Time to Neglect the Web Log

Biking is up and so are tunes ups at Hub Bicycle (I don't have a Power Point slide to prove it, so you'll just have to believe me). Breathing, eating, sleeping tune-ups hasn't left much time for updating the web log.

I do want to take one second to let you know that it's almost time for the Redbones Bike Party!!

We'll be there with our pal Josh Safe Boston for a classic HUB x BSB collabo. Stop by our table to say hi.

Two Questions

Curious minds want to know (also, I may have a gentlewoman's bet to settle). Help out by answering two questions?

Winter is Coming

Nerds.



But seriously. Remember this? Well that little baby of a frame has grown up into a complete bike:

This one goes to 7.

So far it's been test ridden by a half dozen individuals, and has caused two of those individuals (real grown humans) to giggle. In addition to being hilarious, it eats concrete parking stops for breakfast. Riding over those concrete parking stops has the been the extent of 'getting rad' that this bike has seen so far, but I see a long, snowy, muddy, rocky, rad future for it.

I think I'm going to take it with me to the Wicked Ride of the East, and see what happens. I may even write up some thoughts about how it rides, but given my recent track record on updating this ol' web log- I wouldn't wait up for the review. 

Wanna take it for a rip through the parking lot? Stop by and try it out!

The Deal

It's getting to be the time of year when new folks are moving into town. These new folks are having to find their new grocery stores, barbershops, dive bars, coffee houses, and bike shops (that's my favorite part of moving- find my new local ___________ ).

For those of you looking for your new bike shop, let me tell you what we do here. We're a bicycle service shop.

I used to tell people that Hub was a "bicycle repair shop", but I think that phrase limits the scope of what we do. We repair bikes that are broken, but even better than that we maintain bikes before they get broken. We upgrade, box for shipping, unpack from shipping, convert, outfit, trick out (and so on) bicycles. We also stock all of the parts and gear to keep bikes (and their riders) rolling safely.

That being said- we can get you a bike if you want one. But, we don't sell bikes in the same way a 'traditional' bike shop does. We can build one up for you. Surly and Soma are some of our favorite bikes/frames to work with. We can help you pick out each individual part, or we can recommend a build kit. Or if you want a super pro, super custom bike (or pedicab) we can send you to our friends at Commonwealth. But if you're looking to roll a bike off the showroom floor, we're not your gals/guy.

 So why not sell bikes? Well, by focusing our resources on bike service, we can provide the best work in the best turnaround time in town. That's our deal.

According to Google Earth...

Hub Bicycle Co. is just a hole in the ground.

Two Seasons From Now

It may be in the 90s today, but it's never to early to start thinking about winter. And winter biking.

Erich said if this bike were a noise it would be the sad trombone. I think it would be the circus song. Either way, it wouldn't be a normal noise.

Bike Party!

Redbones Bike Party! This Monday (June 4). POSTPONED until Monday June 11... We're going to close up at 4:30 so we can join in the BBQ and mayhem. We'll be there giving out free advice and stickers! See you there! (So many exclamation points!!!)

This is a Real Thing

I started working in bike shops in 1995. That year my boss had a retro-style cruiser with a 7 speed internal hub. Oh man, did I covet that bike. Every once in a while I got to use it for shop errands. The one thing I could never figure out was what the hell was going on with the bell on it. It had a floating eyeball in the center- Ok. That's badass, I guess. But around the side were dinosaurs. What???

I always assumed there were a pile of leftover eyeballs and also a pile of leftover dino bells lying around a factory someplace. And maybe someone thought "Hey. let's get rid of these things by just combining them. Maybe nobody will notice how weird it is..."

It turns out my hypothesis was not true. Seventeen years later these weird bells are still available (unless those piles of leftovers were huge). We've got 'em here at Hub, in fact, for $7. I mean, how could I not bring them into the shop. If the dino/eyeball bell doesn't do it for you there's always the 'demon pumpkin' horn...

Bike Sharing is Caring

Moments after I reading about the return of Hubway (no relation) on Boston Biker, I received this in the mail:

Why would someone who already owns an unhealthy number of bikes (yeah, I said it) want to join a bike share? I think it's a good idea (good for people who don't have a bike, good for people who want to try out biking before committing to it, good for tourists, good for people making burrito runs at lunch time, etc.) and it makes sense to support good ideas. I'm not sure how often I'll take advantage of these bikes- although I'll have more opportunity to with the expansion of stations into Cambridge- but I'm really looking forward to going on a lunch run or two on one of these babies. Learn more about it, or join (it looks like there's a spring special happening...) here.
   

