October 30, 2013
Been breaking in the new shop truck, the Edgerunner from Xtracycle.
Recycling hauled over to City Carton.
Also a couple of cycles to be re-cycled and box of parts to the Bike Library. This new design taking the low to the cargo is great and rides super stable, even with a heavy load just on one side, which of course we have tried. Looks like the Bikes at Work trailer will even be able to hitch on there, turning the shop truck into the equivalent of the shop aircraft carrier.
October 18, 2013
Boo! Gather close, and hear thee the good word of scary bike parts.
No! I speak not of those of ye hyperlight stem, wheel, pedal spindle or even that most dogawful Off the Front Bar tape although hear me and remember well the terrifying graphics and neon splash colors! Lo this here message is to warn you of an evil most diabolical that lurks in the deep dark greasy places of maybe your bicycle. The ball bearing retainer is of what I speak! Good dog what could that be you ask?! From the e-gospel of Saint Sheldon himself they are described thus and with a thoughtful illustration as well praise be to Saint Sheldon:
A retainer is a clip, usually of sheet-metal or plastic, that holds and separates the bearing balls in a ball bearing. The advantages of retainers are ease of assembly, and economy because the manufacturer can get by with fewer balls, if they are spaced apart by a retainer.
Beware thee that bearing of the retainer! Do we need ease of assembly?! Nay! And what of this economy and benefit to manufacture? Enough I say! You can be most sure that if you are not of the Sealed Cartridge Church and thy hub ails or thy crankset becometh cranky or creaky it was that evil retainer that didst fold under the pressures and pleasures of wholesome normal just riding along usage! It is through sloth and slavery to false idols that a wrench, as it were, came to be thrown into thy works and from within!
Go then, and do not abandon the fight against the armies of undead bike parts! Armed with this new knowledge of thee bearing retainer now be assured that if your coaster brake should stop stopping or your crankset wiggle it is through a retainercism ceremony that peace can be returned to thy noble machine!
June 14, 2013
This just in: We don’t need no stinking cars!
Take a look at the history of this car free shop and our Xtracycles and get inspired. Just this morning we hauled all of our scrap metals to the junkyard by bicycle.
YOUR Xtracycle HERE
We just sold our last in stock FreeRad but of course more are on the way.
Whether kids or cargo, both or neither, the Xtracycle can help you do more with your bike, less with your car!
June 7, 2013
We hosted the amazing traveling Dinner + Bikes roadshow and vegan dinner last weekend. So first, clean house! We even mopped.
Then, we organized a Bikes at Work convoy to pick up all the chairs. We blew that gate doing 8.8 said, “let them cargo bikes roll”
Had to activate the overflow bike parking system at showtime.
And it’s on! =Dinner, bikes and beers as promised, plus the tallest sponsor on earth Brian from Ironweed BP.
The show went on, first Elly Blue and then a movie, Aftermass.
Anne here deserves huge props for luring these fine folks to town, rounding up sponsors and making sure everything ran smoothly for the event – thanks Anne!
Now the party is over and things are back to crowded normal on the floor.
Thanks to everyone who came out for a great night with Dinner + Bikes – take the lane!
May 31, 2013
Had a few interesting bike projects roll out of the shop this week.
First up we rebuilt the rear wheel for this amazing bike, and yes it is the one you see around town all the time even in winter with the kids sitting up in the front.
We also had a couple of dynamo hub projects. First we swapped the Rolf wheels out for a Son generator up front and White Industries in the back.
And then wired in the headlight and taillight.
This is a pretty awesome set up, ’nuff said.
We also wired the same model taillight into one of the dyno systems we installed on a Disc Trucker project.
He already had the amazing Luxos U lighting his way and now he can let go of his superflash when the batteries go out.
And here is the Civia we raffled off for Bike to Work Week moments before it was ridden off into the wilds of Iowa City to seek it’s fortune and save it’s new owner a fortune on car maintenance and parking and insurance and gas and etc. These are what sport utility vehicles look like!
May 29, 2013
This Saturday night, June 1st, we are excited to be hosting this wonderful traveling road show of all that is right and good with the world.
Tickets are still available, right here. Get some, and we will see you right here, this Saturday night at 6!
May 24, 2013
So we had our exciting Bike to Work Week windup happy hour party here at the shop last week.
Always good to see bike racks jammed to capacity and spillover parking engaged.
We drew a deserving winner from the box of this wonderful christiania bike that is in for repair.
The final selection has been made and look for one of these at a bike rack near you, assembling it today! Big thanks to Civia for providing us with a demo bike fleet to show off and thanks to all that biked and bike to work, we love what you do!
Now we are all back to the grind, biking to work, working to bike, taking photos of cool shadows in the shop, etc.
behind the scenes
We had a return visit from this super cool bike that first we assembled, and then later MK Fendered.
This time we added the VO chainguard. Not sure if this bike could really get any cooler at this point, but we are excited to see if it is possible.
May 1, 2013
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!
April 29, 2013
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!
April 2, 2013
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!
30th Century Bicycle 