Lots of acronyms: NEMBA's open letter to IMBA on Wilderness and e-bikes

Monday, December 7, 2015

The following is an open letter urging IMBA to support the STC's Wilderness initiative and reaffirm IMBA's stand on e-MTBs.

TO:       Mike Van Abel, IMBA Executive Director
Robert Winston, Chair, IMBA’s Board of Directors
 
FROM: Philip Keyes, Executive Director, New England Mountain Bike Association
 
December 7, 2015
Via email
 
Dear Mike and Robert,
 
Once again, I’m writing you and IMBA’s Board of Directors on behalf of the New England Mountain Bike Association to urge you to support the Sustainable Trails Coalition’s initiative to allow human-powered travel in our nation’s wildlands. Last I wrote, it seemed that you and your Board were considering supporting the STC, but given IMBA’s December 1st  Blog Post, this does not appear to be the case – hence this open letter to you and your Board.
 
Also, I am writing you to ask IMBA to clarify its position on e-MTBs. We urge you toreaffirm IMBA’s 2010 policy position that mountain biking is a human-powered form of recreation. We hope you will confirm your position that electric-assist mountain bikes should be managed like other motorized vehicles on public, natural surface trails, and not be granted special status on non-motorized trails.
 
We publically voice these concerns because we believe that these are the two most important national issues facing the mountain bike community today.
 
I.  Regarding IMBA, Wilderness and the Sustainable Trails Coalition
 
In your August 2015 blog post, IMBA and the Sustainable Trails Coalition, you more than hinted that IMBA was considering offering some level of support to the Sustainable Trails Coalition (STC), and you urged your readers to “stay tuned.”
 
This was gratifying to hear and we were optimistic that support was going to be offered. However, Mark Eller’s December 1st Blog Post responding to Outside Magazine's articleabout the STC made it clear that IMBA is not offering any tangible or financial support whatsoever.
 
We believe that this is a huge mistake and we urge IMBA to reconsider and become active in supporting the initiative to remove the ban on mountain biking in Wilderness.
 
Please consider the following:
 

• IMBA’s current strategy to work with Wilderness groups to protect certain trails from becoming Wilderness is compatible with seeking to modify the Wilderness Act or the interpretation of this Act. We do not believe that our or IMBA’s ability to advocate to protect critical mountain bike trails is contingent upon acquiescing with the status quo that bikes do not belong in Wilderness.  We believe that land management agencies and Wilderness proponents will work with us even if we make it clear that we do not agree with the ban and are actively seeking to change it.

• IMBA’s current position to not support the STC will negatively impact IMBA regardless of the success or failure of the STC. Conversely, IMBA will benefit by supporting the STC regardless of the outcome. If the Sustainable Trails Coalition is successful at modifying the Wilderness Act without IMBA’s support, IMBA will appear as irrelevant and out-of-date, basically sidelined in what is arguably one of the most important access initiatives ever undertaken by mountain bikers. On the other hand, if IMBA offers no support to STC and STC fails, many mountain bikers around the country will lay blame on IMBA for not getting involved or providing the assistance necessary for success.  Not supporting STC is a lose-lose for IMBA. On the other hand, if IMBA supports the Sustainable Trails Coalition it will benefit regardless of the outcome. If the STC initiative is successful, IMBA can truly and deservedly share in that success. If unsuccessful, at least IMBA will be seen as having the fortitude to stand up for mountain bikers and do what is right. As is said, “It is better to have fought and lost than to never to have fought at all.” The mountain biking community will understand this and will support the organizations that fight the good fight.

• We do not believe that introducing legislation to modify the Wilderness Act will result in the gutting of the land protections offered in the Act. We believe this to be Wilderness proponent propaganda. Clearly the intent of the Act is to prevent wildland development and widespread mineral extraction. It is also clearly not Congress’ original intent to ban muscle-powered recreation.

• We believe IMBA’s membership would support the STC, if asked. In one of Vernon Felton’s articles on Wilderness in Bike Magazine , IMBA is quoted as saying that “IMBA’s membership is split on whether mountain bikes should have access to wilderness areas.” We have a hard time believing that there is a 50/50 split, and it’s more likely that it’s only a very small minority who believe that the bike ban is just. IMBA has never surveyed its membership on this issue, and probably should. NEMBA is IMBA Member #150 and we’ve never been asked.

 
There is still time for IMBA to show concrete and tangible support to STC but it needs to happen soon.  Here are some ways we hope IMBA can help the Sustainable Trails Coalition:
 

• Publically endorse STC’s initiative and urge IMBA’s membership to support STC through financial donations and lobbying their senators and representatives.

