork. Rolls on Jalco hoops laced to Joy Tech sealed hubs with double-butted, stainless spokes, all wrapped up in Kenda Koncept Lite 235gram 700×23 rubber. Flip-flop rear hub for fixed gear or single speed riding. Cockpit consists of Lead Tec bars with Velo cork tape, attached to a Kalloy stem riding above an FSA Orbit IS-2 sealed and integrated 1-1/8″ headset. Jagwire cables connect the Tektro ergonomic levers to Tektro R530 brakes. A Velo saddle comes mounted to a Kalloy post. Andel crankset and machined cog. Bring your own pedals.

Options: When ordering, you select your frame size and color, and then either go with the stock components for that size, or choose to spec the following items yourself - stem size from 80m to 130mm,  three drop bar sizes and two bullhorn options, three crank length options, six chainring options from 42-48, and six cog/three freewheel options. Not sure what size you need? Give them a call. Who else does all that?

Of note: Should you want to go brakeless, remove the stainless cable stops for a very clean look, as there are no stops or guides on this frame.

The sum of all those parts: One 18.4lb bike (that’s with two brakes) that rides as smooth as it looks. Smart design, clean welds, quality components.

Opinion: While many of the components may not exactly be household names to most cyclists, they’re OEM (frequently under another brand) on a lot of bikes out there. But getting beyond the lack of familiarity, they look great together. More importantly, they perform exceptionally well together. The road test portion of this review is next.

The porn:

Looking at my current stable of two-wheeled toys, it was apparent that road bikes were woefully under-represented.

Since I don’t much appreciate the harsh ride that modern aluminum bikes offer, even with carbon forks, I knew I’d need to find something in steel. And although I’ve ridden everything from downtube-mounted Sachs Huret friction shifters, right up to the newest Shimano STI, I’m not the kind of rider that chases the latest and greatest in geared bikes. Nope, I was looking for a simple, lightweight bike with a flip-flop hub that would give me the choice of a fixed gear or single speed. And the Wabi Cycles Classic fit the bill perfectly.

It’s going to be my winter bike and long-term rolling test bed for various goodies. Look for a comprehensive review shortly. I just need to take some photos and polish up my words a bit.

Approximately 6,400 bikes equipped with Easton EA30 stems are being recalled, as the stems can crack, causing a steering failure.

There has only been one result of a failure resulting in injury so far.

Models being recalled are all Raleigh 2007, XXIX 700c MTN, RX1.0, Diamondback 2007, Mission, and Sortie bicycles with EA30 stems. The EA30 stems are black with white-and-gray graphics and feature a four-bolt stem face cap.“EA30” is printed on the stem.

Note that EA30 stems sold as aftermarket items are included in this recall.

The bikes were sold via independent bicycle dealers nationwide from August 2007 through August 2009 for between $500 and $1,200. Aftermarket stems were sold from August 2007 through September 2009 for about $30.

Consumers should immediately stop riding the bicycles and contact any authorized Easton Sports dealer for a free replacement stem.

Consumer Contact: For more information, contact Eason Sports toll-free at (866) 892-6059 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT Monday through Friday or visit the firm’s Web site at www.eastonbike.com