Thanksgiving Holiday
Closed Wednesday and Thursday
Classic Cycle will be closed on Wednesday, November 27th and on Thanksgiving, November 28th. We will resume our regular hours on “Black” Friday the 29th (open 10-5).
News
11/2024
Winter Overhaul Special
Your bike will be in experienced hands…
During the warm weather months we all put off regular repair on our bikes. You want to be out riding, and you can’t do that when your bike is in the shop!
It’s the winter now. It’s raining. You can give up your bike for a day or two, can’t you?
Bring your bike in this month and we’ll give it the full treatment. Overhaul the hubs, bottom bracket, headset, and suspension pivots. True the wheels. We’ll clean the drivetrain in our solvent tank, we’ll adjust the brakes and gears, even do fresh handlebar tape. The labor for installing parts is included, so if you want fenders installed or a rack put on, now is a good time.
An overhaul, including cleaning the drivetrain, all for $120. This is our usual “Commuter Special” just $50 off of the regular price (parts, if needed, are extra).
Equipment tips: Choosing a saddle
Big banana seat
Finding the perfect saddle isn’t always easy.
Everyone who has ridden a bike for more than an hour has experienced some degree of discomfort, and the seat on the bike is often to blame. There are a lot of choices out there in bike saddles, and here are a few tips to help select a winner from all of the possibilities.
While the saddle itself is important, remember that it works in the context of a system. The type of bike you ride, your position on the bike, your body (pelvic shape, flexibility, weight), the clothing that you wear while riding, how hard you ride (pressure on the pedals), and the saddle are all elements in this system.
Saddles come in a variety of widths, densities, shapes and materials. There is no one saddle that is the best, or the most comfortable for every body. A friend may have a bike seat that they love, but in no way does this mean that the same saddle will work for you.
Saddles with the cutout on the top have received a lot of attention in the past twenty years. In our experience, the correct width saddle, positioned correctly, is the goal. Sometimes the cutout is not helpful, and can actually make things worse. Sizing is the key. You can use one of the saddle measurement tools in the store (we call them ass-ometers) to figure out which width your riding position and pelvic shape needs.
The worst saddle
Old-style leather saddles like Brooks use natural leather, and they conform to you, becoming “custom” over time. They can be extremely comfortable, but plan ahead, as there is a considerable break-in time for these saddles.
Inexpensive padded saddles use foam rubber for the padding. They feel plush to the thumb, but while riding, the foam can bottom out, leaving the rider sitting on the hard shell. Better saddles use gel. They provide more support than foam.
High-end saddles that use carbon fiber and titanium in the construction are more than just light. The high-tech materials can flex dramatically and absorb shock while maintaining the same strength and durability as more cheaply constructed saddles.
Here are a few generalizations that may make good starting points:
Think about the specific problem when trying to find the saddle solution. Sit-bone pain is different from crotch pain and chafing is different still.
The pelvis is somewhat triangular in shape, and tips to a narrower portion as you bend over. The more stretched out that you are, the narrower the saddle that you probably want.
A saddle needs to be level to work right. Tipping the nose way down only puts your weight on your hands, and is generally an indication that the seat position is too high, or the bike fits poorly. Before you throw out an uncomfortable seat, you may want to consider getting your bike fit to you.
Your feet, hands, and rear end are the contact points on the bike. The more weight that is on your feet (how hard you’re pedaling), the less weight is supported by your hands and rear end. The little racing saddle that feels fine on hard weekend training rides will become unbearable when you slow down to ride with the kids.
These old saddles turned custom to their rider
Saddle width is critical to riding comfort. If the saddle is too narrow, the sit bones will be over the edge, and put too much pressure on sensitive areas. The correct width will perch the rider on top of the saddle so pressure is evenly distributed. A saddle that is too wide will make you straddle too much material, and it may cause chafing.
Also, if the real problem is chafing, don’t underestimate the power of a good pair of cycling shorts or chamois cream.
Hope these guidelines will help you to find the mythical “Perfect Bicycle Saddle”.
Tulio
Meet the quality control inspector: Tulio.
Tulio the cat is specifically a three-year-old Maine Coon and he’s named after Tullio Campagnolo (we dropped the additional L to aid in pronunciation).
Quality control inspector
He’s not that big, we’re just that small
Tulio is ready to move
Helping with paperwork
Sorting tools
Tulio the cat is an avid cyclist, averaging 10 commuting miles a week in his trailer.
Tulio‘s mechanical aptitude seems to be limited to dangling items, primarily installing brake cables, shift cables and handlebar tape.
On the sales floor, Tulio is most helpful with helmet boxes and cycling shoes (at least the ones with laces).
He will be working at Classic Cycle most days that we’re open.
7/2022
We’ve moved
This may take a while…
Our new digs
Sam and Colin mid-move
All of the selection, none of the traffic
We’ve moved into new digs…
At the end of July 2022 we locked the shop door on Winslow Way for the last time and opened for business back on High School road.
Where are we? Well, if you’ve ever sat in line at the McDonald’s drive-thru you may have already seen our new building. Tucked behind McDonalds and situated next to Ace Hardware, Classic Cycle will be in the old Key Bank building.
No longer do you have to consider the ferry schedule before venturing to our shop. Test rides, particularly for our youngest customers, will be safer and more fun with traffic-free pavement and dirt trails.
Free of tourist crowds, our new little building comes with our own parking, our own trails for riding and some great outdoor spaces for pre-ride meet-ups.
Need to drop off a bike for repair? Situated between the Golden Arches and the hardware store, we’ll soon complete the trifecta of weekend errand runs…
Our professional reviewer
1990 American Bicycle Manufacturing (ABM) M-16
No bicycle website or magazine in the world does product reviews the right way. You can’t take a new product, try it out for a week and be able to evaluate its merits in any meaningful way. To review something accurately, you need to let the dust settle while a trend or fad plays itself out. You need to have miles and lots of time roll over your subject. Thirty years should do it.
Our friend Eben Weiss (BikeSnobNYC) is reviewing our 1990 American M-16 mountain bike right now. He should be able to tell you the benefits and design problems of this bike within the next few months.
Unlike Jan Heine’s vintage product reviews in Bicycle Quarterly, Eben’s aim will be to amuse and entertain, not merely to sell you his own brand of wide touring tires or bitch about the fork rake on modern bikes..
Amuse yourself here:https://bikesnobnyc.com/2020/01/15/classic-cycle-thursdays/
10/2019
Chloe Wins Worlds!
Chloe and her cat
As long as we have known her, she has been fast. Now Chloe has won the race that says unequivocally that she is the fastest.
Friend of the shop and Bremerton resident Chloe Dygert-Owen just won the time trial event at the world championships, beating the fastest female bike racers in the world to take the title.
The Yorkshire race course was in the middle of an absolute deluge and it’s with a little bit of pride that we suggest training in western Washington weather gave Chloe an advantage.
5/2019
Velonews article
Kiel’s first publicity photo
There’s a nice article about Kiel and his brother Nash in Velonews this week. You can check it out here: https://www.velonews.com/2019/05/road/how-kiel-reijnen-found-solace-on-the-cobblestones_493010
11/2018
I do not like green eggs and ham
I came across one of the funniest rider interviews I have ever read on CyclingNews today.
Danny Pate has just hung up his wheels after a really long professional cycling career (he was on the U.S. Cycling team with me in ‘98 and ‘99, so you know we’re not talking just a year or two).
The whole interview is really interesting, as is the other one in the series with Michael Creed (another National Team rider). What is really funny to me is Danny’s reminiscence about Paris-Nice, which he raced 4 times:
Paris-Nice 2008, 2009, 2012 & 2013
“I’ve been in some terrible races and Pais Vasco was right up there, but the undoubted winner was Paris-Nice. I never want to go back, and I say that because although a race like the Giro was super hard, it at least expanded my horizons and taught me certain things about racing and about myself. But what did Paris-Nice ever give me other than bronchitis? I can’t think of a single thing. Ask me how many times I did it and I’ll always give you the same answer: Too many.
