Serfas Holiday Schedule

Just a reminder...

Serfas will be CLOSED for busniess from 12/24/10 until 1/3/11 in celebration of the Christmas and New Year Holidays. Thank you for all your support in 2010! We really appreciate it...

Rain Rain Go Away...

It's been a full week since we have seen the sun here at Serfas HQ. We have recieved over 2 inches of the wet stuff and now we are starting to pay the price. Mudslides and Floods have shut down Laguna Beach near PCH and more rain is on the way. This photo was taken this morning by an unamed Serfas Sales rep in Capo Beach, Ca. Believe it or not - there is a boat attached to the truck!

Treesbybike.com

Live in PDX? If so, you could have your Christmas tree delivered by bicycle. www.treesbybike.com will deliver a 6 ft Noble Fir for $43!

What is Trees By Bike?
Trees By Bike is a small business created by Portland folks who are looking to spread some holiday cheer, make a little extra money, and raise some cash for things we care about. All of our trees are locally grown and 10% of your order total is donated to Project Grow, a local organization that is pretty amazing.

The story of Trees By Bike starts on a frigid Portland morning, over one year ago. Full of turkey, cranberry sauce, and various libations, the Yule Dispatcher was prompted with the most curious desire. A desire for a needle-ridden mess that many call a Christmas tree. The Yule Dispatcher remembered the childhood home he grew up in, adorned with cheap mistletoe and dollar store garland. He recalled the coos of joy and laughter in front of a meagerly sized tree, strung with plastic and popcorn. And with a belly full our Yule Dispatcher set his mind to erecting a Christmas tree in the living room of his shared house, much like his parents had done in his childhood home so many years ago. After earning the approval to host a tree from his housemates, the Yule Dispatcher approached his next hurdle, transport. With no car to speak of and serious doubts about the allowance of a 5′ Christmas tree on TriMet, he was left only one option. His bicycle and his trusty Lemolo backpack. It was an interesting ride, with many honks full of holiday cheer, but it was more than just a tree that our Dispatcher achieved. He made a stunning realization, which he then relayed in joyful prose:

“Holiday cheer need no automotive support,
why not is it spread with wheels and legs and just heart?
Internal combustion, need not apply,
for next XMAS we’re riding bikes with trees stacked ridiculously high.”

“For the sake of all goodness, we must do this well.
Mount up on your bikes and deliver like hell:
Now, Riders! Now, Racers! Now, Couriers, and Gophers!
On, Commuters! On, Street kids! On, Hipsters and Bro-dogs!”

“To the valleys and gorges! To the top of the hills!
Now ride away! ride away! Coffee helps, for reals!”

And that’s how Abraham Lincoln saved the world. Oh wait, I mean that’s how Trees By Bike was started.

Riley's Cousin - Check the tire yo

Ikea gives away 12,400 Bicycles

IKEA yesterday delivered bicycles to all US employees as a year-end bonus, saying "This is our way of saying 'thanks IKEA co-workers for being strongly committed to working together.' We hope this bike will be taken in the spirit of the season while supporting a healthy lifestyle and everyday sustainable transport," in press release.

Here's the bike:



IKEA gave all its US employees a bike just like the one shown. Triple chain-ring, no identifiable brand, and IKEA Swedish flag colors gracing the frame.


No word on the maker of these models, although custom frame makers will sometimes produce lesser-known brands. (IKEA gifted its staff of 9,000 UK employees with folding bikes in 2006. Those bikes were made by Raleigh.)

This IKEA bike looks fairly low-cost, but 12,400 bikes is a lot of kronor, and it's the thought that matters.

Serfas FS-243 Saddle "As seen on TV"

So I am sitting there watching the season premiere of "Men of a Certain Age" on TNT last night when a scene comes up where actor Scott Baluka rides a bicycle to his job at the Chevrolet dealership. He gets to the dealership and locks up his bicycle that just happens to have a Serfas FS-243 Hybrid Saddle on it...

