The Numbers Are In!

Posted on Mar 16th 2010 | Advocacy, Blog,

The growth of the 10th National Bike Summit has generated positive vibes across the nation this week. Over 700 bike enthusiasts marched up “the hill” to lobby for national issues related to our favorite mode of transportation – the bicycle. The League of American Bicyclists did a nice recap on the top ten highlights. […] read more...

Spring Cleaning

Posted on Mar 15th 2010 | Better World, Bike Life, Blog,

With temperatures peaking well above freezing the past few days it seems we have begun our spring thaw. Spring is a beautiful time but with that thaw comes the exposure of months and months of accumulated debris and trash. Our main man Walt at QBP takes it upon himself annually to make this world a better place by clea […] read more...

Ringing Madison’s bell at the National Bike Summit

Posted on Mar 15th 2010 | Advocacy, Blog,

National Bike Summit, Day 2: Krista Rettig of Trek moderated a panel discussion about the lessons learned here in Madison about making our city bike friendly. Mayor Dave, Chris Fortune of Saris and Kevin Hardman of the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin were the panelists. See the pix below. Mayor Dave gave a droll revi […] read more...

The floors are hard and the corridors long

Posted on Mar 12th 2010 | Advocacy, Blog,

National Bike Summit, Day 3, 10 am: Below is Chris Kegel, owner of Wheel & Sprocket, outside the office of Representative Gwen Moore of Milwaukee. Chris is a summit veteran. (I think he’s been to 9 of the 10 National Bike Summits.) Below that is a part of the group that met with Rep. Moore’s staffer. Wisconsin had […] read more...

Culture, not color

Posted on Mar 12th 2010 | Advocacy, Blog,

National Bike Summit, Day 2, 9:30am: I moderated a panel discussion titled “Lessons Learned Reaching Out to Communities of Color”. I was honored to facilitate a discussion among Alison Mannos with the LA County Bicycle Coalition (LACBC), Anthony Taylor of Minneapolis with the Major Taylor Cycling Club and National Bro […] read more...

(700 x biker) + Congress = Action

Posted on Mar 11th 2010 | Advocacy, Blog,

Summit Day 2, 8am: I’m in Washington, DC this week representing Planet Bike, Wisconsin and Madison to our members of Congress. Wednesday things really got rolling with a full day workshops and education on “the issues”. Over 700 bicycle advocates are getting ready this morning to take our message, our “asks”, to congr […] read more...

Is There an App. for That?

Posted on Mar 10th 2010 | Bike Life, Blog,

The bicycle is gaining more and more steam in being seen as a viable means of transportation. Many of us have viewed the bike in this way for years, but it’s always nice to see the “mainstream” start catching on.Google announced today that they have added biking directions to Google Maps. This will likely prove to be […] read more...

National Bike Summit

Posted on Mar 9th 2010 | Advocacy, Blog,

Today marks the opening day of the 2010 National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C. Our man Jay headed out over the weekend to shake hands with the folks on Capitol Hill and explain how transportation by bicycle can help shape our nation. We’re happy to support this great event as well as Jonathan Maus from BikePortlan […] read more...

Join the Fun

Posted on Mar 4th 2010 | Bike Life, Blog,

Ride your bike, win swag. It’s as easy as that. Go sign up at Greenlightride and create a 1 person team, then join the Planet Bike St. Paddy’s Day Challenge. Average 3 miles a day and you get a set of bar tape. 8 miles a day and we’ll add in a light. 12 miles a day gets tape and a light set. To top it off, the top 3 … […] read more...

Rude Awakening

Posted on Mar 2nd 2010 | Bike Life, Blog,

With temperatures hovering in the mid-thirties, spring fever has begun in Madison. Being an optimist (perhaps overly), I shed the studded tires from my commuter bike. I went with a small knobbed mountain bike tire just in case we get another snow or ten. The lack of resistance and lack of the studded tire buzz made fo […] read more...

We like bikers with skills

Posted on Feb 24th 2010 | Advocacy, Bike Life, Blog, News,

I’m glad to read that Bikes Belong has awarded a $5,000 grant to the City of Middleton, WI (Madison’s neighbor) for the Middleton Pump Course & Single Track Facility. C.O.R.P. (Capitol Off Road Pathfinders) has been doing a great job bringing mountain biking to the urban areas of Madison and Middleton, WI. The pum […] read more...

Employee Bike Feature

Posted on Feb 18th 2010 | Bike Life, Blog,

Mark had this custom 953 stainless singlespeed built several years back by the infamous Bob Brown. It carried him to the 2007 singlespeed cyclocross national championship. Interestingly this bike does not have rear eyelets or a drilled brake bridge but Mark worked his magical mechanical skills to outfit this rig with […] read more...

Employee Bike Feature

Posted on Feb 10th 2010 | Bike Life, Blog,

Heath’s titanium commuter is as functional as it is aesthetically pleasing.

Automatic Hill Lift?

Posted on Feb 5th 2010 | Bike Life, Blog,

I’ve always been intrigued by how much of an impact the bicycle has on European cities. Dave came across this video the other day and it definitely takes the cake. It comes from a website called Eco-Ideas.net which focuses on ecological ideas from around the globe. […] read more...

