Tag Archives: kona

Bike Of The Week: Kona Explosif 650B

New for 2013, Kona’s Explosif model continues in steel but adopts the 650b tire size.  For those not familiar, 650b tires (and wheels) are sized between “traditional” 26″ mountain bike wheels and the “newer” 29″ wheel size.  The bike sports a SRAM X7 group, Avid hydraulic disc brakes and a Rockshox fork and is available at NYC Velo for $2199.

Sandy Relief/CX Frame Raffle Extended

*Update*
The Super Cross race this Saturday has been postponed, so we have taken this opportunity to extend the raffle in an endeavor to raise more money for the residents of Staten Island. The drawing will be held on Saturday night, December 8th, at the Cannibal Beer & Butcher.

Tickets may be purchased in person at the shop or online at http://cyclocrossframeraffle.brownpapertickets.com

Evan Murphy (Team NYC Velo) CX Race Report

I should have submitted this report a long time ago, back when I placed in the money in my first race of the season.  Instead, I’m going to give you a wrap-up of the last three weekends, where I got smashed, so we can all get up to speed. In case you didn’t read one of my reports from last year, my name is Evan Murphy, I’m 24, and I race cyclocross for NYC Velo, the best shop ever (and I’m not contractually obligated to say so), in the UCI Elite category, all over New England.

Beginning with Charm City Cross, on September 22 & 23 in Baltimore, MD. I took the bus down to Baltimore and began my weekend by leaving my brand-new sunglasses on the bus, sweet! I glumly built-up my bike and headed over to Druid Hill Park for my first race of the season. The first race actually turned out pretty well. I was in no shape and under prepared but still placed 25th, last on the money and began what I assumed to be a great season.

Photo courtesy of E.M.

Placing 25th in a UCI race, albeit a small one, is no small feat and I was stoked. The next day, however, would prove otherwise as I crashed on the first lap going into the pavement and almost abandoned the race. I luckily had a change of attitude and continued on, finishing on the lead lap.  My wounds will heal, of course, and receiving affirmation that my fitness and handling are (sort of) on track made continuing the race a worthy decision.

The following weekend I headed to Gloucester, MA for the Great Brewers Grand Prix of Gloucester and I figured my chances for success were decent. I decided that if I was going to spend the entire race weekend trying not to get lapped by Jeremy Powers, the US national champion, I should try to actually go fast. As luck would have it, I lost my chain catcher on a practice lap because I hadn’t tightened the bolt (and I neglected to have my bike serviced by my sponsor….). This would prove to be my downfall for the weekend. A borrowed catcher was not enough to prevent my chain dropping five times on the first lap on Saturday. All hope lost, I could only spend the rest of my race chasing the back of the field and goofing off; taking dollabill hand-ups and beer feeds. You’ve got to have fun at cross, otherwise you’re doing it wrong, right?

Photo by Lukas Bentel of me giving up, and running the off camber straightaway in providence.

As if my luck could get no worse, on Sunday the rain was pouring, it was windy the whole time, and my rear wheel freehub failed during a practice lap. I crashed every single lap. Any five-minute stretch of time where I kept my bike upright was a win. It wasn’t necessarily hard fitness-wise, but it was becoming clearer to me that my mud handling skills were not up to par. I placed again at the back of the race, frustrated, wet and cold.

Unfortunately, the Providence Cyclocross Festival in Roger Williams Park (Providence, RI) would be no different. Although the first day was dry, the second day was a mudfest. In Saturday’s race, I went go down hard after slotting myself in at 30th place behind New England legend Mark McCormick. The crash and subsequent mechanical bled so many places that I nearly gave up and finished in the back third. The remainder of my Saturday afternoon was spent recuperating from the crash and getting ready for Sunday’s contest.

Photo by Team Sixcycle, thanks guys!

Sunday’s race was insanity as rain turned the entire course to mud and caused race organizers to add traction to the flyover in order to prevent accidents. As the race went on, I crashed almost every single lap and nearly lost my mind trying to ride the off-camber straightaway. Again, I’m having great starts but I just can’t seem to keep the bike upright in the mud. Is this something other people practice??

Clearly I needed a break, so the following weekend I traveled to Milan, not for a cyclocross race but for a fixed gear crit. You might’ve heard of it; the Red Hook Crit Milano. I won the race, even after crashing on the first lap, and it was the serious boost of confidence that I needed. Coming back I hope to compete in this weekend’s race to the best of my abilities, I just need to stop crashing!

