Like presumably each different one who writes about bicycles on the Internets, I lately acquired an e mail a few massive embargoed announcement regarding bicycles and LeBron James, and you’ll think about my shock once I realized that after the NBA he’ll be beginning a UCI professional street group and driving alongside Mathieu van der Poel:
Simply kidding:
LeBron James has lengthy promoted biking, although to my data he has but to partake in a gravel race:
Or personal a motorcycle custom-painted by Joe Bell:
Presumably he prefers to depart his customs unpainted:
It’s in fact a boon to biking when a celebrity athlete and function mannequin like LeBron James professes a love for biking, if solely as a result of it serves as much-needed ballast for the prevailing notion in America that everybody on a motorcycle is a whiny entitled dork, and perhaps motorists will even assume twice earlier than close-passing you on objective. Nonetheless, as a whiny entitled dork, I’d be remiss if I didn’t complain about the truth that it’s Canyon he’s selling. I imply realistically I perceive that if LeBron James goes to become involved in a motorcycle firm it’s going to be a giant one which sponsors professional groups and makes use of cutting-edge supplies and sells gazillions of bikes all around the world, besides I reserve the precise to want he was selling Rivendell as a substitute:
Certainly, for the worth of that video alone he might have funded Rivendell’s low-normal rear derailleur mission to completion and bought a list of sq. taper backside brackets, entrance derailleurs, and long-reach rim brakes that may carry tjhe world’s retrogrouches by way of not less than 2030.
However hey, I suppose if it needs to be Canyon it needs to be Canyon.
Talking of collaborations, since receiving a ticket in 2018 I’ve been recognized informally as “Tan Tenovo:”
It’s because I used to be driving a Renovo Aerowood on the time, which the officer famous on the ticket as a “Tan Tenovo:”
And no, this error was inadequate for me to get the ticket dismissed.
In any case, as a biking blogger of notice (even when that notice is normally “Give it up already”) I’m lengthy overdue to launch my very own line of bicycles, and so I’m happy to lastly announce the official launch of my signature mannequin bike, the TANWPN:
“TAN” is in fact a nod to my post-ticket moniker, and WPN is simply the phrase “Weapon” in gravelese–and a superb gravel bike it’s, too, with disc brakes and the whole lot:
The idea right here is “fashionable basic,” and in designing the bike I took pains to include nods to a few of my favourite iconic bicycles. For instance, I’ve lengthy admired Trek’s Perform Particular Design:
However since I couldn’t simply steal that I went with “New Design Bike” as a substitute:
I’ve additionally been drastically having fun with the LeMond Tete de Course:
By combining titanium and carbon, Trek engineers got here up with what they referred to as “Backbone” expertise and singlehandedly resolved a dilemma that had been taunting dentists for years:
Sadly neither carbon nor titanium was within the funds right here at Tan Tenovo World Headquarters, and so one of the best we might do was make it out of low cost metal and name it the “Spino:”
Additionally, we’re calling it carbon as a result of technically metal does include carbon:
Up to now we’ve despatched it out to some key influencers, and the suggestions has been phenomenal, with riders declaring that it “corners prefer it’s on rails”–not less than if you keep in mind to flip the kickstand up:
We additionally put an amazing quantity of thought and consideration into cockpit curation:
Some individuals wished downtube shifters, others wished bar-ends, and nonetheless others wished built-in shifters. It’s been stated that one of the best compromise is when everyone seems to be dissatisfied, and so in that spirit we went with the 7-speed prime mount set off shifters:
Eat your coronary heart out, LeBron.