Eleven

The last time I posted here was two weeks ago?!? Time flies when you're making bicycle dreams come true. Like this one:

From single speed to 11 speed in a single afternoon. Now would be a good time to make a "goes to eleven" joke, but I'll let you take care of that- I've got to get back to work.

Three Things

One- I got around to downloading pictures from my trip adventure (that I will stop posting about soon. Hopefully before you get wicked, wicked sick of hearing about it.). Check out this one:

 Don't make me punch you.

Two- I love it here. I love that even though it's the dead of winter (albeit, a strangely mild winter), I saw nine other cyclists on my commute home last night. I love how genuinely excited everyone is to still be bike commuting this time of year. Warms my bikey heart.

Three- Hub is two years old today. My deepest thanks for the support that have made these two great years possible.

Miles per gallon

I just packed up the computer I used on my tour (I don't usually use one, since I don't need to know exactly how slow I'm going).

It turns out I clocked around 54 hours of riding time (None of the MTB rides were recorded on this little guy. Also- I forgot to turn it on one day in FL...). I was curious about how many calories I burned based on that number. I counted my riding as 'moderate'- I wasn't going particularly fast (11.4 mph average), but I was weighed down with a bunch of stuff. Based on that, and my weight (which is none of your business, although I'm totally comfortable with it, thanks) the total I got was 31,275. Now that we've got a calorie total we can have some fun with science!

I could have powered my trip with 298 bananas (medium ones). Or 209 Twinkies. Or 1117 Peeps (Yellow food theme!).

I also ran across this article. Turns out I burned about the same amount of energy that is in a gallon of gas. I went 630 miles on that 'gallon of gas'. Pretty cool.

Planning

I've been planning a trip for this coming January. A bike tour trip. So far the planning process has been pretty passive. I spent the summer reading other people's tour blogs- some good ones and some really not good ones. I did a lot of day dreaming about it. I decided to ride through the south east (I've never been there, and it'll be warm-ish in January). I got maps from Adventure Cycling. That's about as far as I got with the planning process.

The shop move took up a large amount of brain space and energy, so I put off making any concrete plans for this adventure until things started to settle down around here. It's settling-ish, so I bought plane tickets this week. It's time for me to stop day dreaming and get some details nailed down. I leave for Florida on January 4 and I have a flight back to BOS from Austin TX on February 4. One month to ride 1300ish miles (one of those details I think I should work out...), that's do-able, right?

Getting Colder

It's been a pretty nice fall so far, in my humble opinion. It hasn't really started getting cold yet, but it's definitely on it's way. My very least favorite thing about cold weather is having cold hands. I would sit outside in a bathing suit in December as long as I'm wearing gloves (that's not entirely true).

In the spirit of the coming cold weather we got some new gloves in the shop yesterday. The one I'm most excited about is the Evo Drone. For two reasons in particular.

It looks just like a regular old glove. Black, synthetic material, white loge/highlights:

Here's where it gets interesting. The index finger and thumb have a little flap, so you can expose just enough finger to use your smart phone:

Aaaaand. There's a windproof mitten-y cover that tucks into the back of the glove for when it gets really cold (or for when you ride really fast):

To be fair, I haven't actually used these gloves yet, so I have no idea how warm they really are. I do have high hopes for them. And according to their handy glove-mometer (5-10 degrees?!) they should be nice and toasty.

Moving Begins

Before I launch into this post about moving, you should know we haven't moved yet. You can still find us in the tiny shop at 918 Cambridge, until at least October 23. Probably. You know what? I'll let you know when we've moved for real. Anyway... I started the long process of moving today.

I used the Yuba Mundo Cargo bike to start to move some of the stuff we've had in storage. It can carry a real serious load of shelving/bike tools/bike display racks. Once you get the rig rolling it handles pretty well. The farther back the load of crap sticks out the wonkier it handles at slower speeds, but I think more thoughtful crap placement would help to fix that. I'll write more about the bike (I believe the term is "a review") after the move is complete.

Lost and found

My favorite benefit to bicycle transpo (besides the health, environmental, economic benefits... oh, and that it kind of is my career/business) is that you find stuff. Stuff that you'd miss if you were riding in an enclosed vehicle. Like this little guy I found in the bike lane yesterday:

This baseball finds its place among the other amazing treasures I've found over the years- keys, a copy of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", $20, bike lights (lots of bike lights), a "Have a good first day of school. Love, Mom" note. All awesome, day-lifting finds.

