The Slidepad is a braking system that controls both the front and rear brakes on a bicycle through the use of one brake lever. The rider of a bike that has the Slidepad system installed simply pulls one brake lever which applies braking pressure to the rear wheel. As the pads make contact with the rear wheel, the Slidepad (which looks like an over sized brake pad) ‘slides’ forward pulling a cable that is connected to the front brakes. This in turn applies enough braking pressure to the front wheel to slow the rider, but not too much to cause them to flip over the handlebars.

Slidepad offers a slightly more technical explanation on its website:

Similar to regenerative braking, Slidepad captures the momentum of the rotating rear wheel and transfers that force to actuate the front brake. It slows the rider down requiring significantly less hand strength because it recycles your forward momentum, using it to apply front braking force. Essentially, Slidepad does half the work of slowing the bike down for you.

Slidepad is a true anti-lock front brake system for bikes. The front wheel is impossible to lockup because it is regulated by the force of the rear wheel. As the front wheel begins to lock, the rear tire begins to loose friction with the ground, and the front brake is weakened proportionally in real time. You get safe, easy, controlled stops every-time, with automatic brake modulation based on your weight position and road surface.

In order to install the Slidepad system on a bike, the rear brakes need to be a linear pull or v-brake type of system as the Slidepad actually replaces one of the arms of the brakes. The front brake can any type of brake just as long as it is cable actuated (ie. linear pull, disc, v-brake, etc); but the front brake can not be hydraulic.

Though numerous companies are looking into the Slidepad system for their bikes as an OE spec‘d item, those will probably not hit the market until the 2012 season. As of June 15th, the Slidepad system is available as an aftermarket option for around $60. If your bike has rear rim brake mounts and you are interested in one-handed braking, visit you local bike shop to inquire if they can help you get setup with the Slidepad system.

Slidepad Official Website

This week at Interbike new start-up Steadyrack is showing its innovative solution that can allow for keeping the bike off the ground and getting some valuable floor space. The system was invented in Perth, Australia by cyclist and homebuilder David Steadman and inventor Ron Collicott in 2000, and the pair have been tweaking it over the years to come up with a thoroughly thought out product.

“The beauty of this patented design is that virtually anyone can store the bikes off the ground and out of the way, freeing up valuable floor space and solving a storage problem faced by so many households and workplaces,” says Steadman. This system has been designed to alleviate all of the problems associated with existing racks and storage systems. It saves valuable floor space, it is easy to use and efficient, it suits almost all bike sizes and styles, it fits almost every bike size and it looks great. A common complaint among people with other types of racks on the wall is that it is simply too hard for the family members to get their bikes down. They either never get used or they are left leaning up against a wall or lying on the ground.”

The Steadyrack can be mounted to virtually any wall, and swiveled to either side, and the racks can be mounted side-by-side for those of us with multiple bikes (you mean everyone doesn’t have a half dozen bikes). The rack also handles the lifting and is designed for bikes of all sizes – with version available for bikes with mudguards and those without.

Steadyrack is currently looking for distributors for their products in North America.

Steadyrack Official Website

We’ll be on the look for the most innovative products, new trends and just about anything else on two wheels.

Interbike Official Website

The Power Grips are a new innovation that offers a good alternative to traditional toe clips

When it comes to being more attached to your pedals, there are two basic choices – clipless pedals and toe straps. The latter, the toe straps, have been around for years and while remaining essentially the same, there has been some development and innovation. Recently Power Grips offer a system that does not lock you in as much as even toe straps. This system is of a band, than a shoe cage. As such, these are a good alternative that wasn’t around when I first went with the straps.

But back to the history lesson. The ‘strap’ system has the advantage of allowing you to ride with just abut any type of shoe, but the disadvantage of locking you in when you are looking to achieve the most efficient pedal cadence and thus limiting the rotation in the pedal.

