Our Back to School Sale starts this Thursday and runs through Sunday! And don't forget about the annual swap meet taking place in the parking lot Saturday morning. The swap meet will run from 9am to 2pm. If you have outdoor or cycling equipment to sell bring it by at 9am and put a price on it. If the item sells you have the option of either 100% of the sale in store credit or cash with a 10% consignment fee. Have questions? Give us a call: 573-886-9258
Saddle Drive Summary
Tyler and I are sitting in the Denver airport waiting for our connecting flight to Kansas City after a few days in Utah at Quality Bicycle Product's Saddle Drive event. We've ridden the latest and greatest from Salsa, Surly, All City, and Foundry on some awesome trails out of the Snowbasin Resort just East of Ogden, UT. After spending time with the bikes and the people that created them I think it's safe to say that 2015 is going to be a great year for bikes!
I'll save time and let the actual companies give a detailed line description.
We definitely had some favorites this year. Among them were the new Salsa Mukluk with the Rockshox Bluto suspension fork and Salsa's Bucksaw full suspension fatbike. Adding suspension to the already fun fatbike category just expands what these bikes are capable of. They've now gone from flotation oriented mixed terrain crawlers to full on trail machines. Suspension isn't needed on all fatbikes though. In 2015 Salsa will still offer their popular Mukluk in a traditional rigid design as well as the new Blackborow line with close to five inch tires. The Beargrease also returns with a carbon or aluminum frame. Look forward to seeing some of the above in the shop come Fall!
Besides the ever popular fatbike category, Salsa had their entire mountain fleet on hand. While there weren't many technical changes in the line, the Spearfish and El Mariachi return in 2015. The Spearfish is probably one of the more perfect bikes for Missouri. With 80mm rear travel and 100mm front, the all-day-cross-country-race-bike or I-just-want-to-ride-mountain-bikes steed couldn't be more appropriate for our trails.
It's hard to truly understand how much fun these bikes are without actually being able to ride them on our own trails. Fortunately we'll get that chance come October! The Salsa demo truck will be making it down to our neck of the woods so we can all spend some time on all of their bikes on trails we know and love. Stay tuned for dates and details.
If you missed out on our day to day coverage of the event be sure to follow us on Instagram!
Tyler and Jesse go to Utah!
Independent Fabrications Gravel Royale
We just received our new Indy Fab Gravel Royale frameset for display in the shop! The steel beauty is complete with disc tabs and a custom painted Enve disc fork. Right now we're planning on building it up with Shimano's Ultegra 6800 mechanical groupo with the new hydraulic disc brake shift/brake levers once they're available. Keep an eye on social media as we'll be posting up photos of the build as it happens!
Paris-Roubaix 2014
The 2014 edition of Paris-Roubaix, arguably one of the most exciting and hardest one day road races in the world, takes place this Sunday. Last year's race saw a win for Trek Factory Racing's Fabian Cancellara aboard his Trek Domane. Coming off of an impressive win at the Tour of Flanders last weekend, Cancellara is set for a repeat victory this Sunday. Below are some websites and twitter profiles that we recommend you follow to stay up to date.
http://twitter.com/TrekFactory
Saturday morning trail rides with Judy!
Walt's Saturday morning trail rides with Judy will resume on April 19, weather permitting. These are "entry level rides" geared towards folks who want to start riding regularly but would like a little initial support. We leave Walt's at 9 am on Saturday mornings, take the road over to Flat Branch Park and go to the MKT from there--our end destination is Hindman's Junction near McBaine although, depending on the group and ability levels, we sometimes do the road loop in McBaine around to the old Burr Oak tree. The mileage for the basic route is about 22 miles, but is easily tailored to fit the ability levels of novice riders who need shorter mileage initially. Helmets are required, and cyclists are encouraged to carry plenty of water. Judy's job is to make sure all participants safely to Walt's or their drop off destination. Cyclists of all levels are welcome to join us and often do. If you think you would be interested in joining us, please email Judy at JudyKnudy@aol.com and request to be put on the updated email list--you will then receive a weekly email announcement (or cancellation if she's out of town and doesn't have a substitute) and also last minute weather cancellations. We do not ride if it is raining, if conditions are too wet on the trails, or if the weather is threatening. Hope you will join us!!!
North American Handmade Bicycle Show: 2014
One of my favorite events that I've never attended, the North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS) is taking place this weekend in Charlotte, NC. The photos and videos that come out of NAHBS are drool worthy visuals of beautiful handmade, custom painted bikes in all shapes and sizes. I highly recommend that you keep an eye on a few key websites to stay up to date as the show progresses. Here's a couple that I'd bookmark if I were you:
If after this weekend your interest is piqued in high end custom bikes, stop by the shop and talk to us about Independent Fabrications, Gunnar, and Waterford. We'd love to help you build your own dream bike!
Check out Prolly's coverage of last year's event here.
We're Hiring!
We're currently looking for full and part time employees for Spring and Fall. Previous retail experience is preferred and interest in cycling and outdoor activities is a MUST. Please email mark@waltsbikeshop.com or stop by with a resumé and we'll be in contact!
COLD ROLLED-Chapter Three: The Lake Superior Session
A series of unprofessional and blurry photos from our trip to Jingle Cross 2013
Last weekend Michelle, Steve, Ryan and I drove up to Iowa City, IA for the 2013 UCI Carousel Volkswagen Jingle Cross. The 10th edition of the cyclocross race weekend did not disappoint with three days of racing and tons of competitors from all across the nation. Day one:
Packing up for race weekends has become somewhat of an art form.
Our Jingle Cross soigneur, Ryan Irish. Thanks for helping out!
Unfortunately closed for the season.
Checking out the course. The venue for Jingle Cross is perfect. Tons of parking and great cyclocross terrain with some unique features.
The facilities.
Warming up. This photo doesn't do this hill justice. Long and steep!
Michelle making her way through the Men's race that started in front of her.
Friday night under the lights! Michelle was just off the podium in the Women's 4 race and I unfortunately flatted in the last lap of the Men's 2 race, but was still able to roll through the finish in mid pack.
After our races we enjoyed spectating the UCI events.
Recovering from day one's races using ancient techniques.
Day two:
Local junior racer Petey Botts drove up on Saturday and took and impressive third place in the junior's race. Here he is navigating a sand pit that took riders through a barn.
The course on day two was a bit different and featured this long off camber switchback section down Mt. Krumpit.
Day three:
The climb from day one was reintroduced for Sunday's day three race. Rain from the previous night made it all the more difficult.
We highly recommend traveling up to this race weekend next year. Even if just to spectate, Jingle Cross shouldn't be missed!
