Custom Bike Night

Was it a night to remember? I think so! What a grate turn out. 30 plus custom bikes on display. And 70 plus guest to check them out. A BIG Thanks to those that made it the best custom night ever, Our customers! Because of you we are able to bring it all together.
Kent, Miah, Paul, Greg and I just wanted to say thanks for a grate night.

Serotta Names Ray Browning as Director of Cycling Sciences

JANUARY 24, 2006 -- SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY (BRAIN)—Serotta Competition Bicycles announced that Ray Browning, Ph.D. has been named the director of cycling sciences for the company. In creating the new position, Serotta underscores its commitment to maintaining a scientific basis for its expanding range of educational programs and broadening product line. “My goal is to continue to expand and integrate Serotta’s scientific understanding of cycling into optimizing the human-bicycle interaction,” said Browning. “To accomplish this goal, I plan to work with individuals from both the scientific community and the bicycling industry to continue to develop the Serotta School curriculum and class offerings.”Browning’s responsibilities will include managing the Serotta School programs as well as working with the product development team on new products. The Serotta School program teaches bicycle retail staff how a bicycle should be configured to fit an individual’s goals, physiology and biomechanics.Browning holds a Ph.D. in Integrative Physiology and teaches biomechanics at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He has been involved in bicycling research and bike fitting for more than 20 years.

Team Discovery, Life without Lance

Team Discovery Lands in Solvang

The 2006 Discovery Channel Pro Cycling team rode into Solvang, CA. for their annual winter training camp last week. Just days before the riders arrived, the team mechanics had taken delivery of 28 team issue Madone SL and five team issue Madone SSL frames that would be built-up in less than two days.

Just as occurred last year, a select handful of riders were chosen to participate in some wind tunnel & velodrome testing down south before the camp kicked into gear. Those riders included George Hincapie, Viatcheslav Ekimov, Tom Danielson, Yarolslav Popovych, Janez Branjkovic, Vladimir Gusev and Paolo Savoldelli.

As always, there was a full contingent of Trek engineers and product managers also in attendance to oversee the on-going development of Trek & Bontrager products. In fact, the day after the team was in the tunnel, the Trek engineers stayed on to continue testing a variety of new Trek & Bontrager products, including the new Equinox TTX time trial bike. Expect to see both the Trek TTT and TTX bikes under the team until they take delivery of a fleet of yet-to-be made Equinox TTX bikes which will become the new time trial machine for the team.

The Solvang camp took place under the usual clear blue skies and the riders once again happily faced the sinewy steep climbs and descents. Underneath them were the beautiful new OCLV 110 Trek Madone SL 5.9 – the official bike of the 2006 Discovery Channel team. Trek graphic designer Chad Bailey once again designed a visual masterpiece with the new metal-flake silver/bright blue colors. The bikes absolutely glisten in the sunlight and both the rider’s and team director Johan Bruyneel thought they looked great.

Also in attendance was the new OCLV 55 Carbon Madone SSL climbing bike. Like the Madone SL, the SSL had a great paint job and it really looked exceptional along with the Bontrager Aeolus wheels. Many riders were seen lifting the SSL and shaking their heads at how light it felt. Up & coming American Tom Danielson couldn’t stop asking if one of the bikes was intended for him.

As for the other product on display, there were a few bikes sporting the Trek 9i computer (most bikes were running SRM power meters for camp), more bikes were using the Bontrager Race XXX Lite carbon stem this year and a few bikes were even outfitted with the super-light OCLV Boron Bontrager Race XXX Lite VR handlebar. A small cheer went up at one team dinner when team liaison Scot Daubert announced that the sub-180 gram handlebar would be available for everyone.

In the wheel department, most of the riders started off camp riding their bombproof, team spec training wheels, but as the camp progressed some of them would begin testing the new 5.0mm Bontrager Aeolus wheels. When the team hits the first race, the Aeolus wheel will be standard equipment.

