Best looking urban bike

If you are looking for a very stylish yet sporty-looking bike, the germans have what you are looking for. They go by the name "Urban 8" and "Urban 26" and they are the coolest things on two wheels that you can ride in the city  without wearing a helmet.

The Urban 8 looks like a fixie, but don't be fooled. It's got a Shimano Alfine hub with 8 internal gears, so even if it doesn't have a cassete, it will still be able to take you up and down a hill. It also has a state of the art, silent belt drive system.

It's smaller brother is called Urban 26 and as the name implies it sits on 26" wheels. Unlike the Urban 8 it's got a Shimano Deore drivetrain with 27 speeds, and has beefier tires, the choice being the 50-559 Schwalbe Kojak's.

The price you have to pay for these sleek tarmac riders is $1.500 and $1.200. More about the specs you can  find on the Focus bikes website.

Focus FSL

Cyclocross World Champion Mike Kluge founded Focus Bikes in 1992. Since then, the company grew so much that now they sponsor top teams in competition.

In 2011, they launched a new bike, that will be placed between Thunder and Project in the company's offer. It's name ..... FSL. It's short from First Super Light. 

It will be available in four models, ranging from the top-end 1.0 ($9,700) with a SRAM XX group, a RockShox SID XX fork, and DT Swiss carbon wheels, to the more affordable 4.0 ($4,400) with a Shimano Deore XT package, a Fox 32 RL fork, and alloy DT Swiss hoop.

It's got a unique positioning of the rear shock, being semi-integrated in the top tube. 

Image via mtbr.com


See it in action in the following video.

More about the FSL on the Focus website

Team Katusha before the stage

Focus bikes has on the sponsoring roster for 2011 Team Jelly Belly and Team Katusha. The latter was founded for the start of the 2009 season, out of the former Tinkoff Credit Systems squad, and had a large budget, in excess of 15 million euros. This allowed them to sign important athletes, such as Robbie McEwen, Vladimir Karpets, Filippo Pozzato and Gert Steegmans.

See the pre-race preparations and some race footage of the team in action. I wish them good luck in all of the competitions they will attend.

Team Katusha website

Cycling in paradise

Who says Schwalbe Racing Ralph's don't look good on a Focus Mares AX1? But forget about the choice of tires and focus on the lush landscapes of Mauritius. 

This small volcaninc island was part of the United Kingdom until 1968, wich explains why people drive on the left side of the road. It's a small paradise in the middle of the Indian Ocean, and someone went there to ride in it.

Amazing landscapes and soothing music.

Largest bike manufacturer

When you pose the question "Who is the biggest bicycle builder in Europe?" the numbers say that Germany has a company that sells more then any other in the old continent.

It's called Derby Cycles and produces bikes under the brands Rixe, Raleigh, Kalkhoff, Univega and Focus. Their products range from e-bikes to high performance racing machines used in the UCI competitions.

In the following video we'll take a look at their state of the art factory and testing procedures. You could say this is a "How it's made" episode for the cycling enthusiast.

Derby Cycle website