Blog Entries

This year I chose to demo Trek’s endurance gravel offering, the Checkpoint SL 6. I decided on a gravel bike for versatility; my hope was to select a drop-bar bike I could ride to work, on a group ride, or off the beaten path. I’ve gotten about a thousand miles in on the Checkpoint and […]

Look at that! It’s my new road bike, an Orca from Orbea. How did Orbea end up at Pedal? True story: we have a petite client who wanted an e-MTB with a very low standover height. Ryan looked all over for the right answer and came across the Orbea Rise. He then asked me if […]

Having not ridden a hardtail since I started mountain biking, I was curious to sample a more modern, well equipped bike. I chose the Trek Roscoe for its aggressive trail disposition that fits my riding style of jumping around and getting rowdy on the descents. The 150 mm of suspension travel soaks up all the […]

A client recently had an issue with the brakes on their 2022 road bike. After a fair amount of diagnostic work, we determined that, alas, the lever was shot and required replacement. The replacement was not inexpensive, and our friend made a comment about the cost of modern bikes and the maintenance thereof. This piqued […]

The League of Michigan Bicyclists named PEDAL Michigan’s Bike Shop of the Year for 2025. This is a terrific honor. I am very proud of and happy for my coworkers, who actually do the work that makes someone think we’re possibly worthy of such accolades. The award was presented during lunch at LMB’s Bicycle and […]

I love disc brakes. Love ’em! They have great stopping power in all conditions. They require less lever pressure than rim brakes — not that I’m weak!!!! They’re great, but they come with some baggage. Weight is one. Noise is another. “Why do my brakes make noise?” “What can I do about my noisy brakes?” […]

My favorite gravel bike EVER was my Kona Libre. It was very light and comfortable and fun, and I had a lot of great adventures on it. Then I sold it to my friend Sarah during the pandemic and never replaced it. OK, yes, I did build a cool aluminum Checkpoint. It’s a great bike, […]

This spring I came into possession of an old bike of mine, a 2007 Felt F1/X cyclocross bike that my wife gave me for my birthday. My brother had been using it for years, and when he moved on to something else, my friend returned home. I’ve been using that old bike for commuting duty […]

Charlie shares their experience getting enough hydration on their mountain bike. As any cyclist who’s ever run out of water in the middle of a ride can attest, proper hydration is key to a pleasurable time on the bike. For riders of shorter stature, the challenge of staying hydrated is often compounded by a lack […]

Having the luxury of beginning my mountain bike journey on a full suspension bike, I was always interested in trying a hardtail, sure for efficiency’s sake, but also for overnight trips on trails requiring a bit more than a gravel rig, but not quite all the squish. With 100mm of front travel and weighing in at a […]

If I were considering a new mountain bike, I’d think about a few things. Mountain biking is way fun on any bike, but it’s most fun on a bike that works for you. We are here to help.

The man who cannot stop buying mountain bikes — specifically dual-suspension mountain bike suitable for SW Michigan riding — continues to buy mountain bikes. Let’s recap the bikes I’ve had the past few years: This is the new Anthem. If you purchase a complete bike, it will have 100mm of rear travel and 110mm of […]

I have a trio of really great bikes on which I do most of my riding. Not long ago riding one of these bikes, I thought, “Huh. All my bikes kick butt.” There are commonalities that I appreciate. Efficiency. This is feeling the bike moves forward when you push on the pedals. I think this […]

Hello! About a year ago this very communication source suggested that bicyclists (like you?) could possibly benefit from something different in the off-season, going so far as to recommend strength training. I love strength training and my gym and all that stuff. And yet… the person who massages this bag of bones repeatedly tells me […]

I decided that I wanted (needed?) a new road bike and found a Giant TCR Advanced SL frame available in my size. So I bought it and began thinking about the three big factors in a frame-up build: wheels, drivetrain and cockpit (or “everything else”). On the drivetrain front I was torn between Red AXS, […]

Group riding is a marvelous blend of personal achievement (riding your bike pretty quickly) and submission to the will of the group, like a school of fish or maybe a murmuration of starlings, many creatures moving independently, but together. Today my buddy said that a successful group ride occurs when you, the person in front […]

By nature I’m the type of person who can turn a simple thing — a bike ride to the store to get ketchup instead of a car trip — into a project requiring tons of time and maybe a new bike with the special ketchup adapter. But it doesn’t have to be that way. No! […]

A few of my coworkers and I have been trying to go on a simple bikepacking trip for two years. We were pandemic’d once and rained out twice. Fortunately, last weekend featured perfect weather, seven riders and a much-needed car-driving stuff-hauler. I’ll put the ending right here: it was very fun and so much easier […]

I’ve had a Di2-equipped bike for a while now, and I like it. It shifts perfectly and the battery charge lasts a really long time. Never any fuss. And then it was dead as a doornail before our first shop ride of the season. Fortunately I checked it about an hour before the ride, and […]

I’m now on my sixth dual-suspension bike in a few years, and I’m starting to figure out what I want and what I don’t. I want a cross country bike, but I don’t necessarily want a race bike. I really appreciate a light bike. but I don’t necessarily want a race bike. I like nice […]

I purchased a new gravel bike this winter. Checkpoint aluminum frame. Rival 1x drivetrain. Mostly parts that we laying around the shop and wheels that I’ve had for about seven years: Chris King hubs, HED Belgian rims and fancy Sapim spokes. But I’m really into what the kids call Gravel Plus: 650b wheels with 48mm […]

It’s about November, and the cycling season is drawing to a close for many of us. What to do this winter? Many are your options, and I recommend strength training. If you are over 40, definitely if you are over 50, I really encourage you to lift weights. Heavy weights. Weights that you (probably) don’t […]

A guy was in the shop looking for a solution to mount his Garmin Varia to the seat stay of his bike. Why? Because the Varia didn’t have a method to attach to the back of his seat bag, and the seat bag took up all of the available seat post real estate. I suggested […]

Hello! I’m sending this out a little bit early to remind everyone that we’ll be closed next Tuesday and again on Labor Day.Just to recap: Tuesday, August 31: We’re closed for Employee Appreciation Day. Monday, September 6: We’re closed for Labor Day. Enjoy! In The Shops Clothing is on sale! 25% off all in-stock clothing. […]

Wednesday and Thursday I rode steep trails in Utah on an electric-assist mountain bike, and I loved it. The bike was a Specialized Turbo Levo SL. It’s an interesting bike and is a little bit of a wonderful oddity in the world of e-bikes. It’s lighter and provides less assist than most other options. At […]

A few pictures from our ride from the Downtown shop to Fricano’s in Alamo. We had a beautiful evening, delicious food and about 20 attendees. This casual ride stuff is fun! We’ll do more soon. Many thanks to the nice folks at Fricano’s for having us.

It starts like this: I installed a Specialized Pizza Rack and Pizza Bag on my bike last year. The headlight mount on a client’s pizza rack broke. Pizza Racks were out of stock for a loooooong time, so… We put parts of my rack on the client’s bike. I received parts of the client’s rack. […]

National Bike To Work day occurs on May 21st this year. Many of the folks working at Pedal ride to work, some of them pretty religiously. At some level, biking to work is no more difficult than driving to work. On the other, a bike is not a car. On a bike you’re exposed you […]

We’ve been sponsoring the local Ride of Silence for a few years now, and I’m happy that we do. The Ride of Silence organization exists for three reasons: To honor cyclists who have been injured or killed. To raise awareness that cyclists are here. To ask that we all share the road. This is great […]

This article in the New Yorker put structure to many of the thoughts occupying space in my head for a number of years. Specifically these: PEDAL is good for Kalamazoo County. We pay property tax. We pay state and federal taxes. We pay the salaries of several people, and those people plunk the vast majority […]

Editor’s Note: Pedal purchases a demo bike for year-round employees. In exchange, the employee must make the bike available for clients to demo and write a brief summary of their experience with the bike. This entry represents Lauren paying her dues. Oh so legit.  Oh so gorgeous.  Oh so fun.   Before riding gravel, I […]

I rode home from the Romence shop at about 7:30 last night. It was an incredibly warm evening for November. I wore shorts, a t-shirt and a light jacket. No one else was on the Portage trail (probably because, I learned from a sign along the way, the trail closes at sundown), and I rode […]

This winter I started a commuter bike project. I wanted to be able to ride to the gym, work out, ride to work, take a shower, work all day and ride home, all without having to carry a backpack. The backpack part might seem dumb, but I radiate a lot of heat in the summer […]

Last week I jumped on my commuter bike and headed to the Downtown shop at about 7:30 am. It was a beautiful morning, and I found myself bombing down Oakland hill with a green light at the Lovell intersection at the base of the hill. I had a pretty good head of steam. Without stopping […]

