Just got back from 5 days in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for Wheel & Sprocket’s annual Spring Bicycle Expo and, once again, Chris Kegel and his crew knocked it out of the park. Great weather made for some huge crowds looking to jump start the bike season. I was there to help out the Wheel & Sprocket recumbent staff that work out of the Hales Corners store. Jeff, Mark A., Jim and Bob are some of the nicest (and knowledgeable) people you’ll ever meet so if you’re in the area make sure you take some time to check out the Hales Corners store… even if it’s just to say hello!

Most bicycle dealers have a passion for the business. I think recumbent bicycle dealers take it up a notch. Then there are few that like to take it up even further by sponsoring a weekly Saturday morning Bread Ride and a couple of very successful organized rides a year. Jim Snider of Ride South, www.ridesouth.com, is one of those dealers.  

The last few years I have had the pleasure of being able to attend the Birthday Challenge Ride on the Longleaf Trace in the Fall. In March, Jim puts on the Ride South Signature Ride. The main portion of the Signature Ride begins on Saturday riding from Ride South in Brandon MS to Hattiesburg MS. Jim starts the weekend off with a gathering at Ride South on Thursday evening to discuss long distance cycling. It is a refresher course for those who are doing the longer rides on Saturday and Sunday but it also provides tips and suggestions for future ultra-riders. Jim covers the basics of good bicycle maintenance to make certain it is not the bicycle that does not allow you to accomplish your goal. Jacquie Hafner, Team Bacchetta Sebring 24 hour record holder (516.4 miles) and I joined in the discussion sharing our experiences with long distance riding.

Jim Snider heading to Hattiesburg on his CA 2.0

Friday evening includes one more meeting of the riders to nail down any last minute details and coordinate the arrival of riders from Hattiesburg to Prentiss where all riders meet up for a lunch stop and then ride the Long Leaf Trace back to Hattiesburg for the wine and cheese party ending with dinner at a nearby restaurant.

The ride travels fairly light traffic roads and picks up the Long Leaf Trace in Prentiss MS. The 119 mile ride has a few bumps but that makes a nice change from riding around the west coast of Florida. After a relaxing Saturday evening at the Holiday Inn with some wine, beer and cheese some of the crew chose to ride back to Brandon the next morning on a more easterly route that does manage to gain almost 300 feet more for the ten mile less long course.

Ride South is a full service bicycle shop that sells all types of bicycles. It is evident though that in Jim’s preferred choice of ride is recumbent and his Bacchetta CA 2.0 is nicely decked out with some personal touches. Over half of the bikes ridden were Bacchetta’s!

We all know these events cannot happen unless someone like Jim has support. Behind every good man is a great woman, Lane, Jim’s wife.  The fan club of ” legendary Jim Snider” (as the reporter said who was interviewing Jim in Prentiss), Beth and Captain Johnny Rawls, Liz, Louis, Chad and the two Mississippi motorcycle Highway Patrolmen made for a great weekend.

Doug Mrogan taking a break after drafting Jacquie Hafner for the last 30 miles.

If you get the chance or need an excuse to go do some great riding head to Ride South, a dealer with a passion.

I would like to thank Jim and Ride South for his continue support of Bacchetta Bicycles and being a sponsor for our Team Bacchetta RAAM riding for Kids with Arthritis efforts in June, www.TeamBacchettaRAAM.com

Returning to Brandon Sunday morning.

John Schlitter

A recent phone call from a customer prompted me to do a quick search of our BLOG archives for the original article Mike posted about our redesigned seat clamp. Turns out that was over 3 years ago but it seems there are still some folks out there that are not aware of that fact. Anyway, here’s what you need to know. The new seat clamp design separates the seat mounting and clamp tensioning functions. It uses one set of bolts to tension the clamp, making the initial set up extremely easy, and a second set of bolts that hold the seat, which allows you to install or remove the seat in a snap without messing with the clamp tension. This means you’ll never loose your seat position if you take your seat off. The other good news, this clamp will work on any Bacchetta model that uses the old style clamp. And at $30 USD it’s a great low cost upgrade that makes traveling with your bike a whole lot easier. The new seat clamps are available at the Bacchetta store:

shop.bacchettabikes.com/parts/steering/riser-clamp.html

First, and foremost, we’d like everyone to know that April 1st, 2012 (no joke) will mark the 10th year that Bacchetta has been in business. So we’d like to take this opportunity to thank all our customers for making our first decade a very successful one. We would also like to give a special shout out to all of our early supporters that took a chance on a new company and kept us going in the early years when success was not a given.

While the arrival of the 2012 bikes is still a few months away there are some things we want to share with everyone now. To help mark our 10th anniversary we’re planning to offer some limited edition colors that pay homage to our company’s beginnings; as well as some of the bikes that we loved growing up. For those of you not familiar with the original Bacchetta bike colors, they were BP Green (Giro-20), Bugatti Blue (Giro-26), Cannibal Orange (Strada) and Natural Ti (Aero). By using a bit of creative license with the original colors, and a brand new decal scheme, we’re hoping to evoke those early Bacchetta bikes while bringing something new to the table at the same time.

