Traitor Cycles

3 Speed Luggernaut Winter Commuter 01/06/09 (Posted by Kevin) I have always been a huge fan of internal geared hubs, especially 3 speeders. In my opinion less is more and most people never use half the gears that come on their bike. Internal 3 speed hubs allow you to keep the look and feel of a singlespeed with the added benefit some of some gear range of the 1st gear at 75%, the middle gear at 100% and the 3rd at 133%. Play around with your rear cog or front chainring to get the perfect setup for where you ride. For me I am rolling with a 32tooth up front and a 17tooth in the back and works great for our road condititons. I love the Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub. It has been around for decades and is a time proven design that works great. The shifting is smooth, there is no noticeable drag, maintenance is easy and they are affordable. The perfect combination for a city bike or winter/rain bike. I am going to be riding this all season and if all goes well we will be offering a 3 speed complete bike that will have a Luggernaut frame as the base with the addition of some brazeons for the cable. TOTAL COMMENTS FOR POST (0) \| (View/Add Comments) Luggernauts Have Invaded 12/18/08 (Posted by Kevin) The long awaited frames are finally here. The Luggernaut is our affordable singlespeed lugged frame built with versatitly in mind. The frames turned out amazing for a Chinese frame. We inspected the factory in October and were very impressed and they totally delivered. Three colors to choose from, yellow, black or green and all with very classic chrome lugged forks. Click here for full Luggernaut details. TOTAL COMMENTS FOR POST (3) \| (View/Add Comments) First Riding Impressions of the 3 speed Fixed Gear Hub 12/16/08 (Posted by Kevin) Recently got back from a trip to Taiwan where we met up with Alan from Sunrace/Sturmey Archer to see what they have cooking. We are looking at using one of their standard 3 speed internal geared hubs for a Luggernaut complete bike we are working on. In addition to their standard 3 speed hub Alan wanted us to tryout out the new 3 speed fixed gear hub. I have been really curious about this hub as to how it would perform. They had just finished building up a prototype for us to test out so we got to get some riding in. First impressions where the hub shifted perfect and all gears felt very smooth. You didn't notice much friction or drag at all. The gear range is pretty huge and I immediately thought this would be perfect for bike polo setups to have a gear you can actually pedal to the event and then a super easy gear for the game. Downside is that there is a little pedal backlash when you attempt to skid stop. If you just slow your cadence down normally you don't notice anything but when you try to skid the rear wheel you definitely notice it. It is not really meant to be on a fixed gear with no brakes. You will definitely want to have a front brake with this setup. The engineers did not recommend that we skid stop the bikes but we did it anyway to see how it would feel. Overall I think fixed gear purist will not be into this setup but I do think there is a market for it for around town bikes and commuters that like the idea of a fixed gear bike but still want some gear range and the use of a front brake. The other major thing to note is the rad shifting options they have for the hub. They are offering their own bar end shifters which are very smooth and I got to check the prototypes out in person. They are also making a version called the Thumbie that is a bar con shifter that mounts to a flat bar. TOTAL COMMENTS FOR POST (0) \| (View/Add Comments) New Black and Polished Singlespeed Wheelsets 12/16/08 (Posted by Kevin) Just got a new shipment of singlespeed wheelsets in. They are the same as our existing track wheelset except that they have machined sidewalls. We went with Black rims and spokes laced to polished silver hubs with the black Traitor logo for a very tough but classic look. These are also one of the lightest singlespeed track wheelsets for the price at 950 grams for the front wheel and 1030 grams for the rear. TOTAL COMMENTS FOR POST (0) \| (View/Add Comments) Exiles Are Finally Here 11/25/08 (Posted by Kevin) We finally got our long awaited first shipment of lugged Exile frames and we are freaking out. We went with two paint styles. Our old school decal treatment on an antique white frame with a chrome fork and our mind blowing curry dragon paint scheme with black lugs. For the lugs we went with a pretty unique Long