Hot Chocolate and Cookies Dec 24th 10-5

Come join us Wednesday, December 24th for hot chocolate and cookies. We'll have wrapping paper available, too, for any last minute gifting. Be sure to check out some of the awesome gift items we have. Fun Reflectors for $5, every design of sock you can imagine for around $10 a pair, bicycle repair manuals for $33, O2 rain jackets for $32, wool beanies $15-$30, etc.....

Please note that we will be closing at 5pm Dec. 24th.

LEFTOVERS!!!!

so we have some leftover from the big sale.

2008 bikes are now 10%
but we still have some slammin' deals on 2007 bikes. THe following bikes are 50% off their old MSRP (which is even lower than the 2009 MSRP)


Bianchi Virata 49cm was $2299 now $1149.50
Kona Kula 29er 20" was $2299 now $1149.50
Jamis Dakota Elite 19" was $1650 now $825
Felt F75 56cm was $1399 now $699.50
Jamis Exile SS 29er 15" was $1000 now $500
Kona Dew Deluxe 49cm was $599 now $299.50

Kids bikes are 10% off for Cranksgiving Sale

All kids bikes are 10% off regardless of model year.

some other crazy deals @ the sale this weekend NOV 28-30.

so. the 50% off bikes have been getting a lot of attention, but it seems worth it to point out what a deal the 20% off bikes are. It's an unfortunate fact that bike prices from 2008 to 2009 have made a jump across the boards. So the difference between the old and new is pretty significant. I was never good at math in school, but let's do some anyway.

2008 Jamis Nova Pro = $1100. 20% off = 880. 2009 Jamis nova pro = $1575 (regular price). So you save almost 50% of the 2009 MSRP. (there are a couple upgrades on the nova pro this year also, but you get the idea)


let's do another one.
Kona Major Jake (yeah, we have one). $2000 normally. 2008 sale price would be $1600. 2009 regular price is $2200, so you're saving $600.


one more?
OK.

Bianchi VOlpe. 2008 price = $1000. 20% off is $800. 2009 Normal Price = $1100.
So you save $300.


Oh, I said I would let the cat out of the bag for some of the 50% off bikes. A few are mentioned in the comments for the last entry, but here's a few more:

Somebody's going to get a Felt F85 Road bike with 105 and Ultegra for $525.


Some lucky devil will get a Jamis Dakota Elite MTB for $825

Felt F75 for $700
FULL CARBON Jamis XENITH PRO: $1550
Bianchi Castro Valley for $425 with a front Dynamo Generator Hub!


and more. hope to see you this weekend.

3rd ANNUAL CRANKSGIVING SALE

check here later for updates on what kind of crazy bikes are going to be on sale. ok. maybe not crazy bikes. but on crazy sale.

Don't forget to vote and election day discount/party

WOW! Election day is almost here! Tuesday, Nov. 4th. I'm going to go vote as soon as possible. I hope everyone else is going to vote, too. Each and every person's vote truly matters. If anyone needs help getting to the polls please call us. We'll free up staff to drive you. Let us know how we can help. We live in this nation and we need to participate in it's governing.

Let's celebrate this historic day. Hope everyone wears their "I Voted" sticker. Feel free Tuesday to ask for 10% off on any one item in the shop.

We are also having an election returns party at the shop. We'll provide food and beverages as we watch the returns. Come join us.

RIDE OF THE LIVING DEAD 4! a proteus halloween ride/party

It’s that time again, the Proteus Halloween Ride / Party is upon us. The past few years we have had slow casual rides on a weekend morning, but this year we’re going to turn up the spooky (but keep the ride casual). At 7PM Thursday Oct. 30th we will meet @ the shop. At 7:30 sharp (no stragglers!) we will roll out for a casual, slow, fun night time ride along the local trail system. There will be some on-road riding, but most will be on trails. Dress warmly because it will probably be a little chilly. Bring a light if you have one, if you don’t it’s OK. Along the way, we are going to stop briefly, turn out most of the lights and enjoy some “spooky live music.” Then we turn around and hightail it back to the shop (probably arriving around 8:30 or a little later?) for some snacks, food and drinks.

