Mark Your Calendars! Cross-Shooshko Cyclocross Race on Oct. 4

On October 4, the Milwaukee Bicycle Company Race Team and Milwaukee Bicycle Company will host Cross-Shooshko, a cyclocross race at the historical Kosciusko Park in Milwaukee.

Here is the basic course map for the race. It is roughly 1.8 miles. The pit will be in the main field and have access from both sides. We'll use the hill in several devious and fun ways! 

We are planning a community festival with music, food trucks, even a rummage sale of bike parts! And there may be Permissable Beverages Ready for hand-ups, give-aways. 

More information with specifics to come soon! 

Ben's and Milwaukee Bicycle Company Offer Cross Clinics

Cyclocross is the fastest growing type of racing in the U.S.

And it's the most fun you can have on two wheels. 

Cross racing is typically held in parks, where cyclists ride over grass, through sand, around obstacles, pick up the bike and run up hills and over barriers. It's generally an obstacle course on bikes. 

Curious? 

The Milwaukee Bicycle Company Racing Team, supported by Ben's Cycle and Milwaukee Bicycle Company, is hosting a series of cyclocross clinics in August to teach beginners the basics of cross.

These clinics, held on three consecutive Mondays, focus on the skills you'll need to try out cross for the first time.

Races last 30 minutes for beginners so while the ride is a challenge, it doesn't require huge training or a huge commitment of time. 

At the very least, learning to race cyclocross helps you develop cornering and riding skills, while also learning how to handle your bike on different surfaces.

 

The experienced riders of Milwaukee Bicycle Company Racing Team, which races cross, mountain bike, and road events throughout the Midwest, is hosting the clinics. The team, which promotes the Milwaukee Bicycle Company bikes including the Mettle, the cyclocross race bike, is also promoting the Cross-Shooshko Cyclocross Race Oct. 4.

Here is the Wisconsin Cycling Association schedule of races. Here is the Chicago Cross Cup schedule.

Ben's/MBC: Your Source For Cyclocross

The cyclocross season starts in just over two months, and Ben's/ Milwaukee Bicycle Company is your source for everything you need!

For those of you who don't know about cross, racers get to ride usually in parks, over grass, sand, pavement, and mud. They are forced to get off their bikes and run over barriers and up hills. It's a bit of NASCAR, steeplechase, and a bike obstacle course all mixed up in a crazy blend of fun on bikes. 

The cross season typically starts in September and runs until the national championships in the U.S. in January. So that means cross weather can be beautiful, warm, and sunny or it can be cold, icy, and snowy, or somewhere in the middle. 

It's an awesome sport, one for everyone to try at least once. 

Here's are ten great reasons to rely on Ben's and Milwaukee Bicycle Company to support you during the whole cross season.
1. Our Mettle, the Milwaukee Bicycle Company cyclocross bike, is one of the best cross bikes available. 
2. We stock Specialized Crux bikes in both aluminum and carbon. We also stock the Focus Mares cross bikes, and we can order a variety of other bikes for you. 
3. We run a series of cyclocross clinics that start in August. Details coming soon!
4. The Milwaukee Bicycle Company sponsors Cross-Shooshko, a cyclocross race Oct. 4 at Kosciusko Park. Details coming soon.
5. We build disc and non-disc wheels with your choice of hubs (Chris King, White, Shimano, DT Swiss), spokes, and rims for clincher, clincher tubeless, and tubular.
6. We glue tubular cross tires.
7. We stock a huge variety of tubular and clincher tires, wheels, shoes, cleats, and other bike parts for the cross season.
8. We offer specials during the season on bike cleaning where you bring your bike in on Monday, we clean the mud and grime off, re-lube the chain and cables, adjust the brakes, and get the bike back to you Tuesday or Wednesday. 
9. Our highly-trained mechanics are able to fix any problem you bring us, including mechanical and hydraulic disc brake issues. 
10. Our shop-sponsored team, the Milwaukee Bicycle Company Race Team, has some of the best cross racers in the region and will race throughout the Midwest. 

Milwaukee Bicycle Co. Mettle Now in Stock in 53cm, 56cm and 59cm!

The Mettle, Milwaukee Bicycle Company's cyclocross bike, is now in stock at Ben's Cycle!

We just took delivery of 53cm, 56cm and 59cm frames from Waterford. Our current turn-around on new frames is only about 10 days, including any custom color of your choice. Cyclocross season is right around the corner!

