Friday News And Views

There are no more Buzzards.....at least for now.

Singular Cycles: A New Era

Let's see now, I think I first heard about Singular Cycles back when a few of the bikes showed up on mtbr.com back in '07, maybe it was? I cannot remember anymore for sure. I do recall that my interest was piqued by a planned drop bar specific, single speed-able 29"er dubbed the Gryphon. I was patiently waiting on information as the prototypes were tested, and then something pivotal happened. A friend of mine, Marty Larson, began impoting the frames. Well, I got my hands on a Gryphon and ended up loving it. Then I found a Buzzard on my doorstep. No.......not the fowl, but a steel hard tail. I also really enjoy that bike as well. Then there were Peregrines, Kites, Puffins......and all of them are cool. Everyone of them were designed, guided through manufacturing, distributed, and marketed by Sam Alison, who for all intents and purposes is Singular Cycles. Like many creatives, Mr. Alison isn't necessarily keen on doing all the tedious business stuff, so he has enlisted help.

Frank Dressler in Weselberg, Germany, a long time Singular dealer, has partnered up with Mr. Alison to be a warehousing, logistics, and administration arm for Singular Cycles.  Singular will for now, and for the immediate future, downsize its model line offerings and will possibly re-introduce models or introduce completely new models in the future.

I look forward to seeing what happens to this brand in the future. I have a feeling some interesting models may be coming at some point in the future.

New lube for the Lube-Off

Not Sade'

Yesterday I received an unexpected package which contained bicycle chain lube. Okay, it wasn't totally a surprise. I had gotten wind of this stuff via the RidingGravel.com gig. I knew that this company was looking to sponsor our Riding Gravel Radio Ranch podcast, (which, by the way, just recorded another new show with the guys from The OGRE), and that they were interested in us testing the stuff. Well, lo and behold, here it is!

This is also kind of an ironic in the sense of the timing of its arrival here as I was about to publish my latest findings for the Winter session of the Lube Off here. Well, now that this stuff has hit the doorstep, I believe I'll hold off for just a bit longer so that I can include this product in on that update.

The next update should be in about two weeks then, and I will include Tri-Flow, DuMonde Tech, my experimentation with straight up WD-40, and this Smooth Operator stuff. This Winter has been extremely cooperative, in the sense that we've had everything- rain, snow, grit, slush, dirt, and whatever else is on the streets now. There will be a few surprises, and of course, this new "unknown" lube. Their site says it is good for wet or dry applications, so what we have now for conditions should put it to a good test.

The Winter Session of the Lube Off will be coming to a close soon, so I will have to get in as much on the Smooth Operator stuff as I can in the meantime. I may introduce one more contender that claims dual-duty as well. So, stay tuned for that.....

Tragedy:

As I sat down to write this up Thursday evening, the news broke that BMX and X Games legend, Dave Mirra, had died in an apparent suicide. I'm definietely not a BMX guy by a long shot, but I have heard of Dave Mirra, of course. He was a much bigger figure in the world of cycling than being just a BMX guy. To wit: My co-worker Andy texted me about it, and that was the first I had heard about this. Neither one of us are BMX guys, and I am old enough to be Andy's father, so that should tell you how far and wide Dave Mirra's influence was felt.

That's all for this week. Don't pass the chance to reach out to someone this weekend. You never know........