Bicycles are not just for recreation and exercise. Bicycles and cyclists can change the world.
Bob Walters is currently in Africa. His work will help improve the local infrastructure and distribute donated bicycles. The bicycles are very important to the pressing transportation needs of the locals. While Bob is there, his own transportation is a Cannondale Touring 1 he purchased from BGI. "Fortunately" for Bob, Cannondale did not have the spec wheels in stock. BGI accepted the bike sans wheels. After discussing with Bob where he would be riding, I designed and hand-built a set of wheels for his new Cannondale. That's why he specifically mentions them in his blog. I encourage you to visit his blog and read about Friendly Planet.
I encourage you to visit the blogs by both Bob and Helen and consider donating if you support their causes. Personally, I think it's great that bicycles are being used to change the world.
I was getting started in triathlons back in 2007 and needed a bike. The guys at BGI were incredibly helpful in guiding my decision. They warned me against spending too much, and not getting a sport specific time trial bike. This was invaluable advice and one that I have heard echoed many times since in various publications. BGI also made sure that the bike I selected fit me properly and worked for exactly what I needed it to. Since that day in 2007 I have finished a number of triathlons including some half-Ironman distance races, all on that bike. Without the expert advice of BGI, I wouldn't have come as far as I have. Thanks BGI!
Name: Blake Matheny Bicycle: Cannondale Six13 City: Indianapolis State: IN
Passing along an update on local trail conditions from Mark Finney, an avid off-road rider and BGI employee. Please, if you see people with MTBs and/or gear, do your best to dissuade them from riding the trails for the next few weeks.
As the ground thaws, the trail turns into "grease mud" with a layer of ice beneath. It is VERY susceptible to damage from tire ruts (or footprints), which hold more water and create more mud. If the trails get to thaw and absorb without being disturbed, they can be re-opened WEEKS earlier, and without requiring a ton of volunteer labor from the Hoosier Mountain Bike Association to repair the damage.
Town Run is officially closed (gate closed @ 96th St entrance), but too many people still "poach" in from other points. Other trails to avoid are Westwood (New Castle), Brown County, and Versailles.
Rangeline (Anderson) is the exception. It is an old gravel quarry, and is less prone to the freeze/thaw cycle.
Please refer to http://www.HMBA.org/ (and specifically to the fresh info in the Forums area) for more information. Thanks to Mark Finney on the Bicycle Garage Indy Staff for this trail update.
Since today is such a nice day with the first hint of spring I wanted to make sure that people make a point to get to Brown County this season. The Hoosier Mt. Bike Association (HMBA) has done an amazing job here, creating a truly world class track with miles and miles of awesome trails and routes for the entire family regardless of skill level. I've ridden here with my 9 year old and I've ridden with people from around the country who made me beg for oxygen. (of course all on Bikes from Indy's best bike shop) Brown County is close too. There are a bunch of us in the Indy Business community who meet early on Friday mornings there and are back in the office before lunch. A great way to top off the week....Indiana Mountain Biking.
Your most important bicycle contact points are your feet. They experience the greatest amount of pressure and, with your knees and hips, experience the repetitive motion of cycling. Adjusting your pedal cleats is the foundation of every bicycle fitting adjustment you make above your pedals.
The simplest cleat adjustment is the fore/aft position. Even that requires an off the bike observer who can note your foot angle while pedaling against resistance. Simply stated, the more toe down you pedal the more forward on the shoe the cleat needs to be. The more flatfooted you pedal the more aft the cleat needs to be. Within this range though, we're only talking a few milimeters. The idea is to make sure the pedal axle is essentially centered under the ball of your foot when the crankarm is pointing straight forward (e.g. 3 O’Clock for the right crankarm). The Bicycle Fitter can then fine-tune the fore/aft position depending on whether you are a spinner / gear masher, have small feet / big feet, etc..
The stability of your feet on the pedals also relates to your knees. A significant amount of forefoot side tilt relative to your lower leg can result in your foot rocking inside your cycling shoe. This rocking effectively pulls the knee first toward and then away from the bike’s centerline on every pedal stroke. Since your knee is designed to flex backwards and not side-to-side this can sometimes produce sharp pain on the inside and/or outside face of your knee. Shoe Wedges, either under the cleat or inside the shoe are designed to fill the gap created by the forefoot tilt. They produce a stable platform for your foot and eliminate the rocking thus knee stress.