In case you are interested Men of a Certain Age is an American comedy-drama television series, which premiered on TNT on December 7, 2009. The hour-long program stars Ray Romano, Andre Braugher and Scott Bakula as three best friends in their late forties dealing with the realities of middle age.

I like to watch this show because Ray Ramano is a guy in his late forties that is an amatuer golfer that is trying to sharpen his skills to play on the Champions Tour. Oh and the show is hillarious!

No Bicycle Swap Meet this year...

Rumors have been swirling about the Orange County Bicycle Swap Meet... This post and the one on Facebook / Twitter will set the record straight. The Orange County Bicycle Swap Meet has been postponed indefinately until further notice. Thank you to all those who have supported this event in the past!

A little chilly today

If you are planning a trip to Utah anytime soon, you may want to pack a jacket or two...

New Stem Bags are here...

The new stem bags are available in black, grey, or red. They match our current LT Saddle bag line. They come in 2 sizes, Small and Medium.

The new stem bags feature:
- A cozy velvet interior to protect your valuables / cell phone / iPod
- Magnetic top closure for easy entry while riding
- 3M Scotchbrite™ reflective material provides maximum visibility
- Double Velcro strap attachements
- Ultra grip bottom panel alleviates slippage on the top tube

2011 Serfas Shoes are starting to roll in...

New and improved 2011 Men's and Women's Podium available in White and Black

New and improved 2011 Men's and Women's Astro

Trials at it's finest

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Bikeman demonstrates the True 150 and 250 Lights

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Sneak Peek at the New and Improved SBT

Available early December 2010

Guess who's back?

That's right - it's baaack! The Serfas FP-606 has recently made its return back into our 2011 line up. Touted as the easiest pump you'll ever use - this dual stage pump can perform with higher volume to minimize the amount of strokes needed to fill a tire, then with a flip of the switch move into higher pressure making 130 psi a cinch. Avaialble in Silver, Red, Chrome - in stock now - MSRP $50

More fan mail pours in...

Serfas welcomes Blake Battaglia to inside sales

Serfas has recently added Blake Battaglia to our inside sales team. Blake has worked with us for over 6 months as a shipment technician, but was recently promoted to inside sales. As a Southern California native, Blake enjoys most action sports that include: Wake boarding, Motor cross Racing, and BMX. Blake is currently attending ITT Tech and studying Construction Management.

Blake will be managing the Illinois, Missouri, and Northern California territories. He can be reached at 800-424-0047 X 209 or blake@serfas.com

Happy Halloween

Found this big spider out front of our building this morning...

Sport Chalet Bike University

We had the pleasure of attending Sport Chalet's Bike University earlier this month. The 2 day event is held at Bonelli Park in San Dimas and is designed to educate the Sport Chalet Bike Depeartment Associates about the current products. The first day was wet and cold, but true to Southern California climate patterns - the second day was absolutely P-E-R-F-E-C-T 75 degrees and not a cloud in the sky...

A letter from a local rider that toured at the L'Eroica, Gaiole in Chianti, Italy

I just wanted to let you know that I finished the 135 km ride in Italy using your tires, supply pouch, pump, bar tape, and tail light from Serfas. I have attached a couple of pictures, the first is how I packed my borrowed box to include the Serfas floor pump, and the second of me at the pre-dawn start area.


I saw lots of flat tires along the route, but those 700 X 28 beauties on my old Colnago did not fail me. A great product.

Thanks again for the support to the OCW, and your help. I'm sold on Serfas tires and bicycle accessories... they hold up.

Regards, Dan Clark

P.S. I attached the Serfas red flashing tail-light to the back of my helmet. I left it on for the entire ride. A couple of Italian riders complained that the light was too bright (it was daylight). I left it on as there was some vehicle traffic during the ride and I wanted to get the drivers attention. That light is certainly bright.
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Serfas welcomes Jeremy Griffin to the inside sales team...

Serfas is proud to introduce Jeremy "watch your back" Griffin as the latest edition to our inside sales team. Jeremy hails from Petosky, Michigan and has been in the cycling industry for 20 years. Jeremy has been an outside sales rep and worked at various different IBD's accross the country.

