Sol Cycles growing bamboo frames

Craig Calfee's not the only one making bikes from bamboo. Princeton student and racer Nick Frey is racing this spring's collegiate season on a prototype bamboo frame. Frey and some partners plan to put the frame into (custom) production this summer, to be marketed under the Sol Cycles name.

Frey's bike, a 62-centimeter, weighs 16.2 pounds built up with mostly Dura-Ace parts and Zipp 404 wheels.

Frey says the brand name was chosen because the first bamboo tubes were sourced from Brazil, where O sol ("The sun" in Portuguese) helps grow the plant. Sol "also has a cool phonetic relationship with Soul," Frey says.

You can learn more at Frey's blog.

Special edition Bettini Sidis

Bettini's special edition Sidis.

Photo: Courtesy Sidi

Quick Step's Paolo Bettini says he's changed almost everything at some point in his long career: team jerseys, bikes, managers and teammates. But he has used Sidi shoes the whole time.

This May, the company is offering a special edition Ergo 2 Carbon shoe that includes rainbow stripes to honor his two world championships and gold accents to honor his victory at the Athens Olympics.

The shoes will be packaged in a special box containing a gold crown and a white autographed shoe bag. Suggested retail is 375 Euros, or about $570.

BTI brings Commencal to the U.S.

Santa Fe, New Mexico, distributor BTI is now importing Commencal mountain bikes from Andorra.

The fast-growing brand, which sponsors pro riders including 2003 Red Bull Rampage winner Cedric Gracia, has been around since 2000, but has not previously been available to U.S. dealers.

The line-up includes cross-country, downhill, four-cross, dirt jumping and Super D models. Many models have an unusual adjustable head angle and highly tunable rear suspension linkage that allow riders to tune their set-up for their preference or the terrain.