May 10, 2012
May 10, 2012
2012 Felt F75 with Shimano 105. Was $1400, now $1150. Insane!
One more reason to consider an aluminum road bike over a pricier carbon bike: the F75. Â So sick, so sweet, and so fair on the eyes that right now you should already be saying, "Boom and Done." Â The F75 is the same frame geometry as the carbon F-series bike at a much more palatable price tag--and it still comes with Shimano 105 shifters and derailleurs! Â I know that I am biased because I'm riding an F-series, but for this price, if you are looking to finally put on some lycra and join your friends on those 20-30 mile rides, the Felt F75 is the bike.
2011 Felt Z6 Carbon. Was $1700, Now $1400.
I didn't like orange bikes until I saw this one. Â The Z6 is simply a great carbon frame bike at a great price. Thanks Felt! Although not equipped with a full Shimano 105 group, it does come with 105 derailleurs. Â We only have 2 left...
2012 Felt ZW5 Women's Carbon with Shimano 105. Was $2300, Now $1900.
I love the finish on this bike, it is gorgeous. I think Felt calls the color "Jade" or something, but who knows... The digital reproduction really doesn't do this bike justice -- to my eyes, and I've been reading a lot of Game of Thrones lately, it looks like it is made out of fine dragon scales. (I'm going to get teased a lot for that.) Anyway, Felt's ZW series is their women's specific, all-day ride bike, and this one is a full-carbon frame with a complete Shimano 105 set-up. (Shimano 105 is one step below Gucci and two steps below Prada on the componentry scale.) For most riders who are looking for the best balance of value, durability, and quality, 105 is the place to be.
2012 Felt F4130 with 11-speed Campagnola Athena. Was $3000, Now $2450.
What can I even say about this one? The F4130 is the hands-down purrrtiest road bike on our floor. It is classic, yes, but don't be fooled. The only thing old-school about this bike is the way it looks. Yeah the frame is steel, but the fork is carbon and with that sloping top-tube, the geometry is a bit more relaxed than your old Schwinn Paramount. Yumm. And while your Paramount may have been equipped with Campy, this bike comes with current Campy 11-speed. O wait, did I mention that it has eyelets for mounting a rear rack? Boom! Connected. You could definitely do some credit-card touring on this thing.
Come by and see the bikes for yourself, give us a call, or send us an e-mail to info@huckleberrybicycles.com. We are still your Huckleberry!
May 10, 2012
May 10, 2012
Bike touring is like swervin' around in a big-body Benz with 5 dollaz werfa gazz. Â It's like sittin on my favorite couch with the remote in my hand. Â It's like being a witch on her broom. Â It's like knowing that the mothership is gonna blow so you break away just in time in your individual hyper-space pod. - Gregory Joseph Barnabas Tissi, cycle tourist.