New gift cards and a tip for squeezing in more ride time

Last year's gift cards are all gone. Instead of gift cards, they were framed 3-color linoleum reduction prints. We kinda like that idea so we are trying it again. This time, the gift cards are gocco riso prints of a front dropout, hub, axle, and spokes. 36 were made. Hopefully people like them. Here's a picture.



They should be available @ the shop by Thursday.


Fortunately, we all have lives outside of cycling. No matter how obsessed we may seem when talking to people who don't get it, we all still have other things going on in our lives. Sometimes the trivial things in our lives get in the way of riding bicycles, but hopefully riding bicycles never gets in the way of the important things.

I'm a fairly busy guy and I have a hard time squeezing in as much time on the saddle as I'd like. Today, I think I had a good idea. My wife and I had a number of errands to do and one of them involved going to IKEA and buying a set of shelves. The IKEA is about 12 miles from my house. Instead of trying to cram in a ride before we left, I decided to meet her there. I got on google maps, got what seemed to be a decent route, took off and she met me there. It took her about 30 minutes, it took me about an hour. She waited a bit before she left and everything worked out perfectly timewise.

Now, I realize I'm not the first guy to think of this. I'm sure I read this tip someplace else, but what's important is that I'm passing it on. So maybe give it a try, I definitely think that I'll try to do this more often.

NEW BIKES

We got a lot of 2009 bikes in recently. Please come in and check out.

For the mountain bikers (or future mountain bikers)
THe Jamis Durango - entry level MTB.

For the around towners and fitness riders
bianchi iseo
jamis coda sport
kona smoke

for the fast commuters or cyclocrossers:
the kona honky tonk (DOWNTUBE SHIFTER STEEL ROAD BIKE UNDER $900!!!)
kona jake and jake the snake

we have more in the back waiting to be built! come by.

More Customers and their bikes!!!

I've been slacking a bit. These pictures were taken a while ago.
Here's John and his new Felt Mountain Bike.

and here's a picture that Charlotte sent us of her trip to Washington State with her Felt Road bike.


Please feel free to send us pictures of yourself riding your bike. If you do, I will do my best to try and get it up here!

a little bit later, there will be an update on some great 2008 bikes we got in.

Las Vegas CX

if anyone wants to be bored with the details of the CX Vegas race. hop on over to the proteus cyclocross page. (look up and to the right for the link). Here's a picture jill took of me with her phone.

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!

New Louis Garneau Stuff

It's not out yet, but we had a chance to see some of the Louis Garneau 2009 apparel and we're pretty stoked on it. It really seems like they hit the nail on the head this year. Anyone who has a pair of the high end LG shorts knows how comfy they are. We have been on a quest for really nice cycling attire that you can wear on and off the bike.

Here's some of the New LG Stuff modeled by US!. Also if you get a chance let us know what you think between the black plaid shorts and the brownish knickers. We might not carry both, but we are definitely going to carry one of them and customer input would be really nice. Keep in mind that the black shorts will be a lot shorter on most people, but I have extremely short legs so they look like knickers on me (the knickers we basically pants when I tried them on).

Here's a really cool bag, that is also a pannier!


the shorts. I'm not sure if you can see, but the pockets are closer to the center vs. the side.

the knickers and the shorts both have a removeable liner

katie, rocking one of the new jerseys!



so let us know. there is also a really cool riding skirt made with the same plaid as the black shorts (also with removeable liner) but the picture didn't come out.

Kona continues to be a "fun" company.

if you're sitting at a desk looking for something to read while you kill time eating your lunch. check out the Kona On-Line Magazine. I really like the article about Eric Tonkin.

1st cx practice of the year!

starting last night, there will be a weekly cyclocross practice on the Univ of MD campus. Thursday nights. For now, they start at 6:30 and will run probably until 8. if you can't get there by 6:30, just wait in front of the steps of the comcast center and we will roll by soon enough.

Last night was a very low-key ride.

