Riding for two (or more?) We've got you covered. 1. Xtracycle's EdgeRunner 9e, with its powerful Bosch electronic motor assistance, makes mince pie out of any hill - yes, even that one, and with a trio riding on the back to boot. 5. Yepp's Easyfit seats give your passengers a place to sit, 2. Lazer's Multi-Impact Protection System (MIPS) helmets keep them safe, and a nice, 3. colorful bell on the bike keeps them entertained. Of course, sometimes it's not enough to sit back and enjoy the ride; a bright and shiny 4. Lil' Roadster, styled after Linus's full-sized bike, lets them have a pair of wheels all their own.
Gift Guide 2015: Cupcake Rambler
Like Baked Joint's blueberry pie or Parkway Deli's radial bars, you can't have style without substance. Try the Full English treatment for your bike with 2,3,4 genuine leather bags, grips, and saddles from Brooks and a properly professorial houndstooth 1. Shower's Pass jacket to keep the wind at bay when Sticky Fingers calls. 5. Hand-painted (and seasonally appropriate) Crane bells mix bling with ding. Keep an eye on your boxes and bags as you bring them home with a 7. harvest basket and 6. VeloOrange Porteur front rack.
Gift Guide 2015: Fatbike
It's the best thing to come out of Minnesota since Bob Dylan and Malt-O-Meal - for when the roads disappear, winter's weather takes a turn for the Memorable, or you just want to be the first passenger on the H Street NE streetcar tracks. Grab the 1. Ice Cream Truck Ops - tuned for gettin' rad during the summer off-season - and get to shreddin'. 3. Wool scarves and 4. socks from Surly to match your Surly along with 2. Giro 100 Proff lobster mitts keep you nice and toasty when the wild wind blows, while 5. Anything Cages and 6. frame bags schlep your tent and fluffy down sleeping bag through the Seneca Greenway.
Bikes are People: Jeff Frane All-City Cycles
Meet the humans behind the machines. In this episode of Bikes are People we talk with Jeff Frane, cofounder of All-City Cycles. Learn how All-City began and where it's headed.
Your Red Sleigh
Meet the Pass Hunter. All that glittering chrome, those hammered fenders, fluted crankarms, that lustrous red paint - a real retro beauty, ain't it? If you're looking for a great bike for the next Seersucker Social, I think you just found it.
Of course, if you're looking for the right bike for your next long ride - like 750 miles long - you just found that as well. Supple steel for a smooth ride, reliable and field serviceable downtube shifters and cantilever brakes, and a Brooks Swift saddle for "just for you" all-day comfort.
Based in Annapolis, Maryland - it makes a great day trip - Velo Orange has long had a devoted following with long distance and adventurous riders (like my buddy Eric), along with folks looking for classic solutions to perennial problems, like "how do I carry an extra sixer on my bike?" I like to think of what they do as "all of the retro, none of the grouch;" sure, their designs are based on the absolute best of 1940s and '50s French engineering, and if you're looking for that last obscure part to restore that vintage frame, they probably have it, but they're rarely retro for retro's sake. Sometimes, somebody else had that problem, came up with a perfectly ingenious solution decades ago, and now VO's the only one making it.
So what's the problem the Pass Hunter solves? Easy: that your ride has to end. Hop on one of these, and no matter how far your horizons might be, what weather may come and luck find you, or what unknown roads you find yourself exploring, you'll make it through ready for more.
Plaid Ride 2015
Thanks everyone for joining us for our 3rd Annual Plaid Ride! You helped raise $450 for Capital Area Food Bank. Our ride took us through downtown and on a tour of the National Arboretum before arriving for festivities at Bardo, where you tested your strength on the carnival games, enjoyed Bardo Beer, s'mores and Acme Pie.
Happy Thanksgiving
Note Holiday hours are in effect. Stay active during your break and join us for a special edition Hills ride and our 3rd Annual Plaid Ride.
Holiday Hours
November 25th 10AM - 5PM
November 26th CLOSED
November 27th 10AM - 7PM
Holiday Hills Rides
November 26th 9AM Downtown - Hills of Anacostia
November 27th Noon Adams Morgan - Hills of Rock Creek
How to Ride All Year
It's one of those grey November days here at 440 , where the damp and the gloom seem to be conspiring to make life just a little more blech than it really needs to be.
We should go for a bike ride!
When the cabin fever strikes, ya gotta get outta the cabin, even if the fair skies and sunshine missed the invite to join in on the ride. Sleet, snow, wind, dark, and the never-ending grey rain that may have it in for us this winter - you can ride through all of them, amazing your friends and preserving your sanity.
"When I saw the weather this morning, I smiled."
