International Bicycle Center

Come Ride With Us!

2011-07-30T16:50:00.007-04:00

Join International Bicycle Center, The Embrocation Cycling Team and Gaulzetti Cicli for our weekly Monday night ride! This ride is suitable for all ability levels. Whether you are new to the sport of road cycling or a seasoned pro looking for a nice recovery ride after a weekend of racing , we invite you to explore tranquil rural roads just minutes outside of Boston with us.

Start Location: International Bicycle Center Newton

Start Time: 6:00pm Monday Nights (while weather & light permit)

Distance: 25-40 miles

Pace: 15-18mph

International Bicycle And Roll It Forward Bicycle Donation At Orchard Gardens

2011-03-29T23:29:00.001-04:00

March 3, 2011 Boston, MA

International Bicycle Center joined forces once again with Roll It Forward and Boston Bikes to deliver a fleet of used Trek and Fisher bikes to a huge group of kids at Orchard Gardens in Roxbury. This is the third such event that this team has collaborated on, and by now they have the program down to a science. Or at least an art form. Okay, maybe an abstract expressionist art form, but an art form nonetheless.

These things always involve a bit of mayhem, but this time around there was an army of volunteers to help direct that mayhem. The crew from Bikes Not Bombs was particularly awesome. The load in area was slightly less than ideal, the bikes had to be carried up a back stairway into a gym. Problem was, the stairs were entirely covered with a thick coating of ice, making it treacherous bordering on impossible to bring them in that way.

Some of the Bikes Not Bombs kids went to work hacking away at the ice, but the bikes had to get inside the gym fast, so a "system" was devised to get them in there. A bucket line was formed leading from the truck to the railing next to the backdoor to the gym. The last person in line next to the railing would hand the often deceptively heavy bikes up to the next member of the line, who was hanging awkwardly over the railing, doing what had to be irreparable damage to his or her lower back. Luckily, one of the guys from Bikes Not Bombs was gigantic, and he had no trouble whatsoever hefting the bikes up over the railing.

Once the bikes were physically inside the building, volunteers set about laying down a safety course for the kids to navigate.

Of course the drill goes: Sign in, get your helmet, get fitted for your bike, then head out to the obstacle course. Harold Knochin from International Bicycle was on hand to offer his expert fitting services to the kids. That's him next to the mayor, right behind his team of future Pro Tour racers. That tall guy in the red in the background? That's the MVP of the bucket line, the dude who hauled more bikes over that railing than any mortal should have been capable of.

In the future pro bike racers will all have pink bikes with baskets. This girl is just way ahead of the curve on that one.

Mayor Thomas Menino came out to show his support and pass a few valuable lessons on to the kids. Whenever the Mayor addresses kids at these events he invariably works something about "always wearing your helmet" into his speech, but this time around he took it a step further, telling them that there were "microchips in the helmets" and that we'd know if they weren't wearing them.

Kathryn Bennett of the Boston Housing Authority at the mic and Boston Bike Czar Nicole Freedman in the foreground. These bike donations wouldn't happen without them.

Nate and some of the Bikes Not Bombs crew whose names we will get at the next donation, which is at Orient Heights in East Boston...tomorrow. Oops, suppose we should go pack some bikes.

Special thanks to John Bilderbeck of Roll It Forward.

Bryan Philbrook Builds A Fisher Collection Sawyer

2011-02-02T11:53:00.000-05:00

Thom's Sawyer Built By Bryan Of International Bicycle from BigBikesShow on Vimeo.

Bryan Philbrook swaps the parts from a Fisher Superfly SS to a brand new Fisher Collection Sawyer.

Franklin Field Kids Bike Donation, Dorchester, MA

2010-11-23T19:28:00.011-05:00

Last Friday's donation of a bout 50 bikes and helmets to the kids of Franklin Field Boston Housing Authority development in Dorchester, marked the second successful collaboration between International Bicycles, Mayor Menino's Boston Bikes, and the BHA.

The folks at the Sportsmen Tennis Club were nice enough open their doors to a bunch of orange-shirted volunteers and a small army of really, really excited kids. There was, however, one rule laid down by the club management: "No skidding!" Giving a kid a coaster brake bike and telling him not to skid it is like putting a mouse wearing a tuxedo made out of Fancy Feast in front of a starving cat and telling him not to eat it.

During the preparation phase of a bike donation, there is inevitably this, "How are we going to get this huge pile of bikes and all those helmets into that tiny van?" Yet somehow it always works out. Sometimes it's not easy or pretty, and sometimes IBC service manager Erich Leas dies during the process, but it works out. Except for the Erich being dead part.

A whole lot of time, energy, and planning goes into one of these events, and without Nicole Freedman (on bike) and John Bilderbeck, there is no way any of it could happen.

Weeks prior to a bike donation event, the Boston Housing Authority circulates questionnaires throughout the development to help determine the sizes and genders of the kids. The question was asked "What if a girl wants a blue bike or a boy wants a pink bike" The answer: "She or he can have one...but it's not a contingency we plan for." It could happen, and Kim Jon Il could wake up one morning and decide not to put on enormous glasses.

Sometimes the accuracy of the information on the questionnaires is questionable. I never did see the 2 1/2 foot tall five-year-old. Then again, 2 1/2 foot tall people are easy to miss.

After checking in and signing the waiver, parents and kids head to the helmet fit station. Often the older siblings of the target-age kids end up getting helmets as well. A huge positive byproduct of these events is that kids end up wearing helmets and associating the riding of a bicycle with the wearing of a helmet, no matter what.

Once the kids have helmets, they move on to the bike fit station (that's where IBC comes in). Bike size is determined (often debated), colors are selected, and saddle height is adjusted.

Once the kids have their bikes sorted out, they head over to the skidding contest...er, I mean SAFETY COURSE, where they learn the rules of the road. Some kids are harder to reach than others — I saw the pink-jacketed girl in the above photo riding the wrong way down Storrow Drive without a helmet on Monday morning.

The phrase "joyous mayhem" always comes to mind at these things. We plan and plan, and stress and stress, and then it's over in a flash of fun and craziness.

This girl was so stoked about her new bike, she must have flipped her streamers in the air 100 times or more. Maybe it wasn't about the bike...who knows, she could have had reacted to a cardboard box or a folding chair the same way.

Doing the safety course with kids this age is pretty funny. "What does green mean?" "Well, green means that I'm 4-years-old, sitting at a stop light on my 16" wheeled bike with training wheels, which is kind of insane...someone should probably come and get me out of the street before I die."

If the Super Bowl featured a team of red bikes playing against a team of green bikes; I would bet on the red bike team. If a red bike were running for president against a blue bike and a yellow bike; the red bike would win. Red bikes are very popular.

The morning after this event, the bike donation crew headed out to Hyde Park for another event, which is a story for another day...

Eliot School Bike Rodeo

2010-10-21T14:18:00.007-04:00

Yesterday IBC supported a kids bike rodeo at the Eliot School in Needham. Before I continue, allow me to describe what a bike rodeo is, because it might not be what you think. In fact, it wasn't what some of the kids thought, "this isn't like a REAL rodeo" one sharp kid observed, "there aren't any bull riders or anything." "And there aren't any clowns either" I added. "Well you LOOK like a clown with that stupid beard" another kid chimed in. OK, that last part didn't really happen...kids are so well behaved these days, what, with the no cyber-bullying work shops and all. What happened to the good old fashioned cruelty of children? And what happened to back packs? Kids are now wheeling around carry on style luggage instead of backpacks. Don't they know it's never too early to start destroying their spines?

Although there wasn't actually a quip about me looking like a clown, there was one kid who said "Hey, I like your beard, you look like Abraham Lincoln." I told him that I normally don't sport such a weird beard and that it was for a Halloween costume. When I'd finished checking out his bike he said "Thanks Abraham Lincoln." I think that kid is going to do alright.

Ah yes, the beard:

So anyway...

A bike rodeo is an event put on by particularly awesome P.E. teachers at the elementary school level. The kids are rotated through a series of stations where they get tested on their knowledge of the rules of the road, they get their helmets fit properly, they get their bikes checked over for safety (that's where IBC comes in), and finally, they get to go cruise around and bicycle safety obstacle course to demonstrate their real world skills.

If they pass they entire course, the kids get a license to ride to school, and many of them end up using their licenses.

Checking out kids bikes doesn't take a whole lot of tools, allow me to make a bullet point list of what is required:

13, 14, and 15mm box wrenches for axle nuts and stem bolts
8mm Allen wrench for loose kickstands (there will be many)
5mm Allen for stem bolts and assorted loose items
6mm Allen for stem bolts (Lots of loose bars)
Chain lube (bikes get left out in the rain...like all expensive toys)
Pliers for straightening out crooked valve stems (Magna's come stock with these)
A well-functioning floor pump

The floor pump...

by the end of a kids bike rodeo your arms will be destroyed from pumping up all the tires. A great ploy is to bring at least two pumps and rope the kids into pumping their own tires. They will actually be completely psyched to do it too. And they love putting valve caps back on. Of course I will tell them that valve caps are not really all that important, and that they will likely wreck their tubes on a sharp curb edge (probably because their parents didn't pump up their tires for three months) before the valve begins to degrade from exposure to the elements. This I do for posterity, so that in twenty years these kids won't come into IBC and say "I am really, really ANGRY with you people. I just had a computer installed yesterday, and after I drove for over two hours back to my house, I noticed that there was no valve cap on my rear wheel (they never say tube, never)... this is unacceptable, I demand a new valve cap for FREE!" Such is the over-inflated (pun intended) role of a valve cap in people's minds, they think that they are actually worth something. Ya, the ones in the form of light-up skulls and dice are, sure, but the standard black ones...they're about as valuable as Zimbabwean pennies.

Most of the bikes (at least in Boston's suburbs) are generally in pretty decent shape: a little lube, a little air and they're good to go. But then there are a always a few bikes that make you go "Wow, this thing is a death trap. I wonder if this kid gets 'running scissors' and 'eye-poking sticks' for his birthday?"

Bike rodeos are always fun and the end result is that you get kids riding to school, which is pretty cool. Thanks to Craig Brenhiser and the Eliot School for putting this thing on!

National Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day

2010-10-14T10:22:00.002-04:00

Riding mountain bikes with kids is awesome. I know that's kind of a shaky thesis, but I think I can back it up.

On the first Saturday in October, NEMBA hosted a National Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day ride in the Middlesex Fells. About 80 kids showed up to ride, eat pizza, and spray paint bike themed T-shirts. My role at this event was to lead rides. Often leading kids rides is akin to herding chickens with their heads cut off, but I got lucky with my group, they were all little rippers. We started with about eleven kids, six of whom were from a Cub Scout troop. The scouts only had to ride, I think it was a mile, for their merit badge. So they cut out after the first part of the loop. Which was good because that group contained that one kid. That human cannonball kid. The one who takes no instruction and is hell bent on taking out every other kid in his path. I breathed a great sigh of relief as I saw him roll away. Though our National Mountain Bike Trail Patrol rider may have been cursing under his breath: "Damn, I guess I'm not going to be needing these sutures then...boring!"

