Looks like Cinelli will be releasing a re-up of their infamous Alter Stem! The new Alter will fit 1 1/8th steer tubes (don’t worry it will come with a shim) and will be made to work with oversized handlebars. Hopefully Cinelli will also have a 26.0 option for this stem but no word yet. A lot of things in the works for Cinelli but re-releasing the Alter is definitely the highlight for me! Now just keep your fingers crossed for the 26.0 option…maybe 25.4 if we’re lucky!

One of the eternal problems with cultural change is that not all of the culture changes at the same rate….

By now most LA cyclists have heard about last month’s mini-police riot during the Hollywood Critical Mass, which had as subtheme a protest against the BP oil spill.

In short, the cops used tactics appropriate to violent criminals against citizens who had committed no more than traffic infractions and equipment violations. Worse yet, they engaged in that most reprehensible of police conduct, roughing up and fabricating a phony charge against the fellow who was taping the fracas, just because he was taping the fracas. (He is now suing the LAPD.)

This follows months of work by both the LAPD and the LACBC to better relations between cops and cyclists. This has been working at the higher levels of the police hierarchy, but it hasn’t trickled down to the ranks yet. And it happened when the number of people switching to cycling for transport has been increasing everywhere, from Colorado to Australia.

Maybe they hate our freedom. Or maybe they hate the jerks among us who ride as arrogantly as the worst of motorheads drive. But the evolution continues, at its own pace. Just keep riding. Time is on our side.

All last week LA’s social web was swarming with invites to Bike Town Beta 3, an attempt to transform “a small urban area into a mini bike town for a day.” Great idea: just wander the streets of a small area on your bikes, stopping in at stores and restaurants, hitting up a few events–music, parties, roaming cookouts–arranged or inspired by BTB.

Started right at the hipster dawn, around 12 noon, so after a leisurely brunch at home, we saddled up and rode out into the chosen rectangle bounded by La Brea, Fairfax, 3rd, and Fountain, ready to represent! As we left, Gina said she dreamed of seeing the streets as full of riders as they are in Portland, where we just spent a week checking out the scene.

Alas, LA’s a big town, and while we saw more riders than usual, it wasn’t what you would call swarming.

But we did find the Los Angelopes freak bike party in Plummer Park:

Still, on the street the presence of bicycles was still you might say discreet…but so was the presence of the first mammals scurrying around the feet of all those big clumsy dinosaurs a few million years ago.

It won’t take LA a million years to become a real bike town, one that doesn’t need anyone to make it an “event.” It’s coming soon: we are evolving, baby!

the shop over the holiday!

image from…HERE!