• Urge your partners in the bicycle industry to support this campaign. Urge PeopleForBikes to do the same. The bike industry should financially support this initiative but seems to be waiting for IMBA’s green light.

• Make supporting this issue and the proposed legislation IMBA’s number one goal of the 2016 National Bike Summit this March. If IMBA did this, we believe that it will be one of the most well-attended bike summits by mountain bikers ever.

• Utilize IMBA’s lobbyists and staffers to partner with the STC in Washington, DC and actively engage Congress on this issue. This is why IMBA exists.

 
This fight is winnable. It can be a win for everyone, including IMBA. It will be inspiring to the thousands of advocates around the country and hundreds of thousands of riders around the world to have IMBA on the right side of history on this issue. Otherwise, sadly, IMBA loses.
 
II.  Power-Assisted Electric Mountain Bikes
 
Moving on to the issue of e-MTBs, we hope that you and your board of directors will reaffirm IMBA’s 2010 policy position that e-MTBs “should be regulated as with other motorized off-road travel.” We are concerned that IMBA is poised to abandon this position.
 
NEMBA’s position is as follows:
 
“The recreational use of electric and power-assisted bicycles, ORVs or ATVs on natural surface trails should be managed using the same guidelines and policies as other motorized vehicles.”
 
Power-assisted bicycles are improving in speed, power, and battery life, and we believe it important for land managers to develop management principles now.  NEMBA is also aware that some senior citizens or people with disabilities might want to use these vehicles on natural surface trails. We support this under the ADA guidelines that agencies have already adopted for the disabled.
 
IMBA recently undertook its own independent study of the impacts of e-MTBs (paid for by the Bicycle Product Suppliers Association and PeopleForBikes) that indicate that the impacts of low-powered Type 1 e-MTBs are about the same as human-powered mountain bikes, not unlike Wilson and Seney’s 1994 study. This data was presented to the bicycle industry at the Interbike Trade show last September.
 
This raises the question whether IMBA should be engaging in this type of research, and we are very concerned that IMBA is using this data, perhaps under pressure from the bicycle industry, to shift to a more accommodating position on e-bikes on trails.
 
Bicycle Retailer’s Interbike Show Daily contained two articles indicating that IMBA is becoming more willing to advocate for electric bicycle use on non-motorized trails.  The September 17th Show Daily article titled “IMBA Report could open the door to e-MTBs on trails”  comments that IMBA’s “study may be the first step toward opening up some trails to e-mountain bikes that are currently closed to them.”
 
The September 16th Show Daily quotes IMBA’s fact sheet about e-MTBs saying “IMBA recognizes e-MTBs, particularly those equipped with Type 1 pedal assist, are substantially different from other motorized uses, and may warrant a separate category and new management strategies.” The fact sheet goes on to say, “IMBA’s initial study suggests that with proper management, e-MTBs have the potential to offer a beneficial use of public land with acceptable impacts. […] This is a new category of trail use with the capacity to promote outdoor activity and overall health.”
 
NEMBA strongly disagrees that e-MTBs should be given their own recreational category on public, natural surface trail systems. We urge IMBA to reaffirm its 2010 position that mountain biking is a human-powered, non-motorized form of recreation and that e-bikes are a form of motorized recreation.  Both may be appropriate recreational activities, but it’s important to maintain the category of non-motorized trails.
 
 
Consider the following:
 

• For decades, groups like NEMBA and IMBA have defined mountain biking as a non-motorized form of recreation. That definition is the pillar of mountain bike advocacy. Creating a third category for power-assisted vehicles would undermine this basic tenet and significantly blur the distinction between mountain biking and motorized recreation. This will profoundly affect our ability to advocate and gain access to more trails and open spaces. Land managers and environmentalists would once again lump us together with the motorized set, and with all of the negative baggage that goes with it. This has the potential to set mountain bike advocacy efforts back decades.

• Creating a new category for certain types of e-MTBs would create a management nightmare. Currently it is very difficult to distinguish an e-MTB from a regular mountain bike from a distance, and it is even more unlikely that land managers would be able to distinguish a Type I e-MTB from its more powerful brethren, some of which can attain speeds up to 50 MPH or more. Without a huge staff and significant management resources, there would be no way to regulate and police e-MTB use. It is possible, even likely, that land managers would prefer to ban all bicycles from their properties so that they do not need to spend the resources required to distinguish and manage the different categories of bikes. In addition, land management agencies considering creating mountain bike trails or allowing mountain bikes on existing trail networks will not do so if they think they are opening the door to motorized vehicles.

