30th Century Bicycle

After being stuck in a sinky puddle all day yesterday today the winds of literal and figurative change blew through – which means a lot got done.  The sink works!  Long work the sink.  It even has a splitter so we can take a hose out front after “gnarly” rides.  And we got our glass door panels.  Things are looking much better today than they did yesterday.

I also built some lo-fi tire holder uppers, hung a bike and put up a shelf.  And we got in our first order to start stocking this place up.  Still waiting for our tools and stands but we will be ready to use them when they get here.

If you see us in there feel free to stop by and say hi!

It has been just 2 weeks since the Monday when we signed our lease and got to work making our bike shop a reality that is stocked and open and able to fix your flat tire for you.  Most days things have progressed steadily, but last Monday and this, things have seemed to stall.  I don’t even remember what was going on last Monday, but I remember it gave me a headache.  Today I can vividly remember the headache was plumbing related.

Whatever sink used to be there was long gone when we moved in, just a drain sticking out of the wall and a spigot.  Our ReStore bought sink looks great, and while the drain has come together reasonably well, getting water to the faucet has been a pain.  I figured there would be some kind of kit, but this must be a rare set up we are attempting.  Anyone out there with fitting advice I will take it!

While the sink stinks and sinks lower on the priority list, the repair area is coming together!

Benches, pegboard, wheels hanging up, what else could you want?  Repair stands, good point, and a railing would be a good idea, and some tools?  Patience.

We do have the Huffy repair station ready to go in the parking lot.  Wonder how it would work on a sink?

Using our smaller cargo hauler we delivered some planks to the shop that would serve as half of the treads to our stairs.

Earlier I (Cody) had attached the hardboard top to one of the work benches and found it inviting enough to take a quick afternoon nap.

Steve photoed me just as I was waking up, and oh yes indeedy, a 2×4 makes a surprisingly do-able pillow.  And by quittin’ time yesterday our stairs and the better part of our front counter were complete.

We grabbed a couple pints from the Hideaway and a bite from Oasis and still had enough time to ride out to Linder Point for a walk alongside the reservoir at dusk.

Our Bikes at Work trailer is assembled, and already put to good use, too!  Mayhap a longer rig than a tandem with kids trailer?  This piece of equipment will be invaluable to our shop.

I rolled out to the ReStore to see about what sort of salvaged goods might make our shop space more shop like.  I took the scenic route so if the just assembled trailer fell apart or caught fire I could deal with it in a more private setting.  A nice man asked me what I would use something like that for, meaning the empty trailer.  I said moving whatever I have that needs moving, like a refrigerator.  He was impressed, I assume.

At the ReStore I found a place to park and got to shopping.  A sink was on the list, and a countertop.

Done!

It loaded up nicely and I headed for home.

On the road action shots!  While the trailer can carry about anything you can throw at it, I still find a basket handy for some items..

Stay tuned for more hauling escapades, if you are moving large stuff by bike let us know about it!

Everyone we talk to about the bike shop wants to know what bikes we will carry.  We are working on some relationships as we call them in the business, and when we know for sure we will share – we don’t want to spread gossip.  For now we are happy to have a Phil Wood account and QBP will of course handle a large portion of our day to day needs.  They sent us a coffee mug to celebrate with, but it got squished in transit.

Building is coming along, tomorrow is peg board day!

Busy day at 30th Century Bicycle World HQ.  Got some building done, bought a mailbox.  Lots of friends stopped by.  Senator Joe Bolkcom who ably serves the people of Iowa’s Senate District 39, where Cody and I live, captained his Jack Taylor tandem down to see us.  That is Nathan stoking that fine ride and ol’ B.L. Loring himself following on one of his usual beautiful tall steel touring rigs.  Nice jerseys!

A brief visit as the were eager and anxious to put this beast through its paces.  Joe and Nathan eager because they were on it, B.L. Loring anxious because he had built it up and this was it’s first test.

A while later another tandem came through, this one with the Eppens on it.

They were out for a go with Heath, who was back in town for Spring Break.  He was not sideways, but I am tired and forgot to rotate the pic before upload and I want to go to bed so just turn your head.  Please.

Our Bikes at Work trailer showed up today!  Much earlier than promised, this is good.

Good packing there.  And I look forward on catching up on the Ames news, too.  Brian was the next friend through the door.  He was also not sideways.  Brian had stopped in earlier after the College Green ride, and had come back to help hammer nails.  Much thanks to Brian!  And congratulations, too, he and Robin just got married.  Look how happy!

As Brian and I were measuring and cutting and screwing and pounding another tandem snuck in the door!  Jodi Gorsch and family this time, the longest rig of the day for sure.

After the work was done and the Sierra Nevada Torpedoes had been fired, a couple more fine examples of the modern cyclist stopped in, Joe and David.  We were out of beer already but had some good conversation before closing up shop for the night.

We won’t be posting pictures of every person that ever stops in.  Don’t worry.

A special thanks to Jessica of Heroes and Criminals Press for the bicycle love note!  When we open our doors next month, we will have these fine, letterpressed tags available to anyone who has ever walked by a heartachingly beautiful bicycle and wanted to share their feelings.

It has been a busy couple of days.  Filling out forms, returning library books, faxing documents, phones ringing all day, returned and resent mail, we even drove a little truck around town.

Our shop will be car free, and we have ordered a Bikes at Work trailer (the 8 footer, of course) to handle chores bigger than our cargo bike can handle, but it will be another week or so to get it.  Hauling this much lumber by bike would have been tough anyway, so we borrowed a truck and a big chore is done, we can start building benches.

Everyone we talk to wants to know what bikes we are going to carry and we are still working that out but for sure we will have used bikes and we are going to stock Surly’s, too.  We will let you know as we line up other brands.

Our space boasts an impressive door, and we have ordered big glass panels for it so when it is closed we can look out at you while you look in at us.  It will be installed by the end of the month.

Even without the panels, though, when the weather is nice we will put the door up and you can ride your bike right in to see us.  The space needs some work, oh yes, but things are moving along nicely.

Welcome!  Many of you know us, we are Cody and Steve and we are happy to announce that we will be opening our own bike shop in April 2009.  This has been a dream a long time coming, and we are excited to get to it!

We signed our lease yesterday, and our humble shop will be located at 310 East Prentiss St in Iowa City.  Close to all the other shops in town, the blinky light district as our friend Brian calls it.  We have some renovating to do and we need to get the bikes and coffee and such together but feel free to stop in if you see us, we can’t wait!

Please check back to watch our progress, I will get some before pics of the space today for you.