Toe clips have been around for a while, and come in plastic as well as steel varieties

This system is perfectly fine, but I personally did find it problematic when mountain biking. On a road bike it is rare that you are involved in an accident, but small spills are actually fairly common on a mountain bike. In contrast it can be quite dangerous to be locked into your pedals and “wreck” on a mountain bike. Even in a small spill the bike is more likely to hit you or your knees, which can be injured by the bike flying one way and you going to other way. After a few of these wrecks, which I was able to actually walk away from, I chose to move to clipless pedals since they offer the release mechanism just like ski bindings.

Moving to clipless pedals not only involves purchasing the pedals, but also requires the purchase of shoes that can accept cleats. Most systems out there now use a two or four-bolt system so make sure you know what is required by the pedals you choose before buying your shoes. 

There are quite a few clipless pedal options on the market and as a result the choices can be quite daunting. Most of them operate the same basic way. You step down on the pedal to clip in and rotate your heel outward to unclip. The choices really involve the following – cleat rotation/float, pedal weight, the choice number of entries, can the pedals be ‘serviced’ & mud clearance.

Cleat rotation or ‘float’ is the degree of movement that your foot can rotate before unclipping. This can be especially important of you have knee problems & require more movement for your knee while riding. The degree of float varies from 0º-20º with 6º being the most common. For most riders 6º of float is fine, but if you have a history of knee problems it is best to speak to your doctor to see if the recommend more or less float.

If size is an issue you can't get much smaller than the Egg Beaters

The materials used in the construction and amount of material will determine the pedal weight. Most pedal spindles are constructed of chromoly, which offers the greatest strength, but weighs the most. Other choices are stainless steel and titanium. Titanium is typically the lightest choice, but will probably have a rider weight limit for example 200lbs. for the Crank Brothers Egg Beater 11s. Titanium also tends to cost a bit more, which is something to keep in mind. You can have light and expensive or cheap and heavy. This is another trade off to consider.

These offer the "best of both worlds" option by being flat on one side and have a clip in option on the other

Dual-sided pedals are the norm for mountain bikes & single-sided are most common for road bikes. There are four-sided entry systems out there, most notably the Egg Beaters from Crank Brothers; and there are clipless/platform pedal options out there, like the Shimano PD-M324, for those that want the best of both worlds. This pedal is a good one for those learning the ropes with the usual clipping in and out. It is flat like a tradition pedal on one side, but features the Shimano SPD system on the other side.

The biggest benefit to the PD-M324 is that it is ideal for commuting as it can be used with normal shoes as well as cycling shoes. The only downside is the added weight, as it isn’t a small pedal.

Even if a pedal is advertised as mud shedding like the Shimano XT M770, it is more than likely that you will find a way to collect enough mud in your cleat to interfere with the pedal entry. Look for a pedal that has less places for mud to become impacted & the likelihood of not being able to ‘clip-in’ will be reduced. Spraying oil, like Triflow, on your cleats and pedals can aid in shedding mud and easy of entry/release from the pedals.

The Speedplay Frog pedals have no springs and for many riders a lot more float than other systems

Being able to ‘service’ the pedals means that you will more than likely have the pedals for a longer period of time before you need to replace them. Most pedals can be taken apart so that the bearings and bushings can be greased, but some pedals, like the Speedplay Frogs, include a grease port so that the pedals do not have to be disassembled to be greased.

There is no ‘best’ clipless pedal out there so a little research will be required on your part. One factor to consider is that most pedal systems are incompatible with one another, and the higher end models aren’t exactly cheap. Still, pedals are an easy part to change out on a bike.  They are also a part that many riders are quite passionate about, so keep that in mind when asking for advice from your fellow riders.

But with the right pedal system, whether it be toe clips, Power Grips or clipless pedals the important part is to get with the spin.

Schlek and his brother Frank, who was unable to finish this year’s Tour de France after crashing out early in the multi-stage race, had previously announced that they would be leaving the Saxo Bank team to start their own team based in their native Luxembourg for the upcoming season. This team has yet to announce its full roster or title sponsor.

