archive

Ever wondered what our wheel workshop looks like? No? Well anyway, we set up the GoPro on timelapse mode and recorded an hour or so of workshop action (until the battery ran out).

Singletrack magazine
Tubeless stuff is obviously very close to our hearts and so it was good to see a load of tubeless products featured in the latest issue of Singletrack. While they made a lot of good points and said some nice things about products we sell, and they actually tested the products for a good length of time unlike some other "reviews" we've seen recently, there are a couple of points where they went off the tracks a bit. So we don't have to spend the next week answering questions on the phone "but in Singletrack they said this..."  here are some comments.
1. Stan's kits aren't available in just 'narrow' and 'wide' versions. In fact there are 9 different rimstrips available if you count the road version, all varying in either material thickness or strip length to get just the right fit on virtually any rim.
2. "There is no grippy mid-weight tyre on the market so I'm sticking with thick-walled tyres and inner tubes for now", well OK but why not use that thick-walled tyre tubeless? The conversion kits open up virtually the whole world of 26" rubber for use as tubeless tyres so if there's nothing there to suit...[ continue reading >> ]

Another Howies code though the email, another money-off voucher. Use FOOD23 if you want 20% off, but the whining bleats about still being a small company are starting to wear thin...

"I like us being small."

...when they've been brought by Timberland (market value: $600 million). An interesting article on the Times Online website implies it's not the money machine they thought it would be.

"Timberland is having a hard time right now", says David. "My challenge to Timberland has been that if you have bought the car, you have to be prepared to put petrol in it."

read the whole article at:

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/celebrity/article3727422.ece

Specialized Roval rim

NoTubes race 7000 rim

Specialized Roval front

NoTubes race rim front
It's been brewing for a while but now it's official, NoTubes have filed a lawsuit against Specialized alleging that their Roval wheels infringe NoTubes' patent on their rims.
This might not come as a surprise to anyone who's looked carefully at both Stan's and Roval wheels, in fact we've had customers comment on the similarities. The news will be welcome to many in the US biking world where Specialized have, shall we say, a bit of a reputation for being trigger-happy with their lawyers.
We don't normally put up press releases but here's one from NoTubes:
-------------------------------------
NoTubes.com Files Lawsuit
against Specialized Bicycle Components Inc.
BIG FLATS, N.Y. - Nov 12, 2008 - On September 15, 2008, NoTubes.com® filed a lawsuit against Specialized Bicycle Components Inc. ("Specialized") alleging that certain rims and wheels of Specialized infringe U.S. Patent No. 7,334,846 (the "˜846 patent"). This lawsuit, styled K.G. Motors, Inc. v. Specialized Bicycle Components, Inc., is currently pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York.
As set forth in NoTubes™s complaint, Specialized is alleged to infringe the ˜846 patent by making, using, selling, offering for sale, and/or importing into the...[ continue reading >> ]

Maybe it's the credit crunch or the high price of diesel but there's everything to play for in the cut-throat world of bicycle trailer manufacturers. Visit the Carry Freedom website and hit ctrl-a to show the vitriol-laden hidden text.... professional? Probably not, but maybe it made them feel better....

Just in case they see this and take it down, here it is in full:

This is what we think of other bicycle trailer makers.

The Bob Yak bicycle trailer is dated, difficult to use, but unbeatable of road.
The Weber Monoporter bicycle trailer is slick but not durable, and handles as
 badly as all monowheel bicycle trailer s.
The Burly bicycle trailer is overpriced and not durable enough.
The Bykaboose Geko bicycle trailer is very cheap; you get what you pay for.
The Bike Hod bicycle trailer is nice, but overpriced and dated.

 
Maybe 'Change is good' but surely you can change in the wrong way, like 50% of your favourite magazine being owned by an asset management company in the city, how can that be good?
What am I on about? Dirt Magazine's most recent editorial tells of how Dirt have 'joined forces' with some other action sports publishers to create a new publishing group called Factory Media. 'Buy into' and 'joined forces' seem to be popular terms for hiding larger misdemeanors, as investigations show 4130 and its associated titles were bought by Factory Media, a company recently set-up from a management buy-out of Action Sports Media.
The Source magazine reported this buy-out and aquisition as being funded by Electra Quoted Management, an asset managment firm who have a 50% share in Factory Media.
Fears of change for the worse don't appear unfounded as big company ethics seem to be kicking in already, with subscription reminders awash with call centres and anonymous addresses; we all know Dirt HQ is in Dorset but the letter is footed Factory Media in London, the address on the top is Sittingbourne in Kent, the email address is ...servicehelpdesk.co.uk...who?, the phone 0844 (a new non-geographic number, less costly than using...[ continue reading >> ]