When we took stock of the new PBK TITANIUM frame, we knew we had found a lightweight racing bike that would offer awesome handling and value for money. We then sent a full build to the good people at Cycling Plus magazine for their bike of the year review and this is what they had to say about it.

PBK’s TITANIUM BIKE is supplied by the online retailer ProBikeKit as a frameset with Ritchey WCS full carbon fork, or as a frame only. The frameset costs £1000 (or with present discount £900) with the frame only coming in at £799 (£719 with a discount). Ours was supplied by PBK with kit that it supplies, based around SRAM’s second string Force groupset and Fulcrum’s excellent Racing 3 wheels.

At just 7.64kg the PBK was one of the lightest bikes on test. Everybody agreed that it was nicely finished too, with just a minimal touch of PBK branding on an otherwise naked titanium frame. In spite of titanium’s reputation for offering comfort over performance, all our testers felt that the PBK was more a machine for the competitive rider rather than the casual cyclist. “Strictly for racing, very fast, very stiff out of the blocks, with an aggressive position and nippy handling,” said resident racer Jeff Jones.

Other racers in the test team also appreciated the stiff, racy frame and the excellent Ritchey fork. Specced with Fulcrum Racing 3 wheels, the PBK was described by one tester as a “very raceable bike, one that induces pedal-mashing excitement”. Of our team of testers only our workshop manager George Ramelkamp – generally a fan of all things titanium – was less than totally impressed by this bike, having issues with heel clearance on the rear triangle.

The 27.2mm seatpost helps to take the sting out of road buzz, but even this bike’s fans reckoned that the ride is on the firm side, Jeff suggesting that it wouldn’t look after you on a long ride. Overall this is a good looking bike that shows titanium still has a place as a racing bike. The weight is comparable with carbon fibre and the ride is just as fast, but titanium has the advantage of longevity too. Theoretically and barring a catastrophic crash, a titanium frame should last you indefinitely.

(Cycling Plus Bike Of The Year Review – April 2010)

Good value and very racy Titanium frame

Take advantage of our 15% cash back offer on this frame.

With the bad weather we’ve had lately in the UK, winter training rides have been more a battle of survival than getting those steady miles in the bank.

I’ve never really suffered from cold toes and hands whilst riding, but often get a chill when descending or the first 15 minutes when starting out early in the morning. The key to winter clothing is of course layering. As good as the proper winter jackets are nowadays you still need a base-layer and a mid-layer to remain comfortable over long rides. When one of these ProZeroExtreme layers was put on my desk I quickly ‘borrowed’ it and as I was already familiar with the fabric from other garments – it seemed like the ideal winter base layer.

I’ll keep it brief, but Craft originally started producing underwear for Swedish Air Force pilots. The unique fabric wicked moisture away from the body keeping them comfortable, especially when ejecting! Cross-country skiing was the next foray and this is where you’ll most often see the Craft 3-dot logo:

The distinctive Craft logo

This is how the good people at Craft describe the fabric:

First impressions are very good, this PZE fabric manages to feel as soft as cotton while being packed with technology. It’s also cut nicely, long enough to cover your kidneys fully and the fit is ideal for sitting comfortably underneath upper layers.

Out riding it really makes a difference and I haven’t shivered while descending since! Also early morning blasts aren’t uncomfortable either, once warmed up you seem to stay there throughout the ride without too much zipper adjusting. It leaves you more time to concentrate on the ice and keeping both wheels travelling in the same direction. The coolmax FX is odour-proof  (although I’m sure it has limits) which if you’re busy commuting and training on a regular basis is a great benefit.

Craft PZE base-layer

PZE Base Layer

Good points:

• High collar to keep drafts out.
• Looks very cool.
• Cut long in the body for good coverage without being baggy.
• Fabric stretches and returns to its original shape again and again.
• Yellow contrast logos and stitching on one side.
• Soft feel fabric and ‘body hugging’ fit make it comfy underneath winter layers.
• Odour-proof fabric.
• Seems to work well down to at least 1/2^°c and overheating when the sun does shine hasn’t happened yet.
• Would also suit runners, skiers and any other outdoor activities where you need a technical base layer.

Down-sides:

• I only have one!!

Grab yourself one by clicking here

It is fair to say that Team SKY has brought a level of professionalism and corporate efficiency to the sport of ProTeam cycling that is akin to that previously found only in the realms of Formula1 racing. Their whole ethos and drive is one based around meticulous planning and attention to detail that has not only highlighted and focused the Team’s vision, but also the weaknesses and frailties found within the competitors organisational structures.

