Accessories and the problems they cause

Soooooooooo, yea. We just purchased a ton of brand new accessories for the shop (sorry no locks this time). Our wholesaler has been on this price increasing kick lately so these may be as inexpensive as we see for a while. Fear not! For we always have used accessories in stock!

Here's a partial list of what's here and what's coming:
MTB Tubes (presta and schrader) ($5)
RB Tubes (presta and schrader) ($5)
Water bottles ($3)
WB Cages ($5)
Cyclo Computers with cadence ($10)
Bike Gloves ($10)
Storage hooks ($2)
Multi Tools ($7)
Bike Racks ($20)

We also have a HUGE lot of BMX/Racing Bikes and gear. We're still getting into the bikes (so much to do so little time) but we do have full face helmets (mostly in kids/ small adult sizes) for sale for $7. These things aren't your run of the mill plastic junk they're reinforced to survive most anything. Red, White, and Blue are available.

August 24th Chain Links

Sorry about the outage last week. School eats your life even before it starts. To appease the bicycle gods, today's chain links is expanded with an EXTRA LINK! Today we cover everything from banks getting into the bike charity drives, to bike cop vs. bike rider, to bike racks, and back again. It's been a long and tiring Monday and all I can do is hope these links brighten your day as much as they did mine.

First: Bike laws vary from state to state but the general rule of thumb is "when in Rome do as the Romans do." I think that's even etched into the back of most bicycle helmets. In this case, when riding on the road, obey the same laws you'd have to obey if you were driving a car.

Second: Lesson learned: Bikes that go to the landfill are a tragedy. Bikes that go to a non-profit that fixes them up for reuse are AWESOME!

Third: I may be able to ride my bike with no handlebars, but I can't ride with no rack. Treehugger profiles some of the more... er... interesting racks out there.

Finally: News flash! Man likes his bike! More at 11. Honestly, just the title made me LOL. Talk about fluff.

(Photo Credit: Cetma Racks from Treehugger)

No Chain Links Today

I have "real" work to do today so no time to go surf. I hope you don't take it too hard. To soften the blow please accept this highly addicting game demo to pass the time.

August 19th Chain Links

Keeping with our long running theme of complete discontinuity today I present you with three stories that have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH EACH OTHER. A bicycle built for 7, a cyber stalker, and an indie film festival are all found below. Enjoy!

First: You've heard the classic term "a bicycle built for two" but how about "a bicycle built for 7?" Called a conference bike, this three wheeled, 7 seater not only looks big, it will also carry a load of over 1400 lbs! For reference, that's .63 metric tons or more than most compact cars can handle. That's good, because it's price tag of $12,750 is more than a lot of compacts too.





Second: I wish I had known about the Bicycle Film Festival when i was living in NY and was close enough to go see it. However, as I'm now in Florida (shucks) I'll have to settle for the shorts of some of the films on YouTube.





Finally: Facebook stalking is not a crime (well, sometimes), especially when it thwarts a would be bike thief from getting away with his crime. Internet savvy mothers take note, you too can be Nancy Drew... on Facebook!

(Photo Credit: Conference Bike from examiner.com)

August 18th Chain Links

Today we meander from the comfy confines of the environmentalist's approach to bike commuting, to strange state laws, to just plain free stuff. I promised to give you links, not be coherent about it.

First: Sometimes environmentalists get it wrong (I'm looking at you green peace) and sometimes they get it right. My favorite environmental blog, Cool Green Science, has a post up this morning about commuting to work. The author hits all the important parts but saves the helmet till the end!

Second: States make funny laws. Generally they're only known about to a handful of people responsible for enforcing them, but this one from Wisconsin seems important to know for every driver and biker alike.

Finally: Looking for a new bike? Have no cash? Well, you've got better than a 1/1,000,000,000 chance of winning a brand new cyclocross bike from Redline. All you have to do is enter!

(Photo Credit: Circular Bike from blog.makezine.com)

Weekend Chain Links

Not every one's perfect. Here's the links I missed while I was doing other things this weekend.

First: Q: When is a paddle boat not a paddle boat? A: When it's a bike! I get the distinct feeling that China is quickly catching up to the US in the all important "too much time on their hands" category.

Second: We have two tandems in the shop at the moment. Unfortunately that wouldn't be enough for this family of 5. They're taking an almost 3 year long bike ride from Kentucky to Alaska (via Florida and Arizona no less) on a quint! That takes balls... or too much time on their hands... USA BACK IN THE LEAD!

Finally: Bike inflation in the us has become rampant, particularly in Portland. Freakonomics takes a look at how the price of bikes relates to the price of cars in several major cities. While I haven't collected data on Tally, my bet is that bikeflation is happening here too.

(Photo Credit: AquaBike aka "Eye candy" from www.jesolo-ok.com)

Bikes in the shop

Sneek preview of coming attractions! We got a HUGE donation of BMX bikes last week. While we haven't had a chance to play with them yet, we will be doing so Wednesday during some special work hours. Justin and I will be rearranging things a bit and hopefully getting a few of them ready to ride. Here's a rundown of the bikes in the shop off the top of my head.

1) Trek 7500 hybrid
2) Fuji touring bike (RB)
3) Panisonic RB
4) Hoop D (Classic reproduction)
5) Raleigh Women's Hybrid
6) Raleigh MTB
7) Jamis MTB
8) About 10 Schwinn BMX bikes
9) Laser tandem Bike
10) No-Brand tandem road bike
11) Mongoose Dual Shock MTB

Depending on how ready the BMX bikes are, we may be able to price them as low as $30!!! Yay for donations!