This new bike might make it look like I don’t like the Blur. And the Blur might make it seem like I don’t like the Epic. None of that is quite true. I love riding mountain bikes, and I love learning more about how they work and feel. I also enjoy a good project. I’m […]

For unclear reasons, I’d been thinking about a single-speed cross/gravel bike. I regret having sold my last one, and didn’t want to spend a pile of money on another. I spent a fair amount of time looking for a new frame, but single-speeding appears to have fallen out of fashion. I found very little to […]

Riding to work, to the store, and to spontaneous local destinations have become second nature with the 2020 Turbo Como 3.0. Como gets you where you need to be, sweat free and all smiles.  When you’re ready for a workout, turn down the battery and pump those legs! It’s impossible to find an excuse to […]

Before starting this entry, I looked back and re-read Part 1. How bizarre! A post about a bunch of parts without a bike on which to bolt them. Just to recap, I’m trying to incorporate a bike into more aspects of my life — not just going fast in pursuit of fitness. When I first […]

A while back, I made a list of all of my adult bikes. As I review that list, it’s pretty easy to spot a trend — speed. Yes, there are specifications — frame material, wheel size, gearing, geometry, etc. — that vary from bike to bike, but an overarching theme is going (relatively) fast on […]

How long has it been going on? I can’t remember. It started years ago at somebody’s house as a way to give Old Man Winter the finger and goof around on bikes. A few years later it was a pot luck fundraiser in a brewery. This year it remains a fund-raiser (for Open Roads) and […]

We spend a not-insignificant amount of time thinking about what we’re doing, how we do it, why we do it and who we serve — the kind of thinking that could induce an existential crisis in those lacking a strong constitution. We know. We know you could purchase your bike stuff from the shop down […]

Happy Thanksgiving! Everyone’s favorite turkey-flavored holiday is so close to the end of the month that I thought I’d publish the Best Bike Shop Newsletter on Romence Road a few days early. Pedal will be closed on Black Friday, and we invite you to ride with us at 11:00am from Texas Drive Park. We’ll have […]

Hello, and happy All Saints Day,Good speed and fortune to the hearty souls racing Iceman in uncertain weather tomorrow. Go go go!It’s back! The Pedal Winter Service Special, now through the end of January. It’s a thorough, get-your-bike-ready-for-next-season service including a drivetrain cleaning for the low, low price of $87. If you want your bearings overhauled, […]

Editor’s Note: Our Gal Jess has been riding a Specialized Stumpjumper Expert 29 all summer. It’s a lot of name and a lot of bike. In Jess’s words… Mountain biking has become my “adult” replacement plan for organized sports, or as some may call it, sports ball. In looking for the right bike for my […]

Editor’s Note: the blog might say that Tim authored this post, but Kalyn is the real author. A few days ago, someone asked me why I chose cycling over any other sport. To me, the answer seemed obvious: through cycling, I am able to connect with the world around me by exploring new places, adventuring […]

We started carrying Santa Cruz in late April of 2019. We partnered with Santa Cruz for a few reasons. One is that they focus almost entirely on mountain bikes. A second is that they have a large, loyal following. I like their adherence to and constant tinkering with a consistent suspension platform, VPP. All of […]

To tubeless or not to tubeless? The pro-tubeless party suggests that you think of these features: Most small punctures seal themselves. You no longer worry about pinch flats and can run lower pressure for greater comfort. The potential for weight loss, particularly with wider tires, is significant. Modern tubeless works really well in all popular […]

It feels like the second or third day of summer, and I thought I’d answer the question that no one’s asking, “What are you messing around with?” I’ve been playing around with three bikes, maybe four. Kona Libre I tend to ride this bike more than mess around with it. It still consists of: Libre […]

Several years ago I had the chance to ride a Santa Cruz 5010 on trails outside of Calgary, AB. When we decided to carry Santa Cruz at Pedal, I thought the 5010 might be a super bike for, among other things, the Maple Hill Trail, so we brought in a couple for demos. Last weekend […]

Know what this blog needs? More voices. Our Man Jim Kindle got a new Checkpoint SL 6 a little while ago, and he’s nice enough to write a few words about the budding relationship between man and bike. — I got this bike because gravel riding and racing have become some of my favorite types […]

It’s back for 2019: our weekly ride from the Downtown shop. It starts in April and ends when we run out of either heat or daylight. Each Thursday we’ll chat for a few seconds at 6:15. Then we’ll be on our way. The rides are like this: The Fast Ride goes for anywhere between 27-35 […]

Spring is trying to spring, and early Spring makes me think of dirt roads, crud-filled bike lanes and the appeal of what are now referred to as Gravel Bikes. Let’s start with a bit of definition and distinction. Then I’ll ramble about figuring out what you might want in a gravel bike. Finally I’ll finish […]

A few pictures and comments from an all-too-brief vacation in Tucson. I rented this lovely Trek Fuel EX 8 from a cool shop in town. They set up the suspension for me, topped off the sealant in the tubeless tires and gave me a seat pack with a spare tube and a couple of CO2 […]

On a ride very recently I started yapping about the new gravel bike I built. My conversation partner asked a few questions about the frame and the drivetrain. He then said, “I’m still curious about the pros and cons of 1x and 2x drivetrains. I think you should write a full-nerd blog post on this.” […]

About a year ago, I built myself a pretty fancy cross bike: (very) fancy frame, fancy (aluminum) wheels, fancy drivetrain, fancy carbon-railed saddle. Lost of fancy… combined with really unattractive yet functional yet cheap Shimano flat mount calipers. Why? Back in the storied early days of flat mount brakes, those Shimano calipers were the only […]

The Why One of the most interesting things — to me — in the shop right now is a trifecta of bikes from Specialized. The Epic, redesigned for 2018, comes with 100mm of travel front and rear and a 720mm handlebar. This is Specialized’s cross country race bike. The Epic Evo, new for 2019, is […]

So what’s this thing all about? I’ve been thinking about a new road bike for several months. I *loved* my Tarmac, but there are lots of things going on in the road bike space, and I’d like to have more first-hand experience with some of them. What things? Di2 has been around nearly a decade, […]

Yesterday, a colder, rainy October day, we had a brief window of time (several hours) in the shop in which no customers materialized. As will happen in such circumstances, several of us started talking about bikes and products and whatnot, and ultimately starting naming the trends that we see — not just what’s hot right […]

We’re gonna host two races this year. One is on September 16 at Markin Glen. The other is October 14th at The Pit in Three Rivers. Here’s how it works: Registration is $20 USD payable in cash or check on race day. Please note that the race schedule is different from years past: Beginner race […]

Dave Hauschild has been riding bikes a long time. He knows about half-step gearing. He has a penchant for steel road bikes. His mountain bike, until recently, was a 26″ model with zero suspension. I was surprised and pleased when Dave picked out a carbon Epic for his demo. Here’s what he has to say: […]

A couple of weeks ago I thought, “Hmmm. I haven’t put new sealant in my tires since I purchased this bike, almost one year ago.” Sure enough, the interior of each tire was dry as a bone. I found a bottle a sealant and my Flash Charger and made everything awesome in about ten minutes. […]

Editor’s note: In the continuing series of bike reviews by employees, here’s one from J’Son, the manager of our Romence Road location. When we announced this program, J’Son was very decisive in his choice of bike, something for dirt road racing and cyclocross. J’Son chose to write his review as more of a Q&A than […]

It’s a little bit further away. It’s a little bit “harder.” There are more roots. The climbs are a little longer and steeper. There’s more sand. It’s an older, burlier, rugged trail. And I love it. Yesterday morning I took our demo Epic (with which I am completely infatuated) to sort of verify the feelings […]

Editor’s note: We started a new program in early 2018 in which Pedal would fund a new bike for full-time employees. There are very few restrictions. Employees are encouraged to get something they’d really like, but might not purchase themselves. In exchange for the bike, folks were asked to write a longer-term review of their […]

There was a time when I never took pictures while on a bike ride. Things seem to be changing, and these are some of my favorites from this year to date. I’ve gotten significantly better at balancing my bikes on a water bottle.                