The scouts get a little pre-ride maintenance talk

A big part of riding with kids is quickly determining the group dynamic and assessing the kids' skill levels. At one point I hopped a log and pointed out the easier line to my right for the kid right behind me who totally ignored me and went straight for the spot where I had hopped it. He threw his front wheel up, tagged the log pretty hard, then his rear wheel hit and sent him flying. I thought he was going down for sure, but no: he didn't even put a foot down, he just wrestled the bike back into line and rode out of it smiling.

Later on the same kid (full disclosure: the "kid" was GB NEMBA President Adam Glick's son Sam) cleaned the above rock obstacle. It was one of those things where you had to commit 100% or fall on your butt. One of the adult guides asked "So, when you do something like this how do you think about bailing out." "You don't" I replied. I told all the kids who were trying it to "go full throttle, no brakes, all or nothing, do or die!" Sam pulled it off and it was rad.

Another View. It wasn't any easy move for anyone.

Sam wasn't the only rock star either. We had kids in the group who hadn't really been on a mountain bike ride, ever. The first time we stopped for a log-hopping clinic they weren't having any of it, but the second time we stopped, they went for it and got over the thing with varying levels of grace and composure.

We were close to completing out allotted loop but the crew was still rarin' for more. This was a solid group with good skills and exceptional fitness, so we blew past the turn for the parking lot and continued on, all the way up to the Bear Hill fire tower. There we had a little rock-upping clinic that, due to a rear wheel not quite getting de-weighted enough, turned into a flat-fixing clinic.

There were a couple good do-over sessions on rooty uphills. The sponge-factor (or maybe it's the lack of fear-factor) is so much more apparent in children. On the first attempt they'd flail all over in too small of a gear and ride off the trail. But with the smallest amount of coaching they'd blast right up the thing, no problem.

The mantra of the day on the descents was "control, not speed." While "letting it go" is the best policy on descents for adults or older kids, if you tell younger kids to "let it go" they will really, REALLY let it go, not stopping until their bars jackknife and they end up munching on gravel.

You don't have to wait until the next National Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day to take a kid mountain biking. Go do it this weekend, you won't regret it...unless the kid is that human cannonball kid. In that case bring some bubble wrap, hockey pads, and a cell phone with 911 on speed dial.

The next big NEMBA event is the Wicked Ride of The East up in North Andover on Halloween. So get dressed up and come on out for some killer riding!

Kids Bike Donation Part One

2010-09-27T20:57:00.004-04:00

IBC has another couple kids bike donations coming up. Once again we'll be working in conjunction with Nicole Freedman, The Boston Housing Authority, and Mayor Menino's Boston Bikes. The first step in the process this time around was to do a complete inventory of trade in bikes to see what we had available for donation. As the trade in bikes come in over the course of the year, the bikes don't — how can I put this lightly? — get put away on any particular sort of order. They get put in piles, huge piles. And they become entangled, horribly entangled. Bars through spokes and pedals through frames and training wheels through everything else. I hate training wheels. They do nothing to teach a child to ride properly, all they do is allow the child to pedal as fast as they want with no eye toward steering or balance. It's like teaching a teenager to drive by having them jam down the gas pedal while ignoring the steering wheel. That, and they are a terrible tangling and tripping hazard.

Speaking of hazards: during a kids bike wrangling session in the warehouse, you will smash the ever-living bejesus out of your head on one of the 2 x 4's comprising the shelves at least three times. The first time you go "I saw that comin'. Well now that I know better I should have no problem avoiding hitting my head on anymo — WHACK! AAGH! CRAP!" The first two usually occur close together and the third time usually occurs after you've let down your guard at the end of the day and you're all tired. That one's the worst, you're lurching along, hunched over like Quaisimodo, dragging two 16" wheeled bikes across the floor, and you don't quite duck quick enough or long enough and WHAM! At that point you just want to fall on the dusty floor and cry.

But when all the curses were said and all the untangling was done there were 190 bikes deemed ready for donation.

There are hundreds of kids bikes up in the IBC warehouse right now, when I go up there I feel like I'm walking into the last scene in Raiders of The Lost Ark. Sometimes I get all creeped out.

And then I see these things sitting up on the shelf and I completely lose it. I know that vampires use Thule Atlantis 1800's for travel coffins. Seriously, watch the video below:

Luckily I've got James Morrison and Peter Bradshaw up in the warehouse to keep me company a lot of the time. That's Embrocation Cycling Journal headquarters right there (below). Pretty glamorous eh? Funny, James and Peter were sitting right there, I wonder why they didn't show up in the photo? Come to think of it, I've never seen them outside when they weren't all smeared with embrocation, and they do wear a lot of sunblock. I hear they're even into night time cross races. Two skinny, veiny dudes, two travel coff— I mean Thule boxes...you gotta start to wonder.

Although there are scarier things than vampires in the IBC attic, things like this this:

You stopped screaming yet? Then take a look at this:

I can't pinpoint what year the above pictured Mantis hails from. I think it should jump back into the hot tub time machine it came out of, but hey, if you're into it you should call IBC Newton and offer them something for it. Or maybe if you're a member of the Fearless Vampire Killers you could offer to exterminate the inhabitants of the warehouse in exchange for this vintage monstrosity.

Alice Taylor Kids Bike Donation

2010-09-22T18:06:00.007-04:00

September 9th 2010

International Bicycle Center's kids bike donation collaboration with Mayor Menino's Boston Bikes and the Boston Housing Authority was a huge success, delivering nearly fifty bikes and helmets to the children of the Alice Taylor development in Roxbury, MA.

On Thursday afternoon a basketball court bordering on the South West Corridor bike path was transformed into a bicycle-outfitting camp. First parents or guardians were asked to sign a waiver, then the kids were lined up and fitted expertly for helmets. After that they were ushered over to the bicycle fitting station, where they chose a girls or boys bike, with or without training wheels. Adjustments were made as needed and then the kids were sent off to the bicycle safety course to learn the rules of the road. At times the safety course was anything but safe, particularly when it reached a critical mass of about forty kids. But what better way to learn some cycling skills fast than by being thrust into a swirling free for all of brightly colored bikes being piloted by joyously screaming children? In the end they all came out alive and (virtually) unscathed.

Where did all these almost-new, shiny kids bikes come from? Well...

International Bicycle Center has a program in place that encourages customers to trade in their kids bikes within two years of the purchase date for a credit of up to 50% of the value toward a new kids bike. It's an incentive for people not to go buy a rickety-kid-maiming-machine from a department store. The byproduct of this program is that IBC ends up with hundreds of kids bikes to donate to kids who might not otherwise have bikes.

This program meshes nicely with Boston Bike Czar Nicole Freedman and Mayor Tom Menino's goal to get one thousand kids on bikes in the next few years. At this time there are plans for two more kids bike donation in late September and early October. That ought to put a dent in the one thousand bike goal.

Boston Bike Czar Nicole Freedman has quite the rapport with the kiddos

One of the truly great aspects of these bike donation days is that not only are kids getting bikes, they are also getting helmets. And when all of a sudden fifty kids in one neighborhood are riding around with helmets on, saying "the Mayor says I should always wear my helmet" it has an effect the way kids think about cycling. They realize: you ride a bike — you wear a helmet.

The safety course of death, why we wear helmets

This guy rides a bike like he was born on one

How can you not smile when you have pink steamers on your bike?

The process of learning how to ride a bike can be a great time for parents to bond with their kids. Last fall International did a bike donation at the Holland School in Dorchester, one little girl came back from summer vacation and told her teacher "Me and my dad rode bikes every day!"

The bike Czar tries her hand at being a helmet Czar

Crashing and laughing it off

IBC will be documenting the whole donation process during the next couple kids bike donations, stay tuned.

Holland School Kids Bike Donation 2010

2010-06-15T17:41:00.008-04:00

Over the course of two days and some change, IBC delivered a total of 108 Trek and Fisher kids bikes, along with Trek Vapor helmets, to the kids of the John P. Holland School in Dorchester, MA. International Bicycle Center has a program in place that encourages customers to return kids bikes within two years of purchase for a credit of up to 50% of the bike's value toward their next kids bike purchase. A 16" wheeled bike can be traded for a 20" wheeled bike, and so on, all the way up to a child's 24" bike, which can be traded-in for an adult-sized bike. This program provides an economical way for parents to keep their kids on appropriately sized bikes and as a "bi-product," IBC ends up with hundreds of kids bikes that are still in great condition, ready for donation.

A fleet of 16", 20", and even 24" (there are some huge first graders) wheeled bikes were assembled outside the community center at The Holland School. We were asked more than once how we got all those bikes into that tiny, little truck. It did sort of have a clown car effect, looking at the mass of colorful bikes sprawling across the courtyard, you'd never think they would all cram into that space. Thing is, they almost didn't.

Last year we did the bike drop in three days, at a rate of about 40 bikes a day. Somehow we completely forgot that, and decided we could do it in two days. Suffice it to say, the loading of the van was interesting. The fear was that the load would shift in transit, jamming the door shut, effectively locking all the bikes inside. This fear was almost realized when, on day two, the IBC pop-up tent fell against the door, blocking the track. For a minute there, I thought the only way we were getting those bikes out was with a Sawzall or an axe. There was even a point when I thought it was a good idea to drive the truck at high speed to the end of the back parking lot and slam on the brakes in hopes that the load would shift forward and free the door. Luckily the door did open after some manic jiggling.

The back of the truck was transformed into a helmet fitting station. Julie Sneed, 1st grade teacher, and our liaison to the Holland School and tireless volunteer James Parsons made sure each helmet was properly fitted.

Before the donation, questionnaires were distributed to the kids at the Holland School. They were asked if they were a boy or a girl, what their height was, and most importantly, what they were going to name their new bikes. All of the kids came up with great names — names like Max, Night Rider, and Fast Bike. One girl was confused when she couldn't find a bike with the name she'd given it on it, all the bikes said "Trek" or "Gary Fisher." She was looking for a bike called "True Jackson." When Julie, uh, I mean, Ms. Sneed, explained to the girl that the bikes were made by Trek and that she could call them anything she wanted to, she chilled out. When another boy was asked what the name of his bike was he replied, "It's a super star." "Oh, your bike is called Super Star." "No, a super star...Michael Jackson." Michael Jackson got a special spot in the line of bikes awaiting pick up.

The importance of helmet safety was discussed often and then, out nowhere, a spontaneous "meditation circle" formed. The kids were meditating on the fact that they are always going to wear their helmets when they ride their bikes. We still have no idea where that came from.