Another symptom of this forefoot tilt for most cyclists is excess pressure on the outside margin of the foot (less often on the inside margin). The smaller toes frequently become numb on a foot experiencing this pressure or the foot experiences "hotspots." Cleat wedges fill in the gap created by this forefoot tilting and allow the pressure to be spread across the entire ball of the foot thus numbness and/or hotspots are usually eliminated with the correct number and orientation of wedges.
Although overlooked by many cyclists, a proper cleat fitting which addresses fore/aft, rotational, “Q” Factor, forefoot tilt and leg length discrepancy issues will produce a less painful and less injurious cycling experience. Odds are, you’ll be faster on your bike too.
Bicycle Garage Indy has the amenities necessary for people to bike to work - secure bicycle storage, shower facility, place to store clothing, support of leadership and encouraging bicycling is what we do as a business. But we wanted more employee participation in bicycling to work, so we sweetened the deal and created a program to allows employees to earn BGI Gift Cards through bicycling to work. Not only do they save money by not driving, but they earn $0.15/mile which they can use to purchase bicycle accessories (when they apply their employee discount it is more like $0.25/mile).
In 2009, Mark Degunya gets the top mileage prize with 4265 miles. Patrick Weller passed Frank Radaker in mileage to claim the 2nd spot. Toby Holsman held on to top spot for number of trips with 364 trips. Number of trips was fairly close - Just 57 trips separate the top three: Toby Holsman, Mark Degunya and Kelly Crimmins.
During 2009, 32 people commuted by bike at least once. We all collectively biked 2396 trips and 19254 miles.
We started tracking mileage in March 2008 and since that time, more than 30 employees have biked to work. BGI bicycle commuters have logged 45,525 miles, saving 1821 gallons of gasoline and 36,420 poinds of carbon dioxide while making the world a greener place.
Connie Szabo Schmucker Advocacy Director Bicycle Garage Indy Indianapolis & Greenwood, IN
Want to help shape the future of transportation in Central Indiana and make sure the needs of bicyclists are met? Here’s you chance!
For the next several weeks (through March 25, 2010), IndyConnect is holding public meetings to gather input and support for a bold transportation plan. The visionary plan calls for increased investment in mass transit, road improvements and bicycle and pedestrian pathways to address the transportation needs of the area.
Suggested Talking Points supporting bicycling in the plan:
Incorporate the SustainIndy BikeWays Plan within the plan (200-mile bike lane plan for Marion County) and show how the transit stops will connect with the bike lane plan
Bicycle parking at every transit stop – long-term (bicycle lockers) and short term (bicycle racks) are both needed.
Allow bikes on transit (light rail)
If you can’t make the public meetings, public meeting comment forms will be available online.
Visit IndyConnect.org for more info, a schedule of upcoming meetings and opportunity to comment online.
Connie Szabo Schmucker Advocacy Director Bicycle Garage Indy Indianapolis & Greenwood, IN
Having attended college in Bloomington a million years ago, I became accustomed to biking anywhere and everywhere I needed to go. My ride was a Nishiki mixte frame which my father purchased for me when I graduated High School. Fitted out with baskets, racks, panniers I rode it for years when I didn't even have a car, loading it up with groceries, shopping, books etc. It followed me to graduate school in Memphis TN, where it was stolen and is probably giving some unfortunate person a means of transportation. Over the years, that particular bike has given me a love for bikes, I have owned many after that and as an Art Teacher in a small town, kids love to see me coming to school on my bright beach cruiser. Just recently, I decided to search for a bike like my original Nishiki, I became the proud owner of a vintage Raleigh Sprite with the same frame style. The guys at BGI North helped me put it together, tune it up and put some accessories on it. It is not a flashy bike, but riding it takes me back thirty years. Thanks Guys!
Name: Jami Rome Bicycle: 1978 Raleigh Sprite mixte City: Whitestown State: IN
Our latest online coupon lets you take 15% off the lowest price of any CamelBak hydration product. It's your pick: a hydration pack, like the Lobo, the new flow meter, .75L Better Bottle or a Podium bottle. (Limit 1 per customer, in-stock items only offer good through 3/15/2010.)
CamelBak is one of the hundreds brands of Bike Accessories Indianapolis, in-stock now at Bicycle Garage Indy North, Indianapolis, and Bicycle Garage Indy South in Greenwood.
Sometimes a product comes along that is very difficult to describe, or explain in words how to use or why you need it. When I first saw the XDK Slug, A Hydration Pack Tool I knew I had to have one.