• The technology and the torque of e-MTBs is progressing at a very fast pace and some low-level power-assisted bikes already have “turbo” buttons that dramatically boost their speed and torque applied to the driven wheel. The impacts on the trails will also increase and the social impacts of sharing trails with vehicles that can easily attain speeds of 20+ mph will present a host of problems. Events such as the e-MTB race at next year’s Sea Otter will further catalyze a “wattage race” and a desire to race and train on e-MTBs.

• As IMBA is no doubt aware, this is a hot button issue for mountain bikers around the country. We believe that if IMBA promotes e-MTBs on non-motorized trails, the organization would experience a significant and dramatic backlash from its membership.

 
We urge IMBA to take a strong national leadership role in preventing e-MTBs from using non-motorized trails. Specifically, we believe IMBA should do the following:
 

• Educate national, state and local land management agencies about this new motorized technology and urge these agencies to pro-actively include e-MTBs as a motorized use only.

• Educate the bicycle industry, through the National Bicycle Dealers Association, the Bicycle Product Suppliers Association, and PeopleForBikes about the appropriate use of power-assist bicycles. As a new product line, these electric bikes offer potential public benefits for transportation, traffic mitigation, pollution control and livable communities. It is toward these ends that the bicycle industry should focus. It should be noted that there currently is not a large market for offroad e-MTBs. The push for e-MTBs seems to be coming more from the industry than from consumers, and IMBA should help guide both consumers and the industry based upon the long standing principle that mountain biking is human-powered.

• Work with law-makers to be clear that legislation that promotes e-bikes as part of the vehicular transportation mix not include e-MTB access to non-motorized trails. The recent California legislation, for example, is not clear about this and opens up the possibility that public trails could be open to e-bikes unless posted closed.

 
 
To summarize, NEMBA believes that these two national issues are critical to the future of mountain biking and we urge IMBA to support our recommendations. If bikes aren’t allowed in Wilderness, mountain bikers will always be second-class citizens on all public lands. If IMBA believes that power-assisted bikes should be allowed on non-motorized trails then our fate will be sealed as being part of the motorized community, regardless of our best attempts to parse the difference.
 
We urge IMBA to lend its support to the Sustainable Trails Coalition and reaffirm its 2010 position on e-MTBs.
 
Thank you for reading.
 
Regards,
 
Philip Keyes
Executive Director
NEMBA
 

Celebs: they're just like us Idahoans.

Matthew Mcconaughey rocks the 208 "Snowflake Trucker" with wife Camila Alves outside Austin.

More gift ideas.

We don't have a huge quantity, however, so gobble them up fast!
I'll just go punish myself for that one, now.... 

Meet your new Trek DH team. They all have the same last name.

The Athertons leave longtime sponsor GT; Form Trek Factory Racing

They are a family of three media darlings hailing from the UK, and two of them (Gee and Rachel) are DH World Cup/World Championship-contenders. The other one (Dan) has numerous World Cup 4X podiums (and a win) under his belt, but now that they don't have those anymore he spends most of his time building obnoxiously huge courses for his own "Red Bull Hardline" events. 

That other guy with the bike, his last name isn't even Atherton (it's Vernon), and he's a Junior. He's very fast and has potential, but he's a development project. We'll talk about him more next year, if things pan out... for now let's go meet the siblings.  

Is Gee wearing a Trek shirt with bike parts in the shape of the American flag, even though he's proper-British?
We're gonna have to let it slide. This time.

Gee can do backflips and such, but in his heart he's a racer boy.

In order of importance we start with Gee. He's the little brother to Dan, but was last year's DH World Champion and by far the more successful racer of the two. He's perennially fit and focused, is much more fashionable than Dan, and once appeared nude in an issue of Cosmo UK (nether-regions covered up by a well-placed hand).

My face's natural go-to position is looking pissed off. I'm actually normally in a pretty good mood. - Gee

He didn't have a great 2015, where all the World Cups were won by Aaron Gwin or a Syndicate rider, but he's always right there, knocking at a winning time, even in the wet. He'll be hungry on the new bike and Bontrager tyres (see there, I even spelled "tire" like a limey) this year. With that, I think you have all you need to know about Gee, so let's move on to Rachel.

How can you not love the smile of an Englishwoman?