The dude in the orange and brown sweater and his twin brother were so excited, they were literally bouncing up and down. I told them "bounce this way," as I hopped over to the bike line up with them so they could pick out their bikes, as the cafeteria staff stared at the scene bemusedly from afar.

Ms. Sneed does such an incredible job with the kids, she gets them so pumped up, it's a beautiful thing to see. In fact, all the staff we met at the Holland School were amazing at what they do, Ms. O'Toole, Ms. Mai, Ms. O'Connell, Ms. Wilson, all of them are awesome teachers. I can't imagine having to direct the boundless energy of all those kids day after day. They deserve medals. The heck with that, they should have their visages carved into the top of a mountain.

All the kids took a pledge that they would always wear their helmets whenever they ride their bikes. In this case peer pressure might be a good thing. Now the vast majority of kids in the 1st and 3rd grades (last year IBC donated bikes and helmets to the 2nd graders) at the Holland have helmets and know how to use them. They might influence the kids who still don't wear helmets to actually wear them.

Boston Bikes will be following up with safety talks next week to drive home the necessity of helmet and traffic safety. Thanks to Nicole Friedman for getting that going, and big thanks to all the staff of the Holland, Ms. O'Toole's daughter whose name I'm forgetting), and James Parsons. There are a going to be a whole lot of happy kids rolling around the parks and bike paths of Boston this summer thanks to you guys.

Staples Bike to Work Day

2010-05-26T13:53:00.001-04:00

Today was the Staples, Framingham Bike to Work Day. Employees of Staples were given various incentives to ride to work on this gorgeous 80° morning. One of these incentives was free bike check-ups courtesy of IBC.

These events are great, you've got everyone from serious triathlete-types on their TT bikes to folks that have pulled their dusty, fifteen-year-old klunkers out of the basement. For some, riding to work is business as usual; for others it's a major feat.

It is truly amazing how far people will ride with a little motivation. We had riders coming in from as far away as Walpole, a 24 mile trip. Word on the street was that Staples has one employee who rides in from Plymouth once in a while, a 75 mile journey. He may have still been riding by the time we had to pack up to leave.

It was a bittersweet event though, Jake Green, Director of Metrowest Transportation and all around super-nice guy, is leaving the Bike to Work Day crew to go work for the F.B.I. . For real. Good luck Jake, we will try to carry on without you, but it just won't be the same (sob!).

NEMBA/DCR Cutler Park Trail Day

2010-05-25T13:23:00.005-04:00

On Saturday May 15th members of NEMBA, Hup United, and the International Bike Elite Mountain Bike Team joined forces for a trail day at Cutler Park in Needham, MA. The project involved the rehabilitation of a severely washed out section of trail. Countless wheel barrows full of gravel were dumped on the problem area and distributed evenly to form a nicely graded path.

Wow, that is one nicely graded path.

Kevin Sweeney swings his shovel like he's on the chain gang.

Steve Cobble from NEMBA was the project manager. He was an amazing PM,

he brought donuts.

Chip Baker makes the most of his cyclist's physique, smiling all the while

Some solid teamwork made the task fly by. What might have taken one lonely DCR employee an entire day was accomplished in a matter of a couple hours by this elite crew. Thanks to Bob Khederian, the DCR, and NEMBA for setting this up.

Easy as Pi - A Pi Day Alleycat 3.14.10

2010-03-08T08:00:00.004-05:00

DATE - Sunday, 3.14 (March, 14th)
TIME - Registration will begin at 1:59PM, RACE WILL BEGIN AT 3:14 SHARP!
LOCATION - Cambridge Common, off of Harvard Square.
COST - $5 with a helmet, $7 without.
BRING - A bag, lock, and your biggest Pi eating grin!
AFTER PARTY - Otherside Cafe 5-7PM!

For the latest event news you can follow Easy as Pi on Twitter.

This event is being organized by Eric Stratton who is a salesman at our Brighton Ave location.

Bringing a Gun and a Knife to a Pillow Fight

2010-02-01T14:07:00.003-05:00

We've sold our first Superfly 100. And we've sold it to an athlete so terrifyingly talented we shall only refer to him hereafter as "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." Seriously, selling a bike like this, to a guy like that...it's like if Mike Tyson, in his prime, had been allowed by the boxing commission to wield a 2 X 4 with a nail in it against his opponents. Some say he has sthe VO2 max of a Himalayan yak on EPO. Some say he subsists exclusively on the blood of live grizzly bears -- drunk straight from their necks (while he has them in a sleeper hold). Some say they once got him a cake for his bachelor party, and he ate the whole thing...before they told him Chuck Norris was inside.

He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named upgraded to a Superfly hard-tail last season, and that put him at a distinct advantage over the competition. Now that he's on "The 100, " it's going to be simply ridiculous. When asked if he was looking at any other bikes HWMNBN replied: "No. This is the only bike I'm looking at, this is the one." As he stared at us with the black, soul-sucking abysses that reside in the area of his face where most people have eyeballs.

Watch out, something wicked fast this way comes.
--
Thom P.
http://wellonabigbikeya.blogspot.com/

Product Review: Gore Bike Wear Race Power Over Shoe

2010-01-28T22:13:00.005-05:00

The booty I'm using this season is the Race Power Over Shoe. In a word...in two words: they freakin' work. What else can I say? They keep my feet warm and dry. I guess I could trash talk the Pearl Izumi Amphib booties I've been using for years — er — I mean, compare and contrast. What it comes down to with the Amphibs is basically that the zippers suck. They are hard to zip when your hands are warm. In fact, you're lucky if you don't blow out the zipper putting them on. Then there's the issue of taking them off with cold hands. Operose is a word I would use...if I knew the meaning of it. When I'm in the dressing room at the shop, trying to take them off after a cold ride I let out such streams of profanity that my co-workers have to tell appalled mothers, as they cover their child's ears: "sorry mam, that's Tommy, he has Tourettes Syndrome, we get a big tax break for employing him...please don't sue us."

Conversely, the Gore booties utilize a velcro system. I can put them and on and take them off standing on one foot like a damn flamingo. The version I have are uninsulated, for colder weather riding (sub-20°) I'd probably recommend the insulated version. Or you could just do what I do and cut a hole in the bottom of an old wool sock and pull it over your shoe before donning your booties.

Best. Repair. Ever.

2009-11-08T16:10:00.013-05:00

With fall upon us IBC often needs creative ways to keep its employees busy. Today provided us with what has to be the finest non-bike repair we have ever done. The extremely discerning 4 year-old customer was elated and will probably hype us up on Yelp or the toddler equivalent of facebook. Please enjoy the thrilling adventure of Saving Mr. T-Rex, starring our favorite dino protagonist.

Doctors Stratton and Jochem examine the patient. The prognosis is grim. He's losing air fast.

Doctor Jochem intubates the patient, sorta.

Dr. Stratton checks the vitals, it's still a little hairy at this point.

Dr. Leas steps in to assist. He is a handsome expert in T-Rex surgery.

Facing horrifying flashbacks to his tenure at Raptor Haven and Bronto Water World, Doctor Jochem cracks under the pressure.

The dashing Dr. Leas tries a previously untested surgical maneuver whilst Dr. Jochem looks on in horror.

Having regained his composure, Dr. Jochem checks T-Rex's reflexes and declares the operation a resounding success. Our young client has his best buddy back and Doctors Leas, Jochem and Stratton saunter off to the hip, local doctors bar for some celebratory adult beverages and tapas.

The End...?

NEMBA Explorers Kids Rides

2009-08-25T23:24:00.006-04:00

Saturday mornings at 9:30 at Cutler Park Needham, IBC puts on a NEMBA Explorers ride for kids ages 8-12. It's about an hour and a half ride down fire roads, carriage paths, and a small amount of singletrack. We take time to stop and work on skills like log hopping, riding up and off a curb, and getting started on uphills in the right gear. Post-ride we discuss the best parts of the day over chocolate milk and Kids Clif bars.

Above: On a rather eventful ride we came upon a large snapping turtle who had just nipped a German Shepherd puppy's nose (thankfully not too badly). Explorer rider Cole looks on as a brave gentleman transports the prehistoric beast back to the water. Don't worry, no children were eaten.

Above: The Gods of cycling shine a light on Sonya, giving her the power to hop over huge logs in a single bound. Log hopping is a key element of mountain biking, the less time you spend getting off your bike for obstacles and the more time you spend rolling, the more of a real mountain biker you become.

Above: Colin and Linnea (or "Colinnea" as the Papparazi calls them) come out to support a sunny ride on Saturday morning. Miriam, Alexandra, Brendan and the crew portage their bikes over an enormous log. Explorer rides are always an adventure. Riding down the flower lined boardwalks of Cutler is always a highlight.

Check our ride calendar for future Explorers ride dates.

IBC MTB Rides

2009-07-24T10:01:00.008-04:00

The weeks and weeks of relentless rain had a put a...er, damper on our Saturday NEMBA Explorers Kids Rides and our Wednesday Cutler Park Rides, but now the weather is being ever so slightly more cooperative and we're back at it.

The groups for the Wednesday rides have been a good mix of intermediate and advanced riders recently. The more advanced guys sprinting along and then waiting for just a moment as the not-quite-so-advanced riders catch up at their steady pace. It works out quite well.

The overwhelming reaction to the loop through Cutler and the stuff along Greendale on the opposite side of 128 is that it is way better than you'd ever think. Cutler Park might not be the place you head to on a weekend afternoon, but if you live in The Burbs and you want to go for a quick rip after work, this is a sweet spot.

Above: 1.) Explorers promo image 2.) Explorer rider Brendan is lead by IBC Elite MTB riders Kevin and Harry 3.) Kevin demonstrates a little tuck and roll...riding slow is sometimes a challenge for racer-boys 4.) Kevin helps Brendan with some bike portaging, mountain biking is always an adventure.

The turnout for the Kids rides has been low, as in our average number of riders after two rides in one. One kid. Both rides had three Pro XC MTB level riders leading that one kid though. Remember, every Explorers rider gets a Kids Clif Bar, a Chocolate Milk, and a free water bottle, not to mention tons of expert advice on how to ride a mountain bike.

Hope to see you out there!

-t

John P. Holland School Bike Donation

2009-06-26T11:20:00.011-04:00

Here at The International Bicycle Centers we have a program in place which allows folks to trade in any Trek or Fisher kids bike within two years of purchase for a credit of up to 50% of its value toward a new kids bike. They can even trade their kid's last juvenile bike toward their first adult bike. The program allows us to donate 100s of perfectly good bikes to kids who might not otherwise have them.

This year we chose to outfit 110 or so kids at The John P. Holland School in Dorchester, MA with bikes and Trek Vapor Youth Helmets.

