Park Tool Tech Summit 2013!

 Hello all, it has been quite some time since I have sat down to write a new post, but if I were honest, not too much has gone on as far as cycling in my life this winter until this past week. I mean I think I have logged just over 50 miles on the saddle this year...boo! I have been a part-time wrench down at EPBC for a little while now and Brian offered me a spot at the Park Tool Tech Summit. Naturally I jumped at that opportunity to learn about many different products and techniques from some of the best in the industry. There are only two of these events every year, one on each coast. Luckily the east coast venue happened to be just down the road in Chantilly Virginia. I was worried that we were not going to be able to make it to the Summit on time due to a last minute ice storm that conveniently started right before we left to drive down, but we made it. We even had an extra trip due to Brian forgetting his clothes at his house.

As you can see to the right, we had these cool guy badges with our names and class schedules on it, I changed mine around a little to get in the classes I wanted to take, one change I regret and another I am happy that I did. I opted out of the Campy class for Cane Creek, mistake, and also went to Fox instead of Park Tool. I wish I had swapped Campy for Fox and went to the Park Tool class but you know what they say about hind sight...

 Day 1

Our first class after the surprisingly nice spread for breakfast was the FSA class. It was a pretty neat class dealing with their new adjustable headsets but the rest of the class was spent talking warranty information, it could have been a 20 minute tops subject but went way longer. I want to say that the best part of this class was the practical part of installing their new headset but the rest almost put me to sleep unfortunately. After this class which seemed to drag on was lunch. You know the Hyatt does a pretty good job with their events they host. The food wasn't bad and the service was top notch. Found out that Brian is scared of meatloaf for some reason but the lunch was good!

Our second class was Cane Creek. I really don't want to take up much room on this class, I feel it was a waste of time to me. They also had us working their new headsets but the second half was all about how to take the outer cover off their Double Barrel shock. There may have been more but that's all I
came away with, kind of dry speakers those Cane Creek Reps...

Our third and final class for the day was close to my favorite. We had the Sram/RockShox class to wrap up day one. For this class we were tinkering with their new Sram Red group and learning to dial that drive system in, after a interesting company history lesson I might add. Sram definitely had us working on some nice stuff, S-Works Tarmac frames! Once we learned the set-up of Sram Red we moved to the RockShox portion of the class, rebuilding/servicing their new forks. I was really pumped for this part of the class because this was something that I hadn't messed with too much but always wanted to...(Side Note: Since the Summit I have serviced 2 forks in at EPBC) I was in a group with a guy that has a lot of experience so that was nice too. Not gonna lie, I was ready for the day to be over when that class let out!

*The Sram rep liked my Nalgene bottle, Fox rep didn't,  wonder why...


 
Park Tool put on a little party after the last class let out. All the brands represented had tables set up to display their new products and do a little sales pitching. A lot of the people in attendance were bike shop owners. this was also a time to get some time with the products and also ask questions to the reps. There was also an open bar for those who chose too have a few and some awesome little finger foods. They couldn't keep the appetizers coming quick enough for everyone! Park Tool also coordinated with all the brands represented to get some sweet product to give away. I was really holding out hope for the brand new Dura-Ace Wheelset but luck wasn't with me this year! Below are some pictures from the different booths set up. Doesn't that new Sram XX1 set look amazing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 2

 Well after decent nights sleep in the grand canyon that was my beds mattress it was time for another sweet breakfast then off to the first class of the day, Shimano...



