A report from an X-Lab dealer event in New York City last week.

The English announcer made his bed with Lance Armstrong.  He deserved to be tossed because of it. Like many, Phil Liggett was the authoritative voice I heard when I first tuned in to televised European bike racing.  Even then, he was a cheerleader, bringing up and dismissing possibilities of doping as being impossible.  All the same, he had polish, excellent turns of phrase, an ok voice, and seemed to know bike racing history and the riders well. 

Interest over time seems to help refine things to ever greater specificity.  A cave might have once been a great step forward for humans, but the supply was limited and locations even more so.  Humans developed mobile homes in the form of tents, fixed-place homes made of wood and stone.  In cold climates, they figured out insulation and heating.  In  hot climes, ways to keep cool while still sheltered. 

In Part One, you'll find out what Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) tubes are and how they're supposed to be better.  The super-short version is they're lighter than the other air-containing options, roll almost as fast as the lightest, hold air about as as well as the longest, and the production and use is less resource-intensive and potentially more sustainable. What to know about TPU…

TPU bicycle tubes are lighter than goo, faster than latex, hold air as well as butyl, and take up less space.TPU is ready for its close up.

This website allows you to track the progress of DSNY snow removal vehicles and confirm the snow designation of a City street (i.e. Critical, Sector, Narrow or non-DSNY).

In Bicycle Sentences, it is not the length of the sentences nor the artistry of the prose that the book is relying on.

It's supposed to be daunting. New York City makes racing beautiful training for the upcoming season. Dress well, race fast, have fun.

All shorts seem the same.  Until you tug on something different.  So, it is with Ostroy’s woven-spandex bibs.  A common cheat on figuring out the quality of a pair of bottoms is panels;  more is supposed to be better.  These shorts go the other way; fewer panels.  There seem to be three here—one around the left leg, one around the right, and one for the glutes.

Cyclocross is best enjoyed as a fall and early winter sport. It's for cool weather and short days. It should start now.