Friday News and Views

29"er "Mart" Bikes?: I'm hearing a rumor that Schwinn, (read Pacific Cycles) will have a 29"er developed for sale in "big box" stores by '09. A hardtail and full suspension bike are slated to be produced. Price? Sub $200.00 is what I'm hearing.

This begs so many questions: Will the bikes weigh even more than the 26 inch beasts that generate their own gravitational pull?

Will there be a selection of super cheap, mondo heavy 29"er tires to go with them?

How long will it take for folks to trash these 29"er rear wheels? Nanoseconds?

How long will it take for the average NASCAR lovin' Marlboro smokin' folks to start buying more 29"ers than 26"ers? Will they even notice the difference?

Crazy stuff, I tell ya!

Giant, Where Are You?: Manufacturing "giant" ( heh heh!) Giant is curiously missing from any 29"er rumors out there. Hmmm.......and with Trek and Specialized coming on with 29"ers it makes it even stranger to me that nothing is being rumored from this company. I would think that with all this hullaballoo from their competitors the Giant dealer network would be getting restless. Hmmm...........

Guitar Ted "Lube Off" Update: Okay, so far these lubes seem to be performing their tasks quite well. Let's take a quick look at the three competitors.

Dumonde Tech: One of the lubes that got hosed in a tremendous thunderstorm while I was transporting my bikes on the bike rack. It came through the soaking all right, but interestingly where I had failed to coat the side plates in places on the chain began to rust! I ran the bike until the chain was getting noisey and re-lubed per manufacturers recommendation. Smooth sailing since, but my chain isn't very pretty! Lesson learned!

Pro Lube: This was the other lube to get drenched on the bike rack. Came through it well. I see a little bit of dirt/residue build up, but not bad. The bottle says a few applications might be necessary to clean the chain, so I will try that next. Otherwise I see no real issues with this lube so far.

Chanj lube: The Pedros escaped the rain, but it's seen some early season mud and dirt that the other two haven't...........yet! Other than a light dusty coating left from the last mudfest, the Chanj lube has left the chain really clean and gunk free. Re-application will take place before the next ride.

So far, I'm impressed with the short term performance of all three lubes, with the only nit being that I didn't get the Dumonde Tech chain completely coated the first time. Stay tuned for more later!

Trans Iowa Update!!! Get over to the Trans Iowa site and check out the Latest News section for your pre-race events lowdown. Stay tuned here for any last minute changes or further updates on this event that takes place in three weeks!

I hope to get around the course one last time before the event to scout out the roads for any construction/closures that may affect the route. Once that happens I will post a final road condition report. If the road out to my childrens daycare is any indication, the roads will be pretty torn up! We have a full on freeze condition now that will only prolong the drying out of the roads and give us another frost cycle to jumble up things even more. Should be interesting!

Have a great week and Easter if you are inclined to observe that. Ride your bike! Have some fun already.........