In his free time Jeremy enjoys riding his bike and playing hockey. He also owns a vacation home in Michigan if you are intersted in renting a 5 star luxury log cabin, check out http://www.loghomevacationrental.com for more information.

He is engaged to Jessica and plans to to marry in the spring. Jeremy will be covering the Southern California and Pacific Northwest territory. He can be reached at 800-424-0047 X 209 or jeremy@serfas.com

Mason learns to ride...

We went camping over the weekend and this little girl shows up with her family and her Barbie bicycle. She started riding it around without using any training wheels. My son Mason was intrigued and wanted to give it a try. This video shows Mason's maiden voyage on a 2 wheeler. He just took right off and hasnt looked back since. A proud moment for a father getting ready to complete his first century on Saturday September 11...



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Paraplegic Daredevil Completes First Double Backflip in a Wheelchair

He's 18. And he's paraplegic. And he makes us look like complete and utter wusses. Aaron "Wheelz" Fotheringham is so good in a wheelchair, he can do backflips. Two to be exact. Catapulted by a specially adapted bungee cord, Aaron rides his wheelchair into a ramp, slinging himself into the air and spinning a clear 720 degrees in the air. He'd done it before, quite a few times, but not without the all-important wheel-based landing, resulting in more than a few nasty crashes.Despite being born with spina bifida, Aaron refused to let that stop his pursuit of thrills, first perfecting the wheelchair-based grind, carve and powerslide before moving onto the full-fledged backflip and, now, double backflip. Check out the video of the stunt in question below.

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Scheels Fargo, North Dakota store visit...

I recently had the opportunity to visit Scheels corporate headquaters and second largest sporting goods store in the world (second only to their Reno location) in Fargo, ND.

This place was GIGANTIC occupying almost 1/2 a million square feet of space. It features a full size ferris wheel, 2 shooting galleries, a huge playground for kids, Nascar experience, and a full service restaurant that serves up homemade fudge. Mmmmm... their fudge is amazing. Of course they also have the best selection of goods for any imaginable sport. They really do a great job with all the hunting and fishing needs. The store has a least 200 stuffed fish and big game animals, I was impressed.

Here is the Scheels story as presented on their website -

Three acres of potatoes were the seed for the first Scheels store in 1902. Frederick A. Scheel, a German immigrant, used the $300 he earned from that first harvest of potatoes as the down payment on the first Scheels, a small hardware and general merchandise store in Sabin, Minnesota.
Over the years, Scheels opened in surrounding communities, including Fargo, North Dakota, where the Corporate Office and the second Largest All Sport Store in the World are now located. Reno-Sparks Scheels became the World's Largest All Sports Store in September 2008.
Firmly planted in the hardware business, Scheels started adding a small selection of sporting goods to their stores in 1954. Customer interest grew, and more and more sports lines were added with athletic shoes and clothing being introduced in the Scheels' product mix in 1972.
Scheels' first All Sports Superstore opened in Grand Forks, ND in 1989. Today, Scheels is a 23-store operation with stores in 8 states including North Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Montana, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Nevada. Providing Scheels' customers with first-class customer service and the world's largest selection of sports, sportswear and footwear are the priorities throughout the organization.
Currently, Steve D. Scheel, the great grandson of Frederick A. Scheel, is the Scheels CEO and oversees the company of over 4000 associates. His Son, Steve M. Scheel, is the company's president and has been working for Scheels since 1989.
Scheels is an employee-owned, privately held business that owes its consistent success to its empowered associates, managers and partners who think and make decisions for their individual store and the entire company.

You can even buy Golden Tee (my favorite video game ever) at Scheels for a measely $5300!

True Series Lights are coming...

Introducing the Serfas "True" series rechargeable high power LED lights. Available in 150 lumen or a 250 lumen model - these lights are ultra bright, great burn times, lightweight, and fully charge with USB in just 3.5 hours! Handlebar and Helmet mounts included.

