Our New Ad in Wend

We have never really considered advertising in publications outside of cycling, not that they we had anything against them, but usually they are more pricey than we can afford. Wend is an outdoor magazine, but not quite the behemoth that Outside is. They asked repeatedly for us to be in it. We read the freebie issues they sent us and were quite awed by the stories and photos adventure and wanderlust. Our interest was piqued, but kind of forgot about it for a while. But then we just happened to connect with photographer/adventurer Rick Gunn around the same time. He offered to let us use some of the photos from his trip around the world. That's him with his Soma Groove in the background.
Our first ad is in Issue 2 which features photos from the wekeepgoing.com guys and the one above with Rick will be in Issue 3. Try to find Wend on the newstand. Tell us what you think of the magazine. We want to get an idea how many bike riding people read it/like it, etc.

Lil Tuffy Art Show in @ Chrome

San Francisco's very own Lil Tuffy is having an art show on the 25th of June (7PM) and Chrome is hosting!

7-11PM at Chrome (580 4th Street, San Francisco) for some new cycling-related prints by Tuffy Tuffington, SF's finest designer and poster artist.

$1 beers from New Belgium.

All proceeds to benefit the Bike Kitchen.

2Wheels4Girls Update:Big Horseflies and Even Bigger Sunsets

Eleanor is at the Russian/Inner Mongolia border right now. She's been in a town there two nights already due to some bad cold noodles she had for lunch yesterday.

The number of swarming insects out on her route is mind-boggling. On a road to Chichihar(NE China), it was dragonflies and mosquitoes. Four days ago she was encountering horseflies the size of her little toe and aggressive bees, too. Even pedaling at 25kph the bees would stick to her panniers. She's collected about 20 bee stings so far.

At the latitude she's at, the sun look humongous. Yesterday she saw the most beautiful sunset of her life. She just past the 4000km mark on her journey. Go Ellen go!

Armed with just her Soma Saga, a tent and a camera, American Eleanor Moseman is on a solo cycling odyssey from Shanghai to the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and back again. 2wheels4girls project, 17,000 mile bike ride across China in 9 months, is intended to inspire girls to fulfill their real potential and raise money for organizations promoting education for the disadvantaged.

New Double Cross Frames Arriving Soon

The Double Cross has been the frame that we have felt best represented Soma's core values. It is durable, versatile, and practical. And till now, it's never been very flashy. We've always purposefully picked dark or muted colors that would blend into the urban landscape and not draw attention of would-be thieves. This year we break with that just a little with this Double Cross in a tasty Ivory. Don't know why exactly. Maybe it's because we've been working with Rivendell. Maybe it was going to too many hand-built bike shows. Maybe it's just wanting to be in EcoVelo...having them take some of those glorious hyper-idyllic, golden hour shots of our bikes. Whatever.

We think the new ivory frame can make for some inspiring builds. Can't wait to see what you guys do with it. Shops can order next week from Merry Sales and in a couple of weeks from our other distributors. Because of a shipping snafu, matching fork will not be available until late July. (UPDATED: July 26, 2010 - Ivory forks have arrived.)

Quake City Rumble Flyer

Hey, they say all bikes welcome. Let's see some mixte's tearing it up.
We will be throwing down some stuff for the prize booty for this one.

Double Cross DC on test at Mtn. Bike Riders

RL of MtnBikeRiders.com and BikeCommuters.com has been putting a Double Cross DC (Disc/Canti) through its paces for over 2 months now. If you are considering a Double Cross and want RL's opinions on it, feel free to post questions in their blog comment section here or here.

He has set it up with cantilevers and flat bars. He built it as a commuter in mind, but has done a lot of off roading on it, too.

Goofy necessary disclaimer: We did not ask MtnBikeRiders.com for a review, nor are we paying anything for this review.

"Soulcycler" in Nevada City

An event we are co-sponsoring the same weekend as the big bicycle race in Nevada City.

Are you ready for the world?

