I’m not really much of a shopper but when I hear “bike gear deals” my ears tend to perk up. Here’s a quick run down on deals to be had on Black Friday, November 27, 2009.

REI is giving away gift cards and reusable shopping bags to the first 300 customers through the door Friday morning. The gift cards will range in value from $5 to $100 and doors open at a leisurely 8 am. Sweet.

JensonUSA has put together some online Black Friday deals that will be available starting at 12:01 am Pacific time (that’s 3:01 am for us east coasters). Not sure exactly what the deals will be but be sure to check the JensonuUSA homepage early to see what’s on sale!

Performance Bike is offering 20% off to customers who shop between 9am and 12 noon on Black Friday (and also on Saturday and Sunday). The discount seems to cover EVERYTHING including bikes so if you’re thinking of getting a new rig, now may be the time. In addition Performance is giving customers 20% off online purchases over $75 today and Thanksgiving day. Nashbar.com is offering the same online discount.

HuckNRoll doesn’t seem to have a Black Friday deal per se but they have put together a slick looking holiday gift guide. Also be sure to check out their Spring & Summer gear sale where stuff is up to 50% off.

Pricepoint.com is holding their “Biggest Sale of the Year” through December 31 but then again, they always seem to be having a sale.

Know of other bike gear Black Friday deals? Post ‘em up in the comments!

About a year and a half ago I wrote about mountain bikers’ carbon footprints (er, carbon tracks) and a press release from Performance Bike got me thinking about Green MTB once again. For most of us mountain biking wouldn’t be quite as appealing without beautiful, natural places to ride so we really have a vested interest in doing our part to protect the environment. Anyway, here’s a snippet from my first Green MTB post:

Assuming you drive an average of 15 miles each way to the trail and you go riding twice a week that’s more than 3,000 miles of driving per year just to ride your mountain bike! I personally don’t get to ride quite that often but when I do I generally take day trips of up to 100 miles from my home so 3,000 annual miles isn’t much of a stretch for me. Anyway, 3,000 miles of driving releases over 1 ton of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which you will promptly breathe back in when you finally get on the trail.

I went on to offer 3 tips for reducing carbon emissions associated with driving to trailheads and the good news is that the price of gas and IMBA’s Ride Center concept are helping with #1 and #3 respectively.

Performance Bike has identified another source of pollution associated with biking and it’s one I hadn’t thought of before: used inner tubes (and tires). It’s estimated that 14 tons of discarded bike tubes end up in landfills in the SF Bay Area alone each year - that’s a lot of used rubber! This weekend Performance is offering $5 gift cards to anyone who brings in old tubes to Bay Area stores where the tubes will be recycled and used in Alchemy Goods messenger bags and accessories. Unfortunately gel-filled and thorn resistant tubes can’t be recycled - just one more reason to go tubeless!

Performance Bike seems to be pretty committed to the environment in other ways as well and is offering $20 gift cards to Bay Area commuters to encourage biking to work. Back in 2006 Performance became the first national sports retailer to use 100% wind power for its stores. Nice.

Even if you aren’t in the Bay Area you can still find creative ways to re-use mountain bike tires and tubes. I use old tubes for chain stay guards and I’ve even seen MTB tires turned into bean bag chairs. The same properties that make rubber bad for the environment also make it super durable and almost infinitely reusable.

What are some other ways you’ve found to keep mountain biking green?