One thing led to another, as it so often does …summers in this town. The spring and early summer of 2008 brought its stories of success and a whole lot of bikes. It’s all been a whirlwind.

Martin’s still has some 2008 stock left. Several of the models on our sales floor from Trek and Specialized are no longer available in Canada. Everything in stock is currently discounted. Swing by, ring us on the phone, or visit our Catalog for a peak at some of what’s still in stock.

Building up any Santa Cruz frame is a pleasant task to take on; kinda like having cake and eating it too.

This Nomad build-up was a particularly sweet one. All of the best component-classics came out of the woodwork, including an XTR drivetrain and King hubset.

Eric started with a headset install that caught everyone’s attention in the shop:

Chris King Link
Read the rest of this entry »

There’re a list of fantastic new bikes in Martin’s road shop this spring. Some of the new members of our concise “sales program” include: the very aggressively priced
Cervelo RS, the beautiful new Litespeed Archon and Icon, and the gorgeous and very affordable Specialized Tarmac Elite.

Martin’s Swiss is also very pleased to announce the arrival of Capo Forma apparel. Capo is another fantastic brand that Martin’s is proud to boast among the many fine brands that grace our sales floor.

Swing by the shop and check out all the new models while they’re still available! We also have all the new 2008 models that brought us success in 2007.

The Shimano line-up is very important to us at Martin’s Swiss. However, this YouTube clip is an excellent example of why more and more of the Specialized and Santa Cruz bikes in our mountain shop are coming equipped with Sram components. …Sram’s road component groups have also claimed quite a bit of success amidst our Shimano-dominant road shop.

SRAM Link

Two bikes that can’t really be compared. So… we shouldn’t compare them then.

The Specialized Demo 7 and Santa Cruz Blur LT seem quite different, and they are, but they actually exist together at opposing extremes of a market that has changed again and again and has been sold under many names.

This’ll be the first of a Martin’s website series on “Trail Bikes”: dual suspension mountain bikes that’re versatile enough to escape “XC” or “DH” classification. These bikes have recently benefited from incredible developments technologically and somehow, are still confused in a labyrinth of marketing jargon. In this series we’ll discuss what we’ve been throwing a leg over and seek out the best bikes for a variety of trail-riding applications. Though we’ve already been distracted by what’s new for the ‘08 season, we’re gonna start off this series with what has already defined what trail bikes are for us at Martin’s Swiss Cycle. Read the rest of this entry »

There was a long list of incredible booths at this year’s Vegas Interbike show. It’s not that it’s a contest or anything …maybe it kinda is, but if we had to choose one company to talk about first; it would have to be SRAM.

(click the pics. to read more about SRAM and the Interbike story)

Competition in “the industry” is getting fierce! The new Specialized TriCross Expert is officially the first new model in the shop for the 2008 season. The cyclo-cross bikes always land early, just in time for cross-season, but this year Specialized beat Kona’s Jake the Snake on delivery by just a few days.

Before we have a peak at a list of new toys that have just landed lets first mention that the cyclo-cross season has taken off at Martin’s: the Jake the Snakes and the TriCross Experts have arrived and are on the sales floor, off-season gear is starting to roll in, and the weekly rides have officially turned from the road to well, anywhere your cyclo-cross bike’ll take you. Give us a call on the phone, or send us an email to find out what the scoop is on the Tuesday and Saturday shop rides.

Back the TriCross: 

The TriCross Expert was a serious horse in 2007; aside from its bombproof frameset, it had a beautiful parts spec and looked fantastic, but somehow, for the new season, Specialized has managed again to push the limits of price/value feasibility. The 08 bike is built on the proven aluminum frameset/carbon-fork-and-seatstay combo and is dressed in a Sram Rival groupo instead of the Ultegra kit that came part of the 07 equipment.

Select the cover story image to scroll through more on the new TriCross Expert as well as pictures of some of the other hot stuff that’s been in the shop recently.