Other Bontrager components used by the team include: Race X Lite cages (the Race XXX Lite carbon cages will be saved for climbing stages), ???? handlebar tape, and Bzzzkill handlebar inserts. The riders get to choose between four different Bontrager saddles; Victory, Classic, Race X Lite, Race X Lite Pro

A majority of the Discovery Channel riders are now using Nike footwear. Even George Hincapie has made the switch and he was saying really good things about the Lance Ltd, he was wearing. While there are few riders using the Poggio 4UL, most seemed to be opting for the Lance Ltd. shoe because of the ratcheting buckle.

As you might expect, the Discovery Channel cameras were rolling the whole time so expect to see plenty of TV coverage of the team as the break into the new season. The first big race for the team will be the Tour of California (Feb. 19-26). For all the latest on Trek and the Discovery Channel team, be sure to follow along with Scott Daubert’s Road To The Tour web column and sign-up for the Exit 180 newsletter (both on the Trek web site).

New Midwest Cycling team

From Cyclingnews

Tilford to lead Midwest Trek/VW squad

Multiple cyclocross and mountain bike champion Steve Tilford will head another new Midwest team in 2006, when he lines up as rider/manager for the Midwest Trek-Volkswagen team. Tilford brings over 20 years of racing and team management experience to tey squad that will focus on the larger Midwest races including the Tour of Kansas City, Gateway Cup, Lincoln Plating Spring Cycling Classic as well as select National Racing Calendar events.

The team includes Bill Stolte (Topeka, KS), Shadd Smith (Shawnee Mission, KS), Adam Mills (Lawrence, KS), Tony Wilhelm (Kansas City, KS), junior rider Peter Boyd (Omaha, NE) and Megan Hottman (Mission, KS). The team is seeking another Category 2 rider to round out the roster.

In addition to an active competitive schedule, the Midwest TREK-Volkswagen Team will support various TREK Bicycle Store events as well as local and regional fundraising efforts.

TREK Store of St. Louis and Kansas City Co-owner, Jay Thomas will serve as Program Director. Peter Maxwell will provide Administrative Director duties.

"We are excited as a company to be involved with a program that combines veteran race savvy with younger riders like Tony Wilhem," said Thomas. "This program is about the future."

For 2006, the Midwest TREK-Volkswagen Team will proudly ride TREK Madone 5.2 bicycles equipped with Shimano Ultegra components and Bontrager wheelsets. The riders will wear Voler clothing and spin in Nike shoes.

The Midwest TREK-Volkswagen Team has been made possible by the generous support of TREK, Volkswagen, Nike, Bontrager, Voler Team Apparel, JJ's, the TREK Bicycle Store of Kansas City, the TREK Bicycle Store of St. Louis and the TREK Bicycle Store of Omaha.

Departures Interview

A Bicycle Built for You
Serotta brings the art of custom tailoring to the open road.

By Joseph Hooper

Funnyman Robin Williams has two. Less funny presidential also-ran John Kerry has four. Rich but not famous Manhattan hedge-fund magnate Ephi Gildor has just flown his helicopter 45 miles up the Hudson River to the town of Central Valley, New York, to get fitted for his very own Serotta—the ultimate custom-built pedaling machine.

Soon after entering Serotta's headquarters, Gildor pronounces himself a hunchback. That's an exaggeration; he's an ex-jock with some curvature in his upper dorsal area. But Paul Levine, who trains Serotta "tailors" nationwide, doesn't miss a beat: "And we're going to build a bicycle for that hunchback."

While the name Serotta may suggest some high-end Italian job, the company is actually a labor of love for the American Ben Serotta. After apprenticing with a master bicycle-frame builder in London, he returned to his hometown, Saratoga Springs, New York, in 1972 to marry traditional craftsmanship with a high-tech approach to customized fit. Most bespoke bike companies will construct a bike from your body measurements the way a Neapolitan clothier sews a tailor-made suit. But for the 150 Serotta dealers across the States (including Levine, with stores in Manhattan and Central Valley), matching more than 3,000 bikes a year to their new owners goes well beyond the tape measure.