True 150 MSRP $100

True 250 MSRP $130

BlackTrail BT-01 Electric Bike Retails for $80,000

By Caleb Johnson

Green vehicles, for many people, have become status symbols rather than just modes of transportation. For example, take the BlackTrail BT-01 electric bike. Manufactured in a limited run of 667 models by Germany's PG-Bikes, this electric hog retails for around $80,000. It's built from lightweight carbon fiber and aerospace aluminum, and weighs just 44 pounds. A 2.5 hour charge on the 17Ah Li-ion battery pack gets you 120 miles, and the BlackTrail bike can get up to speeds of 65mph. Though the high price tag is primarily buying you the right to say you're part of a select group of 667 who can afford a glorified dirt bike, the BlackTrail would admittedly ride circles around other electric bikes we've seen. [From: Engadget and PG-Bikes]

From the creators of the Performance Video...

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Riley ripping up Lake Elsinore

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Serfas Women's Trax - Now in stock!

After much anticipation, the Women's Trax are now in stock. The Trax is our casual lace up shoe that features a velcro strap for an extra secure fit.
MSRP $75

Serfas Light Testing in Bicycle Retailer and Industry News

Check out this link: Serfas Brings Light Testing In House

BikemanforU

If you are ever in the West Hampton, NY area check these guys at Bike N Kite out! Friend of the Serfas line, Bart or "BikemanforU", does a video series helping out the biking layman...Very helpful and he adds some wit to the videos. For those of you that are afraid to ask the questions, check out the series. Thanks Bikeman!

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Serfas Night Saver Lights featured in Tread Magazine

Serfas Night Saver lights were recently featured in Tread Magazine. For those of you that are unfamiliar with Tread Magazine, is is a South African published mag that is "Moutnain Biking with Soul".

Summer Solstice in Seattle

This photo was taken at 10:15 PM on Monday June 21st

Drifter tire in pre-production

Here is what Serfas Drifter tire looks like before it is pressed with the tread pattern...

Ladies Cycle Fest Night at REI in Huntington Beach

Serfas participated in the first ever Ladies "Cycle Fest"night at the Huntington Beach REI on Thursday. REI has held these types of events in Washington and Oregon, but this was their first time doing it in California. There were about 60 ladies in attendance to learn about bike maintenance, saddles, pumps, lights, shoes, fitting, etc. REI gave away raffle prizes and furnished refreshments for all in attendance. The folks at REI saw this event as a success so keep your eyes peeled for another one at an REI near you...

Seca RS Folding 700 X 23 Tire - Now available in Black...

Building upon the success of all the 2010 new colors in the Seca RS Folding tires, we now have Black in stock and shipping today...

Found this on Urban Velo...

