Brian Lopes and Ibis are going for a ride.

Great news for Brian, great news for Ibis! check out the what Lopes has to say about Ibis and what Ibis has to say about Brian!

LAGUNA BEACH, CA, Tues. Feb. 26, 2008:

Over the fall and winter months the number one inquiry Brian Lopes has been receiving from fans, industry mags and mountain bike enthusiasts alike has been; "What bike will you be riding for 2008?"

With over 30 plus years of experience combined in racing, riding and product development, Brian has built a solid reputation and insists on riding nothing but the best products available. So naturally this was a question that he took very seriously!

After talks with several potential bike partners, his search lead him to Ibis Cycles. This storied boutique brand has a long heritage dating back to the beginnings of modern mountain biking. Ibis was founded by Mountain Bike Hall of Fame inductee Scot (A.K.A. "Chuck Ibis") Nicol. Most recently Ibis is best known for their gorgeous sculptural carbon fiber frames and integration of the infamous "dw-link" into its Mojo Carbon and Mojo SL mountain bikes. if you have been fortunate enough to ride one, you probably have been converted into an IBIS fan too.

Brian and Ibis will be working together in the coming years to develop lots of new Ibis products and to attract a much wider audience to the Ibis brand.

" I'm thrilled to be riding what in my opinion is the best looking and best riding bike on the market. I personally tested numerous bikes and the Ibis Mojo has won hands down as the best all-around machine. Which was the main driver for my decision, shortly followed by the the like-ability of the Ibis owners, their future products, heritage and long-term commitment and vision to make the ultimate working bikes in the market. To me it was a perfect fit." current World Cup Champion Brian lopes

This is what Scot Nicol from Ibis had to say:

"Ibis' collaboration with Brian Lopes is all about eyes and ears. There are a lot of riders who still don't know who or what Ibis is all about. I want them to hear what Brian has to say about the Mojo. I want them to see what Brian can do on our bikes, and once and for all end any speculation about whether or not carbon fiber is strong enough for a mountain bike. Brian's credibility and endorsement of Ibis will cause a lot of new customers to take a look at the Mojo for its functional beauty, the dw-link's plush efficiency and the durable lightweight performance of the Mojo's monocoque carbon fiber frame." Ibis' Scot Nicol

For more info. on IBIS Cycles ww.ibiscycles.com

Unicorns

I love unicorns. Especially ones who fly with the rainbows. Unicorns are a magical and enchanting creature. I think they probably have like a +10 magic. Basically they look like nice gentle creatures, but they will kick the crap out of you if you tried any funny business, unlike the movie "Legend" where they cut the unicorns horn off. Personally I don't think it would have happened like that, although I do think we would dive into a perilous world if a unicorn horn was cut off.

2 things that don't mix are Bulls and Unicorns. A Unicorn isn't going to be hanging out in the same pasteur as a Bull, it just isn't going to happen. Unicorn's probably eat pink grass and pee golden streams that leprechauns collect for their pots of gold. So why, in the blasphemy of unicorns, would someone try to emulate such a creature with a bike. There are quite a few reasons not to do this, 1 is bull horns are lame. 2 is bull horns are lame. 3. is your brake is in a dumb spot and you might as well not have a brake if your going to put it in a place that is only accessible if you have +10 magic to stop time to allow yourself enough time to reach the brakelever. The only thing this bike didn't do to hurt the Unicorn name is to have painted it like a rainbow.

Peter's bouncing back!

Hey Tim,

I trust you'll forward this to the guys. Just a quick update. I'm still down here at Stanford for treatment. Treatment involves going to the hospital where they do some blood tests and then pump me up with whatever I'm low on. At first I was going in for treatment every other day, but now I'm down to Mondays and Thursdays, unless there is a problem, in which case I'll go in. I'm staying in patient housing, which is just a big apartment complex near the hospital. Pretty nice digs but I would rather be home of course. I'm not allowed to be alone in case of emergency so my parents, sister, and Alekist take turns watching over me. We've only had one emergency where I had to be admitted to the hospital for three days, otherwise it's pretty boring. The worst part about this is the side effects of all the meds they've got me taking. Over the course of the day i take about 45 pills, side effects range from weight gain (sucks...i'm pretty fat right now but they say it will go away once i'm off the meds), insomnia, the shakes, and the list goes on. I'm a pretty big mess cause of the meds, but they are keeping me alive so not a bad trade off. As my sister's immune system accepts my body we'll start to taper the meds down till I'm down to near nothing. That is the ultimate goal of this process right now. I'm technically in what is called "clinical remission" which means all signs say the cancer is beaten but that they aren't sure until they do a biopsy of my bones. The biopsy is in about three weeks and after that i may be able to go home. When I go home it is going to be similar to patient housing.....I'll be very restricted in what I'm allowed to do. Some good signs are that my hair is starting to grow back, anytime my body does something normal it is a good sign. For a while I was bald because of the chemo and my body had better things to do then grow hair. I guess that's it for now. I'm still working on a more detailed update but it is hard when you have bad days and shake all the time. I miss all you guys and can't wait to be back.