All this came together quickly and with the end of the school year looming, just days away, we had to get the fleet of bikes together in short time. For about a week IBC's service center transformed into a cluttered Santa's workshop, organ donor bikes getting trampled underfoot as a team of mechanics tuned and cleaned each individual bike. With the help of Holland School 1st grade teacher Julie Sneed we were able to match bikes with specific children. Knowing that a bike would go to a particular child gave us all the more impetus to make sure each one was absolutely perfect.

The delivery of the bikes was carried out over three days. Kids would come down to the bike-filled basement of the school in groups of about ten, get fitted for a helmet, then pick their bike out of the line up. Saddles and bars were then adjusted for each child as lessons were given on proper operation of hand brakes and, in some cases, shifters.

Many of the kids didn't know how to ride without training wheels, some had never ridden a bike at all. Since none of the bikes had training wheels, demonstrations were given on how to learn to ride a bike. One of us would get on a much too small bike and roll around with their feet off the pedals, extended like outriggers as it was explained that pedaling isn't the important part of riding a bike, it's the balancing and the steering. Once you can roll around without falling over and steer away from solid objects, that's when you can start pedaling. All the kids will likely remember is laughing at a 6' tall guy riding around on a 16" wheeled bike.

The kids were awesome, polite and super-cooperative, it made the event all the more fun. In Principal Michele O'Connell's lovely thank you letter she mentioned that one of The Holland School's core values is educating the "Whole Child", these kids already seem well on their way to becoming excellent human beings. Now that they have wheels they may reach their destination even faster.

Thanks to Julie Sneed for all her work coordinating on The Holland School end, this couldn't have happened without you. Thanks to Kevin Sweeney for coming out all three days to help out, you definitely went above and beyond the call of duty. Thanks to James Parsons and Samantha for their help as well. And thanks to the IBC service staff for prepping all those bikes.

MTB Skills #1 How To Hop a Log

2009-06-12T13:52:00.002-04:00

How To Hop A Log from thom parsons on Vimeo.

Hillside School Bike Rodeo

2009-06-11T13:05:00.004-04:00

The Bike Rodeo, absolutely one of the most fun events you can attend as a bike shop employee. These things are usually set up by the P.E. instructor at an elementary school, generally for 3rd graders. The idea is to get kids up to speed on bicycle safety and traffic laws. They are run through an obstacle course complete with mini-stop signs then given a test. If they pass, they are issued a license which allows them to ride their bike to school. It's impressive how many kids actually ride their bikes to school these days and it's definitely essential that they learn the rules of the road.

IBCer Adam Burns goes the extra mile,
fixing a flat so one of the kids can get out on the obstacle course on time.

Adam removes the bead and prepares to take the tube out.

Faster than a NASCAR tire swap, Adam has the wheel pumped up and back on the bike just in the nick of time.

The kids fill out the written portion of the test in crayon. It was amazing not only that most of them got the questions correct, but that they understood the test at all. The level of vocabulary words used in the questions was nutty.

Apparently blue water bottles are the best. They went way before the others. Next time we'll bring exclusively blue bottles.

One of the questions on the test pertained to which direction you ride on the road, with or against traffic. "What kind of question is that? Ride against traffic? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!". I guess the training worked on this guy.

Thanks to The Hillside School and Rob Tatro for putting this thing together. Encouraging kids to ride bikes is a great thing to do and you guys do an awesome job doing it!

NEMBA Cutler Park Trail Day

2009-06-02T13:50:00.000-04:00

Just a few words and photos from the recent trail day at Cutler Park.

We were a small but efficient crew, dropping about fifty new boards along the longest of the boardwalks which traverse the beautiful marshes in Cutler Park.

Like any good work crew we got down with some bagels and coffee beforehand. We were expecting some more folks to attend, so there was a huge surplus of food and beverages. Next time you should show up and help us eat all those bagels!

Hiking the the 2" X 12" Boards from the truck out to the boardwalk wasn't easy, Bryan uses his head to accomplish the task. Bob, Jason, and Linnea assess the condition of the existing boards, looking for rotten ones to replace. Bryan gets down to the dirty work of pulling up the old boards and nails.

Jason G. hefts the not-so-light boards all the way to down the end of the bridge. Amazing that this scene takes place within earshot of Route 128. Plug your ears and you could be in the middle of nowhere.

I demonstrated why you walk on the center of the boards, not the ends...just in case they aren't nailed down yet. Falling off the side of a bridge and having a board nearly come up and whack you in the face is so much funnier when The Three Stooges do it.

Bill "The Old Coot" Boles hikes out at the end of the day.

Culter Park really is an overlooked gem in the midst of Suburbia. You should come out on one of our Wednesday rides and see for yourself.
5:45, IBC Newton 71 Needham St. 617-527-0967, ask for Thom P.

Bike Friday

2009-05-19T12:24:00.001-04:00

Last Friday was the first Bike Friday of the year. This is a program run by the city of Boston and awesome Boston Bike Czar Nicole Freedman. Volunteers and Boston Bike Police escort commuters into the city from several locations in the greater Boston area. You meet at 6:45 and roll with an organized convoy to City Hall. It's a great way for folks who haven't commuted by bike before to get out there in a safe, comfortable way and see how cool and not-so-scary-really commuting by bike can be.

Fellow IBCer Jeremy and I volunteered to lead the Oak Square ride out of Brighton. I commute to our Newton shop from Somerville every day and heading down to Oak Square deviated just ever so slightly from my regular route. I opted to Google Map the difference, clicking on "Walking Directions" in hopes that I would be shown a new and exciting way to ride my bike to Brighton. I got more than what I asked for.

At one point I was instructed to take a right on the Watertown Branch Rail Trail,
this was a new one on me, I was excited to see what it was all about. What it was all about was not so great. At the intersection where I was supposed to turn off all I could see was an un-paved parking lot full of tow trucks with a large dirt pile at the end. I rode around the dirt pile into the bushes following the partially interred, ancient train tracks. I pushed aside the wet, over-hanging brambles and quickly found myself rumbling down rotten, but still intact railroad ties. More rail than trail.

You know it's early when you have to put a light on for your morning commute. Watertown Branch Rail Trail needs some work. Something from the set of Lost. How to make a size XXL shirt fit a Medium bike racer. Jeremy getting awesome and safe! The Police Escort.

So that didn't work out, I back tracked and headed back down Arlington St. and picked up the directions a little further along. The next move didn't turn out that well either, the road dead-ended into an office park and a giant wrought iron fence. I followed what was basically a path created by homeless men looking for camping sites until I found a hole in the fence and scaled through, coming out on North Beacon.

Google Maps doesn't yet have a "By Bike" option. But they do have walking directions, which are apparently mapped by an office full of drunk homeless men. Although that Rail Trail business would have been tough to navigate with a shopping cart. Coming soon...Google Maps "By Shopping Cart" directions. Maybe when they're done with that project they'll add the "By Bike" feature, maybe.

But Bike Friday went off without a hitch. The convoy was solid, I do have to say I derived a huge amount of enjoyment out of watching from the back as angry SUV drivers buzzed the convoy, honking away only to get waved over by one of the bike Police for a reprimand. Things did get a little hurly burly as the convoy split up. The Policeman on point would close an intersection, then roll on, the light would change or the walk signal would light up and conflict between cyclists, motorists, and pedestrians would ensue. Perhaps a bug we can work out for next time, that would be Friday May 29th.

We Got Yer Demo Bikes Right Here!

2009-05-12T16:35:00.003-04:00

2009 Gary Fisher Paragon

Here's an idea...
we're doing these Wednesday Mountain Bike rides in Cutler park out of our Newton shop (71 Needham St., 617-527-0967) at 5:45 (that's PM for you sickos) and ya see we've got these demo bikes. They're '09 Fisher Paragon 29ers and Trek Fuel EX 8 26" wheeled 5" travel full suspension bikes. What I'm thinking is that you or one of your fun lovin' friends should come down and arrange to take one of these bad boys out for a spin with the guys from the IBC MTB Team.

If that sounds like a good idea to you, give a call over to the shop and we can arrange it, no problem.

2009 Trek Fuel EX 8

Wednesday Cutler Park MTB Ride

2009-05-06T19:57:00.004-04:00

Had another good turnout for the IBC/NEMBA Wednesday Cutler Ride. Jon Lewis from Sari s/Cycleops was in attendance, as were Tom and Chase Ennis. Chase is a budding Mountain and Cyclocross racer. The kid has some serious potential. The group was rounded out by Pam and John from Southborough, Javier from Natick, Stalwart attendee of the Wednesday ride, Corey French, and Me.

Not long into the ride we had a saddle bag explosion. I rolled up to find Chase and Tom trying to extricate a road tube from Chase's back wheel. "How did this happen" I thought "Did Chase run over a discarded road tube on the trail?". Nope, they had thrown a road tube in the bag because it was all they had in the house. Stop by the shop before the ride next time guys, we'll get you sorted out!

Very shortly after that Corey had a chain detonation. Luckily John had some spare links and after a few minutes of tinkering Corey was up and rolling again. We got him set up with a new chain when we got back to the shop.

We'll be out there again next Wednesday. Meet at IBC Newton 5:45, 71 Needham St., 617-527-0967.

Oh, and don't forget, next Saturday the 16th is NEMBA's Trail Care day at Cutler. Meet at the DCR Parking lot on Kendrick St. from 9AM-12PM. Breakfast and coffee will be provided courtesy of IBC. Word is there'll be a bit of off-road pedaling following the trail work,
so come on out and show Cutler Park some love! It's a great resource right here in our backyards.

-t

B.U. Bicycle Safety Day

2009-05-01T10:50:00.003-04:00

Last Thursday was Boston University's Bicycle Safety Day.

A few guys from IBC were down there doing bike check ups, quick bike-fittings, and some more involved stuff. The majority of the bikes simply needed air in the tires and some lube on the chain but there were a few more frightening cases. We did what we could for those and sent the more critical victims down the street to IBC Boston.

As the event reached its peak, it became apparent that there was no way we could possibly attend to the insane number of people lined up across the parking lot. Earlier in the day we were pulling wheels off bikes to true them, installing brake cables, and performing all sorts of time consuming tasks. Later on we had to move through bikes a little quicker, really just making sure they were safe, not exactly giving them Tour De France level performance tuning.

We left the event with the impression that a huge number of B.U. students use their bikes every day to get to class or around town. Not a bad thing at all.

Thanks to Jarrod and all the other guys that put this thing on.

Cutler Ride With Bill

2009-04-30T13:04:00.003-04:00

We had another successful Cutler Park ride Wednesday night. The Old Coot himself, Bill Boles graced us with his presence. For the not so straight story, go over here.

IBC Wednesday Rides
5:45ish
The Newton Shop, 71 Needham St.
No lights required
No drop, plenty of time to talk about skills, ask questions, compare bikes,
all that good stuff.

