training wheels? we don't need no stinking training wheels!

so, this has been a long time coming but proteus is now a dealer for like a bike! like a bike is a bike for children that takes a different approach to learning to ride a bike. I know a budding young cyclist named Holden (who is now 4 years old). He began riding a like a bike at age 2. There are no pedals or training wheels, it works just like a very old velocipede. There are a number of cool things about them. As they improve, they can go faster and faster and when they transition to a real bicycle, they will not need training wheels. I'm REALLY excited to be selling these because I think they are great.

We will be selling the likeabike aluminum version as well.
Oh, and about a week ago, a friend of mine (HOlden's father) called me to tell me that Holden just rode down 3 stairs in the park on his 16" wheel bike. We may be looking at a future Kona CLUMP team member.

INTERBIKE

presently Jill and Yo are still in Vegas. I am sitting in the Houston airport for 4 HOURS! figured I might as well provide people with an interbike update:

There's a lot to swallow so I'll spread it out over a few days.
Tuesday Morning: Outdoor Demo.
I entered with a fairly comprehensive list of bikes that we want to sell in the shop and I wanted to evaluate them to see if they are something we might carry or not. I soon discovered that the companies didn’t bring those bikes with them. I immediately switched gears and started riding fun bikes. I was able to check out:
from surly: the pugsley, the karate monkey, the big dummy.
from kona: the hei hei, and something else but I don’t remember
from Jamis: the XAM1, the super nova
from Van Dessel – gin and trombones
and a few more, but I don’t remember them all

they had the following areas set up:
a road loop with a long gradual descent, a flat and a long gradual climb.
a really cool BMX/pump track type deal (I rode this a few times on the mountain bikes, even the pugsley).
good mountain biking with narrow sandy singletrack. Riding in the desert felt very strange to me.
and THE MOST HORRIBLE CYCLOCROSS COURSE EVER.

the last part is particularly relevant because I got a chance to go to a cross clinic with National Champion Tim Johnson. we rode through the demo cross course and then decided to ride down the hill to a big flat hardpack dirt area instead. we made hurdles out of really old discarded mountain bike tubes that were sitting on the ground. The clinic was good, I am already very aware of all my mistakes, but I learned some new strategies for trying to fix them. I made plans to try out my “new skills” at Cross Vegas.

A couple of the more interesting moments of the clinic:
-He is an advocate of pushing the bike on some hills.
-Doesn’t really bother with the step-thru dismount
-does ZERO running training. he actually said “I walk my dog. That’s my cross training.”

later, some info on the show and a write up of the CROSS VEGAS RACE.

flat tires. patches. sneaky tricks!

Sometimes you'll go miles and miles without getting a flat; riding at low pressure, riding over glass, sometimes people are just lucky. I'm that way, but sometimes the pendulum swings in the other direction.

In the space of about 2 months I got more flats that I could shake a stick at. I try to ride with a spare tube with me on longer rides. But if I'm in the city I get lazy and just hop out the door. A few times without a patch or a tube or a pump. Here's my new trick: Get a park "SUPERPATCH" (which is basically a sticker) and some electrical tape or masking tape. Tape a patch to your frame. Now you'll always have one.


Now here's the thing about patches: The "Industry line" is that they are just supposed to get you home until you can replace the tube. A new tube is more reliable than a patched tube. That's why we don't patch tubes, we replace them.

BUT, because I became a flat magnet lately, I have taken to patching my old tubes and keeping them as spares. The superpatches have always leaked on me over time, but they definitely hold the air enough to get home. I've used the other patch kits (with the patches, rubber and sandpaper) and patched tires and ridden miles and miles on them. So the next time you change a flat, maybe keep that tire and patch it, just in case.

2 more tricks!
1. Jill taught me this one. If you get a big hole in your TIRE not your innertube and you still need to get home, take a dollar bill, fold it in half and use it as a boot for the hole in your tire. I had to try this a few weeks ago and it worked!

2. save the washers from your old presta tubes (the threaded ones), they can be used for all sorts of monkeying around on your bike purposes.

cyclocross again!!!!!

Well, bikes not racing.

THE 2009 KONA'S ARE IN!!!! Not all of them, but the cross bikes! Come get a look @ the new hotness.


We have Jakes, and Jake the snakes!

cyclocross blog -->

don't forget to check the proteus cyclocross blog. a few other team members have been added as authors so get ready for some reports from other people (old and new). link is up and to the right.

another cool customer and her cool bike!

Here's Mary and her Kona Dew. Mary is very serious about energy conservation. She's riding a lot more often than she is driving and she is into SOLAR POWERED COOKING! I don't know that much about that, but I think it sounds pretty cool.



so far for the "customers" and their bikes, we seem to have more ladies than guys so if you're a guy and you want get your picture taken, just let us know and we will hook it up!