Holiday gift ideas

Posted by PeterD Wed, 22 Nov 2006 23:47:00 GMT

Black Friday, the largest shopping day of the year, is upon us. No, we won’t be offering door buster sales at 6 in the morning. We’d much rather sleep in later after riding the Apetite Seminar in Marin on Thanksgiving Morning, and then eating way too much turkey(or perhaps tofurkey) all afternoon.

But that doesn’t mean that the holidays aren’t coming (just that we’d rather spend our free time riding than shopping). So here are some gift ideas for the avid cyclist in your life…

TG Day Edit – Ok, we will open early and have awesome door busters. So, instead of the normal 10am opening time, come in at 9:59 am on Black Friday to take part in the craziness! But make sure you are early, as the door buster deals expire when our normal business hours start.

Ride Report - The Demo

Posted by PeterD Tue, 21 Nov 2006 02:38:00 GMT

We had 2 great days of riding at the Soquel Demonstration Forest (the Demo). We had about 11 folks on Saturday, and another 7 Monday. Trail conditions were awesome – that perfect time after we have had enough rain to wash the dust away, but before there is enough rain to make mud. On both rides, we went across the Rodge Trail, down Saw Pit, up the fire road to Tractor, up Tractor, back on the Ridge to Braille, down Braille, and up the fire road and out. Definitely a good workout.

I have uploaded some short video clips to Youtube, and linked to them from here…

Posted in Trails

Knobbies on a road bike

Posted by PeterD Fri, 17 Nov 2006 22:19:00 GMT

Have you seen knobbie tires on road bikes recently? It may not be a surprise if you did, as this is the season for them.

These bikes are called Cyclocross bikes, and it is a real sport with a race season and everything. Cyclocross races take place in the fall/winter on short courses (half mile to a mile long). The course is a mixture of dirt trails and paved surfaces, with barriers put in place to force the rider to dismount (watch a 3MB MPG format video of this), hence a bike that is a hybrid between a trail bike and a road bike is used. Similar to a criterium, riders race for between 30 minutes and an hour (depending on class). These races are very popular in Europe, but there are areas in the US (San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, Colorado, etc.) that have strong showings. More info on cross can be found at at this site.

Posted in Bikes

2007 S-Works

Posted by PeterD Tue, 07 Nov 2006 23:35:00 GMT

Some of the first 2007 Specialized S-Works bikes have arrived, and we are getting the built up. We are mostly getting carbon framed versions for our stock, and these things sure are light. The hardtail pictured to the left (size large, without pedals) is bit over 21.5 lbs.

I just sold a titanium framed bike that I thought was light, and it was at least a half pound heavier! And that bike didn’t have disk brakes, and only a bit more than half the travel in the fork.

Posted in Bikes

October Build of the Month - girlie Titus Motolite

Posted by PeterD Tue, 31 Oct 2006 23:59:00 GMT

This bike has been nicknamed the “girlie bike” around the shop, because of the colors. Not sure if we started calling it girlie first, or our customer did. But either way, it is probably something the Guvernator would call girlie.

Here’s what our customer had to say about this bike…

Posted in Bikes, BOTM

Interesting set-up

Posted by PeterD Tue, 31 Oct 2006 23:15:00 GMT

One of the interesting things about coming in to Passion Trail Bikes is that you never know what you will see there. Last week was no exception, with an interesting track bike in the shop. Take a look at the photo at the right (feel free to click on it to see a higher resolution version) and see if you can figure out what is unusual about it?

Posted in Shop, Service | 6 comments

Saddles

Posted by PeterD Tue, 24 Oct 2006 20:19:00 GMT

As one of the contact points on your bike, choosing the right saddle is very important. But choosing a saddle is a very personal choice, and one that works for one person may not work for another. How do you get around this?

One problem with choosing a saddle is that the best way to determine which one works is to ride on it for a while. But this may cause some wear and tear on a saddle, which may limit the ability to return it to a bike shop.

One solution is to get rid of your saddle all together. This definitely prevents you from getting saddle sores, but unless your name is Jay and you like hopping up and down off of walls, this may not be right for you…

Ah, but all is not lost. Now there are 2 other options to help this process…

Posted in Shop, Service

Downieville

Posted by PeterD Wed, 11 Oct 2006 21:36:00 GMT

I think everyone will agree when I say the weekend was awesome. Big Boulder on Saturday, Lavezzola Creek on Sunday, and a Butcher Ranch on Monday.

It had rained up there the week before, which washed away the dust and added an extra helping of traction. Those of us who had been there many times before all agreed that the conditions were the best we had ever seen.

So, enough talking and on with some pictures…

Posted in Trails, People | 8 comments

September Build of the Month - Santa Cruz Juliana

Posted by PeterD Wed, 27 Sep 2006 21:28:00 GMT

Some of you are probably saying “Huh, Santa Cruz? I didn’t know you were a Santa Cruz shop?”

Well, you are right, we are not a Santa Cruz shop. But we have built more than one, and have serviced many. It is very common for customers to buy a frame elsewhere they want built, or for Charles to work with other local shops to get bikes we don’t normally carry for customers.

Enough of the story – let’s look at the bike…

Posted in Bikes, BOTM

If you want boys, you'll have to look elsewhere

Posted by Charles Wed, 27 Sep 2006 04:03:00 GMT

While Berry, John, and I are at the Interbike show in Las Vegas, the girls have taken over at Passion. Patty and Camile will be running things at least until Berry gets back on Thursday, and the official changing of the guard will take place sometime after John and I get in on Friday. The girls are planning to rework some our displays in my absence, and I am anxiously waiting to see the results.

I will have more to report from the bike industry’s largest trade show soon. We have spent the last two days riding new bikes from our current brands, Maverick, Specialized, and Turner, as well as a number of our competitors best offerings. Some of the new stuff is really hot, some not so. Tomorrow, we hit the trade show floor and surround ourselves with acres of eye candy, the fallout of which will be seen at Passion soon.

Posted in Shop