The real substance to this multi million pound marketing dream however, is that they have shrewdly assembled a portfolio of personalities, abilities and ambitions that collectively have the makings of a globally competitive cycling team. Team boss Dave Brailsford has the pedigree, ambition and experience to make this work and in his philosophy of the “…aggregation of marginal gains” he has found the basis from which Team SKY can collectively advance to their ultimate goal. Securing the services of Bradley Wiggins at the end of 2009 was the icing on the cake for Team SKY, but the real statement of intent came from a squad selection that includes Edvald Boasson Hagen, Geraint Thomas and Simon Gerrans who all bring massive capabilities in their individual areas of expertise.

The Riders

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With a support crew (Scott Sunderland in particular) that is just as well put together as the riding team, many felt that they would create a stir right from the off! They weren’t to be disappointed either, with a brilliant debut at the Tour Down Under. Henderson’s 3rd overall showed that the team had arrived in style and the Tour of Oman showcased the awesome talent of Edvald Boasson Hagen, with his two stage wins and a 2nd place overall.

No-one is naïve enough to expect that Team SKY will win everything in 2010, but one thing is for certain, a new megateam has been born that will have everyone rethinking their programmes.

The best known secret in cycling? Well quite possibly. I would imagine that not many of you have heard of Cyfac before, but most will probably have seen their bikes in action even if you did not realise……….still confused?

Nestled away in France’s Loire Valley, Francis Quillon founded Cyfac after he started building bikes in 1982 for various shops with their own branding attached to his creations. In 1987 Francis was asked by the professional team Super U to produce their frames for its riders. Famous competitors such as Cyril Guimard, Laurent Fignon, Charly Mottet and Marc Madiot all rode Cyfac frames to victory. Little known of course, as the frames had Raleigh stickers on them to mask the true source of their origin.

Over 20 years later Cyfac have made frames for teams  like Ti-Raleigh, Super-U, Castorama, Festina and Cofidis with no recognition being passed down to the creator. With countless stage victories in the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, Vuelta a Espana and the Paris-Roubaix to name just a few, Cyfac supplied nearly a third of the European peloton by 2002 either re-badged or under their own name according to Aymeric Le Brun, current co-owner of Cyfac.

Technologically advanced and dependable, each frame is built to withstand the demands of hard grit European racing and training. Across the rugged pavé of northern France the sinuous descents of the Italian coast and the fierce crosswinds of the Spanish plain, every Cyfac is built with the rider in mind and no compromise made for delivering the ultimate bicycle for what ever the user has in store for it.

At the forefront of many innovations, Cyfac was:

•the first frame builder to TIG-weld aluminium.
•the first builder to provide lightweight alloy frames to Tour riders.
•the first European frame builder to make custom TI frames.
•the world’s only builder of the custom monocoque alloy super bike frame (banned by the UCI 6 month’s later for its aero advantage).
•the builder of the first fully-custom carbon frameset (completely lug-less).

These are just a few of the reasons why we have teamed up in 2010 with Cyfac and chosen them to make the frames for our PBK team. We are proud to have a company with such a pedigree making our team frames for this season and are looking forward to a year ahead full of great success.

Below are two videos where you get to see the creation of a Cyfac frame, from the carbon process to the painting. The masking procedure they go under is quite amazing, such meticulous attention to detail! If the music is not quite to your taste you can mute it as there is no commentary in the videos, just a few session musicians doing what they do best, mmmmmmmmmm nice!

Check out the Cyfac range at ProBikeKit.com

Earlier this month, João Correia a 34 year-old cyclist and ex-business man put on the Cervélo TestTeam kit and started in his first professional race in Europe; the ‘Etoile de Besseges’. He managed a very respectable 94^th over the 5 stage race in pretty tough conditions, not bad at all for a guy who just a few months ago was running a sales meeting in New York City!!

João Correia describes his journey.

When I started my job as Bicycling’s associate publisher in 2004, I had already spent years selling Italian fashion accounts for the men’s magazine Esquire. As a kid, I had qualified for the junior world championships and I had raced in Europe into my twenties. Now, I was getting dropped on the lunch ride, I looked like somebody’s idea of a prank with my 205 pounds. In 2006, I set myself the audacious goal of competing in the time-trial national championship of my native country, Portugal, without being embarrassed. I finished twelfth in the TT in 2007. I kept riding — though now I thought of it as training — and the next year I was offered a chance to join the domestic American race team Bissell Pro Cycling. Late last year, the founder of the Cervelo team, Gerard Vroomen, asked me if I wanted to ride for him.

So 14 years after I stopped racing, and 60 pounds lighter than my peak weight, I find myself on the same team as Carlos Sastre, Thor Hushovd and Heinrich Haussler. I can’t adequately explain how odd it is to up-end your life the way I have, or how it feels to take the risk of leaving the solid career I’d built for the uncertain life of being a neo-pro at an age when many around me are considering retirement.

