Over the years our cost of doing business and the cost of living in our city have only gone up. We have aspired to provide living, professional wages to highly skilled tradespeople. I firmly believe that high wages and more opportunities and entry level positions for more diverse types of mechanics and salespeople are the keys to revising the bike retail model and replacing the exclusive and gatekeeping culture of bike shops and at the same time provide service that is more reliable and better value than riders are typically able to depend on.
After years of skirting the edge, depending on tightening margins, and digging for good luck in heaps of bad, we have hit a string of the bad kind; the reality that we cannot support ourselves and at the same time do this work in the manner that we most want has become undeniable.
It is a true thing to say that if your business can’t afford to pay fair wages, your business has no business doing business.
The shop’s closure is happening faster than we would have liked, and the livelihoods of my staff and myself are all at risk, as is our ability to meet all of the obligations we have to our customers. We will be closed for the next few days to organize ourselves, and then in the next few weeks, starting on Wednesday the 17th, we hope that you’ll consider coming in and picking up anything you might need from our shop. We have many high-quality ebikes for sale, as well as accessories like lights and helmets. We have bags of Lego for sale on a sliding scale from $5-500. We have all kinds of lovely things, and any support would be greatly appreciated.
When I think of #Winter here, I just think of the cold, the rain, and all of the times I was either borderline or actually hypothermic when #cycling and similar outdoor activities in it. :blobfoxsad:
In all my years of #cycling, I've never found a great solution for cold weather. If I bundle up so I'm not chilled, then I soak everything with sweat in short order. If I wear less, then I freeze. I've tried Merino wool, synthetics (Gore, Event, etc.), and so on, but nothing works well enough for me.
Sadly, that means I don't do anything exciting on the #bicycle during the coldest part of the year. Just my daily local loop. :blobfoxsad:
innicycle’s unique system combines a threadless stem adapter with a sealed cartridge bearing headset. The result: Finally a way to tastefully incorporate modern components with your vintage bicycle.
Advantages
Lower weight & greater rigidity
Retains stock threaded fork
Compatible with modern handlebars and stems
Easily adjusted bearing preload using only a 6mm hex key
Ultra low stack height (low stem position adjust-ability)
Fitment
The innicycle Threadless Conversion Headset™ is compatible with most road and some MTB bikes that originally came equipped with 1” threaded headsets and quill stems. Forks must be 1”-24 TPI threaded with a 7/8” (22.2mm) inside diameter. Both ISO and JIS* fork crowns are supported.
“I’m thinking about getting longer cranks”, said no one in 2023. It’s definitely true that shorter cranks are a trend right now, but why? Is it all nonsense, or is there something to it? Today we’ll take a deep dive into crank length and how it affects your performance. You’ll get a highly biased take on the subject from someone with very short legs.
I still like rim brakes, but I don't have any major opposition to disc brakes as long as they're using with thru-axles. (I don't like the pads rubbing after hard braking, which is usually caused by the hubs shifting.)
Finally figured out the process for getting my correct saddle position on a bike!
Start with the saddle level, a bit low, and slammed all the way back on the rails.
Raise the saddle in 3-5mm increments until you no longer lift off the saddle or have pain on or around your kneecaps. You may need to move the saddle forward a 3-5mm every now and then so you aren’t completely sitting on its nose.
Once #2 has been taken care of, pedal with the technique of spinning your knees in small, tight, and fast circles. That pedaling technique will cause you to scoot forward to where your saddle should be.
Move the saddle forward in 3-5mm increments until it feels comfortable with that pedaling technique. Be sure to keep the saddle as level as possible while doing this.
I have very long legs and a short torso, so "normal" bicycle frames never fit me very well. I always end up with a lot of seatpost height and a short stem, even though I'm leaned forward comfortably and with plenty of power in my pedal stroke.
I have very long legs and a short torso, so "normal" bicycle frames never fit me very well. I always end up with a lot of seatpost height and a short stem, even though I'm leaned forward comfortably and with plenty of power in my pedal stroke.
After over two decades, Surly moved the Cross-Check frameset from their standard lineup of bikes to the ‘Legacy Lineup’ of their website. Surly confirmed that the bike is no longer in production and is unlikely to come back.
If you haven’t owned this gravel/cyclocross/touring/whatever bike yourself, you likely know someone who has. The Surly Cross-Check was the egalitarian choice in cycling, simultaneously someone’s utilitarian dream bike that was attainable and sold at a fair price.
The end of the Cross-Check marks the bike’s reign as the most bike that ever biked, the go-to way to make a pile of parts you hoarded in the corner of your garage into a functioning bicycle, and the defacto option that a bike nerd could happily ride and recommend to their non-bikey friends all the same.