Trek will join Specialized Bicycles in being a company that will provide cycles to more than one team, as this year Specialized had provided the bikes for Alberto Contador’s Team Astana. Contador, who won the tour, has made the move to Saxo Bank, which was the other team riding Specialized this year. It was also the first time that a Specialized bike was used by a tour winner. Contador and Team Astana had previously ridden Trek, but the company followed Lance Armstrong to the Radio Shack team for this season.

It was announced that Trek would continue to provide bikes for Radio Shack next season, despite the fact that Armstrong has announced that he will be retiring. It isn’t clear if Astana will be in the Tour next season, or if the company will be using Specialized bikes.

Trek Bicycles

Specialized Bicycles

Christopher Kautz of PK Cycling was kind of enough to describe his company’s unique process.

KineticShift: How did you devise the bike studio concept?

Serrota is one of the custom bicycles avaiable from PK Cycling

Christopher Kautz: I started working on fitting with a good friend of mine while we were in our Ph.D. programs and racing as Cat 2 riders in the late 90s. Fit back then, particularly as it related to TT bikes, was very much a black art with no data to indicate whether improvements had been made to a set up after a fitting had been done. After struggling with our own fit issues we decided to make proper fit a research project so that we could be better riders ourselves. After a couple years of R and D we had quite a lot of data and had developed some pretty sophisticated protocols and tools, such as our groundbreaking Virtual Wind Tunnel, which allowed us a degree of precision people hadn’t seen in the fit world before. We set up a number of athletes who went on to win national and world championships, and people started contacting us for fits.

With the in depth nature of what we were doing, we needed several hours with each client and thus could only work by appointment. As the business grew and needed a dedicated space of its own it was only natural to continue to operate on an appointment only basis with our clients, so when we moved out of the garage and opened our dedicated space the fit studio was born. By this time I was also working with several custom frame manufacturers, most notably Serotta since I was one of the lead instructors at their fit program, so the concept of an appointment only studio for custom bikes came right along with the fitting side of the business.

While in hindsight it’s remarkable to look back and see that we were among the pioneers of that concept, at the time it never occurred to us to do anything differently. Having open hours never made any sense with our business model, and it still doesn’t today since our interest is in taking perfect care of each client which requires closing the door behind them when they come in.

KineticShift: At what level does a rider need to be to consider a custom fit bike?

Christopher Kautz: Any level of rider who wants to get the most out of his or her cycling will benefit from a custom fit bike. Cycling is a sport where better equipment helps athletes achieve higher levels of performance, and a perfectly fitted custom bike is designed to work specifically for the needs of the athlete for whom it’s built, whether that athlete be a cyclist who gets out occasionally with friends for a casual ride or a triathlete looking to qualify for the Hawaiin Ironman. Many athletes think they’re not good enough riders to benefit from a custom bike, but that’s simply not true. Anyone who has driven a high performance car such as a Porsche or BMW knows how much better it responds, performs, and feels than driving a Kia, regardless of their skill as a driver.

There is so much more to a custom bike than simply its fit coordinates that go into making it perfect for an athlete that people who have never owned one can’t understand the improvements available to them, even above and beyond very nice stock bikes. The handling characteristics are tunable, as are the ride characteristics in terms of drivetrain and torsional stiffness relative to overall compliance, not to mention the subtleties of getting the right stem and top tube length combinations, and the right stiffness and offset of fork – and those are just the big picture aspects of the frameset, and not even myriad of other details such as selecting each and every component on the bike. And let’s not forget the custom paint jobs, on top of all of that.

Bike fittings aren't rushed at PK Cycling

KineticShift: How much time goes into a custom bike fitting, and what are some of the basics that are involved?

Christopher Kautz: We allow three hours for an appointment with a client to insure that we have all the time needed to cover every aspect of their set-up, and that time allotment is the same whether we are fitting an athlete for a new custom bike or retrofitting their existing bike since in reality the process is the same.

