Bugs and Lighting and Tandems

In these hottest months of the year, with the thermometers exploding and the roads melting all over the place and rim strips actually liquifying (true story. An ultramarathon racer told me) I'm impressed how many people are still out riding. It's really hot. Those of us with beards have shortened or removed them, and I took EIGHT WHOLE INCHES off my hair (no one noticed). So let's concentrate on temperature-neutral things:

A few weeks ago Bina and her fiance Justin got married in a lovely ceremony up in the Poconos.

Look! We all clean up so well!

Congratulations, Bina and Justin!

In other news, we have acquired another painter: 

Wait, that's the shop leafhopper. His name is Herman.

It's this dude.

 His name is Blair and he likes Frank Zappa and obscure rappers who sing about being chased by possums. We think he'll be a perfect fit. 

Plus, he is enthusiastic.

Remember that eyeball bike? This week I did a lightning bike: 

SO MUCH FASTER!

There's also a camel bike in the works, pictures pending. I would be thrilled if someone requested a leafhopper bike. 

This friday is Tandemonium at the track. We will be representin' so come say hi. No one has been able to talk me onto a track tandem yet. 

Can you blame me? It looks terrifying!

And I close out with a fish. There MUST be a leafhopper bike in our future. Antennae crossed...

"My manta ray's/ ALL RIGHT!"

Isis

BCW

The Dog Days Aren't Over

....Unfortunately for us, though they abated long enough for me to paint (when it's over 95 degrees in the booth the paint gets lumpy and I get cranky). Fortunately there are high powered air conditioners all over the shop and everyone but Weller stays cool.

This weekend is the Rocky vs. Godzilla alleycat! It's the biggest informal race of the summer, and a lot of fun. You do it in teams of two, relay style. It's a good race for out-of-towners, since one of the partners just sprints up and down the parkway from the Art Museum to Love Park and back.

Check out the spoke card!

And the best part? The winner gets a free paint job from us. Here's what last years' looked like:

Shamelessly ripped off Justin Swain's Facebook

Sam and I are going to be racing and representin' so waft good karma at us (or rather, at me, since he doesn't need it and I'm slooooooow.)

Speaking of Sam, here is his Recommended Part of the Day. 

That there is pivotal technology seat post.

Throw out your Brooks! This is cheaper and better! Also he wants to put 48 hole radial laced front wheels on his polo bike. Since it's his birthday I am not gonna set him straight quite yet. 

It seems that despite our efforts he has not gotten any more sensible or opaque. Here he is holding a retrofitted Soma:

Yeah, I don't see him either. 

Finally, we seem to have acquired a full keg of Yards but no tap. Anyone want to lend us a tap? Your reward will be lots and lots of Yards. 

Speaking of beer, it's Friday and I am OUT of here! Here's some hand detailing to start your weekend off right.

TGIF!

Films! Films!

Steve came back all glowing from the Stonehenge Solstice Ritual NYC Bike Film Festival. Despite missing the Junkyard Cross movie (we all missed it, actually. Did anyone see it? Is it awesome?) he had a great time and brought back a ton of pictures. 

There were epic BMXers,

Riding up things and then down things.

Little Bromptons,

The Bentley of Foldies.

Patriotic Hipster Trick Track Bikes,

Breaking collarbones for the USA.

A bike towed pole dancer, 

Note the helmet. So safe!

And Steve's favorite, tiny little bike part jewelry! 

Aw!

Aww!

AWWWW!

In other film news, you should come to the World Cafe Live on Wednesday to watch Bicycle Dreams, an epic film about racing across America in ten days. 

I feel wussy just looking at that picture.

Here is the invite. Watch the film, feel wussy, drink cheap Sierra Nevadas, and try your luck at winning some sweet Schwalbe tires we'll be raffling off. Not everyone thinks riding 32,00 miles in ten days is a good idea, but pretty much everyone thinks nice tires are good to have. There'll be a lot of other swag, too! 

See y'all there.

Isis

BCW

The Colors of Summer

Tomorrow is Solstice! That means that we are headed on a top secret pilgrimage to Stonehenge, where we will besmear ourselves with woad, ritually sacrifice mistletoe and wrens, and lay in a box full of water with rocks on us while composing poetry*, all to propitiate the framebuilding gods. Don't believe me?

                                      

So there!

On our return we will turn out bikes like this in under a week:

Tubing culled from the holy grove at midnight....

In the meantime, as we wait for our mystical rejuvenation, we turn out things like this:

I actually really enjoyed painting dancing eyeballs. Anyone else want a dancing eyeball or three?

Back on the home front, life goes on in its usual cheerfully untidy way, only hotter. Here's some things to look out for:

The NYC Bicycle Film Festival is featuring a film about our own junkyard cross! Look for us at the street festival this weekend.

In New York, everyone comes in easily disassembled sections, much like a tinker tandem.

We are in the experiment phase with a new and fancy type of paint that is guaranteed NOT TO SCRATCH OR CHIP OR ANYTHING. Keep an eye out, hopefully we'll soon have an option for polo bikes, travel bikes, and mountain bikes that tend to get beat up fast. Steve has offered one of his bikes as a guinea pig. He doesn't know that he is getting a graphic of rabid bike eating beavers on the headtube yet. But he will. 

Run away! Run away!

Believe it or not, the Bike Expo in October is already on our minds. Check out the website here. If you want to reserve a booth, give a seminar, or volunteer, give us a call. It's never too early. 

And thinking about October takes our minds off how miserably HOT it is. Brooks saddles left in direct sunlight for an hour and then sat on = BAD IDEA. 

Cheers! Keep cool!

 Isis

*I didn't make any of this up. The druids totally did, though. 

This past weekend was pretty epically epic. Everyone was doing a different bikey event (except for Weller, who was sleeping.)

Bob was riding the Rapha race, avoiding goats, and being tough:

I'm going to try to make him sit still long enough to do an interview about it.

Steve and Bina were staying clean at Dirtfest:

Look! An off grid turbo-charged pizza oven!

And I was riding around Kensington in a cardboard Viking ship:

Watch out for the Biking Hordes, we will pillage you.

We're going to take Memorial Day weekend to recharge, ride places and get sunburned, and THEN...

BIKE RACE DAY!

In which everyone rides tipsily around to watch first rate teams zipping up Manayunk hills like it's nothing.

This year is particularly special, since we are proudly sponsoring the first Steel/Vintage section of the Philadelphia Amateur Time Trials. The men's and women's winners will get a custom steel fork, by us. Exciting!

If you never thought your beloved old classic would get to race, now's the time.

I considered signing up for a minute, then I considered how I'd look in a time trial helmet, and didn't. 

Not gonna happen.

Though considering the retro spirit of the thing, maybe I could get away with one of these:

Hmmmm.

Anyway, we'll all be there so stop by and say hello, racing or not. 

Happy Summer!

Isis

BCW