Northtowne Cycling and Fitness

Bike shops usually get the stereotype of being cool, poorly light, dirty, dusty, and well in a sense very gross and unprofessional. Well when people hear the word “shop” that’s what they think. A bike “ shop” is usually perceived or thought of as a bike repair company that usually is on the downfall and has very little business. Now when a person hears the word “store”, their perceptions of this building and company completely change. This is why most bike companies give themselves the title as a bike “store” rather then “shop”.

Although many bike stores throughout the United States are very exceptional and receive good profits and business one bike store that has largely grown and is still drastically growing and expanding is that of “Northtowne Cycling and Fitness” in Cedar Rapids Iowa. This family owned business that has been passed down through three generations is one of the top 100 most successful bike businesses in the country after being ranked as such for many years in the past. Northtowne not only provides bikes, accessories, clothing, and fitness equipment along with a service department but it also sets itself apart from many other bike businesses by having a goal of helping the community and allowing for a healthy and recreationally friendly Cedar Rapids area.

Within the Cedar Rapids corridor many bike trails and bike friendly roads have been expanding with help from businesses like Northtowne through their support of the well being of the community. Beyond the standard bike store sales, Northtowne provides services to the community such as bike learning seminars, support of community bike events like triathlons, running races, and charity bike rides, along with countless other services.

If you were to walk into Northtowne Cycling Fitness you would be confronted by friendly staff that enjoy to help costumers in any way they can. The clean atmosphere and shiny bikes and fitness equipment line the floor and allow for easy observation of bikes of all levels and riding types. Although as a business of having the goal of selling bikes and being prosperous Northtowne’s main goal for the customers to make strong staff to costumer relationships, set up customers with the service, bike, or fitness equipment needed at the time, and create a healthy and recreational community that strives. As you can see Northtowne’s values and beliefs follow guidelines that will always benefit the community and the people that live within it. So if you would like a question answered by a well trained and knowledgeable staff, need a bike or fitness equipment repair, or are looking to find a new bike or piece of fitness equipment then come on over to Northtowne Cycling and Fitness ranked in the top 100 best bike businesses in the nation located at 1150 Blairs Ferry Road NE Cedar Rapids, IA 52402.

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The Transformation; 650b Tires

Throughout the birth of mountain biking about 30 years ago with the upcoming of the first mountain bike sold on the market being the Specialized Stump Jumper which to this day is a leading mountain bike in the trail bike classification, there have been many advances in technology including huge leaps in suspension, frame design and material, and tire size.  With the first few mountain bikes being made out of beach bikes converted with knobby tires into “mountain bikes”. These first make shift mountain bikes made by hippies have changed greatly throughout the years including a great change in the tire size.

The first mountain bikes largely produced until about 10 years ago all ran 26 inch mountain bike tires which allowed for easy handling and sharp turning. With the transformation and production of the 29er wheel size about 10 years ago many bikes including the cross country, and single track bikes gave most bike models the option of having the 29 inch wheel size. This transformation made a huge impact and giant leap in the mountain biking population as more riders found that the 29 inch wheel size had the ability of going faster and carrying speed better. In my case along a select group of others, the 29 inch wheel size wasn’t as appealing as it was being talked up. After riding a 29er for 2 years I found that although the larger wheel size does help with uphill climbing efficiency it is much clumsier around the corners and very awkward when going of the smallest jumps or drop offs. Now with the invention and production of the newest wheel size labeled as the 650b there yet becomes another exhilarating advancement to the mountain biking world. This new 650b wheel size becoming highly produced about 2 years ago is a tire in between the 29er and 26 inch wheel size that allows for a medium between the two extremes.  Although I haven’t been able to try out this new wheel size I would gladly take the opportunity to ride a bike with this qualification. The 650b wheel size allows for the easy maneuverability of the 26 inch wheel while also compensating with the 29 inch wheel size which allows for the ability to carry speed and climb hills more efficiently along with the noticeable increase in ability to roll over roots and rocks easier than the 26 inch wheel. So just based off of other reviews and articles I am very excited about this new leap and invention and would really enjoy testing this out.

