Adjust your seat height from your handlebars with the Gravity Dropper seatpost. This $250 post is available in 2, 3, or 4 inch drop so you can lower your seat for descending and raise it for flatland and uphill riding. It’s like an office chair for your bike.
Burton is opening a new store in Japan, where the company makes about 29% of all its revenue. Their press release says: “The first floor, deemed the ‘Powder Stash’, houses Burton boards, boots and bindings inside a white playground-style fence that entices riders to enter and have fun with the product.†Those fences are so damn enticing.
VIA Snowboard-Mag.
At the last bike shop I worked at, this smoking hot girl came in once and asked if I could take a look at her car stereo. I was about to tell her that just because she was super hot didn’t mean she should expect bike mechanics to fix car stereos, when my co-worker yelled from the back of the shop that he would look at her car. In the interest of all the girls who don’t slut themselves out for mechanical help, 686 is making the Yumiko Women’s Embossed Snow Toolbelt. This thing comes with a Phillips screwdriver in the belt buckle and wrenches into the belt loop so you can handle repairs on your own.
[...] Crumpler says their Thirsty Al Pouch is made for cell phones, digital cameras, or iPods—but this thing should be used more truly to its namesake. Put in on your 686 Tool Belt and you’ll be the most popular guy in the lift line with your hip flask holster. If one of your friends falls down in the lift line, you could also pull your camera out to take the best picture of the day. Written by Rocky Thompson [...]
whiskyTango
October 12th, 2006 at 4:19 pm
Gadoury likes Girls?
This is a race where you carry your wife and run. The thing that most surprised me was that so many people showed up to watch this event—just check out the picture. Former Olympian and Maine Winter Sports Center ski coach John Farra (and his wife with all the blood in her head) won the race and took home a novelty-sized check for $675. And I thought Roller Skiing was lame, these cross country types need to find something better to do before the snow falls.
VIA FasterSkier.com.
[...] Gear Junkie is running a feature of the oddest footraces on the planet, thought I have to wonder why it lacks the Wife Carrying Competition. My favorite is the Arrowhead 135-mile winter race through Minnesota’s North Woods. It’s self supported since you’ll be the only one up there—hope the entry fee’s not too high. The Bare Buns nudist race would be pretty awful if you forgot suntan oil. [...]
[...] Main Coach Wins Wife Carrying Competition [...]
No matter how much practice you’ve had, there’s no way you’re getting out of a sore arm if you get a flat and you’re packing the Topeak Micro Rocket CB pump. A 55g carbon fiber pump sounds awesome when it’s strapped to your bike, but trying to get this thing up to 100psi in your road tires is like trying to get a champagne cork back in a bottle you can’t afford. You’ll spend the first 10 minutes cursing while trying to get your tire off the rim without tire levers, and the next hour trying to pump the tire to a rideable pressure.
powstash
October 13th, 2006 at 12:12 pm
isn’t that the freakin’ truth!?! I got a flat while riding two weeks ago and a guy I was riding with tried to give me the “don’t use your CO2 cartridge – it’s not good for the enviornment to use it once and toss it”. So I tried to use his little pump, similar to this one and after about 5 minutes and working up a good sweat I pulled it, used the CO2 cartridge and told him that pump was worthless. Not to mention I nearly broke the presta stem while pumping. Nice post.
686 tried making their Times Vestal snowboarding jacket a little easier to justify buying by sticking a Vestal Analog watch in the pocket. This $300 jacket comes with the usual mix of MP3 pocket, removable hood, season pass pocket, and a modest waterproof coating. Including a watch isn’t a terrible idea—it’s a bit better than goggles since you’ll at least know it’ll fit.
Dave
October 12th, 2006 at 1:25 pm
Yeah, but can you put your WEEEEEED in it?
sorry, that joke never gets old for me. I know I suck.
It’s not the winding flight to Nepal, but the $35 you’re going to pay Maoist insurgents to trek to Everest base camp that’s going to set your stomach rumbling. The extortion fee is reasonably modest by western National Park vehicle pass standards, but it just feels worse when you have to pay the communists.
VIA Adventure Blog.
Dave
October 12th, 2006 at 8:28 am
Well They’re Maoists which may be a little bit different from ‘Communists’. I don’t think these guys have read much Marx or Engels they’re more into the whole peasant land grab thing along with a virulent anti-royalist streak. I’m not excusing their behaviour but just wanted to point out that Nepal is pretty screwed up to start with and these guerillas are just adopting the strongest character they know: Uncle Mao.
Volcom makes their Megasis snowboarding pants from Gore-Tex Softshell which feels like softshell but waterproofs like a hardshell. Unfortunately, it also weighs significantly more than hardshell material, so it’s not the best choice for backcountry riding but is warm and comfy inbounds. Volcom makes the Megasis pants in this little-kid-handprint camo which is just creepy.
Blind motorists and melt the siding off houses while biking with Silva’s High-Powered Headlamp and Battery Carrier Comfort. Take it into the backcountry, and while the rest of your friends use lightweight LED headlamps to rummage through their packs, you’ll be out scrounging the forest for firewood or taking panoramic pictures of the Grand Canyon at night.
Knog calls the Franco cycling shoes, “A performance cycling shoe with cleat options. You will not need to take a second pair of shoes to work.†This assumes that most people who ride to work on are little bikes with banana seats meeting their friends who pile 15 people into a VW Bug. All you’ll need is a red nose.
Dave
October 11th, 2006 at 7:34 pm
do i wear these with socks, or without socks? ‘Cause last year I was wearing some japanese rubber flip-flops at the office, and those cruel cruel fashionistas in the buying department ridiculed me– publicly.
I’m willing to give these a shot, but I need someone to answer the sock / no-sock dialectic for me.
Dave
October 11th, 2006 at 7:33 pm
do i wear these with sandals, or without sandals? ‘Cause last year I was wearing some japanese rubber flip-flops at the office, and those cruel cruel fashionistas in the buying department ridiculed me– publicly.
I’m willing to give these a shot, but I need someone to answer the sock / no-sock dialectic for me.
Push in the nozzle for gel, pull it out for water. The Gel-Bot water bottle’s power core holds about 6oz of power gel and 24oz of water to wash it down. Made by Venture Design Works, this thing is available for $15.
Entertaining and often spastic Patagonia Ambassador Timmy O’Neill is heading on a three-city Environmental Action Tour (EAT) beginning in Portland on November 9th. His $8 show is billed as a night with his Monkey Wrench Gang that’s supposed to teach you how to make an immediate change in your life to help save the world. I just hope they don’t say I have to give up cable.
5-17-4 Jingumae (a.k.a ‘Cat Street’)
Shibuya-ku
Tokyo, Japan 150-001
Phone: 03-5738-2777
Cat Street is the coolest part of Tokyo. It is a small street, usually only open to pedestrians or small cars. The cool thing about it is that it is windy– curvy, and it follows along next to a stream so it’s not really ‘megatokyo’ Akira, but more like Telegraph Ave outside Berkeley or something in Georgetown. I really hopes this goes well for them. God knows that a lot of different snowboard “shops” are ripping off the Japanese customers with gear they bought in LA, ship over, then resell in their stores…