Shen lug set. From the way the seatstays join the seattube to the unique contours of the lugs themselves. We haven't seen any other production bike with this style. Even though this is a traditional road frame we lengthened the stays and increase the axle to crown on the fork to allow for fenders since we love the rain so much. The resulting ride is a great all arounder that can hang with almost any style of riding. We should have a complete Exile with the curry dragon paint scheme built up after the Thanksgiving break so stay tuned. TOTAL COMMENTS FOR POST (0) \| (View/Add Comments) House Party Cat Winner 11/17/08 (Posted by Kevin) Jeff Oneill just sent me over some photos of his alley cat wrap up party . I wasn't there but the photos definitely look a bit rowdy! A guy named Justin won the race along with a ton of swag and a Ringleader frame. Congrats Justin and hope you put that frame to good use. TOTAL COMMENTS FOR POST (0) \| (View/Add Comments) Ringleader Flatland 11/17/08 (Posted by Kevin) Kyle, the other owner here has a bit of flatland BMX under his belt and was messing around on the Ringleader fixed gear. Our shipper Carl snapped this smooth photo. TOTAL COMMENTS FOR POST (1) \| (View/Add Comments) Hella Alley Cats this Halloween Weekend 10/27/08 (Posted by Kevin) We are sponsoring a ton of alley cats that are happening this weekend. There is just something about dressing up and riding bikes that goes hand in hand. Check out the flyers below to see what is going down in your area. Lansing Chain Cog Massacre (East Lansing Michigan) The House Party Cat (Philadelphia, PA) Night of the Living Tread (Ann Arbor, Michigan) Click here for the full flyer and more info at Jimmy Rigged In Yer Face Race (New York) TOTAL COMMENTS FOR POST (0) \| (View/Add Comments) Guerilla Time Trial in Seattle This Weekend 10/20/08 (Posted by Kevin) We are helping sponsor a local time trial event this weekend in Seattle that should be pretty smooth. Ryan at Bike Bloc is orgainzing it and they just posted the route on their site. It is a pretty long course and should require some nice endurance as well as traffic negotiating skills. Go to Bike Bloc for more info and to see the course route. TOTAL COMMENTS FOR POST (1) \| (View/Add Comments) 3 Speed Fixed Gear Hub 10/08/08 (Posted by Kevin) So Sturmey Archer/Sunrace are working on a 3 speed internal geared fixed hub. This is a pretty smooth idea if they can pull it off correctly. I will be visiting these guys in Taiwan in about 3 weeks to check it out as well as another freewheel 3 speed internal hub for a new build kit we are working on for the Luggernaut. They are still working on what the shifter will be and lets pray it is something like a bar end shifter and not grip shift. Click here for more info at Sunrace's blog. TOTAL COMMENTS FOR POST (0) \| (View/Add Comments) Pabst Blue Ribbon Ringleaders Available 10/02/08 (Posted by Kevin) We officially launched the PBR Ringleader at Interbike and people were going crazy for it. We have 75 of these bad boys to share with the world and it is a first come first serve policy. We got an exclusive with Pabst to do this. This is the first time Pabst Blue Ribbon has ever allowed their name to go on a product for sale other than their own promotional items so it is quite historical. We are also working on some more joint projects with Pabst in the future so stay tuned. Click here for the Pabst Ringleader Page for more info. TOTAL COMMENTS FOR POST (3) \| (View/Add Comments) Interbike 2008....DONE! 09/30/08 (Posted by Kevin) Just got back from Interbike and we were blown away from the response we got. Thanks to everyone that stopped by the booth to check out the new product. We are excited about all the new dealers we signed up all over the country and Canada. The PBR Ringleader was the crowd favorite and they are now available! We will also have our lugged bikes coming in about 3 weeks. Sorry for the late response on email and phone but it is back to business now. The recycleable booth worked out perfect. PBR Ringleader was center stage. Pabst paint job up close. The production Exile in our Curry Dragon paint. My favorite paint job to date. Close up of the Exile Curry Dragon paint. TOTAL COMMENTS FOR POST (2) \| (View/Add Comments) Let the Interbike Madness Begin 09/19/08 (Posted by Kevin) Getting ready to head over to Lost Wages Nevada for Interbike. This will be the first year for Traitor at Interbike and will be our official launch of the brand. If you are with a shop and want to come by our booth, it is 5037. We are