We are ordering a shop jersey, orders must be in by june 14. reg. price 80.00, pre-order price 65.00 with 40.00 deposit. Come in and try one on, no discounts will be given after order is placed. Real jersey may differ slightly from picture this is our first draft.

Frame Materials Part 2 ( steel )

Is steel real, well I say it is the real deal. Steel has been used to make bicycles longer then any other material. And many say that if steel was NEW then everyone would want a steel bike, the problem is that steel is not new and many people think that it is a traditional and old material, but not at the cutting edge. Well they are wrong and right, steel is an older material and plain old 4130 might not be so cutting edge, but with materials like 859/953/platinum ox and the such the steel of today is not quite the same as the steel of the old. And here is a little thing, the tubing we are using in bikes is not even the most advanced steel out there we just dont have the demand to source the newest stuff, so if customer demand went the industry could afford to get the majical steels that are out there.
Some of the factors we look at when looking at materials are Stiffness, well steel is stiffer then aluminum and Ti. Density, Steel is more dense the aluminum or Ti. When we look at these to factor the stiffness to weight ratio is about the same between the 3 materials. Wait a miniute, the bike shop I went in said that this cheap hybrid was an upgrade because it is aluminum and it would be lighter, well I guess you should have went to a better bike shop.
One of the last things to look at is tensil strength, for the most part the minimum tube used in a good steel frame is aircraft 4130 which has a tensil stgrength of 90,000 ksi, strong enough for most applications, need more then just upgrade the tubeset for the needed strength.
lets not forget that steel rides nice, and last a lifetime. It can rust out, so take care of it and it wont. You can wreck it and it will usually hold up, if it dont you can have it repaired. and by choosing different tubes and having a custom build you can get it to do about anything you want.
Steel is a great option, next time lets look at Aluminum and see if its all its CRACKED up to be.

Frame material series PART 1

What is the importance of frame material, is carbon the only good thing. Why is it that when a customer comes into the shop looking at a more economical bike they ask if it is aluminum or steel, and why do they assume that aluminum is the better choice. If my frame says super high modulas carbon fiber does that mean I will win the Tour de France.
This will be a multi part series discussing different frame materials, there use, the marketing behind them, and what is tecnology and tradition in the bike world. And could you believe that most of the decisions in the bike world are based on the customers wants, desires, and beliefs. Even if the frame manufacture knows better, so next time you complain about the color, material, cost, etc. blame yourself-you are the reason they did it.
We will be looking at steel, aluminum, TI, and carbon fiber. Stay tuned for the next part of the series, Steel the real deal.

Holiday

Well the holiday's are almost here. I have the occasional christmas present sale in the shop, but december is still not a good month, I will just have to wait for the spring. Our spinning class is having a good turnout, so that is fun, I have a little company to talk to a couple nights a week. The weather has been hard to figure out, october was so wet and cold, november was pretty mild, and so far december has been all over the place, heck we had a big thunder storm the other night and it was in the 20's the night before, what is up with that.

SNOW

A little snow never hurt anyone. But if it scares you we are spinning at the shop tuesday and thursdays from 6-7pm. There is also a night ride tonight at bangert island 7-10pm if you are willing to brave the cold.
Things are slow at the shop right now with the first few days of really cold weather in st. louis. So stop by sometime and hang out

Funny Story

About 12 years ago I was working at another bike shop, when a lady came in. She had bought a bike a few months ago and needed some work done. It was the winter and we were slow, so several people were standing around the front counter just talking.
She say's, I need my wheels balanced. Owner replies, OK is one of them bent. She says no, they just need balanced. So we think what we call wheel trueing, is what she is calling balanced, and the owner goes into more detail of trueing a wheel. She gets a little miffed, and says NO, they do not need trued they need to be balanced.
So the owner walks around the counter and ask her to show him, she points at one air valve stem pointing at the floor, and one air valve stem pointing at the ceiling. He picks up the bike and spins one wheel till both stems are pointing in the same direction.
She gets red in face, almost cries, very embarrassed. We dont laugh till she leaves, but we laugh hard.
that was a funny day