Holiday Gift Ideas for Cyclists

Mike and Hubert discuss some of this year's latest and greatest gift ideas for the cyclist in your life. Graciously presented by the folks at Active.com

B+L's Black Friday Sale Starts TODAY

It's time to take a break from the turkey and take this opportunity to stock up and save on all your favorite bikes and gear!*


All 2011 bikes are at least 5% off, with even greater savings on all remaining 2010 and 2009 bikes. 


All clothing is 30% off. 


All accessories are 30% off.


All Garmin, Polar and Niterider items are 10% off.


All non-drivetrain parts (i.e., saddles, stems, bars, tires, and pedals) are 30% off.  


All drivetrain components (i.e., cranks, derailleurs, cassettes, and brakes) are 15% off.

See you this weekend, 

B+L Bikes

*The only items that aren't featured are ZIPP products, and sale pricing is limited to stock on hand.

Danny MacAskill - "Way Back Home" - NEW street trials riding short film

Some amazing riding...err, not amazing...more like...ridiculously amazing.

Specialized Camber Pro – First Ride Review - BikeRadar

Specialized Camber Pro – First Ride Review - BikeRadar

Click the link above to check out what BikeRadar thinks of the 2011 Camber Pro!

Chris Horner WBR Event Recap

Well the Chris Horner meet & greet and dinner event was a huge success and both exceeded everyone's expectations, but it couldn't have happened without the generosity of our generous event sponsors: John Wallace (JW Flooring/Resource Floors), UCCyclery, B+L Bike and Sport, Zipp, Mission Skincare, Cowboy Star Restaurant, Lefty's Chicago Pizzeria, Reynolds, SRAM, SockGuy, San Diego Sports Medicine, Sun Coast Velo (Patrick and Joey were instrumental in making this event happen), The Farmhouse Cafe, SDBC, Karl Strauss, Squadra, Nate Loyal (Loyal Coaching and Fitting), and Cane Creek. Last, but certainly not least, we should thank Katie Bolling, Rebecca Much and Jill Reid for their support of the event from the get-go.

The meet and greet was fun, causal and everyone had a great time chatting with Chris, grabbing goodies and enjoying themselves in support of World Bicycle Relief. The dinner at The Farmhouse Cafe was outstanding; the food was perfect, the company was outstanding and the setting was incredible.


I also don't want to forget to thank our incredible guest, Chris Horner, and to thank each and everyone of the attendees of both events for coming out as a community to support World Bicycle Relief and to make this a truly special event and for being part of the start of a growing and exciting grassroots movement in San Diego.

Both events combined, grossed just over $21,000 for World Bicycle Relief. Which surpassed my own, personal goal of raising $15,000 by the end of 2010. To say that we're happy would be a gross understatement.

In addition to the great time that everyone had, the 11/5 event also got a lot of coverage in the cycling media. Both Neil Shirley (former Kelly Benefits pro, now editor for Road Bike Action Magazine) and Mark Johnson (of Competitor Group/VeloNews) were gracious enough to attend the events and to cover them for their respective publications. Mark Johnson also took some spectacular photos of both events. To read Mark's piece for VeloNews click, here. To read Neil's piece for Road Bike Action magazine click, here.

Thanks again to everyone for their support of the event. We hope that you had a good time and that you'll join us next year for an even bigger event. To keep tabs on what's happening locally with World Bicycle Relief, check out the San Diego Cyclist for World Bicycle Relief's blog by clicking here.

To see Mark Johnson's photos please click, here .

To view photos from the meet and greet, check out our slideshow below:

Thank you again for supporting poverty relief through sustainable mobility!

Ride safe,

B+L Bikes

SBCU...Random Photos

SBCU...Day Three

Sadly, day three of SBCU had finally arrived. Nonetheless, it looked to be another great day in Morgan Hill. The rain had stayed away and that meant that we'd be riding mountain bikes today!

The day began with a series of lectures, led by our SBCU professor John, on Specialized's philosophy pertaining to mountain bike design,suspension technology (i.e., FSR = fully active, fully independent), and suspension set-up basics. Part of the suspension technology lecture was to compare and contrast Specialized's FSR suspension to other systems on the market: single pivot, complex single pivot, and VPP.

In addition we discussed S-Tune, a program offered by Specialized that provides custom valving for your forks and shock. It's a good resource for riders that have a very specific riding style or who may fall outside the bell curve average. We then talked about the Epic (the new 2011 S-Works Epic 29er is a work of art), the Era and the Stumpjumper HT line. After which we covered the Stumpjumper FSR, Safire, Camber and Myka FSR.

Then, a quick lunch and another visit to the bike cage:

After setting up our bikes' suspensions, we got loaded into the van and headed for Santa Teresa Park where we'd explore the Rocky Ridge Trail:

For today's ride, I was going to start the day on this:

Words truly don't do this bike justice; it's exceptional. The XX components are super crisp, and the bike just goes and goes (the carbon wheels don't hurt either!).

