Winter Storage

I hate to do this to you, but even though it's a beautiful sunny fall day today- winter is going to be here in no time.

Let’s face it, we don’t all want to ride our bikes through the winter, and not all of us have a secure place to store them.  Most bikes have to spend the winter on a porch (if they’re lucky) or locked up with a bunch of other forgotten friends at an overcrowded rack.  Instead of letting your sweet ride collect rust under a foot of snow while you’re riding the T, why not leave it with us?  We’ll give it a warm, safe home, and make sure that it’s ready for action once the snow melts.

Here’s the deal:

Basic Winter Storage, $50:

-Secure, dry, warm indoor storage from November to April 15

-Bike frame cleaned/polished, chain lubed, and tires aired up before spring pickup

-Save yourself the cost of replacing rusty parts, and have your bike ready to roll when it counts

Winter Storage Tune $95 (plus parts, if needed):

-Secure, dry, warm indoor storage from November to April 15

-Bike will receive a full tune during the course of the winter

-Bike frame cleaned/polished, chain lubed, and tires aired up before spring pickup
-Your bike gets a tune, and we get to keep busy when the days are dark and cold. 

-Save yourself the cost of replacing rusty parts, and have your bike ready to roll when it counts

Bring your bike in anytime during the month of November and we'll keep it safe until April. Need to grab your bike before April? No problem- we're here from 11am-7pm M-F and 12-5pm Saturday. Or we can arrange some other time by appointment. We're also happy to hold onto your helmet and lock so you can keep all of your bike goods in the same place.

A Work in Progress

Somebody asked how long we've been in the new space. I answered "Three weeks." and Erich Corrected me- we're actually going into our 5th week in our new digs. Time flies...

The space already feels like home. We're doing a nice job of 'breaking in' the nice bamboo floors, the work benches are fully stocked and organized, and we've got the system for locating bikes in the giagantic (and slightly creepy) basement dialed.

 

We still have plenty of work to do. Jim's been hard at work setting up for bike fits (more info on that to come). We've been brainstorming ideas for more clinic and class offerings (more info on that to come), as well as other fun/educational/different things to do. There are many more options to get creative with this much space. It's exciting.

 

 In the mean time, we're going to keep on keeping on with the tune-ups, accessorizing (lights season is almost upon us), and #cannolifridaying. Stay tuned to watch the shop progress.

Bike Care Night, March 19, 7pm

If you've ridden at all this winter, your bike is probably a little gross. The roads have been coated in a slurry of salt, sand and road grime for months. Even if you haven't been riding this winter, your bike still needs some occasional TLC.

We're teaming up with Pedro's for a night of Bike Care. Wednesday, March 19th at 7pm, here at Hub Bicycle World HQ.  We'll be talking proper cleaning and lubrication, and why it's important. It's FREE and open to all. Come by for some knowledge, refreshments and hang time with other bike-minded folks.

Weekend at Ray's

Last year's sabatical took me to Ray's MTB in Cleveland. This year I thought I'd check out their Milwaukee location, and I brought Erich along to peer pressure me into trying more stuff. 

This Ray's was much like the one in Cleveland- although more big box store, less industrial warehouse. It has a few XC skills sections- beginner, sport and expert, as well as a park/jump section all connected by XC 'trail' that runs through the whole place.

Here's the start of the Sport section:

 

Here's Erich reflecting on how rad he's just gotten at the finish of the Sport section:

 

 

The place is designed to allow you to challenge yourself without huge risk. Many of the most challenging lines have (relatively) safe bail out options. Don't get me wrong, you could definitely do some serious damage to yourself if you wanted to, but if you've got your noggin in the right place there's no reason you'd get hurt.

This time around I wanted to challenge myself to get my wheels off the ground. The Micro Rhythm section was perfect- a series of table top jumps long enough to work up a rhythm (eh? get it?), but not so long that it was intimidating or exhausting.

Here's a video of me riding this very section. My favorite part is the tiny child riding this better than me.

Ice Cold

It's the last day of the heat wave. Hang in there, we're going to make it.

As you know, it's important to stay hydrated in hot weather. It just so happens we got a fresh batch of water bottles a couple of days ago. To celebrate their arrival, and to keep everyone hydrated we're putting these babies on sale for $4.

And for today- when you pay $4 you get a fresh, clean bottle filled with icy cold spring water.

 

 

BYDTWM

It's 'Bring Your Dog To Work Day Morning'. 