Both Bens were there, along with Hillary, Dale, Jen and Ryan from the Bike rack. we rode quite a few warm up laps and then maybe 4 total at pace. I broke out the helmet cam last night so check it out if you want.

speaking of Carbon Fiber...

It's not just for bikes anymore. We have some really cool jerseys by Louis Garneau that actually have carbon fiber threads in them.




WHAT!?! Jim, that's crazy talk. Why on earth would you put carbon fiber threads in a jersey?

well the LG carbon Ion Jerseys are:

extremely light. very breathable. very durable (a lot of ultra lightweight jerseys are on the delicate side of things)

so come check them out if you are still suffering through the summer heat and humidity.

I love the smell of carbon fiber in the morning.

we recently sold some really great bikes to some even greater people. check them out!

Here's Melanie with her brand new Orbea DIVA!

And Here's Karen with her brand new Jamis Xenith Comp Femme!

Please adopt me

My name is Sadie and I live next door to Jill in Baltimore. I am looking for a good home, if you would like to adopt me, please call the shop @ 301-441-2928 or e-mail jill (AT) proteusbicycles.com
I have already been treated for fleas and I am SUPER DUPER SWEET.

CARS!?!?! who needs a car?

We have been getting a lot of calls lately about Xtracycles. we are an xtracycle dealer, but they are sold out across the country. Surly came out with a cargo bike frame called the big dummy that works with the xtracycle. They sold out almost immediately also.

Another cargo bike that hasn't been on as many people's radar is the Kona UTE. it's rad. we love it. apparently our customers love it too. We sold 2 in a week. This made me a little bummed because now I can't ride it to the store for lunch. But at the same time, I'm super stoked that people are riding such a cool bike. So stoked that I took their pictures with their new cool bikes!

Here's Wendy. She's really tall and the Ute only comes in one size, but we were able to make it work



THis is Lee and his Ute. we swapped the bars for some risers, threw on some bar ends, and extended his stem and he's ready to roll too!

not just for fun!

as gas prices rise, people are beginning to talk more and more about using their bikes as transportation and not just recreation. all of us @ proteus ride when we can, but none of us live totally car-free. It's really easy to come up with an excuse to drive: I have to bring something heavy home, it's raining, that road is not very good/safe/smooth etc.

I have been trying really hard lately to not let those excuses get to me and it has been really nice. A simple thing that has made a big difference is playing around with baskets and racks!



front basket: I have a really simple one that goes on and off and hangs from the bars and it has become one of my favorite bike accesories, It's really nice to ride around, haul stuff, AND not have a sweaty back from a bag.

Rear rack, a simple easy way to make your bike much more utilitarian. I have a large wire basket that I zip-tied to the rack and I was able to ride to an outdoor movie with food, locks, a blanket, and 2 folding chairs. the weight always seems weird for the first minute but then you totally adjust, I've found that larger loads feel better once you get going. One of the many items that I drool over in the shop is a quick release basket for rear racks. It looks really classy and goes on and off in seconds.



now, anyone who knows me, knows that I have a bicycle acquisition problem. I have had plans to add an xtracycle attachment to one of my bikes for a few months, but Xtracyle has been sold out for the year for some time. Just in time, we received a couple Kona Ute's. These bikes are SO COOL. 8 feet long, built for cargo, handles really steady, still able to hop over curbs and small logs, room for 29'er mountain bike tires and has front disc brakes. Can you tell that I want one? unfortunately living in a small Baltimore row home with 9 bicycles and a wife who has been far more tolerant than necessary would suggest that this is probably a bad move for me. That said, I can't stop thinking about picking one up. Come give one a try, because it's COOL!



pretty long-winded entry I guess, but if you still have 10 minutes to kill, watch this segment from CBS Sunday on increased bicycle usage.

proteus bicycles @ the tour!

well not really. but let me explain... every now and again, we get people coming into the shop asking if our bikes are as good as trek, cannondale, specialized and giant. I then take the time to explain that in many ways, no bike company is necessarily better or worse than any other (big box bikes excluded). The main thing those other companies have going for them is size and name recognition so the average non-cyclist still may have heard of them. Pacific Bicycles has totally taken advantage of this in buying the names of Schwinn and Mongoose and using that to sell unsafe, poorly-assembled bicycles in big-box stores.

But that's not the point of this post at all. I just wanted to let you know that 3 brands of bicycles we carry at Proteus are currently being ridden in the Tour de France.

The Garmin Chipotle Team rides Felt.


Barloworld rides Bianchi.


Euskaltel Euskadi rides Orbea.



The tour has been pretty interesting this year, and it's pretty much on in the shop non-stop. If you haven't been watching, you might want to turn it on this Saturday, it should be a pretty cool stage.

nope, it's not the latest in club wear...

as the temperature climbs and the humidity rises, it seems a lot easier to skip riding because of the heat. We got this crazy gadgety type base layer in. It's basically a polyester fishnet singlet. The box says that the mesh feature creates space between you and your jersey, and that this improves air flow and cools you more. I have to admit, I was skeptical when I saw it...mainly because it looks silly and I look silly enough on my own without making it worse with wacky get ups. If you are a little more fit than I am, you can probably wear it with a little more confidence. That said, I put it on and hopped on the bike today and I could definitely feel a difference. so if you are suffering through the heat and you want to suffer a little less, maybe pick one up and give it a try. and then you'll have something cool to wear when you head out to the clubs on the weekends (just wash it after you ride in it :)

-jim

Versatility

I get really excited when someone brings a bike in and has it modified to do something that it is totally capable of doing (and doing well) but it's not the "normal" use of the bike.


I haven't seen it, but I know that one of our customers named Meghan has a Jamis Coda Sport but she has fat tires on it and does light mountain biking with it.

You can also ride a cyclocross bike on singletrack. Here's Josh riding a log pile last winter. Admittedly, Josh is a much better rider than I am, I wouldn't try this myself.



The Jamis Nova Pro is a really cool bike. I raced it through most of last year's cyclocross season. We recently sold one to a woman named Candace who will be using it as a fast and light touring bicycle. She's got some slicks on it, and we found out that using a monostay adapter, we can set it up with a rear rack even though it has carbon seatstays. Cool! Here's some pictures.





are you doing something cool with your bike? Drop us a line and let us know, send a picture if you have one.

jim (AT) proteusbicycles.com

OK! Here come the updates

We have this blog for the shop. It never gets updated. People rarely read it because of that. So I am going to try very hard to update it more frequently, even if it is just something small.

One of the best things about working @ proteus is meeting all the cool customers. This might sound like sucking up, but a lot of really cool people come through the doors.

Chris is one of them. He used to row for the Maryland Crew Team. He races cross on the proteus cross team. He's super fast, super strong, and super cool.

He is also an environmental engineer, he has been working in the Appalachian Mountains and has been doing some interesting work. He keeps a blog about it. CHeck it out :)

bakers dozen race

so this weekend, many of the proteus gang (along with some folks from the racing union) tried out their first enduro mtb race. Here's some abbreviated helmet cam footage of my first lap. It doesn't look great, apparently when I am on a mountain bike I need to angle the camera up higher so it's not all pictures of the trail. But here it is for your viewing "enjoyment".

Directions to las giro de birra. Saturday! Rain or Shine!!!

directions from 495:
Take 495 to 270 north take exit 4a montrose road
stay left at fork
take left at first light (Tower Oaks BLVD)
take right at first light (wotton pkwy)
left at second light (west edmonston)
got to bottom of the hill. straight at stopsign
at the end of west edmontson take a right (cabin john pkwy)
take left at stop sign and than IMIDIATE left (monroe st)
follow monroe into the park
the first parking lot onthe left is the meeting spot
you should see b ball and tennis courts

Las Giro De Birra Ride

11 AM Saturday April 12th.
Dogwood Park (Monroe Street in ROckville MD) to Gordon Biersch in ROckville.

park near the basketball courts @ the north entrance.

for more info call 301-441-2928 ask for Wes.