The disc-brake Mettle could be the best cross bike you've ever ridden, stiff, supple, smooth in the corners. 

The Mettle May Just Be the Perfect Cyclocross Race Bike

The Mettle, Milwaukee Bicycle Company's new cyclocross race bike, might just be the perfect cross bike. 

Crossers have always loved the feel of a steel bike but bemoaned the lack of stiffness or the straight head tube. And racers have often disliked the ride of aluminum and the cost of carbon. 

But the Mettle is different. The Mettle combines the ride feel of steel with the near stiffness of aluminum or carbon. And a full Ultegra-equipped Mettle will be less than $2,500. 

Here's what you need to know: 

1. The bike is made of OX Platinum steel from True Temper in Waterford, Wisconsin.This tubing is stiff, lively, and has a compliant ride. For cyclocross, ride quality matters a lot more than the lightness of carbon. This bike frame is everything you need and more in a high-quality cross race bike.

2. The frame has double-butted down, top, and seat tubes. We also widened the top and down tubes from 28.5 mm (1 1/8 inches) to 35 mm for the down tube and 31.8 for the top tube. This means added stiffness from our previous version. 

3. The chain stays are externally tapered, ovalized, and dimpled. The disc brake tab is ISO-standard. The rear brake cable is routed on top of the top tube to allow easy shouldering of the bike in run-ups.

4. Customers can choose any solid color for their frame. Adding panels will cost extra. 

5.  The frame alone weighs 4.4 pounds. Together with the Whiskey 7 fork, Cane Creek headset and seat collar, the weight comes to 5.5 pounds. 

6. While many customers purchased the older version of the cross bike, which came out in 2012, to use as a touring bike; the Mettle is still a versatile bike, it is designed for cyclocross racing. Milwaukee Bicycle Company will release its gravel bike, the Fugitive, in late summer(crossing our fingers, earlier), and that bike will be an excellent choice for touring, gravel racing, commuting, and general riding. 

7. Ben's will have frames in 53, 56, 59cm sizes by the end of June or first week of July; 50 and 62cm sizes will arrive a few weeks after. Customers can place their orders through the Ben's Cycle website. 

8. The geometry of the bikes will be the same as previous models of the cyclocross bike. The geometry was thoroughly researched and tested in race conditions to provide the perfect fit for a cyclocross racer. 

9. The new Mettle was designed and refined through racer feedback of the previous cyclocross bike. MBC tapered the head tube to allow for a tapered carbon fork and added stiffness. We also increased the diameter of the top and down tubes for additional stiffness. 

10. Check the internet. Look for semi-custom high-quality cyclocross race bikes. The Mettle has everything a discerning and fast cross racer needs : stiffness, snap, a pliable ride, custom builds.  Starting build costs for complete bikes include everything except pedals. Customers can also choose to upgrade and change build kits. 

Shimano Sora group:      $coming soon
Shimano Tiagra group:    $coming soon
Shimano 105 group:       $coming soon
Shimano Ultegra group:  $coming soon

Introducing the Mettle Cyclocross Bike... Start Drooling

We introduce to you the Mettle. 

The 2014 Milwaukee Bicycle Company Mettle. A true cyclocross race bike.

The USA made Mettle frame features a full OX Platinum tubeset as our original cross frame; but has a larger diameter top and down tubes for increased stiffness. Add a new tapered head tube for the stiffest, strongest carbon forks, and you have a bike that rides like steel with near stiffness of aluminum. 

We re-designed the Mettle to have a tapered head tube.

The Mettle features a thin stainless

 steel plate to protect the frame from the rotor during wheel changes. 

Disc-brake tab drop-out

Information updates HERE
 
Be Different. Ride a Milwaukee. 

A Cyclocross Bike Gets Customized

Addie, a Ben's customer, came in to Ben's looking for a bike to do long rides with her husband.  She wanted to get on the Glacial-Drumlin trail, do the Door County Century, and do long, leisurely rides.

"My husband bought me a hybrid five years ago," she said. "But it was too heavy and that grandma seat just wasn't comfortable."


We suggested she try out the Milwaukee Bicycle Company cyclocross bike. A lot of our customers have been customizing the bike and using it for touring.


"It reminds me of the comfort of riding a bike as a kid," she said while getting an initial fit from professional fit guru Brett Meinke.


