🍉 Bike BDS + How to Fit Your Bike to Your Body
NEW CLASS ALERT: TESTERS WANTED
Hello friends,
Before we get into the main attraction of this newsletter, we're holding some more test classes this month. Next Saturday 11 November we have How to Fit Your Bike to Your Body.
THIS IS NOT A BIKE FIT.
In our new class we’ll be teaching you about the three points of contact on your bike (hands 🙌, butt 🍑, feet 👣) and how you can either adjust or change the parts that come in contact with them for comfort.
THIS IS NOT A BIKE FIT
Just because you got your bike in a certain state doesn’t mean it has to stay that way.
The emphasis of this class will be comfort, not speed. THIS IS NOT A BIKE FIT. We are not bike fitters, but we do know what parts of the bike can be adjusted and changed to make your ride more comfortable.
This is a mostly seminar style class, with a couple hands on lessons: how to change your pedals without destroying your cranks, and how to use a torque wrench. Did I mention that this isn’t a bike fit?
You will learn:
the three contact points of the bike and how they can be manipulated for comfort
the different types and styles of parts available to you
what tools you need and how to use them
to be patient with the trial/error process
skills to make adjustments on your own
how to remove/replace pedals
how to use a torque wrench
Tickets are usually £85 but discounted to £60 as we need test subjects and your feedback about class content, teaching style, and goals achieved.
Join us Saturday 11 November 11am - 2pm.
Now moving on to what's been top of mind in the workshop.
The team are pretty horrified by the escalating violence in Palestine.
The death toll in Gaza is now at 9000.
“Gaza has become a graveyard for thousands of children. It’s a living hell for everyone else.” - UNICEF
Petitions sometimes work.
Protests sometimes work.
Boycotts sometimes work. I will be talking about boycotts today.
I used to wonder why Israel got to perform at Eurovision. Or why the Tour de France started in Israel in 2018.
After watching Saffana’s videos I realised why. Propaganda.
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The goal is to make Israel seem like a “normal” European-adjacent "nation-state". (To be clear, it is an apartheid state - see statements by the UN, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International.)
This is the work of marketing and sponsorship. To normalise corporations, countries, or complexes as friendly, every day entities that bring you a source of joy. So they can’t be that bad, and why do I have this sudden urge to drink a Red Bull?
Ineos is on a mission to frack the British countryside.
Shell repeatedly spills oil into and has contaminated the Niger Delta.
But their names are part of the 99% white cycling teams that men in the West are fans of - the brands become quotidien, boring even. Like saying a word over and over again until it has no meaning or connotation. And this is where it becomes dangerous. The sponsor is now separated from their actions, and the sponsee becomes a shield.
n.b. It is noted that the UAE and Bahrain have poor human rights records (both also sponsor pro cycling teams), but neither of them are killing/starving/traumatising millions of people in a concentration camp at this point in time. The “sponsorship as shield” tactic still applies to them though, and while we’re at it, to the entire pro cycling model.
Boycott, Divest, Sanctions
This brings us to money and our cycling industry specific BDS (boycott, divest, sanctions) list. BDS was used as a long term strategy against apartheid South Africa. The idea is to use your spending power and divert funds away from direct and indirect benefactors of apartheid. It takes years to have an effect, but it has been proven to work.
The UK govt wants to ban BDS (I have no idea how they will do this). I mean, it's hypocritical, a boycott is a ban. And Western governments use BDS all the time - they love it! Here is a list of the UK's very own sanctions. Cuba and Iran also come to mind, with US embargoes on goods and the free movement of people. You still can't fly directly into Cuba from the US: "Travel to Cuba for tourist activities remains prohibited by statute."
Back to BDS. Some of these products are actually made in the occupied Palestinian territories, some are companies that invest in having a presence in Israel and therefore support current Israeli apartheid infrastructure (for example McDonald’s provides free meals to IDF soldiers, or Caterpillar provides the armoured bulldozers that raze Palestinian land. They are nick named “Teddy Bear”. Pretty gross.)
Here are some products that are made in occupied Palestine:
Sabra Hummus (we call this apartheid hummus in our house)
Lots of other options out there, including homemade!
Wix websites
Replace with Square! LBK uses Square for our website/POS, and if you sign up and mention us, we get a bonus.
Soda Stream
Replace with Drink Mate, fizz ANYTHING, even milk. A clearly superior product. Here’s my discount code. I love my Drink Mate.
The official BDS list is here. Note that this is not an exhaustive list, as there are hundreds of companies that are either directly or indirectly benefiting from the occupation. But their aim is to target a key handful to create a greater effect.
Google is not a great company but if you’re using Chrome, there’s an extension that helps blur out items on the boycott list when you’re shopping online.
Bike Industry Boycotts for Palestine
The pro cycling team Israel Premier Tech website provides us with a list of bike brands to avoid. Here are a handful:
Maxxis tyres
Orange sealant (we use Muc Off)
Selle Italia saddles (you won’t find these in our saddle library)
Elite water bottles (ours are Specialized!)
Factor bikes
Ekoi apparel
Hammerhead bike computers
FSA (literally any other major component brand is better than FSA)
Ceramic Speed (ceramic is a marketing trend, go with Enduro bearings)
Training Peaks (why not use good ol’ Zwift?)
Some may argue that it’s pointless or that it’s not fair to the workers. I would argue that those words are designed to disempower and keep things the way they are. (See my notes above about how governments impose their own sanctions.) They want to discredit you and make you feel powerless so that you don't do anything or question anything, and thus the status quo is maintained. The truth is that boycotts do work.
If the status quo = genocide, count me out.
Further reading
has written extensively about Zionism ≠ Judaism, and his latest newsletter is a call to all in the West: 
And finally, a stirring write up by a former zionist
. His writing is excellent, his journey is compelling, and I beg you to read it.
Saffana (TikTok copywriting teacher above) has urged those of us who have made the journey from neutral to pro-Palestine to share our story - mine will be coming soon.
Ride on,
Jenni x
p.s. don’t forget we have our test class coming out next Saturday 11 November: How to Fit Your Bike to Your Body!
p.p.s. a sneak peek of some merch coming…