NEMBA Fells Opening Day

2009-04-24T09:49:00.002-04:00

Superfly's First trip to The Fells. The guy who lent me a pump, if you know him let me know. Karen and The Leg a the front of the group. Crossing over from the other side.

Saturday was NEMBA's Fells Opening Day Event. It just so happened that it was the nicest day thus far this year and tons of people showed up to ride on dirt. The Luna Chicks were there leading rides. JRA and IBC were there helping folks get their bikes ready to ride. The guys from Cycleloft were cooking up some Barbecue. Andrew from October Bikes was showing off his wares and IBC racer Greg Robidoux was working the massage table.

Making bikes work, giving away popcorn. That's what we do.

Repairs were done, tubes were pumped, and once it seemed the flow of customers had begun to subside, it was time to ride! That was really what this event was all about, getting out on the trails. Once out on the trails the repairs didn't end. A lot of people had pulled their bikes out for the first time this season. Derailleurs were getting thrown into spokes, stuff was breaking, it was mayhem.

Joe from I.F. and The Man himself, Philip Keyes of NEMBA

Everyone was out there, from beginners to Pros like Maureen Bruno-Roy, Rebecca Wellons, Greg Montello, and Alexis Wruble. Seeing the mass migrations of riders out to the trail-head was inspiring. Judging by the attendance at this event at last week's Hop Brook Dam race, it is going to be a good year for mountain biking.

Fast ride with the boys. First time the legs have seen daylight this season. Kevin catches a flat. Is that thing on?

At one point I had spun off from a group ride to get back to Flynn Rink with Greg The Leg and Kevin Sweeney. Kevin ended up ripping open his tubeless tire, it was far beyond sealing with Stan's. Unfortunately he didn't have a pump and I had only brought shop-size tools to fix other people's bikes, I was rolling with a tube and a cell phone, no flip tool, no pump. We were relatively close to the main drag where folks were crossing over into the main body of The Fells. I rolled down the way looking for a pump to borrow. I found it, the gentleman in the upper right hand corner of the photo at the top of this post lent me one. I returned the favor by never actually finding him and driving off with his pump at the end of the day. So if you know this guy, please drop me a line. I want to get his pump back to him with interest.

How does my hair look? Like Bjork's? Why thank you.

Big thanks to Philip, Tim, Terry, and all the other NEMBA people that work so hard so the rest of us can ride our knobelly tired bikes on dirt all over place. You guys, as they say, rock!

Mass Bike Commuter Breakfast

2009-04-20T08:24:00.007-04:00

Last Friday morning Mass Bike did one of their Commuter Breakfasts at the Cambridge side of The Mass Ave. Bridge. It was a gorgeous morning and folks were out pedaling like mad. A huge cross-section of cyclists were on parade. You had your racer/commuters, hipsters on Fixies, Messengers, Berkeley students on ten speeds, bikes of all shapes and sizes, it was great to see everyone just getting out there.

Shane brings the hype

David, James, and Shane of Massbike were there, dishing out Orange Wedges and Bagels and Cream Cheese, along with info on Massbike.

We told pedestrians passing by that we'd give them free breakfast if they came back with a bike. Watch the Cambridge Police reports for a rash of bicycle muggings. "Hey, give me that bike, I want my free bagel!" Whack!

James manning the bagel bag

So many of the cyclists we saw were smiling and happy, quite a contrast to the motorists sitting in traffic, watching us suspiciously. One solution to that problem...ride your bike to work!

A few of the riders said they'd already had breakfast as they rolled on by. That's the beauty of riding your bike, you get second breakfast. Those calories you are so pragmatically burning aren't going to replace themselves. Have that bagel. Heck, have two!

Dave Watson, Executive Director of Mass Bike walks the walk,
or rolls the roll, or...you get my point

Seeing how many people are out there riding these days was pretty cool. Not sure what the statistics are but my impression is that there are more people doing it than when I first started riding around Boston in the early nineties. Who knows, maybe they were forced onto the bike by the high gas prices of last summer, only to realize how much more fun it is to ride than drive. Maybe they got hooked, maybe they couldn't put the bike down...couldn't kick the habit. Good thing it's an addiction that comes with little to no negative side effects. The positive side effects however, are too numerous to mention.

Thanks to The Mass Bike guys for putting this thing on. Watch for them at The Longfellow Bridge sometime soon.

Cutler Park Opening Day Ride

2009-04-16T20:56:00.004-04:00

The group assembles. Heading up Winchester St.. Colin and PVB. Leaving Nahanton Park.

Wednesday was the official opening day of the oft overlooked, yet conveniently located Cutler Park in Needham. This was also the first of International Bike's Wednesday Mountain Bike Rides. I won't call it a night ride because lights are not required. All you need is a bike, a helmet, and a hankerin' for some fun.

The ride was well-attended, eight folks showed up, which might not sound like a lot, but it's a good sized crew once you're out on the trail. We rode right out the door of the shop, cut through The Book Fair parking lot, hit the road for just a couple minutes, and we were in Nahanton Park, on the dirt. Nahanton is limited but boasts a couple pretty fun obstacles in the from of large log hops in quick succession. Great place to practice your log-hurdling technique...or brush up on your Cyclocross Transitons.

Nahanton actually serves as a short cut to Cutler Park, dumping you out right across from a trailhead which leads into Wells Ave. and to Millenium Park beyond.

Whipping through the trees. Beauty of Semi-Urban riding. Plank bridge. Balancing act.

The pace was steady with several re-grouping and socializing stops. We were out there for about an hour and a quarter, getting back to the shop as the sun was about to set.

Technical stop. Re-group. Chasing GTL at high-speed. Sun on its way down.

The island in Cutler has a finite section of awesomely twisty-fast singletrack, great for cornering practice.

We'll be doing these rides every Wednesday throughout the season unless otherwise noted. Check our ride calendar for more info.

NEMBA Pre-Season Clean Up at The Fells

2009-04-04T13:46:00.003-04:00

The Middlesex Fells officially opens in just a few days, so on this cool, blustery Saturday morning a bunch of folks got together for a little walk through and clean up of NEMBA's Mountain Bike Loop. Greater Boston NEMBA President, Tim Post was there to kick things off, then Terry Kennedy took up the helm from there.

We divided up into groups, driving to various points of the loop, which we would walk and inspect until we ran into another group coming the opposite way. Each crew was outfitted with Loppers, saws, and McCloud tools. The McCloud tool came in handy for smoothing out "Commando Water-bars" into more gradual water-shedding troughs with wider "lenses" at the end for more even water dispersal. NEMBA member Adam was an expert in the art of trail maintenance, showing the rest of us the way things are done properly.

IBC Racer Hannah Sarnow came out to represent as did
IBC Elite MTB Team Rider Kevin Sweeney. Thanks guys!

Due to the relatively dry end to winter, the trails weren't in bad shape at all. So after a couple hours of hiking around we met back at the Sheepsfold parking lot for a great (huge) lunch spread put together by Terry Kennedy.

Thanks to NEMBA for putting this event together. It seemed that just about all the hikers and walkers we met along the way were vocally appreciative of the trail work we were out there doing. Stuff like this can go a long way toward smoothing out relations between different groups sharing public lands.

IBC will be back down at The Fells for the opening day event on Saturday April 18th. We'll be doing some tech support, leading rides, and most importantly, giving away T.T. Buds Popcorn. Come by and say hi.

Commuters turn to scooters, bicycles in recession.

2009-03-19T13:44:00.001-04:00

IBC featured on NECN

Racing Your Mountain Bike For The First Time

2009-03-10T17:01:00.002-04:00

You're thinking of racing your Mountain Bike for the first time, or you're thinking of buying a Mountain Bike and racing it for the first time, or you were thinking of neither of the above, but once you learn how easy it is, you might just consider it. I hope so anyway.

First off, you'll need a decent bike. The less you spend on the bike initially, the more you will spend on it later as the parts break. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. As you break things you essentially earn your upgrades. Replace the broken parts with better ones. As Lance says "It's not about the bike". You don't want to be the person on the $6,000 bike off the back of the beginner race. Let your skill level exceed your fitness level.

You'll need some accessories to make sure you can finish the race (or any ride).

Helmet. This is required at all races. You don't get to decide when you'll smash your head, that's why it's an accident. My helmet has saved my brains on a few occasions.
Gloves. A minor fall can cause a lot of pain if you aren't wearing them.
Glasses. Recommended but not required. Even cheap safety glasses from the hardware store can save your eyeballs from flying dirt and poky sticks.
Pump. You don't want be walking out of the woods. C02 Cartridges are another option but should be used only during races.
Tubes. Bring two with you at all times.
Tire Levers. Have them, know how to use them, if you don't ask someone at your local bike shop.
Tool. A good flip tool should be in your pocket or bag on every ride.
Water Bottles or Hydration Pack. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! On hot days and during races use a sports drink. Anything from Gatorade to more high-tech stuff like GU2O or Accelerade.

Items like Bike Shorts and technical clothing are something that can be figured out later as you get more serious. After the first wet, muddy race you do wearing baggy cut offs and a T-shirt, you'll be looking to upgrade your wardrobe fast!

Getting your bike ready. Take it to a reputable bike shop (hmm, where would I find one of those?) to have it checked over for safety and have it tuned if needed. They should also be able to help you with a rough fit on the bike as well and answer any other questions you might have.

Getting your body ready. Don't over-think it at first. Just go out and ride your mountain bike, NEMBA can show you where to go. Let your skills and your fitness improve together. Don't worry about Heart Rate Monitors, Power Meters, Coaches and training plans when you're starting out. That can come later if you decide to take things to the next level. Ride as much as you can or as much as you feel like. Seek out group rides, NEMBA can also help with that.

A fun way to chart your progress is set up an off-road Time Trail course. Choose a loop that takes roughly 30 minutes and then do it as fast as you can without stopping and record your time. Do this course once every week to see if you are getting faster. It's a great method for figuring out pacing and develop the high speed skills and focus required to race a bike. You'll begin to look forward to your MTB TT day!

One of the truly wonderful things about mountain biking is that, once you get past the initial, basic learning phase, you will be way too focused on how much fun you are having to worry about "working out" or "getting fit". Fitness just happens as your love for the sport grows.

Riding with faster, more skilled people is the best way to improve. Ask the folks at your local Shop when their group rides and skills clinics are.

Race Time. You'll need to know where and when the races are. There are few indispensable resources you'll have to familiarize yourself with (for finding races in New England anyway):

Bikereg.com - Search for races in your area then register online. A great service.
Root 66 Race Series - A huge schedule of local races. Jill and Chris do a swell job with these.
EFTA Race Series - An equally awesome schedule of local races.
USA Cycling - The big, national level events. All have beginner races.

