This section has links to manufacturers of bicycle parts that I either use, have used, or would give a positive recommendation to if asked about their quality. Since European's have a love for bicycles first and money second, many of my links are for European companies. Since most of the Japanese companies love your money only and don't give a hoot about quality, I didn't waste your download time to sites with stuff that is overrated, over promoted, and generally given too much credit.

I have never ridden on anything with Avocet components, but I have heard that they make good stuff. They publish Jobst Brandt's wheel book so they probably wouldn't like this site! From what I have heard about it though, it is probably the best wheel book in print if you want to get even more technical.

The helmets Bell makes, I feel, offer the best in strength and fit. Many other helmet companies have changed what they make to match the Bells. Once when the wind blew my bike over onto my helmet, while I was locking it up, Bell exchanged it under their replacement policy without any trouble.

What could a real bicycling link page be without Campy? They make the strongest, most reliable and durable bicycle parts that can be found. If only they still made Mountain bike parts.... If you haven't done it already join their Fan club.

Chris King makes real strong headsets. I am sure their other parts are also high in quality.

When it comes to handlebars, Cinelli makes ones that I don't bend. They are a subsidiary of Columbus, so they also have a line of nice frames that are very elegant.

DT is my spoke of choice. They make very good, high quality spokes and their butted spokes are cold formed, not drawn like other butted spokes, which actually makes them stronger. DT's hold up well over time, I have never had a DT rust or get dull, even on wheels that I have that are 15 years old and the wheels for my mountain bike that I use every winter in the rain.

Gargoyles sunglasses are almost as needed as a good helmet. They make eye wear that is impact resistant, optically correct so they don't distort your vision or tire you eyes, and sell for about half of what many inferior sunglasses sell for.

Hi Sunglasses, Oakley Sunglasses and many more Designer Sunglasses on Sale.

Magura makes hydraulic brake systems. They have complete wheels, brakes for caliper systems, and disc brake systems including hubs.

I have built many wheels with Mavic rims. They have good quality and stand up to heavy use for a long time.

Park makes tools ranging from low cost home use items to professional quality products used by most bike shops. Their tools fit the nuts and bolts really well, and their special wrenches also fit and last has good as any.

Phil Wood's produces a bottom bracket that only Campy can beat. I also use their waterproof grease, it really seals well when you use a generous amount and has sealed many open hubs and pedals I have used on my mountain bike. Their grease is also what I used when building wheels for my initial spoke prep grease.

The Selle Italia Flight saddle fits my shape better than any others I've tried. While this is totally dependent upon a persons bone structure, their super light flexible Flights work like little suspension systems. If you have narrow hips and a small build, they will probably be real comfortable for you. I use them on both my road and mountain bikes.

Sidi makes probably the best cycling shoes available. They are the only road shoes I have ever worn and have lasted me for thousands of miles. They make mountain shoes that have inner support, unlike most of the competition, which helps transfer the power just like in road shoes.

SRAM makes about the best chains around. They last, are very strong, and now have a Power Link that can be connected together with your hands and taken apart with regular pliers, great for when you need your chain off the bike for tune up/repair work. You only need a tool to get the length right. Right now all my bikes have SRAM Power Link chains.

Vetta makes a few components that have given friends of mine good service. I used to ride a Vetta saddle before I switched to a Selle Italia. It held up well, but the Selle Italia fitted me better.

Zefal makes all kinds of little parts for bikes, from fenders to pumps. I use their Isotherm bottle when it's below freezing out, and it has kept water fluid for me longer than 4 hours.

This section has links to a few frame manufacturers, mainly for road frames. I am partial to steel, because it is the most dynamic and forgiving material frames are made from. Some of these companies also make frames from titanium and aluminum, but these have drawbacks that I feel make them inappropriate for the majority of riders. All of the frame manufacturers listed have exceptional quality.

Bianchi makes some really nice bikes has well as selling only frames. For the money, their bikes offer top performance and are quicker handling than the competitions models. For their road frames they offer steel, titanium, and aluminum models. They also make a full range of mountain frames covering downhill, fully suspended or hard-tail designs, also out of all three materials depending on the frames particular application.

Ciocc is a small Italian company that has made some really terrific frames over the years. My road bike is a classic 1984 Ciocc CLX Super Record Pro, and it rides so good I just cannot get rid of it! It's made with Columbus SLX tubing, has super tight geometry that that makes it turn on a dime. And it rides so firmly that when flying down hills at 50mph+ it's as stable as a motorcycle. While Columbus doesn't make SLX anymore, Ciocc does offer one model made with Columbus Sprit tubing, which is Columbus's best present steel and produces a frame weight of 3 pounds, which is right in line with many aluminum, titanium and carbon fiber frames. I also know from first hand experience that steel frames can take a beating and not suffer any damage. In addition to road frames, Ciocc now also makes a Cyclocross frame and some Mountain Bike frames as well, and their opening page shows a carbon fiber tandem that appears to have been specially built (it's not listed in their product line).