(She doesn't like kids or cat people, so she's not really cut out for retail.)

Visitor

I get into the shop real early these days, as there's tons of work to do. The shop is usually a little stuffy first thing so I prop the back door open for a little fresh air. I propped the door this morning and as I went to put my bag away I heard a fluttering behind me. A black-capped chickadee had followed me in. She/he flew around the shop for a while and then found a perch on the wheels in the front window.

Hanging out on the hand-built 29er wheel. This guy/gal has good taste.

I did the only thing I could think of- left my helmet on and waited for her/him to find the open door again.

Better Than Flowers

I got home to a present from my better (at being thoughtful) half yesterday. Flowers? A puppy? A romantic, candle lit dinner? Nope. Even better- an anti-fatigue mat for my work bench!

CLOSED Saturday 10/22

We're going to shut down operations while we move Hub Bicycle HQ (to 1064 Cambridge St... in case you hadn't heard) this weekend.

Organization isn't my strong suit (you can't be good at everything...), so I'm bringing in reinforcements. We'll be back in action and better than ever on Monday. Just wait until you see the new shop... You're in for a pleasant surprise.

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.

Big News!

I promised some big news over on our Facebook page the other day. And here it is...

Much like all of my clothing after that first year of college, things have gotten a little snug around here. At one point this summer I counted 42 bikes (oh... not counting the new bikes we're selling! So 46 bikes...) in this shop of 517 square feet. Busy summer evenings have found folks having to wait to get in the door (thanks for your patience!). I couldn't be more grateful for the growth, but there comes a time to admit you don't fit in your pants any more.

So it's time for bigger pants... WE'RE MOVING! Nobody panic. We're not going far. Starting some time in October 2011 (I'm going to shoot for the 3rd week, but I'll keep you posted) Hub Bicycle will be found at 1064 Cambridge St. I'm very excited about the move, and, as I said, I'm very grateful for the opportunity to grow this little bike shop.

In conclusion, I'd like to tell you three great things about the new shop space:

1) We get to stay in the neighborhood! Definitely priority #1.
2) More than double the work and retail space. Like going from skinny jeans to sweatpants.
3) The wood floors, counter, and chalkboards are reclaimed from a church in the neighborhood. Neat.

Clean up

So maybe you've been doing some home maintenance on your bike. Maybe you've fixed a flat, or dutifully lubed your chain. Now your hands look like this:

Band-aid.

The grime that comes off your bike is a special kind of filth. It's especially tenacious and resistant to regular soap. I know, I wash my hands a dozen times a day. I use a heavy duty, gritty citrus hand cleaner, that comes in a heavy duty quantity.


But let's say you don't want to buy a gallon of heavy-duty, professional strength hand cleaner. One of my other favorites is Lava soap (it's made with pumice... get it?). Also gritty, and available in bar form at your neighborhood grocery store. It's not as quick as the citrus stuff and I think it takes a little more elbow grease to remove bike grease with Lava, so I like to pair it with a nice nail brush.



But maybe you don't have your Lava soap handy, or you hate volcanoes. In a pinch, you can use dish soap. WAIT! Don't wash just yet. To really, really get all the grease off your hands you have to scrub your hands with liquid dish soap DRY. That's the trick. Put the soap on your dry, bike grimy hands, scrub it in, then wash it off with warm water. You might have to go in for another round, but it works much better if your hands are dry for the first round. Trust me.


It's good to get your hands dirty every once in a while (or every day), but it's also good to clean them in case you want to have a sandwich or something.

Training?

I haven't been riding outside much. I think the last time I rode any significant amount outside was around Christmas. This is because of two things, mostly. 1) I was bike-less for a while. Working bike-less, at least. Actually I had one working bike, but it's my nice one. I'm not going to ride it out in the land of salt and potholes. 2) The weather has been miserable. I don't mind cold, but the snow (and snow and snow and snow) sucks the fun out of life (I'm not a skier). So I've been walking. That's exercise. Kind of.

I'm not a high performing cyclist. I'm not super fit. What little fitness I do have, I'd like to hang onto during this off season. Maybe I'll want to put a little more effort into 'racing' this year. Or maybe I just want to be able to enjoy riding when the weather gets nice. So I put my one working bike on the trainer, parked in front of a computer stocked with guilty-pleasure TV and bike training videos. I even have a heart rate monitor, so I can make sure my heart's working hard enough.