**
For the foreseeable future our good friend Greg will be touring this world by bicycle, and we will be sharing some of the tales from his trip.  From Salt Lake City to San Francisco, to Humboldt County, and eventually to Southeast Asia and Paris, we may be telling this story for years.  Greg is a solid gold friend of Keven's and now a friend to mine and of the shop's. He is a five-spice seasoned cyclet ourist, a dead-eye at Big Buck HD, even a counselor of at-risk children. He stopped into the shop recently on his way to begin an epic tour on his old Surly Long Haul Trucker. We helped him get equipped and then he and Keven took off on a little trip up
I left Salt Lake City alone anticipating three closeys to roll into the Oakland yard in a few days hoping they were stealthy enough to evade the bulls. The route was from Ogden, Utah and I was stoked for my friends to have a train adventure. My ex partner, Alisha, my good friend, Heather, and another good friend, Dallin were in the championship arena train cast. That left a Nissan Altima (Alisha's suckfest of a car), my Surly LHT, Heather's Surly LHT, Alisha's Surly Cross Check, and of course me, Gregory Joseph Barnabas Tissi as the all-star cast of the road support crew. Thank god the Altima made it to San Fran in a day cause i had been waitin and excited to squeeze my very close friend Keven Bricknell, the service manager of Huckleberry bikes. Keven is originally from Cape Girardeau, Missouri and we met in Columbia, MO like 6 years ago when I was a young buck piecing together my first fixie and lacing up my first wheelset. His approach to bikes and working in shops is not only one of the bigger variables in my own relationship to bikes but is matched by the owners and employees of Huckleberry's. Let me loosely introduce myself as some stupid ass kid who doesn't have any right or wrong answers and is trying his best to use what minuscule time he has in his life cycle to create memoriesto be proud of later in life. My name's Gregory Joseph Barnabas Tissi (Barnabas was my Confirmation name that I thought would be awesome when I was older. It worked. Not Catholic). I like lots a stuff that you'll prolly catch onto if you read any more of my posts and gear reviews in the months to come and on my International Trip through Southeast Asia and India to Paris. My initial trip plan was just southeast Asia but it has expanded and I hope I can make it happen with the funds I will have. I love relationships and believe cultivating an intimate relationship with how I operate in relationships is a life priority. Record collecting, split boarding, rock climbing, giving and getting stick n pokes, fly fishing, playing dice, and having fun with sweet people are a few distractions I love. It feels like I'm living the dream. That was my preface into the real intention of the post: A Critique of 4 Days Hanging At Huckleberry's. HELL YES. THE HUCKLEBERRY CAST: Jonas Jackel: Employee, Owner, Sincere, Light-hearted, Passionate, Driven Brian Smith: Employee, Owner, Savvy, Warm, Hilarious, People-Forward Zack Stender: Employee, Owner, Mellow, Customer-savvy, Welcoming, The Dude Keven Bricknell: Employee, Service Manager, Caring, Patient, Down, Best Mechanic in Bay Mikey Jacobsen: Employee, Mechanic, The Wizard, Best Musical Taste, Brilliant, Metal Jim Lieskovan (aka Jarms Ballsmoore): Employee, Kiosk Guy, Graphic Design, Do It All Badass Eight months ago I rolled my LHT into Keven's last day at Mike's Bikes after a beautiful ride from Point Reyes to the north. Six Packs of California beers kicked off the celebration of Kev's transition to Huckleberry Bikes and the opening of a new chapter for him in a long line of San Francisco chapters. That very night Keven unexpectedly introduced me to Brian Smith, one of the owners. They brought me to the brand new and empty space on Market they would use to create San Francisco's first and best contemporary urban commuter/Cyclotouring shop. As excited as I was (and I get SO excited in life, in general) I started firing hot n nasty questions from the hip about their vision... Now, eight months later I am sitting at the tall diner-style table in the heart of the service den doing research on my upcoming international bike tour. And in eight months their vision of being able to operate outside of the heavy hand of the sordid bike industry has materialized and continues to grow. Their product lines range from industry classics like Brooks to small local businesses like Plemons or Cedar Cycling, but functional urban cycling focused clothing and accessories are top priorities not to mention the whole wall of new and diverse completes they sell, too. There is also an original Nintendo for folks waiting on repairs and boxes of records being spun all day long. Enough about their stuff, lets talk about them. These folks were so ready to be up outta the big boys in the industry and nail down exactly what they loved: people, bikes, and culture. I asked Jonas what three words he would use to describe their vision and I wasn't surprised: "Friendly, Style, and Expert". These guys go out of their way to not only meet those expectations in the shop but after hanging with them personally it's obvious to see those are the priorities of their personal lives, too. Brian, Jonas, and Keven and I headed to the Rio Grande across Market to grab a few drinks, play Big Buck Hunter HD, and chat about life and what I found out was that each of them have FULL ASS plates on their table. Jonas is a committed partner and father of two (as for as I know), Brian is a committed partner and very invested in the growth of the shop, and Zack is a committed partner and father-to-be. I can't believe I suck so bad at Buck Hunter but screw it talkin trash is sometimes more fun than winning, ya know? At least you get a taste for what these kids are all about: Buck Hunter and beating fools like me. I gotta spray about gratitude for a second cause there's lots to be grateful for. Keven is headed north with me tomorrow July 19th to tour the Unknown Coast and I am happy to say that there is a large possibility he may join me on a leg of my bigger international tour. Supposedly from Athens to Paris through Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, And Switzerland. JEAH! Wowzers. Another big one to be grateful for is the opportunity to have a record of salient travel stories and a forum to yell n holler about bangin new gear. So look out for more drivel from me in the future. Until next time, if something doesn't work out? just try again... GJBTMay 10, 2012
May 10, 2012
May 10, 2012
***
 8th St. Buffered Bike Lane a Step Up, But When Will SoMa Really Feel Safe?
