The Radavist

Levi’s traveling bike shop tour is happening, beginning with Portland. They’re offering free tune-ups, and free tailoring? I’m all about free tailoring. Check out the Portland flier below.

Klaus from Cycling Inquisition supplied a few photos for a Merckx Mondays from his trip to the Eddy Merckx factory a while back. Well, his full story is now live on his site and it’s filled with great photos and a perfect early afternoon read. Check it out at Cycling Inquisition.

… and yes, this is 24 hours too late for a Merckx Mondays but I had to post it!

Portland’s 21st Ave Bikes can’t promise you love at first sight, but you could always try one on for size.

This weekend in SF, the world-renown bicycle company Rivendell opens its first ever pop up shop. There’s no official flier or anything, just this post on the Brooks England blog, which gives us these details:

Rivendell Bicycle Works SF
June 1st through 9th
12pm – 7pm
3156 24th Street San Francisco, CA 94110 ‎

As an architect, I can really enjoy looking through photos of the new Kinoko Cycles space. I’ve always wanted to design a complete bike shop, from the floorboards to the millwork and it looks like the designer went to town on the buildout. As part of any successful project, photos are of the utmost importance and the shots on the Kinoko Flickr look great. One day I’d love to check out the space in person!

See more photos here.

Photos by Ezra Caldwell

I love Peter Weigle. He’s one of the nicest frame builders you’ll ever meet and even though I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting Ezra before, I’d say he’s a pretty nice guy as well. Both Fastboy and Peter’s bicycles have provided me with tons of inspiration and seeing them come together via Ezra’s lens is not to be missed… and even Jamie Swan was there! Check out more photos at the Fast Boy Flickr.

In case you’ve never been to Chari in NYC, this video will introduce you to their space. Oh and there’s a Ktel voice over.

So my post earlier today touched on this news, but here’s the official word from Tokyo Fixed, or now, Kinoko Custom Cycles:

“Our shop in Peter Street in Soho has been the heart of our operation for years now. Fast becoming known as the ideal place in central London to find high quality parts, talk to experienced and enthusiastic staff and generally be surrounded by the best frames, clothing and art that modern cycling has to offer, we’ve enjoyed our tenure there.

However, we’re extremely proud and extremely excited to announce our imminent move to Golden Square in Soho, and the launch of our new shop, Kinoko Custom Cycles. Our aim is to move from being the best place for incredible steel and rare parts to a singular destination for London’s cyclists. That means we’ve got a full fitting center with 2 top-level qualified fitters, a huge workshop, a massive space for bikes, parts, clothing and art and even our own in-house baristas in Daily Goods.

Our increase in space also means an increase in the things we can offer. We mean to be the best place in England to get a custom bike, and our work with artisanal and boutique bike builders like Tonic Fabrications, Cherubim, Donhou and Independent Fabrications affirms this aim; but we’re also stocking some of the top names in performance road bikes. Cannondale, Trek and Focus will all be gracing our showroom, alongside custom frames and our own Tokyo Fixed models. The same goes for our clothing and components – we’re still going to be championing small brands like Vulpine and Paul Components, but they’re going to be sharing pride of place with Castelli team kit and Shimano groupsets.

Now that you know what we plan to do, how does this affect you? Tokyo Fixed at 4 Peter Street will close its doors on Saturday 11th of May. Kinoko Custom Cycles will open its doors to customers the following week, with a grand launch party to be announced soon. The web-shop will remain open, and no order will go unfulfilled. Our website will change to represent its place as the online store of Kinoko Custom Cycles, and the URL’s will redirect accordingly. For the meantime, our huge moving sale continues in-store and online. We’d recommend you check it out, as we’re place huge discounts on a significant amount of our stock.”

Sounds like Kinoko Custom Cycles us going to be pretty legit.

… and three of my favorite shops made the list. Of course, there’s no contest as to which shop is the best, in my opinion anyway. Check out the full post at Cycling Tips.

I know I’ve given Denver, specifically Pearl Velo, a lot of love here on the site this week and it’s not going to end. Not yet anyway. One of the best ways small bike shops can generate income during the slow winter months is through selling merchandise. The problem is, very few shops put time and energy into this, so they miss out on the opportunity.

Kyle had me playing his private photographer while he was in Texas, directing me to shoot this photo of his new Shifter Bikes tee (that I gave him). These came out great, so hassle Dan on his Twitter to make more!

These four photos were in one of my last Recent Rolls and while it’s not enough for a full Photoset, they make for a nice reminder to support and tip (beer!) your local bike mechanic. In this case, East Side Pedal Pushers.

Leica M7
Leica Summicron 50mm f2
Fuji Neopan 400

I’ve never been a fan of the snapback or the 3 panel but the trucker hat I could get down with. When a box arrived from Denver’s Pearl Velo containing this hat, I got real stoked. Herringbone Twill Camo (HBT) is one of my favorite patterns and I love the Pearl Velo logo. Now, I have no idea where you can get one of these, other than their shop, so call or email the shop to order.

Can I just say how stoked I am on NAHBS this year? I’m bringing my cross bike. Let’s get muddy.