The new issue or Embrocation Cycling Journal is available in the Veloshop!

Come pick up your copy!

Thanks Mud and Cowbells for bringing this to my attention.

I got an email from Francois a week ago:

“Bonjour, FMB vous présente ses nouveautés 2009. Cordialement, Francois”.

Looks like FMB is releasing some new treads!

yay!

Wait a second. These are tread patterns that already exist on other tyres. I can’t keep it straight. But I know someone who can;

I met up with Donn from Challenge tyres this afternoon. The cyclocross is in full effect.

As he explains it: “I’m playing Switzerland (read: neutral party) in all this. We love Francois, he has been to our factory. We are selling him our treads for FMB use.”

“But Donn” I say, “why the hell would I buy a Challenge tyre from FMB?”

Hands in the air: “Hey, don’t look at me.”

One could argue that a handmade FMB coton casing is superior to a handmade Challenge cotton casing. “only by someone attuned to the subtle nuances of various tubulars and their properties” - why thank you Donn.

But, with that said, I did tell him: “the Fango? meh.”

“alright, I’ll get a little defensive about the Fango, I mean, I had a lot to do with the design process. It has won a lot of races! It is a great tire!”

“Fair enough Donn, fair enough. I’m not saying it sucks, I’m saying it does not give me enough performance over the traditional Grifo tread. Who needs killer cornering knobs when you are sliding through all your corners anyways?”

“Well, what can Challenge do then?”

“Design another badass tread design. A mud tread design! Something for the NW. Something for mud, not like a Racing Ralph, kinda like a Rhino but not quite like a TUFO.”

“fine.” he says. And, proceeds to show me photos so secret and so fresh on his laptop that he is also seeing them for the first time.

“boo yah.” I say. “convince Alex to keep those side lugs and you are in business.”

-

I also got a call from TIRE ALERT! yesterday looking for a source for 700×30 latex inner tubes. He can’t find a source for them. And, I can’t seem to find a supply of them either.

I had Francois build up and send me some last year for my own stock to send along to TIRE ALERT! when I had FMB and Dugast repairs that needed latex tubes as TIRE ALERT! was not putting latex back in my fancy cx repairs.

How many times can I write TIRE ALERT! in one paragraph?

-

There you have it. I’m not even going to touch on Vittoria, Continental, Geax or others. I like the traditional, the time tested and race proven. I’ve seen some dope tread designs out there but, I’m convinced that any Euro on any day of the week can win a muddy US cross race on file treads and 15 psi. So, at a certain point tread design it is not the issue eh? We just need to be riding faster and handling our machines better.

I like this blog. Covers Oregon racing with some decent photos too!

“Just the facts.”

Nice to have little updates from the races I’m not at. And neutral race coverage.

Pat got a little interview recently, I f’ing LOVE the legit Alpenrose photo.

Before I end up using these on a project bike…

I have a pair of 22mm FMB cotton Criterium tyres for sale.

First $200 USD gets them shipped in the continental US!

Removeable valve cores, latex inner tubes, cotton sidewall, very thin rubber tread as shown on his site.

248 grams each!

Shoot me an email!

I cut the SHIT out of my legs shaving in a hurry yester-morning. I was running late; I had a date with Matt and Saska to watch DiLuca embarrass every other bike racer in Italy.

And I badly needed to con Matt in to making me an espresso on his sweet little Breville.

I’ve had far too busy weeks recently. Barely riding my bike, racing here and there, working, hiring and recovering from being sick. Story of my life, no?

I received a sweet package in the mail the day before and figured it would be a good time to try out this exciting gift.

Winston’s Knickers.

The tubular tyre has been a fascination for me since I learned about them. I still get excited When I make orders from Francois at FMB, I’ll send a little care package along, some coffee beans, some local flavor.

Imagine my surprise when a package arrived from new friends bearing something similar: home made Embrocation from Mary in Louisville! (or rather Mary’s BF)

I took the time to take the embrocation into the garage and lovingly rest it upon my moto. I inspected the aroma and texture.

Then applied.

I was off to the local training crit. It was windy; very windy for Portland and looking like a spring rain would hit us.

The embrocation was perfect for the brisk windy conditions we raced in, it kept me taken care of during the race and did not sting the shit out of my raw, bloodied legs.

I can’t say I did the embrocation any justice with my mediocre riding in the crit…

Thanks Mary!

Hooking each other up with gear and creating and putting good energy back out there is what it is all about.