Photo by Team Sixcycle

Thanks for reading and thank you so much to my sponsors for their support, as well as the organizers of all the above mentioned races.  I will continue my reports for the rest of the season, and hope you follow me along.

Staten Island CX

Bike Of The Week: Cory’s Custom Fast Boy Cycles

all photography in this post by Ezra Caldwell (AKA fast boy cycles)

This edition of the NYC Velo Bike of the Week series highlights our friend Cory’s fresh new bike from NYC’s own Fast Boy Cycles.  Cory describes the bike in his own words below:
I wanted a bike that I could scoot around town comfortably and quickly on. I’ve always appreciated Ezra’s more understated aesthetic, and really wanted a toned-down bike that was still awesome. A bike that someone who didn’t care about bikes would never really look twice at, but a bike geek could see was a really beautiful machine.

Ez and I had a great conversation a while back about different custom builders. He was saying that at NAHBS, so many people were coming in and looking at funky little bits on bikes. We both think a bike is beautiful when you can take a big step back and look at the whole thing. That’s where a bike can shine. Of course, all the little details are what makes the complete bike a great piece of work, but style for the sake of style isn’t at all what I appreciate about a bike. That’s why this thing, as cool as it looks, is pretty basic. It’s designed to be ridden. Hard. It’s not an art piece to hang on a wall.

The spec of the bike is as follows:
Paul Components 130mm rear fixed hub, Paul Components disc front hub.
Stan’s NoTubes Crest 29er rims.
DT Swiss spokes and nipples.
Schwalbe Kojak 700×35 tires.
White Industries 175mm crankset, 44t chainring.
All City 18t fixed cog.
Phil Wood bottom bracket
Formula The One disc brake up front.
Plastic platform pedals w/Holdfast straps.
Thomson Elite road stem and Elite seatpost.
Brooks Ti Swift saddle.
Kona Stubby riser handlebar (Proto version, because the spec one is silver!)
ESI cushy grips.
Fast Boy fenders, rack, and basket!

The bike even made it onto Cycle Exif!
http://www.cycleexif.com/corys-fast-boy-cycles

Bike of the Week: Kona Roundabout

NYC Velo is proud to offer the Roundabout, the newest offering from Kona’s diverse, purpose driven collection of Asphalt bikes. The Roundabout is designed specifically for people wanting a beautifully built, perfectly simple bike.

The Roundabout features a classic steel Mixte, AKA step-thru, frame, representing a clean, streamlined purpose-driven-bike aesthetic. It utilizes a user-friendly Shimano 9 speed drivetrain that offers a perfect range of gears to zip around town. The Kona HandPlant swept-back cruiser-style handlebar keeps the rider upright, comfortable and focused on the road in front of them. Kona offers this fender-ready model in two sizes: small and medium.  At $899.99, the Roundabout represents a quality mark that will keep it out of the service bay, without the need for frustrating repairs and adjustments (it will most certainly be out enjoying a carefree ride).

No CX Bike? No Problem! Kona Jake The Snake CX Rentals are HERE!

Without a doubt, the most pervasive excuse we hear from people who want to try cyclocross is, “I don’t have a cyclocross bike.”

Well, we’re here to make things easy for you. We have dedicated a fleet of brand-new Kona Jake the Snake CX Bikes just to cover that “convenient” excuse of not having a CX bike to use. Here are the awesome details:

Price: $65 per day/race $100 per weekend

Other Info: customers provide their own MTB pedals and shoes. The $65 covers cleaning and tuning of bikes, but customers are responsible for damage (you break, you buy).

Here’s a nice touch: 50% of the rental charge on a CX bike can be applied towards the purchase of a new Cyclocross bike at NYC Velo!

And because we’re a sponsor and love the race, rental fees will be waived for Staten CX.

If you’re wondering about the quality of the Kona Jake the Snakes, let’s just say they’re awesome looking, durable, feature-rich, and at a great price point. With a 105/ultegra mix, BB30 bottom bracket, tapered headtube and a carbon fork, you’ll be hard pressed to find anything similar at this price.

So give us a call and reserve a bike for whatever race strikes your fancy- there are some good ones coming up.

See you at the races.