First, Levine quizzes Gildor about his riding habits and goals (to compete in his first Ironman triathlon, it turns out). Since Gildor is new to cycling, he doesn't really have a riding style, but a more experienced client could tell Levine whether, for instance, he attacks the hills more like Lance Armstrong, who is often out of the saddle and leaning over the front wheel, or former American great Greg LeMond, who usually slid back in the saddle and grinded away, his weight over the back wheel. (Rumor has it that LeMond won a Tour de France on a Serotta disguised to resemble the bike of one of his sponsors.) Different body weight distribution suggests a different optimal frame shape, or geometry. Levine does know that neophyte Gildor needs a stable, no-surprises ride, which translates to a longer wheelbase and gentler tube angles.

Unlike the off-the-rack racing machine in your local bike shop's window, a Serotta—be it the titanium Legend ($5,500-$7,500), the steel-framed CDA ($3,200-$5,000, depending on the components), or the carbon-and-titanium Ottrott ($8,000-$12,000)—doesn't have a fixed personality. The bike's temperament is what emerges in the fitting stages to suit the body and soul of its rider.

The heart of this process is a test ride on Serotta's trademark SizeCycle. A sophisticated version of a stationary trainer, it measures the power applied to each pedal with every stroke. As Levine adjusts the lengths and angles of the tubes that compose the diamond-shaped frame, as well as the position of the saddle and handlebars, he studies the power readout on the computer monitor to gauge the effect. The more natural Gildor's position, the fewer kinks in his "kinetic chain" of firing muscles, the more watts generated. Levine takes some 18 measurements from what is now a Gildor-tuned SizeCycle and plots them on a spreadsheet, which he'll send to the Serotta factory in Saratoga Springs. In four weeks' time Levine will have the frame, machined to within a millimeter's tolerance of his specs, and he'll build it with the best stuff on the market—Easton or Mavic carbon wheels; top drivetrain, or gruppo, from Shimano or
Campagnolo; a Fizik saddle; and Easton carbon handlebars—all positioned for comfort and
maximum leg power based on the SizeCycle data. ("How does the saddle feel?" Levine asks. "Pretty good but not like a sofa," Gildor says.) Serotta offers 25 frame colors and 12 decal choices, which you can mix and match to your heart's desire.

This level of customization defines Serotta in an increasingly crowded high-end bike market. Whether produced by larger U. S. companies such as Trek or smaller, more soigné Euro brands such as Colnago or Bianchi, equipment that was once the near-exclusive province of pro racers is now almost de rigueur for the keen recreational cyclist of means. We're talking frames of less than three pounds, made from superstrong, ultralight materials such as carbon fiber and titanium, matched with top-of-the-line gears, brakes, and cranks. The price of admission to this club begins at around $4,000 and maxes out somewhere north of ten.

Now, you can't spend that kind of money and buy a bad bike. But you can roll out of the shop with a bad fit, which amounts to the same thing. Either your body doesn't match an off-the-rack frame size (latenight talk-show host Conan O'Brien, he of the superlong legs, is a Serotta devotee) or the handlebar angle is wrong. You're too high or too low, too stretched out or too cramped. The result is less than optimal performance and, perhaps more important to the noncompetitor, the likelihood of an achy back, a tight neck, sore knees.

A Serotta fitting session can double as a remedial course in Serious Cycling 101. For example, O'Brien went on training rides with Levine to master basics such as pulling the pedals back and up from the six o'clock to the twelve o'clock position using the hamstring and psoas muscles so as to eliminate the "dead spots" in the stroke. Get it right and you're not just pedaling, you're "spinning," which has an almost metaphysical resonance. When Lance is really on form, he'll say he doesn't "feel the chain"—in other words, he's spinning so strongly and smoothly, all sensation of resistance melts away. Doubtless, Levine would like to capture that on a spreadsheet.

518-584-1221; www.serotta.com

Spit and Polished

Painting

Cutting the angles and welding the Ti

CNC Action

Ti Dropouts in the CNC process. The carbon lugs is placed in the CNC jig and machined to the correct angles. The lug before its placed into the jig.