- Lars Boom, winner of the rain-soaked stage 5 of 2014's Tour de France
Making it through the rain, the mist, the drizzle, the sleet, the snow, and the occasional thunderstorm requires a bit of preparation. Rain jackets and fenders are nice. So is knowing, accepting, and embracing the fact that it's gonna be Fun out there. Grippy tires help, but not as much as ridiculous multicolored striped socks that defy the pervading grey and gloom.
There's a reason I wear cycling caps with butterflies and kittens on them, along with tasteless socks, a bright white raincoat, and those obnoxious blue shoes. Whoever decided that black was the best color for winter cycling gear...well, it may keep the cold and damp away, but not the dreary. The existential gloom is your worst enemy; it keeps you inside, off the bike, going a bit more stir crazy every day.
Embrace the absurdity. You only get wet once, you're not made of sugar, it's not cold but refreshing, and it'll make for a great story when it's done.
Rule 9: if you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
I once worked with a mechanic who counted it as a personal victory for the cause of reason and good sense each time someone put fenders on their bike. Fenders are your friend. They keep the skunk stripe off your back, your gear dry from the spray, and your legs from getting coated in road groad the day after a good rain. They're your bike's friend too, keeping frames clean, drivetrains free of grit, and corrosive salt away from everything.
If you don't have fenders, you'll be wanting them something fierce soon. Trust me on this one.
Planet Bike's Cascadia and Hardcore fenders are the standard - light, durable, and effective. Of course, nothing looks as sharp as classic metal fenders - hammered Handsome Mud Butlers, smooth and shiny Tankas, or Art Deco fluted VeloOrange from our friends in Annapolis. Heck, you can even put PDW's Full Metal Fenders on your road bike, no mounting eyelets required.
Another option for clip-on fenders are Topeak's iGlow X, featuring red LED stripes running down the center. You get 50 to 100 hours on replaceable CR2032 batteries.
Tires? Nothing's worse than fixing a flat in the rain, except when it's also cold. Frozen, fumbling fingers and tire levers don't mix - especially as your body temperature crashes once you stop moving. Keep the thin and skinny race tires at home - the cold's going to make them less supple anyway - and try something wider, stronger, and grippier.
Continental Gatorskin
Schwalbe Marathon Plus
Clement Strada LGG
For instance, on my Commuterschwinn, I use a Gatorskin on the front and bombproof Schwalbe Marathon in the back; while the Gator is a better handling tire, I hate changing rear flats. I've seen people pull half-inch shards of glass out of Marathons and keep riding. The road bike gets 700x25 Clement Strada LGG's - which I think I may keep year-round. They corner better, are more comfortable, and hold their grip on questionable or wet surfaces better than any other tire I've used - and that's before we mention the puncture resistance.
Now that it gets dark at 4:30 or so, you'll be needing lights. Lots of lights. Those of us who live out in PG County on the Anacostia Tributaries all have deer-related horror stories...and really good lights so we don't wind up with more. Light & Motion makes the best and the brightest out in California. You and the deer will both appreciate them.
As for keeping the human half warm, dry, and happy: protect the extremities. Gloves, bike caps, shoe covers, bike caps, arm and leg warmers, bike caps, helmet covers, and bike caps are all good ideas. Most "general" cycling kit (especially shoes and helmets!) is made for summer riding, with good ventilation; either cover the holes, put something under them, or try something cool-specific. Shoe covers keep the breeze off your otherwise-soon-to-be-frostbitten toes, arm warmers give your usual shirt or jersey easily removable sleeves, and caps keep your head warm, your hair unmussed, your glasses dry, and your face out of the stinging sleet.
Of course, the other half of the challenge is keeping warm without ever getting too warm. Overheat, sweat through your gear, and it'll be a miserable time all around. There's a reason why I like knee-high socks (roll 'em down), arm warmers (stick 'em in a pocket or pannier), Mad Alchemy embrocation (feels warm, keeps the rain off, and smells great!), and that bright white and super reflective Showers Pass jacket that can be vented and adjusted fifteen ways from Sunday to keep the airflow juuuust right.
Anything else? If you're looking for fellow crazies to ride with - of course you are - join Bike Arlington's Freezing Saddles "competition." Sure, there's a challenge to see which riders and teams can ride the most miles over the most days between 1 January and the last day of winter, but there are also all the random side bets, pointless prizes, random quests, and general absurdity that really make it worthwhile. Going out to get ice cream from the Maryland Dairy in a sleetstorm (Midnight Madness won't melt if it's below freezing - and it's half off if the weather's truly abysmal!) to rack up a few extra points for the Unexpected Maryland Inquisition was only one of many, many memorable moments from last year's challenge.
Remember: the looks of astonishment mingled with admiration you get from baristas when you come in from something truly gross and grey are so worth the ride.
Salsa Cycles at Rosaryville
Francis, in front of the camera for a change.