Continue reading →

Pamela Dallas's Bella ATT- Lux Edition

Pamela called me one day with a challenge.  She wanted a Bella ATT but with a few specialty items.  Generally, Bacchetta is a “simpler is better” company, but you reach a point where you’ve got to try new things.  Remember I said that.

When things went further than I could handle, I handed over the challenge to Mark at Power On Cycling.  The result is what you see above and for me, is what’s possible with this bike.  And I have to say that she was also very patient as I was often slow in responding- she’s a real champ.  So, here’s to Pamela for looking outside the box and maybe opening a few eyes along the way!

Large frame Bella ATT, purchased from Power On Cycling, Newport, Tennessee

-Custom 26″ rear wheel with SRAM Dual Drive, 12-36 cassette, built by Power On Cycling

-Standard Bella crankset

-Power Grips pedals

-Bacchetta Universal Rear Rack

-Terra Cycle Underseat Rack

-Jandd duffle bag on rear rack

-Jandd Commuter panniers on under seat rack

-Mountain Mirrycle bar-end mirrors on both left and right

-Topeak Panoram V12 Wide Screen computer, wired version, mounted on top tube

-Pletscher double leg kickstand.

This adventure started back over ten years ago. There was a ride in the Flint Hills of southeast Kansas called the Death Ride. It would cover 60 to 75 miles of the Flint Hills gravel/dirt roads in August. Thus the name Death Ride because the heat would be around hundred degrees, I rode the Death ride twice on recumbent bicycles. The second ride was on the DRS (Death Ride Special) A dual 26” wheel Bacchetta proto-type of a bike we had not even released yet or launched the Bacchetta Bicycle Company. The ride went great except for the front tire sliced like paper during the finishing miles. Continue reading →

Just wanted to give a quick shout out to Peter Mulvey, singer, songwriter and Giro-20 owner. Peter was in St. Petersburg this past weekend for a couple of shows (at the Hideaway Café and Skippers Smoke House) and we had chance to both ride with him and see him perform. It was really a great weekend all the way around and we would like to encourage everyone to support one of our own if you can. Please take the time to check out Peter’s schedule and go see him if at all possible. I can guarantee you that it will be worth the price of admission!

Here is a great article from RTC about Peter touring on his bike!

Just wanted to let everyone know that there are some great ride reports from Bacchetta Team riders posted at Ultra Race News for this years Heart of the South.

ultraracenews.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/heart-of-the-south-500200-stories/

Jacquie and Sarakay

Charles on his Corsa: Only a Bacchetta, rides like a Bacchetta!

I have always been a casual bike rider, but in the last five years or so I have used bicycling as a way to keep my weight under control and break the monotony of running.  Inexpensive mountain bikes were my initial choice and I enjoyed trail riding combined with bike paths.  I started increasing my distances and riding the roads a little, but noticed occasional numbness in the groin on longer rides and pains in the back and wrist (which I broke a long time ago).    

My first club ride was done on a $300 dollar mountain bike and everyone else had expensive bikes and gear.  I was the only guy with a kick stand, disk brakes, and 2 inch+ tires. One guy passed me and said “I can hear your tires.”  On this particular ride I saw my first two recumbent bikes.   One was a low racer of some type and the other was a Bacchetta Giro.  Maybe I have been living under a rock but I really don’t remember seeing any recumbent before, but I was definitely interested.   

I bought a used Sun EZ-Speedster AX and really enjoyed it for awhile, but soon the modifications for speed began.  I enjoyed the conversations and looks from others for awhile, but that isn’t what kept me going.  I found myself trying to convert my Speedster into a Bacchetta Corsa and actually did a pretty good job of it but I couldn’t overcome certain design issues.  Five months later I was riding a Bacchetta Corsa and lovin’ it! 

 My friends think it looks pretty wild and are often surprised about how easy it is to ride after the initial few seconds of adjustment. 

Charles D. Morrison

Mark Swanson sent this over earlier today and asked me to post it. So here it is!

Dave, my neighbor, is riding his Bacchetta Giro-26 from Florida to California. He left on Wednesday (3/9) with his wife, Bonnie, driving a support van. Dave is 61 and he has overcome two knee transplant(s) and other “wear-and-tear”. He’s been training on his bike for the past year. Bonnie also rides a Bacchetta.

An interesting note… a few years ago, Dave’s bike was stolen from outside his office (he rides to/from work). Several months later, the guy who stole the bike was trying to sell it to a pawn shop where he learned that the bike belonged to a Christian minister (Dave had been around to all the pawn shops to ask them to watch for the orange recumbent). When the thief found out he had stolen the bike from a minister, he freaked out, contacted Dave and returned the bike!

Here’s Dave’s facebook page if you want to follow along. www.facebook.com/pages/Clipped-In/185391171500488