Bikes, Baskets and Bags to Work

It’s Bike to Work Week! Get your basket on and ride.

The schedule is up and is already in progress. We are giving away a Civia Twin City so find yourself a raffle ticket and get in the drawing. They are available at all (or certainly most) of the events on the schedule, or right here at the shop all week. The drawing will be held Friday night right here at the shop at about 6 pm.

We also have this small fleet of Civia demo bikes here in the shop this week, come take a test ride and see what you think, fill out a raffle ticket while you are in. Also for Bike to Work Week we are putting a large selection of our bags and baskets on sale 15% off, and offering free install on the Xtracycle FreeRad if you purchase one. So come on in, fill out a raffle ticket, get yourself some commuter gear, and Bike to Work! All year long.

 

It’s Bike Month! All Year Long!!

To kick off Bike Month proper I rode to work this morning, and took the long way for good measure. Bike Month and Bike to Work Week are a time to build some momentum every year as we head into the glorious days of biking. We ride all year round, but we would be lying if we told you when we started out we were out there every snowstorm in January or rainstorm in October. Nope, it took time to become an every day / any condition bike rider. It was worth the transition, and it has had immeasurable effect on personal health, wealth, time, even yard. We turned our gravel driveway into a Lily patch.

This article is a fantastic breakdown of cycling in the United States. The first section really resonates:

By failing to embrace cycling culture, American cities are losing out on significant financial benefits, Colville-Andersen told Business Insider. Studies show that every kilometer cycled in Denmark earns the country €.23 (partly because cyclists have been shown to spend more money in local stores), he said.

One of the biggest things that happened when we gave away our car was a switch to shopping at the New Pi Coop pretty much exclusively. The money that was going into the gas tank now gets spent locally and eaten. Another point in the article that is right on:

That view of biking as exercise, instead of transport, fuels the concern that cyclists will arrive at the office sweaty, without a way to clean off. A common fix by American workplaces that want to encourage cycling is to install showers. The New York City Department of Transportation even gives an annual award for General Bicycle Friendly Workplace, which is partly judged on whether showers and lockers are provided in the office. But this idea — that cycling to work is dependent on the ability to shower upon arrival — is another manifestation of the cycling-as-exercise image.

We proudly ride to work in non athletic clothing and don’t even shower when we get here! Anyways, it’s a great article,  worth linking twice here to encourage you to read it, and it is a great lead in to Bike Month. Give biking a try to get where you need to go!

 

Power Up

As we lurch and gustily precipitate towards summer the rhythm of the shop steadily picks up. So much so that we forgot to give a shout out to ourselves, last Monday was our 4th anniversary! We thank you all, as ever we could not do this without YOU.

We built this touring wheelset this week. A dynamo front wheel from our specials page and a sturdy rear 105 hub wheel to follow along. We still have a couple of dyno hubs left if you are interested in having us build you a wheel so you can leave batteries behind and create your own juice.

In other dyno-juice new we will have the Busch & Muller Luxos U in stock within a week! The light that made Peter White gush:  “I don’t usually gush over the products I sell, but the Luxos U and Luxos B headlights have some characteristics that to me are truly extraordinary, but impossible to describe in a few simple marketing phrases. So, please bear with me while I gush.” We are looking forward to seeing for ourselves what all this gushy fuss is about.

And fussle gushle it’s almost Bike to Work Week!

May starts Wednesday. May is Bike Month. Bike Month has Bike to Work Week! Locally there are lots of great event going on to encourage and/or reward you for riding to work or anywhere else you need to be. The schedule for our area is up at Think Bicycles and hopefully we will see posters popping up around town soon. We are raffling a bike from Civia Cycles.

All you have to do to get entered is come on into the shop here, or attend any of the events all week long, there will be tickets available at them as well. We will have the drawing for the bike giveaway Friday night 5/17 right here at the shop during a very informal happy hour from 5:30 – 6:30. Get your bike on, always the best spring accessory!

 

Pig Lightin’

We got these animal bike headlights today.

And, our friends at Dave Long Protective Products were able to locally source us a custom Xtracycle decal for the window!

It might not look like much to you, but to us it is like having a flashing pig, panda, cow or lion on our handlebars – super cool.

And here is a picture of a pretty Bianchi we sold last week. Single speed for safety!

 

Shop Tool

There’s more than one way to turn a bolt. Whether righty or lefty, the modern bicycle industry is generally a metric game.

If you are fortunate like we are to work on a lot of old Schwinns and such you might consider getting a set of proper English wrenches. Or a vice locking adjustable wrench.

Picked this up last summer and it has become a shop favorite for dealing with axle nuts, and it is quite handy with the shop cotter pin press as well.

Beyond boring tools we have exciting news, a new shop jersey is in the works!

A little revision of the previous jersey design, and we are going to be have cycling shorts to match for that full kit look. We will have some for stock available in the shop but if you want to pre order let us know by the end of the week. We have to get this order in soon or it will be for Next Year!

 

What Do You Think?

Local bike advocacy juggernaut Think Bicycles has put together an area bicyclist survey:

Think Bicycles Commuter Survey

Check it out and let them know who you are and what you would like to see prioritized in the future for bicycle infrastructure and even incentives. It’s a two pager and it does not take long to complete.

Not to be left out we came up with our own survey: Have you tried Wake Up Iowa City’s new roast 30th Century Bicycle Golden Gear Chain yet?

Yes!

No.

If you answered yes, good on ya. If you answered no get on down to the New Pi and get some, you’ll be tastily glad you did. It’s like a week supply of daily tune ups for your brain for the price of a brake adjustment!

 

 

In Stock

We have as many used bikes ready to go right now as we probably will until next fall, so if you are looking for a commuter, mountain bike, kids bike, tandem or road bike check out the page and see if there is something there for you.

We just bulked up the Newbaum’s made in the USA bar tape. So many colors it took 2 photos to fit them all in.

A new shop jersey and shorts order is almost ready and will be going into production soon. We still have a few of the old design, and Surly wool jerseys in stock as well, at great prices.

Wake Up Iowa City’s newest locally roasted offering, 3oth Century Bicycle Golden Gear Chain is right here on the counter waiting for you as well.

Grab a pound to GO!