Rach has 26 World Cup DH wins at this point to Gee's 8, which is stunning considering she's only 27 years old and more than a couple of those years have been plagued with injury. She's obviously dominantly fast, largely from training and riding with her brothers. In the Women's category, it doesn't really matter the course or her equipment, if she is healthy and keeps her head on straight (and she almost always does) she will win.

She's looking to bring another girl onto the team to mentor and wants to further the sport. She's generally in a happy mood and has been a bit of a crossover star, especially in the UK, because she does a lot of media work and because she's such a colorful, fun interview. Like all the Athertons, she doesn't mind swearing and does it in the most endearing, English of ways. It only serves to aid her charm. 

Though the eldest, this one is quite childlike in his passions.
Dan likes to jump, dig in the dirt, and wear skinny jeans.

And then there's Danny-boy. You could say Dan's injury-prone, but that paints a picture that's only half true. It's like saying that someone working for the CDC, holding the most disease ridden children on the planet in their arms on a day to day basis, is "sickly" because they get a cold twice a year.

Dan's built like a brick-*hithouse and tough as a coffin nail both physically and mentally. He gets hurt from time to time because he builds and then launches himself off some crazy-big hucks. Now, with social media and filming and his Red Bull Hardline thing, he doesn't have to race...but break out the goggles and fanny packs 'cause he's going to try his hand at Enduro this year anyway. "It just seems like the right thing to do," he probably said.

What else about Dan? Oh, for a while he was dating this smokin' hot chickie from Fox Racing's Marketing department, but then they had to let her go because she {allegedly} was a bit too much of a pro-racer superfan. Still, that had to be a life-highlight for him.

And there you have it, your brief intro to your new Trek Factory Racing team. All the best in 2016.

Our Meridian Location is now a Burton Snowboard Dealer

Meridian IMT is now a full service Burton Snowboard Shop

2015/16 Boards , Boots, and Bindings in stock now.

This shot was taken Nov. 6th. In Meridian. Mind blown!

We've partnered with Burton. We bought Newt + Harold's snowboard grinder, and have staff with the swagger and the expertise to run it, and now it's beginning to all come to fruition. Our plans for Meridian snowboard domination nearly complete, all we need now is a little more snow.

Wait...a single board splits into two?
What sorcery is this? 

So what do you do next? Well, stop into Meridian. They're a full service ski and board shop and will get all your current gear ready for the first big dump. While there, check out all the new rad Burton stuff and get inspired. Meanwhile, you should probably also stop by the ski swap that starts tonight at 5:00 at Expo Idaho. There will be deals, drinks, and a de-evolution into insanity.

Come see us at the Ski Swap this Weekend

The next IMT-Sponsored event is fun for the whole family. Hope to see you there.

Reach for the sky is happening Oct 22.

This will be happening at the "Country Club" Reel Theater on Overland in Boise. Thursday, Oct 22. Details to follow, but for now we're just getting the word out. 

\

We are very excited to be a part of this, and filmmaker Ryan Cleek will be on hand for chatting. Don't know what it is? Here's the trailer. We hope to see you there and stay tuned for more info.

Hidden Chemicals in our everyday lives. Wouldn't you know it, Patagonia is once again in the lead on this sourcing issue in our industry.

This is reproduced from The Robin Report, and specifically Warren Shoulberg. In full disclosure, we did not write it, but we liked it, so have a read. Link to the original is here. 

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The “F” Word

by Warren Shoulberg

I have seen sheets—high-thread-count, perfectly percale, cotton as soft as a baby’s bottom—made…and it’s not a pretty sight.

Can you say formaldehyde?

While all kinds of cause celebs are breaking out over what goes into the food we eat, we are starting to see the first signs that the same thing is happening in the products we use in our homes. Be it furniture, frying pans, crystal glasses or—most recently in the headlines—wood laminate flooring, the same demographic factors that are impacting food are descending upon the home furnishings business.

We all know what’s going on in the food business. Whole Foods started the movement for people being interested in where their food comes from and what happened to it when it was grown, raised or otherwise transferred to your kitchen.

The impact of Whole Foods is irrefutable: Walmart is now going organic and it doesn’t get any more mainstream than the Boys from Bentonville. Next up were the fast food restaurants. Chipotle stopped serving pork when it couldn’t guarantee a steady supply of properly sourced meat. Other national chains have followed, even including McDonald’s, which announced recently it would stop serving chicken that had been dosed with antibiotics. It doesn’t get any more mainstream than Ronald and the Hamburgler.