Welcome news in SOMA as 8th St. has been re-striped with an extra wide bike lane. Although the new lane is wider than the old one, the above article asks if this is enough, or are SOMA streets still as dangerous as they were before? I used to ride on 8th St. daily in the old bike lane. Although I didn't have much of a problem, right turning cars onto Mission being the lone exception, I understand the need for slower streets and a safer bike lane. No matter what kind of cycling infrastructure is added to 8th, if cars are still travelling at the daredevil speeds they are now, 8th St. will never be a truly safe street to cycle on. One idea being tossed around is turning the freeway width one way street into a narrower, and in effect slower, two way street. Not only would cars travel at slower speeds, the neighborhood would be much easier to navigate if the one way streets are converted to two way traffic. At its current width, there is no reason to doubt that 8th St. would work with two way traffic, on street parking on both sides of the street, and either a fully separated bike lane  between the curb and the parked cars or the bike lane system currently being used.
***
Bike Modification Lets You Ride on Train Tracks, Probably Get Hit by Train
For the next time you feel like taking MUNI, but don't want to pay the fare (legally).
 ***
Have we broken Olympic records for the last time?Â
Although the article does not mention cycling specifically, the question of if there is an absolute limit to human performance is thought provoking. The main reason why cycling was not included is the variable of equipment. Hi-modulus carbon frames, positive drag wheels, helmets made to make one look like the creature in Alien, all take the athlete out of the equation. Space age swimsuits or ultra light running sneakers may improve performance, as well, however they play a far less crucial role.
The article begins by describing how much faster and stronger today's athlete is to the athlete of yesteryear. Gavin Thomson from Significance Magazine states:
 ... today's athletes would scarcely resemble those from a century ago. The winner of the men's 5,000m in Beijing ran at a pace that won the 1,500m in 1908, while the winner of the women's marathon would have won the men's race of 1908 by an entire half hour.
In the early 20th century records were not just broken, but were demolished. The athlete pool was smaller, athletes were not necessarily able to train full time, have access to professional coaches and doctors, nor did they have the same knowledge of nutrition (both natural and synthetic). Â This has all changed. The skill level between top class athletes is smaller than ever. The records that were routinely being decimated are now being beaten less frequently and with a smaller difference of time (in 16 years the 100m running record has dropped by .16 seconds).
Written one year ago, Chuck Klosterman, asked a computer scientist and mathmetician, Reza Noubary, what he thinks is the fastest a human can run the 100m dash. His response of 9.44 seconds means that if humans continue to improve speeds at the current rate of .01 seconds every year in the 100m, we are about twenty five years away from witnessing the "pinnacle of human performance."
What do you think of the idea that there is a peak human performance? I disagree that we can speculate what a record 100m time will be 20, 50, 100 years from now. Sports aside, I don't know what a human will look like 100 years from now. Breakthroughs in science and nutrition will no doubt alter the course of humanity. With talks of designer babies, who knows what the limit is? Just like baseball historians break up the record books into the dead ball and live ball eras, Olympic record books may have to be split up between the human and post-human world.
May 10, 2012
May 10, 2012
May 10, 2012
May 10, 2012
May 10, 2012