Fast forward to this week. No snow and a (mostly) new bike* to try out. I did some commuting and errand running. I got my ass handed to me- riding around town. Depressing. I can say that despite how much time I've spent riding inside, it's not really helping. It's not hurting. But I'm not going to get race ready by riding in place. I can try to push myself while watching "Trainright Climbing", but riding up a real hill is more difficult than I could ever motivate myself to spin on the trainer. I'm out of shape.

Thankfully the way to get not out of shape is ride a bike outside. The 10 day forecast only has a couple days of flurries, and lots of days in the upper 30s. I'll take it.




*I'm going to write about it after I ride it a bit longer, so I can give a well thought out review about it.

One Year

The doors have been open for a year. Days passed, money in and out, hours clocked- there are plenty of business stats to measure time passed. Those numbers are great (and necessary), but they don't give the full picture of Hub's first year. I've been thinking recently of the other ways to measure what's happened in the last year.

Some other numbers- flats fixed (393), wheel building lessons taught (3), cars that hit me while riding to the shop (1), bikes basics tuned (146), CX races raced (6), DFL finishes (1), tubes recycled (2 70lb boxes), days I've been happy to come to work (365).

The visual indications* of time passed:







I'm so very grateful to have been here for a year. Thanks to everyone for the support, flat fixes, and tune ups. Here's to a great year two.


*That means mostly how dirty things have gotten...

Reading List

I'm not going to complain about the snow. Don't get me wrong, I am not a fan, but complaining isn't going to help and it's getting old.

To avoid falling into the glass-half-empty winter curmudgeon trap I've been doing bike-y things from the warmth and comfort of the indoors. Like reading. There's interesting stuff out there.

Here is what (and in what order) I typically read:

I start at Boston Biker. No, wait. First I get a cup of coffee. Then I go to Boston Biker. It's a nice way to catch a bunch of the latest in one place. I also like to scan down the left side to see what other blogs have updated recently. Of the 'left side Boston Biker blogs' I particularly like Chic Cyclist and the Humble Cyclist.

Then I move on to Lovely Bicycle!. I'm not as big a fan of vintage as she is (that's not to say I'm not a fan of vintage, just not as big...), but I do think the tone she uses to share her cycling experience makes it more accessible to more people.

Then I move on to Bike Snob NYC. I will say that sometimes I have to take a break to see other blogs. I like a little snark. I think it can be funny, and has its place, but I also think it should be used sparingly (it's like refined sugar on the food pyramid of comedy). I will say I'm enjoying it for now.

Next I go to Bike Shop Girl. 'Empowering women in cycling.' Amen. I find the layout of the site to be a bit cluttered, but the content is a-ok! disorienting, but it's probably just me (I like my websites nice 'n linear).
Then I check out what Joshua has to say over at Arc En Ciel Bicycle Studio. You can always count on some nice pics there.

Then I like to check out some local frame builders' sites, and admire their handiwork. I also like to check with MassBike and NEMBA to see what's new.

Any other suggestions? I've got 51 days to fill until spring...

Hanging it up for the season?

Snow!

Is this weather making you finally think about putting your bike away for the season? It's ok. I won't judge. I promised I write a little something about this very subject. So here you go.

Here are my recommendations:

Mrs. Gilmore was right. I would use 7th grade math in real life one day.

Storing your bike is much more simple than storing your yacht. Really you only need to do one thing- protect it from the weather. The chain has the potential to suffer the most, so I like to hit it with some chain lube, just to provide one more barrier between all of those moving parts and the weather. If your bike's inside you don't need to use anything heavy, but it's still good policy to give it a little love, so things move more easily in the spring. Cover the chain and cover the bike. If it's inside then you're covering it with a building, so that's good. If it's outside, cover it with a tarp or one of these babies (don't worry about the ridiculous name...):

It's bike shaped!

ALL bikes will have soft tires if left for a couple of months. Don't worry, they're (probably) not flat, just pump them back up. Here's a note about bringing your bike in to the shop in the spring. Your bike might not need anything. It might it in perfect shape (if you've taken care to store it with love) or it might have really suffered in the elements (if you don't have climate controlled bike storage you have to park it where you can park it with love). If you're a home mechanic, and you like to maintain your bike, you know what to look for. If not, bring it in for a check up. A lot can happen in a couple of months- chains and cables corrode, water sneaks in and rusts bearings, things get creaky. I'm only advocating for a complete overhaul if you actually need it. It's important to do at least a little regular maintenance to keep your bike rolling.