We start with a 30 to 45 minute interview to assess an athlete’s goals, what is and isn’t working with the current set-up, injuries, etc., all of which essentially helps to paint us a picture of what we are working on. From there we measure and document the current set-up, look at the fit on the current bike, take a “before” motion capture video clip of the athlete, and then measure flexibility and range of motion. We then talk the athlete through everything we’re seeing, what we’re going to address, and why. In terms of adjustments we start by setting up the shoe/cleat/pedal interface, work our way to the saddle, and then to the bars, all the while helping to insure that the athlete understands how to sit and why we’re making the changes to the fit that we are. Once through we then document the new set up and go over everything, answering any questions the athlete has, as well as take an “after” motion capture video clip which we compare to the “before” clip.

When sizing an athlete for a new bike, or if we cannot make the existing bike fit, we fit the athlete on our Size Cycle, allowing us to find the perfect setup independent of the existing bike’s geometry, and then use a software template we have to either draft a custom frame or match up stock frames to the fit.

KineticShift: We see that you work with Serrota, Guru and Titus bicycles, so what types of frames and materials are offered to customers?

Christopher Kautz: Between the manufacturers we work with we have the ability to have frames made from all of the common frame materials – carbon fiber, titanium, steel, and aluminum, as well as mixed material bikes (meaning frames incorporating more than one material, usually titanium and carbon fiber). The vast majority of the bikes we build are either carbon fiber or titanium since those materials have the most potential. For example, when durability is the primary concern such as in a bike that will see heavy off-road use or be flown frequently, titanium is the material of choice, whereas if the aerodynamic profiles of the tubes takes priority carbon fiber is the material you’ll generally see the bikes built from.

Having a large number of options with frame materials allows us to meet the needs of our clients regardless of what those needs are, and never have to tell our clients that they will need to compromise.

KineticShift: And custom fits aren’t just limited to road bikes anymore, you’re doing mountain and even cyclocross bikes. Do you see this as a growing market for custom bikes as well?

Christopher Kautz: Absolutely. Custom bikes were originally only the purview of road and triathlon/TT bikes, but as athletes have come to experience the benefits of a custom fit they are no longer willing to compromise on the fit on their other bikes. Manufacturing capabilities have advanced significantly, as well, allowing for more potential in this area. We can even build fully custom full suspension mountain bikes, which is something no one would have thought only a few years ago.

Thank you to Christopher Kautz for taking the time to chat.

During the Second World War many nations relied on bicycles to transport soldiers in rear areas, and to carry messages. Some nations, such as Japan, even used bicycles to rush troops to the front lines. This worked well until the bikes got flat tires – and with rubber in great demand many bikes proved to be sort of worthless, a feeling any rider with a flat probably feels. However, the Japanese solution was simply to ride on the rims until those bent out of shape. Fortunately today bicycle tubes are still just about the least expensive part on the bike, but that’s little comfort when you get a flat and have to change the tire – unless you think of riding on the rims.

So we’re not exactly sure who this “Stan” might be, but he invented one cool product – at least as long as you’re not the maker of bicycle inner tubes, or like riding on your rims with flat tires. The Stan’s Tubeless System is essentially a kit that allows for most standard bike tires to hold air without the use of a tube. This innovative system uses a rubber rim strip to cover the spoke holes along with a liquid sealant to prevent air from leaking through the tire.

In truth, this isn’t all that different from how automotive tires are mounted on car rims. And because the system includes a sealant, riders need not fear broken glass or thorns on the trail. In fact, Stan’s system should be able to stand up nails as well. The upkeep is pretty straightforward, as users should add some sealant every couple of months to prevent flats.

About the biggest drawback to Stan’s Tubeless System is that it costs about $60 and does require a shop to do the transition. It also sounds like it would be hard to change out tires as well, such as if you wanted to go from wide treads to slicks on your mountain bike. But if you pretty much keep your tires on the bike until they wear out this system should most likely keep you rolling and rolling… and rolling.

