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Superweek Photos

Shorewood Crit Superweek 2009

I made it to 5 of the Superweek bike races in and around Milwaukee over the last couple of weeks. Lots of great racing, super people to hang with and some decent photos from a couple of the races. Here are pix from the Shorewood Criterium and the Brewer’s Hill Crit Superweek Races. I’d planned to photo the others as well but, for various reasons, did not have the good camera rig at some of the events. There is always next year!

Just before the Downer Ave race we were treated to a performance by the Air Force Demonstration Team Thunderbirds. Show center was just a bit east and south of the Downer Ave race circuit and made the day a good one-two punch for entertainment. Milwaukee in the summer is fantastic!

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Schlick Cycles Smitty Prototype #1

The first prototype of the Smitty was assembled in about an hour and a half with parts we had close at hand in the shop and, while we had a general plan, the end result exceeded our expectations and left us with a very cool ride and time to get to the Brewer’s Hill Superweek Race!

Schlick Smitty

We started with a hand-built frame from Tom Teesdale, coupled that with a Salsa Fargo fork and added a sweet custom paint job in metallic copper.

We added a Cane Creek S2 Ahead Set, Easton EA70 stem and Titec H-Bar handlebars for the control center.

The Ritchey saddle sits atop a great 27.2 Sasla Shaft™ seatpost.

A black Sugino crank with a 42-tooth chainring handles the front end of the chain loop while the rear hub, an 8-speed Shimano Nexus hub with a Coaster Brake (Yup, a coaster brake!), handles the rear. A Shimano Micro-shift twist shifter connects us to the hub. The front hub is a Shimano Generator unit to power the headlight.

The rims are Salsa Delgado™ 22.5mm hoops built with Wheelsmith spokes and wearing HUGE Schwalbe Big Apple 2.35 tires.

All the parts really work well together and the bike is a blast to ride. If you are looking for an All-City, commuter ride the Smitty is a great choice.

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Schlick Cycles at the Brewer’s Hill Superweek Race

Schlick Cycles Performance Testing

John and I finished assembling a prototype Smitty just in time to run down to the Brewer’s Hill Superweek bike race near downtown Milwaukee where we watched some great Pro 1/2 criterium racing and engaged in some impromptu product testing with John and Spokes Model Dave goofing around on the Shark and a Smitty in the parking lot adjacent to the racing action.

Schlick Cycles Performance Testing

On our trip from the shop to and from the race I rode the Smitty that is currently set up with Salsa Delgado 29’er wheels, a Shimano Nexus 8-speed rear hub with a coaster brake, a Shimano Generator front hub and super big, 2.35 Schwalbe Big Apple tires. Ultra Cush! In just the short amount of time I had on the bike, about 8 miles, I am already really stoked about how it rides. I knew we had a pretty good design but seeing and feeling the reality of the ride was great.

John rode one of the oldest of our current Shark fleet, the Chip Foose-inspired Interbike show bike from a couple of years ago. This Shark looks great with its two-tone paint and always gets a lot of looks and questions about the bike.

Schlick Cycles Performance Testing

Dave gave the Shark John rode a series of disc brake tests showing that nose wheeling the Shark is one of the coolest sites I’ve seen in cycling recently! It also showed the strength and durability of the design. Product testing in the real world like this is why Dave gets the big bucks!

This year was the revival of the Brewer’s Hill venue for a Super week race and the actual racing action did not disappoint. The course is only about .8 miles but there is a significant hill going up the front straight and down the back. Not a flat course crit this!

Besides the photos in this article check out more pix of the Schlick Shark and the Smitty at Flicker. There are also pix from the Shorewood Criterium and the Brewer’s Hill Crit Superweek Races.

Look for us next weekend at the Great Downer Avenue Bike Race and the Whitefish Bay Criterium!

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My Teesdale MTB Sees the Light of Day

I’ve had this beautiful TET frame for several years and even had most of the parts I needed to get it assembled but just never got to it. Well, with our plans to offer a Classic Teesdale Mountain Bike I figured I’d better get this one rideable for testing purposes.

Greg's Teesdale Urban MTB

Since I already have a Bontraeger that is set up pretty well for the single track I decided to set up the Teesdale as an urban assault bike / commuter rig for the time being. This is partly due to the fact that I have a sweet Teesdale fork that I had made at the same time and don’t really want to shell out the $$$ for another suspension fork. Besides, light weight is great! When I get my fitness back some I think I’ll want a rigid fork trail ride anyway. I like the precision of a rigid fork and, coupled with a nice fat front tire, the weight savings is a great bonus.

This TET frame was made with Columbus Nemo tubing while our new Classic line will use a sweet True Temper spec but the geometry is very close to what we are using on the Classic. BTW, the first 3 Classics will be available about mid-August!

This particular frame was built before disc brakes became all the rage so I used a Shimano BMX rear V-brake and paired that up with a set of old school Paul Component Engineering Stoplights that I had in the parts bin. Both ends are well balanced and remind me of how good a well set up canti or V-brake can be. Comes with a weight savings too. Nice.

Greg's Teesdale Urban MTB

The drivetrain is using Shimano XTR derailleurs from about 1997. They were new so you know they rock. Sachs twist shifters, a Profile crank, RaceFace BB and Vuelta chainrings round out the drivetrain.

A Dean ti seat post from an old race rig and, of course, a Flite saddle keep my butt off the rear tire.

Greg's Teesdale Urban MTB

I am still messing around with the stem. Right now it is a Profile BOA 120mm/20d rise but I think I may stretch it out a bit. Gotta wait for the stomach muscles to get stronger though! The handle bar is a Ritchey rise bar.

I also haven’t settled on a wheel set yet. Currently it is Sun CR-18s with XT hubs but I have a set of Cane Creek Aeroheat wheels that will probably get the final call. One thing I am pretty set on is the tire choice. As long as this is going to remain pavement-focused I am going to stick with the IRC Metro Duros in the 1.5 size. At 80PSI they roll well and still absorb some shock.

I only have about 60 or 70 miles on it but so far all the parts are playing nicely together and I am super happy with the ride. More as it comes.