TGIF

A little late on posting this pic but here ya go; the Beaver Boys and their first place trophy for the Midwest Polo Championship. Dang, they look stinky. Congrats again!

In Bike Polo related news...

New MKE Black Pologuard!

w/black XD cranks

w/Silver XD cranks

That's some good looking stuff. Well, it's an amazing Friday and the weather seems like it'll continue through the holiday weekend. I'm off to ride to Madison tomorrow and psyched outta my mind to get another century under my belt. Hope ya'll have a great long weekend!

Mmmmm, some fuel. If you haven't had those Pro Bars, you gotta give them a try!

Earl

Field Test & Review: Mission Workshop Vandel Bag

For the past week and a half i've been putting Mission Workshop's Vandle backpack through the ringer. First impression was, WOW. They've built an extremely versatile high quality bag USA Made bag. From beer store runs to weekend trips this bag does it all! I'm extremely particular about my gear so this bag wasn't going to just fall on my shoulders without passing my rigorous testing. I would like to mention, this is a complete and unbiased test/review with years of knowledge and experience in the industry. In other words, I know crap when I see it.

• Super spacious. I've found my bag! Something that can compact down well when not hauling a ton of crap, yet fitting a 30pk and having room for more is what I was looking for. Not concerning myself with restrictions on the amounts of things I can haul makes for stress free commuting and riding. With 1 main compartment and 3 others I've taken this bag to the grocery store, beer store, Polo tournament, work and still have yet to see it fall short in a bag that meets my needs. See detailed photos of the pockets here.

• High quality materials. The folks at Mission Workshop definitely choice some of highest quality materials to build their bags with. Ever experience your buckle strap wiggle loose when carrying a big load? These techy compression buckles will NOT do that. The type of buckle they use has a push release in order to give slack too the buckle, which makes for a VERY secure system. It's so strong I couldn't break the compression strap loose without pushing the release.
  

• Comfort and Usability. I gotta say the internal carbon frame makes this bag extremely comfortable at ANY load. I ran the waist strap when I traveled to MPLS this past weekend and found it quite helpful when I had an uneven load of helmet, knee/shin guards, mallets and more. I discovered outward expansion of the bag does not throw of your balance if haulin' a heavy load, contrary to some belief. I never ONCE felt my arms go to sleep due to improper fit. The shoulder straps are perfect and didn't put any uneven pressure on my shoulders, unlike the other guys. Most any shoulder accessory will easily adapt to the shoulder straps, as I transferred my holster from a previous bag with no problem. Don't be discouraged when you can't find a pen holder, because there is! On the outside near the lower main buckle there is a flap where clip style pens can reside.

• Overall this bag kills it! The versatility and the attention to detail that went into making this bag sets a new benchmark for these kinds of products. USA Made and Lifetime Warranty are key ingredients for gear I purchase, and this one has it.

It won't be long until we have these in stock! I'm sure of it.

-Matt Hewitt

Towers of Profile

Oh dang, that's a whole heck of alotta Profile! Many hubs and cranks back in stock. New 39t Polished chainring and White 165mm cranks. Happy shopping!

Earl

Sale Sale Sale!

We have Ribmo 700x28c, 32c, and 35c wire bead tires on sale! CKC Road Double Medium, Road Double Large, Mountain Double Med, and Mountain Double Large Chrome cages on sweet deals as well!

Get 'em quick, it's only for a limited time.

Earl

Burn It Up

Consuming not only the right amount of food but also the right types of food when doing an epic bike ride is key to not bonking. Here at Ben's, we love our wide selection of Clif and Pro-Bar blocks and bars, just to name a few. Eating simple carbos that burn fast works well, like PBJ sandwiches also fruits like bananas do the trick. I've found (again, this is me) having something a little salty switches up the flavors from all the sugars consumed on those long rides. My taste buds thank me.

Photo by Men's Health

I stumbled upon this article via TWBE on drinks you probably shouldn't consume not only during rides, but in general. It's an interesting juxtaposition between some drinks and those 'guilty' treats out there. The numbers are astounding!

Earl

Polo Ninjas

Photo By 3-16

Got to give it up to our boy fellow Ben's employee and Polo slayer Erik Kremin and his teammates Brian Dillman and Joe Burge for winning the Midwest Bike Polo Championship! Beers will be had in celebration.

Earl

HAPPY MONDAY!

Well, not really. It's hard when it's 70 deg and sunny out. I just wanna be on my bike. Anyways, we got our first shipment of Burro products in! Swoop the new premium straps here. Small and Medium hip pouches available here.

Oh sweet summer has arrived!

Earl

Antonyo

So I post a lot about Antonyo. Not only is he a sick rider, he's hands down a solid awesome dude and we are excited to have him ride for us! Here's a little profile thingy from our friends at Burro. Keep on keepin' on!

Earl

In the Works...

Well well, looks like Matt has a new toy to test out during his stay in Minneapolis this weekend for MWBPC. On the left is made by a local bag maker and rider for Breakaway. Matt has had that bag for years! The bag on the right is a new Mission Workshop Vandal. The dog is, well, Emma, one of our shop dogs. So he'll have a much detailed review on his new Mission Workshop bag soon enough. We'll be carrying some in the near future, so keep an eye out for them.