The first part of the ride was a switchback climb, followed by a rolling descent, then another fire road climb and a gnarly, rocky descent. My SBCU classmates and I traded off bike throughout the day; after the SWorks HT 29er I rode the Epic 29er and then, for the rocky descent, the SWorks Enduro.

It was great to try out the different bikes, back-to-back, and compare them directly to one another. Even still, I think I'm a hardtail 29er type of rider...for now. Althought it was fun to just roll over everything and anything on the Enduro.

Here are a couple shots from the top of the fire road climb (it topped out next to an electrical tower):

After topping out, we headed down Rocky Ridge and packed up the vans:

Once back in the building, I hopped in the shower and went back into the classroom for a discussion on the Enduro, Pitch, SX Trail, BigHit and Demo.

Rounding out the night was a really interesting presentation by Deacon James, director of recreational and cross country bikes at Specialized. Falling under his direction are the Rockhopper, Crosstrail, Ariel, P.Series (Deacon's an ex-BMXer), Hardrock, MYKA and the children's bike.

I truly enjoyed his talk because of how passionate he was about helping new riders discover the pleasure of cycling, in an affordable way, while giving them a quality product. The drive behind this boiled down to: figure out what people want, what they can afford, and giving them a product of the highest quality, that isn't compromised because of its price point.

A prime example of this is Ned Overend winning the 2010 Single Speed National Championships on a Rockhopper 29er (albeit a modified one, but the frame is just like the one you or I can buy). And that was a key principle throughout Deacon's presentation: the quality and value must be present throughout the entry level bike line, because for many people this is their first (or perhaps only) bike and they deserve a positive experience. And with that, my time at SBCU was over. I'd like to sincerely thank everyone at Specialized, SBCU and B+L for giving me the opportunity to attend. I had a blast.

Thanks for reading,

Hubert

SBCU...Day Two

And now...day two at SBCU. On day two we covered Specialized's road bike line and took quite a bit of time to discuss the various construction techniques that Specialized uses for the Tarmac, Roubaix, Allez and Secteur.

Given that carbon fiber's prominence in the road market, much of the discussion focused on the design and manufacturing process used for carbon bikes. We discussed carbon fiber's properties and the distinction between stiffness and strength and how those properties are addressed. Additionally we covered weave type and fiber types (i.e., high modulus v. ultra high, etc.) and we then went into the actual production methods (i.e., FACT IS, Triple monocoque, etc.) and the tooling and molding methods required for both and how they differ.

The discussion then turned to alloy as we covered the Allez (which rides incredibly well, though I'd love to see a BB30 frameset option) and much the conversation touched on many of the same points, but with alloy materials being the focal point. We talked about the various alloys (i.e., A1, M4 and M5/E5) and how hydroforming is applied to manipulate tube shapes above and beyond what's done with traditional tube butting techniques.

And then, well, it was time to ride bikes. On day two we were going to do two loops; one road, one cyclocross-ish.

This meant I got to play in the bike box once again, but before you scroll any further, a word of caution...













The best candy store/toy box on the planet...




























I grabbed the S-Works Tarmac SL3 (this bike gets two thumbs up and I've been racing on a CAAD9 all season so I'm not just saying that) The SL3 is incredibly light (duh), super responsive and fasssst. It's surprising how light the bike feels underneath you without feeling noodley or flexy:










This is Chris, one of our SBCU Professors, who showed us the scenic route:

























This was the end of the cyclocross section; some of us chose to ride Cruxs and Tricrosses while others stuck to our Roubaixs and Tarmacs.













Some of my SBCU classmates; gotta say, everyone was really friendly and the group got on extremely well...









That's Adam, another one of our SBCU professors, in the background changing his tire. He's... Australian and a great SBCU professor.









After the ride, it was back to the building where we finished our day by attending Chris' three and a half hour talk on Triathlon...memorable highlights from that talk were... at a speed of 20mph, the Shiv is SEVEN minutes faster than a Cervelo P4 over an IM distance bike split. That's like being on another planet.

Additionally, the design philosophy behind the Shiv and the Transition are slightly different; the transition is meant to be a sliver (i.e., very, very narrow) to reduce the effect of drag due to frontal area. The Shiv, while still very narrow, is designed for crosswind and efficiency in varying wind conditions. It's also slightly more aggressive (position-wise) and has an emphasis on power transfer.

After the triathlon-athon we covered the Globe line and the Rouleux. The Globe Haul, Live, Roll and, new for 2011, Daily are seriously sweet city bikes; I'm getting a Daily 1 myself and will add a rear rack and some bags, which will make it a great grocery getter and coffee bike.

And that was day two at SBCU. So far, so awesome.

Look for the final updates in a little while.

Until next time, thanks for reading.

Hubert

SBCU...Day One

Hello again from Morgan Hill. I'm back at the Courtyard Inn and am happy to report that my first day at SBCU/Specialized HQ went without incident.

My day did got off to a 6:00 am start as we were to be shuttled over to Specialized at 7:30. So, I got up, had breakfast and got ready to head over to HQ.

