Pimp My Globe
Ever seen one of those crazy-light 7 pound road bikes with the carbon chainrings and drilled out handlebars? The type of bike that only appears at industry shows and bike-dork websites? Those things are cool, but completely unrideable. Racers may dig light stuff, but those of us who have to buy our own gear also want equipment that won’t fold in half ten feet from the start line, or the trailhead, or the coffee shop. Here at Criterium, we’re not too focused on the 7 pound road bike, but we do have our own two-wheeled unicorn. It’s called The Durable Sub Twenty Pound Full Suspension Mountain Bike. And thanks to Specialized’s new S-Works Epic (you know, the one that Sauser smashed everyone to win the World Championships on) we have another crack at it. 
This chunk of sweetness came out of the box at 22.8 pounds. At 4 inches of suspension travel front and rear, that’s almost unheard of. So the mission now is to see how light we can take it without compromising the ride quality or the durability. When we’re finished, this bike should be able to withstand something like the Leadville 100 without any mechanical failure or discomfort to the rider. We’ll keep you updated on the bike’s progress. Last time we tried this we got a Cannondale Scalpel Team down to 20.08 lbs, so we’re aiming to beat that this time. Top Gear Two Wheeled Edition. Stay tuned.
Maybe we should keep the TV theme going and start a Pimp My Globe contest. Or maybe we already started. Guess you’ll just have to come to the shop and see.
In other non TV-related news, our humble website is in the midst of its own Winter Overhaul Special. The old site at www.criterium-bicycles.com has been shut down, and this is now our main home. If you check to the right, you’ll notice some new bits. Under the Navigation section, we have connection pages to our rental rates, a list of current sweet deals, a description of our fitting services and a new rides section. This is all still under construction, so keep checking back. The Rides section in particular has a long way to go.
So that’s all for today from our snow cave here on the Santa Fe Trail. Stay warm, keep the coffee hot and the music loud.