Go Clipless

Testrider.com while promising, launches prematurely

I get a ton of press releases in my inbox daily. Most of them silly, but a few catch my eye. The other day I received a press release from TestRider.com a new site that will provide video reviews of bikes and accessories from experts and let users rate and decide.

Sounds cool, so I checked it out. The site was featuring a video review of the new 2008 S-Works Transition Time Trial bike. While the review was well produced and the reviewer seemed credible, it felt more like an infomercial than a review. I don't want to be overly harsh here since reviews are difficult to do well and nobody does them perfectly, but I would like to provide a bit of constructive criticism since I'd like to see this site do well in the future.

Why should we care?

Quite simply, it's time the bike review evolves into three dimensions and breaks beyond the 2-d world of the printed page in a magazine, the gratuitous "sneak-peek" bike porn photos found on blogs, and the sometimes hit-or-miss reviews of MTBR.com. Yes. Testrider.com is on to something with their professional quality video reviews and user ratings, but they need to hold back their launch until they do most of the following:

1) Give us all sides in your reviews; pros and cons, not just the pros. Of the four reviews currently on the site, there were no critical words about any of the products. The reviewer seemed to give the new Sram Rival road gruppo a perfect 10. What will the higher-end Sram Force group get, an 11? Give us the con side too and a basis for comparison.

2) Change that proprietary video viewer out for one that's shareable. For one thing, it's too small and there aren't enough user options. But the main thing is that it must be shareable if you want it to become viral. Better yet, post it on YouTube and embed their viewer on your site. People will find your site through YouTube and spread the word for you.

3) Each review should have it's own page with the video embedded and written specifications as well. How about some links to where you can buy it? This could even mean additional revenue to TestRider.com if it uses affiliates.

4) Allow users to submit video reviews as well. It looks like user reviews are planned for the site, but I would recommend that they be more than just user ratings for products you review. Maybe hold contests for users to submit their own video reviews and you'll get more content faster and a more highly engaged user base.

Ok...there you have it. My four-step plan to help TestRider.com take the bike review to the next level. I'm sure a lot of hard work went in to the four reviews that have been completed already, but you need to temper the excitement and take a deep breath. This press release was a bit premature. Maybe implement a few of the suggestions here (and possibly in the comments) and hit the streets strong in a couple of weeks. I think it will be welcome.

Discovering your inner S.L.U.T.

Usually I have a pretty good nose for these kinds of things, but somehow I missed Anne the S.L.U.T.'s blog. She writes about Sustainable, Lowcost, Urban, Transportation. That's cycling for those of you with your heads in the gutter.

I do like her attitude...and the porn...bike porn, that is...

Found via Cyclelicious

Classic cycling photos that come up again and again

So as I come back from a bit of a self-imposed blogging hiatus, I have been pouring over feeds and catching up with my blog reading. There have been a lot of interesting things that I've missed and likely would have posted but it's too late now (and no, this is not an apology post).

One trend that I have been meaning to write about for some time made itself known, however. I noticed that there are a few cycling related photos that seem to crop up all the time. Sometimes a blogger posts the photo because they think its new and they found something cool first. This is not an indictment against these bloggers as it is an easy and innocent mistake to make. But more and more I see bloggers referring to these photos to illustrate their point or to reference something previously written. Therefore the more they are referenced the more they become embedded in our minds and emerge as classics within the cycling culture.

Here's a few of the classic photos. I'm sure there are many more so if you can think of some let me know in the comments:

Man Sleeps With Mountain Bike in Tent, Kicks Girlfriend Out - This has got to be one of my all time favorites. "Oh baby, I'm sorry. You understand, right?"

Pothole in Puddle Leads to Face Plant - This one is made even better because the rider is holding an umbrella. The scene is set in China where it first surfaced about a year ago. Apparently the photographer was aware of the pothole and instead of warning unsuspecting cyclists he layed in wait to get the perfect shot. His excuse was that he needed to prove that the government needed to do something about the dangerous pothole, which had been untouched for some time.

Peekaboo Bike Shorts - Oh the ladies can't resist this one. Though stubby over there ought to be ashamed.

Living on the Edge - Here Hans Rey and Steve Peat traverse the famous Cliffs of Moher in Ireland. Part of a pub crawl in which they rode to 30 pubs in 6 days. The photos are from adventure photographer Victor Lucas. Check out this short video of the pub crawl. There's a quick behind the scenes look at this shot.

2008 Specialized Stumpjumper - new design

Singletrack Magazine's got some great shots of the all new 2008 Specialized Stumpjumper. This classic full suspension bike lives on with yet another redesign. Many say it has borrowed from the Enduro design, but most noticeable is the new proprietary suspension design. Last year Specialized began producing it's own suspension components and I must say they do look like they have a very low-profile and therefore low-weight (I'm assuming).

Oh, it's carbon, has 120mm of travel, weighs just 23.2 pounds, and costs a million dollars, but it's a sweet looking bike.

2008 Kona Bikes preview

I'm officially declaring Kona part of the big four five bike manufacturers. That's right, their lineup of bikes is every bit as comprehensive as Specialized, Trek, Cannondale, and Giant. Sure we don't see their road bikes in the Tour de France - yet - but, Kona attacked the market from another angle.

Clearly most well known for their big hit bikes, Kona has really rounded out it's lineup in recent years. They've also shown that they can react to trends quite quickly as they were an early adopter of the 29'er and have fixies, cruisers, and commuter bikes - all very hot right now - in their quiver.

The Dirt Rag blog's got the goods on all that is new for Kona in 2008. Most notably for this 29'er cross-country aficionado is the expanded line of 29-inch wheeled bikes. Says Dirt Rag, "they now offer 4 models; one singlespeed, two hardtails, and a new 2.5” travel dually."

The Hei Hei 29 (pictured above) looks fast and is intended to be a lightweight cross-country dual-suspension bike. It's made from the same lightweight Scandium as the 26-inch Hei Hei and looks worthy of the race course.

Good stuff from Kona. Just need some more retailers to carry their stuff (at least here on the east coast) and they should see excellent growth for years to come.

Woodstock 707 review at Blue Collar Mountain Biking

I'm a man with caviar dreams on a blue collar budget...actually, not totally true, but I thought it sounded Robin Leach-esque. What I mean to say is that I've been doing some moonlighting over at Blue Collar Mountain Biking, helping out with a bike review. I've been knocking around on a Woodstock 707 full-suspension bike and recording my thoughts for the audience over there. It's a multi-part review and I just posted part two the other day.

For those that don't know, the Woodstock Bikes can only be bought online. So I am reviewing the bike and exploring the value proposition of buying a bike online versus your local bike shop. Additional posts will follow as this is a long-term review, but you should check out the first two parts now:

1. Part one - Woodstock 707 preview
2. Part two - Woodstock 707 value proposition

Up and coming band, Bat for Lashes, has video with bikes and creepy halloween costumes

I track a bunch of indie music blogs, but lately haven't found much I like for some reason. I would have totally overlooked Bat for Lashes if it weren't for the fact that the lead singer Natasha Khan was riding a bike in the video. It's a little creepy though since the rest of the band is dressed in Halloween costumes doing BMX stunts. Anyway, check out this video and not just because of the bikes, it's actually pretty good music. (Via Fuzznut)

By the way, new Interpol comes out tomorrow...

Why you better be watching the Tour de France, or at least DVR'ing it

If you don't, it will be gone. Maybe forever. The best we might be able to hope for is half-hour summary shows on ESPN 6 or whatever they're up to these days. Remember those days? It's either that or you'll be squinting at grainy images on YouTube hoping to catch a glimpse of some action. No Paul, no Phil. Just some crazy dude running after the peleton with a Canon SureShot in his hand.

I know, I know. You're over the Tour. You're sick of the doping accusations. UCI, USADA, WADA, who needs 'em. If you never see/hear these acronyms again it'll be too soon.

Do what I do...ignore it. I can't stand it either. I don't know what/whom to believe. So why bother trying? This is not a wishy-washy position either. I just want to watch some cycling.

Remember how the Tour started last year? After Basso and Ullrich were left out of it? It was actually pretty interesting. On any given day you had no idea what to expect. That's where we stand today. Shed your hang-ups about doping and you will find a very interesting race underneath it all.

So I for one will be DVR'ing the Tour and will watch as I have done in the past. You better be doing the same or you will screw it up for the rest of us, you hear?

Thank you.

P.S. It starts today, so get your lazy ass out of bed and press record.

P.P.S. If you don't like my reasoning here's 10 more reasons you may want to watch.

"There Goes an Asshole"

Iconoclasst posted this hilarious video up on Bikecentric. I love the casual lyrics. It's as though the singer is watching this theft unfold in front of his eyes, yet blames his neighbors. Funny on several levels, and yet tragic at the same time. Asshole.

It's a Go Clipless Photo Hunt!!

Do you see anything wrong with this picture?