It’s What’s Inside That Counts

This movement to know the provenance of what you are putting in your mouth is now spreading to what you put in your home. Not that this is entirely something new. The state of California—as with many things— has been in the vanguard of the product safety movement particularly as it relates to the individual components that compose finished products. All the way back in 1986, the state passed what is generally known as Proposition 65, which had to do with cancer-causing elements and chemicals in a variety of items, from drinking water to glassware and ceramics. The law immediately became a source of contention between suppliers and legislators, and despite decades of debate and no doubt some serious lobbying, the law remains on the books.

So when you buy fine lead-crystal wine glasses or handmade ceramics, somewhere there in the small print you’ll see some legal gobblygook about the product meeting—or sometimes not meeting—the Proposition 65 standards. Other household items like paint and non-stick cookware are also regulated in assorted places and are often the target of well-meaning zealots ranting and raving about their hazards. Not being a chemist—or a painter or much of a cook for that matter—I can’t tell you who is right and who is ranting.

Sheets Happen

Which brings us back to those sheets. Before the industry largely moved offshore during the last decade of the 20th century, just about every sheet sold in the country was made here. And they were made in huge, highly efficient and largely automated textiles mills in the American Southeast. They were also made with tons and tons of chemicals. The process of taking raw cotton — and sometimes polyester — and making it into a soft, fluffy piece of fabric you sleep on involves lots of steps and lots of processes.

And lots of chemicals…including the aforementioned formaldehyde. I never quite figured out exactly what they needed the formaldehyde for and I tried to accept them at their word that it was washed out before the sheets were ready to be put on your bed. Me, I thought I was done with formaldehyde when I got out of 10th grade biology…you know, the one with the frogs.

A Flawed Floor Story

Now Lumber Liquidators wished it was done with formaldehyde back then too. The company is in a tailspin affecting its business, its stock price and perhaps even its very survival because of the chemical. To say it has been floored by what’s happened over the past few months is both a terrible pun and the understatement of the year. Founded in 1993, Lumber Liquidators grew to more than 200 stores in 46 states and became the darling of Wall Street and a favorite for budget-minded home remodelers.

It all came crashing down earlier this year when 60 Minutes did an investigative piece charging that the company’s laminate flooring contained high levels of formaldehyde. Now, there is no federal standard on formaldehyde levels in products like flooring, though there is one in…wait for it…California. And according to the 60 Minutes investigation, flooring sold by the store did not meet that standard even though it was labeled as such.

It wasn’t long before the stuff hit the fan and Lumber Liquidators was on the defense. First it said it wasn’t true and its products met the standard. Then it mailed out test kits to customers. Then a major retailer, Lowes, announced it was dropping one of the company’s laminate flooring products from its stores. And then in early May, Lumber Liquidators said it was pulling its Chinese-made flooring products even though it said the vast majority of its test results showed it was within World Health Organization standards. All the while, its sales have continued to tank—18 percent in March—and the stock has done even worse, dropping more than 60 percent since the TV report.

No doubt there will be lots of lawsuits and legislative committees holding hearings over the next several months. And there has already been one pretty big corporate casualty: CEO Robert Lynch suddenly resigned in mid-May under circumstances that are not quite clear yet. It’s likely that the retailer will survive, though it will probably have taken some more serious hits before it’s all done.

Chemicals Compounded

But all of this is going to impact the way home products are going to be sold going forward. The people eating at Chipotle and Panera are the same people who will be buying couches and rugs and frying pans and sheets and the industry better understand this.

Which is why a couple of basic observations are critical here:

1. Retailers and suppliers have to know where and how their products are made. It isn’t enough to know that the factory isn’t polluting or exploiting underage workers or doing it all in unsafe facilities. Now it’s going to matter what went into that product. This is going to be a huge adjustment for a business raised on petrochemical components.
2. None of this means a return to domestic manufacturing. Factories in the U.S. are every bit as capable as their Asian counterparts of making products of questionable natures. The race downward in product quality—driven by a relentless focus on prices led by Walmart—is going to require a major mental reset. Consumers have shown they will pay for a better version of a product if the supplier and/or retailer can give them a reasonable explanation why. Dyson did it to Hoover, All Clad did it to Farberware and the list goes on.
3. Finally, when someone blames the Chinese for making sub-standard products, stop the person and tell the truth: We taught them everything they know about making modern commercial products and they are just doing what we told them to do. Back when the country was building its sourcing business in the 1980s and 1990s, if we had told them to make the good stuff they would have been more than pleased to oblige. But we told them we wanted crap.

