Can you say: PRODUCTION BABY?! My main man Lane sent me this little heads up on the new TRP EuroX's for 2009. I received a set of the carbon beauties to test in Belgium and will be outfitting ALL my bikes with them for this coming season. Absolutely sick technology designed to be fully modularized. If you change wheels like me between carbon hoops for race day to 32 hole 3-cross bomber wheels for training, nothing beats a 10 second pad change the TRP's allow for to ensure your carbon pads are preserved for race day and no aluminum shavings are impregnated in the pads to nastily tear away your carbon braking surface.

But kids, TRP takes it up a notch for 2009! For years, PRO mechanics in Europe have been retrofitting their riders' brakes for small customizations on pad distance from the rim. When you swap between a carbon rim with a smaller diameter width to an aluminum one which have a generally wider tire well, the mechanics needed an ability to slightly open up the pad distance without resorting to the releasing the straddle cable. Thus the following inventions were born:

Note the adaption of the Zanconato above. A small barrel adjuster added to the end of the straddle cable to pull the brakes in...or out as desired.

Similarly, note my boy Jon Baker's set up on his Spooky Carbons. Probably from an old brake hanger adjuster.

But TRP for 09 has brought this to PRODUCTION! The detail here is astounding and as a career product manager, I applaud the PM who manages this line of business for TRP. This CLEARLY is a product manager listening to his users....and shows the cult details they want to bring to market to out-do the competition....and they have responded by not only blinging these mo-fos out in white sex, but have added the barrel adjuster AND toe-in adjustment capabilities!

SWEET!

Dear TRP: I will wear the Little Bo Peep Dress to get first dips at these. Please.

On the road again. I just can't wait to... (insert sound of baseball bat smashing the radio wailing Willy Nelson's tribute to truck drivers). Yes race fans, I am yet again on the road, tired and under-exercised but daddy gots to gets paid and this is his jobby job.

This week is 'trade show' week. I am traveling up the CA coast from San Diego for DAMA to San Jose to EclipseCon. My job at these software industry trade shows mission is to meet with industry analysts and customers while our company has marketing booths there to show our wares.

The EclipseCon conference was interesting. The 1 sentence intro for you my bike brethren and sisteren is that the conference is a celebration of a fairly new technology, Eclipse, and its power to help software developers build new applications faster. We leverage the Eclipse technology in the development of our own software we sell to customers and while exploring the community, my co-worker who knows I am a bike geek pointed this award winning product out to me. It's called MyTourBook and I will download and look at this thing in the coming weeks.

For those of you that use CycingPeaks or the software that may come with your PowerTap, this is like that but on steroids in terms of the types of features I am seeing advertised *AND* is multi-user. Sick. I haven't dived in yet to look at TSS or other calibrations of training/racing efforts, but is still a very unique and what seems like understandable application. When you look at the application's look and feel...e.g. the gray shell and stuff you can't see, the platform behind the scenes he built this on top of...is what Eclipse 'gave' him for free to get the app standing up and looking pretty. All the the graphing, grids and general content is what the guy coded inside of all that all of the rich Eclipse functionality. Extremely impressive both from a cyclist's perspective...and a technologists.

Anyways, have a look at the guy's demo of his product. You will LOVE this guys German accent and it is intoxicating as he drives you through the interface and general feature set.

I got in a run today to pretend I am athletic. 5:30 AM in the dark railing the path on the harbor in San Diego. I thought I'd find Landis on a park bench with a beard and a shopping cart. No joy. Oh, and I am riding Typhoons next year. 34's. I made up my mind. Already thinking 'cross. Who isn't?

*********
Update since writing this post: The author of this amazing open source/free product, Wolfgang Schramm, unbelievably did so while recovering from a a near fatal bike accident....which without his helmet, would have been the end of him. Read a small excerpt here.

I just had to do it. The experience at Shriek Grootlo and using their Karcher power washers had me in extacy.

So in the spirit of feeling Belgie, I pulled the trigger on one:

When does cross start again?

So last week I spoke of my lust for the new carbon braking goodness TRP is set to bring to us at effective price points and insanely low weights. My good friends at TRP want me to help prove what's in their pudding by racing these bad boys in the Belgium pudding (mud) on my upcoming trip and sent on a set of their Euro Carbon Pro's. I will baptize them accordingly....likely married to my set of FSA-488 Carbon rims. I'm scrambling to get things packed and organized but will report in upcoming days on installation, use, care, etc.

Thank you Lance and TRP!!

'cross on.

Set the scene: I walk into BCS and Brandon has a big shit eating grin.

Greg: Hey Dubba, what up?
Brandon: (maniacally smiles)
Greg: Seriously, what's up man? Do you have gas or something?
Brandon: (whips out a bag from behind the counter to display the carbon lust bits).
Greg: (wet spot materializes)

Behold, the TRP EuroX Carbons from TRP. Oh, God.

I originally reported on the white magnesium jobbies back a few months ago and now this set has arrived at BCS...one of a handful here in the US being tested. I am not wearing stars-n-bars like a certain 35 Master is, so I'll have to live my improved braking experiences vicariously through Brandon and his Cheshire Cat grin.

The Aluminum Version on Dwayne's scale:

The EuroX Carbons:Just let me know if I can help test these any time, B, Seriously. No, seriously.

For some reason I can't edit yesterday's post to add some things I forgot....and fix some horrible grammatical mistakes. I was capital T tired last night! Sorry about the run on sentences and "teh" spellings. I had to get up at 5 AM too and am typing this from Mexico City. all 2200 meters high of it. Buenos Dias! I flew in and was staring out the window of the plane and we flew RIGHT over the Olympic velodrome at probably 1000 feet up and could see dudes ripping around the track. Rad.

So here's the Challenge from Saturday. F-ing beat! This tire was BRAND new. Literally installed the day before. Gonna have to study this one closely to see WTF happened:

Peek a boo

Interlocken is this weekend. I need to eat and rest well while on the road but after my 16 HOUR trip today....which should have taken 5....the stress hath returneth.

Zen. Be zen, Gregoire.

Enjoy the Wednesday Worlds, beeatches.

Jeff, this is why I swap out those crappy screws in my Sidis...so I can ensure on certain courses that I can take'em out and put in my spikes!

Cyclocross Bike Racing Traffic Jam On Muddy Run-Up - These bloopers are hilarious

Oh dear. I don't think I can sleep until I'm able to source these. TRP has launched White Sex of the braking kind. TRP just launched the Empella-like carbon brake and now this magnesium beauty. Mmm. In white. Oh , God.Oh. You're not supposed to use your brakes in 'cross. Forgot that. But they're so pretty.

Daaaaamn, this guy is starting 'em young. He converted this:

to this:

See the project HERE.

€ 750 for this thing and they can't even paint on their logo. BUNK. Maybe paint weights to much.

But I want it. Oh, yes, I want it.

Photo by Matt P VeloNews