-p

Peter is still accepting donations so please donate if you can.
Donate to Peter at paypal@wrenchscience.com

Thanks for the support, TM

electric bikes

I don't know very many people riding electric bikes. One of our old salesman Dennis bought a whizzer replica engine and put it on an old cruiser he had. It was a scary beast. If a whizzer isn't already sketchy, a taiwanese ghetto whiz is got to be as sketchy as it gets. Lately I've been noticing a new, but old, kind of motorized bike. The old Puch pedal mopedal. I've seen some others as well, motobecane and some other I can't remember, but the interesting thing about these mopeds is that they have a full on crank like a bike. In fact that's how you get the thing going, you pedal it and then the engine takes over. Also a nifty feature for running out of gas.

These mopedals are starting to see a return as cool kids are looking for new alternatives to transportation. To be in front of the curve you have to have something that is limited. Being that most of these are being built in the 80's it's going to be difficult for the uncool kids to copy you, thus a perfect item to keep your cool above water. The next stage is to trick out your mopedal so it doesn't look as lame as this one in this picture. Your trying to go for the cut, snipped, bobbed look of the first one. The last important item is to find a member's only jacket in red leather. Once again a limited supply and to complete the look. I haven't seen anyone unlocking there mopedal to take a picture, but be sure that I'm waiting for it to happen.

To sum it up, if you want extra pedal power, but don't want to spend the thousands of dollars on a lame designed electrik bike, go to your local flea market and start looking around for a mopedal. You can look cool, you can save on gas, and you can cut lanes of traffic. The only thing you can't do is run red lights.

another and another

ode to girls on bikes.

I wasn't making many runs into SF for the last 3 years. When you have a daughter or son, your social life takes a traumatic turn, not for the worse, but for the different. It means all those party friends you see at the bar on the weekend are still at the bar on the weekend, you just happen to be at home with your kids. Its a good thing. When they tell you it's life changing, it's true, your life hits a Y in the path, you choose a direction you were either ready for or not. The thing is about that Y is that the path is chosen for you, it's more like "Hey there goes your old path." As you walk down this new path you'll be able to watch the old path disappear in the background.

I'm now splitting my time between art school and wrench science. It's a beautiful thing to see things from other perspectives. I take the train into SF and then primarily walk or take the bus to class. Hauling my bike on the train everyday is more a nuisance than walking the 3 blocks to class. So now I feel like an undercover cyclist. I'm walking with the walkers, seeing things slowly instead at a blur. The walkers don't know I'm a cyclist, and the cyclists' don't know I'm a cyclist. I'm invisible. Art school has plenty of "cool" people. Lots of individualism, but also lots of conformity, like the fixie. The funny thing about the fixie here, is that alot of them don't ride fixed, they just want to look like they do. So I see front brake freewheels all over the place, little girls and boys coasting effortlessly down the street to slam there front brake on to stop. huh. There is also the track bikes and every other model out there. The poor mans Pake or IRO is the most common. Today in front of the cafe there was a nice blue fixie, I was going to take a picture and post it, when a nice girl came out and greeted me. I asked if I could take her picture and she obliged. So this is my ode to girls on bikes. I'll continue to take pictures of bikes and the people that ride them, so you can see first hand where the merger of messenger and art school has blurred a disturbing line. I'll lay invisible waiting for that next shot.

The second most common art school bike is the 70's road bike. The one you find sitting sadly at the back of the Goodwill in East Oakland with a price tag of $3.99. They do make ideal city bikes, relatively fast, heavy as iron, and not a likely target for those trying to find a bike to steal. The real art kids find the girls 10 speeds, the one with the lowered top tube. Preferably a nice pink or baby blue. A statement that they are intouch with there female side and have no conscious about riding a women's specific bike, even if it's size 13 and they have the seatpost jacked past the maximum mark. I'll probably have to take a few of those pictures as well. This photo says something even stronger, something that I can relate to, something that every cyclist can relate to. Your lame cards in your rear wheel. These cards are supposed to show some sort of stature, some sort of "my dick is bigger than yours" kind of thing. Generally if you look closely, it's some lame card they made themselves so that when they whiz by fast it looks like they have 20 cards and "20inches" to boast about. Keep in mind I ride a fixed gear too, so I'm not hooting and hollering just to do so, I'm just calling it like I see it.

Last is the quintessential, cheap fixies. SE racing and IRO. Mundane and boring. One thing that is really cool about bikes is that they are the extension of ourselves. The colors we choose the stickers we add. Not everyone has talent to do this, clearly demonstrated by these 2 bikes. Straight off the shelf boring fixies. This is when a fad has become a trend. You'd be better off with an old girls 70's 10 speed, bobbed and stripped and flipped to fixie, then to take the time to run down to the local store to keep up with the cool kid with a cooler fixie. Good try, try again.

Well that's it for this addition of "invisible cyclist in art school" check back next week for new bikes, new girls hopefully, and more people to talk about.

=zaxxon