You'll have to fill out a profile on Bikereg to register for events. Pre-regging as it is called is easier for both you and the race promoter. I'd highly recommend it.
Of course you can almost always just show up and register on the spot. Just allow a little more time. USAC races like Root 66 will give you the option of purchasing a day racing license or an annual license. This can also be done online at the USAC site. EFTA does a day license as well or you can purchase an annual license at any event.

Eating before your race. Big, I say BIG rookie mistake is to over do it. You almost want to be hungry on the line, seriously. Eat your breakfast at least three hours beforehand and keep it light. A couple packets of Oatmeal, or some cereal, maybe a bagel with peanut butter. Whatever sits well in your gut. You might want to try out a few food combos before hard rides leading up to the race. Have a bar of some sort or a banana an hour or so before the start. You can supplement that with Gels and energy drink right up to and during the actual race.

Warm up? Get there as early as possible, an hour before minimum. If your race is 12 miles and you're used to riding much farther than that I would warm up by pre-riding the course or just spinning around for a bit. If that seems like a huge distance I wouldn't warm up, you'll need that energy for the race.

Race Prep. I like to get out of the car, get suited up, put everything I need in my pockets or Hydration pack and get on my bike as soon as possible when I get to an event. First place I head is registration to get all sorted out and get my number on the bike. At that point I'm basically ready to go, plenty of time to work any bugs out.

Begin hovering around the start line ten or fifteen minutes before your race is scheduled to start. Unless you are at a big, national level event like Mt. Snow you won't need to worry about start position. The promoters will get on the loud speaker to announce staging or delays. Just make sure you are within earshot.

Go Time. Eat a gel, take a good swig of your drink, and focus on how you are going to ride your bike really, really well. Think "Fast, Fun, and Efficient". If you are nervous think to yourself "Well, let's go out there and see what happens, no pressure". People will start fast, if you can follow them, go for it. If you find yourself hyper-ventilating for a long period of time, your head starts feeling tingly, or you begin to see stars...back off a bit. Ride at your own pace, enjoy the act of riding your bike in the woods, do it as fast as you can, but don't go nuts! If you have something left for the next lap (most beginner races will be two laps) then pick up the pace.

What I've outlined here is really just a quick primer. The best way to gain more knowledge is to get out there and do it! Call or email over to The Shop or leave a comment below if you have any questions.

International Bicycle will have a full schedule of mountain bike related events starting up in April. We want to help you get out on your mountain bike and start having fun!

Resources:

IBCer Erich Leas on Boston.com

2009-03-03T12:13:00.002-05:00

From a February 15th article on Boston.com on the subject of winter Cyclo-Commuting in Boston.

Erich Leas, 26, takes the opposite approach. The Jamaica Plain resident says he puts in 300-plus riding days a year. His traction strategy? "Run the skinniest tires you can get to cut through the loose-packed stuff," he says, available to speak only because he's behind the counter at Allston's International Bicycle Center rather than slugging it out on the roads. "It's worked pretty well for me. And fenders, of course."

-Erich Leas

Read the rest of the article HERE.

It's Here

2009-02-24T16:34:00.005-05:00

The Superfly SS that is. It came today, it's like Xmas in...what month is it? Never mind. The only thing I can focus on is how to get this thing built up as quickly as possible and go ride it.

It is a 29er. It is "Super Fly".

It is a whole lot of Carbon Fiber.

Oh ya, this frame is special, it is a single speed frame. A close cousin of the stock Fisher Superfly
but mutated for my special needs. Hey, if you want to get a Superfly don't sleep, get on it! They're available now, but might not be sometime soon.

When IBCer Chris Agee picked up the box he thought the frame alone was inside. No sir, that was the weight of the frame, fork, and stem you were feeling sir. Kooky-light.

If I had a bike custom painted it would be light blue and black.
This is the stock paint job. Lucky me.

Rear facing gnurled horizontal dropout with float room for the disc caliper
so it can pivot out of the way for wheel removal/installation.

I'm hoping to capture some footage of this speed-beast
in its natural environment this weekend.
Check back soon.

Tour of California Group Rides - Feb 21 & 22

2009-02-17T13:35:00.004-05:00

Thanks to everyone who came out last weekend. The rides were a lot of fun. So much so that the boys over at Independent/Lionette's have decided to do it all over again.

Saturday February 21st - 1:00 Starting at our Newton location, returning at 5:00
Sunday February 22nd - 1:00 Starting at our Boston location, returning at 5:00
*If the weather is bad on Sunday we'll do a group indoor trainer ride at the Boston store starting at 3:00.

Join us after the rides to watch the Tour of California. Food and beer will be served. We hope to see you.

Tour of California Stage 2

2009-02-15T12:36:00.002-05:00

Stage One of the Tour of California starts in the city of Davis and meanders towards Santa Rosa, the hometown of Astana's primary general classification threat Levi Leipheimer. Don't put your money on any hometown heroics today though. The stage finish in Santa Rosa is probably going to end in a bunch sprint. Teams are too strong to let an early break stick in such a competitive race even this early, so expect Colombia and Quick Step to pull things back together for Cavendish and Boonen.

Still, weather could be a factor and it would not come as a suprise were yesterday's prologue winner Fabian Cancellara to pip the sprinter trains and capture another stage.

Stop by either of our locations to watch all the action unfold, and if you happen to see Lance Armstrong's stolen Trek Equinox time trial bike-please alert the authorities!

The Tour of California Prologue

2009-02-14T10:47:00.008-05:00

The Tour of California begins today in Sacramento California. Valentine's Day is a fitting date for the cycling love-fest that features Lance Armstrong's domestic return to road racing. With the possible exception of the Sunday Times' Paul Kimmage, the rest of the sporting world is thrilled with the increased exposure Mr. Armstrong's return will bring to cycling. While the wisdom of engaging in an argument with any one who buys ink by the truckload is always suspect, the strength of Lance's Astana team as well as his personal form is not in doubt. Nonetheless the 2.4 mile course is fairly flat and fast and should favor a time trial specialist. Keep an eye on Saxo Bank's Fabian Cancellara who despite reeking of cologne and sporting a hairstyle popular among NHL defensemen, Eastern European pit fighters and Midwestern monster truck aficionados, is the embodiment of style, power and beauty on a bicycle.

Following the Prologue, please check back for full results and commentary. International Bicycle Center will be celebrating the Tour of California and Lance's return from Februay 14th through February 22nd. Please visit either of our locations for great savings on bicycles, parts, accessories and labor or just to watch the Tour of California.

I.F. Elite Tour of California Ride

2009-02-11T11:54:00.008-05:00

Feeling lonely because of the long wet winter? Don't be.
You are all invited to IF Racing and IBC's TOC group rides this weekend.

IF Racing/ Lionette's Elite team will be leading rides from both IBC locations, Boston and Newton. After the ride we will be watching the opening stages of the Tour of California, Live.

The ride will return return to the Boston store to take part in some complimentary grub and free beer from Harpoon and the Tour, Live.
Please come and join us for the ride and or the viewing. Viewing starts at 6pm Saturday and 5pm Sunday. The rides will split according to fitness levels if needed, so don't be afraid to show your weak legs.

www.ifracing.org
www.internationalbike.com

We hope you can join us

2009-02-06T13:49:00.001-05:00

The Zombie Survival Guide Endorses The Bicycle as
the best mode of escape from an undead outbreak

The recent Zombie outbreak in Austin, Texas has probably got you thinking "What is the best way to escape a mob of flesh-craving walking dead people?". Max Brooks, in his recent non-fiction book The Zombie Survival Guide discusses various modes of escape.

To summarize:
The common sedan lacks off-road capability, SUVS are engineered for aesthetics not rugged dependability, trucks and vans can get stuck turning their occupants into canned food, buses lack maneuverability and fuel economy, armored cars are hard to come by, motorcycles are inherently dangerous, and horses get spooked by the undead. All motorized vehicles create Zombie-attracting noise and depend on possibly scarce fuel sources.

However, he has the following to say about the Bicycle:

From New York Times Best Seller The Zombie Survival Guide:

The Bicycle
In a class by itself, this vehicle offers the best of both worlds. The common bicycle is fast, quiet, muscle-powered, and easy to maintain. Add to this the additional advantage that it is the only vehicle you can pick up and carry if the terrain gets rough. People using bicycles to escape from infested areas have almost always fared better than those on foot. For optimum performance, use a mountain bike, as opposed to the racing or recreational model. Don't let your speed and mobility go to your head, however. Wear standard safety gear, and choose caution over speed. The last thing you want is to end up in a ditch, legs broken, bike trashed, with the shuffling of undead feet growing louder with each step.

Bikes, Bags, and Lights - Getting Equipped for Winter Commuting

2009-01-26T11:53:00.001-05:00

Commuting by bike during the Winter Months is really about just getting out there and gettin' 'er done. Take whatever bike you got, slap some fenders on it, maybe some new tires, and go for it. You'll learn pretty quick what you need to do to adapt to your new, more freedom and fun-filled lifestyle. The most important part of the equation was covered in my previous post on clothing. If you're dressed for the elements you could be out there on a Huffy and you'd be OK...in a struggling, miserable way, but OK.

Here I'm going to break down some simple mods which will allow you to ride through the winter.

Tire choice:
Winter is the time to forgo light weight for durability in the tire department. You do not want to be fixing a flat on the side of the road while getting sprayed by slush as your horribly numb fingers quickly become useless. Your goal should be to NEVER GET FLATS. I roll on 700 X 25 Continental Gator Skins when I'm commuting or training. They are incredibly flat resistant (you still need to keep them pumped up to avoid pinch flats) and stick to the road quite well. A wider tire will make you less pinch flat prone and make for a more supple and comfortable ride on bombed out city streets. Another option for a flat resistant tire is something from The Bontrager Hardcase family. Save the race tires for racing.

Studded Tires:
Unless you're commuting on a frozen river these are not necessary. When you're riding on roads which are 99% not ice with occasional ice patches studded tires are more of a liability than anything. Think of a cat with overgrown claws trying to run on a tile floor. That's you whenever you're not on shear ice.

Fenders.
Once you've got your tire selection worked out you'll need to put something between them and you or they will cover you with road spray and unimaginably repulsive detritus the first chance they get. Full fenders are ideal but can really only be installed on a Hybrid, Touring, Cyclocross, or Mountain Bikes. Your average road bike, short of some oddball sport-tourer with long-reach brakes isn't going to accept full fenders. If you have one of the bikes listed above and want to make it into a dedicated commuter go for it.

In my case I've got a true road bike so I've equipped it SKS Race Blades. These will work on any road bike. They don't give full protection but they are a whole lot better then nothing.

My SKS fenders are mis-matched and beat to a pulp. New, they look more like this:

These days most high end Wheelsets are coming pre-built but when it comes putting together a durable yet lightweight set of wheels for training or commuting I'll still grab a set of Mavic 32 Hole Open Pros and lace them up to whatever hub I've got lying around. In this case XTR in the front, Surly Fixed/Free (the free side never gets used, poor guy) single speed hub in the rear.

