John Climaldi and his first shipment of Extrawheels.Photo: John Climaldi Local recumbent enthusiast and general bike nut John Climaldi was looking through VeloVision Magazine one day when he came across something that was “so cool” he just had to know more. The product was the Extrawheel, a Poland-made bicycle trailer that wasn’t available in the … Read more
Can you spot the bakfiets?Photo: Clever Cycles on Flickr Clever Cycles, Portland’s soon-to-be-opening retail shop that will carry bakfiets cargo bikes and “a complete line of resoundingly practical biking gear” is showing signs of life at their location on SE 9th Ave., just south of Hawthorne Blvd. Part of a Dutch bike invasion sweeping North … Read more
I first brought you the news about original, Dutch Batavus bikes potentially coming to the U.S. market back in October. I had received spy photos of them from my correspondents at the Interbike trade show in Las Vegas.
The Community Cycling Center has gone global. Thanks to staff mechanic Rich Walker, the venerable, Northeast Portland-based non-profit is now offering select parts and accessories on eBay. Check it out via their new website.
[This is the third installment of my “In the shop” series. Check out the first two on Joseph Ahearne and Tony Pereira.] Brett Flemming At the end of a cul-de-sac in a non-descript, Vancouver Washington subdivision, is the home and shop of Brett Flemming, an extraordinary machinist, inventor, and head mechanic for one of the … Read more
The bike for the other 161 million? Yesterday I got my first, hands-on look at the fruits of Shimano’s new Coasting product initiative. Only three manufacturers (Raleigh, Trek and Giant) are licensed to make bikes with Coasting and I gave Trek’s offering, the “Lime Light” a closer look.
A cheesy self-portrait in front of the Lincoln monument. Saturday was my last day in Washington D.C. and I spent it on a bike. When I arrived, it was 70 degrees, nearly perfect riding weather. Unfortunately things got worse as the week wore on. By the time Saturday rolled around, we’d seen rain, sleet, and … Read more
Shannon Bryant ofShimano Marketing At the closing ceremony of the National Bike Summit, the Shimano marketing duo of Shannon Bryant and David Lawrence hit the stage to tell the story of Coasting. Shimano embarked on this initiative five years ago when they teamed up with premier product design group IDEO. That was the start of … Read more
[The Vanilla Bicycles booth at the Handmade Bicycle Show.]
Here’s a nice bike love story for you. Sprockette and Portland school teacher Maggie Michaels got the surprise of her life today. Maggie is the girlfriend (and muse) of builder Joseph Ahearne and he has been secretly working for months on a special “mixte” style bike that he unveiled today. She showed up at the … Read more
[Clever Cycles’ Todd Fahrner in San Jose.] Cleverchimp founder and Clever Cycles co-owner Todd Fahrner is here at the Handmade Bicycle Show and he just gave me an update on his plans to open up a new bike shop in Portland. Todd and his partners in the business (his wife Martina Fahrner and Rachel and … Read more
[Bike Friday sent me one of their new “Tikit” folders for my trip to San Jose, CA. I rode it to the airport this morning.]