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SouthPark Cycles News
It was a busy
week last week for cycling. August 2nd thru August 7th were
the Cross Road Classic Criteriums races, August 7th also
being the Presbyterian Criterium in Uptown and August 6th
was also the official opening of the Little Sugar Creek
Greenway at Moorehead along Kings. ToughMan Terry and the
SouthPark Crew were busy travelling around the region to
participate and cover these events. We have a great
slideshow of the weeks races below as well.
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It was a beautiful
morning. About 30 riders met and road from the
Greenway behind Park Rd Shopping Ctr. to the ribbon
cutting ceremony at Kings Drive. The biggest
question was how were we going to Navigate Moorhead.
That question was answered with a great solution. |
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| You may have
noticed in a pic above with a kid trailer. Well Sam
and Mallie took the journey with me down the
greenway. Here they are paying close attention to
what Mecklenburg County Commissioner Jennifer
Roberts has to say. Make sure to check out this new
section of Little Sugar Creek Greenway. At a time
when more people are using the parks and greenways
than ever, it is a beautiful connection and addition
and no doubt a great investment in our community.
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CrossRoads Classic
| The first week of
August is when some of the most exciting criterium
racing comes to Charlotte and the surrounding
region. The week starts off on Tuesday with
the 5 race CrossRoads Classic Criterium series
ending Saturday, just prior to the start of The
Presbyterian Invitational Criterium which is part of
the USA National Criterioum Series. We travelled
around to Concord, Salisbury, Statesville and Uptown
charlotte to set up at the races and each night
always had something special in store. Make sure to
check out the slideshow down at the bottom. |
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It was a busy
week for Toughman Terry. Between public relations
and protecting the 2011 Pinarello Paris there was
never a dull moment. |
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the years the pro teams making the trip to Charlotte
for the Presbyterian Crit will use some of the
CrossRoads races for training leading up to the big
race Saturday night. This year was no different. The
most exciting race was Wednesday night in downtown
Concord where the Bissell Team dominated the race
and put led there man to the main podium spot. |
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The 2010 Presbyterian Invitational
Criterium had a huge field and huge crowd of spectators
Probably the best thing about the
Presby Crit now is it brings out nothing but the Usual
Suspects
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Colavita Sutter
Homes women's team is no stranger to winning the
Presby Crit. Probably the reason they also know how
to celebrate. The women can't wait to cash the first
place check. Tina Pic, taking the pic to the right
is also a previous years winner. |
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Slideshow from the week's
Criteriums
Click Play to Start
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This past weekend was the 24 Hours of Booty. Gita
Sporting Goods has a participating team and raised
in excess of $70,000 for the event. They also
unveiled some of the new 2011 Pinarello Paris's
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The
2011 Paris will replace the Prince. It will have the
same technology and asymmetric frame as the Dogma.
It will come as a frameset for somewhere around
$3500. It apparently will come as a complete with
both Chorus and Red Groups for around $6300. The BOB
paint scheme on this one is amazing. A mix of matte
black, matte blue and raw carbon .
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This
year their will be matching Talon Handlebars and
Fulcrum wheelsets available as well.
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Unfortunately not a great picture but 2011 Record 11
has a full carbon rear derailleur
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Shimano XT 10 Speed Now
Tested and Tried On The Trails of Charlotte
I personally was
fortunate enough to get my hands on the Shimano XT 10 speed
drive train. I have ridden it a few times and done 2 races
with the 10 speeds. If you click on the Dyna-Sys logo above
this will take you to Shimano's tech link on the new system.
There are only subtle visible differences but I will say
right out of the gates the stuff has worked flawless and
works much more like the current XTR. The past 2 years since
racing on a 29er i have been using a 36 tooth ring as my big
ring. I installed the 42/32 rings on my XTR cranks (11-36
cassette) and really expected to spend most of my time in
the 32 ring. I was totally mistaken. I found myself pushing
the 42 big ring with no problem and with more ease than my
previous 2X9 system with a 36. The biggest difference with
the 10 speed vs 9 speed is the 19t cog now available in the
cassette and closing the gap there in the middle. You get
better shifts when you need them which helps keep the
momentum. The big rings for 10 speed have been reduced from
a 44 to a 42. This allows for a better chain line and
compensates for the potential to run up to a 36 in the rear.
There also has been a couple other changes which enhance the
shifting. The 10 Speed XT chain is asymmetric and must be
run a particular way. This is to enhance the shifting. The
rear derailleur has also been redesigned to pull more cable
with less force. As a fan of XTR I can't wait until the XTR
10 speed comes out in the fall.
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The 2010 Pinarello
Dogma won Race Bike of the Year awarded by Bicycling
Magazing. It was no surprise and this is the fourth
year in a row Pinarello has won this honor. There
will be a limited edition Caisse d'Epargne frameset
which is what is pictured to the left. Here is the
video from Bicycling Magazine talking about the
Dogma and why it was the winner.
http://video.bicycling.com/video/Pinarello-Dogma-60-1
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With the announcement of
the Pinarello Dogma as the 2010 recipient of Race
Bike of The Year awarded by Bicycling Magazine
Pinarello also introduced the KOBH
The KOBH has the same 60 HM 1K
carbon as the dogma but is not quite as stiff. The
Geometry is slightly different as well. Notice the
rear stay in the KOBH. This is a much more forgiving
design. The headtube is taller. The fork is longer
the will lengthen the top tube as well and also
allows for a 28c tire. The fork will still have the
“onda” technology which dampens the vibrations. The
KOBH will come only in the sky team color for this
year.
