By Kurt Gensheimer

So you’re about to mosey on over to your local bike shop and drop more coin for your first genuine racing bike than most people pay for an entire motorcycle. You’re either new to the sport of cycling or you’ve been riding for a few years, learning the ropes on an old aluminum frame that’s one season away from the dumpster.

You’ve been watching all the Spring classics, the Giro, the Vuelta, and the Tour taking notes on who’s riding what. You’ve drooled over your own teammates’ high-dollar race rig that has more carbon fiber on it than the International Space Station.

You’ve done all your research, have test-ridden all of the latest, high dollar, carbon fiber machines, and you’ve picked your winner. The checkbook is in hand cocked and ready to besmirch every last dollar in your savings account, and all that’s left to do is negotiate with the shop so you at least have a little bit of cash left to buy some inner tubes.

But before your visions of grandeur run rampant and your checkbook becomes more hollow than Landis’ Maillot Jaune, are you sure carbon is the right frame material for your needs?

Don’t take it wrong, carbon indeed has its merits, but the recent carbon craze seems to be heavily tied to bandwagon mentality; whatever the pros are doing is what the masses want to do too. It was true in the ‘70s with drilled-out components, in the ‘80s with copious amounts of hair gel and Briko shades, in the ‘90s with those horrific lycra shorts designed to look like blue jeans, and today with carbon racing bikes.

And why shouldn’t carbon be popular? A frame and fork weighs less than a six-pack of brew, they’ve got terrific road damping capabilities, are stiffer than an I-beam – at least initially – and most importantly, carbon fiber has an indisputable cool factor. As a testament to the popularity of carbon, custom bike builders who made their name in steel are now crossing over to carbon. Names like Steelman, Serotta and Independent Fabrications all offer bank account-busting custom carbon frames.

Jamis Sputnik Fixed Gear Road Bike Pro Review - By kwc

• 46×16 drivetrain with flip-flop fixed/single-speed hub, FSA Vero cranks
• Reynolds 631 size-specific tubing
• Ritchey Comp cockpit
• Sizes: 50, 53, 55, 57, 59 (tested), 62cm
• Weight: 18.9 lbs
• MSRP: $900

Intro
Of the various bikes I’ve ridden, none has attracted as many unsolicited, positive comments as the Jamis Sputnik. This may not seem unusual, but I’ve ridden $7000 carbon fiber masterpieces and the Sputnik is a $900 steel frame bike. It doesn’t even have gears. How is it possible that this is the coolest bike I’ve ridden? Retro simplicity. Composite materials like carbon fiber may have spurred new innovations in the field of bicycle design, but the simple, matte-black Sputnik is a modern appeal to the past. I was riding the Sputnik around Sea Otter when a kid came up to me. “Is that a Sputnik? My dad has one. It’s awesome!” That little encounter expressed the appeal of the Sputnik to me: retro enough for dad, cool enough for son.

The Sputnik is one of several bikes that Jamis is targeting at the urban commuter market. It is a “flip-flop” bike that offers a bit of versatility to this market, while still maintaining simplicity and durability. Flip-flopping may be bad in politics but its fun in a bike: the rear wheel has both a fixed-gear side and a single-speed side. Mount it one way and you have a fixed gear. Mount it the other and you have a single-speed. Jamis designed the bike for the road, so if you’re looking for a track bike you may wish to start elsewhere.

Before I get into how it rides, lets take a little detour and talk about why you would even want to ride a fixed gear or a single speed.

TEMPE, AZ – After decades of winning the world’s top races and creating impeccable racing machines, BH Bikes is creating a new future in road racing bicycles. The new BH G5 is the most advanced road frameset ever built.

We were not content to just make it lighter or stiffer. We utilized revolutionary molding techniques, tube shapes and even re-thought the way components attach to the bike. The end result is a frame that is 810 grams, including the integrated seat mast, front and rear derailleur hangers and bottom bracket shell. We achieve this weight while making the bike stiffer and stronger and giving it supreme road manners. The G5 rockets up hills, carves downhills with extreme stability and sprints with authority, all while muting road vibrations.

The G5 is built to be compatible with BB30 cranks or standard cranks with an innovative bearing design. Our aero cable channel makes the G5 stiffer torsionally and also has unique downtube mounts for the Shimano Di2 battery. The 1 1/8” to 1.5” fork adds to the precision and strength of the G5 without adding any weight.