So what am I going to do with this baseball? Nothing. That's not really the point. The point is... I don't know... that it's fun to find stuff that other people miss because they're trapped in a soul-sucking bubble... riding in a car. That's it.

Now this is happening

This is what happens when you lose your lock keys.

What a Deal

Welcome back students. Grad students, at least. I know you undergrads are on your way, too. One thing you should know about this great little city you're moving to is that it's great for bikes. It's compact, flat, and packed with diverse neighborhoods to check out. Perfect for bikes.

In order to be a successful bike rider in Boston you need (1) A bike. And (2) The Big 3 for the safety of you and your bike.

Here are a couple of deals I put together for you folks who want a good bike and all the fixin's essentials for success at a fair price. These bikes are single speeds (or fixed gear, if you like. You've got options)- simple, easy to maintain, fun.

Biria Fixed bike, Nutcase Supersolid helmet, PDW Spaceship/Red Planet light set, and Kryptonite Series 2 mini U lock for $500.

Biria Fixed- Steel frame, 42mm deep section rims, mid rise handlebars, good brakes, one speed.

Available in Small (white frame) or Large (black frame) (48cm or 55cm, if you're into numbers)

For those of you who'd like to class it up a bit, with 4130 steel, real track geometry, sealed bearings all around, and custom dropouts.... Tada! The All City Big Block track bike, Nutcase Supersolid helmet, PDW Spaceship/Red Planet light set, and Kryptonite Series 2 mini U lock for $900.

All City Big Block- Great components from wheelset to headset

The helmets are available in a bunch of colors. Stop in to check out your choices.

The fine print is that this deal is available now through the end of September on the stuff we have in stock.

All Good

Yeah, summer!

Things are really in full swing here. Tune ups, custom bike builds, and flat fixes as far as the eye can see. All you folks prepping your bikes for racing, charity riding, long distance touring, brand new commutes to work, knee surgery recovery, and whatnot have been keeping us very busy. Thank you!

We had a great flat fix clinic this month. Great turnout and lots of great questions (that, I hope, were fully answered). I'm looking forward to the next round (August 3).

I got to go mountain biking with my Sig O last weekend. This was after a, I'm going to say 'mostly unsuccessful', first MTB ride last fall. This time nobody bled, and I (swear I) heard the phrase "Well, I didn't hate that." Brought a tear to my eye...

I'm headed out to Woburn for the start of the New England Classic tomorrow morning. I'll be out helping riders, who've helped raise money for the American Diabetes Association, who helps (in part) fund researchers, who will someday (in the next ten years...) cure diabetes! So basically, I'll be curing diabetes this weekend.

We got a super dope new shop bike:


Just try to not smile your face off while you're riding this thing.


Keep it up the good work, summer, keep it up.

Surly Troll

I mentioned last post that I had a new bike. I got this bike because I needed fewer bikes. Don't worry, it makes sense. My collection was getting out of hand. There are good reasons to have more than one bike, but at some point it gets to be too much. One reason is because I like a good project. I'd gotten to the point where I was finishing a project bike, and then picking up another one, to put the extra parts from the first project to good use. Or I'd want to try something new, like a 2-speed kickback hub, or a disc braked fixed gear, you know, product testing. So I can provide sound, tested opinions and suggestions. I suppose I could have gotten a Surly Cross Check. It's a frame I really like, and would allow for lots of parts swapping, but no disc brakes. And I already have a 'cross bike.

Enter the Surly Troll. 26" wheel bike, with means to attach anything you want (within reason)- disc brakes, full line guides, post mount brakes, derailleurs, racks (front and rear), fenders, specially threaded holes to attach their new trailer, and horizontal dropouts for single speeding.


Here's how I have mine built up (for now):

Riding in a winter wonderla... ugh. It's gross.

Single speed. Right now it's fixed. Front hydraulic brake. My favorite seat/saddle and handlebars. And giant tires. 26 x 2.4! I know they're excessive, and my choice is almost purely aesthetic. I just prefer the way they fill up the frame, especially on a mountain bike. If I was a car person, I would probably be this A-hole guy:


So far I've enjoyed the ride. The heavy, heavy wheels/tires do take a little energy to wind up, but if I keep them up to max air pressure it's not so bad. Plus, I don't fear the potholes quite as much on the 2.4s. Which is important for my daily commute these days- have you seen S'ville Beacon Street? Pinch flat city.

I'm looking forward to taking it off road a little. And probably for a little light touring. And give it a geared drive train sometime. Or 3 speed. And maybe try it with some skinny tires. Or whatever other project I can come up with.