As I was eating I was hearing some different remarks from others about the Shimano class. I will admit I was a little nervous for this one going in. After just a little bit of instruction I could see why some may not have been getting it. The Shimano guys are very technical and thorough. I was really liking their presentation on the theory behind their new Dura-Ace 9000 11-speed groupset and new line of coated cable, housing, and new end caps. After a little time of instruction we were working on the set. I even caught Brian working some...(haha this will be a test to see if he reads my blog)...
The only bad part of this class was a guy that was in our work group. All I can say is he had one of those personalities that just gets to me quickly. I hope for humanities sake he works alone, and if for some reason you are reading my blog, I'm sorry. This class was neat because, besides the mounting we pretty much set up the whole Dura-Ace group, brakes, derailleurs, shifters, cables, housing, and adjusting/ fine tuning all those components. Some had said that the Shimano class was hard to follow and not very fun but I thought just the opposite! Honestly I can not wait for someone to come into the shop and purchase a bike equipped with the new Dura-Ace so I can put my new skills to the test and also ride the BEAST!

Well after the Shimano class was lunch, not much special here but I did snap a picture of the room to show the crowd that attended the Summit. Also to the right is just a space filler really, I just wanted to get all my pictures put up!






My second class of the second day was one of the ones I switched to get into. Brian and I were both scheduled for Park Tool but I wanted to get into Fox, Brian did too but he decided to stay in Park Tool. I didn't get any pictures of the Fox room or anything because we jumped right in and there was no stopping until the class was over. Also I was trying to take good notes. The Fox class was cool because they had three different stations teaching three different things, all of which had to do with their new line of forks and shocks. There was some pretty cool stuff taught in this class. One little cool thing they have coming out this year is a double trigger knob for your bars that has the ability to lock both the front fork and rear shock at the same time...I will say that there was a lot of information and too much for me to write about on here but I was able to tear down another fork and get some time with that so I was happy.

The last class I took was the Mavic class. I personally love Mavic wheels. I like the design of them as well as the functionality of them. We sell a fair bit of Mavic wheels at EPBC so I was pumped to get into the hubs and learn to service them. We also got to change a spoke on one of their carbon wheels. I would have been so nervous if one of those came into the shop until now. Still not gonna say that I am completely comfortable but at least I have a little time with it.

I think everyone in the class was feeling about done with all the classes and learning, even the instructors seemed ready to be done before our time was up but we held in there and finished all they had planned for us. While we where in our last class the instructors handed out our certificates. It was like high school graduation, people where out the door as soon as they got that paper. We definitely weren't too far off their heels either. I think we where both ready to get home. I was so much in a hurry that I left my jacket in the room when we left, only problem with that is I didn't realize that until Brian dropped me off at the Park and Ride were we met. Oh and in case your wondering the hotel has not found my jacket or keys, I am still holding out hope that they will be found but its not looking good...Well I guess that's it for now, I kind of wrote a novel here and if your reading down this far then thank you! I really hope I get the opportunity to do this again in the future as well as hit up some other biking related events!

Again Thanks for Reading!
-WVPedaler

Garmin Edge 200 (Final Review)

Well this post has been a long time in the making. I wanted to give this product a fair amount of time before I wrote what I thought about it, but I didn't anticipate it being this long. I have noticed that's initial review of the Edge has been one of the most viewed posts on my blog and thanks to those of you that are returning to read my final review. ( the Garmin I used for my review was purchased by me.)

In my initial review I spoke on the mounting and functionality of the Edge 200. I want to dive a little deeper now. This was also my first GPS enabled device I had used for cycling. I have used standard cycling computers on the past and they just left me wanting more information about my rides and a better look at my accomplishments in the saddle, I.e elevation, calories burned. I found these things in the Garmin Edge 200. This device is perfect for the guy that goes out on the bike to have a good time and collect data to upload on strava or track their fitness with different trackers. Strava is good to compare your riding to a friends or just random folks that ride where you ride.

I thought I was completely content with just knowing my elevation, average speed, calories burned, but after riding with the Edge 200 for a season I wanted more information. I have become a little more curious about my fitness these days. That being said I now want to track my heart rate to get a better picture of how the rides are benefitting my body. I also want to track my cadence which brings me to the cons of the Edge 200 in my eyes. The Edge 200 does not have ant+ capability. There are many different sensors out there from gain to track your riding and they communicate with different devices through ant+. Another con to some could be the data cable. Many Garmin devices now can upload to your computer wirelessly. This model does not do that. It never really bothered me too much because it must be plugged up to charge. Now there are some pros as well. I really like the style and ease of use of this unit. It is very easy to scroll through your information during your ride. Another pro would have to be the price. It is a fairly inexpensive unit. I believe it still retails for around $150. Some of the more advanced cycling computers out there are close to that minus the GPS capability.

