BSNYC Field Trip: 2017 Philly Bike Expo

***Tomorrow (Tuesday) is Election Day.  Election Day means no school.  No school means I have to put on my parenting gloves.  Parenting means I won't be updating this blog tomorrow, but I'll be back on Wednesday, November 8th with regular updates.  The Bike Forecast shall continue uninterrupted.***

Hello!  Let's jump right in with some bike blogging, because this is a bike blog and in these trying times I find great comfort in that.  So first of all, you'll remember that on Friday I took delivery of the Renovo Aerowood:

Well it's all together now and I've managed to get a couple of 20-ish mile rides on it so far:

Naturally the first outing revealed some stuff that needed minor adjustment, and that included a hideous screeching from the wheels under hard braking.  Well I'm pleased to report I've sorted all of those out--including, it seems, the hair-raising crabon banshee wail, and I must say that's the first time ever in my life that toeing in the brakes actually worked.

I was so ready to blame all the ills of society on those decadent crabon wheels that I'm almost disappointed.  They even seem to stop well in wet conditions, which really pisses me off.

Anyway, at this early stage I'm not going to say anything other than that the bike is really fun to ride and makes me feel super fast even though I'm not--though for the basis of comparison I hopped on my trusty Ritte and that too felt pretty damn good, cheapo wheels and all:

Clearly some wheel-swapping and other experimentation is in order, and rest assured I'll keep you apprised of how I'm getting on with the Renovo over the duration of the testing period.

Oh, and I've checked with my tech department, and right now the plan is to get the Jones H-Bars installed on the Marin by Friday so I can start testing those babies out too.

Though I can't promise anything, for I am only one Fred.

Either way, I'm very much looking forward to to switching back and forth between a $10,000 wooden aerobike and a stock no-frills 27.5+ bike with wide-ass alt bars on it that costs about 1/10th as much.

Moving on, this past weekend I headed down to the Philly Bike Expo.  Usually I only visit for the day and give a seminar, which basically involves me bloviating in an ostensibly humorous fashion, showing a bunch of slides, and giving away some goofy prizes--including, last time I was down there, a crabon frame that may or may not have been cracked:

While I'm no Carrot Top, people generally seem to have an OK time, so I keep doing it.

This year, however, show organizer Bina Bilenky had a different idea, which was for me to speak at an "Industry Party" she was putting together for Saturday evening, so I figured I'd do that and then spend the night in Philly:

My "presentation" was basically a disaster, but more on that later.

Anyway, upon arriving in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon the first thing I did was take a photo of where I parked, because I have been known to lose my car:

And yes, even though I hate cars now I totally drove to the Expo, but only because I was traveling with a $10,000 wooden bicycle, and if I took the Bolt bus I'm sure that upon stepping off of it in Philly they'd hand me a bag of sawdust.

While you may see this as hypocritical, I maintain it only reaffirms my central point, which is that all drivers are assholes.  

Once I'd gotten the car and hotel room sorted out I headed over to the convention center, where the Expo was in full swing, much to the delight of the local news:

I then made straight for the Engin booth, for I am a big fan of Drew's bikes, which is why I ride one of them:

And wouldn't you know he had on display pretty much exactly the road bike I'd want if I were currently in the market for a custom road bike, which as the father of seventeen (17) children I am most assuredly not:

This bike has it all, precisely because it doesn't have it all--monochromatic paint, rim brakes, metal wheels, and even mechanical shifting:

The wood bike of course has electronic shifting, which all sarcasm aside is pretty amazing and extremely fun to use--the front shifting in particular is so good that when you press the button you say out loud, "Are you fucking kidding me?"  Even so, if money were no object I have to say I'd still go with the mechanical shifting, mostly because I like actually feeling the shift, but also because I resent having to plug in a bike.

Anyway, I was sure I'd just seen the perfect road bike until I walked by the Richard Sachs booth:

At which point I realized I had to look at a bike I'd never want in a million years or else I'd do something I'd end up regretting, so I stared at this thing for awhile until I regained my bearings:

Speaking of bearings, isn't the real reason we go to bike shows so we can stand around spinning them?

As it happens, I'd left my fidget spinner in the glove compartment of my car, so I was extremely grateful for this display.  They also had some cranks you could spin:

And I made a mental note to pick up some cured meat over at the Reading Terminal Market across the street and bring it back here for slicing.