Now I am a rarity, a road rider who uses a CamelBak. I know a CamelBak on road bike just yells FRED, but hear me out. I was first introduced to them while riding in Washington State. Off-road riders are constantly in mud, so CamelBaks were used for both for hands-free drinking, and reasonable clean access to water. A lot of the off-road riders would train on the road, so they kept the CamelBak habit. I am on a tandem a lot, so hands free is nice for that. Finally, our kids were tandeming with at a very early age, and a strapped on pack let them drink without playing the "drop-the-water-bottle" game. So our work-out storage includes hooks for four hydration packs and extra's.
Now the Omegaport lid is a great improvement over the original CamelBak. You can easily add ice (especially nice at quick shop ice machines!), and clean and dry the bladder. But for some, it can be very difficult to open. In our household, I am the official CamelBak "opener". (Along with bike mechanic, roof rack bike loader, tire inflation specialist, etc.) With the Slug, which inspired the video below, I have 1 less official job at home. Now if someone will just invent a PowerBar opener. . . .
CamelBak and XDK are just two of the hundreds of brands of Bike Accessories Indianapolis, in-stock now at Bicycle Garage Indy North, in Indianapolis, and Bicycle Garage Indy South in Greenwood.
I am completely at home taking care of the different types of bicycle brakes I have used over the years; side pulls, center pulls, cantilevers and linear-pull/V-brakes. I have had them on the bikes I have owned, assembled and maintained. But disc brakes are a completely new animal for me. I don’t own a disc-equipped bike (yet, of course!), and they only came into wide-spread use after my days as a full-time mechanic. However, I had a unique opportunity to learn more about Hydraulic Disc brakes when Josh Prater, one of the service leads for Bicycle Garage Indy, scheduled a training session for BGI’s Service Department to share what he learned at a recent Park Tool Tech Summit, I jumped at the chance, and it turned out to be a very interesting couple of hours!
Josh provided the full run down on the adjustment and maintenance techniques for hydraulic brakes from Avid and Shimano that are used on Giant, Trek and Cannondale off-road bikes sold by Bicycle Garage Indy. Included were techniques for throw and “dead-band” adjustment, brake line bleeding (removing air from the closed hydraulic lines), brake line replacement and pad replacement. For the most part, if you are already technically competent in your bicycle care, these are techniques you could handle; on the other hand, it is nice to know these are all Bike Maintenance Indianapolis services available from Bicycle Garage Indy.
Since deciding to enter in a few triathlons this summer, I decided it was best I actually followed a training program. I use to follow training programs when I was younger and results mattered. As I aged, results started to mean less and fun was more important.
Now that I am so very close to 40, I decided I should be more deliberate in my training. Not so much for the results, but for survival. I have taken some decisive steps to this end, first I bought a power tap, I have started a training journal and I have a couple of guys who love to harass me if I miss a workout (This is called accountability). I have been in this training mode since the first of the year and I have managed to carve out a schedule that gives me time to train and doesn’t take too much time away from the family.
Last Sunday was scheduled as an endurance day on the bike. Due to the weather, it was a day spent on the trainer. My Power Agent Software (comes with the Power Tap), automatically calculates your power training levels. So my challenge was to ride for an hour between 195 and 200 watts.
So once the boys are down for a nap and Allison is at Church walking laps, I was left to my training in the "Cycling Den".
Today’s goals…
Riding indoor at this level means two bottles. One with electrolytes!
Excess sweat is deadly for both the headset and computer CPU. So the sandwich bag works wonders!
Just keeping it real, the trash can is for spit!
Today’s feature is "24 Solo, documentary about Chris Eatough"
I am happy to say I finished the hour with an average watts of 195. The last 15 minutes demanded my full concentration. I was eally suffering. It was then I realized that my body still can do the work, but I have forgotten how to suffer. Today was the first step in the re-learning process! Hmm, maybe I should think about the results?