So, the rules are changing in home furnishings as they are in food. And they are changing fast when it comes to manufacturing processes, components and ingredients.

Remember the old DuPont marketing slogan, Better Living Through Chemistry? You don’t hear that so much anymore, do you?

About Warren Shoulberg

Warren Shoulberg is editorial director of several home furnishings magazines and has been reporting on the home business for a long time. He is currently working on his next book, Stupid Business.

A quick report from Team Rhino Rush. Yeah buddy!

We can't believe the Fall season is upon us! This has been one of best years yet in terms of rider strength, teamwork and development. We've truly met our goal of supporting great riders who are great people.

ON THE ROAD

Bogus - Every year the Bogus Basin hill climb serves as the benchmark for all Treasure Valley Cyclists in pursuit of the sub hour ascent. This year we had Five riders do the sub hour Bogus! Congrats to Jackson Swanson, Brent Gorman, Justin Mayfield, Eric Gregg and John Salmon, for attaining a great accomplishment.

Twilight Criterium - Every year in July you can feel the excitement downtown of our largest Road cycling event of the year. This year was no different as we looked to give the city of Boise a great show and hopefully earn some spots on the podium. Paul Warner, our top Cat 1 rider had a great showing in the Pro-1 field with a pack finish behind the stunning battle between United HealthCare and AltoVelo.

In the 1,2,3s Nick Lee, Ian Megale, Andrew Harris, Jackson Swanson and Gary Davis put on a great show with constant attacks while capturing multiple prems; despite the rain right before their race.

Unfortunately in the 4-5s the myth the man, the legend Chris Haskell got caught up with a lapper and took a solid spill, shown below, captured by his own gopro. Don't worry though, he has said he will be ready for Cyclocross season!

Baker City - This was one of the hottest years on record for the team. The heat combined with the 14 thousand feet of climbing over the four days was a true test of grit for the guys. In the 1-2s Justin Mayfield led both Paul Warner and Jackson Swanson through the grueling, steep Elkhorn Mountains. 

In the 3s Ian Megale and Eric Gregg gave quite an impressive performance.

Both earning points to upgrade them to cat 2 for next year! Ian placed 4th in the criterium and Eric was 2nd in the TT!

Ian doing throwing quite the bike throw

ON THE DIRT

Jug Mtn 9-5

Zach Powell teamed up with his good friend and long time local pro Josh Oppenheimer to dominate the mens duo field. The two were the only group of the day to complete 12 laps. Our own Lucy Collins made her debut to the mtb marathon scene as well. She finished third behind seasoned pros Amanda Carey and Jana Repulski. 

Lucy cruising through the mountains of McCall

Mtb Nationals

TJ and Zach were able to make the trek to Mammoth Mountain this year for Mtb Nationals. TJ had a great race in the Cat 1 40-44 age group placing 12th. Zach was competitive in his field as well despite a poor start.

As I mentioned, Fall is here, which means cyclocross is upon us. We hope to see out at the races with a cowbell and tasty beverage; as this is one of our favorite times of the year!

Thank you all for the support this year, we would not be the great team we are without the great sponsors we have!

All the best!

The LBC Board

Seven Cycles for the Long Haul

This from our friends at Seven Cycles, "We had an email from a photographer friend, based in Europe. It said, "Have been out shooting PBP (Paris-Brest-Paris) and was amazed at the number of Sevens I saw." Then we were researching recent posts about the New England Randonneurs' summer brevet series, looking at results and times, and it struck what a high percentage of the riders were on our bikes.   It seems everywhere we look at the longest, hardest rides the sport offers, our bikes are disproportionately represented. We hope it's because we can offer serious riders the exact blend of performance and comfort they're looking for, and that few, if any, production bikes provide the sorts of features and options that make big adventures so much easier. Whatever the case (like Seven riders are just a little crazier than the general cycling populace), it feels good that the harder the ride, the more likely the rider is to choose Seven."

Because Seven does a lot of custom bikes, and you don't tend to see them sitting on the sales floor, it might be easy to forget that they're some of the best bikes out there. Big adventure riders, we're here for ya.

This here...is quite a bike.

Yesterday (8/23/15) we had a very successful Giant Bike Demo at Camel's Back Park, with many riders getting out on multiple bikes. Thanks to "Giant Demo Driver" Brad Pastir and everyone who showed. 

The surprising revelation of the day: Most people who thought they wanted a 5.5" travel Trance Advanced, and then rode a Trance and a 6.3"-travel Reign in secession, came away saying, "Well, the Reign pedals just as well with more travel...it's overkill for here [in the Boise foothills], but that's the bike I want." And guess what? No one was missing 29" wheels. All day. 

