My newest road bike, Foundry Ratchet!

You may already know, I have a few bikes. Of which there are some pretty sweet road bikes. This is the latest edition to my stable, the Foundry Ratchet. A new brand of high-end, high-performance carbon fiber race machines. While my racing days are far behind me, I do still enjoy going "fast". My steel bikes are certainly champs, and up for any and all I can dish out, but something about a stiff super light carbon bike just feels fast. The power transfer and acceleration are unlike anything else I have ever ridden. I have already managed to put about 120 miles on this bike since Sunday, and I'm totally loving it. Looking forward to collecting thousands more miles on it throughout the spring and summer.

Announcing Foundry's Tradesman Search

The Ratchet

File this under totally awesome: Foundry Cycles, a new bike brand we're super excited about, is launching a nationwide search for five Foundry Tradesmen and women - ambassadors for the brand. "Why is this so awesome, and what does it have to do with me?" you may ask. Check it: These are dependable, performance-oriented bikes made to have the crap ridden out of them, and the responsibility of the Tradesmen and women is to do just that: ride them, talk about them, take them to races, commute to work and the store, let people take them around the block, answer questions about them, and document their experiences with the bikes. This is no small responsibility, so Foundry's Tradesmen and women get a free Foundry bicycle of their choosing for their trouble (and to have something to write and talk about!). This kind of opportunity doesn't come along very often - apply to be a Tradesman here!

The Auger

Bryan gave us a sneak preview of the bikes here, but let's review:
Foundry is the newest brand to emerge from the QBP brain trust (the home of Surly, All-City, and Salsa, among others). Based on the principle that a bike should be "like a well-crafted tool - crafted to work, crafted to last", the company is offering three bikes for 2012: the Ratchet, a road bike, the Auger, a cyclocross bike (in disc and non-disc versions), and the Router, a hardtail 29er. All are full carbon bikes, rigorously tested for strength and durability, with top-notch parts packages selected for their reliability.

The Router

The venerable Dirt Rag got a chance to do an exclusive test ride on the Router and they loved it. You can read about it here. I'm sure we are going to be reading a lot more glowing Foundry reviews as the bikes roll out!

Introducing: Foundry Cycles!

We had some visitors today, our good friends from QBP (Quality Bicycle Products) in Minnesota. Industry leaders and innovators, who have brought you favorites such as Surly, All-City and Salsa. Now bringing Foundry Cycles to your favorite local bike shop.

We are excited to be offered the opportunity to partner with this new brand from our favorite distributor in the cycling industry, bringing you form and function in carbon fiber.

First we have the Router, Twenty-Nine inches of off-road fun! Three solid parts package options with the finest that SRAM, Rock Shox and Avid have to offer at $2900 for X7, $3500 for X9, and $5000 for XX.

Next we have the Auger. Cyclo-Cross action with 4 build packages offering rim brakes and disc brakes, in SRAM Rival for $3000 or SRAM Red for $3400.

And last, but not least, the Ratchet. A road machine that will surely leave you breathless. Available built with SRAM Force for $3200. and SRAM Red for $4200.

All three available as frame/frameset as well, with an unprecedented 10 Year Warranty! And just because sometimes things don't go quite as planned, a crash replacement policy bringing you 30% off of a brand new frame in the event you wipe out and break your Foundry Frame.

Hard working bikes, for hard working folks!

Looking forward to some of these rolling into the shop early 2012. Stay tuned for more news.