Second Annual Peak Region Bicycle Show

Burning down the House in C-Springs

Report and images by Jordan Carr

Colorado Springs, CO—With beautiful spring weather creeping in, good vibes were in the air at the second annual Peak Region Bicycle show in Colorado Springs. Retailers, bike builders, and various companies packed in to the Norris Penrose event center to showcase new products for the 2010 season.

Mostly Colorado Springs based businesses were in attendance, which was a surprisingly diverse group. SRM had the most interactive booth of the day, offering participants the chance to test out their max power per kilogram of weight.

Other exhibitors included local bike builder Eric Baar of Ground Up designs, who brought out an array of artfully crafted bikes as well as one that served another purpose. As he pressurized a fuel canister mounted to the frame, I realized I was in for a surprise. As he lit the oil lamp mechanism mounted on a custom rear rack I could hear the crowd gasp with excitement. With the push of a button and the spray of some race car fuel, the bike shot out an amazing three foot flame. I am excited to see what else Ground Up has in the cooker for the upcoming season.

Other highlights of the show included new products from Magura, Maverick, Sram/Rock Shox, and Rocky Mounts. The show also was able to bring in some local bicycle influenced art work, offering viewers an idea of the potential of old bike parts. One local artist constructed a complete bicycle statue solely out of old bike chains. Peak Region Cyclist Publisher and show promoter, Jon Severson felt the show was a success.

“It’s a great way to start the season” he said, talking bikes and training with 900 other cycling fanatics is a great way to get your mind back in the saddle."

While in Colorado Springs I also had the opportunity to take little tour around the U.S. office of German-based power meter manufacturer SRM, whose main US office is based in Colorado Springs. I was amazed at how intricate power meters really are, measuring every little bit of pressure applied to the crank arms. Greg Frozley explained the building and repair process that takes place in the Colorado Springs facility.

“In this office we mainly just do repairs and battery changes but also build power meters for all the US teams,” said Frozely.

SRM can fit its power meters to almost any cranks on the market, with a little machining the meter bolts right to the driveside crank arm and allows for data to be sent to a headunit mounted conveniently on the handlebars. Along with measuring power in watts, the meters measure speed, cadence, and kilojoules (calories).

For more information on next years show please visit Peak Region Cyclist

German invasion: Magura sent the illustrious Tony Ballantine up from Santa Fe to show off the latest Magura goodies.	Some of the local Bicycle influenced art on hand at the show.	A bike made completely of chain. Can you think of a better way to recycle those old stretched out chains?	Ground-Up Designs flame thrower bike
The first showing of the Carbon DUC 36 with its production graphics	Greg Frozely showing the inner workings of the SRM powermeter, you may need a magnifying glass.	How many watts can you do for 5 seconds?	Another Colorado Springs area bike builder Tessier was on hand, this Titanium mountain bike frame displayed some of his work.