Much like Rocket Surgeons and Brain Scientists Bike Mechanics don't spend a lot of time applying their skills at home, hence my deplorably filthy bike. The Single-Speediness of my bike does, however allow me to get away with such neglect. Slap some more Finish Line Wet on the chain and kick out the jams.

Ridden hard and put away wet. My White Industries Cranks have looked better.

Lighting:
To have any chance of making it through a nocturnal commute in one piece you gotta be lit up like a Christmas Tree. In the rear I use a Trek Flare 3 LED Tail Light I'm not dead yet, so it must be working. I'll let you know when it's not working.

More important than rear lighting is frontal lighting. If you aren't adequately lit up in the front end you could get someone killed besides yourself. A pedestrian might legally walk out into a cross walk without seeing you coming. A car could pull out in front of you unintentionally (as opposed to the more common intentional version of this event).

I spent years commuting and riding at night with nothing more than a defensive blinky light like the one so artfully zip-tied to my helmet in the photo below. I count myself lucky to still be around. Now the blinky serves as a directionally defensive light; if a driver is about to cut me off, I point it directly at them, it works alright.

I have added a big gun to my lighting arsenal, now I use a Niterider Minewt Mini-USB as well as a blinky. It throws a big beam of light which makes it far less likely I'll have people and cars jumping out in front of me and it actually lights my way. I even ride offroad with it.

One of the cool things about this thing is that it comes with two charging systems, one for a wall socket and a USB charger to plug into your computer at work. Forgot to charge your light fully and worried about getting home before it gives out? USB charger...sweet!

It's also very versatile mount wise. Light enough to strap directly to your helmet (You'll need to get the Minewt Mini-USB Plus version with the helmet mount) or to your bar or stem.

Mine has been completely reliable as far as holding charge and run time goes and it has no trouble dealing with inclement weather.

The Minewt easily straps to your stem...your vintage Salsa Moto Ace Stem. A nod to my mountain biking roots, flipped for efficient road bike use.

My Trek Soho Mug keeps my Earl Grey Tea hot (or at least not frozen solid) on training rides, and it keeps my coffee warm on my commute.

The Micro-Horizontal dropouts on my old Lemond Maillot Jaune frame allow me just enough leeway to tension the chain. Not enough leeway to use both the gears on my Surly Dingle Cog however. The bike I've created from spare parts around the shop is not too dissimilar from The Fisher Triton.

Bags:
I've moved away from using large (close to 2000 cubic inch) packs, opting to use a small pack which doesn't destroy my back. The Detours River City is what I'm using now, I couldn't be happier with this lil' bugger. Big enough to carry a change of clothes, my lunch, camera, wallet, phone, and tools. If you do find the need to carry a bit more the Helmet Holder/Gear Spider (the strappy things) works great. A huge bonus is that this thing is 100% water proof 24-7, no need to pull out a rain cover. The welded zippers mean no leakage there as well.

The "Airmax" mesh suspension system keeps the pack itself off your back, allowing for ventilation and comfort. I like it a lot.

Got questions about how you can get started commuting? Leave a comment below or give a call over to The Shop.

Trek on The Thing The Kids Call "The Youtubes"

2009-01-23T14:54:00.008-05:00

Travis Pastrana, professional bone and back breaker, knee destroyer, and concussion getter recently did some TOTALLY UNSANCTIONED product testing for Trek Bicycle s.

Here he puts the Trek Mod (Girl's Version) through its paces:

He proved definitively that The Mod is of formidable and robust construction (which may not be true of Pastrana's L-5 through 3 vertebrae and what's left of his Coccyx).

A matter of some small confusion.

2009-01-21T12:34:00.002-05:00

As my dear colleague, correctly notes in the previous post, a balaclava-style headpiece is one's best friend when cycling in any temperatures from 20f and below. That being said, there has been some confusion as of late with regard to the proper name for this type of head wear. I.B.C believes that a proper education can only make you a more informed, active, and attractive cyclist. As such, we have created this small piece of edutainment below to brighten your day and save you from the crushing embarrassment, and possibly danger, of improper identification. Please, enjoy.

As you can see, a balaclava is a garment similar to the common ski mask, whereas baklava is a delicious pastry made of layers of filo dough, chopped nuts and honey. Should you attempt to wear baklava while commuting in the winter, you will likely draw the ire of normally docile bees. They are none too pleased that you are mocking their hard work by riding around with it on your head like some deranged Carmen Miranda. They will come out of their winter rest just to chase you, and being chased by sleepy bees is no way to spend your winter commute. We hope this clears up any confusion.

Ice Road Bikers

2009-01-16T11:28:00.022-05:00

Winter Cycle-Commuting, with the right gear you can do it in comfort (or at least minimal discomfort) and style.

I rode into the shop from Somerville to Newton today, about an eleven mile, forty-something minute trip. The temperature was 5 degrees "Feels like 0". This about the coldest it will get for New England commuting. It can get worse, particularly in March due to the cold/precipitation combo, but it likely won't get colder than 5. Dealing with March-Weather-Madness is an entirely different topic, today we're going to talk about riding in the straight up brutal cold and wind.

Microsensor FaceMask

We'll start with the head. You have to keep the head warm. I Start with a Balaklava style covering like Pearl Izumi's Microsensor Facemask (pictured above). You will look like a Ninja and your head, neck, and ears will be fully protected.

Don't I look like a Ninja?

Castelli Striscia

In sub-twenty degree temperatures overkill in the head covering department is never a bad thing. Today I used the Castelli Striscia Knit Beanie (pictured above). It kept me warm and looked good too. If it were just a wee bit warmer I would recommend the Pearl Izumi Accelerator Hat. That and a Facemask will get you through the majority of the winter.

P.R.O. Thermal Long Sleeve Jersey

The Core. If the core gets cold you are sunk. By keeping your core warm you will help keep the rest of your body warm as well. I start with the Defeet D-Shurt as a base for wicking sweat away from my body. I then add a heavier thermal layer like Pearl Izumi's P.R.O. Thermal Long Sleeve Jersey (pictured above).

Fisher's Marino Wool Long Sleeve Jersey

For the next layer I go with Fisher's Marino Wool Long Sleeve Jersey (pictured above). Marino wool isn't itchy at all, doesn't lock in bad odors, and keeps you comfortable in a wide range of temperatures. This is also a piece you can wear out to the pub/cafe/ whatever and look wicked stylin'.

The Gore Alp-X Jacke t

For the outer layer I've been using The Gore Alp-X Jacke t (pictured above).Gore is a new product line for IBC and we are really excited about it. This jacket is 100% water and wind proof, has excellent venting, and a very bike-friendly fit. The really cool thing about a piece like this is you can wear it day in, day out but if it does rain or snow you are totally covered. You'll be warm and dry. The fact that I wore it today while the temps were in the single digits means that I won't need another outerlayer besides this one. Layer it up underneath and you are ready to rock and or roll.

Another great option in this department is The Pearl Izumi Attack Jacket.

AmFib Glove

Pearl Izumi Ultra-Lite Liner Glove

The extremities, your hands and feet are the guys who generally suffer for the cause of all-weather riding. On a typical winter day a Pearl Izumi AmFIB Glove (pictured above top) or Lobster AmFIB Glove will do the trick when it's this cold I throw a Pearl Izumi Ultra-Lite Liner Glove (pictured above) underneath for good measure. I can't remember the last time I was riding around in this weather going "Man, my hands are too warm!".

DeFeet Blaze Marino Wool Sock

Your feet. I can not have warm enough feet. Sometimes I race in wool socks in July. Call me Crazy, I'll answer to it. For the worst winter weather I go with the DeFeet Blaze Marino Wool Sock. It's as heavy weight as I can go without constricting my feet and cutting off circulation. This is a common mistake, trying to jam too many layers of socks into a tight-fitting cycling shoe. Don't do it! Go with a sock which allows your feet wiggle room then add layers EXTERNALLY.

For extreme conditions I'll take an old DeFeet wool sock, cut a hole in the bottom, and slide it OVER my shoe before putting my Booties on for added warmth.

Pearl Izumi AmFIB Shoe Cover

Once it drops below 30 Degrees I use these puppies exclusively. The Pearl Izumi AmFIB Shoe Cover (pictured above). They keep you warm and dry through the worst of it.

Therma-Fleece Tight

For the lower-end I start with a Giordana Bib Short (shh, we currently have tons of Team IBC and Independent Fabrication Elite Team Giordana Bib Shorts and Jerseys on Closeout at the shop). The same shorts I wear in the summer, nothing special there.

Therma-Fleece Leg Warmer

I follow that with a pair of Pearl Izumi Therma-Fleece Leg Warmers and top it all off with a pair of Pearl Izumi AmFIB tights which are both wind and water proof. On your average winter day that is more than adequate but when it's below 10 I toss a pair of Pearl Izumi Therma-Fleece Tights on over the bib/leg-warmer combo for good measure.

AmFIB Tight

Eye-wear is key for riding in the cold and the wet. Ever gone skiing in the snow without goggles? You only try it once. The best pair of glasses I've come across for riding day or night are the Tifosi Forza FC's. They use "Fototec" technology which allows them to become almost clear in dark conditions and become adequately dark in bright conditions.

Tifosi Forza FC

Gearing up with these items will allow you to commute by bike throughout the year in any conditions. Come into International and consult with one of our commuting experts or if you have any questions feel free to comment below.

Stay tuned for the next post in this series; how to outfit your bike for winter commuting. We'll talk about bags, lighting systems, and all sorts of other fascinating stuff.

IBC Racing - Thanks for a great 2008

2008-12-30T10:04:00.007-05:00

Photo montage created by Julie Lefebvre

Let’s talk about IBC racing. We’re calling 2008 the year of smiles. Maybe we won’t call it that but it was a great year for the team. The photo montage above tells the story. It’s obvious that every member loves to ride and race their bicycles. They represented their sponsors and the sport with class, always smiling, always having fun. Thanks to everyone involved. We’re looking forward to the 2009 season.

New to the Crew

2008-12-04T18:41:00.007-05:00

Thom Parsons is the Newton store's service department head honcho and he expects, demands actually, to be called Mr. Manager by all those that serve him.

Anyhow, congratulations are in order. He had a very successful racing season and claimed first place in the Root 66 MTB series. He races in the Pro/Semi pro open class (on a 29er single speed) and competed against some very tough dudes. On top of that he’s now been selected as a member of the Gary Fisher 29er Crew and will race for the team in 2009.

Thom is a dedicated mountain biker and a great ambassador for the sport. He will begin leading NEMBA group rides in Cutler park and hopes to develop a youth MTB ride program, also at Cutler park. To keep his gigantic ego in check please stop in, insist on seeing the service manager, and tell him he looks fat.