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Beverly Bike Park

Although many people within the Midwest don’t consider mountain biking as a very popular sport there are a large amount of hidden trails and parks around the rolling terrain within this region including many in Iowa, considered the “Corn State”. Within eastern Iowa there are many sets of trails that allow for the recreational activity of mountain biking to take place. One of these secluded plethoras of trails can be found within the confines of the city of Cedar Rapids.

Beverly park, established and preserved by the Linn county preservations committees have allowed for this block of land known as Beverly park to be transformed into a set of mountain bike trails that weave through the endangered native trees and plants of eastern Iowa. The group of people that maintain these trails received the name LAMBA, which stands for Linn Area Mountain Bike Association. This association consists of members throughout the Linn county corridor that share similar beliefs and values centered on the preservation and health of the natural areas of the community and the support of single track mountain biking.  This group plans mountain bike events, builds and maintains trails, and helps and supports the committee in many different ways.  Beverly Park along with many other groupings of trails are headed up by this committee including Thomas Park, Squaw Creek, and Sugar Bottom Park. This group allows for the growth of mountain bike trails within the community and has increasingly taken off in support and activity within the past couple years.

This first set built by LAMBA, being Beverly Park is nestled within a small forest in the middle of the urbanized part of south western Cedar Rapids. Someone might not expect for mountain bike trails to be found right within the confines of a city, but this park is an exception, which allows for easy and quick access to some high quality single track mountain biking. So as I said Beverly Park consists of mostly single track and cross country trials which range in difficulty based on the rider’s capability. With most of the trails oriented towards the intermediate riders the 5 miles of trails found here are easily navigated and can be ridden by most people without any serious injury possibilities. Along with these rolling set of intermediate trails marked as blue squares, there are also many features and technical sections that allow for the expert riders to enjoy a challenge. Some of these features include logs, rocks, small drops, berms, steep inclines/declines, sharp and narrow corners and some small table tops and jumps. These hidden trails snake through a large portion of highly shaded forest along with scattered areas of grass lands. Like many trails in the western United States Beverly Park allows for high quality mountain bike riding within the gates of a city based on many reviews like mine who have ridden there many times and am part of the committee known as LAMBA.

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Eastern Iowa Mountain Biking

As a person living in Iowa it is evident that Iowa is a very flat state with little interesting landscaping to the naked eye. Iowa has the contraception of being the “Corn State”, when really after looking deeper a person can find that Iowa has some very distinct and interesting land features that exemplify needs of many recreational needs.

One sport found within Iowa that contains a very small population is the sport of mountain biking. The sport of mountain biking is growing with great leaps across the country and comes in many different types. Mountain bike supporters across the country are building new trails and donating money to local mountain bike corporations. Along with many local volunteer groups there are also many professional trail building companies that come together to build some of the highest quality mountain bike parks across the world. With the largest proportion of mountain bikers and supporters being in the more mountainous states like Colorado the amount of professionally built trails are centered there. With bike parks like Trestle, Copper, Keystone, and Jackson Hole taking in large amounts of bikers a year, little credit is given to the mountain bike trails within some of the more flat states throughout the country.

Many different types of mountain biking have emerged after the last 30 years presiding the invention of the sport of mountain biking. Some of these different types of mountain biking include cross country, single track, endure, and downhill/free ride. These different genres of mountain biking range from steep downhill terrain with large drops, rocks, and jumps to the more mild side like single track and cross-country mountain biking which is much more flat with challenging up hill climbs and sections of moderate to challenging technical features like logs and rocks.

In states with geographical features similar to Iowa cross country and single track mountain biking are very popular and have largely grown in the number of miles of trails. In just the Cedar Rapids area there contains up to 12 miles of single track trails and another 10 miles of trails within a 30 minute drive. These parks include those of Beverly, Squaw Creek, Thomas Park, and Sugar Bottom. These linkages of trails range in difficulty beginning with the green trails and going all the way to expert trails being the double black diamonds. This type of trial labeling in mountain biking is similar to that of skiing. The trails in the Cedar Rapids corridor like others around the country provide a healthy, active, and recreational life style within the community.

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Personal Felt F5 Road Bike Review

As you may have seen in another blog post I had reviewed a mountain bike of mine, considering this I think its time for me to talk about a higher performance road bike that I have and still owed. The advantage of reviewing a bike or car that has been owned by that specific person is a true and throe review of the product. Road bike enthusiasts are usually looking for a bike that will give them the fun and enjoyment they strive for a price that wont brake the bank. As being a teenager I also had to search for a road bike that was suitable to my needs as a rider but had to keep it under a somewhat tight budget. Many road bike advocates ride or look for a bike that is between 1,500 and 2,500 dollars. My main goal in purchasing my bike was to fulfill my aspirations of a full carbon frame a a more top of the line component set. After endless hours of research and test rides last spring I came to the conclusion of buying a 2014 Felt F5.


 The Felt F series is a bike used in many of the professional racing leagues which make their appearances in the Tour de France among many other professional races. This bike is usually appealing to those riders that are looking for a more performance oriented bike that gives the ride a bit of an aggressive riding feel. The F series base model starts out at a price of around 1250 dollars and escalates through a range of models and prices to the grand daddy of the them all the Felt F1 which costs close to 11000. This variance in aluminum to full carbon bikes brings many different people buying this bike based on their budget and performance needs. The base model being the F75 is equipped with a light weight aluminum frame and Shimano 105 shifting components with allows for a light and smooth ride. Now if this model doesn’t satisfy all of your hunger for bike then the next level up brings to the table a full carbon frame and similar shifting components. This model being the Felt F5, which I own comes in at a price around 1,800 which allows for a budget for future upgrades and pedals.


 So whether you’re a professional rider and seek time cutting technology and have no price range then The Felt F1 would definitely satisfy all your needs, but if you’re just a cyclist looking to enjoy a fast and enjoyable bike to ride in times where speed is an encouragement and glory then any of the Felt F series models would fulfill your thirsts to ride without breaking the budget.





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The every day Toyota Camry

The Toyota Camry the top most selling car for the last several years is a car that has been rated as one of the most affordable and reliable sedans on the market. The Toyota Camry offers good gas mileage along with considerable safety measures packed into this small car. This car has been made for many years and still today rivals with some of the more economic family cars on the road. This car is the most seen car on the road today due to its longevity and popularity among both American and Japanese societies.


 Now in saying this I don’t really prefer this car and I actually strongly dislike this car based on its everyday appearance on the roads. To me this car has no intriguing features including the interior, exterior and everything under the hood. The simplicity of the exterior features make this car blend in with every other car that is found on the roads today and doesn’t show any characteristics that set itself apart from any other cars. The interior although can be rather “luxurious” in the upper level models cannot match the luxury brands like Mercedes and Audi. So with this in mind why would you spend more money on a car that appears very boring on the outside with nicer interior features when you could just get a Mercedes or an Audi for a much similar price? So if your not convinced in my view point that this car is about one of the most boring and simple cars that you could buy than keep reading this blog post.


Under the hood there appears to be nothing special either. The base model Camry comes with a 2.5 liter inline four cylinder engine that produces a slim 176 horse power while the more expensive models being packaged with a 3.5 liter v6 produces around 270 horse power which cant even be put to any use or way of fun do to the front wheel drive that pulls this car across the road.


 So if your satisfied with looking like every other person on the road today by driving this drab Japanese piece of you know what then go right ahead and by the new 2014 Camry, but in my opinion I would steer clear of this car and buy something a little more unigue, luxurious, sporty, and fun car like a Nissan Maxima or Chevy Malibu which clocks in around the same price range.



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2011 Giant Trance x2

Throughout the internet there don’t seem to be too many bike reviews that are based off of a bike that has actually been put through its paces but this blog is here to change that. The bike being reviewed by me, the personal owner of a 2011 Giant Trance x2 has become one of the most cost effective mountain bikes that you can buy in my point of view.


 As for me I bought this bike new but a year after it first made its appearance on the market. The original retail for this bike was 2,750 in the year 2011 but when I bought this bike I stole it for right at 2000 dollars which for many avid mountain bikers is a very good price for the amount of bike that you are getting when purchasing this bike. Along with this bargain for a price it brings to the table a light aluminum frame decorated with some of the higher end components. My residency being in the mostly flat and rolling hills of eastern Iowa I don’t need excess suspension and ruggedness in my mountain bike, but this single track bike allows for many types of riding whether your shredding some knurly single track in the mountains or cruising through the most difficult trails in Iowa. This bike can take on about anything and is equipped with a very strong frame and full suspension that allows for you to glide across rugged terrain including rocks and logs. Along with this highly technologically advanced fox shocks system, this bike features some very responsive avid elixir hydraulic braking system which allows for you to stop on a dime. This single track ready bike also presents some of the most rugged single track 26 inch tires that can be found which allow you to shred berms and keep your line without any slipping around the loose corners that can be encountered.