Colnago makes some really nice frames in all materials, aluminum, steel, titanium and carbon. Much of the tubing they use is custom made to their specifications. Most of the frames have front fork options, including carbon and a straight blade designs. Their Web site is only in Italian, but if you don't understand Italian, you can still gather some information from all of the pictures and such.

Gios makes some very nice steel and aluminum frames. They have tubing customized to their specifications, and still make a lugged frame that has a 'Classic' look with modern geometry.

For cyclists that live where the best bike store in town caries only Huffy® bikes, mail order companies are a ride saver! All of the listed companies have good service and between them can provide everything from frames to clothes.

Alfred E. Bike carries 15,000 items and keeps their prices very low.

Bicycle Classics is another vintage bicycle dealer. They are a good contact for repair of your classic racing bike with their excellent supply of little parts and high wear items like brake shoes, bolts and chains.

Bike Nashbar carries a full line of cycling gear, from child carries and kid helmets to racing level components.

Colorado Cyclist carries high end cycling gear. They carry the LITESPEED titanium bicycle frames, and other racing level road and mountain frames.

Excel Sports carries high end cycling gear. Their bike line includes cyclo-cross frames and single speed frames and gear. They also have a good selection of small parts.

Loose Screws has a very good inventory of small bicycle parts. I often use them to get hard to find small parts, and even have some NOS classic parts like some Super Record Campy items.

ORS Racks Direct is an Internet shop dealing exclusively with rack systems for cars.

Performance carries a full line of bicycling needs. Their on-line catalog shows more of their inventory than their mailed catalog. Most of the components they carry are mid-high range cycling gear. For clothing, I've found the Performance line to have very good quality and fit at a really good price.

RBikes is the oldest bike shop in Chicago. They sell only the best bikes and frames like Ellsworth, Santa Cruz, Trek, LeMond and Schwinn. They also sell custom built bicycles.

If you have a classic bike that you still ride, or are restoring a classic lightweight, this is a site for you. They have their main office in Switzerland and have access to numerous parts that are very hard to find in America.

These are other Web sites that have information about cycling resources on the Internet. The information and links from these sites probably covers just about everything on the Internet related to bicycles.

Alpencross is a Swiss mountain bike touring company. They offer some very interesting mountain bike tours through the mountains of southern Europe. The routes vary from casual to rather difficult, and some are supported while others are not. The routes go through Switzerland, Austria, Italy and Germany, some stick to a single country, some go through several. Their site is in German so you might need to use a translator, such as the one available on Alta Vista (below in Search Engines).

Bicycle Clubs has the most bicycling information in one area that I have seen. It has listings for most of the bicycle clubs in America, even those that don't have Internet sites. There is also a wealth of information in all aspects of cycling. From this site you can probably access all of the cycling sites on the Internet, either directly or through a site this area has a link to.

This is a non-Campagnolo run site that thinks like I do about quality. They have a ton of stuff about Campy. The say to tell your friends to think ShimaNO.

This site has an enormous collection of bicycling related links.

MTBR has almost everything you can think of dealing with Mountian Bikes, including product reviews, forums, and classified ads.

This is a sister site to MTBR with many of the same categories but they are targeted at road bikes here.

The Sublime Directory is a web directory that has a sports category that has links to cycling web sites.

This is the United Bicycle Institute technical chat room. It is one of the best information exchanges I've found. Unlike the mail rooms, which always come up differently, this room is 'static' so it's easy to find something you've found before for either input or reference. It is part of the United Bicycle Institute's site, which is a technical bicycle training school, for prospective shop mechanics and people who would like to learn how to build a frame.

The clubs listed in this section were nice enough to have a link to my site. They are listed alphabetically, and you might find one in your area to go on organized rides with or to provide other bicycle related information.

This club is located in Woodlyn, Pennsylvania.

This is a touring club in Kingsport, Tennessee.

This club is located in Oakland, California.

This club is located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

This club is located in the Westchester County, New York area.

This club is located in Palo Alto, California.

These search engines have a link to my site so I put this area together as a "thank you" to them. One thing I have learned about the Internet is that there is so much information available that no single searcher has references to all that is out there. One of these engines might be able to connect you with something you'd like to find but haven't been able to.

If you find a dead link, have recommendations for potential links or any other information for me about this page, please send an e-mail. My e-mail address is: