North Park Bicycle Shop

loooong weekend

Just to let y’all know – we’ll be closed on the Sunday/Monday this coming weekend, May 23rd & 24th!

window dressing

With Bike to Work Week 2010 approaching at the end of this month (May 31 – June 6), cyclists are starting to get their bikes tuned up and teams are getting ready.  They offer lots of amazing prizes as incentive to ride those two rickety wheels to work for a week.  And, heck, with all this gorgeous weather and our beautiful city, why wouldn’t you want to ride just for the pleasure of it??

Our BTWW offering as a prize this year is an Electra Townie Holiday 3i in khaki (which looks a lot like beige to me), and we were recently invited to lend it to the Hotel Rialto’s Vintage Liquor Store on Pandora Street.  They have a window display of Cono Sur wines well apppointed by our lovely bike!  Go check out their web page, as they have a nice bicycle influence.  Also, go check out the Vintage Liquor Store!

Please note, while we love biking and we love drinking wine, we do not condone drinking wine whilst riding your bike.  It is highly irresponsible… you could spill a glass of a particularly good vintage.

ohyes!

our excitement runneth over!  Where to start?

The supremely perfect and sublime Pashley Guv’nor Plus Four had the good fortune to pass through our door last week.  Only 50 made for the entirety of the universe…. we own #26.  Yes, we are extremely grateful and know just how darn lucky we are!!!

The Guv’nor Plus Four features brass plated lugs, a Sachs Duomatic rear hub and Speed Drive front chain wheel (providing the four gears the title alludes to).

You can guess it went straight from the bike stand where it was built to the ceiling where it now resides and is coveted daily.  In fact, I think I’ve seen a few staff and customers murmuring reverently at it whilst on their knees, gazing up at the brass lugs glimmering in the afternoon sunlight…

Also from the swell folks at Fourth Floor Distribution, our BuBs arrived today!!  And, there you thought the Dutch were only good for the De Dutch Pannekoek House!   BuBs can be test ridden freely (unlike the +Four), so come on by and take a whirl.

Not really mountain biking

Brrmm

Brrmm Brrmm

Singletrack Flora

Surly Buster

Buster on his way home tonight with Joe on the Surly Big Dummy…

surly dog (first attempt at throwing a vid on here, so…not sure why no cute little photo shows up here!)

An anomaly occurred today as I was about to leave work to go get our girls from school.  Normally, when I put my coat on and get my things to leave, Buster starts doing the crazy dance in anticipation of leaving the shop into The Unknown (which usually means: going home and eventually having supper).  However, today, when I went into the back to get him, he was sitting in the his chair while Joe was fixing bikes.

When I approached him with his leash (at which point he nearly pees himself in excitement), he still sat in his chair looking dubiously up at me.  I hooked in his leash and coaxed him down, which he did regretfully.  Just as we were about to walk out the back door, he jumped back up into his chair.  So, ’nuff said… guess he thought he had better opportunities at the shop (admittedly, there was some remnants of a Pig BBQ sandwich on the bench, which he was probably figuring he could steal or grovel for).

thoughtful gremlins…

This goes out to the really thoughtful, kind individual who sent us an anonymous bicycle license plate that arrived in the mail today: THANK YOU!!!!  We were really thrilled to receive such a cool envelope with an amazing surprise inside.

hey BuB!

Soon (very, very soon!!) to join our collection is the Batavus BuB (Batavus Utility Bike)!  Looking curiously like a paperclip is the women’s model, both are rugged, simple and inexpensive for a great Dutch ride.  It’s been the usual price tag of around a thousand dollars to get a solid Dutch bicycle that has more than one gear; they are expected to come in a few hundred dollars cheaper (exact price not yet known).  It is also lighter, which is novel for a Dutch bike.

BuB was designed as a concept Dutch bicycle by Batavus – it’s a fun bicycle that gives a superb, comfortable ride.  Designed around an office doddle featuring a paperclip (so, no, you weren’t imagining things!)….BuB’s frame evolved from a design to production and so far has won the attention of the media in the Netherlands and US and the hearts of those who’ve bought a BuB.

Best reviewed here or here!

Schwalbe Protection

This bike came in today with a completely worn out Schwalbe Marathon tyre. The nail has gone into the tread and out of the sidewall without touching the inner tube. The Kevlar really did it’s job.

echo

It was gently brought to our attention by a kind customer that we have been lagging in the update department (thank you, Ian!), and, lo and behold, upon checking back it’s been nearly two months since our last morsel.  Sorry to deprive our loyal readership of four!!

April has brought many things:

Hiring of a new young fella, Maya, who has just come back from recovering from a broken femur incurred whilst wrestling with a large tree at high speed while snowboarding in Revelstoke.  The tree won, but he’s back with a vengeance.

Also, we’ve just had the return of Marcel for about 8 weeks, helping us out while we experience our Spring Crunch (everyone wanting to get their bikes happy now that spring seems to have settled in nicely).  After that, he’ll be off to Iceland for a month in July (consequently, with our oldest daughter on an international flavoured month of culture and peace-keeping goals through CISV), after which he hopes to get his career as a mechanical engineer off to a great start, either here or in Vancouver.

We get to start testing out our new repair depot in the back, now that things are picking up.  We acquired a micro-apartment behind the shop where we’ve set up two additional repair bays.  Hopefully that means we can get repairs in and out more quickly, to get you back on your ride faster.  We’ve taken out a repair stand from the front to make room for our ordering/shipping/receiving ‘department’ and to have more space for customers and their bikes.

We also have seen the newest Scrap-it changes take effect as of April 1st.  Check out their webpage for the latest bits of info.  Not nearly as lucrative as it used to be, but still cool to get ‘free money’ towards a spiffy new ride.

We finally received our 2010 shipment of Electra Townie 7D and 21D’s!  Some gorgeous colours this year on the as-always perfect bike.  Starting at a lower price this year of $569.  We also have gotten a shipment of 2010 Surly Long Haul Trucker complete bikes in stock – going for $1549.

Also worth a mention, someone was in the shop last week and mentioned the cause of his friends… four guys on one bike – The Tandem Tour – they’ve had a great ride built up in Seattle, and are cross-Canada riding to support four different charities that have affected them.  Pictured above, giving their heidi-ho’s to us on their way past the shop the other day.  Go on over and give ‘em some lovin’.

Take a peek at some fine photos of a Partridge Hill ride that Joe went on yesterday with Chris and wonder dog, Buster.

I hope this inspires you to get riding and enjoying the glories of Victoria!  Until next time.

Brompton!

Our Bromptons arrived a bit ago, and we must say we are mighty impressed!  They are everything they are cracked up to be.  I’m pleased to say that they have even exceeded my expectations of a bike, and a folding bike at that!  Incredibly zippy and solid in handling, they are a joy to ride, easy to fold and unfold, and even look impressive.  Handmade to boot.  No Chinese factory stuff here, and you get every bit of quality you pay for, and then some.  Come on by and try out our lovely ‘apple green’ Superlight demo model.  Sweet and sassy with 6 speeds, it’ll be sure to woo you as it has done us.  Stay tuned for a video on Joe folding and unfolding it…