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More trouble with carbon steerers on super light carbon forks.
Only one actual failure (in the U.S. at least). I never liked the Giant branded aero carbon fork on my 2003 TCR carbon frame — it felt whippy on descents. It cracked on impact with a taxi a few years back … can’t blame the manufacturer for that … and the bike felt much more stable on descents after I swapped in a stronger, less expensive and slightly heavier fork. The frame, on the other hand, was and is very solid.

The CPSC press release:

NEWS from CPSC

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Office of Information and Public Affairs
Washington, DC 20207
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJanuary 14, 2009Release #09-096
Firm’s Recall Hotline: (866) 458-2555CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908

Giant Bicycle, Inc. Recalls Bicycles; Fork Can Break Causing Rider To Fall

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.
Name of Product: 2009 model year TCR Advanced SL and SL (ISP) Bicycles and Frames
Units: About 1,000
Importer: Giant Bicycle, of Newbury Park, Calif.
Hazard: The density of the steerer tubes can cause the forks to crack and break, posing a fall hazard to the consumer.
Incidents/Injuries: Giant Bicycle has received one report of the fork cracking with no reported injuries.
Description: This recall involves 2009 TCR Advanced SL Team, SL 0, SL 1, SL 2, and SL (ISP) model bicycles and frames in silver, charcoal, blue and red. The words “Giant” and “TCR Advanced SL” are printed on the frame. Steerer tubes with “B”, “N” or “P” at the end of the serial number are not included in this recall. Other “TCR” model bicycles are not included in the recall.
Sold by: Authorized Giant Bicycle dealers nationwide from August 2008 through December 2008 for between $3,300 and $7,500.
Manufactured in: Taiwan
Remedy: Consumers should stop riding these bicycles immediately and contact an authorized Giant Bicycle dealer for a free inspection and replacement fork.
Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Giant Bicycle toll-free at (866) 458-2555 between 9 a.m. and

Bespoke Ultra Parlee Z1 Superbike
$32,000. OR Y2,850,000 at today’s rate.
„What’s so special about a $30,000 bike?„
Hahaha.. madness.

Chicago-based bicycle component maker SRAM and Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking (LBMB) have completed their strategic investment transaction, giving LBMB a 40 percent stake in the company for a reported US$200 million.

„Getting to the finish line, given the current state of the financial markets, is a reflection of LBMB’s role as one of the leading private equity organizations in the middle market and our strong SRAM management team,“ said Stan Day, chief executive of SRAM.

As a result of the transaction, LBMB managing directors Charlie Moore and Bill Lovejoy will join the SRAM Board of Directors. The SRAM management team remains intact.

„All of us at LBMB are thrilled to be closing our investment in SRAM,“ Moore said. „The company is a leader in its industry with tremendous momentum and a bright future. We look forward to working with SRAM’s management team to build the business and realize its full potential in the years to come.“

Prior to the completion of the transaction, seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong confirmed his return to the sport of bike racing with the SRAM-supported Team Astana. Additionally, Armstrong has made a meaningful passive investment alongside LBMB to further strengthen his ties with SRAM, said to be in the millions of dollars.

Armstrong’s use of SRAM components will become a part of the SRAM overall marketing program. He will also serve as a technical advisor for SRAM’s product development teams alongside many of SRAM’s other established professional riders.

„The entire organization welcomes Lance to the SRAM team,“ Day added. „We are looking forward to his input and doing everything we can to support his return to racing.“

Headquartered in Chicago, with product development and manufacturing facilities in California, Colorado, Indiana, Taiwan, China, Germany and Portugal, SRAM produces a full line of high performance bicycle components for original equipment manufacturers and independent bike dealers. SRAM markets its products under the SRAM, RockShox, Avid, Truvativ, and Zipp brand names. In business since 1987, SRAM expects 2008 revenues to approach US$500 million.

An article from cycling news, dated Oct. 8th, 2008. The Holding filed for chapter 11 on Sept 15th.

How about Ebisu 7:00am, Kaminoge 7:25am, Sekidobashi 8:10am for a ride to Takao and loop back? My aim for 120km (ish) and back (in central Tokyo) by 1pm if not before. Fast-ish, flat-ish, no sledging.

I have been a bit envious, reading the posts about mid-week rides to Lost Valley or Cold Fever. I’ve still never been up the „Ura-Kazahari Rindo“ … and this weekend work will interfere at least part of the time. (Lawyers are always grumbling about having too much work, too long hours, not getting enough sleep, etc. … but they are even more upset if they don’t have ENOUGH work, so I should not complain.)

That said, the rain/snow is supposed to clear out at some point later today, and Saturday the forecast for Tokyo is a high of 11, low of 6, and sunny weather. … perfect winter riding weather. So I do want to at least get out on something like the New Year’s Eve ride that James, Tom and I enjoyed with Hiroshi. I’ll plan to ride solo, but wanted to let you know in case anyone wants to join … maybe an 8AM start from my house, 8:40ish at Sekidobashi.

David L.

I am continually going backwards and forwards about what to do with my gearing. So I decided to post something and maybe get your opinions and in that way help myself make some decisions.