Addie said she appreciated being able to customize the bike as well as getting a fit from Brett. She said she was glad as well to buy a product made in Wisconsin.


Even though she already has a carbon-fiber road bike, she said the weight difference was minimal.



Addie is scheduled to return for a final fit with Brett where he will trim the steer tube, adjust the saddle position, and change out the stem.

Addie's Milwaukee Bicycle Company cyclocross bike. Steel beauty. 

Too Old to Ride? Jim Marx Destroys That Excuse

The gray-haired man who passed you on the Oak Leaf Trail? The same guy bombing down the gravity trails at The Rock? The same guy who rolls his mountain bike through the singletrack at the Kettles?

His name is Jim Marx. And we at Ben's Cycles were pleased he chose a Milwaukee Bicycle Company cyclocross frame as his road bike.

Marx is almost 70, yet he rides a bike every day. This morning, for example, he was out on the Alpha Trails at The Rock and rode a double black (or really, really hard) section of the downhill. 

Marx has been putting a lot of miles on bicycles in Wisconsin for the last 40 years. 

He started with the Wisconsin chapter of the National Mountain Bike Patrol in 2006, but since then has helped expand the bike patrol to non-mountain biking events, including triathlons, marathons, adventure triathlons, and the Wisconsin Cycling Association cyclocross series. 
 
 Last weekend, he patched up a member of the Milwaukee Bicycle Company racing team at a mountain bike event at Emma Carlin after a hard crash. He's a first responder on a bike.

He bought his Milwaukee Bicycle Company cyclocross frame 18 months ago and built it up over the winter in 2012.

His first ride on the MBC? A 450-tour across central Florida. He was 68 years old. 
 
"I built up the cross frame as a touring bike," he says. He put on front and rear racks, built up high-quality wheels with White hubs, and put wider tires on the rims. 

He bought a second MBC bike for his wife last year for a 40th anniversary gift. Since his wife has some challenges lifting her leg over a regular frame, Marx said Vince at Ben's helped design a frame that met her needs. 

"The Milwaukee gave me the opportunity to have a more pliable steel frame that felt good under me," Marx says. "I like the quality of the MBC. The cross frame worked really well for me."

Milwaukee Bicycle Company frames and forks are manufactured in Waterford, Wisconsin and sold through Ben's Cycles in Milwaukee. Customers at Ben's are able to customize paint, components, and styles. 

This is the first in a series of Milwaukee Bicycle Company customer profiles. If you have an MBC with an interesting story, contact us!

Milwaukee Bicycle Company Racing Team

Do you want to become a better mountain biker or cyclocross racer? This spring, we are launching the Milwaukee Bicycle Company Racing Team for mountain bike and cyclocross racing.

The Milwaukee Bicycle Company Racing Team is open to everyone who wants to ride. We offer clinics, group rides, races, and the opportunity to improve your skills and hang out with other riders.

Seasonal dues are $90 and include one team jersey. You’ll get significant discounts on Milwaukee Bicycle Company frames. You’ll also get discounts on team clinics and parts through Ben’s Cycles in Milwaukee

Milwaukee Bicycle Company Racing Team

• Steep discounts on Milwaukee Bicycle Company frames;
• Discounts on Milwaukee Bicycle Company/Ben’s kits;
• Discounts on mountain bike and cyclocross clinics;
• Discounts on all parts, including wheels, for your MBC frame at Ben’s;
• If you race at least five WORS or mountain bike races and/ or at least six Wisconsin Cycling Association or Chicago Cyclocross Cup cyclocross races, you can be eligible for a partial refund of your entry fees based on a percentage approved at the end of the season.

Team dues: $90 per year per rider includes team jersey

Rider Responsibilities:

• Register on USA Cycling for the Milwaukee Bicycle Company Racing Team when you buy your cycling license;
• Wear your Milwaukee Bicycle Company/Ben’s kit at all events and races;
• Represent the Milwaukee Bicycle Company Racing Team responsibly and professionally at all events. The team and/ or Ben’s has the right to remove anyone from the team for violating this responsibility. We also have the right to decline membership to any applicant.
• Note: The discounts only apply to MBC frames.
• We expect you to volunteer your time at team races and events. (We hold one cyclocross race in the fall at Kosciuszko Park in Milwaukee plus more events in the future.)

For more information and a team application, contact Paul Warloski at pwarloski@gmail.com