Here is a fine example of what the Ute is capable of.
The orange Peugeot in the background had to relinquish its seat on the back of the Ute to 50lbs of cardboard that needed to get from the shop to City Carton.
Wide Load! A compression strap & some bungee cords make it nice & secure. Pete made the trip to City Carton safe & sound!
They have finally arrived! The Kona Ute is a complete longbike that retails for less than what the Surly Big Dummy frameset alone does. Amazing.
Carrying on with The Broken Spoke’s philosophy of bikes as transportation, the Ute makes for a very abled bicycle, indeed. This bike can carry things that would definitely be a little unwieldy on a normal bicycle.
It’s been a worth the wait, as Kona has definitely produced a great bike that can’t really be found anywhere else for the money. Well done!
The Rocky Mountains are certainly in the future for this dual-suspenstion beast! Sure to turn any Iowa mountain into a molehill, this Stinky got a rear shock upgrade(Marzocchi Roco TST-R) before it was even ridden out the door.
Here is a nicer old Bianchi that wasn’t being used much by its current owner. Until now, since it has seen new life reborn as a fixed gear!
Not only did the derailleurs & gears get stripped, but the drop handlebar & brake levers got swapped out as well for a bullhorn bar with reverse brake levers. Nice!
Finally, Kona Africabikes have become available for ’08. I got a few of them in at the shop this week. A gentleman from Des Moines snagged the first one a day after they had arrived!
Kona has a wonderful program going on with these bikes. They were developed to aid home health care workers delivering drugs to HIV/AIDS patients in Africa.
For every two Africabikes sold commercially, Kona donates one to Africa. Bikes can even be adopted for $100 to get sent to Africa. Read more about this amazing program here, http://www.konabiketown.com.
I know. Every week is bike to work week! But, not with the kind of events that are taking place this week.
Check out all of the details here: http://www.cicbikeweek.org/
Don’t forget, if you ride your bike to The Broken Spoke, you can fill out a ticket which will get you entered into the prize drawing at the end of the week! Ride more & enter more!
| Event Schedule |
| Monday, May 12 |
| Bike Commuter Breakfast 7 am to 9 am College Green Park Bike Rodeo 6pm Sugar Bottom Bikes, North Liberty Bike/Car/Bus Race |
| Tuesday, May 13 |
| Bike Commuter Breakfast 7am to 9 am On Melrose, in front of Kinnick Stadium on the University of Iowa Campus. |
| Wednesday, May 14 |
| Commuter Doughnuts and Coffee 6:30-7:30am Sugar Bottom Bikes, North Liberty Bike Friendly Cities Forum Mayor’s Ride from Old Pi to New Pi |
| Friday, May 16 |
| Bike to Work Week Celebration 6:00-9:00pm Old Brick, Downtown Iowa City Join fellow biking/walking enthusiasts for a free end-of-the-week party. There will be food, drink and live music from The Awful Purdies—as well as lively conversation and drawings for prizes, including a grand prize. |
Regardless of what the cycling industry will have you believe, more isn’t always better. Modern 10 speed cassettes rely on thinner cogs that wear out faster & cost more than twice as much as their 8 speed counterparts.
And when it comes to shifters that are fully serviceable & rebuildable, Campagnolo takes the cake, unlike the STI shifters that Shimano manufactures. Shimano would rather have you just buy another set of their shifters instead of being able to replace a spring or something else that should be easy to extend the life of the component.
What’s the best of both worlds? Campagnolo 10 speed shifters used with Shimano-based 8 speed drivetrains. It just so happens that the cable pull for Capagnolo 10 speed is the same that Shimano uses for their 8 speed setup. With proper installation & adjustment, a “Shimergo” setup works flawlessly!
False advertising!
Eight is great!
Here is a quick cost breakdown.
“Good” 8 speed cassette – $32 & “cheap” 8 speed chain – $10 = $42 total.
Vs.
“Cheap” 10 speed cassette – $70 & “cheap” 10 speed chain – $35 = $105 total.
So it costs about 250% more to replace the 10 speed drivetrain than it does the 8 speed drivetrain. To add insult to injury, the 10 speed drivetrain will have a shorter lifespan than the 8 speed, due to the chain & cassette cogs being thinner. So, not only does it cost more, but you’ll have to replace it more often!
Here we have a Kona Smoke converged with an Xtracycle kit.
Xtracycle conversions are a wonderful way to carry oversized objects that would normally be quite difficult on a regular bike. This one is going to be transporting an additional passenger on a regular basis!
More information about them can be found at http://www.xtracycle.com/.
Here is a custom frame-up build done for a gentleman from Fairfield. He rides his bike for three hours at a time out on the many wonderful gravel roads that Iowa has to offer. He wanted a dedicated single speed after using his converted Trek for the past year or so.
Lots of headset spacers & an upright stem give him the comfortable seating position he is used to for long riding time spent in the saddle.
What is a very good way to breathe new life into an older bicycle?
Convert it into a single speed!
A new wheel, tyre, tube, rim tape, freewheel, chain, and some love was all that was needed to turn this bike into a simple pleasure.
The Broken Spoke 