Serfas Sponsors Connor Ellison with Serfas Optics

By Sam McManismailto:McManissmcmanis@sacbee.com

Heading to the foothills in the pre-dawn chill, Connor Ellison slouches in the back of the family's packed Toyota Sequoia. Once they reach Plymouth, dread and inertia keep him lingering there.
Ahead is a 65-mile bike ride on some of the area's most beautifully brutal country roads, with names as ominous as Slug Gulch, Volcano and Ram's Horn. All told, it's a 5,000-foot elevation gain, 11 miles of quad-straining uphill work.
Snow coats the roadside on this mid-February day as other cyclists on Team Donate Life, training for the 3,000- mile Race Across America in June, unload bikes, add layers and gird for today's ride. Connor, meanwhile, futzes around with gloves and gear, delaying the inevitable. He knows what to expect. Pain.
Connor and pain are longtime companions. He has a rare liver disease, congenital hepatic fibrosis, that almost killed him one night a few years ago and has put him too often in the hospital.
But that condition is what brought him to the foothills on a day better spent indoors. Feeling better after surgery in December to relieve pressure on veins around his liver, Connor's bike training is going well, but his motivation this day is shaky.
He is 12. Remember 12? You're full of plans and dreams, but not always so eager to endure the drudgery to realize them. And this is, after all, the first day of a weeklong school break in Connor's hometown of Folsom. He could be sleeping in, then playing video games with his best friend, Elliott.
"Come on," his mother, Tiffany, gently prods. "The team is waiting."
Connor finally rouses himself and mounts his shiny new road bike. Liver disease or no, he is something of a cycling prodigy. Though just 5-foot-1 1/2 and 95 pounds, with legs as thin as chopsticks, the kid is a climber. Hard-core cyclists call it having a "big engine," and Connor's has enough horsepower to hang with his dad, Jared, and others on the team who are veteran long-distance riders.
The ride's first hour and a half does not go well. Connor lags back with his mom, a nascent cyclist training hard for the race. Tears mix with sweat on the boy's face. Tiffany starts to lose patience; this whole Race Across America thing "is his dream and he begged us to let him do it," she'll recall later. She pulls up next to him and looks at Connor, who has shed his usually placid demeanor. "I'm just tired of hurting," he says.
At this point, Tiffany almost loses it. Here's her tough little guy, the third of her four kids, who has experienced a world of hurt since being diagnosed with liver fibrosis four years ago. Now he's being subjected to more pain on this hellacious ride.
Turns out, Connor's heart-rate monitor is causing the pain. It has slipped down his slim rib cage and is rubbing against the zipperlike scar from his surgery six weeks earlier.
Now it's Tiffany who's crying, out of maternal pride and empathy. She gives Connor a pep talk as they make the steady climb. "I promised that all of his personal sacrifice will be worth it, and that in order for us to reach things in life that most people only dream of, we have to do things … that most people are too afraid of (doing)."
Connor finishes the ride looking strong, smiling broadly. Other challenges will come in subsequent months – another trip to the emergency room for stomach distress, a broken wrist from a fall off his mountain bike and, worst for a sixth-grader shy around grown-ups, public appearances.
But isn't that what life is, a series of challenges? It just seems that Connor has had to learn that lesson earlier than most kids.
Eight months of tests
He didn't always have to struggle. Connor was once your happy-go-lucky suburban kid who was crazy about football and couldn't wait to turn 8 so his parents would let him play.
On the same day as tryouts for the youth league in Folsom, Tiffany took Connor to the doctor for a league-mandated physical. It turned out to be anything but routine. The pediatrician poked around Connor's abdomen and seemed to spend a lot of time in the spleen and liver regions. The doctor said she was concerned that the spleen was enlarged and that his liver didn't feel right, either. The look on the doctor's face gave warning.
"My intuition was, 'This is bad,' " Tiffany said.
Instead of playing football, Connor spent the next few months undergoing X-rays, ultrasounds, magnetic resonance imaging and biopsies, having endoscopes plunged down his esophagus. And blood tests. Lots of those.
Through it all, Tiffany said, Connor was "very chill about it." Eight months of not knowing what was wrong, and feeling symptom-free, took a toll more on the parents than the child.
"I didn't know too much about it," Connor said. "All I knew was that it was something with my liver, which I didn't (understand) because it was my spleen that was enlarged. Since I've gotten older, I now know what everything means."
One afternoon at UC San Francisco Medical Center, the family finally got a solid diagnosis: congenital hepatic fibrosis, or scarring of liver tissue that can distort blood flow through the liver.
"They couldn't give me any way to fix my kid," Tiffany recalled. "They were telling me, basically, that my kid is a ticking time bomb. They said all of a sudden he could start coughing up blood and, if you don't hurry to the emergency room, he could die."
