Poor Man's Wind Tunnel Power Test

I ran the Poor Man's Wind Tunnel Power Test today at Fiesta Island in San Diego with one of my cycling friends, Pete Riley, who is one heck of an athlete and a senior scientist at SAIC. Pete has his own blog, in which he journals tests of a modified bike that puts him in the "Superman" position. Pete's goal is to try and break the course record at Fiesta, or at least come close to it. He's fit, has a solid training and is taking steps to ensure he is as aerodynamic as possible for his quest.

There will be more on this test in future blog. For now, I just wanted to share some of the pictures and video from today's trial.

Armstrong to Buy Stake in SRAM

SportsOneSource.com - Sporting Goods Business UPDATE

Armstrong to Buy Stake in SRAM
SportsOneSource Media Posted: 9/25/2008
Lance Armstrong is switching his allegiance from Shimano to SRAM in a big way, according to various media reports. Armstrong announced Wednesday that he would compete in the 2009 Tour de France with Kazakhstan-based Team Astana, which uses SRAM components. Armstrong has traditionaly raced with components from SRAM's Japanese competitor Shimano.

Also, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Armstrong is investing several million in SRAM alongside Lehman Brothers Merchant Bank. Armstrong will use SRAM components in all his races and serve as a technical advisor to SRAM, according to the report.

The newspaper reported that as many as 20 private equity firms competed to buy a stake in the Chicago company. Lehman got the inside track when one of its bankers met Armstrong at a Rolling Stones concert in Rome in 2007. The banker later asked Armstrong to help evaluate SRAM and then invited him to invest along side Lehman. The paper estimated Lehman paid $200 million for its 40% stake in SRAM, which was looking for a strategic partner to take on Shimano globally.

Team Astana's Alberto Contador and Team Saunier Duval-Scott's Riccardo Ricco placed first and second in the Tour of Italy earlier this year. Both teams rode with SRAM's Gruppo RED - the first component family to weigh less than 2,000 grams. Armstrong's return to the sport, however, is expected to generate much more interest not only in the Tour de France but road cycling in general.

A seven-time Tour de France champion, Armstrong has helped raise an estimated $260 million to fund cancer research despite allegations he has used performance enhancing drugs.

Related Links:

* SRAM and Jarden Insist Lehman Bankruptcy Won’t Slow Them Down
* Trek Counter Sues LeMond to Terminate Licensing Agreement

gadgets worth noting from Eurobike

Finally....a took worth purchasing!

Batman saddle? wow...my junk hurts jut looking at this.

no words needed

Backcountry's cycling-focused sites

SportsOneSource.com - Sporting Goods Business UPDATE

Backcountry.com to Launch More Bike Sites
SportsOneSource Media Posted: 9/18/2008

Backcountry.com will drill further into bicycle territory next spring by launching two new high-end, bike-specific web sites and a "one deal at a time," or ODAT site.

ADVERTISEMENT The SGB Question

Backcountry.com's future bike lineup will include a new site focusing on the premium high-end road market, and another focusing on the premium high-end mountain-bike market. In addition, Backcountry.com will launch a One Deal at a Time (ODAT)-style close-out site for the road market, while repositioning Chainlove.com to focus on moving close-out mountain bike gear.

Backcountry.com's Bike Merchandise Division Manager, John Thomas, said that it was Backcountry.com's customers and the overwhelming success of bike products in the Backcountry.com mix that gave them the opportunity to expand their bike retail channels. Traffic to the company's chainlove.com website launched in June hit 1 million unique visits in its first month.

"Initially we were unsure of how bike would perform," said Thomas. "But our bike push really tapped into a pent-up demand for middle to high-end, full MSRP product offerings. Sales and conversion were both higher than expected and Chainlove.com had the fastest rate of adoption that we've had for any of our other category-specific sites. Yeah, we noticed."

