New Crew Member! Also, Events.

The BCW crew is honored to have a new member. His name is Ferdinand and he is enormous:

"What?"

Upon his arrival all the local vermin packed their bags and moved to the auto place next door. The tardy ones got eaten. He likes to sit outside and stare down the junkyard cats, who quail and scram. With the local wildlife duly intimidated, Ferdinand moved on to customer service:

"No, we won't fix your Huffy. Next!"

Once he has all the customers under control he plans to start welding. We need to get him a smaller hat, though.

"You calling my head small? MY head?"

When we're not chumming with the cat, we're planning a couple of events in the near future:

1) BIKE RACE DAY! This is when all the cyclists in Philadelphia get up first thing in the morning and watch attractive Europeans labor up the Wall in Manayunk. This year there's going to be an amateur race before the pros come roaring out, where roadies can pay a lot of money and ride in a tight peloton. We're getting up extra early to see what happens:

In all seriousness, good luck, local roadies!!

Meanwhile we'll be showing some bikes in the Manayunk Roxborough Art Center, so stop by. 

2) The NEXT weekend is the Cirque Du Cyclisme! We are rolling down to Leesberg Virginia with a truck full of bikes for a weekend of nerding out, hanging out, and riding around (Leesburg is pretty and hilly, if I recall). We hope to see all our retro-dork friends and customers there!

There will be wool.

Also, pick up one of our new T-shirts:

We like lugs.

Ferdinand won't be coming. He has a shop to run, after all. 

Isis

BCW

Details!

Well the Works race was pretty magnificent-- lots of money raised for Neighborhood Bike Works, lots of happy racers, and the paint job was won by a surprised messenger looking dude. AND, Naomi and I both placed in the top ten (she beat me). Which I DON'T mind (much) because I just couldn't bring myself to eat mayonnaise by the spoonful for extra points (she could).

Ewwwww! Thanks in advance for not minding me ripping off your photo, Jesse.

We also danced like hoagies-- though not this well:

Photo credit GirlBikeDog

Not to mention riding into bollards on kids bikes, drawing hoagie bikes, counting doorways, and throwing bike parts at things. For the kids!

Now we're recovered, here are some things we've been up to in the shop:

Sexy headtube lugs

Sexy seatstay caps

Sexy custom fork/rack rising from the tank like a mermaid

Sexy custom bottom bracket shell in progress

Super sexy snout!

And finally, a bike so bright and sparkly you can see it with your eyes shut:

Day glo makes you faster.

That's all I got!

Isis

BCW

IMPORTANT EDIT! Naomi would like everyone to know that she ate Veganaise by the spoonful instead of regular mayonnaise. I personally think that's even grosser, but who am I to judge...

May 5th is the Best Day

May is the month where there are so many bike events going on that there simply isn't enough of us to go around, both physically and mentally. In fact the pressure of hitting events, cranking out bikes, and doing our own riding has taken its toll on Kasy... 

Zzzzzzz

And Steve....

We don't let him sleep inside because he would snore the roof right off

This past weekend was fairly low-key-- I went to the New Amsterdam Bike show and Steve ogled Amish cargo bikes in Lancaster-- but NEXT WEEKEND.....

First thing on Saturday we'll be at the Trexlertown Swap Meet, selling Cool Stuff (Steve has an awesome and mobile Cool Stuff collection. It mobilizes itself right out of its crates and into everyone's personal space, so please buy as much Cool Stuff as possible). 

Every cyclist in Philadelphia goes here-- the streets empty completely on swap days.

Depending on van space, this might be your chance to acquire a giant, vintage, beautiful Sterling tandem:

The owner traded it in for a smaller, couplered Bilenky

So be there. 

THEN, hop in your overstuffed car and hare back to Philadelphia top speed for the BEST ALLEYCAT OF THE YEAR:

Seriously.

If last year was any indication, there will be a great rout, awesome activities at every checkpoint, many, many amazing prizes, and a delightful knowledge that your participation is benefitting Neighborhood Bike Works. Here is the website again.  

Even if you can't make the race, definitely be at the afterparty. Goldsprints, raffles, beers, and possibly a chance to see me dancing in public (no cameras, please). 

