Thursday, December 30, 2010

Friday, December 24, 2010

Friday, December 17, 2010

Hard tire safety for sale

For sale. email - bikeville@gmail.com
Hard tire safety.
Exposed headset.
Curved seattube.
Radial spokes.
Missing grips.
Otherwise original. With faint pinstripe and remnants of original decal.
































- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Christmas Gift Idea- Bicycle Headbadge


they range anywhere from $10 on up to $75. We also have some patches too.
Stop in and take a look.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Ikea give Employees bicycles

Reported at Philly.com- Ikea gave 12,400 employees bicycles, as a reward for a good year, and a bicycle because it "supports a healthy lifestyle and everyday sustainable transport," says Ikea Spokeswoman- Mona Liss.

Pretty cool. I like that they were they were smart to not put an ikea decal on it, so it does seem more like a gift than a rolling advertisement.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Cool old shop photo- 1912 Detroit

Detroit, Michigan, circa 1912. "Metzger bicycle shop. Detroit City Gas Co."
(originally posted on Shorby.com)
Notice, not a single black tire, all the tires are natural rubber.
Nice mixture of single tube pneumatics, Victrolas, and early motorcycles.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Pedal sorting

When it a little less busy in the fall and winter we begun to organize the shop, after a busy summer. One of the tasks is trying to make sense of all the mix-matched pedals, ones that do not have a mate. We use these for repairs and sales. fun.

it's not all glamorous with Roger Piel or Campagnolo pedals, mostly these.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Restoration Styles

Lovely Bicycle! - a great blog bicycles and cycling, just had an interesting post about the restoring of older bicycles. They broke it down to 4 main categories-

The Full Restoration Approach-Make as original as it was when first built, replace worn parts with exact replacements of what it originally came it.

The All-Original Approach- Keep it all original, as the title suggest. Replace nothing, even if it means the bike then become obsolete.

The Period-Appropriate Approach-A restoration that is looser, does not have to be exact, but outfitted with parts that would be of the same time period as the frame.

The Updated Remix Approach- This is an anything goes approach. Bike is personalized and set up to suit the rider, no restrictions on what the bike was originally.

Read the original article-Refurbishing Vintage Bicycles: Different Perspectives

I love an all original bicycle, unrestored, of course. Most of my bikes fall into that category, but I do have to update perishables such as tires and brakepads, to make them ride able. I do have one bike, my chrome Rochet, that is anything but original. It was originally an early 1960s 10 speed bicycle and I have since turned it into a commuter, with upright handlebars, alloy fenders, fixed gear wheels, and porteur chaincase. It is a far cry from what it was originally.


Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Women and Bicycle shops

Macaela Blei wrote on Frontier Psychiatrist about her experiences as a woman and bicycle shops. and I hope that we are more like shop #2, friendly and supportive. I know I have always tried to promote cycling and help everyone learn how to work on their bikes. Yes, I understand our shop can be daunting, with sensory overload and a lobby full of customers, but we try to help out everyone, from the most advanced racer or collector to 1st time riders.

Frontier Cyclist – ‘Hapless’ Females and Bike Shops