Tag Archives: trek

Discovered a photo of Lance I took in 1997… (originally published on my Facebook page)

Trek's Team coordinator Mike M on the right, and he who must not be named, Lance, on the left.
Trek’s Team coordinator Mike M on the right, and he who must not be named, Lance Armstrong, on the left.

1997. Who knew. Mike M, Trek’s team liaison (on the right in the photo), was pretty darned sure he knew. Knew that he’d signed the next big thing in pro cycling. I recall him calling me on the phone, at home, to tell me about it. He was that excited (and at the time, I was pretty high on Trek’s dealer list). They flew me to San Diego to the training camp where I was supposed to be hugely impressed by the pro athletes on display… at the time, I was much more impressed by the bike technology. I hadn’t been totally sucked into pro cycling yet.

I was only 40 at the time and one heck of a lot faster than I am today. I could hold my own against the Trek engineers and such (some of whom raced fairly well), and not look totally foolish riding (not really long rides) with guys I should have been far more impressed with than I was. Pretty naïve in hindsight.

Two and a half years later I found myself in France, exposed to an entirely new and epic type of bike racing at my first TdF. I was quickly and thoroughly hooked. Had I any idea what the pinnacle of bike racing could be like when I started racing, I likely would have made some very different choices. In retrospect, I’m glad I didn’t, but I’ll continue to wonder, am I a has-been or a never-was.

From 2000 up through this year, I’ve been to every TdF except 2008 (the year Carlos Sastre won). It’s clearly a bit of an obsession, and from 2007-on, an obsession I’ve shared with my son. 9 years ago he was 14, 5’3 or so, and had slimmed down to about 195lbs. He’d been as high as 220. Today he’s 5’9 and 170. Cycling has transformed him, and our trips to the TdF have been a high point of each year for both of us.

Sucks that Lance turned out to be not just a doper but an *hole, which kinda takes over the narrative for a great story.

Tuesday’s Ride Update-

Just a few of us this morning;  myself, Kevin (younger Kevin, not the Pilot), JR, and, for the climb up Kings, Marcus. Kevin and Marcus are in a whole different class and just rode on ahead; I rode hard the first part of the climb but fell apart further up and got passed by JR. So nothing new to report. Same as it ever was.  🙂

Trek issues massive recall of quick releases for disc brake bikes; what it means to you (non-Trek bikes suspect as well)

recalled_bikesA few days ago Trek issued perhaps the largest bicycle recall in history, affecting nearly 1 million bikes with disc brakes. I’m going to attempt to summarize the issue here.
But first, here’s a link to a video showing an OK quick release,
another that shows the recalled quick release… and why it’s dangerous.
And finally, Trek’s official release on the recall.

This affects only bikes with disc brakes. Period. Despite the photos shown in the news, displaying rows of bikes without disc brakes, you do not have an issue if your bike does not have disc brakes.

The recall is for Trek bikes right now, but it’s expected to become an industry-wide issue. The quick release style being recalled has been in wide use across nearly all major bike companies. Trek recognized and is dealing with this first, as they became aware of a very serious injury for which research pointed to the quick release design as the cause.

The problem is caused by the quick release rotating backward into the front wheel’s disc, where it can lock in place, causing the front wheel to suddenly stop rotating. This can cause a crash without warning, possibly launching the rider into harm’s way. It’s a serious problem.

Some in the industry believe this is a user-error situation, where someone has not properly installed the front wheel. In many cases, this is true. If someone does not properly install the front wheel, perhaps by screwing the quick release on instead of flipping the lever, or they simply don’t have enough pressure holding it in place, some quick release levers will drop into the disc.  The obvious solution is to properly-install & tighten the quick release, and check it frequently. Better yet to use a quick-release that can’t do that (in 2003 it was shown that it’s not likely, but possible, for a front quick release on a disc brake bikes can loosen on their own, so let’s remove every opportunity practical!).

It would appear that simply moving the quick release lever from the disc-side of the wheel to the other side would eliminate the “lock & launch” problem, but this is not a reliable solution because the mechanism is not keyed and can easily be installed either way. But if you have a non-Trek bicycle and the quick release can rotate backward enough to go into the rotor, having the lever side of the quick release opposite the disc is better than nothing. The problem is that anyone, at anytime, could reinstall it differently.

You should also pay attention to the adjustment of your quick release much more often, since the evidence is clear that they can loosen over time. Yours might not have yet, but it could. Next time you’re in a shop, have them show you what proper tension on the lever is.

Replacing the quick release is super-easy. A couple of minutes and you’re done. Replacing broken bikes and healing from accidents is not so easy. Please take this recall seriously.

Thanks, Mike Jacoubowsky, Partner, Chain Reaction Bicycles