 [Via Triathlon Competitor: Tri’d And Tested: Stan’s Tubeless System]

 Stan’s Tubeless System at NoTubes.com

The Cervelo P4 Time Trial bike might just give you the time of your life on a long ride

While we’re setting our alarms so we can get up bright and early to watch the Tour de France live and of course in high definition, we have to admit that we haven’t been able to follow all the trends on the latest technological advances. Our friends at Gnews have compiled a look at some of the biggest innovations that you’re likely to see on the roads throughout France in the next two and a half weeks.

Let’s just hope we don’t see more blood on the road. After the numerous spills in Rotterdam, on the roads in Belgium and on the cobblestones the technology most in demand might be anything to help the riders heal up. And while jokes have been made about electronic motors, we think any suggestions that any rider is getting a mechanical aid should be put to rest, especially after the efforts we seen so far.

Top Tech of the Tour de France [Via Gnews.com]

Trek Speed Concept 9 Series

If you blinked you might have missed it, but Trek Bicycles introduced its highly anticipated line of new Triathlon and Time Trial specific bikes at last week’s Tour of California. The Speed Concept line of bicycles was used in last Saturday’s Stage 7 Time Trial is Los Angeles, and the aerodynamic profile was sure to turn heads. The KVF tube shape makes for a sleek cycle to reduce drag, and get you to the finish line in style. If weren’t in the City of Angeles, or didn’t catch the race on TV, you’ll soon get to see the bikes, which should be riding into stores soon.

You also won’t need to be a sponsored rider either, as Trek will offer the Speed Concept in three unique platforms for 2010, with a total of 12 models – to fit most price ranges, and with five unique sizes and six different stems, this concept will fit the frame of the rider like a glove.

The high-end Speed Concept 9 Series models utilize OCLV2 Carbon and can be fully customizable through Trek’s custom bike program, Project One. For those with a more modest budget, or just looking to get a solid ride off the shelf, the company offers the Speed Concept 7 Series, which is comprised of five models. These bikes, with prices ranging from $2899 to $3799, offer the same revolutionary aerodynamic advantages of the 9 Series but are constructed of Trek’s TCT carbon. These bikes will have you looking good on the road, and looking sharp at the finish line.

Trek Speed Concept website

The Museum of Art and Design's The Handbuilt Bicycle

Want to browse some bikes that you likely won’t be seeing anytime soon at your local shop? The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York City has an exhibit running through the middle of August, which shows off the designs of six internationally renowned bicycle builders. The Handbuilt Bicycle showcases bikes that took weeks, and even months of skilled workmanship to build. Each bike of course bears the builder’s unique signature in design while showcasing their personalities through the choice of materials, forms and techniques.

The frames are metal, but these works of art show off the individual craft with graphics and other artifacts. Michael Manaram, owner of a textile company and an avid bike collector, along with Sacha White of Vanilla Bicycles of Portland, Oregon, organized the exhibit, which includes 21 bikes that were completely hand-built.

The bikes include fixed-gear, road racing, cyclocross, mountain and even commuter bikes, as well as a stripped-down randonneur, which was designed exclusively for long-distance racing. The exhibition includes bikes from Mike Flanigan of Alternative Needs Transportation (A.N.T.), Jeff Jones of Jeff Jones Custom Bicycles, Dario Pegoretti of Pegoretti Cicli, Richard Sachs of Richard Sachs Cycles, J. Peter Weigle of J. Peter Weigle Cycles and Sacha White of Vanilla Bicycles.

Museum of Arts and Design: The Handbuilt Bicycle

A Wellington, New Zealand firm may have the answer, and it is one that solves another problem in the process. Duncan Forbes and Matt Hammond of Bikerakk have created a cycle stand that has a solid steel core frame but has a softer outer layer made of recycled car tires. And to encourage businesses to adopt these stands, the rack is in the shape of a bicycle, allowing the rear wheel to be a glass disc that can light up at night for advertising and signage.

So far the Bikerakk is only available in central Wellington, but the company hopes to eventually get the stands throughout the island nation. Maybe it will catch on, as it is a great use of recycled tires and provides a bit of padding. Plus it could be just the thing to remind people that two wheels make a good way to get around.

• Via Stuff.na.nz
• Bikerakk Official site