Tech News – April 25, 2007 Edited by James Huang Got tech? Send press releases, news, and tech questions to the Cyclingnews tech desk. World track champion Sarah Hammer signs with Felt Bicycles Sarah Hammer en route to her second World Championship. Photo ©: Mitch Friedman World Individual Pursuit Champion Sarah Hammer successfully defended her title at the new velodrome in Palma de Mallorca last month, and then announced shortly thereafter that she had signed with a new sponsor, Felt Bicycles. Hammer is the likely favorite for a US track medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympic games and has signed an exclusive agreement to ride and race on Felt through the end of the 2008 season. The pairing is somewhat of a natural one: Hammer happens to live in Temecula, CA, just about one hour away from Felt's Irvine headquarters, and considers the nearby Felt-sponsored ADT Event Center Velodrome at the Home Depot Center to be her home track. "[Felt] are well-known for being performance-oriented and athlete-driven," she said. "This combined with the strong rider loyalty they have displayed over the years, lead me to my decision." "Bringing Sarah into the Felt family is something we are thrilled about," said company founder Jim Felt. "She is obviously an amazing athlete and we are looking forward to what we can do together over the next two years. We have very similar mindsets and we both love racing to win - the opportunities are plentiful, to say the least." "Going into the next 18 months we will be looking into all of the details designed to improve my performance," said Hammer. "Most importantly, I have finalized what bicycle I will be riding in the 2008 Olympic Games." Felt engineers have already begun working with Hammer and her coach to develop her new race bike, which will also have implications on a new production model for 2008. According to company representative Doug Martin, "the design and outfitting approach is to take what we already know and where the design department wants to go, infuse what Sarah knows and desires, and come up with a new edition track bike for '08 [which] is already taking shape." For now, Hammer will continue on her current machine (without logos) until the bike's debut in either late summer/early fall. Shimano sponsors YouTube video contest to promote cycling While certain segments of the cycling market have grown in the past few years, Shimano is well aware that overall levels of participation have remained largely stagnant with fewer newcomers being introduced to the activity than it (and the rest of the industry) would like. Shimano has already launched its innovative Coasting group to help bring more of the mainstream population into the cycling world, and now continues its efforts by sponsoring a YouTube video contest. The 'I want to ride my bicycle' theme is decidedly simple and guidelines are predictably open-ended: "Think of the videos as TV adverts extolling the virtues of bicycling to a mainstream audience. So, go light on Lycra. No techie stuff. No Critical Mass protest vids. No art installations. Just great images of cycling that could make Joe and Joanna Public get out there and ride…for the sheer fun of cycling." Videos must be two minutes in length or shorter, and should be submitted directly to the YouTube competition site. Entries will be evaluated in terms of public popularity as well as off-line judging, and entries must be submitted by the opening day of the Eurobike trade show on August 30, 2007. The winner and two runners-up will be announced at the Interbike trade show on September 24, and will receive a wealth of goodies from Shimano. Additional information is available on the official contest host web site. Help, I'm in France and I need an adjusting barrel Photo ©: Park Tool Park Tool expands into international linguistics for bicycle mechanics Ever find yourself as a team mechanic in Spain in search of a replacement needle bearing for one of your riders? Park Tool resident guru Calvin Jones offers up a brief guide to wrenching in foreign lands with a new multi-lingual spreadsheet designed just for mechanics. 'Bicycle Mechanic Languages v1.0' cross-references approximately 450 useful phrases, common words, and specific bicycle terms in English, Spanish, French, German, and Italian. The free download is available on the Park Took web site in either Microsoft Excel or printable Adobe Acrobat formats. Eurobike trade show adds additional 4000 sqm of indoor space Messe Friedrichshafen will add 4000sqm (43000ft²) Photo ©: Messe Friedrichshafen Messe Friedrichshafen, organizers of the Eurobike trade show, has announced that it will make use of an adjoining 4000 sqm (43000ft²) airship hangar for this year's event in order to accommodate the growing attendance. "We are delighted with the neighborly help of Zeppelin-Luftschifftechnik, which has kindly made its hangar available to the international bicycle trade show for the duration of the event," says Messe Friedrichshafen CEO Klaus Wellmann. The Eurobike show supposedly has a lengthy waiting list of exhibitors eager to display at the event, and the newly arranged hangar will be able to house fifty of them with a focus on city, trekking, and e-bikes, along with an indoor test track. Still, the spacious facility is only a stopgap measure until Messe Friedrichshafen can complete the planned construction of two additional permanent exhibition halls. Groundbreaking is currently scheduled for this fall, and the new halls are scheduled to be completed in time for Eurobike 2009. Clif Bar goes car-free at Sea Otter Classic Clif Bar field staffers commuted by bicycle Photo ©: Sabrina Chin Clif Bar is no stranger to eco-activism, having already incorporated a minimum of 70% certified organic ingredients in nearly all of its product line, exercising green business practices, and also promoting its 'Start Global Cooling' project to help offset CO2 emissions. As a means of demonstrating that it is a company that practices what it preaches, Clif Bar field staffers went car-free at this year's Sea Otter Classic. Employees commuted by bicycle from the Berkeley, CA headquarters to Laguna Seca, and also from the staff hotel in nearby Monterey. Consumers and industry folk, including our own Steve Medcroft, also went along for the ride. According to Sabrina Chin of Clif Bar, "We're really trying to push cyclists who already love the bike for sport to consider the bike as a great mode of transportation and as a powerful tool to combat global warming. We're trying to show by example… that we can implement what we already love (the bike) into our everyday lifestyles to make a dramatic impact on our climate over time." GPS and images come together with Trip Tracker Sportsmate Trip Tracker Sportsmate offers users the ability to link GPS information with uploaded images to create an online 'live' record of journeys. Like other GPS-style software logs, the application can analyze classic trip data such as speed, location, altitude, and even heart rate, and can replay the trip from an overhead view courtesy of Google Maps. Trip Tracker Sportsmate is a completely free service, however, and also allows users to upload digital images and link them to the exact location where they were shot. Users can also supplement the file with personalized notes on the journey. Photography For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here Images by Mitch Friedman/www.mitchophoto.com Sarah Hammer en route to her second World Championship. Soon her bike's down tube will be adorned with the Felt Bicycles logo. Images by Park Tool Help, I'm in France and I need an adjusting barrel for one of our team bikes! Calvin Jones and Park Tool come to the rescue. Images by Messe Friedrichshafen Messe Friedrichshafen will add 4000sqm (43000ft²) to the Eurobike floor space courtesy of a borrowed airship hangar. However, this poses a wholly different problem: where are we to house the Cyclingnews blimp? Images by Clif Bar Your own personal efforts to decrease your 'carbon footprint' can start right here, with Clif Bar's 'Start Global Cooling' initiative. Images by Sabrina Chin/Clif Bar Clif Bar's pedal-powered theme at Sea Otter included a human-powered margarita blender. Clif Bar field staffers commuted by bicycle from their hotel and from the company's headquarters to the Sea Otter venue at Laguna Seca.