Today is the day, the first race of the season on my calendar, Etoile de Besseges. Let’s see how this season goes. As you can see I have a pretty good schedule and I’m looking forward to do these races — but for now I’m just going to enjoy the crazy ride.

“When you achieve your life’s dream, your life feels like a dream. You keep waiting

to wake up.”

We’ll be following his progress throughout the year, and this is his race calendar:

February 3-7 Etoile de Besseges – 94^th

February 28 Clasica de Almeria

March 3-7 Vuelta a Murcia

March 22-28 Volta a Catalunya

April 3 Hel van Het Mergelland

April 5 Rund um Koln

April 8 GP Pino Cerami

April 14-18 Vuelta a Castilla y Leon

April 27-May 2 Tour de Romandie

May 16-23 Tour of California

June 6-13 Dauphine Libere

June 27 National Championships

If this doesn’t provide inspiration for all you potential pro’s out there, then nothing will!

Keep an eye out on our blog for more information on how his season unfolds.

While many of us are whiling the hours away on a turbo, some are racing the cross season. One of the busiest Probikekit riders has been Josh Hand who has just finished his season in spectacular style – both in terms of position and bike trashing prowess.

Josh Hand and his mud machines

The SRAM sponsored Notts and Derby Cyclo Cross League has kept Josh busy since the beginning of September. The U-16 rider had his first race at Allestree Park near Derby and he’s kept a good diary of his races throughout the year.

The reports of his two best races at the end of the season follow. I’m sure we all agree that Josh is a great young talent and one to watch for the future!

20^th February – Thornbridge Hall, Bakewell

This was the last race of the Notts and Derby season, so I knew it was my last chance to get some good points on the board. I did what I like doing during this race which was to find a wheel to sit on and then try and leapfrog between riders in the parts of the course I was strongest in. This worked well for me, and I got my best finish of the season, 25^th Overall and 1^st Junior. I was over the moon with this ride, especially after the run of bad luck I had been having previously.

21^st February – Thornbridge Hall, Bakewell – BSCA Schools National Championships

This was my last cross race of the season, and I was determined to get the win to make me Over 16 Champion. The snow overnight had made the course really bad, but still it was a good race. The Over 16 race was put in with the Senior race, so it gave me more people to race against. I started well leading the whole field for the first lap, then slipping into 2^nd for the majority of the race. But then my bad luck came back, I got a stick caught in my rear mech and chain, ripping off the mech hanger and making a mess of the bike. This meant I had to run for a small amount of time, pushing me down into 4^th overall in the whole race. This is where I finished, but I was also 1^st Junior so got the win I had wanted.

1st in the race, 2nd Junior for 2010

The perils of racing

Now onto a tough early season training regime and hopefully less mud and mechanicals for the 2010 road season! Well done from everyone at PBK, given Josh’s form at the minute, it’s sure to be a good one.

It’s one of the most hotly contested debates around cycling at the moment: to ride with or without music. You’re all grown up enough to make up your own mind on the matter and as there are still some of you out there who don’t wear a helmet, we’ll always have differences of opinion where cycling safety and personal choice is concerned.

The fact of the matter is that people do ride with music and most seem sensible enough to know when it is and isn’t suitable. As there still isn’t legislation in the UK to make the wearing of helmets a legal obligation, it would appear that banning the use of music whilst riding is a long way off.

We all must have benefited from our ipods whilst on the gruelling turbo sessions and few could surely argue that training becomes less of a chore if we have our favourite tunes to keep us motivated?

One problem that can be brutally painful however is when you have your ipod on shuffle and just as you’re reaching the end of your savage sprint session, Rage Against The Machine suddenly merges with that Maria Carey track you somehow downloaded after too many glasses of red! Ouch!

So, as we all love a good tune, I wanted to get a feel for the sorts of music that we are listening to, either whilst riding, on the trainer or as part of your pre-race motivation.

Once we get your favourite tracks, we’ll create a ‘ProBikeKit play list’ for you, a soundtrack to your cycling to have a look at it and who knows, you might just see something you like!

So get thinking and let’s create a play list that even Simon Cowell couldn’t argue with….

Post your tracks in the comments below.

Colnago CLX2.0:

When anything new and shiny arrives here at PBK, there are always plenty of willing volunteers to assist in its integration into the building, (stare, hold, stroke, drool…etc) and the Colnago CLX 2.0 was certainly no exception. What is also very reassuring is when other knowledgeable folks react in the same way and we were delighted to see that the good people at Cycling Weekly reviewed the Colnago CLX 2.0 and gave it the thumbs up!