With all that being said the Garmin Edge 200 is perfect for the average cyclist. It is all enough to through in your pocket too for the occasional runner as well. I used mine for runs many times. The Edge 200
Would be a great gift for any cyclist that is not concerned with tracking heart rate and cadence. Although I will end by saying that I didn't have any care to track those things either until I bought this product and started using it. The Edge 200 gives you just enough information but it left me wanting to know more.





I want to take this opportunity to say that I have a slightly used Garmin Edge 200 for sale. I have used it for a season but it is in great condition. I comes with all the original packing that I can find as well as two mounting brackets for the bars. Also the data cable too, can't forget that. I am wanting to get $85 obo for it. You can email me or just leave a comment if interested. Thanks for checking this out! Will consider shipping the product within the continental US. Free shipping on full price offer.

"Take A Kid Mountain Biking"

This past weekend I was out helping EP/BC with their first ever "Take A Kid Mountain Biking" event down at Poor House Farm Park. This was an event sponsored by the bike shop but also largely sponsored by Specialized Bicycle Company and IMBA.(International Mountain Bicycling Association) The main purpose of this event is to spread the word about mountain biking and introduce this great sport to the children as well as their parents.

Trail Tools

Down at Poor House Farm there are a few trails cut throughout the Frisbee golf course in behind the fishing pond. These trails have not really been managed really well or taken care of so they are overgrown and not really that well known. I have ridden there a few times in the past and had not gone back due to poor marking and the confusion of the trails mixed with the course. I also have gotten flats every time I have ridden there, including this event but i can pinpoint my mistake this time. The trails are not kept up and ridden much so the trails hold a lot of hazards for your tires. With the success of this event I am hoping this will change. On Friday, myself and Brian Weber, the owner of EP/BC met up at the park and walked out about 1/2 mile of singletrack for the kids to ride the next day. Once we got the course marked out which included some existing singletrack as well as some new that we had to cut, the trail maintenance begun. After we had worked at the trails for a little over an hour a few more helpers showed up to help us finish. All in all we had about 2 hours into cutting in and cleaning up 1/2 of singletrack. After a few pre-ride laps around out beginner and intermediate courses we were set for the event the following day.

Singletrack out of the Intermediate Course

I showed up at the event right at the start. I was running a little behind but that's okay. Once I got out of my truck I saw the first 3 kids heading out with their father to ride our trail. that was neat to see. There was a pretty decent turnout for a Saturday considering all the things that go on in our area. I was pleased to see that we had a good mix or ages as well as young boys and girls. I had the pleasure to ride the course over and over kind of keeping an eye out and helping kids along the way. I think our beginner course was a little easy for some of them but I know they all found parts of the intermediate course to be challenging. I also rode with a young boy that wanted to try the intermediate course with me and he had a blast! He left wanting to do more and try different stuff and that is awesome! I think we may have hooked a few more mountain bikers in our area this weekend. With that being said many of the parents and kids were asking us when we are going to be building more trails. That is probably the second best thing that came of this weekend. Poor House Farm Park has potential to be a good spot to ride we just need volunteers that are willing to put in the time. I for one cannot wait to see the progress that is made at the park in the near future.

If you are reading this and want to help you can either drop me a message or stop in to EP/BC and sign-up and there will be organized work days in the future. Again thanks for reading this and I hope that many others will venture out in the woods and discover this awesome sport I love so much!

Part of the climb on Intermediate Course

Start of the decent on Intermediate Course

Looking up to the rock garden on Intermediate Course

Start of Beginner Course

Little obstacle and zig zag to finish