Tommy Smeriglio

with Ernie Landis at a race start

Tommy Smeriglio was such an accomplished bike racer, we may need to get a bigger bike shop.  His trophies cover shelf after shelf in our museum, and we probably don’t even have them all.

A very active amatuer racer on the east coast, Tommy specialized in long distance timed events and road races.  He raced in pretty much every bike race the Union Sportive Italiano held between 1938 and 1952, and set numerous records while doing so.  He won the 1938 USI two-hour team time trial, the 1939 Cocce Memorial 25 mile time trial, a 1943 USI 200 mile time trial, the 1946 USI sprint series, and the 1950 Worcester road race.

In the 1940′s Tommy set records racing from New York to Pittsburg and from New York to Detroit: two records that probably still stand (because who, in the last 70 years, would have attempted to break them?).

Tommy's 1950 Dick Power track bike

USI and ABL of A medals

Smeriglio's vast haul of awards

Part of the fun of having our own hall of fame is that we get to document the sporting lives of some inspiring, but somewhat anonymous, individuals.  Cyclists whose racing careers may not have been world-class but were certainly worth celebrating.  Come check out Tommy’s old track bike (no snickering now, the builder’s name really was “Dick Power”).  Take a look at his collection of awards and photos.

If you take nothing else away from our little museum, remember this: listen up the next time your grandfather mentions that he “used to race a bit” when he was younger…

1940 Elgin girls bike

Elgin head tube badge

Elgin made some cool bikes.

Sold through the Sears & Roebuck department stores prior to the second world war, these bikes competed with Schwinn, Monark, and Columbia for the attention of America’s youth.

This girls bike from 1940 is not the most spectacular of the Elgin models (that distinction belongs to the Blue Bird or the Four-Star Deluxe), but it does have some eye-catching features.

Elgin torpedo lamp

Elgin skirt guard

Neat fluting on the stem

A nice rear rack, a torpedo-shaped headlight, and rich blue and white paint add to the appeal, but the most striking item has to be the louvered skirt guard.  Kinda looks like the grill on dad’s Buick.

Want to go for a bike ride with (potentially) our future governor?

Sunday, the 20th, Jay and a bunch of his friends and supporters are going for a bike ride, starting at Third Place Books at 11:30 am.  Use this opportunity to let Congressman Inslee know what is important to you, and what you need from a Governor (or go on the ride and try to drop him.  Your call).  This is a fundraiser for his campaign, so even if you can’t make the ride, consider making a donation.

Politics aside, Jay is a customer of ours, a strong cyclist (just ask Paul how easy it was riding the Rhody Tour with Congressman Inslee last year), a Bainbridge Island resident, and an advocate for cyclists, pedestrians, and the ferry system.  We’ll vote for him for those reasons alone.

Used Cannondale Tandem $1699

We have a lightly used tandem for sale that is quite a bargain for the right pair of riders.

This bike is for tall people.  The front end is about 61cm, both seat tube and top tube, so the pilot of this rig ideally needs to be between 6’1″ and 6’4″ tall.  the back end can handle a wider range of heights, but let’s say the stoker should be between 5’8″ and 5’11″ to be most comfortable.

Nice bike all around with an aluminum frame and fork, Avid disc brakes, Truvative cranksets, a mix of Shimano 105 and Deore XT drivetrain equipment, DT hubs laced to Mavic rims and Avocet tires.  There is a suspension seatpost and an adjustable stem for the stoker.

New this bike would run around $3200.  Buy it used for only $1699.

The Story of the Giro d' Italia

It’s bike racing season, so what better time to brush up on some of its longest and most storied history?

A friend of ours, Bill McGann (of Torelli bicycle fame)  has written his 3rd bike racing history book, and it is a great read.  Like Bill’s other two books on the Tour de France, this is a fast pace read on a fascinating subject.  The Giro is a race as colorful as the people and history of Italy itself, and Bill weaves a wonderful tapestry of the racers, promotors, fans, the mafia, the politicians and the country that made the race great.

This is the first volume, which covers the early years, up until 1970.  If you get this book, we’ll let you know when volume 2 comes out…

Oscar Juner's Flying Scot bicycle

In 1900, David Rattray and his sister Agnes opened their bicycle shop in Glasgow, Scotland.  Over the next 83 years, their business would become famous for producing Scotland’s premier lightweight bicycle, “The Scot”, sometimes better known as “The Flying Scot”.

In-house bicycle production started in 1928, and was quite brisk leading up to the war, when the shop was contracted to produce pins for Bailey Bridge construction.  In post war Scotland, Rattray’s cycle shop grew under the stewardship of Rattray’s partner Jack Smith to become a focal point and meeting place for cyclists from Scotland and afar, the Scot name representing what was considered to be the best in hand built lightweight racing and touring machines.

The pride of Glasgow

Olympic Rings for various British team members

The Scot head tube badge

This Flying Scot, while being somewhat custom and unique (as they all were), appears to be their “Continental” racing model from the early ’60′s.  It features Nervex Professional lugs and Reynolds 531 tubing, Campagnolo Gran Sport derailleurs, GB Coureur 66 brakes, a Brooks (what else?) saddle, Wolber rims, and sew-up tires.

GB Coureur 66 brakes

Campagnolo Gran Sport

That little knob is a grease port for the headset

This particular Flying Scot was originally owned by Oscar Juner, founder of American Cyclery in San Francisco.  Like Rattray’s, Juner’s bicycle store on the edge of Golden Gate Park was (and still is) a beacon to cycling enthusiasts from far and wide.

Flying Scot 1962 Catalogue

A former Six-Day track racer, and part of an immensely influential cycling family from New York (see brother Augie’s 1930 Appelhans), everyone in the Bay Area who frequented American Cyclery would have wanted to ride the bikes that Oscar rode.

Knowing bike shop owners as we do, it is likely that Oscar began importing Flying Scot bicycles originally because he just really wanted to ride one himself…

May is bike to work (or school) month.

We want some pictures of everyone riding their bikes to work (or school).  Post a picture on our Facebook page, email one to us, or bring one in to the shop, and we’ll give you a new multi-tool or an inner tube for your effort.

If your job happens to be riding a bike (I’m talking about you, Kiel Reijnen), just ride your bike to the store.

1936 BSA Tandem

Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer, do,
I’m half crazy all for the love of you.
It won’t be a stylish marriage,
I can’t afford a carriage,
But you’d look sweet on the seat of a bicycle built for two.

Daisy could do a lot worse than marrying a guy with this awesome BSA Tandem.

Most likely purchased in 1936 or ’37, this British tandem built by Birmingham Small Arms is quite deluxe.

BSA tandem front end

BSA drum brake with wing nuts

Stoker bar and springy captain's seat

Fabulous features include BSA drum brake hubs, which were built to stop reliably (regardless of the girth of Daisy and her boyfriend).  Springy leather saddles were added to the tandem, an upgrade over the stock saddles that BSA offered, but clearly the right choice for a guy trying to make an impressive bike for his sweetie.  The generator light system on our bike was added more recently, but there is a fork mount designed to carry oil lamps or early battery powered lights.  Full fenders, a bell, Dunlop tires (ours have since rotted away), and cellulose bar wrap made this bike top of the line.

Two chainrings machined from one piece of steel

Rare Trivelox shifter

The cogs move sideways, the derailleur stays in place

1936 BSA catalogue page

The real marvel of this bicycle built for two is the Trivelox shifting system.  The funky design pulls the cogs side to side under a stationary derailleur.  A good choice for a tandem, where weight is less of an issue, and where the Trivelox’s widely spaced hub bearings supported the axle more evenly.  The Trivelox unfortunately did not withstand the test of time.  If you can imagine holding a pen over a piece of paper, and writing by moving the paper underneath it, you can understand the limitations of this system.  The more gears it was asked to shift between, the wider and heavier the rear wheel had to become.

Colnago CLX Black with Ultegra

The CLX with Sram Red, 15 pounds of awesome

The CLX is the top of the Colnago bell curve.

The CLX is where you get the most bike per dollar spent.  You get Colnago’s brilliant handling and unparalleled safety and reliability.  Italian style with Shimano Ultegra or Sram Force equipment for around $3500.   Decades of racing heritage with Sram Red or Shimano Dura-Ace for under $5000.

With Colnago, there is little sacrifice in performance when you step back from the flagship model.  Colnago makes all of their bikes worthy of the best riders.  Grand tour stages have been won on the CLX, and many sponsored riders have personal favorites among the C59, the CX-1, the M10, and the CLX.

We keep a number of complete CLXs in stock, framesets are available with 4 days to 2 weeks lead time.

Lynskey Pro 29 Industrial mill finish, etched graphics

Titanium is really the perfect material for mountain bikes.  Most Ti bikes will look brand new for decades, the finish is so durable.  There is no problem with rust, it won’t fatigue and crack like aluminum, and it is extremely difficult to dent a Ti bike.  Once every ten years or so, just refresh your component group or fork, and you will still have the latest and greatest mountain bike.

Lynskey has a variety of hardtail mountain bike designs to choose from.

Lynskey Titanium Pro29 VF painted

Lynskey Titanium Ridgeline 29vf

Lynskey Ridgeline SL 26" or 29" wheels

The Pro VF has the oversized headtube and downtube with the helix shaping in the downtube.  The rear dropouts are in a fixed position (not sliders) to save a little weight.

The Pro SL is similar to the VF, but it has sliding plate rear dropouts for running a Nexus rear hub or building the bike up as a single speed.

The Ridgeline has all of the great handling and ride characteristics of its Lynskey siblings, but with round tubing (instead of Helix shaped) to save you some cash.

All of the Lynskey mountain bike models are available in 26″ or 29″ wheel styles, and with a variety of frame finish options.

S&S couplers can be added to Lynskey mountain frames for travel versatility.