Madison-Madison, the long way

Posted on Jan 6th 2009 | Bike Life, Blog,

You may or may not recall our mention of Planet Bike pal Charlie Brigham IV back in August. The short of it is that Charlie is on a mission to cycle around the world. He set off on September 15, 2007 towards the east coast. He secured a spot on a sailboat across the Atlantic. Charlie got into a bit of a wreck over in […] read more...

Spread the Holiday Cheer!

Posted on Dec 30th 2008 | Blog, Product,

We know you’ve spoiled your friends and family with love and gifts over the Holiday season. Isn’t it about time that you spoiled yourself? There’s no better way than treating yourself to the most awesome light sets on the planet, the Blaze 1W & Superflash light set. We’ve paired up the uber-bright Blaze 1W LED […] read more...

New Blood

Posted on Oct 30th 2008 | Blog, News,

2008 has been a heck of a year for us. As soon as gas hit $4 a gallon, things really got rolling for us. (Not that they weren’t already!) We’ve been a small company since we started, but lately, we’ve had to add a few new folks. About two months ago, we hired Heath Fossen to step in to hand the development of new prod […] read more...

Team Planet Bike Blog

Posted on Oct 27th 2008 | Bike Life, Blog,

One of Planet Bike’s newest employees, Kristin Wentworth, is also representing Planet Bike between the tape on the National cross scene this fall. Following a couple of road trips with the Anna Young and the Brothers Lalonde, Kristin has started keeping track of stuff on the Cross Team’s very own blog. You can follow a […] read more...

Page Second in Belgium

Posted on Oct 17th 2008 | Blog,

Page returned recently to Europe to begin his quest for his first World Championship. Just like last year’s Ardooie, Belgian Neils Albert rode away with the victory, but Page hung tough for a second place finish, besting reigning World Champion Lars Boom, Erwin Vervecken and Klaas Vantornout. Page will spend the bulk […] read more...

Interbike Wrap Up

Posted on Oct 15th 2008 | Blog, Product,

Every year it’s a big job packing up all of our stuff and moving it to the desert for a few days. It’s worth it to visit with dealers, and see our other friends in the industry. Most of the time we’re pretty happy to just run the company from the shadows, but this year a couple of us ended up making […] read more...

Vote For Follmer

Posted on Oct 3rd 2008 | Bike Life, Blog,

Not for president or anything substantial, the Austin Bike Blog has been running a contest called “what’s the biggest thing you’ve carried on a bike?” It sounds like they had quite a few pictures submitted, and they narrowed them down to the final 10. Well I got in, so the more votes I can get, […] read more...

Page Wins Cheq 40

Posted on Sep 15th 2008 | Blog, News,

Racing aboard a rigid Ridley that was assemble just a few days before the event, Planet Bike’s Jonathan Page held off hard charging Jeff Hall by seven seconds to win his first Chequamegon Fat Tire 40. Page will switch to the cross bike this week and race this weekend in Michigan at the Tailwinds UCI cross event, and t […] read more...

Lighting up the Velorution

Posted on Aug 28th 2008 | Advocacy, Bike Life, Blog,

The Ripon College Velorution Project got rolling a few days ago. Ripon College, in our home state of Wisconsin, has given 180 bikes to incoming freshman who pledge to leave their car at home for the school year. Ric Damm, the project’s coordinator, and I connected at the National Bike Summit back in March. To help k […] read more...

Use it, but don’t lose it

Posted on Aug 21st 2008 | Bike Life, Blog, Learn, Product,

I currently live about 12 miles from the office; past the edge of town, through the country and into the next town. If, for what ever reason, I’m riding back after dark, it is VERY dark. I permanently installed a prototype Blaze Dynamo light on the front rack of my bike, and since I always ride with the same Chrome ba […] read more...

Get Some!

Posted on Aug 19th 2008 | Blog, Product,

We’ve had a lot of interest in our Blaze 1 Watt light since it was reviewed a couple of times this past spring. Well, we finally have some in stock. If you are looking for one, act now, ’cause they’re going to go quick! A large chunk of this shipment has already been sent to our distributors as well, so your local sh […] read more...

A toast to Charlie

Posted on Aug 12th 2008 | Bike Life, Blog,

Charlie was, up until last September, one of the local bike shop employees here in Madison. On Sept. 15th of 2007 he set off for home, the long way around the earth. He’s been on the road for almost a year at this point, and has under his belt a ride down the length of the eastern seaboard of the US, a tras-Atla […] read more...

Editors Choice For Super Set

Posted on Aug 5th 2008 | Blog, Product,

We were delighted this week when the September 2008 issue of Bicycling Magazine showed up and our Blaze/Superflash light set had been bestowed with an Editors Choice award for light sets. We like to think we are doing a good job with our products, and sales have been pretty good this year, but getting a nod from a pr […] read more...

What Would A Tree Do?

Posted on Jul 29th 2008 | Bike Life, Blog,

As one of the marketing guys here at Planet Bike, I tend to take long hard looks at what others in the industry are doing with regards to marketing cycling. During my search today I came across this image. It is compelling if nothing else. […] read more...