To each their own, 29-inch wheels make a ton of sense to a lot of people and on a lot of terrain, but if you have yet to try out 27.5, we think you owe it to yourself. Luckily, both models will be part of our in-store demo fleet very soon.  

Absolutely DO NOT try to insult the
Justice League right now, Drunk Aquaman

As for the "Stories" part of this Stories-post, I don't have a picture of the guy, because when he arrived the queue was substantial and we were busy getting people out on bikes, but let me paint a picture for ya. Imagine it's about 8:30am on a smoky Sunday and the Giant truck is posted up at the end of 9th street; the backside of Camel's Back. As we're unloading bikes, a man stumbles out of the woods with a duffel bag. He's quite fashionable with some designer jeans, a button down shirt, and suit-style vest. Problem is, he's not fit, neither the shirt nor the vest are buttoned, and he's having trouble negotiating how to get over one of the least formidable wooden fences I've ever seen. 

It takes him a handful of minutes but eventually he makes it over to the demo area to start chattin us up about bikes. At least, I think that's what he though he was doing. We fielded a barrage of questions relating to what we were doing setting up shop near his hallowed pond in the first place....until a green cab pulled up. Don't know if this was pre-arranged or what because dude didn't have a cell phone. He throws his bag in the trunk, slaps his face to dust off his beard, asks us for a light [that we didn't have] and away he goes. Weirdest thing I've seen in a while, but "too weird to live, too rare to die," I guess.

The Liv bike demo is next week, Monday the 31st. Hope to get all the ladies out for that one. Call us at 208/336-3854 to reserve your bike ASAP. 

Mountain Bike World Cup DH - The last race of the year (almost) streams Saturday Morning

For those of you who like and follow World Cup DH mountain bike racing, Val di Sol will be streaming on Red Bull TV Saturday morning at 6:30 Mountain Time. This is the final stop on the World Cup circuit, the only other being the World Championships in Andorra in 2 weeks (World Champs is not technically a World Cup... so there's that).

There are tons of compelling stories playing out this year, as Josh Bryceland (AKA "Ratboy," "The Rat," or "Miami Bryce") came back to form to win a few weeks back, but maybe isn't exactly 100% after his crushing ankle injury at last year's Worlds. Luckily, the kid hasn't lost his accent (the best in the biz).

Meanwhile Greg Minnaar is perennially at the top despite the whole pesky "aging" thing (the man is a professor), both the Athertons have won here before (understatement of the century), devout-American Aaron Gwin is capable of winning on any weekend (pray for him), and then there's the new crop of youngsters hanging out at the bottom of the podium every week just waiting to punch through (these include Troy Brosnan who qualified first, and my favorite up-and-coming-Frenchie Remi Thirion, who does already have a World Cup win, so maybe he's not so up-and-coming anymore, but it doesn't really matter because he's out with injury).

Watch the course preview to get you pumped, and tune in tomorrow. Top women should be at about 7:15 and I'd say the top men go off at about 8:00.

It's not that early.

Two separate events coming up. Giant on Aug. 23rd and LIV on the 31st.

What goes around comes back around.

Maybe I'm just getting old, but I remember this. 

Be honest: it was a terrible bike. 

And now we have this. 

These are not at all the same bike. There is so much tech in the new Session 8 that didn't even exist in 1992, but you have to admit, there are similarities in terms of the look. Can you tell me is this faaaaiiir?

BC

Can't light a fire on the ground in the Sawtooths? Use this.

The Grilliput Duo seen above is here. Photos courtesy of John Sabala. 

Have a great weekend, every weekend. 

- BC

Reading Pete Zimowsky

Thanks again to all of those who showed up to the Roots Rated Pint Night last Saturday. As I noted in

our facebook post, the RR guys (Jake, Ry, and Brian) remarked that they had never run out of cups before 7:00. This was at about 6:40, and not only were the cups out, but it was time to make a run to the Co-Op for more Sockeye.

Anyway, a raging success, as you can see, so... well done, Boise.

In that same vein, check out Pete Zimowski's latest Roots Rated article on paddling the Priest Lake Thorofare here.

These guys are doing good things.

More images from the 2016 Giant Bike product launch.

 Giant Demo is Aug 23rd. 

Ahhh, Colorado. Home of the
inspiration for The Shining.
Go see Room 237 on Netflix now. 