Don't Kill Yourself, Thrill Yourself! Winter Solutions, Pt 1

2008-11-17T16:38:00.008-05:00

Yes, it's true, winter is nigh upon us. As such, many people have hung up their beloved bikes in shame and settled in to spend a long winter alternately taking mass transit and taking shots of whiskey to help forget the misery of the previous experience. Yet among these huddled, drunken masses there are those who are ready to shake off the reins of public ~~abuse~~ transportation. To these brave souls, we here at IBC say "hello" and "fear not, we're here to help." This year we are very lucky to have a few new bits of gear here at the store that will improve your winter experience. This first installment of our winter guide will introduce three bikes uniquely suited to the rigors of the salt-encrusted wastelands that are Boston streets. I give you yearning throngs IBC's 2008/09 Winter Special Forces Squad:

Bike #1. Trek Allant and Allant WSD.

The Allant is the most junior member of this elite winter survival team, having only arrived in our store in early November, but it has already shown itself to be perfectly suited to everyday use in all conditions. Referencing back to Trek's previous experiments with the European-produced Navigator bikes in 2002/2003, the Allant comes stock with full fenders, chainguard and a touring rack (men's) or front rack (WSD). You need only find some comfy winter riding clothes (more on those in future posts) and you are ready to ride all over town, regardless of what the weather throws at you. As if you needed any further enticement, it's under $600 and is a hoot to ride. I'm not saying we've been riding them around the store whooping for joy, I'm just saying...

Bike #2. Gary Fisher Simple City 8, or Simple City 3

Perhaps the Allant is not enough for you. Perhaps you are one of those people who know that true Dutch city bikes were, and are, the only viable means of urban transport. You know that external gears are for sloped-forehead neanderthals who think "nother" and "irregardless" are acceptable, not to mention real, words. Well, despair no more you stalwart Europhiles, your new bicycle has arrived.

As luck would have it, you don't need to be euro-centric to appreciate the fine points of this series. Gary Fisher has updated classic Dutch cycle design with a few improvements, the most notable of which is the switch to aluminum instead of steel frames. This reduces the overall weight of the bicycle by a few pounds and also makes the bike more suited to high moisture and salt environments, such as the entire northeast. Combine this comfortable, but lightweight frame with a quality Shimano internally-geared hub, full fenders and chainguide and you've got a low-maintenance, high performing bicycle that should last as long as it's European cousins (IE. decades). The eight speed version has the added bonus of a giant front basket that is perfect for carrying all the snowballs, chestnuts, rum or tinsel that you need to make your winter as happy as you can bear it to be.

Bike #3: Trek Soho S

One Speed. Uno, Ein, Un. For years messengers, track racers and lazy people have all known the joy of riding a bike with but one speed. You are free to worry about anything except what gear you are in and you'll always know about how fast you're going. Toss some fenders onto this dark (literally) horse of Trek's line and you've got yourself this simplest, easiest to maintain, urban bike that Trek offers. Like the previous bikes this offering includes a full aluminum frame so you don't have to worry if you ride around day-in, day-out in horrible weather. As a bonus, this bike is convertible between freewheel and fixed gear so you can quickly alter your drive system to suit your mood; freewheel for those lazy, cruising days and fixed for your more manic, late-to-work rides. Furthermore, this is the lightest of these three bikes, weighing only about 22 pounds, so even those of you in 4th floor walkups can stand to shoulder it when you get home. The only downside to this bike is its popularity. As winter gets nearer our stock of this model is quickly dwindling, so do come in and check one out before that smug neighbor of yours beats you to it.

Sorry folks, that's all for now. Please join us again at an undisclosed point in the future for more installments of our winter survival guide. Until then, stay warm and have fun out there.

The Ice Weasels Cometh

2008-11-14T15:59:00.005-05:00

That's right, it's officially official. International Bicycle and Crossresults.com are putting on a 'Cross race THIS SEASON, I say THIS CALENDAR YEAR.

THE ICE WEASELS COMETH AT WHITE BARN FARM

Saturday December 13th in Wrentham, MA, click on the above link or image for all the info.

Cool Bike Build

2008-11-04T08:43:00.009-05:00

A Certain customer of IBC just had a brand new Ti Spectrum built up. He had us cannibalize the Shimano Dura Ace parts from his Calfee Luna Pro, leaving it bare and unrideable. Lucky for him he was in possession of a White Industries Eric's Eccentric Eno Hub.

This is just the thing to convert ANY bike into a Single Speed or Fixed Gear. The Eno boasts an elliptical axle, allowing it to be rotated in the drop outs, thereby tensioning the chain. It is a very cool and useful piece of equipment. The version pictured here is a 130mm spaced flip/flop. Meaning it can be used with a freewheel or set up as a fixed gear. The hub is also available in a 135mm Disk Version.

The brake levers are gutted Campagnolo Record shift levers. They now function as brake levers only. They are very ergonomic and very light. Not too bad looking either.

Of the recent builds we have done here at IBC, this is my favorite. The end result was unique, clean, and cool.

It tips the scales at just over fifteen pounds without even trying, this is going to be a fun bike to ride.

Eliot School Bike Rodeo

2008-10-28T22:55:00.005-04:00

We sell a whole lot of kids bikes here at The IBC. Once in a while a local school asks us to come and support a "Bike Rodeo", this is a great way to see some of our smaller customers in action.

Basically a Bike Rodeo is an event where kids take a quiz on bicycle safety, get fitted for a helmet, then perform a series of skills drills on an obstacle course, all so they can earn a license to ride their bikes to school. Out here in the burbs quite a few kids do actually ride to school, sometimes with their parents as guides, altogether pretty darn cool.

We were there to perform safety checks on the bikes prior to the obstacle course portion of the event. Pumping up tires, turning forks around so they face the right way, throwing some lube on the chain, tightening brakes, and telling every kid how awesome their bike is...that's what we do.

This guy was doing a great job of documenting the day's events.

These things are always a good time, looking forward to seeing some of these kids out at our Mountain Bike Skills Rides in the spring. Stay posted for more on that.

2008-10-28T17:28:00.002-04:00

Photo: Philip Keyes

NEMBA Wicked Ride of the East
Harold Parker State Forest, Andover, MA

I can't remember the last time I've had this much fun, and I've had a lot of fun recently. The folks from NEMBA went out and marked a 25 mile loop around Harold Parker. This is what you might call real mountain biking. An amalgam of flowy, high speed, singletrack and super techy rocky, rooty weirdness. All that in a beautiful pine forest, the ground blanketed with pine needles, multi-colored leaves floating on every pond and stream.

I've been up to HP just a few times although it is just twenty minutes from my house in Somerville. If you're strapped for time it's tough to hit up a new spot, the potential of being late for work or caught out in the dark is a strong deterrent. The rides I had done there were pretty excellent though, so I knew if a real insider set up a loop it would likely be a hoot. It's nice when I'm actually right about something.

Miriam, Jane, and I set out on the full 25 mile Expert loop, they were on their single speeds, I was, as per unusual on my Remedy 8. Six inches of travel makes the roots a non-factor and HP boasts plenty of rocks and ledges to hurl yourself off, it was a good ride to have. I had the fully rigid SS Ferrous 29er AKA "The Dunderchee" on the car but decided to stick with "The Thunder-Catcher" for the day.

I've gotten a lot more comfortable with new bike. It really feels fast and efficient, yet at the same time it talks to me "Hey, go ride off that thing". "Uh, what's on the other side?". "I dunno, jus' ride off it whuss-bag". "Ok...AAH!". We have that conversation a lot. I'm really enjoying trying to crack the code on technical ascents again. That's one thing I have missed over the past three years of dedicated single speeding, you are limited as to what you can climb.

While we were out there we ran into Cary Fridrich, Super-fast Cambridge Bike/Embrocation 'Cross guy. "What're all these arrows for?" he asked. He had no idea it was a big NEMBA event, he thought this was a normal Sunday at Harold Parker. After a bit Miriam and Jane struck off on their own and let me chase Cary down. Once I found him we rode together for the rest of the day. He would use his 'Cross skills to get through some of the tricky stuff but his mountain bike skills are coming around. One of the last moves of the day was a sketchy, slippery rock face into a sharp, precipitous corner deal. There was a gaggle of big bike havin', shin guard wearin' blokes at the top sizing it up. I rode by them and dropped it, my smashing-bashing machine making it a cake walk. Cary followed right behind making it look a little more frightening but gettin 'er done. "You are a mountain biker!" I yelled back. Hopefully we'll see the guy out at some more MTB races this summer.

Unfortunately I forgot the camera at home, though it may not have been so unfortunate. If I had brought it I would have been stopping every three minutes to take shot of the ridiculous scenery, instead of having a rip-roaring, non-stop ride. I'm thinking I may head up this Thursday and try my best to recreate the loop. I'll be armed with my NEMBA HP Loop map and a Camelbak full of Halloween candy. Seriously, if you're reading this, you have Thursday off (or you want to blow it off), and you want to hit Harold Parker drop me a line at the shop any day but Thursday or Sunday. This is not an empty gesture, if you have a mountain bike, you're reading this blog, and you have the slightest inclination to call in sick to work to ride, you are my kind of people.

IBC Halloween Ride

2008-10-27T20:16:00.007-04:00

On Saturday October 25th IBC Boston hosted a little Halloween ride around Boston and Cambridge. The weather looked ominous and the forecast was grim but quite a few brave souls showed up for a cruise and some post-ride recovery barbecue from Redbones.

I chose to ride my Schwinn Varsity, all thirty-six Lbs. of it. This bike possesses mystical qualities which render it virtually maintenance free. It's like a Unicorn with a basket.

Steve The Pirate showed up. Garrr!

Todd the Roadie race mechanic showed up too. Yarp!

The woman on the left is from Holland, she was psyched to see so many Americans on bikes.

Me and Chris Agee. Who's scarier, really?

Dan from Montana. The Elderly Drunken Master.

The crew enjoys some Allston scenery.

Taking a lane in Harvard Square. Craig was dressed as the future Vice President. I didn't have the heart to tell him that he looked nothing like Joe Biden. Behind him are Leonel and Andrew Correa Leonel is a former Colombian National Team Pro. Andrew is his eight year old son, he was on the front of the ride the entire time. Leonel had to hold him back or he would have dropped us all. This kid is going to be a contender.

Miriam and a relative of Austin Powers...Boston Powers?

The weather held for us and we all made it back dry and hungry for some killer barbecue.

Welcome to our bloggish thingy.

2008-10-27T16:05:00.001-04:00

A man of many wheelie faces.

No real news or content here. Just wanted to welcome everyone to our blog ( I hear all the kids have them these days). The man in the photo is Dan. He's from Wisconsin, they all make faces when they ride out there. I'm sure someone will come along and post something interesting or inspiring sooner or later....