Tiffany, the worrying type, got depressed. Jared, a management consultant, stayed positive. Still, Connor's dad said, "The doctors couldn't give us any information other than Connor could be fine for 20 years or something could happen tomorrow."
That "something" happened in March 2009 – a little less than three years after the diagnosis. One night, older brother Austin, 18, ran downstairs to say Connor had passed out and was bleeding from the mouth. A vein had ruptured in Connor's abdomen. He was losing blood and consciousness fast. Emergency surgery was needed on the overstressed vein. One minute, Tiffany and Jared recalled, Connor had lost all color from his face and lips. The next, he seemed lifeless.
"Watching somebody hook a blood transfusion up to your kid who's essentially lifeless and then watching him … come back to life, I just can't describe it," Tiffany said. "You have so much gratitude for people who donate blood."
In the past year, Connor has had two more internal bleeding episodes, neither as severe but both requiring hospitalization. The worry with Connor and all hepatic fibrosis patients is complete liver failure, which would require a transplant.
After the initial diagnosis, Connor has been treated by Dr. Carlos Esquivel, director of the liver transplant and intestinal program at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford. Esquivel recommended an operation to reroute veins and take pressure off Connor's liver. One risk of the surgery is hepatic encephalopathy, an accumulation of toxins the liver normally removes. But Connor recovered well, Esquivel said.
"I created a kind of a shunt, a bypass, to relieve the pressure in those veins," Esquivel said. "Most of these patients do well with the shunt. Some patients may eventually require a liver transplant, but the majority tend to do well. Hopefully Connor will never have another bleed."
Esquivel took a special interest in Connor because he is a cyclist, as is Connor's intestinal specialist, Dr. Lorenzo Rossaro at UC Davis Medical Center. When the doctors found out that Jared had completed the Race Across America the previous summer and that Connor had a dream of joining his dad this year on Team Donate Life, they signed on as well.
Rossaro, who has completed the race three times, will serve on the team's "crew" and, no doubt, oversee Connor's health. Esquivel will be one of the team's eight riders.
Overcoming tough moments
The Race Across America relay – there also is a solo ride – is taxing even for veteran riders. Jared gently suggested to his son that he might wait a year before making the attempt. Connor would have none of it. He saved his money, put a fancy road bike on layaway and started training with his mom and dad. The team wouldn't accept Connor as a member unless he proved himself at the team's October training camp in Park City, Utah. He needed to prove he could ride stages lasting several hours without flagging.
In only a few weeks, Connor progressed to riding 150 miles a week. One night last fall, Jared had scheduled a challenging test ride before the family left for Park City. "There was a big storm and the winds were huge," Jared said. "We went to the steepest hill in El Dorado Hills. Connor's like, 'I don't want to go.' I'm like, 'These are the tough moments. We've got to suck it up and do these things.'
"(Tiffany) and I know we need to keep balance in his life. He's 12, and 12-year-olds don't always want to train. But Connor's fought through those days."
Rossaro marvels at Connor's fitness level, all things considered. "Sometimes we ride together, and I'll pull up beside him and hear him breathing really heavily. His blood count is really low. … His ability to carry oxygen through his blood is low, but he's still on top of it on the rides. That tells you about the power of the mind. When you're motivated, you can do things no matter you much you suffer."
Both doctors say they wouldn't permit Connor to participate if the race posed a danger. "His liver's working well, so that shouldn't be an issue," Esquivel said.
Connor said he appreciates the votes of confidence. He often thinks back to that chilly, hilly February ride in the Sierra foothills and how he overcame the hurt and pain.
"I know that it'll be even harder in the race. But I know can do this." Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/05/02/2716377/folsom-12-year-old-with-liver.html#ixzz0oDHIRr1O

XXX Challenge Complete

What's better after a round of California night golf than a nice juicy burger? Last night our destination was Fatburger in Venice, Ca. Immediately after entering the restaurant the XXX challenge was on...


Eat the entire XXX King Burger and get a certificate and your photo on the XXX Wall of Fame

It's game time... Those XXX Burgers didnt stand a chance at our table Certified XXX handlers
Fatburger was founded by Lovie Yancey in Los Angeles, California in 1952. Although Fatburger was established in 1952, "Mr. Fatburger" was the original name dating back to 1947. Ms. Yancey died on 26 January 2008, according to Fatburger's parent owner, Fog Cutter Capital Group, Inc.
The company remained mostly a California chain until the late 1990s, when it began an expansion in North America. There are currently 93 Fatburger restaurants, including three outlets in Asia and two in the United Arab Emirates.

With a "Spudnuts" donut shop in the same parking lot as Fatburger, you know how this night ended. That's right - we topped off the XXX's with a donut. Oh yeah - don't forget the Diet Coke...