Too early for people to ride sweet new bikes? Huh... 

You're looking at it, but what exactly is a Giselle? Though it's good looking, it's not Tom Brady's wife, and it isn't this:

This is a Grant's Gazelle.

It confused me too, but looking into it a little further, that bike is not, in fact, a new Giant model per se. It is the new Giant Trance 27.5 1. Seen here 

Giant  names each individual demo bike they have to keep track of them, apparently. And it makes for a very quick process of getting the right demo bike for you. Yes, they paid people to sit around and come up with a fleet of names rather than just numbering them all. Then they printed that name in a stylized font on the top tube of the new bikes they were launching that no one was familiar with. Those people then took pictures of the bikes to apparently confuse people like me who are then searching for what a Giant Giselle is. No, I don't know why they would try to do that to us, but what I do know is that 27.5 wheels, in this 5.5" package, is a nice do-it-all, yes-I-live-in-Boise-but-I-also-travel-with-my-bike machine. The colors work as well, we think, and you can ride one on Aug 23rd when the demo fleet makes it's way to Boise's Camelsback Park. We hope to see you there. 

 

We went to Colorado to ride the 2016 stuff. A very initial smattering

"I promise I wasn't the guy who started the poop fire." 

2016 Giant products are rolling out and the Giant demo truck is slated to be here in Boise Aug. 23rd (more info on that is coming soon, keep checking here and on our events page). We recently went to Colorado to sample the line. Here are some initial pics with more to come. 

The fleet's ready, with the LIV brand
representin' for the ladies. 

 The owner just had surgery and could only ride commuter bikes. Then they gave him these glasses. Wha wha wha whaaaa

We like to get to the events early, obviously. 

Getting to the top of Vail Pass on a decidedly city-oriented Momentum bike is impressive, however.
If only he could've gone down on that sweet lookin' trail  

The very capable Momentum Street

But have you seen these? They look fun. Yeah, they're not the most "core" fatbike out there, but you no longer have to invest $1500 to get into the movement. Coming soon. 

It is Colorado, after all. Hotel's gotta cover its bases. 

The Unreal movie premiere last Saturday was no joke.

If you remember the movie production group that went by The Collective, they were pretty awesome. Anthill has now taken the reigns (no pun intended...equine forces are involved here). 

They rode on glaciers, they rode in Hawaii...they rode down a mountain with a bunch of stampeding horses?? This is not a proper movie review by any means, more of just a "hey, if you didn't catch Unreal at The Egyptian in Boise the other night, you should try to see it by some other means"-type of write-up.

Gone is the "Crusty Deamons of Dirt" style of hand-held filming of some guys launching off cliffs put to death metal. All these guys have style, some of them have tricks (most are executed on natural terrain), and most of the footage, beginning with a stunning Brett Rheeder opening, is of them going fast. I don't do backflips, so I identify more with watching people go much faster than I can.

Also when you're watching: Brandon Semenuk starts driving his pickup to the top of a mountain. At that point, pay attention. One. Continuous. Shot.

Let's talk about the new Ibis Ripley

The 29", 120mm travel, Ibis Ripley is heralded as one of the best performers in the Ibis line and is the most appropriate Ibis for most people's riding style in Idaho. Newsflash: they just announced they're making it better.

Here's the lowdown: the new Ripley will be offered in two geometry options, one being the tried and true version with identical numbers to the current one, the other will be the LS version that will be "L"onger and "S"lacker. That translates to a half inch longer top tube and an almost 2 degree slacker headtube.

The other differences are welcome but more subtle. The rear end will be offered in either a 148mm version (Sram) or a 142mm (Shimano) version, the seattube came down by about a half inch so you can get more drop out of your dropper post, there's more tire clearance, the eccentrics are beefed up, and (dear lord, thankfully) cable routing has been improved.

You can get them looking very close to either of these:

And you can go here to check out more. Don't expect to see them until August or later, but we're working on getting them in ASAP.

As for current in-store Ibis news, we have two HD3's now in stock. One is the Medium 917 color scheme with an XT Werx kit, the other is a Large Black with an XT kit (with a Pike fork). In addition, we just got in a black, size Medium Ripley (current model year) with an X01 kit. Come by and check 'em out...anytime...we have air conditioning.

Oh, and we will be getting an HD3 in for DEMO next week. Just one for now. Size Large. Black with a Pike fork and an X01 build. If you're interested in taking it out on the local trails, call to reserve (336-3854). Again, not available until the weekend of 7/11!!

All for now, enjoy the weekend.