5ive Points With Kona’s Cory Blackwood

The latest 5ive Points subject is Cory Blackwood, Territory Sales Manager and Advocacy Guy for Kona Bikes.  He started his bike industry career in St. Louis before moving to Bellingham, MA 8 years ago to work for Kona.  In his words, he “…wears lots of hats, but ‘sales rep’ has always been one of them.

“I am not a racer, but I have ridden and loved bikes as far back as I can remember. I like fixies in the city, gears in the country, and singlespeeds, gears, no suspension or full suspension on the mountain.”  Cory is a great bike guy, everytime he comes to NYC, his desire to get people to enjoy cycling is infectious.  We look forward to his next visit to the Big Apple next month!

NYC Velo: What bike do you ride?

Cory Blackwood: Right now, I have way too many bikes. I mountain bike on a 2011 Abra Cadabra prototype or a Big Unit singlespeed, get around town on a Paddy Wagon or a Dr. Good, and tow my kids around on a Ute. I even just picked up one of our 20^th anniversary bikes, the Kona Eighty Eight for cruising.

NYCV: What’s your favorite ride?

CB: The local mountain bike system here in Bellingham, called Galbraith Mountain. It’s five minutes from my house by bike, has over 40 miles of trails, tons of climbing and descending, and is some of the best mountain biking I’ve seen in the nation. Whenever I come back from a sales trip, I look forward to hitting my “backyard” trails.

NYCV: What’s your favorite post-ride food?

CB: Generally something Mexican, with lots of beans and cheese, and almost always accompanied by a nice, cold IPA.

NYCV: What is one thing you always carry on a ride?

CB: My Iphone. I’m a barely functioning human without it.

NYCV: What’s next?

CB: Travel season is here, so I’m off to Missouri, then NYC, then South Dakota for sales trips. I love getting to go to vastly different areas and ride all sorts of things, from the old-western feel of South Dakota to the city riding of NYC. When I’m home in Bellingham I chase my nearly four year old son around on his bike and will be getting our now 6 month old daughter in the Burley so we can all do family rides around town, to the market and bay.

5ive Points: Barry Wicks

Now that CX Worlds has passed and everybody’s starting to forget how to dismount and run across stuff (except for people riding in central park, ahem…), we thought we’d run a 5ive Points interview with our leggy friend Barry Wicks (aka WicknastyB).

As we sat down to put together our interview with Barry, we did a little background work… only to find out that there are a number great interviews with the curlier half of the Twin Towers out there. So…we’ll say that Barry is a top notch bike racer who covers the disciplines that are near and dear to our hearts (CX and MTB). He answered our questions graciously, and is a helluva guy.

For more in-depth WicknastyB info, check out his blog and some interviews (here, here, and here). Or you can read his answers to our 5ive Points below (how efficient)!

NYC Velo: What bike do you ride?

Barry Wicks: Hei Hei 29, Zing, Major Jake, and my favorite, the Honkey Tonk

NYCV: What’s your favorite ride?

BW: There is a ride out of Santa Cruz we called the Giant Flamingo. My friend Brian Vernor first showed it to me when I moved there. It involves 7000 ft of climbing,124 miles, giant redwoods, deserted single lane paved roads, staggering vistas, a little dirt to keep you honest. It finishes with a 25 mile, tail wind aided rip back into town on Hwy 1. It is
spectacular.

NYCV: What’s your favorite post-ride food?

BW: 2 double bacon cheese burgers and a vanilla milkshake

NYCV: What is one thing you always carry on a ride?

BW: $10,000 in crisp $100 dollar bills

NYCV: What’s next?

BW: MTB season kicks off in March and I am planning some awesome multiday stage races like BCBR, Transrockies and the Transylvania epic. After all that and a bit more it will be another fun cross season.

BOTW: Kona Honkey Tonk, flat-barred awesomeness

Allow us to introduce the FBRB (flat bar road bike)… soon to be all the rage. Seriously.

You heard it here first.

We converted this drop bar ride with a little help from our friends Paul, Ritchey, Dura-Ace, and Brooks. with 700×25 tires and the option of fenders, this bike is a stylish do everything / go anywhere / be awesome machine.

This is the perfect bike for those wondering how they’re going to attack the city by bike once its all thawed out.

The best part is that this eligible bachelor is on sale at $1,100.  Dare we say its the perfect Valentine?