Along with this phenomenal performance found on the trail this bikes shows style in class in the frame, with the curved bottom tube and black frame with just a taste of some electrical blue and white signatures across the entire bike. So after owning this bike for over 2 years I am proud to say that I still own this bike and I would defiantly recommend this bike to any single track mountain biker that is looking for a bike that is a bang for your buck.



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Nissan GTR

Are you looking to purchase a super car but don’t have the doe to afford such an extravagant care? Super cars across the world have some very relative qualifications that describe a car as a “super car”.  There are many different ways a car can qualify as a super car including, the exotic form of the car (limited additions), speed and performance, and luxury. Some people generalize super cars as being overly expensive and unreasonable to the slightly above average person to buy. Most people think that the only people that drive super cars such as a Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Bentleys, high end Audis and BMWs, and Bentleys are those famous singers and sports players but they would be wrong.


 One car that slips between the cracks due to its inexpensive nature and its non-exotic company name. This car that doesn’t always gets the attention that it deserves is the Nissan GTR. The Nissan GTR comes in a few different levels varying slightly in pricing and performance. The brand new GTR Nismo being the highest end performance model comes in around 150000 dollars, while the base model GTR showing little differences in performance comes in at around 110000 which is considered very cheap for a brand new car that can compete with the best super cars in the world. An older model can be found for about 60000 dollars which is a very reasonable price for many car enthusiast that make slightly over the average pay.


 The Nissan GTR when compared to other super cars comes in near the top with a 0-60 time in just under 3 seconds with a 2.8 time. This pure speed is generated by the highly technologically advanced all-wheel drive system which is one of the best in the world, with a 3.8 liter twin turbo charged v6 pushing its way across the road bringing this beast up to around 570 horse power which would rival with some of the top contenders. Very few super cars bring the table just a v6 but most including many Lamborghinis have v10 and v12 engines.


 The reason that this car only containing a twin turbo charged v6 can rival with these competitors for much under the usual 500000 dollar super car is because it is packed so defiantly. Nissan, a very common car company found in every day cars has come together to make this astounding sports car that can compete with the performance of many other super cars at a price that is affordable to many and cannot be beat.         

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Infiniti G35

Today I will be talking about a car that doesn’t seem to get much credit and lime light for the attention it deserves. The Infiniti G35 isn’t always seen on the road everyday, but that definitely shouldn’t give it a bad rep. As I think about it I think that they are unique and are a car that bring themselves away from the average sport sedan seen everyday like the Toyota Camry or Corolla.


 The G35 comes in many different sub models ranging any where from the base model, to the all wheel drive sport sedan, to the rear wheel drive sport coupe. Along with a smooth riding and spacious interior the G35 comes equipped with enough get up and go that would satisfy the average persons needs. Along with its all wheel drive in the x edition this car gets up to 27 miles per gallon with high way driving with a combined miles per gallon of 22. Now you may be thinking that a car with this good of a gas mileage cannot be very enjoyable on those long curvy roads that are thirsty for drivers to tear around the corners. But if you were thinking that than you would be very wrong.


 This sporty sedan comes equipped with a 3.7 liter v6 engine with dual air intakes that would blow the hats off of most sport sedans found in the same class as this particular dream car of mine. This powerful engine produces a whopping 306 horse power that gets the car from 0-60 in around 5.2 seconds. Factors that bring this car up to speed so quickly include the technologically advanced all wheel drive feature that gets the car off the line at break neck speed, along with the efficiently packed Nissan engine also found in the Nissan Maxima. This car as you can see is not only a reliable and fuel efficient beast, but also comes containing many features that bring in the fun and speed of driving including a auto manual sport mode that gives the driver the feeling of driving a high performance car.


 Now you may also be thinking that this kind of car with all these bells and whistles would break the budget but the base model for this car comes in around 32500 which is a very small amount compared to the pure ability of this car. So as you can see along with its luxurious and fuel efficient ability it sports many fun features that can really bring the car up to speed with out breaking the budget.
 

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