Oh, and we're donating a paintjob. It's for the kids!

If you feel like your Saturday is a bit under scheduled, you can always go to this in between the Swap and the Race:

I'm kind of stoked about this.

On Sunday? We'll be sleeping. 

See you all May 5th!

Isis

BCW

Spring Days

Good news! That longtail that got stolen in San Francisco has been reunited with its owner!

That's love, right there.

I'm going to try to get hold of Matt to find out the full story, it sounds epic. 

We got a woodchuck! He showed up in a box! 

8 cm seat tube, we are ON it.

He arrived just in time to embark on our epic spring camping trip-- we rode out to Evansburg State Forest on the treacherous trail of the Perkiomen (actually flat as a shovel, but that doesn't sound too macho). Here we are waiting for Steve: 

Must check the email one more time!

We couldn't have picked a lovelier spring day or better company. It was nice to see a ton of cyclists out on the trail, though not a Bilenky among them (come ON, local customers!) I was hoping for more photos of us looking adventurous, but most of them seem to be us eating or lounging. 

Guarding the B.O.B.

Elliot Faust on his first tour, facing off with the 'chuck.

Miles from civilization, Jake's right pedal decided to take off for greener pastures. He bravely muddled along on the stub until we found a bike shop in Collegeville. Steve was treated like the celebrity he is, of course, and Jake was rolling again in no time. Thanks, guys!

Collegeville Bike Sports-- Good dudes. 

Once we arrived at the campsite we found it crawling with boyscouts, who offered us large quantities of meat. They had thick central NY accents and were aggressively friendly. "This is what angels look like," said Jake. 

In the morning, Steve practiced his modeling skillz...

Ankles!

And the woodchuck ate all the sugar...

Bad dietary choices, chum.

And we looked at flowers...

Spring ephemerals everywhere!

So touring season has officially begun. Do YOU have your touring bike ready to go? BECAUSE YOU SHOULD. 

Ride safe, ride far, and don't forget your 'chuck.

Isis

BCW

OH! OH! PINK BILENKY HATS WILL BE AVAILABLE AGAIN NEXT WEEK! ORDER YOURS NOW!

Spring! Flowers! Fresh Bikes! And.... No woodchucks?

Seriously, we at BCW are disappointed with our readers. Not a SINGLE PERSON turned up with a 'chuck to claim a new bike. That said, we did see a few hairy beasts lolloping around in the shrubbery out back. I can only imagine that someone allowed their potentially prizewinning woodchucks to escape and was too embarrassed to tell us. I asked the boldest escapee rodent if he'd like to claim a bike for himself, but he just looked at me like he was William Howard Taft and I was stupid.

What are YOU looking at?

Moving on....

Look! Steve is practicing his newfound love of modeling!

Should we do a calendar?

In the spirit of spring cleaning we grubbed that paint booth out hardcore. This art piece, among several lesser ones, peeled off the wall:

You'll see this in the 2014 Whitney Biennial, we promise.

Naomi's white paint jobs are going to be SO PRISTINE now-- look, they're glowing!

Dancing coupler Viewpoint bits

Meanwhile, in the building department, we are making big bikes and little bikes and nothing in between. 

The big dude is 64cm. The small one is 43cm.

We love making unusually sized bikes-- we want everyone to be equipped with a comfortable ride, no matter what height and proportion they are. Here is a custom (unfinished) bulky tandem crown for a couple planning on some heavy touring:

Pack the cast iron cookware, the crockpot, the mantlepiece...

In non building news, HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BIKE? 

We put it on the website and Facebook, but just in case...

It was stolen in San Francisco, and the only other one we ever built is in Australia. It's unmistakable. Above and beyond the immorality and jerkishness of bike thieves in general, this one was just dumb. How do you resell something like this? As Steve says, it's like hiding an elephant behind a sofa. 

If you see it, lock it to the nearest pole, call the cops, then call us and we'll put you in touch with its rightful owner. EYES OPEN! 

To alleviate stolen bike related depression, here's Naomi bringing a pile of donations from the shop to Neighborhood Bike Works in West Philly: 

Vroooooom!

Happy official Spring! Enjoy the weather, ride far, ride often, and don't hit the woodchucks.

Isis

BCW