Trek – Triple (52/39/30) with a 12-25 cassette
Cervelo – Double (53/39) with a 12-25 cassette
Klein – Compact (50/34) with a 12-27 cassette

I will leave the Trek alone.
I intend to sell the Klein in the spring but before that I need to give myself some lower gearing on the Cervelo and might want to use parts from the Klein.
My options are to swap over cranks, or change cassettes, or both.
Obviously the 50-34 gives me a few more low gear options, but I am tempted to stay with the 53-39 from a ‚purist‘ perspective. Silly?
I liken this to getting carving skis. I learned on normal straight alpine skis and eschewed the use of the ’new‘ carving skis for a number of years. When I finally got ‚carvers‘, they were a revelation. The carving skis are a compact crank. I really like it on the Klein.

Also, given that I will swap the wheels over too (Mavic Ksyrium SL for Zipp 808), I was thinking that the Klein might be more ’saleable‘ (as a triathlon bike without the aggressive geometry) with a 53/39 on board and the Zipp wheels.

Any thoughts or suggestions gratefully accepted. Yes, I am extremely fortunate to have these ‚problems‘ 🙂

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2409360&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1
Bright Bike from Michael Mandiberg on Vimeo.

David.. as mentioned on a recent ride.

In a break from my normal practice and to ensure that za German proprietor of this blog keeps talking to me I have posted verbatim my post for today’s ride here as well. Missed you today Michael, but looking forward to seeing you on Friday 🙂

Up and out this morning a little later than usual – no-one to meet at Ebisu so straight to Kaminoge to meet David at 7:40am – a bowl of porridge and 2 slices of toast for first breakfast.
Sporting my new Rapha gear – Christmas presents from za wife, za daughter and even za pups. Some toasty Winter tights, a pair of Merino socks (you have to get socks for Christmas, it’s a rule) and the usual Softshell over a rather nice Merino base-layer from Finisterre.

Why all the product placement you might ask? Well, I was rather impressed with how warm I stayed given the fact that it was a mere 1C at Takao this morning. It warmed up as the day progressed and I never got too uncomfortable – a good sign of great gear. Oh, and it’s my birthday next week and just in case you might be looking for gift ideas, wink wink, nod, nod.

Out on the usual Tama river route and second breakfast at the 7-11. We popped over Takao with no great effort or drama. Watching for ice in the shaded spots all the way up – it was that cold!
(Click picture to enlarge)
Rendezvous-ing at the peak and yet again a great view if Fuji on another beautiful winter’s day in Japan.
David had suggested another twist this week.. adding a second significant climb, followed by a really steep bugger. Although not as steep or as high as where Lance was yesterday.
(Click picture to enlarge)
Here’s the guys – Tom, David & Hiroshi-san – before setting off up the steep ascent.
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That’ll be Hiroshi-san powering his way up. You can tell it’s steep as in Japan they use concrete with circles as you can see. I am not 100% sure what the purpose of the circles are. I assumed they use concrete so it doesn’t melt in the summer and ’slide‘ down. I guess the concrete circles would be to disperse water during storms? Hmm, something to investigate.
(Click picture to enlarge)
Tom contemplating life from the top of the climb. Our descent whilst on the south side of the hill was tentatively taken. The road was covered in salt. Amazing that they had been out to a road this remote to salt it to be fair. A first for me to be cycling with salt pinging up off the wheels.
We made our descent and then handed over path finding duties to Hiroshi-san who not only was going to show me the second half of my road to nowhere but also a different route back to Tokyo. Sugoi! We first had a pit stop for first lunch.
(Click picture to enlarge)
Unfortunately David got a flat mere seconds into us setting off, but was as quick as ever in making repairs.
(Click picture to enlarge)
Over a small, yet very high suspension bridge. We climbed a fair few metres and then made our way back onto our normal return loop. Then Hiroshi-san, as promised, showed a new route home taking in tank road where Mitsubishi Heavy Industries used to test their tanks.
(Click picture to enlarge)
Quite a nice view from the top of the hill, although not much heavy industry now, much more commuter belt suburban living.
So Hiroshi-san’s route was a fast rolling road which again was a first for me on a Tokyo ride – it’s usually flat or up. The downside was more traffic lights, the upside was that it brought us back to Kawasaki and therefore not much of the Tama river to follow home (the river route can get monotonous to say the least).
A good tailwind saw us back to David’s place in no time. He was feeling the pace/distance by now, but I suspect a couple of good night’s sleep are all that is required. I felt reasonably OK, heavy legs for sure and not too much sustained power available. I got home around 2:15pm after 140kms and 7 hrs riding. Not too scruffy at all and a fantastic way to end the year. My sincere thanks to David, Tom and Hiroshi-san for their company, their pace and their directions today. Happy New Year.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http:%2F%2Ftrail.motionbased.com%2Ftrail%2Fkml%2Fepisode.kml%3FepisodePkValues%3D7357206&ie=UTF8&t=p&s=AARTsJo9qATQGD_dA8yTEneHlvj4thSYuA&ll=35.614884,139.453583&spn=0.390745,0.617981&z=10&output=embed
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As usual the Garmin went and did about twice as much climbing as I did.. 1100m for me today.
(Click diagram for Garmin data)