My name is Sandy Spears and I work at BGI South and this is the story of my first bike ride of 2010. I like many others have been itching to get outside and ride bicycles, the weather on the other hand has not cooperated, unleashing on the city mounds of snow and bitter cold temperatures. This past Sunday however, held the promise of warmer temps enticing me to make a date with my bike and my friend, I was not going to let this opportunity slip through my pedals. Donned in my cold weather clothing I loaded my bike on to the car rack and made my way downtown to meet my friend. They sky was cloudy and the streets were wet and sloppy from a light misting of rain and melting snow, I knew my bike was going to be a mess before I even started to ride, but I didn’t care I was not to be denied this day or the anticipation of the simple pleasure of being back on my bicycle. On the road we encountered a wide array of conditions including puddles of water, sheets of ice, piles of shoveled snow and light drizzling rain. Now you might be thinking that’s a little reckless getting out on a road bike in those conditions. Rest assured this was not a job for my road bike, nor would I be using one of my mountain bikes or my hybrid, no this ride was going to take a very special type of bike to handle these conditions. I would need to use my sweet little single speed Trek Wasabi for this journey. Oh the fun that was had that day as we rode around the Canal and White River trails. We barely noticed the 39-degree temperature and wet feet as we pedaled away the 14.5 miles made up our adventure. Ah, how could it possibly get any better? Well you end it all with a shared meal and more relevant conversation. “Life is Good”
Name: Sandra Spears Bicycle: Trek SS Wasabi City: Indianapolis State: IN
This bike has been with me for more epic rides on more roads and trails than any other bike I own. The good times I had with friends and the quiet rides on the trail by myself-this bike has so much history. In the 10+ years I've had it, it's seen most trails in Indiana and many trails in all of our neighboring states. It was with me for the 50+ mile road ride that included a nap on the side of the road. It was with me when my wife and I got lost in the Wayne National forest in Ohio. It has raced the DINO series with me and done countless group trail rides. Riding this bike feels like an extension of myself, like we're linked together, a feeling you get after thousands of miles in the saddle. When I look at this bike I can't help but think of the rides it's been a part of and look forward the rides that are yet to come.
Name: Mark Degunya Bicycle: 1999 Diamondback Team Issue City: Greenwood State: IN
Did you know that along with our web site and our blogs, you can find information for Bicycle Garage Indy (North - Indianapolis and South - Greenwood) on all the following sites:
With the cycling season fast approaching, you may want to follow anyone of these for all sorts of interesting information on the latest products, store events, and more. And for all of online followers, we offer special offers like this for discount offer for bike helmet Indianapolis, good through March 1, 2010.
I have worked for Bicycle Garage Indy for several years but that is not where this story starts. It really starts in the early sixties when I received 2 hand me down 20" bikes which I made into one rideable bike. My parents could not keep track of me at that time due to my endless rambling. Here's a picture with my older brother and sister and me & bike. I kept riding that bike into Jr High when they went halves on a new 10 speed Schwinn super sport. Unfortunately that bike was stolen my senior year. So after high school graduation in 76 I got with a group of friends that were doing camping rides. I got my first serious bike at that time. We would ride to state parks stopping along the way to play pool in every bar we could find. This made for some interesting rides. From that point on I have owned several wonderful bikes but none as special as that first one. Bob Locke Bicycle Garage Indy South Manager
(Part 4 of a series on the Trek Off-Road Tech Update for BGI Staff from Ken Derrico of Trek Bicycle.)
Traditional suspension systems will mount one end of the shock on in a fixed position on the frame. With Full Floater, Jose Gonzalez, Trek Bicycle's Director of Suspension Technology, connects the two ends of the shock to live members of the suspension; the EVO link at the top, and the extension of the chainstay at the bottom. First introduced in 2008, the Full Floater now takes full advantage of the DVRC short, and Active Braking Pivot for a very efficient, compliant suspension system. (Follow this link to YouTube for Jose's detailed explanation of Full Floater.)
The Full Floater is found on all Trek Full suspension bikes, including the Remedy and Fuel series of high performance Trek Bikes Indianapolis, available at both Bicycle Garage Indy-North and Bicycle Garage Indy-South in Greenwood.
That covers the four key elements of Trek's full suspension systems. Watch for future posts on other aspects Trek's off-road bike technology.
(Part 3 of a series on the Trek Off-Road Tech Update for BGI Staff from Ken Derrico of Trek Bicycle.)
The rocker link is essential in connecting rear suspension members to the frame. Most are bolted together plates. To tie all the elements of it's rear suspension together, Trek relies on the one piece EVO Roller link casting. One piece design dramatically improves stiffness and reliability in Trek's hi performance off-road bike. The EVO also incorporates pressed in sealed bearing, rather than bushing, for increased durability. (You can see more EVO details on YouTube from Trek's Jose Gonzalez.)
The EVO Link is found on all Trek Full suspension bikes, including the Remedy and Fuel series of high performance Trek Bikes Indianapolis, available at both Bicycle Garage Indy-North and Bicycle Garage Indy-South in Greenwood.
We will cover Full Floater shock mount next in Part 4.
This week, Sales and Service staff at both BGI North and South had the chance to participate in a Trek Off-Road Tech Update with Ken Derrico of Trek Bicycle. We have put a few of the pictures up on our Bicycle Garage Indy Flikr site. In this and several posts to follow, we will highlight some of these new offerings, in development since 2006, when Trek began, with considerable investment, research efforts to completely retool it's off-road bikes. These efforts are now bearing fruit in industry and rider recognition.