Next I checked out the custom cycling shoes:

Though Renovo has already set me up with a pair so I didn't bother placing an order:

In addition to custom shoes there was also art:

Though I didn't buy any of that either because I'm saving my money for Froome Chasing Geese:

But the Philly Bike Expo isn't all about custom exotica, and one of the more noteworthy companies there was 1854:

Whose business model sets them apart from any other company in the industry:

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. (BRAIN) — Brandale Randolph's goals for the bike brand he founded last year would be unfamiliar to some entrepreneurs.

"If we can employ at least 20 people at a living wage making bikes here, we'll be doing great," Randolph told BRAIN this week. "If three or four years from now, our employees can see one of our bikes out on the road being used, and say, 'I built that bike,' that would a success ... if we can go into bike shops around the country and see our bikes on display, that's a win."

Randolph, who calls himself a social entrepreneur, founded 1854 Cycling Company specifically to employ formerly incarcerated people, as well as those on work release from jails and prisons. The company is named for the year that the Anti-Slavery Society met for the first time, on July 4 in Framingham, marking the start of the abolitionist movement. The company is a for-profit business that donates a portion of all proceeds to charities and organizations that provide support to the formerly incarcerated.

Then there were the test tracks.  Not only was there one just for the kids, but there was also another one for Electric Bike Expo, which took place directly adjacent to the regular analog Philly Bike Expo:

You know what's fun?  I'll tell you what's fun: zipping around on a smooth cement floor on a pedal-assist bike.  Even more fun?  The ramp:

The first bike I tried was a garden variety hybrid equipped with a Copenhagen Wheel:

If you're unfamiliar with the Copenhagen Wheel, basically you just throw it on the bike you have now and let 'er rip:

MEET THE COPENHAGEN WHEEL
The Copenhagen Wheel is a sleek red hub that turns almost any bike into a smart electric hybrid. It contains a custom motor, advanced sensors, control systems, and a battery. Bluetooth connectivity enables you to personalize your cycling experience from your smartphone. Simply replace the rear wheel of your bike or add it to a new bike. Distances shorten, hills flatten and the experience becomes uniquely you, ride by ride.

As you know, with kids to haul and nothing left to prove I've been pining for an ebike, and if I still had the Big Dummy I would have bought one of these things right then and there, since retrofitting one to a bike with a derailleur drivetrain seems incredibly simple.  Not only is it like having a gale force tailwind, but it also has regenerative braking, so when you pedal backwards you slow down.  The sensation is like riding some kind of cosmic space fixie in the best possible way.

Next I tried an Urban Arrow in the "Shorty" configuration:

And did my best to catch some air with it:

I absolutely love my current kid-hauler, but as I schlepped my younger child to the iPhone factory this morning I spent the entire ride thinking about that Bosch pedal assist paired with a NuVinci CVT.  Seriously, just wow.  With the WorkCycles Fr8 now available in a pedal-assist I may have to think about a retrofit.  In fact, as I cruised around the test track I caught myself thinking that if anything has the ability to bring everyday riding to the lazy, complacent American masses then pedal assist is it, and if this doesn't do it then we're all dying in our Hyundais, end of story.

Soon it was time for me to leave and get ready for Industry Party, where I was to be the speaker.  As it turns out, the last thing a bunch of industry people want to do after standing on their feet and answering questions about bikes all day is listen to some bike blogger prattling on about nothing--especially when there's a buffet and an open bar:

Yet I'd been asked to do a job, so inanely I pressed on in the face of obvious indifference and annoyance until someone politely told me I should wrap it up.  If you've ever been lapped at a cyclocross race, yelled at by the leaders, and then unceremoniously pulled from the course then you have a good sense of what it was like.  Nevertheless, I regret nothing, because the occasional strong dose of abject humiliation is good for the character.

I was also glad I stayed the night, because I had the opportunity to ride the next morning before heading back.  Initially I had planned to do a dirt ride that was in the offing, but with the weather looking questionable I figured sticking to the road was a safer bet, so I said "Screw it" and brought the Renovo with me:

And after a delightful Sunday morning gallop I struck out on the New Jersey Turnpike for home.

See you next year, Philly, but not at the Industry Party.