Then get ready to join writer, photographer, adventurer Rick Gunn for his presentation, “Soulcycler, Words And Images From a 25,811-Mile Bicycle Journey Around-The-World.” “Soulcycler” combines 350 breath-taking photos from 33 countries, set to music, accompanied by a selection of uniquely emotional stories from around the globe. Inspired by a series of formative experiences during his childhood, Gunn delivers a front-row seat to the pursuit of his lifelong dream of cycling the planet.

Ultimately transformed by scenes of war, poverty, and disease along the way, Gunn begins dedicating his journey to the greater good, expanding his definition of what it means to care, to give, and to love. Whether reporting from an orphanage in Nepal, volunteering in an AIDS Hospice in Thailand, Covering Bomb extraction and mine victim rehabilitation in Laos and Vietnam, to simply planting trees in Borneo, “Soulcycler” delivers a first hand account the realization of a dream, the current state of the planet, and what it means to care.

Here's what one viewer wrote about, “Soulcycler”:

“What an honor it was to attend Rick Gunn’s presentation of his 26,000 mile bicycle journey at the Brewery Arts Center Thursday.

The evening was emotionally filled with stories and photographs of his three year journey that simply took your breath away. Images of love, hate, poverty and oppression left one feeling like there was so much more to life than we even know. Gunn is truly a remarkable human being, full of passion for what he believes in. I can only hope we could all share this passion for life.

I left feeling the desire to care more, do more, and yet at the same time, need and want so much less."

Dream Cycle Vancouver Gallery

Darren McKay of Dream Cycle in Vancouver, British Columbia put together a little gallery of some of his more memorable Soma builds. Check it out if you need ideas for a build or just haven't got your dose of bike porn today. Thanks, Darren.

(shown: irene's saga touring, eric's b-side )

Cool Little Bike Trip Video

Troy Blendell's music video of his tour from Washington state to San Fran.
Music: I Am An Excellent Steel Horse by Rock Plaza Central
Stumbled onto it on YouTube while eating breakfast.




He's riding a Soma Double Cross. If you feel that this "amateur video"
has a professional vibe about it, you have a good eye.
After googling Mr. Blendell, I found out he actually has thespian blood
in him and has done feature films and a lot of TV.

Ube's Ice Cream Shop/CalabWear 2010 Launch Party

Locals... in case you don't already have plans for tomorrow night, you can check out the work of Ube's Ice Cream Shop. The launch party at Lower Haters is supposed to be kid-friendly, so no need to find a last minute sitter.

Ube's does custom frame painting with his own urban flair, using multiple layering effects to generate color effects that have an iridescent appearance (changing colors within the paint). Whenever he gets a chance he'll add metallic flake or pearl within the paint and the clear coat to add to the multidimensional look of the object.

The Creatives: Episode 4 - Ube's Ice Cream Shop from Jake Wiens on Vimeo.

First Photos: 2010 Groove

The Groove is our retro-ish 26" hardtail. It borrows some geometry cues from the heavily praised Breezer hardtails of the 90's. It has a shorter top tube than most XC race hardtails available now, which gives it a neutral and predictable handling characteristics. Because of it's unique geometry, it is also easier to transform this into a touring bike than with current race hardtails. We call the new color Capucchino. Available to shops now from distributors.

Speaking of touring, more than a couple of Grooves have seen action in mountain passes in Tibet over the years. Most noteworthy would be photo-journalist and adventurer's Rick Gunn's 3 year trek around the world. He counted on a USED Soma Groove to take him on the last 17,000 miles of his trip. He currently gives travelling presentations (Soulcycler) sharing his life-altering cross cultural journey in pictures and stories. If you happen to be checking out the Nevada City Classic race on the weekend of June 20, be sure to check out his show. (Update: Showtime: Sat. 6/19 Nevada Theater, 6 to 9pm)

Sneak peek of Soulcycler:



Rick Gunn in Ankra, self portrait