Along with it's carbon frame building technology (Lance and Madone, need we say more!), Trek is highlighting four Suspension technologies; Fox Dual Rate Control Valve (DRCV), Active Braking Pivot (ABP), Full Floater Shock Mount, and EVO 1-piece rocker links. We will talk first about the DRCV shock first, and cover the rest future posts.
Built by Fox and engineered by Trek, DRCV allows for both small bump compliance and "big-hit" control in an air spring. The first stage functions as a standard Fox Float air shock. Halfway through its travel, the plunger opens a valve to the upper canister, providing "big-hit" performance, without the loss of pedaling efficiency of a long travel shock.
The DRVC Shock is found on the Remedy and Fuel series of high performance Trek Bikes Indianapolis, available at both Bicycle Garage Indy-North and Bicycle Garage Indy-South in Greenwood.
We will cover the Active Braking Pivot in our next post.
We have our first Shimano Dura Ace Di2 Treks Bike Indianapolis! We have a Trek Project 1 Madone with a complete Dura Ace Di2 drive train assembled and on display. Better yet, we have have it on CycleOps Jet Fluid Trainer, so you can try it yourself at BGI - North.
Shimano's SEIS (Shimano Electronic Intelligent Shifting) is a remarkable riding experiencing. On of the most fascinating features is the self-triming front derailleur, with it's two-step shifting between rings. The the Di2's lithium battery pack mounts in-line with and below a water bottle cage, and is designed for 1,000 miles of riding between charges. You can find a complete set of pictures on Flickr, and video at BicycleGarageIndy on YouTube.
This Project One Trek Madone is just one of the performance Trek Bikes Indianapolis, available at both Bicycle Garage Indy-North and Bicycle Garage Indy-South in Greenwood.
Please, if you see people with MTBs and/or gear, do your best to dissuade them from riding the trails for the next few weeks. 
Bicycle Garage Indy has the amenities necessary for people to bike to work - secure bicycle storage, shower facility, place to store clothing, support of leadership and encouraging bicycling is what we do as a business. But we wanted more employee participation in bicycling to work, so we sweetened the deal and created a program to allows employees to earn BGI Gift Cards through bicycling to work. Not only do they save money by not driving, but they earn $0.15/mile which they can use to purchase bicycle accessories (when they apply their employee discount it is more like $0.25/mile). 
Now I am a rarity, a road rider who uses a CamelBak. I know a CamelBak on road bike just yells FRED, but hear me out. I was first introduced to them while riding in Washington State. Off-road riders are constantly in mud, so CamelBaks were used for both for hands-free drinking, and reasonable clean access to water. A lot of the off-road riders would train on the road, so they kept the CamelBak habit. I am on a tandem a lot, so hands free is nice for that. Finally, our kids were tandeming with at a very early age, and a strapped on pack let them drink without playing the "drop-the-water-bottle" game. So our work-out storage includes hooks for four hydration packs and extra's.
I am completely at home taking care of the different types of bicycle brakes I have used over the years; side pulls, center pulls, cantilevers and linear-pull/V-brakes. I have had them on the bikes I have owned, assembled and maintained. But disc brakes are a completely new animal for me. I don’t own a disc-equipped bike (yet, of course!), and they only came into wide-spread use after my days as a full-time mechanic. However, I had a unique opportunity to learn more about Hydraulic Disc brakes when Josh Prater, one of the service leads for Bicycle Garage Indy, scheduled a training session for 
Just keeping it real, the trash can is for spit! 
Traditional suspension systems will mount one end of the shock on in a fixed position on the frame. With Full Floater, Jose Gonzalez, Trek Bicycle's Director of Suspension Technology, connects the two ends of the shock to live members of the suspension; the EVO link at the top, and the extension of the chainstay at the bottom. First introduced in 2008, the Full Floater now takes full advantage of the DVRC short, and Active Braking Pivot for a very efficient, compliant suspension system. (Follow this link to YouTube for 
This week, Sales and Service staff at both BGI North and South had the chance to participate in a Trek Off-Road Tech Update with Ken Derrico of Trek Bicycle. We have put a few of the pictures up on our 
Along with it's carbon frame building technology (Lance and Madone, need we say more!), Trek is highlighting four Suspension technologies; Fox Dual Rate Control Valve (DRCV), Active Braking Pivot (ABP), Full Floater Shock Mount, and EVO 1-piece rocker links. We will talk first about the DRCV shock first, and cover the rest future posts. 
We have our first Shimano Dura Ace Di2 Treks Bike Indianapolis! We have a 
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