This bike. I’ve wanted to write about this bike since before it even showed up late last fall, but it’s taken me a while to, well, get it together. This bike is constructed around a Moots Psychlo-X RSL frame, ostensibly a cyclocross frame. Like many other bike brands and manufacturers, the Psycho-X is a bit […]

Today was Custer Stampede, and we decided to try something new, the Pedal Motivation Station. We had a tent, a generator, a PA system, some music, a cowbell, a bullhorn and several loud voices. As both motivator and motivated, I thought it was great fun, and I hope you liked it, too. Racing today was pretty terrific. […]

No aspect of a modern mountain bike induces confusion and head-scratching like a fork, particularly an air fork, with its bewildering array of valves and knobs. Most people, and I totally get this, want to *ride* their mountain bike. They didn’t buy it so they’d have something to demystify and tune. About this time last […]

Monday Night Mountain Bike. This typically takes place at the Maple Hill Trail or Fort Custer. Stay tuned to our facebook page for updates. Wednesday is Ladies Mountain Bike. This typically happens at Al Sabo or the Maple Hill Trail. Facebook is again a good place to look for updates. Thursday night is road riding […]

In something of a time warp, I found myself in my basement on a bike on a trainer with Coach Troy Jacobson yelling gear ratios at me via a Spinnervals workout that I’ve had for years. I felt like I was 40 again. Sort of. Regardless, this workout predates the widespread use of power meters, […]

Editor’s note: Our Man Alex put a Manitou Mattoc on his bike last summer. He loved it then, but has since put some miles on it. Here are his notes. In the Mattoc fork, Manitou is competing in the high-end trail bike fork market and compete with the likes of the Rockshox Pike and the […]

Hello Pedal People. My name is Audrey. I have worked at the Downtown shop as the Inventory Specialist for the past year and a half or so. Last weekend, Quality Bicycle Products hosted it’s dealer trade show and expo event in Bloomington, Minnesota (the location of the Mall of America, for those versed in abnormally […]

This morning I took my new bike out for its maiden voyage to the Maple Hill Trail. It’s a beautiful clear day. Temperature is just above freezing. I’d heard that the trail is in perfect shape. And off I went, excited to see what this bike is all about and to rekindle my relationship with […]

I recall reading the Kalamazoo Bicycle Club’s newsletter in November and learning that Pedal had been nominated as a Friend of Bicycling for the year. “Wow,” said the word bubble above my head. “It’s super nice that someone likes us enough to make a nomination.” A few weeks later I was informed that Pedal won […]

Just a few short years ago we all raced local gravel races on our cyclocross bikes or perhaps our 29ers. As longer races became a thing across our country, we saw three things occur to create the new and exciting (some snark intended) category of Gravel Bike: Bottom brackets dropped, offering greater stability at the […]

The other day I overheard a conversation in the back of the shop in which a couple of employees were talking about mountain bike tires. One of the guys (code name: J’Son) said, “It took some getting used to. It rolled really well, but when you leaned over, it was really squirrelly until you leaned […]

I love Iceman, but Iceman causes me a lot of stress (which is exactly the same stress it causes everyone else): am I fit enough? Where will I stay? How badly will my friends kick my butt? How will I get to wherever I’m staying after the pros finish? Last year some friends and I […]

Last summer was a dandy for getting up and out early for a ride. I’ve continued that habit, but the shifting sands of time mean that when once it was a little bit dark, it’s now DARK. As a result, I’ve been trying new things. In the early summer I purchased a Flare R and […]

I love college and community radio. Loved it when I was in college (WRVU). Loved rediscovering it when I lived in Pittsburgh (WPTS). Loved KABF in Little Rock. Love WIDR. Love. It. My love for WIDR must be complex, because I’m having a difficult time quantifying it for this post. Some of it is nostalgia, […]

I purchased a Bontrager Flash Charger pump about a year ago in hopes that I could handle more tubeless projects at home, without having to drag my stuff to the shop. It’s a neat concept: the pump has a large internal air chamber that’s filled with high-pressure air (by pumping, believe it or not), which […]

From the man that I often refer to as Uncle Kurt: And now I want to tell you about my late Uncle Alex. He was my father’s kid brother, a childless graduate of Harvard who was an honest life insurance salesman in Indianapolis. He was well-read and wise. And his principal complaint about other human […]

We’ve known Alex for a long time, since he was but a kid with big eyes. And we watched as Alex grew older, became a more vigorous mountain biker and, quietly, got pretty good at figuring out how things work and how they feel to the end user. Alex got a new fork for his […]

When I asked my kiddo to put on these gloves and pose for a picture not completely unlike the one above, I received this response, “No. No one says ‘Hella’ anymore.” Despite the vocabulary of the cool kids of Kalamazoo, my new bike is, if nothing else, Hella Sweet. But what is this thing? Maybe […]

We’ve sold many Staches, Fuses and Ruzes with Manitou’s QR15 thru axle. The QR15 works just fine, but there is a pretty steep learning curve to figure it out. I was looking for something one day and came across something called the Hexlock SL, which is a replacement thru axle for the QR15. I figured […]

This morning I had opportunity to take a ride before work. Having nothing structured on the agenda, I grabbed my fat bike and decided to ride around town. Immediately outside the garage door I thought, “This is what we dream about during the winter.” It was seventy degrees, pretty humid and overcast. There was no […]

The Maple Hill Trail is something a bit different for the Kalamazoo area. Custer is fun and twisty. Yankee is tough and wild. TMHT (you heard it here first) is jumpy, bermed, machine-built and an unbelievable combination of accessible and challenging. Kona is a brand we identify with strongly. Their stuff is really good, and […]

Yes. I know. I, too, have every confidence that I’m the zillionth 50+ white dude to purchase a Crockett and name it “Sonny.” In this regard my lack of originality bothers me not at all. I can’t help that “Miami Vice” was required Friday night viewing for a while during my college years. That kinda thing […]

Hello! May was just about fantastic. We went on lots of great rides and met lots of neat people. Thanks for hanging out with us and enjoying the unexpectedly wonderful weather. We had opportunity to enjoy an escorted ride around the Maple Hill Trail at Markin Glen last week, and I’m here to tell you […]

If I were to start a list of every awesome attribute of Toni, we’d be here a very long time. She’s cool. She’s fashionable. She’s a very fun conversationalist. She’s tough. She’s real. I had a fantastic time talking to Toni, and I hope you enjoy this snippet of our conversation.  

Last summer I was trying to put bikes into context for modern families, and I thought, “Hey. Bikes are a terrific alternative to all these dang screens that attract our time and attention.” I talked to the folks who turn many of my strange ideas into something tangible, and they asked for someone to film. […]

We received a big box of Time pedals today, about which I’m very stoked. I went through both Shimano and Crank Brothers mountain bike pedals before I ended up with Time. I’m not exactly sure how it happened, but I recall a friend of mine (who continues to use SPDs) suggesting that Time were good at clearing […]

Today started earlier (didn’t have to pick up the bike; merely had to wheel it out of the hotel room) and went longer. I started with something new, and was about two miles down the road when I realized I forgot my trail map. Engaging a total guy cliche, I did not turn around.  Luckily […]

I attend meetings twice a year for a performance group of which I am (perhaps obviously) a part. Though I start going crazy when I’m away from the shop, it’s fantastic to hear what other shops across the country are doing and the things they’re trying to be successful. This time around I’m in California, […]

I’ve been clinging to old ways a little bit too tightly as of late. I know I’m using an old fashioned rear light, but I almost feel married to the darn thing. In fact, I have (technically, had) a fleet of Planet Bike Superflash lights in the garage with mounts on many a seatpost and/or seat […]

“Everybody knows a cyclist,” is an idea that’s been banging around in my head for a year or so. It’s loosely based on the People for Bikes billboards that can be seen around town, but more local. My thought is that LOTS of people ride bikes, and if the population at large considers cyclists in the […]

I’m working on a super top secret project, part of which entails converting a set of hubs from quick release to 12mm thru axle. The hubs in question are Chris King R45 disks which I purchased a couple of years ago for the Wonder Jake. Let’s talk about Chris King hubs. They’re very expensive. They’re […]

Hi! Gird yourself! Lots of data this time around. First thing, I’d like to ask a favor. Go out to the garage and check out the blinky light on the back of your road bike. Is it bright? Does it point behind you, or at your rear tire? Does it need new batteries? I’ve been […]

Hello! Wanna hear something crazy? We’re 25% of the way through 2017. The good news is that the remaining 75% is the good stuff. There’s a lot to talk about this month, so I’ll try to keep my loquacious self in check. Never is a word that’ll often cause problems. When I started Pedal I […]

Our Gal Cassie, who keeps track of inventory at the South shop, writes her first entry for this… thing. — ed. Hello friends! New voice here, coming at ya from the inventory desk at Pedal in Portage. I am rather new to Pedal and, you could say, to the cycling community in general. Not to […]

Jess tells me that we (I’m pretty sure I’m “we”) should write more about the products we use when we’re riding bikes. This morning I decided to do a bit of reconnaissance for a cyclocross race venue ride on my fat bike. The temperature was 43F, and it was raining. This is what I wore: Incredibly […]

I was talking to my Kona guy yesterday (yes, it does make me feel special to have a Kona guy) and somehow got to bemoaning the way the bike industry feels like it has to slice everything super-fine so there are a million different products and no one knows what the hell they’re talking about […]

