Park Tool’s Big Blue Book of Bicycle Repair 2nd Edition.

Click through for details and purchasing info.

Andrew Bamberg ran a stop sign in Redwood City, California. He was sentenced to a year in jail.

There’s more to the story, of course. Bamberg got a ticket in March 2005 for running the sign. In traffic court, he tried to deceive the judge by showing photos of a different intersection that has no stop signs. When Traffic Commissioner Susan Greenberg told Bramberg she planned to visit the intersection, Bramberg actually swapped the street signs with those from another intersection.

His legal gymnastics earned him a year in jail, which the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco upheld this week.

Read more in the Chronicle. And if you want avoid him in traffic, here’s Bramberg’s photo.

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 lowers allowable lead levels for all children products. The bicycle industry freaked when they realized there’s no way they can sell bike tires, brakes and other components with legally required lead levels.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) stay, which was announced in May, takes effect today. The CPSC will not apply this limit to certain parts of bicycles, jogger strollers, and bicycle trailers after the Bicycle Products Supplier Association (BPSA) submitted a petition with data suggesting that the components in children’s bicycles and related products contain lead in amounts not greater than those permitted under the RoHS and ELV Directives.

According to the BPSA, attaining the required lead levels is technologically impossible or replacement materials are not available in the quantities required. I know several companies planned to just stop bike and accessory sales in the United States, so I’m sure they’re all breathing a sigh of relief.

The bike industry is not completely off the hook — the CPSC Stay expires in 2011. The industry is expected to have new manufacturing processes by then.

The BPSA incurred tens of thousands of dollars in legal and other expenses as they petitioned the Federal government to delay the lead requirement, forcing the BPSA to levy additional dues on their members.

Read complete details in The Federal Register publishing this rule. A public hearing was held March 11, 2009 at the CPSC to discuss this issue; watch the video here.

This is interesting: The Canadian mountain bike component manufacturer Syncros Applied Technology has added eCommerce functionality to its website with a twist — fulfillment is via a local bike shop.

“Consumers consider the Internet one of their greatest shopping resources,” said Steve Parke, general manager and vice president of marketing for Syncros. “Authorized Syncros retailers also offer consumers service and expertise that help them get the most out of their purchases. Now Syncros gives consumers the opportunity to buy their components online and have their local dealers fill their orders. This makes shopping for components more convenient and helps them maintain their relationships with the local shops.”

The press release I got suggests the retailer is repsonsible for shipping the order to the customer, so I’m not sure what the benefit to the local bike shop is. The idea is that the customer deals with the local bike shop instead of directly with the manufacturer.

What do you think? Is this hybrid ecommerce/LBS model something that could work to benefit the customer and the local retailer?

Syncros is owned by Ritchey Design.