Team managers often give a pep talk to all of their riders to motivate and encourage them for the race ahead. This pep talk may or may not have been given at this years Tour de France, and it revolves around chamois (pronounced shammy) cream ; Riders of the team of 2024 , if I…
Last week in London a new professional cycling team was launched . The new 'super team' has entered cycling right at the top by gaining an elusive pro tour license . A sponsorship agreement with SKY television has ensured that the new team will have one of the largest budgets of any team on the…
Happy Christmas everyone !
Christmas is always an unusual time of year in a bike shop . It's not the bikes really , but the people that make it a little different . From the excited kids all looking forward to the visit of the man in the big red suit to the harried mothers who just have to get the…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVEnD6U7yUM] Barry www.worldwidecycles.com
There must be a huge cycling community in Singapore as we seem to receive one of these about once a week . This came in this morning from a lovely fella in Singapore once again ; Dear Sir or madam I'm currently looking for partnership business that will be able to supply road bikes parts…
After my previous post I received some good tips from Jason from Runkeeper and @damianb on twitter re. extending battery life . Today I turnerd off the wifi and pressed the sleep button on the Iphone and gained power . I started a 3 hour spin on 85% and still had 27% when I got…
The Apple Iphone is a fantastic gadget . It has applications for just about everything . It can determine what gear you should use to ride up aple d'huez at 70 rpm in under 1 hour (shiftit ) , the distance , profile and location of almost every famous climb in Europe ( icols ) , and what length spoke you need…
Last Thursday evening the BBC consumer affairs programme did a feature on BSO's ( a term coined in the UK ) details of which can be found here : http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/2009/11/flat_pack_bikes.html [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnMlxWL8ttQ] These 'bikes' do have a place in the cycling society by getting more people on bikes and catering for people who are…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDGn_-Nr7Vg] Barry www.worldwidecycles.com
Sometimes , when you meet someone who is not a cyclist and they ask how much your bike is worth the reaction can be quiet amusing . In general , the information that a regular guy or girl has a 'bicycle' worth anything from two to twelve grand is responded to in a tone of…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPLCaAu_H2U] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDnrLv6z-mM]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxo3BAj2Y7A] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykFEOUCOTHs]
This week is probably the most important week of the year in the cycling calender . The World cycling championships take place in Mendrisio , Switzerland . Beginning tomorrow with the Mens under 23 Time trial and culminating on Sunday with the Elite road race it will be an exciting week for all cycling fans…
A friend of mine recently booked a hotel for 29 people . He is always trying to get a deal on something and the hotel in question was no exception to his system of bargaining . After a number of phone calls a deal was finalised . A very competitive room rate was agreed but the…
With Soldiers , Marines , Navy seals and Air force pilots all taking part the town felt pretty safe all weekend . Some of the riders were in our shop and over at O'Gormans coffee shop admiring the cycling memoribilia . The American team were happy with the facilities at Fort Kilworth where all teams shared their military accomodation . I'm sure that desolate spot on top of a hill outside Mitchelstown bore little resemblance to Fort Worth Texas but these boys are used to roughing it . One of them had been a bike courier in San Francisco for ten years before joining the army and raced with John Brady and Declan Lonergan
This is a question that arises among the professional cycling fraternity at this time of year . Some riders are trying to negotiate new multi-million euro contracts whilst others are just trying to survive another year in the pro peloton . The minimum wage for a pro tour rider is €33,000 whilst a new pro…
The driver is determined to get the extra 20 and makes excellent time heading out to the airport , but he sinks low in his seat just as they pull up at the departures terminal . He has just noticed 2 police motorbikes in his rear view mirror and is wondering just how many multiples of his 20 euro he will have to pay for the speeding fine .
This morning I returned to work after a 2 week family holiday . Like everyone it takes me a while to get back into the swing of things , but today was no ordinary day . At 9.23 my mobile beeped with a message . I looked at it and had to read it twice to…