Civiaction

Civia has a lot of cool stuff in here.

Civia Linden

They came out of the gates with the best commuter bike in the world a few years ago and their line has continued to expand since then. We signed on with them before they even had bikes to sell us. We

Civia Midtown

believe they have a good thing going. I’ve been riding a “FrankenCivia” this year and I’m pretty enamored with it. I’ve got it set up as a single speed with a porteur rack and swept hbars.

We’re really excited about their newest additions – The Linden and Midtown.

Both bikes have something about them that is hard to explain. “It’s all in the angles,” Ari says. The design and geometry of the bikes add a great ride quality. The Linden is quick and stable, the Midtown is smooth and handles well even with cargo in the front basket.

These models fit in well with our other bikes, too. The Linden is our answer for people looking at the Trek models but want something sportier than the 7000 series but more comfortable than the FX series. The Midtown is a natural upgrade to the Navigator series. We see many customers looking to use their bikes for more than just pleasure riding and these are great solutions.

We also stock a handful of other Civia items. Their front racks are designed

Civia Loring and Loring Basket

well and look great. The Market Rack fits most rigid forks. They also have the Loring Basket and the ultra-simple Platform Rack.

Civia has a wide array of handlebar options and we stock a couple. The Colfax is a favorite here – nice sweep, good angles.

Civia currently has fender options from their Hyland (Aluminum, extra long) and Loring (flat, bamboo) models. They have some plastic fenders on the way.

Civia’s website is also a great resource for bike commuters everywhere. Check them out at www.civiacycles.com

 

Frostbike Recap

Another Frostbike, come and gone.

We’ve made the journey five times now and we’re never disappointed. This year we enjoyed a nice mix of product, people, and savvy. Bike conferences are only as much as you make them. You can go and drool over the goods, glad hand the vendors, awkwardly pilfer energy bars and stickers (c’mon, we’re grown men), and come away feeling like you wasted a weekend. We tend to use those expos as times to put faces to names and spend time with people that can teach us something we don’t know. I learn more from fellow dealers than I do from the seminars (and some of the seminars are great – see also Brett Fleming).

We spent some good time with our Colorado Contingent. iScott from Salvagetti’s and Jason from Pedal Pushers made my trip a great success, personally and professionally. It it weren’t for them, we would never have been able to figure out how to get from point A to point B and discover our B-A levels; that is unless, we just asked someone else or looked at a map or just stopped drinking. Regardless, they have fancy fones and that makes people like them. I kept trying to act like I was cool, too. People just looked at me with disdain and told me to get my camera out of my ear and stop caressing my mp3 player. moving on…

Eric tries to limber up after a long night on the pond

As always it was good to see the Surly fellows. We saw more of them than ever, really. We met all sorts of them. The “Trevor Treatment” was especially nice on Saturday night. He tore us away from our ninja stars to show us dark places with no people in them. It was really quite incredible. We learned the stupifying truth behind Salsa Flip-Offs and we’ll never buy anything else ever again. They’re assembled right here in the USA by whoever gets caught not working.

Salsa skewers are nuts

I really failed to take pictures this year. Mostly because of my ongoing coux with the iphone I don’t own. Even though I don’t have visual proof, we met with some other great people and saw some other great stuff.

Salsa Cycles is off and rolling with their new identity: Adventure by Bike. We’re excited to be partners with them. Their direction if quite congruent with ours. Their new racks are smart and have a solid place in the market. Expect more in the store.

Bravo to Continental, Chub hubs, Cane Creek, and Pacific Outdoor Equipement. New Time Iclic and AllRoad pedals will be available at NCC this year, too, along with eyewear from Optice Nerve, new Cateye computers, and new products from Portland Design Works.

We were impressed with all of these guys – they had the right people in their booths with good product knowledge and effective people skills. We were surprised by some other booths with great brand recognition totally fail at those aforementioned qualities, but we won’t name names (we will, however, name nick:names: Bullsnake).

Thank you, QBP, for a good time and a bunch of free goods. You’ve bought our love and patronage for another year.

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Avalanche of Newness

New Stuff:

Grand Trunk Travel Hammocks are in. Super light and Super durable hammocks made of recycled parachute material. They’re a great companion for any touring cyclist or avid outdoorsperson.

The blue beast is Ari’s custom-painted Surly Steamroller he built up with a carbon fork for some gravel masochism.

Salsa A La Carte – brought in special, and special it is.

Civia Loring – it’s more beautiful in person and rides like a dream. Also Civia related – the Hyland price was drastically reduced to $1675 and is also now available in a drop bar version. For more, see Civia’s page.

We have a new chalkboard that’s been used for a daily update of new products, wind direction, and Tour updates. It’s also a good place for DeKalb area bike maps.

New Ideas:

In my subterranean life as a bookbinder, I am always looking for ways to bring books and leather working into my job at the bike shop. This is a prototype for a ride journal I am working on. I want to make something that can withstand the abuses of avid riders but still carry a hint of class.

I have also made a batch of leather “dingpads” for a number of people recently. I glue a few layers of thick leather, matched to their color of Brooks (of course), stamp it with whatever they want and sew it on. Works well. The last one was a full TT protector of leather pressed to look like elephant skin. burly.

and then the pitch… IRC tires are all 25% off.

fin.