Biking Contributes to State Economy

Posted on Feb 2nd 2010 | Bike Life, Blog, News,

Kevin Hardman, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Bicycle Federation was kind enough to share the following information with us today: “A report released today by the University of Wisconsin-Madison shows that bicycling tourism combined with Wisconsin’s world-class bicycle industry contributes $1.5 billion to our st […] read more...

One Step Closer to Rail Transit in Madison

Posted on Jan 29th 2010 | Blog, News,

The city of Madison and Southern Wisconsin are one step closer to making rail transit a reality. Wisconsin is to receive $822 million for passenger rails – which would allow you to leave your car at home the next time you want to travel between Madison, Milwaukee, and Chicago. The project is still in its developmental […] read more...

Things That Get us Excited

Posted on Jan 28th 2010 | Bike Life, Blog,

Mark’s new Nimatsu Scorpion proves he’s a force to be reckoned with on the table!

Employee Glove Choice

Posted on Jan 22nd 2010 | Bike Life, Blog, Learn,

When the weather fluctuates, so does our choice of gear. Next to boots, gloves are one of the most important choices to make when commuting in the winter. Keeping the extremities warm can be tough. This past week has been nice. It seems that we’re experiencing our mid-winter thaw with temps in the lower 30’s. Below yo […] read more...

Employee Bike Feature

Posted on Jan 21st 2010 | Bike Life, Blog,

Chris built this rigid 29er Salsa El Mariachi just before the snow started to fly. It makes a great commuter for the winter and will be a blast through the single track come summer. The 1×9 gear configuration is perfect for winter commuting whether the streets are clear or covered in ice and snow. […] read more...

Homemade Boot Inserts

Posted on Jan 11th 2010 | Bike Life, Blog, Learn,

Mark brought a great winter biking tip to my attention this morning. Seeing as how we just reviewed a few pairs of winter cycling boots, I thought a follow up boot post would be appropriate. On really frigid days, I found that my toes were still getting cold regardless of what I did to try to keep them warm on the mor […] read more...

Karma Army

Posted on Jan 5th 2010 | Bike Life, Blog,

A few months ago while I was in Providence, RI I met a gentleman promoting the Karma Army. It’s a free website where you can create a log-in and register your bike and instantly notify the community if it is ever stolen. It’s not just for bikes either – you can register your kayak, instruments, motorcycle and much m […] read more...

Employee Review 2 – Winter Boots

Posted on Dec 29th 2009 | Bike Life, Blog, Learn,

One of the first priorities to be concerned with while riding or commuting in the winter is warm feet. We’ve tried a variety of different shoes, boots, covers, and socks. Yes, you can always jam toe warmers into your boots but if you commute daily the cost of warmers really starts to take a toll on the wallet. Below y […] read more...

Planet Bike Employee Winter Tire Selection

Posted on Dec 23rd 2009 | Bike Life, Blog, Learn,

When I started working at Planet Bike the amount and variety of bicycles and accessories each and every employee rode baffled me. We are constantly tinkering and swapping out parts and components to make the daily commute a little more comfortable. More recently with recent snowfall the daily fleet of commute bikes sta […] read more...

Employee Bike Feature

Posted on Dec 21st 2009 | Bike Life, Blog,

The snow is definitely here and we have no shortage of it. Have a look at Mark’s daily winter commuter. He hammers out the 25 mile commute on this utilitarian Salsa Fargo equipped with steel studded Nokian Hakkapeliitta’s to keep it upright. […] read more...

National’s Coverage

Posted on Dec 17th 2009 | Bike Life, Blog,

See what Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Tom Held has to say about Planet Bike Cyclocross.

2009 Cyclocross Nationals

Posted on Dec 15th 2009 | Bike Life, Blog,

Well folks, the 2009 U.S. cyclocross season has come to a close. A large portion of the Planet Bike Team were fortunate enough to be able to race over the weekend at the national event in Bend, OR. Many goals were accomplished, and we are proud to announce that we have four national champions to induct into the Planet […] read more...

Burning Cycle

Posted on Dec 10th 2009 | Bike Life, Blog,

At Burning Man this year I met Nate Loyal as we were passing through 7:30 Plaza. As soon as I saw his rig I wanted to get his story. Turns out Nate’s a renowned bike fitter and coach from SoCal. Nate was on a cross country motorcycle trip with his cross bike when he joined his friends at Black Rock City for a few days. […] read more...

Planet Bike Team across the globe

Posted on Dec 8th 2009 | Bike Life, Blog, News,

Team Planet Bike’s 17 year old cross sensation Kaitlin Antonneau has been competing in Elite UCI events all season and her strong results are starting to get noticed. Cyclocross Magazine recently interviewed Kaitie about how her season has been going. Read the article here. This week the UCI point rankings were update […] read more...

Winter is Here

Posted on Dec 4th 2009 | Bike Life, Blog,

The 40 to 45 degree temperatures we were experiencing last week dissipated swiftly and Old Man Winter rolled in overnight. As I stepped outside on the first fresh dusting of the year I heard that familiar crunch under my boots for the first time in a while. The cold nipped me in the face like a newborn puppy. You have […] read more...

The day I gave in and wore a skin suit

Posted on Dec 3rd 2009 | Bike Life, Blog,

As I stood at the start line, I realized I’ve never felt this ah-hum “exposed” in a crowd of dudes as I await the race official starting gun. Bang, as we all disperse up the hill I settle in to my comfortable and typical “middle of the pack”. I swear spectators can see my heart pounding through the 0.2mm of spandex tha […] read more...