Picture at the Factory

A TT frame from the mid to late 90's and a cool lugged steel and carbon frame.

A Picture with Ben

HIGHGEAR UNIVERSITY

Just a reminder to everyone that Thursday night the 19th we will not be having trainer classes as we embark on class # 3 in the Highgear University line up.
Training Periodization - How to plan your training year will be the topic discussed from a mountain, road and triathlon perspective.
Class fee is $10 and is free to Highgear Club members. If you have no reserved a spot, please call Highgear in the morning to confirm your attendance.
Cheers,
Your Highgear Staff

Serotta Cool Aid

Home at last

We made it! Didn't know if it was going to happen, delays getting out of New York (45 min.) We got to our plane in Detroit with 2 minutes to spare. I think that Detroit to Omaha was the longest plane ride it just would not stop. Anyway now we are home. We have the knowledge and we are dangerous.
Three days of 12 to 14 hours a day, a lot of information to take in in a short time frame.

More later

I have more to post I just need some sleep. Is been 4 long days and the battery is getting low. I'll post more later.
Later Scott

Mr. Ben Serotta

It was nice to talk to the man himself. Thanks again Ben.

Meivici

One finger

Serotta Factory

Sorry everyone we had some web issue yesterday and we couldn't get onto the internet. No harm no foul. Anyway yesterday was a very long day, we were up at 6:00 to eat and leave by 7:00 to go to the factory. And boy was it worth it. Lots of cool. Left there at 8:15 and then back to class till 6:30 and then back to the factory for more learning and a Q and A with the man himself Ben Serotta.
Now if I wasn't hot for Serotta you can bet your bottom dollar I am know. These are the best built bikes in the industry BAR NON! This company sets the bar, other company's hope to reach it. There fit process alone is unmatched by anyone, I don't have the time to get into the tubing and other developments. Lets just say it rocks!

One day down.

Up at 6:30 a.m. and done at 7:00 p.m. What a long day. Lots of information and lots more to learn. Its unreal all the information that goes into fitting a bicycle. It just doesn't stop. Its like the more I know the more I want to know. And the more I need to know. And on and on! Tomorrow we go to visit the factory, and with a little luck I'll add some picture after the day is done. Tomorrow starts even earlier, on the road to the factory by 7:00. Till then....

A cold night in New York.

Well we made it, and now its snowing. They say it wouldn't be a good class if the weather wasn't bad. When we landed it was 5o's and raining and now its snowing and about 20. At least we dont need to go anywhere its all here in the Inn.
I got to meet with Ben tonight and talk to Paul, (the instructor). The next 3 days are going to be long but very informative. And guess what? The first night and we get home-work. Read the first 20 pages because thats what we will ge going over tomorrow.

Off to Serotta

Well Mark and leave Saturday morning for serotta fit school. Should be fun and interesting I'll keep you all updated. Till then enjoy the weekend.

Custom Bike Night

You are invited to be our guest.

In our continuing effort to offer our customers the best in products and information, Highgear Bicycle Store of Omaha is inviting you to join us Saturday, January 28th 7:00 pm for our 4th annual Custom bike night.
This year, in addition to displaying our satisfied customer’s custom bikes from the last three years, we are offering incentives.*

1. We will pay the tax on your new frame and fork.
2. 12 month same as cash financing
3. Serotta owners club discounts.

To help you with any questions you may have, factory reps from Serotta, Trek, Bontrager and Shimano will be on hand.
The reps will bring with them some cool new products for you.
Check out the latest from Serotta with their new MeiVici road frame. Bontrager offers new Race xxx Lite carbon clincher road wheels, however, the other surprises you will have to come in to see.
Please come and join us for what will be a Do Not Miss night for cyclists in Omaha.
To our existing custom bike customers, please drop your bikes off at Highgear so your work of art may be showcased for all to enjoy.

RSVP to scott@highgearomaha.com by wed. January 25th






*incentive one per bike purchase

Local rider takes the next step.

Below is the press release from Midwestwheelmasters website.