New Standard in Bike Fitting.

Welcome to the next step in fitting technology. While it's possible for a trained fit specialist to adjust a saddle to the perfect position, there is no way to guarantee your butt will stay there...Until now. Proteus Bicycles is proud to introduce the clipless saddle (patent pending.)

Used in conjuction with our cleated shorts (patent pending,) the clipless saddle keeps your rear in the perfect positon for maximum comfort and performance.

While wearing the cleated shorts (or Clhorts for short,) just rest your pelvis against the saddle and press your body downwards. To exit the clipless saddle, simply jerk your pelvis to the left or right (like the electric slide.) We opted for the Look Cleat Platform as it provided the greatest engagement between cleat and saddle. We are currently testing prototype spd/time/and crank bros Clhorts with recessed cleats for mountain biking and long touring, we expect that they will be available early 2009.


Still not convinced of the superior quality of this product? Come try it yourself. If you're not absolutely sure this is the best saddle ever made... than you can try another one.

Giro de Birra #3: Schaffer Farms & Dogfish Head Sat March 29

PLEASE POST ON WEBSITE FOR GIRO DE BIRRA :

Thanks for your interest in the Giro De Birra Mountain Bike Ride at Schaffer Farms. Here is the Location of the trail, we will meet here at 11 AM. Unfortunately, you will need a car to get to the trail head, AND to the brewpub, and then to get home. However, this ride is going to be excellent, and I think that everyone will have a lot of fun. We will do a beginner loop, and depending on how people feel we will run the trail twice. This ride is cyclocross bike friendly.

This is the trailhead, use google maps to get directions to this spot.

This is the driving directions to the brewpub.

For more info, e-mail josh.nadas(AT)gmail.com

giro de birira # 1: Baltimore

It was a great day of riding. Altogether, there were 9 of us. The thermometer said 50 but the wind said something else. At a few points, it was a struggle just to move forward.

I'm getting better with the helmet cam (if you happen to want one of these, we can order it for you through the shop :)

Here's the evidence, set to the sweet sounds of Caleb Stine and the Brakemen.

In case the video embedding doesn't work, you can follow this link.

The next one will start at the shop at 11 AM and will roll along the PG county trail system to Franklin's in Hyattsville.

Giro de Birra #1

The Webpage doesn't want to print this info so here it is on the blog.

Giro de Birra Ride # 1 Duclaw Brewery in Baltimore MD

Starts @ 10:30 AM Cherry Hill Park, 101 Reedbird Ave, Baltimore MD

There is on street parking on Reedbird Ave. or you might be able to park at the Cherry Hill Splash Park. We will ride along the Gwynn’s falls bike path to downtown Baltimore. Where we will be riding in the city briefly and then continuing on to Fell’s Point via the Inner Harbor Bike Path. This is a ROUGH map of the route we will be taking (I couldn’t trace the Gwynn’s Falls Trail perfectly, but it’s there)

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1652260

Bring a good lock and enough cash for refreshments. Remember not to leave anything of value in your car. The pace will be EXTREMELY relaxed. We will probably cover around 12-15 miles total. Bring a friend, maybe that friend that wants to start riding more but is intimidated by your speed.

Awesome Charity Ride Team!

Hey All,
One of the coolest members of the Proteus Family is a young lady named Constantia. She's done the MS150 ride a number of times in a very unorthodox manner (once she did it on an old English 3 speed!). She is part of a team that takes the fight against MS pretty seriously but manages to have a lot of fun while doing it. Please take a second to click the link below and make a donation to Team Greykell.

Here are a few words from Constantia herself:

The MS Fundraising Ride will be on June 7th & 8th this year, operating out of Salisbury University on Maryland's Eastern Shore. 30, 62, and 100 mile routes are offered, all fully supported. Registration is cheaper if you join a team, and Team Greykell is the team to join! We have cyclists at all skill levels and welcome more. Check us out at

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/goto/Team-Greykell

CAPTIONS!!!!! for snickers the cat!