Clik here to view.
Employee Appreciation!
Compass Bicycles Ltd. is a small company. What we may lack in size, we make up with passion. And we love our employees – they truly are outstanding! Theo, shown above crossing a stream, is our new...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Golden Age Classic Edition
Rizzoli USA recently re-released The Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles as part of their “Classics” series. This series offers their most popular books in a slightly smaller, handy format at a very...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The First Brevet of the Year
Every year, the first brevet of the season sort of sneaks up on me. I’ve been enjoying bucolic rides with friends for the first months of the year, and then suddenly, the 200 km brevet is just a few...
View ArticleClik here to view.
8 Checks to Get Your Bike Ready for the Season (and PBP)
Whether you are going to ride a brevet with an eye on qualifying for Paris-Brest-Paris, whether you plan to ride a century or race, or whether you just want to enjoy exploring this season, having your...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Compass Introduces Solid Rubber Tires
Flats are a major nuisance for cyclists. Nobody likes them, and various companies have tried to address the issue by adding puncture-proof layers to their tires. However, all these tires don’t address...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Enduro Allroad Bike
Last year’s Oregon Outback was a great test for the ultimate gravel bike. The course consisted of 1/3 rough and soft gravel, 1/3 smooth gravel and 1/3 pavement. The situation is similar to our...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Berthoud Bags: Straps for Elastic-Loop Closure Models
Berthoud handlebar bags are wonderful, and we’ve been selling them for years now. I even wrote once that they were “unimprovable”. It turns out that they can be improved after all! The model most...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Climbing Passes near Kyoto, Japan
I am back in Japan to discuss our new tires with Panaracer, talk to other suppliers, ride bikes, visit friends, enjoy great food… It is delightful to return to places that are starting to become...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fun with Compass Brake Parts: Twin-Blade Skates
My daughter’s science project this year was an interesting one. She had seen a photo of a scooter with two front wheels. She wondered whether she could make an ice skate with two blades. Would it...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Reviews of Compass Tires
When you design a product, develop it, test it and finally bring it to market, you wonder how it will be received. Of course, you are confident that others will like it as much as you do – you...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Not A Museum Piece
When bikes are as stunningly beautiful as the machines from René Herse, Alex Singer and other French constructeurs, it is easy to dismiss them as “beauty queens” or “show bikes.” This would be a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
400 km Brevet: Teamwork is Fun!
“Let the guys on the 650B bikes to the front. They’ll be ahead anyhow.” That is what the organizer of the Seattle International Randonneurs 400 km brevet said before the start. We laughed – what a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hanging Edelux II Headlights
When the new Edelux II headlights came out a little over a year ago, they were another big step forward in lighting technology. Compared to the first Edelux, the new version features a much wider and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Red Lights and the Idaho Experiment
Running Red Lights Few things raise the ire of motorists (and some cyclists) more than cyclists running red lights. Yet anybody who has ridden in major cities has seen riders proceeding through red...
View ArticleClik here to view.
10 Most Important Innovations in Cycling
A while back, another magazine published a list of the “10 Most Important Innovations in Cycling”. The list included things like electronic shifting and Lycra, but left out pneumatic tires… This got...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Summer 2015 Bicycle Quarterly
The Summer 2015 Bicycle Quarterly is at the printer and will be mailed next week. This summer’s theme is a “Journey of Discoveries”. We test the Breadwinner B-Road that won last year’s Oregon Outback....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Riding to the Sea of Japan
Oceans have a strong appeal to me. The Raid Pyrénéen, a ride across the length of the Pyrenees mountains, starts at the Atlantic and ends at the Mediterranean. On our Flèche 24-hour rides, we often...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Compass Bicycles on Instagram
We had so much fun with our Instagram images during last year’s trip to Japan (#BQinjapan) that we decided to start a dedicated Compass Bicycles Instagram account. Follow us at:...
View ArticleClik here to view.
600 km Brevet: coasting, walking and a lot of riding
Last weekend was the Seattle International Randonneurs 600 km brevet. Not only was it the last brevet we needed to qualify for Paris-Brest-Paris, but we also had a goal of finishing it in R60 time: 24...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Which Hand for which Brake?
One of the most confounding questions in cycling is this: Which hand should control which brake? In the U.S., the law requires that all bikes are sold with the left hand controlling the front brake,...
View Article