Good ladies and gents of San Francisco, our friends at Box Dog Bikes are having their annual winter sale from November 21st through December 23rd.  This gives you even more of an excuse to indulge in a visit to the shop!

Box Dog Bikes is home to classy Nitto parts, their own Pelican all-purpose house frame and many more commuter bikes and accessories!

This week I am working for MyDutchBike.com.  We are temporarily located on Market Street in San Francisco between 2nd St. and Sutter St.

My Dutch Bike aims to introduce Dutch utiliatarian bicycles to the Bay Area by not only offering men’s and women’s city cruisers, but all types of bikes to carry lots of groceries, cargo, pets and of course, children!  The models range from the Oma-fiets and Opa-fiets (Grandma and Grandpa bike) to the FR8 (“freight”) bikes and of course, the popular head-turner Bakfiets (“box-bike”).

We have both short and long box Bakfiets to fit everyone’s preference, we have FR8 bikes that can accommodate one, two or three children in addition to the rider and a very special used box trike on consignment.

These bicycles are not meant to be lightweight or fast in any sense, but are made to be heavy, burly, utilitarian and and is made to carry loads of up to 200 pounds.  These bikes are meant to last a lifetime.  Most of the bikes are constructed of cromoly steel and are equipped with fatter tires for a comfortable and cushy ride.  Balloon tires are not only comfortable, but very fast rolling.

As the market for these types of bikes in the US is still growing, Dutch bike sellers remain regional, but the majority of US distributors receive their bicycles through Workcycles in Amsterdam who fabricates all these bikes.  Please visit their site: Workcycles to get a good glimpse of all the fun varieties of utilitarian bikes Workcycles produces that will carry your ice-cream, kids and even garbage…?

Oscar and Soraya are the owners of My Dutch Bike and having come from Holland, are looking to bring American bicycles up to par with Holland’s utilitarian bicycle standards.  This helps the Bay Area a great deal in working collectively towards the goal of using the car a bit less, and use the bicycle in more than just recreationally.

Here are a few shots I’ve taken throughout the week and a few from Frank @ SFBC.   Please stop by our temporary location on Market to take a look.  Look out for our permanent location in San Francisco in the following months!

…and an obligatory photo of Frances in the Omafiets basket.

I fight the constant battle between wanting the latest and greatest, while still trying to maintain the stable at a “healthy number.”  I know that many of us can attest to that when I say “keeping the stable down,” but I bet many of you have that soft spot in your heart to have a one favorite bike over all the others.

I’ve been posting less, reading less and trying to ride more on the weekends.  I’ve been spending some good solo-time exploring the  smaller beautiful roads, the East Bay has to offer.  While not necessarily the quickest of bikes, the Bridgestone remains true to its bulldog-sturdy stance and comfortable over the long distance.  Speed is overrated anyway.  Everyone seems to aspire to be fast these days, I say slow down and enjoy the scenery.

There you have it.  Truly spoken like an old man.

The 650B trend is quickly rising. People are loving it because it allows for wider, cushier tires for added comfort. Riders who aren’t about speed, but instead love comfort and the aesthetics of wider tires love 650B!

This Waterford is one great example!

I managed to get very lucky when my friend, Jeremy, gave me his spot in line for a Zugster bag.  Zugster Bags is a one-man show run by Adam Alpern right here out of San Francisco.  As to prepare for the Ebisu build, I thought it would be great to have a small bag up front and how conveniently Adam started making these rando bags!  They come in various sizes, mini – “Picnic”-sized.  I decided to go with the Mini bag because on a day-to-day basis, I don’t really carry much more than a few small tools, a U-lock, wallet, keys,  and a phone.  Seeing as I’ll be using this bag on a daily basis, I got the size that would suit my lifestyle the best.

I went with the earthy-tones rust, olive and sand with a charcoal grey/black binding and a grey vinyl interior.  The bag turned out GREAT with various (optional) 3-D pockets and big enough for a lightweight jacket, lock, and small accessories – it’s everything I hoped for it to be!  The Mini size is nice because I don’t have to use a decaleur to support the bag so it’s nice and easy on-off the bike.

Visit Adam’s site at Zugster Bags if you’re interested in getting on the waiting list for one of his many types of bags.  I got my bag pretty quickly, but I really lucked out on that part.

Really clean way to route front and rear brake cables.  The rear isn’t really a problem for me, but the front is always another story.  With cantilever brakes and not enough stack height on the steerer tube/headset, you often have a really nasty nearly-90 degree angle bend on the front brake lever down to the steerer tube cable-stop.

Pictures from San Diego Custom Bicycle Show – Rock Lobster.

I admit that recently I’ve been working a lot and so I haven’t really had much time for bike-related goodness all together. My life is very work-eat-sleep, work-eat-sleep. I really like to build bikes, so recently I’ve been working on my latest project – an Ebisu 700c all-purpose.

If you don’t know what Ebisus are, head over to Jitensha Studio to have a look-see at what types of bike components and frames they deal. Hiroshi Imura is the owner and mastermind behind the shop. He designs the shop brand frame “Ebisu”, but they can also get their hands on custom Toei frames and Shula (a little more high end than Ebisu). Honjo fenders, LED flashlights, Crane bells, custom stems, randonneuring bags and wool knickers are just a few items in the grand selection you may find at Jitensha.

My main ride, the Bridgestone XO-1 is a wonderful bike. I often wish the top-tube was shorter (I’m already using just a 70mm stem) and I wish it had 700c wheels instead of 26″. I’ve wanted an Ebisu all-purpose for a while ever since my junior year at Berkeley, I would walk pass the store to gawk at the Molteni orange frames hanging in the window. The build just seems so practical – low trail to accommodate a little more load on the front, cantilever brakes for wider tire clearance, eyelet galore, flatbars for comfort and handling, front generator hub and hammered Honjo fenders. The ultimate practical bike for all types of terrain.

Since this is about the only big bike event going on in my life, I’m going to share the build process with all of you while I acquire more parts for it and as the days wind down till the frame arrives!

(and yes, that TA crankset is the one that has been sitting on the shelf at BoxDog for the past year!) I finally broke down and bought it!

Velobase as previously posted in another recent blog post great for researching what group that certain Campagnolo headset may have come from, but for you all you rear derailleur gear-heads out there, Desraeli Gears is for you. Michael Sweatman, the author of this website is a big derailleur fan and geek, particularly rear derailleurs. Here’s what he has to say in the introduction page of his homepage:

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