Chad and Tobie were honored to attend QBP’s Saddledrive event in Ogden, UT last weekend.

More info to come, but one of the highlights of the trip was seeing and riding some of the upcoming 2013 bikes from Salsa and Surly.

Here’s a great glimpse at what’s on the way from Salsa – very exciting.

Hi there.

Welcome, Sage Franklin DePauw.

Thanks for your patience.

I (Tobie) was out of the shop for a bit welcoming a new baby into our home, so I haven’t had much time to update the website. Thank you to all of your well wishes and support – Mommy and Baby are doing very well. We’ve even been getting some sleep!

It’s already been a great summer around here and we’re just getting started. We’ve got new products coming in every week – new 2013 arrivals from Trek, new clothing from Twin Six, and a variety of new products in other categories. We’re working on the new AXLETREE website, too. It’s been good to get some of our ideas out into the world. The site isn’t nearly finished, but we’re getting there.

We’ve got some great group rides rolling out of the shop this year. Our Wednesday night road ride has been steadily growing and getting faster. Our Thursday night road ride has been seeing new riders, too. Thursday is the more moderate ride of the two. The Saturday morning ride has been fairly well attended, but with so many cycling events taking place on Saturdays, riders are often pulled in other directions. We’re always hoping for more riders, and we’re always interested in hearing what type of rides we can offer to meet your needs, so please feel free to let us know how we can improve.

We’re looking forward to some events this summer, too. Biking with Beanzie is a fantastic local event with an improved selection of routes and features appealing to all riders in the community. They will be based at the new DeKalb High School this year and will have a small expo in collaboration with the YMCA’s Pioneering Healthy Communities Program. There will be two “Community Pathway” Routes along the bike paths to get more families to ride together. The Beanzie was created as a fundraiser for the DeKalb Kiwanis to help create and maintain the pathways in DeKalb. They are a great asset to the cycling community, so we hope all of you can come participate in some way. We’ll be there supporting the riders and promoting the AXLETREE mission. There will be a group of AXLETREE riders “racing” the 100mi route to finish under five hours. If you’re interested in that kind of pain, let me know.

Our Trek Summer Sale Event starts July 12th. We’ll be taking $100-600 off our selection of road bikes and many of our best selling cycling essentials will be on sale, too. If you’re ready for a fast bike, or if you’re due for a faster bike, this would be a good time to stop in.

The Custard Cruise, another great family event, will be on Monday, August 6th. We meet at the Hopkins Park shelter and ride to Ollies for custard (on us!). Helmets are required (Dads!), and all children must be accompanied by an adult.  If you miss that one, you’re silly.

We’ve added some new faces to the “About Us” page. They’re not new here, but they’re new there. Dan and Ross have been great additions to our crew. If you haven’t met them yet, you should.

Come In, Ride Away.

This year’s Gravel Metric will be the first official event hosted by NCC’s new non-profit called AXLETREE ™.

ax·le·tree (n): A crossbar or rod supporting a vehicle, such as a cart, that has terminal spindles on which the wheels revolve. See also: Linchpin. See also: The thing that holds the whole dang thing together.

AXLETREE is the product of inspiration, aspiration, and strong legal counsel. We have wanted to create an organization of people who can represent NCC’s heart for advocacy, creativity, and community to a larger and varied audience. AXLETREE will be the organization that hosts all of our riding events. We also hope to gather like-minded people to ride and race under the AXLETREE banner to promote a proactive, creative, and dynamic riding community. We hope this group will help us communicate the needs and hopes of cyclists in DeKalb County to the people that can help us make a difference.

We’ll have more information available soon, but expect awesomeness. In the meantime, please feel free to “Like” AXLETREE on Facebook.