Lately I’ve had a lot of conversations with friends about the expense associated with pickiness. This is the object that started the discussion. Last autumn I rode this bike and thought, “Man. I gotta get me one of these.” And what I meant by that was, “I should buy this exact bike.” That would have […]

Beginner Mountain Bike Picks Think about what you you’re gonna do with this thing. Do you want a mountain bike because everybody rides a mountain bike? Or do you wanna rip the new Maple Hill Trail at Markin Glen Park? If you’re looking to commute or cruise the city, we might encourage you to look […]

Man are we happy to be thinking of warmer days and longer trail rides. To supplement our excitement, we put together a list of staff favorites highlighting mountain bikes for a variety of ride types. Specialized Epic Hardtail The Epic Hardtail is new this year. Replacing the Stumpjumper Hardtail, this cross-country race bike looks like […]

Long ago, when I wanted to see what I was capable of doing, I purchased a power meter and learned how to use it. Though my current goals are significantly more modest, I still like to have a power meter because it helps me make the most of out of time on the bike. This is important, […]

For at least a year there’s been mumbling and rumoring and all kinds of scuttlebutt related to the course and destination of our competitor Alfred E. Bike. Today it seems clear that the destination is retirement and that the course is nearly complete. We drove everyday, however one day we pass by into a crime […]

Three friends and I rode fat bikes in 16F weather this afternoon. All of use were comfortable, but for some chilly toes and fingertips. I thought it might be worthwhile to talk about what each person wore.. Ryan is a 28 year-old male in good shape, despite being a new father. Ryan wore borrowed, super-warm […]

Hello! December? Holy smokes! That concise email of last month will stand in stark contrast to the information density contained herein. I invite you to pour another glass of eggnog, grab a seat by the fire and read along. Ride All Year (code name: RAY) is something a friend and I have been working on […]

Last year we sold several Fuses and Ruzes, Specialized’s plus-tired hardtail bikes. I’d only ridden a Fuse once on a sketchy trail in California, so I thought it would be good for me to try one around here. I took a bike that we’ve been using for demos and rode it three times before the snow started flying. […]

While DFM and I were enjoying a cold one after the cross race yesterday, the promoter came out by the kegs (yeah: plural), looked around and said, “Man. Nobody parties at these things anymore.” I suggested that the series come back to Kalamazoo.

I love Iceman. Love it. Love the trip up. The expo (I don’t love the expo as an Expo, but as a place  to chat with some folks from other towns and the manifold Industry Folk, it rules.). The foraging for food Friday night, terrified that the place you want to eat will have a […]

Hello! My goodness! What a tremendous Autumn. I hope you’ve had a chance to enjoy it. Everybody around here is talking about how “they” say it’s gonna be a hard, cold winter with lots of snow and blah blah blah. Bring it on. It’s a fair price to pay for the past two months. A […]

I belong to a small group of bike shop owners that meets twice a year, and each meeting is held at a member’s bike shop. Just last week we met in Fort Collins, CO. “Colorado?” thought I. “I’ll bet there’s some pretty good mountain biking in, you know, the mountains.” As I prefer not to Get […]

As a local supporter of the Maple Hill Trail project, a few guys from the shop and I had a fantastic opportunity take a guided tour of the constructed bits of the Maple Hill Trail at Markin Glen this afternoon. Wow! Lemme tell you a little bit about it. For starters, there’s a good amount […]

I’m not sure how this dual-suspension thing started, but I can think of three contributing factors: J’Son Lechner, manager of the Romence Road shop, has been a full-suspension advocate for some time. Perhaps he affected (infected?) us. Trips to other places. Whenever we travel to meetings, dealer shows, events, etc., we often get to ride […]

Darrell Greathouse, veterinarian, dad, bike dude and all around great guy, asked if he could review his new bike somewhere. I said, “Hey, why not write something and I’ll put in on our site.” Lo… The Stache.  What a great name.  Makes me want to grow some radical facial hair named after a bike component.  Due […]

People regularly ask me, “Which is the best one?” And I regularly dodge the question. But I was riding today when a recurring thought hit me, “This might be it. This might be the best bicycle I’ve ever owned.” What is it? This is a 2016 Specialized S-Works Tarmac frame that I built up with […]

A good customer just sent me this article, which I highly recommend. And although I have a rule against reading the comments on any internet site/blog/article/etc., I read a few associated with the linked piece, and they were coherent and reasoned. The fact of the matter is that we, cyclists, are part of the problem. […]

Like many bike companies, Trek makes three carbon road bike frames that can be easy to confuse without a program. The bikes are: The Madone name has been in use by Trek for almost a decade, the bike it describes has changed quite a lot. Where the Madone (named for a big old mountain pass […]

I’ve been a big fan of Melting Mann from the word go. What’s not to like about a dirt road race close to home at the start of the season? Well, you might not like… Riding on an ice rink in year one. I think it is 100% due to Melting Mann that we sold […]

I am the fortunate person who enjoys his work. As a result, I don’t skip out on work much. I don’t take sick days. I rarely take my day off. I have a difficult time leaving early, especially if the shop is busy. Today, however, I decided that I’d like to take a mid-day ride. […]

February brought us a little bit of everything, some things we wanted and some we maybe could have done without: cold toes on the fat bike, fun dirt road miles on the cross bike, time on the trainer watching the tube, a snowy ride to a bar after work.. Around the Shop Yoga: you were […]

Just like that, a month is gone! Pedal’s managers and I meet once a week for breakfast and work talk. As I was driving to our meeting/feast last week, WIDR was on the radio, and the DJ was talking about the weather and said something like, “This winter that just won’t end!” Hmmm. Around the Shop Thanks […]

1 x 11 SRAM’s 11-speed drivetrains continue to become significantly more affordable without losing much, if any, of their awesomeness. I’ve had an XX1 bike. Super great. I have an X1 bike. Love it. I’ve installed a GX drivetrain on my wife’s bike and recently purchased a bike of my own with that very same […]

At the end of Pedal’s December 2015 newsletter, I included a link to a brief survey. I know the results are skewed as we would first need your email address, then you would have to open it AND read to the bottom of the darn thing to find the link. I’d suggest that not many […]

A few of us who’d been with Pedal for a little while had an interesting chat at the downtown shop not long ago. We’d ridden on Vittoria tires and wore Bell helmets and had clothing from Sugoi and wore mostly Giro shoes. And the conversation turned to the fact that most of us were now […]

This whatever-it-is is about options. You, discerning mountain biker, have a lot of choices. The genesis of this jumble is my wife, a reluctant mountain biker if ever there was one. I bought her a really cool race bike many years ago, but she never got into it, largely because she thought both the bike […]

Hello, and happy November, I don’t want to get anyone in trouble or incite unrest, but you really ought to talk to your employer about taking tomorrow afternoon off to ride at Custer. SWMMBA has done a marvelous job with the trails recently and the weather — holy smokes! I worked out a deal with […]

Last night a special guest blew into town to join me for riding today. We ate, drank and were merry longer into the evening than is my way. That, combined with yesterday’s exertions, led to some rubbery legs. Big deal. We started the day riding the North Trails. They aren’t as “Wow! Holy heck!” as […]

I’m a guy who usually gets up with or before the sun, which had a great coming out party this morning. I walked around looking for a cup of coffee to get me going and saw this thing: And I walked around a bit more and saw it again. After a wonderful breakfast and a […]

After a hard summer of not really riding enough, I set out for Marquette, Michigan in hopes of a couple of days of mountain bike riding. I loaded my junk in the car and went to work.   Nothing was going on at work, which — c’mon, beautiful sunny Saturday? So I got restless and […]

With no real idea what I’d do with the data, I recently asked everyone at Pedal to share their favorite thing in the shop. Now that I have it, why not share? Amber likes Michigan and bicycles, and her favorite thing is the Michigan Rides T Shirt. Bailey Mosher, a high school swimming who’s always hungry, […]

Hello! Indian Summer, I love you. It has been just a wonderful late summer/early autumn around here. The weather is terrific. The roads are less traveled. The kids are alright. Tough to beat. Goodness! We had a spectacular time at the Ramona Park cyclocross race last Sunday. Wonderful weather. Lots of racers. Tons of enthusiastic […]

  Hidden in the concord grape arbors on the outskirts of town we spotted a member of the species Jakus Superificus, more commonly known by its genus: Carbon Jake. A beautiful animal, Carbon Jake is lithe and powerful, ready to mow down miles on the road, take on the grit of a gravel ride or […]

Women are some of our favorite customers. We think everybody should ride a bike — or at least have the opportunity to ride a bike — regardless of they way they’re plumbed or whatnot. Many (all?) forward-thinking bike companies have embraced female riders to one extent or another. Speaking as a person who spends a […]