Thunderhead Coast to Coast

Posted on Jun 16th 2008 | Advocacy, Blog,

Our favorite, obscurely named grass roots bike coalition, the Thunderhead Alliance, has a new supreme leader. Jeff Miller, former Executive Director of the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, has been named President and CEO for the Thunderhead Alliance.I got to know Jeff during his regular calls to Planet Bike HQ to hustle fr […] read more...

A time for fenders

Posted on Jun 13th 2008 | Bike Life, Blog,

If ever there was a good time to have a decent set of fenders, it would be this last week. Since last Friday, old Ma Nature has savagely dumped several inches of rain on the Madison area, and I gotta say, we’re getting off easy compared to others in Wisconsin and Iowa. Other than a little water in all of our basemen […] read more...

Spring 2008 Super Commuter – Billy Knudson

Posted on May 18th 2008 | Super Commuters,

MADISON, WI – A number of years ago, the now defunct Bike Culture Magazine partnered up with us to honor a bicycle “Super commuter” in each issue. We, at Planet Bike, always loved reading about the dedicated commuters who rode through every season, in all weather. As a result, we decided that it was high time we r […] read more...

The Dispatch

Posted on May 8th 2008 | Blog, Quarterly Dispatch,

The ice has melted, the tulips are in bloom, and your bike is calling. The latest edition of our quarterly dispatch comes just in time for National Bike Month. We hope you enjoy it!

Tulips in the Back 40

Posted on Apr 30th 2008 | Bike Life, Blog,

Head down, tap tap tap, Eyes fixed sting on glowing screen, Tulips burst at my feet.

Commuter Chris

Posted on Apr 14th 2008 | Bike Life, Blog,

Chris rides to work more than anyone here at Planet Bike HQ, and that’s saying a lot. Read what he has to say in this interview by bikecommuters.com.

It’s Friday!

Posted on Apr 4th 2008 | Bike Life, Blog,

Needless to say I have the Clash turned up really loud!  

April showers

Posted on Apr 1st 2008 | Bike Life, Blog,

Heavy rain and occasional hail on the evening commute last evening forced me to tie on the classic DIY dry-foot solution: plastic bags.

Two Wheeled Way Of Life

Posted on Mar 25th 2008 | Bike Life, Blog,

Below is a picture of the Planet Bike employee parking area. It isn’t uncommon to see it jammed full of our bikes. Today is a special day for me as all of these bikes are made to not just ride, but haul stuff. (I’m kind of into that kind of thing.) Both Chris and Erik are big fans of the Xtracycle Free Radical, I’ve g […] read more...

Big news for our ‘Cross Team

Posted on Mar 20th 2008 | Blog, News,

The deal has been in the works for a few months, but it was official today when JP posted it on his blog. We’ll have more details soon as we finalize a few more things on our end. We’re also pleased to announce Madcross presents: Jonathan Page’s Planet Bike Cup a two day UCI cross event in Sun Prairi […] read more...

Dick Burke Part 2 – Revolution Now, The father of bike advocacy

Posted on Mar 15th 2008 | Advocacy, Bike Life, Blog,

Thanks for the nice emails and comments about my Dick Burke blog. Beyond the personal stories about Dick, I did mention he was a visionary and that is the subject of today’s blog. I consider Dick the Father of Bicycle Advocacy in the bike industry. Many do not know this about him, but here is why I feel this way. Dic […] read more...

Bob’s Planet Bike blog

Posted on Mar 12th 2008 | Bike Life, Blog,

I guess I am compelled to write my first blog on a very sad note. Yesterday the founder and owner of Trek Bicycle Dick Burke died after complications from heart surgery. I have been depressed about this since last Friday when I learned he did not have long to live. The reason this affects me so much is that I spent ov […] read more...

Spring is in the air!

Posted on Mar 6th 2008 | Blog, Product,

Over the last several weeks, we’ve been ramping up for spring. Trucks have been dropping by to deliver new products and more trucks have been leaving with that same new product and lots of our old favorites bound for a shop near you. We’re excited about a bunch of new products that will be hitting the shelves this […] read more...

Warm fuzzy from Vancouver

Posted on Feb 25th 2008 | Bike Life, Blog,

Hello Planet Bike, I was stopped by the police last night; me and another guy riding up adark street (we don’t get much winter here, so evening rides in Februaryare often fun). There was a car coming toward us, so we were making room for it whensuddenly it started flashing lights and gave us a couple of whoops ofsi […] read more...

Planet Bike’s Jay Ferm in the news

Posted on Jan 22nd 2008 | Advocacy, Blog,

Advocacy Coordinator Jay Ferm has been busy outside of his work at Planet Bike as a board member of the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin, and as a co-chairperson of the Madison Platinum Bicycle Committee. Since last spring, the City of Madison has been working to achieve Platinum status from the League of American Cyc […] read more...

Keepin’ the pedal on the metal

Posted on Jan 3rd 2008 | Blog, News,

Came in today to find my inbox full of emails from all over with links to this picture below of Planet Bike’s Tristan Schouten lined up with Jamey Driscoll behind Sven Nys of Rabobank. Nys, for those of you unfamiliar with him, is currently the guy to beat in World Cup cyclo-cross. You can see more shots from the GP d […] read more...