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Everyone here at the shop has a special bike..sometimes more than one or three.  Today we meet longtime Broadway fixture Joe and his new All-City.

Why the All-City?  My plan was to build this as a commuter bike, so it had to be steel.  OK, all my bikes are steel.  Also I wanted horizontal drop outs and I didn’t want a wicked expensive one so my choices came down to the All-City Space Horse or the  Surly Crosscheck.  The All-City was closer in geometry to my old road bike and it comes already coated internally with their ED coating so it’s ready to ride year round.  I like the way it feels-it’s comfortable, predictable-its just a damn nice bike!

Do you mostly ride it for commuting?  I did want it to be a bike I could ride long distances, that I could do other stuff with, and it is comfortable to ride long distances but so far I have mostly just used it for commuting.

No derailleurs on this huh- why did you decide to go with an internally geared hub?  It just makes a lot of sense to use internal gears on a commuter. I find that you do less maintenance, parts wear out less quickly and it’s convenient to downshift at a stop.  I have the Shimano Alfine 11 speed.  It has really wide gearing plus I put a big cog on it so it is geared low so hills are no problem.  The difference between high and low gear is over 400% so you really have a great range on it.

You also use generator lights not battery powered lights why?  They are always there and always ready to go.  I don’t have to worry about getting them stolen and I don’t have to worry about charging batteries or batteries dying.  Plus they are really bright.  It gives me enough light to actually see the road which is important when I get out of the city.   My lights now are so bright I sometimes think there is a car behind me lighting up the road.

I’ve never seen an integrated brake shift lever on a drop bar used with an internal hub- that’s insane!   Yes, Shimano only has upright bar shifters for the Alfine. These are made by a company called Versa.

You were also an early switch over to the new Cambium saddle how do you like it?  I really like it.  It is comfortable and I don’t really notice it, it just fades away. Plus I don’t need to worry about covering it if it is raining.

Joe on his customized All-City Spacehorse

We have new basic classes starting in June and a wheelbuilding class starting in July!  Come learn to fix your bike this summer!

Very interesting old video about the bicycle making process (specifically Raleighs) from 1945!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaxRQh03BOw

We just got in the new Surly Straggler in stock!  The Straggler is basically the Crosscheck but with 3 significant changes.  First, it comes with STI shifters instead of the bar end shifters on the crosscheck.  Lots of people love the bar-end shifters but for me the STI levers are worth every penny- shifting is so easy.  Second, the Straggler has disc brakes instead of the standard canti’s on the Crosscheck.  Thirdly, and most importantly, the Straggler comes in black but it also comes in the sparkly Glitter Dreams shown below (the photo does not do this color justice, it is really, really cool). Right now we have one in 52cm, but can get any size.   Come down and check it out!

The only thing at this shop we love more than bikes are dogs!  We just saw a neat little free app that helps lost dogs get back to their owners.  It’s a very cool idea- Finding Rover uses facial recognition software to match up a lost dog with dogs in its database.  The main thing that this app needs is for people to know about it- so check it out, register your dog and tell your friends.

http://www.findingrover.com/

After getting a lot of feedback on our classes we have decided to add a wheel truing session to our Basic Class.  This will make the basic class 6 weeks long and give students a great introduction to maintaining and repairing their bicycles.  We have new classes starting in April – sign up online or stop by the shop.

If you like the look and feel of a fixie but have some hills on your commute we just got a bike that will work great for you.  The Origin-8 Intersect looks like a fixie but it has a 7 speed freewheel and can fit fenders and a rack – which makes it great for a commuter.  We only have 1 in stock right now in 56cm, come down and take it for a test ride.  $475

I was recently reading about Jerry Seinfeld talking about how one of the coolest things in his life is being able to walk or bike to work everyday.  This is extra fascinating because Jerry Seinfeld  is a renowned car enthusiast and even has show based around cars (Comediansincarsgettingcoffee).  Anyway, that lead to another interesting fact about an 80’s icon: Macgyver.  Macgyver (Richard Dean Anderson) rode his bicycle from Minnesota to Alaska! Unfortunately, for Macgyver fans, Richard Dean Anderson did this in his real life, not on a Macgyver episode.   How would Macgyver deal with a broken spoke if he had no replacement spokes?  I wonder….

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000760/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm