Friday WTF: One For The Ladies

   8 time US Duathlon champion, 1 time world champion, and general handsome fella Kenny Souza in an ad for Nishiki:

"Laaaaaadies"

   The 80's were a weird time.

Brand Spotlight: Dosnoventa Bikes

   Check out this sweet piece of bike: The Dosnoventa Oslo. This is an awesome entrant in the cyclocross scene. Here is your money shot as requested:

Oslo

   Dosnoventa was founded in 2010, primarily for fixed and track bikes. The new CX addition is available as a frame only for now, but it has all the right stuff:

• Hi-Mod carbon
• Full carbon fork
• Disc brake
• Tapered headset
• Internal Cable routing
• BB30 bottom bracket

   This is a great go-to list of what to get on a cx bike. I particularly like the non drive side frame stiffener, to help out with the forces of the disc brake. I also like the black inside the rear triangle. It comes in some other colors, but why wold you want anything but this racer red?

Parting shot

   My only gripe? Largest size is a 56! Ah well, maybe in a few years they'll expand their line. 

Ball Fall Toy

   Calvin has been going to a new school for a couple months now, and I have noticed he really likes playing with this toy they have. It's (inexplicably) called the amazing Ball Tracker:

Track those balls

  The Amazing Ball Tracker is a fairly simple toy relying on gravity to do most of the work. It's about $85 on Amazon. I figured it would be pretty straightforward to make one myself, and maybe a little fun.
   We have a bunch of tennis balls, so I used them as the default ball size. I got some wood from Home Depot for about $15 and then took to some building.

Progress shot

   I wanted it to have a clean construction look, so I was careful to be sure the trays were all the same length. I cut them all down, then clamped them together and trimmed the long ends again. I did the same with the sides so everything fit together snugly.

Trays all together for cut

   The materials were really simple:

• 1/2" x 4" wood (13' total)
• 1" x 1/8" (20' total)
• 1/2" pan head screws
• 1-1/2" gold screws

   Cutting the holes was a challenge, because I didn't want to buy a 3" hole saw for 4 cuts. I used my 2-1/2" saw, then a jig saw to widen the hole a bit. That left less-than-perfect hole, but functional. I also was careful to pre drill all screw holes to keep the thin wood form splitting. 

   Initially I had a 5" drop for the balls, but that was too far and they kept bouncing out. I shortened it to 4" and it works much better. The bottom tray has no hole so the balls just collect there.

Calvin in action

   Max is pretty intrigued by it, mostly because of the tennis balls. Here's a little video of Calvin working it:

Trying to contain his excitement

   All in all it was a great success. I can see if I were to do it again some simple things I'd do differently, extend the 1" x 1/8" slat to the end of the thing, make it a little cleaner, have the hole a more oval shape to keep the balls from getting jammed up. Maybe in a couple years when Wes is ready for something I'll have another opportunity!

Friday WTF: Aero Scooter

Has Aero gone too far?

Razor indeed!

   I do appreciate the dedication to pull a scooter apart and put on the stem and drop bars for a gag. This guy is also quite dedicated:

To Victory!

Togs: Thumb Over Grip System

   Ever on the hunt for new and fresh products for my loyal reader, Here's something new. If you've been over to MTBR.com, you may have seen their review of this as well (it's where I saw it). Take a look at TOGS, the thumb over grip system.

TOGS in action

   TOGS are a little plastic knob that clamps on your bar between your grip and shifters / brakes giving you another way to hold your bars.

Thanks, MTBR

   What I like about these is that it allows you to hold the bar how I often hold it when my hands are tired and it's pretty non invasive. I have Ergon bar ends on my single speed, but on a race bike they're a little cumbersome. These solve that with very little to-do.

Parting shot

If you were holding your bars with the thump over the top, the danger is and unseen obstacle jerking the bars out of your hands and suddenly you're riding no handed in the rock garden. I like this, and given a chance to get a pair, I certainly will, and report back!
    TOGS retail for a reasonable $25 and are available at TOGS.com

Actual parting shot

Whiskey + Bicycling + ??? = Profit?

Turns out that whiskey drinkers, like cyclists, can be counted on to buy pretty much anything promised to make the experience better. Take these whiskey stones, they are solid cubes used in leu of ice to keep your drink cold. They come in all kinds of shapes.

Monogram blocks

Nuts and bolts

Just nuts

   Why not take advantage of both groups of suckers buyers and sell a bike thing that keeps whiskey cool?! Here's my idea:

Something something nuts

   Don't even clean the grease; call it 'authentic flavoring'. There's a sucker born every minute, and I'm going to take that suckers money.

Friday WTF: Polite Sign Edition

   This sign is probably in the Netherlands. Or Portland.

"Good day, Sir!"

   More like...

"$%#@ you, sir!"

BMX Supercross in Colorado

   I used think Olympic BMX is a bit silly. It's overlarge BMX, with a 25' starting hill and huge jumps. To me, it seems like organizers don't have confidence in BMX to let it stand on it's own without making it more extreme. 

London Olympics

   I got into a few conversations about furthering the sport with larger berms, smooth even rhythms, and even clipless pedals are all in the name of furthering the sport. And that's good. I'm happy that there is still interest in BMX and even more happy that it's an olympic sport. 

Typical SX BMX tack

   So this Olympic BMX, or as it's branded BMX Supercross, was previously only seen in the olympics. For 2015 USA BMX is announcing a 4 race series in the States, which is awesome! This will improve the perception of the race style, give exposure, and allow US riders some practice for 2016. And what's even better? One of the races is in Colorado! 

2015 BMX Supercross Schedule

   And the Colorado race is in Grand Junction even! It is being paired with the Mile High National BMX race that features a pro class. This is sure to be a fun fast weekend in Grand Junction!

Cargo Bikes: For Kids!

   This long cold dark winter has sure made riding the cargo bike hard. In the meantime, I'm looking at pictures of other people cargo biking, and check out what I came across: Cargo bikes for kids! First off, a nice simple three wheeler with a box in the front. This must be a blast for a kid!

Copenhagen, probably

Here's a little 12 and 16" version, ridden by an adult, or some reason, probably since it requires more balance:

Beep Beep!

And lastly, you saw it here first - Cargo Pushbike:

Wood is real

   This is certainly unique, at the expense of function even. But I love it. Ok snow and cold, time to turn to sunshine and warm so we can get out there in the Bullitt!