Also, some Burro Bag products on their way...

Earl

32 Flavors

Some frames came back from our painter today and I'd have to say that people are choosing some sweet colors for their frames. I really want some candy right now. Even though we offer Bruisers pre-painted , remember we still offer up the custom option!

Also, if you call and bug Steve about when you are getting your frame, you'll be put at the end of the line. Ha! So be wary.

Earl

Anotnyo with WRAHW

I caught Antonyo dropping some lines on my way home one evening. I witnessed the 34 sec mark in this vid. Pretty smooth Antonyo! Btw, laser pointers can take someone's eye out.

WRAHW Welcomes Antonyo Wothe from Torey Thornton on Vimeo.

Earl

Ben's Cycle - Shop Bikes

More Ellis bikes! This one is Carl's cross bike. A pretty hot specimen if I don't mind sayin'. Built up for the road at the moment. Old-school 1" steerer and bar-ends. Don't have much to say about this, let the lug work speak for itself (drool)...

Rack mounts inside stays

The Blackberry does the trick for posting photos. But please, someone buy me this!

Earl

DK EXO 1/2 Link Chains

DK Chains in Black, Silver, and Gold

Have you seen these! They are some burly chains. Swoop em up and grind away!

Earl

The Relaxed Ride

Finally! After a week of treacherous downpour and winds, it's sunny and 60 deg. It's going to be like this the whole weekend! Perfect weather for a 200k brevet I'm doing tomorrow. Interested parties should check out Great Lakes Randonneurs.

In the realm of Rando/Touring/Commuter type things, we just got some pretty sweet items in...

Brooks Devon Drive and Non-Drive Side Rear Panniers

Brooks Cornwall Handlebar Bag

Fancy fancy bags from the beloved Brooks. Nifty way to hold your spokes and many other things.

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Sugino Mighty Tour 170mm and 175mm

Talk about some fine Japanese craftsmanship! The cranks have the sheen of a Sugino 75. These have a lower Q-factor than the XD Triples and are great upgrade for your touring bike. Man, they are gorgeous.

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SKS Fenders

Still made in Germany and a great price for high quality fenders. Easy to install and they just look so classy!

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Velo-Orange Handlebar Bag

I couldn't resist, I had to get one! They will soon be posted. Check them out at Velo Orange. It'll be quite handy for tomorrow. A clear pouch for the map and easy access to my food or camera. It's going to be a great ride. Hope ya'll get some sun this weekend!

Earl

?/?" Fractions of an Inch

Check out Prolly's colab with Sara Kinney and get a look into the working life of Johnny Coast and Seth Rosko. I love the art of the bicycle and these guys have it goin on. Great job! Now where did I leave that hammer?

Bruiser Shipment Arrives!!

Hell yes!
We've waited a long time for these to get here; thanks to everyone for their patience.
Steve has his work cut out for him and is currently running around with his head cut off; pre-ordered custom color framesets are going to the painter and pre-painted framesets will get prepped for shipping!

Them Big Tyres

There is a crazy demand for 29er products right now. Niner has been sold out of many frames and even many of Salsa's models have been back ordered until August (check out their new dropouts, a veritable option to Paragon sliding ones. Just another option for you single speed nuts). We've been busy hording a lot of these products while the dwindling supplies last. Here are some recent additions...

Stan's Tubeless Ready Raven in 29x2.2 and 29x2.0

• Low tread but with lil nubs on the sides for added traction
• The 2.0 is a great racing tire

Geax Sauguaro TNT 29x2.2 and Barro Race TNT 29x2.0

• I've mentioned these before; TNT is their new tubeless system
• Saugaro is a non-aggressive tire made more for dry trails
• Barro Race is like the Raven, low profile racing with added traction

Kenda Small Black 8 29x2.1

• Popular dry terrain tire now available for 29ers
• Not tubeless

Hutchinson Python Tubeless 29x2.1 and Toro Tubeless 29x2.125

• Great XC tires
• Toro is an aggressive tire best for mud or rougher terrain
• Python has low tread with low rolling resistance
  
• Python is much like a WTB Nano

Like usual, we have more to choose from. So if you're looking for some new tires, check out our tire section. More mountain tires from Panaracer, Continental, WTB, and more!

Unfortunately it's been raining for the past few days over here in SE Wisconsin. My mountain bike feels a bit neglected. It'll see some trails soon enough!

Earl

FYF Pricing -

- courtesy of Cycling WMD. If anyone has ever been interested in picking up a Nagasawa at a really great price, now's your chance.

Been Awhile...

Sorry for the lack of posts, iz busy over here. We have a lot of great things in the works. Been busy plumping up our touring and 29er product variety as well as discovering new items for yer fixed gear.

Whew, gotta take a breath here and there. Hope you all are getting some riding time outside!

New things from:
Monkey Like Shiny
DK Bikes
Hutchinson
Stan's No Tubes
Velo Orange
Brooks
Velocity
Yess
+more

Specifically, I'm psyched about a large variety of 29er tubeless tires, new crazy-burly half link chains, and an economical handle bar bag for you brevet nuts out there. Keep on checking in, we got lots o stuff coming your way!

Earl