Monday evening I attended a joint meeting of the Texas Township Trustees and the Kalamazoo County Road Commission. The citizens of Texas Township have concerns that traffic speeds on Q Avenue (Centre Street) are too high, and asked the Kalamazoo County Road Commission (hereafter referred to KCRC, the legal entity responsible for the road) to […]

A thing, but not the most important thing, that I like about my new bike is that the colors and graphics remind me of the 80s, when I was young and had flowing locks of hair. I know. Hard to believe. When I was a young corporate stooge (not that there’s anything wrong with that. […]

We’ve been all over the place recently, meeting with vendors and riding bikes. I love writing about this sort of thing and thought I’d share my experiences of the bikes I rode. Specialized Tarmac Disk: This was a super nice road race bike with all the fixins: Ultegra drivetrain, Ultegra hydraulic brakes, carbon clinchers. Very […]

We’ve been all over the place recently, meeting with vendors and riding bikes. I love writing about this sort of thing and thought I’d share my experiences of the bikes I rode. Specialized Tarmac Disk: This was a super nice road race bike with all the fixins: Ultegra drivetrain, Ultegra hydraulic brakes, carbon clinchers. Very […]

What should I be doing? Either writing the Bicyclical or packing to go home. What am I doing? Sitting in a sushi restaurant trying to remember the salient points of my visit to Specialized. I rode a few bikes: a Tarmac disk (yum), the new Venge ViAS (so fast), a very nice Diverge, a 29” […]

What should I be doing? Either writing the Bicyclical or packing to go home. What am I doing? Sitting in a sushi restaurant trying to remember the salient points of my visit to Specialized. I rode a few bikes: a Tarmac disk (yum), the new Venge ViAS (so fast), a very nice Diverge, a 29” […]

Yesterday I ran through the woods with a man who suggested that tiger lilies are a harbinger of winter. I suppose, if you take a long enough view, everything is a harbinger of winter. Or death. Or the end of the world. But I could not disagree more about tiger lilies. Tiger lilies remind me […]

Hello! Well. That was an incredibly rainy June, but fun nonetheless. Ongoing Fun: Despite the fact that wet trails forced us to cancel fully 75% of all Monday Night Mountain Bike rides in June, the ride last Monday was great. Super bunch of folks hustling through the lush countryside on bikes. Come join us. We […]

Nearly Solstice Ride 7:00 pm 6/20/15 Meet at the corner of Court and Church in Hastings 24 MIle BR Course Socializing and refreshments afterward at Waldorf Self-supported; bring what you need Front and Rear Lights Required  

While demonstrating the Thule EasyFold 9032 to complete strangers in the Old Dog parking lot I thought, “Hmmm. Maybe I should write about this.” The things that make this rack different from many others are its high weight capacity (122 lbs!), ability to fit either a 1 1/4” or 2” receiver and distinctive good looks. […]

Hello! Real quickly, let’s talk about the Trek recall. You are affected if you have a Trek or Gary Fisher with a front disc brake and a quick-release skewer that opens past 180 degrees. If you are unsure if your bike qualifies, please bring it to us and we will happily check it out. We […]

Innovative, made in America Speedplay recently introduced several updates and new products. First up is the near-mythical SYZR, a mountain bike pedal that’s been in the works for a number of years. You can read all about it here, but the main takeaways are the famous Speedplay float and the fact that the pedal interface […]

Happy April! One of my favorite authors, Kurt Vonnegut, said that when he wrote he felt, “Like an armless, legless man with a crayon in his mouth.” I’m feeling similarly capable of organizing my thoughts for this month’s Bicyclical. Let’s see how it turns out. The Past: The ice and frozen ruts in the roads […]

This has nothing to do with bikes. This has everything to do with experiences. Taking Stacy Duckett to see Bruce Springsteen in Memphis remains one of the most memorable of my college-age experiences. I believe it was my sophomore year, and Bruce was touring in support of his Born in the USA album. Were I […]

We’ve had some interesting Konas in the shop recently and managed to take a few typically blurry pictures. First up is a customer’s Hei Hei Deluxe. Carbon frame. Carbon rear triangle. Fox CTD suspension. 120mm of travel up front, 100mm out back. Tubeless rims and tires. SLX drivetrain. This is a splendid bike, one that […]

Hello! Bad news: My driveway does not shovel itself. Good news: Longer days. Does it even out? Hmmmmmm. My wife, true love and proofreader is of the opinion that this issue of the Bicyclical should come with a minor warning: much information is contained herein. February is definitely a time of great anticipation. People are […]

Hello! If ever there was a meteorological term that strikes crud into the heart of a cyclist, it has to be “wintry mix,” the perfect storm of wet skin and slick roads. Yuck. Wintry mix aside, welcome to 2015! Beer Week! Let’s kick off Kalamazoo Beer Week at Boatyard Brewing with a fundraiser for Open Roads. Check out the syntactical […]

Right around Thanksgiving we brought in a new fat bike from KHS, largely because it looked like Kona might have underestimated demand for the 2015 Wo. Things we like about the KHS 3000 include: The price: $2200. The spec: 2×10 SRAM drivetrain with hydraulic brakes The bigness: 100mm wide rims and 4.8″ tires People come […]

Few would argue that Zipp is regarded as the premier brand of aerodynamic wheel. They’re *everywhere*: on many pro cyclocross bikes, many pro tour road bikes and of course the #1 brand of wheel at the Ironman Championship in Kona, year in and year out. I was recently invited to tour Zipp’s Indianapolis manufacturing facility, […]

Winter is here, and I already feel a bit wistful for 2014. So let’s pull a chair by the fireplace, grab a good book and hunker down for a few months of cycle-unfriendly weather. This is a great time to recharge the batteries, to perhaps catch up on some projects around the house that were […]

A really long time ago a customer suggested that we round up some bike lights and do some sort of laboratory-controlled comparison thing worthy of a car magazine. Today we had a nice confluence of events: a reasonable number of lights in stock, a short day and a fairly wide open (inside) place where we could […]

You know, it’s pretty easy when it’s 60 degrees and sunny. People want to set up the course. People what to get outside on a beautiful day and have a few UV rays hit their bodies. People are understandably less worried about frostbite. For the first time in four years, Markin Glen today was not […]

En route to the garbage can this morning, I took a quick picture of my brake pads: From the top we have a pad from my rear caliper, removed immediately after Iceman (aka IceMudMan). In the middle is a pad from my front caliper, removed immediately after IceMudMan. The bottom bad is brand spanking new, ready to install. It […]

Check it out! Cyclocross returns to Kalamazoo at our two favorite locations, Kindleberger (home of The Hill) and Markin Glen. Races are $25 each (what a bargain!) and work as follows: C race is at 11:00 and will last approximately 30 minutes. This is a terrific way to test the waters. Kids: welcome. Adults: welcome. […]

The white saddle, pedals and bar tape of this bike made me think of “style” in the leisure-suited seventies. If you’re too young to recall the period, this link might help decode the post’s title. Every now and then someone comes into the shop and says, “Argh! You guys are terrible. You’re always showing me sweet […]

Hello! I cannot believe that we’re staring October in the face. Wow. Around the Shop Cool bikes are coming in. Of special note are some very nice cyclocross and gravel road bikes. Delicious. We have some sweet long-sleeve shirts that you could stylishly wear while: – Riding – Drinking a beer – Being cool Quantities […]

It’s that time of year, and maybe a bit past that time of year, when we’re asked about cross tires. I thought I’d talk about what we like around the shop and go from there. Should I go Tubular? No, unless you’ve lost your mind or need another challenge in your life. Yes you can […]

While not exactly under the cover of a darkness, I haven’t been terribly forthcoming about the fact that I’ve been scratching an itch, an itch to which few men are prepared to admit an obsession, a problem, an addiction. I’m not necessarily proud, but nor am I ashamed about my recent infatuation with: steel bikes. […]

Join us if you can.