Here’s the thing: it’s eight days long, it has the worst weather, and the real killer comes in the fact that it’s only eight days so you can see the end in sight. So unlike in a Grand Tour, when you ease off slightly because you’re racing for three-weeks, in Paris-Nice you just keep pressing on. There’s no easy day, there’s no rest day, and in my experience there was never a Grand Tour that had eight days in a row that were as stressful or as hard as Paris-Nice. In my mind it made sense that the Tour de France was stressful, and I could rationalise that riders were willing to take risks, but Paris-Nice was the only race that had those same features, and that made no sense to me.
I get that Paris-Nice is a great race and I was on a team that won it three years in a row, but I hated every second of being there. It made me want to quit cycling. When I think about why I left Europe I think about Paris-Nice. When I think about the worst possible thing in professional cycling, I think about Paris-Nice. I would rather build a house, brick by brick, by myself, than do another Paris-Nice. Even when you’re winning, every day is like a kick in the nuts. I don’t think I can be any clearer. I don’t like Paris-Nice.”
If you want read the rest of the interview, it can be found here: http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/danny-pate-the-five-races-that-changed-my-life/
A Green Klein
A tribute to the most famous bike on television
What’s the deal with green mountain bikes?
This is our tribute to the most famous bike in American pop culture.
A green Klein Pinnacle.
The original was a model from 1987, built up with mostly Suntour XC pro equipment, a Klein Mission Control 1-piece handlebar and stem, pedals with toe clips, an Avocet gel saddle and a black cromoly rigid fork (which was installed backwards for the better part of a year).
Millions of people saw the bike that we’re talking about every week. Laughed at it, actually.
On Thursday nights.
A blue Cannondale was called in as an understudy when the original Klein was stolen from the set.
It can currently be streamed or seen nearly everyday in syndication.
No idea what we’re talking about?
No bike for you! Next!
Alright, if you didn’t watch TV in the 1990’s and find this little riddle irritating, here’s the answer:
Gotta love the ‘90’s.
We’re talking about the Seinfeld apartment-set Klein.
For five seasons a bike like this one was hanging in the background every time Kramer made an entrance, George had to kvetch, or Elaine and Jerry discussed really nothing at all.
As far as we can tell, it was only removed from its hallway hook in one episode (Jerry’s nudist girlfriend tunes it up, leading Jerry to mention that the bike was really only for show).
8/2018
BikesnobNYC reviews a Classic bike
1950 Drysdale Special
Eben Weiss’ latest column for Outside online is all about the latest road bike technology (70 years ago). He rides an Alvin Drysdale Special road bike so you don’t have to! Learn all about rim caliper brakes (pretend they’re 27” diameter disc rotors). There’s the latest acoustic shifting system, toe clips with leather straps, and finally a chance to settle the frame material debate: Which tastes better, carbon fiber or steel?
Read all about it here:
https://www.outsideonline.com/2334686/reviewing-70-year-old-drysdale-special-road-bike
7/2018
Tour de France technology
The Tour de France is starting a little late this year (so as not to compete for viewers with the World Cup). It’s running from July 7th through the 29th.
We recently acquired a few new bikes for the museum, so we have a special display for you in the store.
If you can’t make it to the shop to take a look, we’ll give you an abbreviated display here with our collection of Tour de France technology over the decades:
2018 Trek team bike
1998 GT U.S. Team Bike
First up is Kiel Reijnen’s recently retired 2018 Trek-Segafredo team Madone. This bike is all about aerodynamics with the frame, wheels and component shapes. There’s component integration with the frame, a power meter, 22 speeds with electronic shifting. The bike weighs 15 pounds. Legal performance advantage in 2018: aerodynamic socks.
Next up is a GT from 1998. In 1998, hi-tech at the Tour was all about materials. Titanium, aluminum, steel & carbon fiber. Cinelli Spinacci aero handlebar extensions for flat stages. Heart rate monitors. 18 speeds with integrated brake/shift levers. 17 pound bikes. Legal performance advantage in 1998: ADA brand carbon wheels.
1988 Eddy Merckx
1978 Exxon Graftek
Go back to 1988 and the bike world is flirting with modern materials, but most of the Tour tech was from an earlier era. In 1988, the best technology was Look “clipless” ski-binding type pedals, indexed shifters on the downtube and Lycra clothing. 16 speeds. 20 pound bikes. Legal performance advantage in 1988: brake cables under the handlebar tape.
In 1978, Tour de France tech was steel frames, Campagnolo Nuovo Record parts, toe clips & straps. Clothing was still made out of wool and helmets (if used) were made out of leather. 12 speeds. 22 pound bikes. Legal performance advantage in 1978: Chocolate cake with dinner.
1948 Claud Butler
1938 Stucci
Our example from 1948 shows that Tour de France tech meant reliability. Sturdy steel frames that didn’t break, aluminum rims (with wood filling the core) and shifters that worked. 3 to 6 usable gears. 26 pound bikes. Legal performance advantage in 1948: Gears!
Way back in 1938 the Tour de France first allowed shifting systems on the bikes. Cutting edge technology meant wooden rims and a shift lever attached to one of the frame tubes. 3 gears. 26 pound bikes. Legal performance advantage in 1938: Wine.
6/2018
The California Eroica Story
Eben’s Outside Article
Back in April there was a wonderful bike adventure called Eroica that took place in Paso Robles, California. For the event, participants had to embrace old bicycling technology, and we were all required to ride vintage bicycles and drink a lot of wine.
Eben Weiss, a.k.a. BikeSnobNYC, borrowed a bike from Jeff’s vast antique bike collection (thanks again Jeff!) and rode the event. And then wrote about the experience.
Eben’s Outside Magazine article can be found here: https://www.outsideonline.com/2314111/old-out-new
The BikeSnobNYC blog is a little harder to archive, but you can go here: http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/ Just scroll down to the June 13, 2018 entry.
4/2018
Eroica California
Vintage bike, vintage grape vines
We have a lot of vintage bikes in the shop so it’s natural for people to wonder if we ever ride them.
We sure do. A few of our vintage bikes get dusted off and ridden around town, usually to a coffee shop and back, nothing spectacular. Sometimes a few lucky old bikes (and their riders) get to do a real ride, like the “Eroica” vintage bike ride that happened this month in Paso Robles, California.
The rules of the ride are simple: Bikes, clothing and component technology from 1987 or earlier (the mid ‘80’s is when Lycra, carbon fiber, ski-binding style pedals, mountain bikes and integrated brake/shift levers forever changed our sport). The ride is held in wine country, so naturally the route features rolling hills, some gravel roads, olive trees and most importantly: wine at the rest stops.
It was a great weekend. Keeping with the historic theme, my riding partner Don Schilling and I took the train to Paso Robles.
1978 Graftek
Gianni Motta
leather hairnet helmet
The bikes selected? I thumbed my nose at the spirit of the ride and selected an early carbon fiber bike to ride (1978 Exxon Graftec). Don rode his early ‘80’s Gianni Motta (coincidentally, so did our friend Jeb Thornberg). Bob Freeman, formerly of Davidson Cycles was there, but we failed to note whether he was riding an old Davidson or one of the vintage Jack Taylors from his collection. Bike historian (and vintage bike collector) Jeff didn’t attend, but he set up Eben Weiss (a.k.a. BikeSnobNYC) with a 1916 Mead bicycle, and Mark Petry rode a new Joe Sales custom steel bike that was outfitted and designed like it was built in 1965.
So how did the ride go? The weather was beautiful. A few hills had to be walked due to soft gravel, steepness of a climb or laziness of the rider. Hands cramped from pulling old brakes and dealing with old handlebar shapes. Modern gear range and shifter precision received renewed appreciation. Toe clips and straps were cursed for the foot discomfort and the clumsiness they instilled. Wool jerseys and leather hair-net style helmets? They were quite comfortable, thank you very much.
The weekend included much drooling over old top-end bicycles and components. We got to rub elbows (sometimes literally) with cycling celebrity (Andy Hampsten, Joe Breeze, David Lettieri, Eben Weiss). We Pacific Northwesterners got to exchange an extremely rainy weekend back home for some California sunshine. We drank a fair amount of wine.
Eroica California was a great way to experience a different era for cycling.
3/2018
Paul gets his first mountain bike back!
Paul & grandfather Johnson at the Chequamegon 40 bike race
1987 Diamondback Arrival
See the photo? That’s me before the start of the 1988 Chequamegon 40 mountain bike race in Hayward, Wisconsin.
The distinguished gentleman standing to my left is my grandfather, Helmer “Blackie” Johnson.
Those are my two bikes, a yellow 1987 Diamond Back Arrival (on the car) and a black & yellow splatter paint 1988 Diamond Back Arrival. These were on the cutting edge of mountain bike technology in the late ’80’s with aluminum frames and Shimano Deore XT components (but I didn’t like the oval Biopace chainrings though, so I changed those out.
These bikes represented the first sponsorship deal I ever had, getting a special price on the bikes and my race entry fees paid by Erik’s Bike Shop.
The bikes were stolen out of our garage a month after the photo with my grandfather was taken. Thirty years later, with a little luck and some help from Ebay, I have a replacement for the yellow one. Couldn’t be happier. I still need to replace the Biopace chainrings to make it just right.
3/2018
No Facebook.
We’re still social
In case anyone notices (or cares), we should update you on our Facebook status. We no longer “like” the social media platform, and we’ve taken down our page.
Recent privacy-violating-democracy-harming events aside, we’ve had issues with Facebook for years.
For every post that someone voluntarily views or likes on our page, a friend of the shop would likely receive at least three ads in their news feed from competing bike companies or bike sale ads. That’s business, but it’s not very “social”.
We take a lot of photos of old bicycle equipment. Sometimes people ask us if they can use those pictures for books, other websites and even television shows. We usually say yes to people who ask. In Facebook’s world, a lot of our photos end up being used without our permission (not just shared) and that just didn’t seem cool.
So from now on, if you feel like seeing what we’re up to, we’ll have to ask that you do it the classic ways: check in at our website, stop by the shop, or best yet, join us for a bike ride.
A significant award!
The National Bicycle Dealers Association used to hand out awards each year to bicycle stores, calling out the “Top 100 Dealers”. At one point in the late ’90’s there were about 7000 bike shops nationwide.
The NBDA, Not wanting to sound like they were rewarding casino employees or gang members, they have since changed the “Top Dealers” name. The award is now named something a little more self explanatory, and apparently we have just earned the distinction.
Classic Cycle is one of America’s Best Bike Shops.
Hat trick! Three years in a row! 2014, 2015 and 2016.
7/16
BikeSnobNYC visits B.I.
Back in June we were proud to be visited by one of the sharpest writers and funniest comedians in the two-wheeled world (a dubious distinction for certain).
Here in his own words and photos, we present to you BikeSnobNYC’s Bainbridge sojourn:
BSNYC Road Jernel Part IV: Classic Cycle!
For more of BikeSnobNYC, check out his current blog here:
http://bikesnobnyc.com/
8/15
Kiel is heading to the Show!
Kiel’s first publicity photo
Kiel Reijnen, one of the little goofballs in our cycling club, just got called up to the big leagues.
By signing a two year contract with Trek Factory Racing, Kiel will see the start line at the grand tours, all of the spring classics (not just Milan-San Remo, which he has raced twice now) and he will have a good shot at making the next Olympic team.
Kiel is a good sprinter, best suited to uphill finishes and smaller groups (he’s a similar rider to Peter Sagan, albeit with a little less horsepower). Kiel will likely be given protected status on his team in smaller stage races, the Ardennes Classics, and transitional stages in the Gran Tours. The rest of the time he’ll be tasked with making it into breakaways and running back and forth between the caravan and the peloton as a “bottle boy”.
Way to go Kiel, all of those rides up and over Baker hill finally paid off.
Fixing a Flat Tire
Drat! A flat!
If you ride a bike, flats happen.
There are plenty of little mistakes to make while fixing a flat tire (believe me, I’ve made most of them), so let’s start from the moment that you feel that softening tire, and see if we can’t do things the right way.
First of all, if you’re going to fix your tire while out on the road, you need some supplies: A spare tube, tire levers to pry the tire off of the rim, and a pump or CO2 inflator. If you don’t have all three items, then carry a cell phone and make sure you have a friend you can reach who happens to owe you a favor.
If you have tubeless tires on your bike and you’re thinking that none of this applies to you, I think you’re in for a surprise. Tubeless tires with sealant work secretly to prevent a flat from stopping your ride 3/4 of the time off-road and about a third of the time on pavement. Tubeless riders will need a spare tube too.
Notice that I didn’t mention a patch kit? Patch kits are for mending your tube in the comfort of your own home (you can use that patched tube as your spare next time out). If you commonly get multiple flats on a ride (and need a patch kit) it means that your tires stink, that you failed to find out what caused the original flat (or failed to fix it) or that you need to find a new route to work.
When you first sense that you have a flat, keep some things in mind: First, if you need to, you can ride on a flat tire for quite a ways without doing significant damage to your bike. Sure, you may ruin a tire or scrape up your rim, but that sure beats getting mugged or run over if you stop to change your flat in an inappropriate place. Second, when you do pull over, make sure you have a decent place to work. Don’t stop where you’ll be working in tall weeds, or other spots where you’re likely to loose the contents of your seat bag in the process. Try not to stop in front of a “Beware of Dog” sign, or on the edge of a busy roadway where you’re impeding traffic. Everyone with me?
Now, before flipping your bike upside down in the ditch and getting to work, close your waterbottle tops. A flat sucks, but running out of water in the wrong place on a hot day can be hazardous to your health.
I assume that you know how to work a quick release lever to get your wheels off. If this isn’t the case, try taking your wheels off a few times at home. Learning a new skill when you’re hungry, have cold fingers, or when it is too dark to see isn’t ideal. If you have thru-axles on your bike, see if you can unscrew them with your multi-tool once or twice at home.
Rim shoulders and a deep center trench
Now, before grabbing the tire levers, go to the valve and let all of the remaining air out of the tube. If just a little air lingers in your tube, this job will be quite a bit tougher. After letting the air out, go around the wheel and squeeze the sides of the tire together. This will push the tire bead off of the rim shoulders, and down into the channel that runs around the center of the rim. This little trick will give you enough slack that some tires will nearly fall off of the rim, and some impossibly tough tires will become a bit more manageable.
If you have tubeless tires, Don’t just empty another CO2 cartridge into the valve. If the sealant was going to keep the air in your tire it already would have. The cut is too big or the sealant is dried out. You’ll need to put a tube into the tire if you plan on riding home. This squeezing the sides of the tire into the rim trench is really going to be most of the job, and it’s tough.
O.K. Now put one of your tire levers (using the spoon side) under the bead of the tire. This works best away from the valve area of the tire where there is more room. Pry the lever over and use the little hook end to secure it to a spoke. Take a second lever, and stick the spoon end under the tire bead right next to the first one. Pry the tire edge up and to the side just a little. See the tire bead come off the rim just a bit? The key to getting a stubborn tire off is to pry the bead just a tiny bit, then slide the lever sideways on the rim just a half-inch and pry at it again, repeating this action until it gets easy to slide the tool all the way around the rim.
Pry off just a little bit at a time
Once one side of the tire is off, pull the tube out from under the tire, leaving the valve sticking through the rim. Take your pump, or use just a little bit of your CO2 cartridge, and inflate the tube enough so that you can hear or feel where the air is leaking out. Since the valve is still in the rim, you can check out the tire in the area of the leak for the cause of the flat. If you find a piece of glass or other debris, run your fingers around the tire and check for other bits. Check the rim tape, and make sure that all of the spoke holes are all covered up.
If you have tubeless tires, this is the point where you’ll unscrew the valve from your rim to make room for the tube.
If you have a cut in your tire bigger than a pencil point, you’ll need to put a “boot” or patch on the inside of the tire to keep the fresh innertube from pushing through the cut. A folded-up dollar bill or an energy gel packet will work pretty well as a tire boot.
Before you install the new tube, inflate it just enough so that the folds and creases disappear. Put the tube valve through the rim hole, and start tucking the innertube into the tire. Go all the way around the tire, tucking the tube into place, and then pulling the tire and tube over the top of the rim. Now you should be ready to pull the edge of the tire back up onto the rim. This is a job for your fingers alone. If you try using your tire lever to pry the tire back up onto the rim, you’ll just put a hole in your new tube. Just take it inch by inch, squeezing the tire up and onto the rim. If you work in small enough bites, even the toughest tire should cooperate.
Partially inflate the tire. Notice any wobbles or bulges in the tire? No? Go ahead and inflate it all of the way up, taking care not to break the valve in the midst of your athletic pumping. By pumping only part-way at the beginning, you have the chance to catch a mistake before full tire pressure pops the whole thing off of the rim and you have to start over.
Re-installing the wheel should be no problem if you paid attention when you initially removed it. Check to make sure the brakes work, and spin the pedals to get the chain and gears sorted out.
When you’re ready to get back on the road, take one last look around the ditch, and don’t ride off without grabbing all the stuff that you left scattered about.
American Pickers Television Show
Jeff’s Schwinn Black Phantom on “American Pickers”
So, there’s this show on the History Channel called “American Pickers”.
The show surprisingly has nothing to do with farming. It’s actually about two guys who collect inventory for their antique store by rummaging through basements and garages of pack rats around the country.
Anyhow, they stumbled across a Schwinn Black Phantom in a recent episode, and needed some pictures of a restored Phantom to give viewers an idea of what they had just uncovered. We got a call requesting permission to use some of our photos, and so there you go: Classic Cycle as a bicycle reference library.
You can watch the 6th episode from season 9 here or in reruns on the History Channel:
http://www.history.com/shows/american-pickers/videos/american-pickers-white-knuckles
Tristan steps into a time machine
Tristan at L’Eroica
So, there’s this race…
That’s how we started our pitch, and we managed to persuade our friend Tristan into racing the L’Eroica event in Colorado.
The L’Eroica is a 100 mile race from Grand Junction to Glenwood Springs and back, commemorating an event that took place between 1885 and 1915. You get extra points the older your bike is, so we set up Tristan on a 1916 Mead Ranger. He channeled his forefathers, and did the ride in wool knickers, his best Sunday shoes and shirt.
The race was an adventure. In Tristan’s own words…
Quite the ride. Up at 5, on the road at 7. Crossed the finish line shortly after 5. I think Chris Brown and I had the oldest bikes out of the 60 who turned out. Plenty of people expressed amazement at seeing something so old still rolling. And roll it did – through rain, thunder, lightning and the biggest hail storm I have ever had the displeasure of riding through. I briefly took refuge in a tractor. The bike held up through 12 miles of rutted dirt road, including a long, boneshaking downhill portion. The front wheel almost fell off, but I caught it before the bolt was on its final threads. I think the seat springs lost a bolt, and I chipped and scraped off a lot of paint. The old coaster brake did end up smoking. I cooled it down with some hail, and dropped in oil every mile or so on the long downhill.
Not sure how I placed. Somewhere in the middle, I guess. The ranking system was a convoluted work-in-progress, I think I may have been docked points for wearing a helmet rather than my wool cap. Also, I did not drink whiskey at the first rest stop, thinking I needed to stay sharp for the downhill. Apparently, you get bonus points for drinking booze….
Way to go, Tristan! You did us proud.