A 30 minute drive south of the city takes you past Andrews Air Force Base, to the bucolic woods of Rosaryville State Park. The flowy single track, short punchy climbs and beautiful open fields provided an awesome venue to let Salsa Cycles shine. Salsa's signature fatbikes made great rigs for shooting, as it made carrying a camera bag on trails super comfortable and stable.
One of our mechanics, Scott, gets set up to take the Beargrease for a spin. Scott gives us some of his impressions on various Salsas below.
Scott, with the compulsory fat bike inducing grin.
Beargrease
Whoa, A full carbon Phat bike. This sucker was fast, faster than a bike with 26 by four inch tires should be. And that’s the crazy thing about these bikes, you see fat tires and the first thing to come to mind is how much more work it is going to be to ride, but the fact of the matter is that the bike could not be easier. With a huge gear range this guy rolled up the hill, rolled over roots like a champ, and could hold decent speed on the straightaways. One thing that was surprising during the ride was that just because you have tires wider then a dinner plate doesn’t mean those tires are going to stick to the dirt. Maybe it was the leaves. Maybe the bike was going too fast. Maybe it was tight turns. But there were more than a few corners gave me the willies as this monster’s back end started doing the electric slide. Oh, but on normal turns as well as technical bobbing and weaving through trees the Beargrease handled confidently. Instead of turning the handlebar to point in a different direction it felt more like rolling from one side of the tire to the other, which can take more time then you think when four inches are involved.
Beargrease likes speed
BUCKSAW
Go ahead, think of the craziest bike you ever ridden. This one beats it. This full-suspension 26”X4” mountain monster has single handedly changed the way I feel about riding trails. At first I was I was all like “Imma going to crash into to everything at full speed just to float over whatever nonsense gets in my way.” And I was doing just that keeping up with the fast guys, but then the feeling that I was doing it wrong came over me. As the boys rode off into the distance, I found incredible joy in just cruising through the woods. With all the magic of fat tires and full-suspension you did not have to think about all the technical aspects involved in riding inferior machines…. This was mountain biking for dummies. The best comparison to make would be like moseying down the boardwalk on a Schwinn Cruiser drinking a coke-a-cola taking in the beauty of all the pretty things there are to see at the height of summer. But instead of beach bodies, it was the trees and an amazing autumn afternoon which lit the colors of the changing leaves that held my attention. Because again, I didn’t have to think about riding, I could look around to see what the land had to offer. This bike could go fast, this bike could also do some crazy technical stuff I am sure of that, but it also gives you the ability to just sit back and enjoy riding in the forest. It is a mountain cruiser.
Scott making waves
One of our co-owners, Erik, climbing through the beautiful Perimeter Trail at Rosaryville. Bigger tires = more traction = more comfort = more time in the saddle... thus makes climbing and descending smooth and forgiving.
As the klunkers say, "riding is best away from the cops, cars and the pavement." Mountain biking is a great way to let loose and escape the city from time to time. Not only that, it makes you a more well-rounded rider. You can improve your bike handling and commune with nature. Winter can be a great time for mountain bikes as you are sheltered from the cold wind, unlike the more exposed sections of road riding.
Stay tuned for Marko's take on the Warbird, a purpose built gravel grinder, that is equally capable on mellow singletrack as it is on tackling the likes of the Dirty Kanza.
Staff Bikes: Scott's Cross Check
The Surly Cross Check may just be the perfect commuting bike. It has attachment points and braze-ons for any conceivable configuration, and is at home as a simple fixed gear as it is a fast club rider, light tourer or commuter, is made of steel so will last forever, and is affordable as either a frameset or complete bike. The semi horizontal dropouts and "Gnot-rite" spacing mean you can run whatever drive train you can envision, and the downtube braze-ons let you run old school friction shifters if your heart desires (mine does). I've used mine as a fast club rider, light tourer, and obviously, tons of commuting. I've had it loaded it up with all manner of stuff, and no matter what I throw at it, the bike rides well, and takes an absolute beating. Add in the ability to run some heinously large tires, with fenders, and you've got a true dream machine.
Mine has gone through a few iterations, but the current set up is by far my favorite, and perfect for commuting on DC streets. I've got some Schwalbe Big Apple tires, which are massive pieces of rubber and push the frame clearance to the absolute max. They soak up all the bumps and cracks in the road, transforming the bike into almost a full suspension commuter. Velo Orange racks and fenders provide splash protection and let me carry all my junk with panache. For simplicity, I went with a 1x9 setup, with downtube friction shifting, which means no shifting adjustments. The Nitto Albastache bars put me in a nice, upright position for comfort, and the Velocity Dyad rims, laced to XT hubs give me a bombproof wheelset that will last forever. For my derrier, the venerable Brooks B-17 sits atop a Velo Orange Grand-Cru seatpost for a one last touch of comfort and class. This set up gives me the ultimate in comfort and utility, and I absolutely love it.
For more build details, including fitting the Big Apples into the Cross Check frame, check out Scott's website here.