Monthly Archives: August 2012

Silver Cups for SKF Bottom Brackets

Posted on August 31, 2012 by

More than three years after their introduction in North America, the SKF bottom brackets have lived up to their promise as the most reliable bottom bracket on the market. Many have been ridden for tens of thousands of miles in … Continue reading →

Posted in Bottom brackets | 5 Comments

Doping in Randonneuring?

Posted on August 27, 2012 by

With the recent news that Lance Armstrong effectively admitted to a large-scale doping conspiracy on his teams, the issue of doping has been front and center in the cycling news. A few readers have asked whether doping exists in randonneuring, … Continue reading →

Posted in PBP Preparation, Rides | 34 Comments

Are “Safer” Cars a Menace to Cyclists?

Posted on August 22, 2012 by

Today’s papers report of a new government safety initiative: Cars talking to each other, for example, to warn the driver that cars ahead are stopped at a red light, or that another car is about to ignore a stop sign … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 58 Comments

People who have inspired us: Mike Kone

Posted on August 16, 2012 by

One of the greatest influences that led to Bicycle Quarterly and Compass Bicycles has been Mike Kone (center above, discussing a historic photo with Robert Limouzi (right), who rode on the René Herse team in the 1960s, and the author … Continue reading →

Posted in People who inspired us | 8 Comments

Suspension Losses

Posted on August 12, 2012 by

Suspension losses often are overlooked, but they are an important factor in tire performance. When we first tested the performance of tires in a roll-down test, we found that very high pressures offer almost no improvements of performance. This contradicted … Continue reading →

Posted in Bicycle Quarterly Back Issues, Testing and Tech | 74 Comments

A Versatile Performance Bike

Posted on August 7, 2012 by

In last week’s post, I talked about the joys of riding a performance bike. In the mainstream, “performance” means a racing bike, despite the limitations that go along with narrow tires, lack of fenders, etc. Unfortunately, many of the “alternatives” … Continue reading →

Posted in Testing and Tech | 82 Comments

Riding Fast is Fun!

Posted on August 2, 2012 by

The cycling community sometimes seems to fall into two camps: Those who emulate racing, and those who don’t care the least about racing and performance. On the one side, you have the mainstream bike industry, who finds it easy to … Continue reading →

Posted in Rides | 47 Comments