Aaron Pool is a local rider that grew up in Omaha, he has been working hard to get the chance to ride and race in Europe.

From all of us at Highgear we would like to say Way too go Aaron! All your hard work is paying off. Keep your eye on the prize.

POOL ACCEPTED TO CYCLING CENTER IN BELGIUM :: 01/08/2006

Midwest Wheelmasters is please to announce that Aaron Pool has been accepted to the Cycling Center in Belgium.

Pool will take part in the 'Spring Program,' which will be held March 28 through May 26.

In addition to the training and instruction, Pool will have the opportunity to compete in select U23 UCI races in Europe. The United States U23 National watches the progress of riders at the Cycling Center and will often bring on riders who have completed the Cycling Center's program.

A web page for Pool with training and race updates as well as diary entries will be available at www.cyclingcenter.com

Busy, busy, busy.

The New Year brings new projects. What a week, Monday Busy. Tuesday, Miah, Greg and Paul all went to Lincoln for Trek University. And Wednesday was my turn. We all got learned up on Trek!
9 hours of information sweet!
So need less to say the blog is missing a day or two. Plans for the Custom bike night are coming together I'll be getting all that information out to you all soon. Today if all goes well. So far everything is working out better then expected. We are all excited.
We are doing trainer rides Monday through Thursday 7:15. Time to get back on the bike and have some fun. I know the weather been to nice to ride a trainer, that's cool.
The service contract is done and posted. As always if you have any questions call me.
We had a grate turn out for Polo last Sunday a lot of players and spectators as well.
This Sunday sounds like some people from Lincoln will be up to experience the game for the first time. So lets go out and have some fun!
That's all for now need to get back to work.

Service Contract

HIGHGEAR BICYCLE STORE OF OMAHA
SERVICE CONTRACT 2006 SEASON

This is for the cyclist who is interested in year long maintenance package. Included in price is labor cost for the year. You will need to purchase a service contract for each bike.

What you get:

- One complete Bicycle Over-haul Over $220.00 Value. Your bike will be stripped down, all parts removed, frame cleaned and inspected. Hubs, bottom bracket, head-set and derailleur disassembled, cleaned in solvent tank, parts inspected for wear and damage. Warn parts will be replaced, bearings repacked installed and adjusted. New cables and housing will be installed and adjusted. Road bikes will have bars wrapped and Mountain bikes will have grips installed.

- Free adjustments as needed. Includes front and rear derailleur adjustments. Front and rear brake adjustments, front and rear hubs adjusted, headset adjusted, crank removed and bottom bracket torque checked. Wheels trued, Chain and cassette checked for wear and replaced if needed. Chain lubed. Tires checked for wear and replaced if needed.


- Two Total Performance Tune-ups $180.00 value. Crank, chain, front derailleur, rear derailleur and cassette removed and cleaned in solvent tank, inspected for wear and replaced if needed, and installed adjusted and lubed. Tires checked for wear replaced, if needed.


- Expedited service, 24 hour turnaround on repairs, excluding special order parts.

- Due to the different levels of components we can not offer bearings, chains, cassettes or freewheel, spokes, rims, tires and tubes in the price of the package.

- The contract must be purchased and initial overhaul completed by February 28th, 2006.

- A $500.00 value yours for $350.00

Team Night Update

Plans for the 4th annual Custom bike night are well under way. In a change from previous years we will have Factory representatives present to answer any question that you might have. Confirmed Representatives so far are from Shimano, Serotta and Trek. More information to come soon. I will keep you all posted.

Service Contract

Just a quick note,
Highgear will be offering Service contract's this year. Check out the www.highgearomaha.com and here for more details coming soon. Or give me a call at the store.

The gangs all here!

I would just like to tell everyone that joined us for Polo today THANK YOU! If you all had half as much fun as I did then your still doing back flips. Twenty plus players and an audience to boot! You just got to love it!
And don't worry when it gets to icy for Polo I have another pass-time up my sleeve for us, stay tuned for updates as winter gets into full swing. For now its still a work in progress.