When we stepped outside the hotel a caravan of factory vans greeted us; I was, for a moment, a full-on pro tour rider...wannabe. Nonetheless, getting picked up in a factory car was a lot cooler than riding over in the back of a plain Jane shuttle buses.

And it carried with it some shiny new toys...I'll get to ride this on Thursday. I know, I know. Poor me.

After a brief car ride, we arrived at the big S. The really big S. Specialized HQ:

After a few brief moments checking in, we were greeted by our SBCU instructors and led over to the classroom. The whole building is really nicely done; everything is organized, clean and has a very professional feel to it without being overly serious. The meeting rooms, for example, are themed after Specialized's past and current champions. There's the Sam Hill room with wood table, carving tools and astroturf. Right next door is the Mario Cipollini room with, of course, white marble floors, huge pictures of Cipo, and a bottle of Cipo's own wine. The hallways are also bedazzled with the staff's S-Works SL3's and Roubaixs. It is, bicycle heaven.

Following a brief introduction to the day's agenda, we were taken on a tour of the facility and saw lots of amazing stuff, none of which I can tell you about. We also got a brief glimpse of the museum (which I'll get some shots of tomorrow) and met the inside sales reps.

After that, we were immersed in lectures, presentations, and product and equipment training. A particularly interesting demonstration was the one done by Dr. Roger Minkow, M.D. on Specialized's BG Fit saddles. Dr. Minkow used a transcutaneous pressure sensor to demonstrate the differences in blood flow experienced by male riders using BG Fit saddles and other brands of saddles. In our demo, the rider lost blood flow to his happy man parts on a non-BG Fit saddle in less than a minute...yikes!

Which reminds me, a quick pit stop to the men's room is in order. Lo an behold, even at the urinal, I am transported roadside to the Giro de Italia (I think). Like I said, bicycle heaven.

After the saddle demo we hit the road for the Lunch Ride. We were let loose in the bike cage where we could literally have our pick of whatever our heart desired. S-Works SL3? Sure. Di2 Roubaix? You got it! Fantastic. Overwhelming doesn't quite do the feeling justice. We also had our pick of shoes, pedals, and if we forgot a piece of clothing, we could borrow it. The ride was blessed with perfect weather and the loop took us onto rolling terrain with a couple short hills and a big ring kicker at the end. Then it was back to the building, a quick hop into the shower, and just enough time to grab lunch.

The Specialized cafeteria is a wide open room, with coffee, snacks, creamer in the fridge, and water all free for the taking. The center of the room is adorned with giant S table and smaller tables off to the side and in back.

Directly across the way is an employee break room with couches and yet another rack full of bikes to check out.

After lunch, it was back to the lectures and then a quick dinner and car ride back to the hotel. All in all, I'm really enjoying my time here. Tomorrow's agenda looks promising as we plan to: talk about bikes, ride bikes and eat. Last but not least, I need to mention that all of the SBCU professors and everyone I've come across here has been friendly, passionate, knowledgeable and very approachable. It's made for a great first day and I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

I hope to bring you a few shots of the museum, a couple quick snaps from our road and cyclocross rides and whatever other tidbits I come across.

Thanks for reading,

Hubert

SBCU...Day 0.

Hello from Morgan Hill. I had a bit of a delay with my northbound flight out of San Diego, but I'm happy and excited for tomorrow's first day at SBCU (Specialized Bicycle Components University). It's a unique program in the bicycle industry and I'm looking forward to the experience; especially since I'll get to learn about (and play with) a lot of the 2011 Specialized bikes and equipment.

On the agenda for tomorrow is an overview of Specialized's history, a tour of the building and a series of clinics on Specialized equipment and components. We've also been told to bring road riding equipment which means we get to ride...it's a tough job I know, but someone's got to do it.

I hope to share my SBCU trip with you all (as best as I can), so I'll try to snap photos of Spec HQ and other points of interest. I'll also do my best to recount the roads and trails that we'll be riding on.

Okay, time for bed. 6am is just around the corner.

Til tomorrow,
Hubert

B+L Athelte Ben Jones Reviews the Specialized Crux

Check out Ben's awesome post about the 2011 Specialized Crux.

Thanks for the great write up Ben.

Ride safe,
B+L Bikes

November Specials and Events at B+L Bike and Sports

Come by either store from November 1st - November 15th and enjoy the following deals:

• Cateye and Specialized Computers are 30% off MSRP
• Polar and Garmin are 10% off MSRP
• Niterider lights are 15% off MSRP
• Planet Bike Lights are 30% off MSRP
• 2010 S-Works Road Shoes (men's and women's) and S-Works Helmets are both 20% off
• If you buy a Transition, a pair of S-Works roads shoes and an S-Works helmet you'll receive an extra $50.00 off your package deal

We now have a FULL line of Smith Optics at the Sports Arena store so if you're in the market for a new pair of sunglasses, swing by and check them out.

Also, don't forget about our meet & greet event with Chris Horner on Friday November 5th from 5-6:30PM.

Campagnolo goes to Electric Eleven...

Campagnolo and Pinarello partnered to debut Campagnolo's new electric system. Click here to read the CyclingNews article.