Thomas attributes the company's success in the bike market to the same focus that took Backcountry.com from a $2,000 start-up investment to $200 million in annual sales in just 10 years: customer service, product selection and superior content. Plus, the bike lines have benefited from the support of forward-thinking bike brands looking for a dynamic web presence, such as Titus, Intense, and Litespeed, Shimano, Mavic, Fox, and Giro/Bell. Backcountry.com currently carries more than 130 bike brands.

Backcountry.com will leverage the same customer-centric programs in the bike market as they have in their other categories, including their money back guarantee, same day shipping, 24 hour in-house live chat and phone support and a 240,000 square foot warehouse stocked with technical gear and experts. All of this infrastructure is unmatched in the bike industry.

But Thomas admits that they are far from being embraced by the industry.

"In the bike industry, we're hearing a lot of the same reluctance from vendors that we heard from outdoor brands when we started in business: We'll lose our dealers, bastardize our brand, kill customer service … but show me an example--in any industry--of a leading brand going online and losing sales overall. Furthermore, relative to other consumer markets, the sporting goods category is still early in the curve of online shopping adoption. The online channel is only going to grow. The customers want you to be online."

Thomas said he understands some of the push-back he's been getting. "The industry has a bad taste in its mouth because selling bikes online has been price driven. We will change that."

Brand names and associated URLs for the sites have not been finalized, but Backcountry.com will support this expansion with a variety of marketing initiatives in 2009 to support the industry and build brand-name awareness within the market. Backcountry.com's bike buying team will be out in force at Interbike.

Vanity? "Helmet hair" puts women off cycling

'Helmet hair' puts women off cycling - This Britain, UK - The Independent

'Helmet hair' puts women off cycling

PA
Friday, 19 September 2008

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Women are three times less likely to cycle than men because they are put off by "helmet hair" and getting sweaty, a survey said today.

Despite the golden heroics in Beijing by the British female cycling team, 64 per cent of women said they never cycle, according to an online survey commissioned by Cycling England.

Citing the reasons for avoiding cycling, 58 per cent said they would not want to arrive at work sweaty, and one in four (27 per cent) were too worried about helmets ruining their hair to risk a ride in the saddle.

Almost one in five (19 per cent) of women even said they could not risk colleagues catching them without their make-up on.

And the miserable British summers might also be putting off the 50 per cent of women who said they will not cycle for fear of getting wet in the rain.

Women were also concerned about safety with 53 per cent citing it as an issue, and 42 per cent said they lacked confidence in their own road skills to navigate the UK's congested roads.

Only 2 per cent of women said they cycled everyday.

But Cycling England blamed women's "perceived affect of cycling on appearance" for their lack of enthusiasm for pedal power.

In fact, women were three times more likely to cycle indoors on exercise bikes than outdoors on the open road.

However, the survey results might surprise British cycling pursuit gold medalist Rebecca Romero who proved cycling can be glamorous by posing nude in a recent advert for a sports energy drink.

Fellow Olympic cycling gold medalist Victoria Pendleton also cast aside her clothes for a cheeky cover shoot for the Observer Sports Monthly magazine.

Glamorous celebrities, like Agnes Deyn and Elle Macpherson, have been snapped in the saddle recently; but even the fashionistas have failed to awaken a high-street passion for tight, luminous Lycra.

Phillip Darnton, chairman of Cycling England, said: "It's very worrying that we have such a gender imbalance when it comes to cycling in this country.

"Women, and in particular mums, have a key role to play in encouraging greater take up of cycling in general - so it's vital we get more women on their bikes."

Keen-cyclist Emma Osborne, from Exeter, is running a campaign called Beauty and the Bike to encourage more women to take up cycling.

She said: "Cycling from A to B doesn't have to mean you arrive dishevelled at your destination. You can take it at your own pace without having to work up a sweat or don Lycra cycling wear.

"Women who cycle regularly look and feel great, and with increasing numbers of celebrity female cyclists looking chic on a bike, we hope more women will feel inspired to take to their bike."

Cycling England was established in 2005 by the Department for Transport to encourage more people to cycle.