While visiting friends in Missoula, Montana, I very much wanted to check out the mountain bike scene. I searched the internet and found a bike shop from which to rent a bike and a weekly mountain bike group ride. I admit that I picked the shop, Missoula Bicycle Works, because they sell Konas and might have a […]

(Our Man Randy borrowed a Scott Solace for the Race for Wishes road race in Lawton earlier this month. I asked Randy if he’d be willing to write a few words about his experience, and here they are. – Tim) Many of our customers here at Pedal are familiar with Scott road bikes, especially the […]

Gracious! What a positively magnificent summer. I write this on my back porch after today’s Kal-Tour, a beautiful ride through the county sponsored by the Kalamazoo Bicycle Club. A buddy of mine and I hooked up with other friends for a brisk (cough) ride with a little rain, a little sun, a little wind and […]

Last week the men from SRAM showed up at the shop to wow us with some of their new wares. And wowed we were. First up was the new RS-1, RockShox new “upside down” fork. As a former motorcycle guy, I’ve often wondered why high-end bicycle suspension forks look like old technology motorcycle suspension forks. […]

Hello! Over the most glorious Memorial Day I can remember in some time, I heard someone around me — maybe even someone I didn’t know — say, “Yeah. That winter was horrible, but I don’t think I’ve ever been more happy about summer.” Too true. And so it is that I find myself finishing the […]

Not very long ago a really cool customer asked about our race team. “Do you guys have tryouts or need a resume or anything?” While we’re thrilled that someone might think our results could indicate that such might be the case, it isn’t. What we have is a concept that we call the Friend Team. […]

Holy crud bucket! Can you believe it’s May, the fifth month of the year? Me neither. And look at me: late with the newsletter. Stuff is happening. Please allow me to say this first and foremost: Way to go Ryan. 19 credit hours and a full time job is a hard way to finish up […]

I’ve had the new bike for a while and thought I’d share some thoughts and experiences.  Fork: I bought the SID largely because I was trying to build a light bike. It took me a while to get the thing dialed, and I have come to believe that RockShox’s air recommendations are a tad on the […]

Some while ago — last summer? summer before last? — Our Gal Kim started getting a few friends together to hit the area trails on Monday evenings. Sometimes ten people would show, sometimes three. You could go as fast or not as you wished and it was consistently a really great time. I asked Kim […]

Immediately after yesterday’s Barry Roubaix race many of our friends were clustered at the end of the finish chute, coughing, having used parts of our lungs that hadn’t seen much action in a while. “There’s no way a big effort like this is good for your body,” opined one guy. “It’s not,” said another, who […]

Over the past three years, I’ve almost become used to the extent that bike shop owners are hit up to be part of many different things. There are industry conferences, trade shows of all stripe, this, that and the other. Until recently, I’ve been too busy and Pedal has been too lean-staffed for me to […]

Hello! I once worked for a company that provided lunch for its employees. After a really tasty meal, one of my coworkers would often say, “Enough is never enough, but too much is too much!” Such are my feelings about the current season. Yesterday as I was putting on my long johns, I thought about […]

One of the significant barriers to cold weather athletics, biking in particular, is dress. How do you dress for an adventure on a really cold day? Folks in the know speak of three clothing layers: Base, Insulation and Protection. I’ll write a little bit about what these layers are, what I use, why I use […]

Holy Guacamole! What a winter wonderland we have here. Very quick thoughts: If I could have back all the time I’ve spent maintaining my driveway this past month, I could have written six Bicyclicals. Very Much is the amount that I regret wasting Snowpocalypse on last month’s issue. The days are getting longer, right? Right? […]

January, the month of introspection, of resolutions kept and abandoned. This issue of the Bicyclical is generally addressed to those subjects. One word of warning. Remember last month’s issue that was so short and sweet and quickly readable? This month won’t be like that, so you might want to grab a cup of coffee in […]

Brittany wanted a mountain bike, and we ultimately decided that I owned the exact bike she wanted, so I sold her my Dragon. Which left me in a bit of a hole. I purchased bikes from bike shops before I opened Pedal. Sometimes I said, “I have this amount of money and I want this kind […]

Heard of this Melting Mann gravel road race happening on March 9th, 2014? We have. We signed up. We wondered what we’d gotten ourselves into. And so it was that Special Pedal Operational Recon Team (SPORT) found ourselves at Swiss Valley ski area in the middle of a rain squall on a sixty degree November […]

I confess: in this time-compressed world we inhabit, I’ve been forced onto the trainer before I would have liked. However, the combination of a fan, an Apple TV and a Netflix account have made the experience not as bad as it could be. A few of the movies I’ve recently viewed from the saddle include: […]

Hello! Regrettably this issue of the Bicyclical is a rather more jumbled mess than usual. Still, perhaps one might be able to find a pearl in this ocean of words. Hey! It’s Iceman weekend. Of course, if you didn’t sign up a few hundred months ago it’s too late to race, but the party is pretty good […]

I saw this ad this morning and can’t resist sharing. In case it’s too small to read, “The pain and the rain. Nothing hurts better. Quick and strong, able to jump the barriers in a single bound, and really put the hammer down. This is the animal you were born to be.”  

There are many ways I can attempt to justify Tuesday’s actions. Here are three: I needed a hard workout I needed a bike to race on Sunday, and was torn between two options. Why not? I took a couple of our demo bikes to Yankee Springs to get a hard workout, figure out which bike […]

A Michigan-made single-speed steel cyclocross bike. What’s not to like about this? I’d known about 616 Fabrication for a little while, largely due to their fat bike frames and significant Barry Roubaix sponsorship, and was very pleased when one of the owners came into the shop, showed off the product and asked if we’d like […]

I’m doing a race or ride or tour or something this Sunday, and hadn’t ridden a mile of the course, so I decided to take a day off and check it out. With 18 hours notice, I asked a few of my buddies if they’d like to ditch their jobs and come along, and had one […]

Our Gal Kim wanted a new mountain bike to replace her dated, pretty heavy 26″ bike with mechanical disks and a reasonably clunky fork. She did, however, have a really nice set of Crank Brothers Cobalt wheels that she loved mightily. As a result of those wheels, it took a little bit of talk to […]

Wow! What spectacular cycling weather. Lately I’ve had the opportunity to ride with friends new and old, and I’ve been continually impressed by how just unbelievably beautiful it is and by how fun it is to ride a bike (relatively) quickly. Lucky! Fun Things To Do Yes! Cyclocross starts in September. Let’s practice! Practice sessions […]

There are folks who believe that there is no life as charmed as that of the bike shop owner. Sometimes that notion is correct. Last week Kona held their 2014 dealer launch in Bellingham, WA, were I learned about the 2014 bikes, rode the 2014 bikes and met many of the people responsible for the […]

Yes, we know it’s last minute. Sorry. It took us and the good folk at Fort Custer a little bit to work out all the details, but we’re happy to host a demo event tomorrow (6/19) afternoon at the trailhead. That’s right: dual-suspension Scotts –both Genius and Spark — and nifty road bikes are yours […]

Maybe it’s a result of my introduction to mountain biking. Maybe it’s our local terrain. Maybe it’s just the status quo around these parts. Regardless, I’ve always been a hard tail kinda guy, be it 26, 29 or 27.5 wheels. Dual suspension bikes always seemed heavy and complicated to me. Traditions like this die hard. […]

I have not participated in many bicycle tours. I hit the Kal-Tour pretty regularly, but not much else. I honestly don’t know why except that I tend to work in the summer and race cyclocross in the fall. There’s not a whole lot of time left over for organized stuff. Earlier this year my brother […]

As you may know, we’re doing something a bit different during Bike Week. We’re making it more convenient to commute to work — provided you work in downtown Kalamazoo. How? Showers and bike storage. We provide a place to shower and a spot to keep your bike during the work day. You just need to […]

Our Scott rep called a few weeks ago and said, “I’d like to bring my boss to your shop on May first. Any chance we could get in an evening ride?” Ummmm… heck yes. Brad and Chris showed up just a tad later than planned, so we missed the start of the bike club‘s Wednesday […]

Hello! Is there stuff to do on a bike in this town? Yes. There is. The Ft. Custer Stampede is this weekend. What’s that? Your sweetie is running the marathon or half marathon? If you race Sport, you don’t start until a very civilized 12:30, so you can cheer on your beloved AND get some […]

Warm weather is here, and it’s time to talk about shop rides. Why do we do shop rides? We do them so that we, people who work at Pedal, can ride our bikes. We do it so we can mingle with our customers. We do it so we can make new friends. We do it […]

I pimped the living heck out of the Barry Roubaix race this year. Now that it’s over, perhaps a few comments and perspectives are in order. One of the reasons I like the BR is that I think it’s a race for anyone. This is not to say that it’s easy. The course — any […]

One of my favorite past times these days is listening to everyone worry about the right tires and tire pressure for the Barry Roubaix. With that in mind, I took a picture of our current inventory and will share a little information about each. Bottom left is a Vittoria XN. This is a very fast […]

Hello! Look at the lovely winter. Hmmmm. Lots of interesting stuff on the local calendar, such as… Barry Roubaix on March 23rd. This race is now officially a Big Deal. I’m stoked about the Hastings start/finish this year. Should be a hoot. Darn near full. Sign up quickly if you want summathat gravel road race action. Crazy […]

Customer, triathlete, landscaper, bike stud and all around great guy Jake Grevenstuk traveled to Georgia to try his hand at a “hilly” 50-mile dirt road ride last weekend. He lived to tell the tale, and gave us permission to reprint here. The 10am race start time is always a good thing.  Triathlons start at sun […]

A customer recently lent me a book, “Just Ride, a Radically Practical Guide to Riding Your Bike,” by Grant Peterson. I read it last week and have since spent a good amount of time thinking about the book’s content and tone. This is not a traditional book review. The premise of the book is that […]

Hello! Since winter appears to have arrived and this note is from a bike shop, I wouldn’t expect it to be terribly long. Thanks to everyone who came to our birthday celebration. Great to see you. To those of you who couldn’t’ make it, I wish you had. There was just too much cake, and I […]

One day our friend Amber came by with a metric ton of camera equipment, some sheets and a husband/helper to take pictures of a few of our bikes. I thought it might be a nice change from the typical blurry iPhone photos for which this site is infamous. Like El Guapo. Speaking of El Guapo, […]

Toward the tail end of a day at Interbike, the bicycle industry trade show, I was wandering about the Jamis booth, looking for a chair so that I might give my feet a break Through circumstances I cannot really recall, I found myself seated at a table with Greg Webber, the Jamis VP of Product […]

What a premium day we had yesterday during the cyclocross race at Markin Glen. Thanks to all who raced, watched and helped. What a happy time. Our race would not have been possible without the support of the Kalamazoo County Parks. In particular, David Rachowicz is a major advocate of our race and helps us […]

And so it was that we found ourselves wielding pumps and fancy-pants digital pressure gauges in the freezing cold pre-Iceman parking lot when our neighbor, a guy approximately my age on a very nice, very expensive bike with good tires, joined in the conversation. “I run mine about 50,” he said. “Or I’ll just put […]

For the first time in several years, I signed up for Iceman. Truthfully, I’ve never been a huge fan of the race — I never perform as well as I’d like, it wrecks me physically, the sign-up is a disaster, etc. — but I signed up for something to do with my then kinda-new mountain […]

Man. That was a hoot. Thanks to everyone involved in the cyclocross race at Kindleberger Park yesterday, especially including but not limited to: The city of Parchment RunupCX, who did a fantastic job of setting up the course, putting on a good show and being such awesome partners in this exercise The racers The wonderful […]

Our Man Dave writes (and eloquently so) about his trip to the Garden State and participation in the New Jersey Gran Fondo. Sometimes we go to great distances just to take a little step. In the grand scheme of things, even within the short weeks of a summer season, one day on a bicycle has […]

I’ve been using two high-powered bicycle computers lately and (finally?) now have time to express my thoughts. These words will no doubt reveal the reasons that I am not employed as a professional device comparer. I’m not going to waste a lot of space writing about features and specs; those are easy to find. Instead, […]

As 2013 cyclocross bikes begin to appear in advertising and in physical form, those in the market for a new cross bike are faced with a decision: disk brakes or canti? A quick rundown of PEDAL’s 2013 cyclocross offerings: Jamis:  4 disk brake bikes ranging in price from $850 – $4000. Scott:  3 cantilever brake […]

In the sprit of the last post, I thought I’d share a couple of recent projects. First, a set of Velocity Blunt SL 650b rims shod with Schwalbe Racing Ralph tires. The wheels, rim tape and valves came straight from Velocity, the tires from Schwabe and the sealant from Stan’s. This is the tape Velocity […]

As promised (threatened?), let’s talk a little bit about tubeless. First of all, who might care? Interested parties include weight weenies, low-pressure advocates and those concerned about punctures, esp. thorns in their MTB tires. Who doesn’t care? Possibly people with enough stress in their lives who don’t need another thing to think about/spend money actuating. […]

A buddy recently said, “I was reading your blog. I wonder if you’re going to be able to keep up the enthusiasm.” Enthusiasm is high; time to write has been a bit low. Time is still at a premium, but I’d write a few words about things I’ll explore in greater detail later. Tubeless We’ve […]

Do we like multisport? Yes. On occasion, we participate. Thus we have these really awesome, really current multisport tips, in order of occurrence. Buy stretchy laces the night before the race and install them in your shoes. Try out by walking around the house for a few seconds and pronounce good. Also buy a new […]

Someone (wish I could remember who) recently suggested that I write a recap on some of the stuff that I’ve blabbed (er, blogged) about over the past year. Sans ado: Jamis Xenith Elite: This is about as much road bike as you could possibly cram into an MSRP of $5000 or less. Fantastic bike. I […]

Last fall I resumed my love affair with mountain biking and discovered the joys to be had on 29″ wheels. Since then, while I wasn’t paying attention, everybody else in the shop purchased a 29er of their very own. Strange, as I’m usually the first of us to succumb to New Bike Fever. In truth, […]

I’ll say it: there are a LOT of good fluid trainers out there. We sell a few brands and are often asked, “Which one should I buy?” As with bikes, it depends on the person and the budget, but here are a few things that I’ve learned and experienced.   Blackburn Fluid 2 This is […]

People (don’t really) ask me all the time, “What could you possibly do to make that black cross bike of yours even more black?” Maybe a black crank with black rings? This — a Quarq Cinqo crank-based power meter –is something I’ve wanted to try for quite a while. Since I purchased a Garmin Edge […]

Here we are, almost one year into Pedal’s existence. It might be a good time to talk about what we’ve done, what we’d like to do and where we’re going. The Pedal approach is about the bike shop as primarily a service enterprise as opposed to a traditional retail store. In our first year, this […]

Our goal here at Pedal is better. Better service. Better value. Better advice. Better everything! We’re not perfect, but we’re trying, trying to be better. The foundation of Pedal’s business model is our interaction with people — customers, potential customers, even people who are unlikely to be customers but might need our assistance with something […]

MountainBIKE Mag Awards

From one of my favorite blogs about a year ago, a review of the Giro Factor. Then, this summer some cycling magazine had something to say: BicyclingEditorsChoice Maybe these guys are onto something. And it comes in black.

We’ve had occasion to play with a few nifty gizmos as of late. Item One: a PowerTap G3 Wheelset. This is PowerTap’s latest, lightest hub (the G3) laced to a Velocity A23 rim. The whole shebang weighs 1850g, making it significantly lighter than my old, wired PowerTaps. For 2012 PowerTap (finally?) ditched wired power meters […]

We’ve been racing a lot of cross this fall, the last five weekends in a row. As a result, we had no idea what to do with ourselves with a shocking Sunday off. We were discussing it yesterday and decided that we should try some mountain biking. My mountain bike for the last several years has […]

  This is a poorly-focused picture of a very cool bike, one that I’ve been anxious to see and ride:  a Jamis Dragon 650B.   650B is a wheel/tire specification. In short words, 650B is halfway between a 26″ and a 29″ wheel. 650B proponents say that this size gives the rider the benefits of […]

Hello. Today’s blog is a little bit different from those you may have seen in the past. For starters, I, Lily Krone (aka Tim’s Daughter, or just That Girl With Glasses Who’s Sometimes in the Shop and Often has Food Stains on Her T-Shirt), am writing this post. Secondly, today’s blog is not so much […]

  Tired of the same old black seat bag? Me too. These guys sport cool designs, plenty of storage and a loop for your blinky light. For your safety. Because we care.    

The weather the past few days has been spectacular — cool in the morning and rising to 70ish in the afternoon. Where was this weather all September? I do not know. Anyway, thanks to the wonder of Winter Hours (Pedal doesn’t open until noon) I’ve been out riding between the hours of school starting and […]

We’ll be open a little bit less for the next few months — setting up at noon and close at the usual time, with a couple of changes. We’re now open until seven on Monday and Wednesday, and six for the remainder of the week days. Saturday remains the same, 10-5. I have to admit […]

We take a different approach to tri-bike fitting than that seen in many shops. We don’t have a ton of models on the floor, though we sell a marvelous selection of tri bikes, both in stock and custom geometries. When you walk into Pedal and express an interest in a triathlon bike, we don’t start […]

You might think that the #1 bestest thing about working at a bike should would be access to cool bikes. And you would be correct. Yet sometimes access isn’t enough; sometimes you have to sample the merchandise on a more permanent basis. In that spirit,  I bought myself a new cyclocross bike, a custom steel […]

As we keep yelling, the 2011 Cyclocross season is almost here. To prepare for this, we here at Pedal have organized a weekly event to practice barrier jumping, running up hills, riding through sand and much, much more.  Last night was our second practice. We set up some barriers made of PVC pipe in the […]

We’re making a lot of noise about cyclocross bikes, culture and racing around here, so I guess it’s time to start getting ready for the season. PEDAL will host cyclocross skills training on Tuesday evenings from now until it becomes to cold/dark/whatever. Let’s start this Tuesday at Winchell Elementary at 6:30. Time and location will […]