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| It's currently
Kona Madness at SouthPark Cycles. All of the 2010
Kona's are now in stock. From commuter bikes to
beginner mountain bikes and the best and most
durable dual suspension bikes in the market. Kona
has a bike with a specific purpose in mind. |
| It has been a
busy week getting all of the Konas built up and
ready to go. Whether your looking for your first
mountain bike, a bike to get arond town on, a 29er
or a dual suspension Kona has a model for you. |
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These are
probably our 2 favorite 26ers from Kona this year.
The top bike is the Hei Hei 100. Previously known as
The King Kikapu. Scandium frame, Magnesium rockers
this is a great xc race or marathon bike.
The lower bike is
the Cadabra. This bike has the Magic Link technology
with travel ranging from 4 to 6 inches. Word on the
street is for 2011 There will be a cross country
version of this smart travel going from 2 1/2 to 4
inches of travel. |
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One
thing Kona is no stranger to is 29ers. We have a
great selection of both 29er framesets and complete
bikes. |
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This year was the Tenth
Anniversary of The National Bike Summit. After a
decade of lobbying on Capital Hill for cyclists and
pedestrians we are starting to leave a foot print in
the offices of our elected officials. This years
summit drew the largest numbers of supports bringing
more than 700 together to DC. Both of our state
Senators are behind our bicycle initiatives and we
were fortunate to actually have the opportunity to
speak directly to Senator Kaye Hagen. On the House
of Representatives side we have the support of most
of the offices but I can't deny I am a bit concerned
over the separation of the Democratic and Republican
Parties and their indifferences delaying the
development of making our communities more livable
with bike and pedestrian improvements. |
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I
think this picture pretty much says it all. This
year was the 10th Annual National Bike Summit in
Washington DC. This years attendance was more than
700. Each year we have been better received in the
offices of our locally elected officials. Unlike the
many other lobbying groups that are also there
asking for 100's of millions of dollars we are there
to help our officials make our communities more
liveable. |
| Every year there
are different celebrities there to show there
support for cycling. I had the chance to meet Phil
who is the host of the CBS show The Amazing Race. I
was curious why he was there and introduced myself.
If I had waited until after lunch he would have
explained since he was one of the keynote speakers.
Last year Phil road a bike across America and there
was a documentary made out of that adventure. It was
filmed in high definition and will air on CBS right
after the finale of The Amazing Race in May. |
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Here is part of
our NC delegates. We had a total of 17
representatives from all regions of North Carolina.
From the Charlotte area was myself, Martin Zimmerman
from Charlotte Area Bicycle Alliance and Steve
Doolittle from Cool Breeze in Mooresville. Special
thanks should go to Mike and Claudia Nix of Liberty
Bikes in Asheville. These folks are more than just
leaders in their community. |
| Many of you have
used Google Maps for driving directions over the
years. Google has now embraced bicycles and we were
fortunate to see the bike function of Google Maps
before it went live to the general public. I think
it is a great sign in the fact that a company like
Google acknowledges bicycles as a legitimate form of
transportation |
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After a long day
on Capitol Hill Secretary of Transportation Ray
LaHood joined the us at the National Bike Summit's
Congressional Reception. LaHood enthusiastically
declared his commitment to livable communities.
Watch the video! |
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Once again Charlotte Area Bicycle Alliance has done
a great job getting getting Anthony Fox (recently
elected Mayor of Charlotte) in front of the people.
Today was their annual meeting which included a
question and answer forum with the newly elected
Mayor of Charlotte. I saw Mayor Fox speak prior to
his election and I did notice then he was well
educated on the local cycling assets and issues.
Today was no different. The message was made clear
to the new Mayor. The people, at least those in the
room, want more liveable communities here in the
Queen City. More accessible by ways other the the
automobile. From what i heard, i think there is a
chance. I did hear another interesting statistic
this afternoon. The there was a decrease in Tax
Revenue of 18% (I wish i had gotten clarification
here so i could quote but i would expect that is a
combination of sale tax and property tax). What does
this mean? You can help the state of the city and
the nation by buying more bike stuff which will help
generate more tax revenue. |
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You can also check out
the other specials at
www.southparkcycles.com/specials.htm
Trade In Your Adult or Kids Bike Towards a
New One
Christmas is
always a great time for a new bicycle. If
you are planning on a new one for someone in
the family but have a garage full we want
you to bring bike in your old bike to trade
in towards a new one. We realize that not
everyone can afford a new bike so being able
to offer someone a used one for less is a
GREAT option for us over the Holidays. We
will take in both adult and kids bikes
toward the purchase of a new one.
SouthPark Cycles Grass Roots Racing Team
Thanks to all of you that are currently part
of the program. Our grass root racing program is
open to riders of all abilities and juniors
as well. While not just a MTB team we do
seem to be more focused on mountain bike
racing. For more team info email
info@southparkcycles.com with team in
the subject line.
Check Out The Video
SouthPark Cycles Multimedia
While we try to
send out the SouthPark Cycles news about once a
week we have embraced the digital media. When
you have a moment you may want to check out and
subscribe to the following links.
SouthPark Cycles on Face Book
For The Pinarello Finatic
SouthPark Cycles Video
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