30th Century Bicycle

Just finished up this Surly build.

Ogre is the new 29’er do anything and everything frame. This bike is starting as a singlespeed, a great mix of parts make for a super fun ride. There are an amazing amount of places to bolt things to this frame, and them big tires roll like kids down a hill.

We love the Xtracycle! Cody has a Surly Big Dummy, and Steve a FreeRadical kit on his MASI commuter. It is truly an amazing innovation, the longtail bicycle, allowing you to do more with your bike than you ever thought you could. Or at least as much as you imagined you might, if you are the imaginative type. Of course it can carry books, recycling, kids, cats, odds, ends, lumber, and vices. As well as vises! This week Steve hauled 4 empty 6 packs of beer to the Coop to return them for the deposit. This got him enough money to get a coffee refill in his commuter mug, and last night he loaded up three kids bikes to ride over and donate to the Bike Library.

This short longtail bike ride gained us a bit more floor space here at the shop, and a new sticker for the Xtracycle snapdeck.

Respect the bike, and when you are ready to do more with yours, consider an Xtracycle!

Anyone who has ever ridden a bike outside of town has likely drawn the interest of a dog. Maybe even been chased! So just why do dogs like cyclists so much?

Don’t lay your bike down in Snoopy’s yard and walk off

The tasty bike seats of course. Chewy, and delicious!

We built this wheel. XT this, Rhyno Lite that, crossed DT spokes, tensioned, relieved, blah-blah-blah.

But look at that tire – that is an awesome tire!

For those of you who don’t know yet, or forgot, or never knew, our shop expanded. As such, our old smudged up and cramped little space has been vacant for a bit.

Enter the artist.

Framebuilder most extraordinary, sculptor par excellent Dana Haugaard transformed the grunge and grime into clean and shine. Mirrors, too. Come check it out, you’ll be glad you did!

Gallery Hours:
Wednesday, Friday, Saturday 12-5pm
and by appointment

RECEPTION (Party Time)
March 24th
6-8pm
Adult Beverages provided (as well as some fizzy water too, I’m sure)

Which of these bike boxes are not like the others?

People can argue and debate the aero benefits and features of different bike designs all they like, but put the boxes they come in on a bike trailer and take them to recycle in a stiff crosswind and the pros and cons are moot points.

Oh yeah, disaster can even strike the car free liver! But (after a photo for blog purposes) there is no need for a scene, a tow truck, a call to the insurance company or even the police. Kicker the tractor, flip the trailer back up and on you are on your way, hoping the wind does not gust again this trip. (it did)

Like a gold tooth for your bike, chrome Odyssey Twisted PC’s.

Looking really good alongside all the shiny parts on a Surly LHT in black.

The new Surly green has classic good looks. Planet Bike Cascadia fenders and a silver Civia rack work really well with clear pedals on this beautiful bike.

Okay, we expanded and can now ride bikes on test rides inside the shop. What else? Well we started stocking MASI road bikes.

20″ and 24″ kids bikes from Haro.

And Bacchetta recumbents. This one is already sold, but we will have more in stock in April.

Our selection of panniers and the racks that love them has more room to sprawl.

And with so much room we got in even more bags! We have small bags, big bags, blue bags and green bags. Top bags, side bags and handlebar bags.

Waterproof bags, fireproof bags, bags made in Iowa, bags made in Canada, bags made in Mexico. And of course we have the Xtracycle FreeRadical for those of you ready to see just how far your bike can take you. Of course to see everything that’s new you have to stop in, to make it easier we just returned to our slightly longer summer hours. You can find us here from 10-6 Monday thru Friday and 10-4 on Saturday. Hope to see ya!

We may not have had much of a winter in these parts, but we sure are having some typical early March weather now. Snow yesterday, 9 degrees this morning, 60 tomorrow. You know what they say, if you don’t like the weather in Iowa move to San Diego.

The big question for some folks is when to take off (or for some this year, to even put on) the studded tires. This time of year you want studs when it is freezing cold in the morning and any thaw has frozen and glazed up the streets. But you don’t want studs when the roads are dry because they are heavier and slower and you are wearing out the studs faster. One solution we have found is to have a dedicated stud front wheel. If you wake up and the weather is wintry throw on the stud wheel. If all is well ride your normal set up. A used wheel is ideal for this, we usually have a few in stock, and the Iowa City Bike Library is a great resource for this also. It is a small investment to keep your studded tire lasting longer, and your commutes shorter when you don’t need to be pushing that studded tire around. Our in stock studded tires are on sale now, and this really is as good a time as any to get one on your bike!