I’ve been meaning to write about my bike all summer, but summer has been busy and I’ve had better things to write about, if I’ve had time at all. Better late than never? I spent some quality time with the Jamis catalog last winter, trying to figure out what I’d ride this year. The Xenith […]

I was riding with a buddy of mine a couple of weeks ago, rather early on a Saturday morning. It was going to be a very hot day, but it wasn’t hot yet. We could see the damage to corn fields and trees from the recent wind storms. We’d both apparently had enough sleep, because […]

While cycling is, fortunately, not usually as awful as running in this incredibly hot and humid weather, there are some things you can do or use that’ll help keep extreme discomfort at bay. Number one: drink a lot of water. A Lot Of Water. Measuring your sweat rate* at this time of year often yields […]

We like bikes. We like talking about monocoque carbon fiber frames, 2×10 drivetrains, light wheels… all that stuff. We also like riding bikes. Sometimes we like to ride bikes as fast as we can. Sometimes we can’t help but appreciate folks who can ride faster than us. Lots and lots faster. So, yeah. We got […]

Sunday is the KalTour, a marvelous tour of the Kalamazoo area put on by the Kalamazoo Bicycle Club. At least one Pedal human will attempt to undertake the century, probably starting around 8:00 in the morning. Join us if you’d like. The more the merrier. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to include maps […]

Unless the current show concerns sports or politics, we typically have the shop radio tuned to WIDR. We love it. I asked the nice folks at our favorite radio station if I could give them a huge sack of money in exchange for a really cool ad. They told me that they’d create the coolest […]

To date we’ve spent a few words writing about fancy bikes, bikes that cost a pretty good chunk of change and are generally purpose-built for racing and/or going pretty fast. But we like other bikes, too. One of our favorites is the Jamis Coda. It’s a really cool bike — steel frame, good paint scheme, […]

This dang Guru Photon has been sitting here, built, in the shop for several weeks. Many are the Thursday nights (we ride on Thursdays) that I’ve thought about taking out the bike and, you know, doing some consumer research. Inevitably it’s rained or we got really busy or some horrible thing happened to prevent me […]

First, a bit more data and detail about the talk we’ve (loosely) organized with Chris Gottwald. Chris’s talk will be held in conjunction with a Trikat meeting on Tuesday, May 24th at the lovely CityScape Center in downtown Kalamazoo. Pedal and the Trikats extend an invitation to anyone who might want to attend. Chis does […]

What a marvelous time was had at the Kalamazoo Marathon today. Most of Pedal ran, but I was part of a “spirit station” on Oakland Drive at approximately mile 13.6. What fun! It was very awesome cheering as the marathon participants ran past. But I’m ahead of myself. I went to grab some Water Street […]

Through very happy circumstance, I happened to meet Chris Gottwald earlier this year. Chris is a Kalamazoo resident, a professional pilot, a former domestic pro bike racer and, by the way, a competitor in the Race Across America. And he does the latter to raise money for charity. With our Trikat friends, we’ve arranged for […]

Many, many people come in the shop to look around and check things out. Several of those people (you people?) are kind enough to wish us well and ask how things are going.   Despite the crummy weather, things are going better than expected, so we’re a tad overwhelmed right now. This post will communicate […]

WMU has a thing called “Finals Finish.” It’s held in the rec center and is a chance for students to blow off steam during finals week. Pedal was invited to attend this year, and we wanted to try something marginally more exciting and steam-blowing than a table with a bunch of crap on it. After […]

One of our favorite people came in, sat on every 29-er in the store, thought about it for a while, and said, “Gimme that steel 26-inch bike.” So we did, a Dragon Pro.

And one happy day our Photon frame showed up. Wow! We thought long and hard about the build for this bike. I’ve wanted to build a Campy bike for some time, and thought the Photon frame would be the perfect platform. It’s also a great way to show off some nice Easton carbon parts, particularly […]

Many are the days that have passed since I posted a few pics of the Guru Praemio titanium frame we received. Since then we’ve built the bike with a SRAM Red drivetrain, HED Ardennes SL wheels, a Ritchey cockpit and a Thomson seatpost. It’s a very understated, very cool bicycle that weighs just over 16 […]

As mentioned on This Very Blog at some point in the recent past, our Jamis rep abandoned a Xenith Team at Pedal. Though the weather has been cold and/or miserable, I’ve been anxious to ride this thing before he comes back to retrieve it. Probably the most distinctive thing about the Xenith Team is its […]

I was locating the greater trochanter (pointy hip bone) on a customer during a bike fit this week and couldn’t help myself.  “Are you wearing underpants under your bike shorts?” Public Service Announcement:  Don’t do that. You’re just asking for bunching, chafing and other sorts of discomfort that give biking a bad name. Forge that […]

Lovely purple things arrived at Pedal today: Nine saddles! What gives? Well, we have three road bike saddles, three mountain bike saddles and three Versus saddles.  “Versus,” you ask, “What the heck is that?” Frankly, this is about the best answer you’re gonna get:  http://www.pelotonmagazine.com/Tested-Goods/video/9/469/Fizik-Arione-VS-Video-Review A few things that the reviewer mentioned match my thinking […]

The Kalamazoo Gazette was apparently woefully lacking in actual news, so they were forced to print this. Yesterday was Pedal’s grand opening. What fun! It was terrific to see old friends and meet some new folks. Matt, our awesome Jamis rep, showed up with a couple of Jamis Team Di2 bikes and a dual-suspension 650B […]

Late breaking news:  Pedal will have a Grand Opening next Saturday. This has been on the shop calendar for about six weeks, but we’ve never really gotten around to promoting it… until now. If you have a chance, please come by and say hello. We’ll have a band (!) and some food. We’ll give away […]

We received our first display frame from Guru.  It’s a lovely titanium Praemio with a 54 cm top tube.  We’ll shortly build it up with a SRAM Red drivetrain, Easton wheels and a few other nice touches. As something of a titanium aficionado, I’m impressed so far. More words on this subject once we get […]

Even though it was sixteen degrees when I looked at the thermometer this morning, summer hours are now in effect at Pedal. We’re open Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 10 to 6, Wednesday and Friday from 10-7 and Saturday from 10 to 5. Come on down and we’ll talk about the warm days that are […]

We had a customer in the shop the other day who took a look at a few of the bikes on display and said, “Woah!  This must be a place for serious cyclists.” I almost cried. While Pedal is a place for serious cyclists, it is also a place for beginning cyclists, commuters, kids, folks […]

Today was Pedal for Hope. What a marvelous event. Good energy. Very good organization. Fun instructors. And an incredibly worthy cause, the West Michigan Cancer Center. My sincere thanks to TJ for spearheading things and allowing Pedal to participate. Every last one of us has been affected by the awful thing that is cancer. If you […]

A customer came in last night and said, “You need to put some current pictures on your site. I don’t think people know that you actually have stuff.” Stuff? We have stuff. Cool stuff. And now we see how bad I am at this picture upload/format/edit thing. I ask your forbearance in advance.

Pedal is very excited to have signed up with our second bike company this week.  Guru crafts handmade, custom bicycles in Montreal, Canada.  If you’re looking for a very special triathlon/TT, road or cyclocross bike, come talk to us about Guru. For your ogling pleasure, we’ll have examples of Guru’s work in the shop soon, […]

In the event that you, gentle reader, have been having a difficult time getting to sleep, this article should do the trick. For the record, Pedal does not recommend dozing with a hot laptop in your lap. Ever. The first two bikes brought into Pedal for service had chain stretch, and both owners were moderately […]

Pedal received a letter from this guy (the one in the red coat), concerned about the lack of hup on the site.  Sorry.

It has come to my attention that Google and every other map provider has a tough time with the location of the shop. This issue is exacerbated by the fact that — for the moment — we lack signage. Why? In short words, mail hasn’t been delivered to this building since the dawn of the […]

One of the things that I treasure about Pedal is that we ride bikes. We love bikes. We’d love to help you solve your biking conundrum. Such text has been used elsewhere on this site.  Other places in the interworld say “We’re bikers!” and I wonder if that lovely slogan translates to the average dudette […]

I had a chance to ride a couple of competitor bikes when I went to Louisville this fall. Saturday I rode an aluminum 54 Specialized with Zipp 303s and a SRAM Force drivetrain.  My cross bike is a 51 Felt, so I was a bit nervous about riding a 54.  My worries were for naught […]

One of the things you can only learn from the School of Hard Knocks: If you purchase clothing before your shop is open and store said clothing at your home in the room that was once your office, there is some possibility that your dog will get into your stuff and eat the tags off […]

We lucked into a super-nice location, but a bit of construction must be done before we’re ready for operation.  Herewith pictures and, hopefully, signs of progress. Next:  pick the paint.  And the fixtures.  And every other darn thing.