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Simon Firth of Bilenky Cycle Works out of Philly gives us a look at one of Bilenky’s latest creations, complete with a sweet danish bell!

Links
Bilenky Cycle Works

Greg Townsend shows us 3 bikes he brought to the San Diego Custom Bicycle Show. His personal bike, a freshly painted customer bike, and a grass track racing bike.

Links
Townsend Cycles Ltd.

Craig Calfee brings to the San Diego Custom Bicycle Show the Bamboosero, a bike he has developed and is expecting to import to the United States. Made mostly of bamboo from the African region of Ghanna. The bike will be available soon for the low price of $600, and will be an economic stimulus for Ghanna. Also, new from Calfee is a carbon belt driven Tandem, said to be stronger than a normal chain, but at half the weight.

Links
Calfee Designs
Bamboosero Ordering Page

Nic Sims is back to show us Stijn Devolder’s Tour of Flanders winning S-Works Tarmac SL2 and a Saxo Bank colorway SL2 you can pick up at your local LBS.

2009 Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL2

“FROM THE SPRING CLASSICS to the Grand Tours, the Tarmac has proven itself to be the professional rider’s bike of choice. A world championship and a Tour de France green jersey lend proof to our claim that no frame is lighter and stiffer.”

• The S-Works Tarmac SL2 (with standard geometry) features our top-of-the-line, superlight and strong 11r carbon, with our FACT IS construction for a super-efficient frame that simply exudes speed.
• The S-Works FACT carbon monocoque fork has an oversized race for incredible strength and precision.
• The S-Works Mindset headset comes with ceramic cartridge bearings for the smoothest action imaginable.
• The S-Works SL FACT carbon seatpost features an integrated Zertz insert for a seatpost that’s light and stiff, but forgiving.

More information from Specialized here.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of product: 2009 Six 5, Six 6, Six Carbon 5 and Six Carbon 6 Bicycles

Units: About 1,300

Importer: Cannondale Bicycle Corporation, of Bethel, Conn.

Hazard: The bicycles fail to meet the federal safety standard for bicycles. Spoke protector discs, required on bicycles to prevent the bicycle chain from interfering or suddenly stopping the wheel, are missing from these bicycles. This poses a fall hazard to the rider.

Incidents/Injuries: None reported.

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Steven Fairchild of Jamis Bikes gives us a very detailed look into the 2009 Jamis Xenith SL. The very same bike that Team Colavita races on, you can pick up at your local LBS.

2009 Jamis Xenith SL

Upgrades from 2008

• Lighter frame with increased stiffness in the BB and HT area
• BB 30 Bottom Bracket system
• New fork design utilizing 1.5” crown race
• Ritchey Logic WCS Carbon Drop-In integrated headset
• 3T Rotundo LTD handlebar, ARX Team stem and Doric LTD seatpost
• Fizik Arione CX saddle with Carbon Braided rails

All the technology in the world, the fancy ads, the awards—they don’t mean squat once the gun goes off. Being first across the line—that’s all that matters. That’s what these Xeniths are all about.

Colavita’s pros love their Xeniths. The thing is, word’s gotten around about how light, stiff and responsive their bikes are, and the rest of the peloton looks at their Xeniths like an unfair advantage. In the pros, there are two types of bikes—the ones sponsors make you ride and the ones you want to ride. Like the Xenith SL or Team.

More information from Jamis here.

Many of the country’s finest custom bicycle frame builders will converge on San Diego April 3-5, 2009 for the 2009 San Diego Custom Bicycle Show. The event, which will take place at San Diego’s Town and Country Hotel and Convention Center, will highlight the amazing skill level of custom bike frame builders, both full-time professionals and part-time hobbyists. Admission is $15 per day ($25 for Saturday and Sunday), and for frame builders, a 10′ x 10′ booth space can be secured for only $450. The price for a bicycle trade booth will be slightly higher.

“California is home to some of the finest custom frame builders in the world,” says Brian Baylis, a custom frame builder himself and the Publicity Chairman of the non-profit San Diego Custom Bicycle Show, Inc. “The show will be an opportunity for frame builders to learn more about their craft and also a chance for consumers to meet the frame builders and even order a custom made frame.”

The three-day show schedule reserves Friday, April 3rd for frame builders only with seminars, booth set-up and dinner. On Saturday and Sunday, April 4-5, the show will open to general public.

About the San Diego Custom Bicycle Show
For more details on the 2009 San Diego Custom Bicycle Show got to www.SanDiegoCustomBicycleShow.com.