unveiling the new Exile frame with one of the smoothest paint jobs ever and a limited edition Ringleader that is not to be missed. TOTAL COMMENTS FOR POST (0) \| (View/Add Comments) Bike Thief Caught with almost 3000 Bikes 08/26/08 (Posted by Kevin) Getting a bike stolen is one of the most gut wrenching experiences a cyclist can have. You start to think about ways you could catch the thief and then you go through all the scenarios of what you would have done if you had caught them. Well, this time the police did catch what could be the biggest bike thief in the world. The man would have people steal bikes for them and then sell them at his bike shop. Check out the BBC for the whole story here. TOTAL COMMENTS FOR POST (0) \| (View/Add Comments) DeadBaby Downhill Party 08/06/08 (Posted by Kevin) Recently went down for the annual always rowdy DeadBaby Downhill and party brought to us by the fine folks at DeadBabyBikes. This event is a Seattle tradition and a great glimpse into the Seattle riding scene. The evening starts with a rogue downhill from the top of Phiney Ridge into Ballard followed by a bicycle party that goes well into the morning that is capped off with tall bike jousting (A crowd favorite). Here are a few pics from the evenings festivities. Park your bike where ever you find room Crowds getting larger every year. Unique bikes to demo in the street. Sam on the caster wheel bike perfect for 360s Great way to get around at the party. Lots of group bike performances Foot down contests got very heated. More footdown and American pride This bike was available for demo and quite fun to ride. TOTAL COMMENTS FOR POST (0) \| (View/Add Comments) Pinarello/Traitor Combo 07/28/08 (Posted by Kevin) Our good friend Jordan from Utah just sent over this pic of his of beautiful classic lugged Pinarello with our Hoopla Track wheelset. A very nice blend of old and new, love it! TOTAL COMMENTS FOR POST (0) \| (View/Add Comments) iPhone Bicycle Tools 07/28/08 (Posted by Kevin) Having an iPhone I found this little application to be quite interesting. I am not sure I would use it all that much but found it very cool that there is something like this available. Just a sign of how much more mainstream bicycling is getting. Love it or hate I still think it is great to have options out there. TOTAL COMMENTS FOR POST (0) \| (View/Add Comments) Commuting Doggie Style 07/22/08 (Posted by Kevin) I love taking my dogs to work to run around while I work but it always meant I had to drive my truck which sucked. I finally decided to get a Burley Rover trailer that is specifically designed to haul pets. It was a bit of a risk as I didn't know if the dogs would be into it. Last night was the maiden voyage home from work and the dogs did quite well, despite the fact that hauling 70 lbs. of dog was a bit taxing on the legs. I figure this will get me into crazy good shape and make my bike feel like it is 12 lbs. when the trailor is off. Keeping to the backroads. Slight tail drag. TOTAL COMMENTS FOR POST (2) \| (View/Add Comments) Rubens are out there! 07/21/08 (Posted by Kevin) Stuff is finally shipping out the door and we have Ringleaders and Rubens going out. Here is a pic from Scott over at FSA that just got his Ruben built up for his commute. He is pretty stoked on the bike and sent over this pic showing his excitement. Scott is one of the first customers to get a Traitor so this is a pretty big moment that we had to imortalize on the blog. TOTAL COMMENTS FOR POST (1) \| (View/Add Comments) The Theodore Donald Karabotsos Memorial Alley Cat 07/15/08 (Posted by Kevin) Just a recap of our local alley cat we had a few weeks ago celebrating The Big Lebowski. Thanks to Brad and Chris and the Hub Bike Shop for hosting the event. The sun was shining and the Pabst was flowing on a perfect day in Bellingham. Our very own Sam Burkhardt manage to win the title for the guys. Below is our photo recap of the event, enjoy. Brad prepping the crowd before the start. Bikes gather at The Hub. Getting our game faces on. Manditory stop in the race at Casa Que Pasa for a homemade drink (Tequila, Tabasco and whip cream) Chad bowling for points. Dale from Kona saving his drink from crashing Sam with his trophy Marcus and crew off to Caps for post race celebration TOTAL COMMENTS FOR POST (2) \| (View/Add Comments) View Previous Posts...		Search: PREVIOUS POSTS: JANUARY 2009 (1 posts) 2009 (1 posts) 2008 (19 posts) LINKS: Urban Velo ReLoad Bags Slice o' the 'Ham Concrete Fiction trackosaurusrex Smart Trips Liberty Tattoo Seattle 1 Less Car