With the frame only PBK price of £1699, there is plenty left in the bank for giving it a dream make over and the Italian finery that it deserves.

Cycling Weekly’s  Stu Bowers tested the Colnago and stated its positives were that it was a “well priced bike that rides and handles superbly and is stable on the descents and turns.” He saw a possible downside though; that it was a touch heavier than the competition. Maybe he’d just eaten lunch!?

They gave a it a solid 9 out of 10!

The CLX 2.0 is its latest addition, sitting third wheel behind the EPS and CX-1.0. Its entirely new monocoque front end hankers after the usual performance gains – more stiffness, less weight – while Colnago’s tried and tested ‘leaf-shaped’ chainstays are paired with new curved seatstays to balance drive and comfort.

The result is a resounding success, providing you are singing off Colnago’s hymn sheet. That’s to say, it rides and handles superbly, but even though the frame is 100g lighter than its predecessor, the bike is still carrying a bit more weight than many in this price bracket. It’s just the Colnago way.

Thankfully, it’s only a tiny handicap to an otherwise very classy bike, feeling a little sluggish on the climbs, but then it does pay you back by feeling very stable on descents and fast turns.

Verdict

The CLX 2.0 puts Colnago in the mix with the mass market brands, at a very popular price point.

You’ll find Racing 7′s on many a winter bike and indeed many competition level race bikes.

The reason? They are affordable, well built, reasonably light-weight and look great.

They claim to offer ‘all the quality of Fulcrum at a nice price’. We first saw the 2010 model at Eurobike in September 2009 and they’ve not changed much. They feature new graphics and are available with black or anodised red hubs – a touch of bling for the masses.

Red Hub

A Racing 7 Front Hub

Rear Racing 7

The nearest comparable wheel is the popular Mavic Aksium. Weights are quoted from both manufacturer, but at this level and on a winter bike it’s not the biggest of deals. More important is the 24mm rim depth. It’s semi-aero which makes it great on almost any terrain, you’ll benefit slightly on the flats and then the lack of weight associated with a deeper rim will keep you climbing strong.

The spokes are radially laced at the front and the rear uses Fulcrum’s 2:1 drive-side pattern which is said to take up the slack/lack of tension when different sides of the rim are pulled on. Out on the road it definitely holds up well and thanks to this system, spoke tensions are balanced more evenly between drive and non-drive sides. The fatigue life of the rim, hub and spokes are lengthened. The spokes are elbowed and found easily enough in most bike shops if you do happen to snap any.

The hubs have sealed bearings which will make the spring overhaul nice and easy, they are over sized, aluminium and seem tough enough – we haven’t had many warranty issues with these wheels at all.

Red Hub

So if you’re in the market for some high quality wheels without a Pro’s budget, give these a go. With our extra 10% off at the minute they really offer a great value for money wheelset. Click here to view them on Probikekit.com

As we all know cycling’s the greatest sport in the world! No two ways about it. Due to this fact (yes, it is a fact) it can draw huge crowds to the sport. One of the perks of following a sport that is rich in history and still sticks to a few ways of old is that it’s one of the few remaining sports that lets you get up close and personal with the big stars of the sport rubbing shoulders with your heroes. This is a world away from the likes of football (that’s soccer if you’re reading this in the states), basketball or any other major sport that’s been swallowed up by the glitz and glamour of big buck cash investment.

If you’ve ever been to any of the start or finish towns of the major or minor races across the globe, from the early season starters such as The Tour Down Under or the spring classics, right through to the races that tie the season up such as Lombardy, you’ll know that it’s a hub of activity. With team trucks, cars and buses turning the town in to a cycling carnival.  Here it’s possible to wander up to your favourite professionals and have a quick chat , get your picture taken and get that signature you’re after.

As we know cycling attracts not just your everyday folk. Look at Lance Armstrong with his bevy of superstar fans , Ben Stiller and Robin Williams being just two of them. We’ve even seen stars such as Arnold Schwarzenegger over the years presenting winners of the tour with the leader’s jersey.

So we are throwing the gauntlet down. WE WANT YOUR PICTURES! You with your heroes, famous faces and super stars that you’ve managed to capture. Have you managed to get a snap with Boonen and yourself hanging out at the start of a race, had a cuddle off Cadel, bumped in to Ivan Basso outside a record shop, helped Robin Williams with sorting out a puncture or even bumped into a Star Wars Storm Trooper in a botanical garden……Three out of the five have actually happened to me, go on I challenge you to guess!! Come on, we want to see our customers mug shots, you with your heroes. The bigger the star or the odder the location the better.

Use the Upload Box under the gallery to add your image. Please note, the image will not appear instantly.