This just in: Slipstream signs a title sponsor!

It's Garmin, if you haven't heard. Announced in a press release on Wednesday. Looks like the official name for the team will now be "Team Garmin-Chipotle Presented by H30."

I hope they don't change the scheme or kit too much, I kinda like the argyle look. I'm fond of Garmin (and the timing here is interesting - considering I just bought an Edge 305 and was on Garmin's site looking for a downloadable user manual for it), so I guess I should be happy that they're sponsoring one of my favorite teams, but somehow it's a hair disappointing. I've really been hoping that someone exciting would get into the pro peleton - someone like Apple, or maybe Marvel or Pixar or something. A brand with some flair. Right now, the only team with that sort of support is arguably Rock Racing, and I shouldn't have to go in to all the reasons why I think they suck. I actually feel a little dirty having just looked up their website on Google in order to post the link here. . .

This just in!

Not to be outdone by Shimano's recent release of 7900 Dura-Ace, Campagnolo have released (unofficially, at least) details about the next generation of their top three lines, including a new Super Record group.

While I speculated yesterday about the possibility of the new Dura-Ace line introducing incompatibilities, it seems that this will absolutely be the case with Campy stuff, at least for the next few years, before the lower-end groups catch up. The most substantial change seems to be 11-cog cassettes, which will of course require narrower chain, making the newer groups completely incompatible (in theory) with older stuff. The rear shifter and cassette will obviously be incompatible, having 11 speeds instead of 10, but if the rumors of a narrower chain are true, this means the chain and chainrings (or perhaps just chainring spacing) will be different from older stuff, too. At least they're claiming to have fit 11 cogs into the same width that used to hold 10, so freewheel bodies (and hence rear hubs and frame spacing) will not be different, thankfully.

Rumor has it that the Super Record group will have a pricing structure following that of gas pricing atTom's Shell:

This just in: Business slow? Let people touch your cat

Thanks to this news article from the BBC, we now know the real secret to success: Don't just use a stray cat as your new station master: make it your mascot. In fact, don't just make it your mascot - let people "touch her all over the place."

Makes me wonder what is going on off-camera to the left of this picture. . .