…So we’ll be closed for Labour day weekend and donning every bit of white clothing we own and we suggest you do the same, hopefully while riding your bike off into the sunset. We will be open again as usual on Tuesday and will be dressed in our most somber attire.

phil wood. WHY? and WHAT? is this?

not only is the actual Gorilla population on the verge of extinction, but the Swiss based track frame company, Gorilla Bicycles,  declared bankruptcy during the month of July.

They offered to the market well crafted and tested track frames. Offering the only trick frame on the market that could fit up to 50 c tires. Built out of Columbus Niobium steel, this thing was built to take massive abuse. In case you’re wondering, Nobium steel is special micro alloyed steel with Manganese, Chrome, Nickel, Molybdenum and Niobium.

There’s something really sad about hearing that these guys have gone under. In a bicycle climate that is entrenched with cheap frames all built with outsourced labour, it’s hard to get the love on for the much more highly priced custom frames that are popping out around the world. It’s hard to compete when you’ve got track frames going from as low as 199$. You can’t even buy your decent tube set and enough gas and flux to build the frame at that price.

It’s hard in an economy that uses up every last cent of people’s disposable income to try to get people to justify spending 800-2000$ on a bike frame. But there’s needs to be a bit of sacrifice and understanding made. If we want to bring back the value of workmanship and quality into the frames, we need to pay our artists and workers fairly. Everyone wants the vintage Colnago’s, Marinoni’s etc etc for 150$. If you were to try to get anything close to that caliber of frame nowadays, it’d come to close to 1200$ +.

I guess, all and all, we just want to say that it’s important to respect your framebuilders and to honour the craft of bicycles. it’s not just something you can just pick up overnight.  This goes for skilled mechanics too! Thanks.

A friend and customer, Kim, has recently sent me and posted about how there are many sewer grates in the city of Montreal that are installed in the way of traffic flow. Pointing out below that it so beautifully fits a 700X23 tire and front wheel nicely in its cracks, leaving it open for a front wheel to “taco” and for over the handle bar flips to be had.

WTF Ville de Montreal. This is 100% not acceptable, nor is it wise to be leaving pot holes to get as big as to swollow up whole front wheels or perhaps small dogs.

The best that we can do is to contact the city and/or your district reps to do something about these road conditions. If anyone would know more on the topics of

1. Seeking city compensation for destroyed bikes due to black holes all over the city

2. Seeking help after flipping over your handle bars due to parallel alligned sewer grates.

3. Readily available instant concrete in bulk to temporarily fill holes.

please do send us more info.

Until our roads turn into paradise maintained smoothness, if you do come about a pot hole or wheel holders along the road. The only thing we could really recommend is the over-the-head wheel smack.

It ensures that you at least try to bend it back evenly. If the rim sidewall has been cracked or splintered, please don’t ensue to put high pressure into your tubes. This will cause it to expand and cause some serious injury.

I’m not going to lie, I have a love hate relationship with Simplex derailleurs and shifters. Often impossible to repair, made completely or partially of plastic, and with out of date thread standards this French Beelzebub of the cycling industry of yesteryear just will not cease to haunt our little shop. And when I see a particularly well functioning  Simplex group (with the elusive all metal shift levers) or am somehow able to save one from the parts recycling bin it feels like a sweet victory. Thanks Simplex for making sure things around here are never simple or boring. 

check out the latest frame built by our buddy Tony Alfonso of LMNO cycles. This bike is all steel with Dia Compe cranks and a fine tuned care to details (ie. red crank bolts!) A serious honour and pleasure to build this up for Todd. Hope you guys can see this thing in motion all over Montreal.

The Most Cake from The Most Cake on Vimeo.

this video warms the heart a bit. maybe its the music in the background or something but it makes me conjure up ideas of two little kids just playing with their little bikes in the summer time. i mean, these guys are pulling off some pretty amazing tricks, but very cutely shot. yes, cutely has now been made an official adjective!

Also, you into BMX=COME SEE MATT HOFFMAN’s BIRTH OF BIG AIR!

TRAVIS COLLIER SUMMER 2010 featuring DAVID LANG from Mike McKinlay on Vimeo.

now. after reading some of the latest Bike snob postings, I found this link for this Honda Jazz commercial. I had a debate the other day about the marketing of hipster-dom and we talked about the spectrum and how it’s scary to think of how good marketers are at identifying every signal item within a particular demographic and mass pushing all the products that that group even touches. the thing is….the whole making fun of hipsters is a bit funny to me because knitting, type writers, bicycles, and garage sale clothing are, as much as they want to make fun of it, great.  the problem lies in fake glasses and stupid things that contribute nothing to anything. you know? so the conclusion for the morning is:

You gotta beware of how much marketing influences your purchases. If you really feel it and can justify it for more than 6 reasons and not based on impulse, than own it. Own. that. typewriter. with.pride!