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.]
[The Monkey King’s “Bike Cape” poncho will set you back $10.] Two local cyclists have come up with inexpensive ways to stay dry while you ride. Larry Williams opened up The Monkey King (3534 SE Hawthorne) a few years ago by importing furniture and fine arts from China. Now the store sells all sorts of … Read more
[This is the third in a series of four interviews with local bike builders who are exhibiting at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show next weekend (March 2-4) in San Jose, California. Read previous interviews with Ira Ryan and Tony Pereira.] [Joseph Ahearne in his shop.] Joseph Ahearne of Ahearne Cycles has come a long … Read more
[Don Walker, the man behindthe show (and the shirt).] Next weekend (March 2-4) in San Jose the world’s best bicycle craftsmen will come together at the third annual North American Handmade Bicycle Show. Portland will have a strong presence at the show this year with five exhibitors making the trip. Headset and hub manufacturer Chris … Read more
[A bike-sharing system, like this one in Vienna, could be on its way to Portland.] Photo: Ethan Jewett City Commissioner Sam Adams has stepped up his effort to bring a bicycle-sharing system to Portland. Although still in “preliminary stages,” Adams’ staffer Max Coffman — who works with Adams and Senior Policy Director Roland Chlapowski on … Read more
[Photo by Kris Schamp/Bike Gallery.] Astute reader Allan Folz noticed an in-depth article on Shimano’s new Coasting component group in the current issue of Hemispheres Magazine (the in-flight publication of United Airlines). Back in May, Portland was chosen of 15 “bike-friendly” cities to be part of a special pre-launch marketing campaign for Coasting. Since that … Read more
[Mark Duff in action atAlpenrose Velodrome in Portland.] Mark Duff is well-known in the Oregon road and track racing scene. Since moving here from Colorado six years ago, he’s been a consistent top performer in both disciplines and has been involved with racing for over two decades. Now, the 39 year old former owner of … Read more
[This Torker Unistar will set you back $85-105.] Reader Ben S. wrote me yesterday to tell me about Serious Juggling. Besides all manner of juggling paraphernalia, the Northeast Portland store (and online shop) has a big selection of unicycles. Ben says they’ve sold unicycles for 10 years now and that they can special order anything … Read more
[Scan of BTA’s Alice Awards party invitation.]
[Bakfietsen. They’re here.]Photo: Clever Cycles