The title may have made it sound like we were going to talk about our groovy 70’s inspired psychedelic lava lamps... but no.

Actually, the title refers to the more concrete issue of our location. We are kind of “far out,” in terms of being out of town.

Why did we do that? Well, when we opened the shop, we weren’t sure how ready this area was for a bicycle shop like ours. We figured that it might be a while before walk-in traffic really pays for itself, and that in the meantime we’d continue doing the web business. So we looked for a location that had a relatively low rent, but was still close enough to Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and the NC Triangle that people who want to visit can visit us. We didn’t want to start out in the high-rent district, if we were going to have to pay the rent out of our own pockets. Fortunately, that hasn’t happened.

The good thing about being a small business is that we are flexible and can adapt quickly. We have had the store open for a few months now, and it is clear there is interest from the local community. It is also pretty clear that this kind of store is needed and wanted in this area. So we are looking strongly at a move that would bring the shop into town (probably Carrboro).

Besides, there are some other reasons we’d like to be in town:
- It is kind of ironic to have a transportation-focused bike shop, to which most people end up driving to get there!

- We like the idea of being part of a community, and community events. Being in town would make that a lot easier

- It can get a bit lonely out in the “middle of nowhere” as one customer put it

So, anyway, we’ll post more here as soon as we know more. We are looking for a suitable space with reasonable rent. If anyone has any great ideas on that, please drop us a line!

Tags: store,transportation,bikes

Well, a lot of this blog seems to be about serious stuff, from environment to energy to happenings in our shop. But, as with everyone, we need to have a little fun from time to time. One of the things Morgan likes to do for fun is build up mountain bikes and ride them. Her last project was her classic Fat Chance Yo Eddy rebuild. But that was a year ago. So it was time for a new project...

We’ve been intrigued by the work of Soma Fabrications for a while now. They are a small, west coast outfit that makes very nice looking, affordable steel frames. We’ve always enjoyed steel frames for the smooth ride and the durability. They have everything from mountain frames to road frames and cross frames.

So, we got hold of a Soma Juice 29er large sized frame, to build it up and check it out. We are thinking of carrying more of these in the shop, but it is always good to have firsthand experience with a bike before selling it.

The build
This build is set up as a 1 x 9, so there is no front derailleur, only a rear one. While we like the singlespeed concept, Morgan's knees can't handle the punishment of standing up on the uphills, so some kind of gearing was necessary. The 1 x 9 seems like a nice tradeoff between the singlespeed simplicity, and still having enough gears to avoid total knee blowout for those of us over 40 (yeah, being over 40 will happen to you too someday, just you wait!).

The component set is a mix of Sram stuff, with Surly Mr. Whirly crankset, Thompson seatpost, WTB laser V saddle, Rock Shox Reba Race fork (very nice, lightweight fork), and the Soma Fabrications Noah's Arc handlebars. Wheels are WTB speedisc with Shimano hubs, machine built. Last year Morgan hand built the wheels for her Fat Chance, but she no longer has the time, so these will have to do for now. Oh, and last but not least, Hayes Stoker hydraulic disc brakes.

The finish of the frame is excellent, with one exception. Two of the cable routing braze ons for the disc brakes have the little holes filled by sloppy welding. That was kind of a bummer, the zip ties won't fit through. But, supposedly this problem has been fixed on the more recent Soma frames.

Things came together well, with only a few typical glitches with the first time build of a new frame. By 3 AM on July 4th, she was ready to roll.

Here are some pictures of the build:

The test ride
We are super lucky to have a 3 mile loop in our backyard that is a nice mix of technical east coast singletrack, a short stretch of pavement, and a stretch of two-lane dirt road. It is a great place for testing bikes.

The good
The bike handles very well. The large wheels on the 29er roll over almost anything with ease. The Schwalbe Racing Ralphs seem like great tires for dry conditions around here, but the tread is a bit sparse for wet conditions. Anyway, the bike is very comfortable, and fits my long torso well. It corners well, though not quite as quickly as my Fat Chance Yo Eddy. It climbs like a dream though, even on the steepest climb, the front wheel never left the ground. This thing tracks almost like it is on rails. And of course the Hayes brakes stop this thing in no time.

I am not missing the rear suspension. Maybe for really long rides I'll miss it, but the hardtail just feels more efficient on the climbs and even the flats. Plus, it seems to steer better. And, since the Juice is steel, there is some give in the frame. Overall, this is a really nice ride. And it looks really cool too.

The so-so
Well, it isn't quite as supple as my Fat Chance build, but that's an unfair comparison. The Fat was a USA hand built $900 frame in 1992 dollars, the Soma is an overseas built $400 frame in 2008 dollars. The Fat just feels a bit more supple, like a german car, whereas the Soma might compare more to a Honda or Toyota. Nice, but not quite as precise as the German version.

Some of the ride difference may also have to do with the wheels. On my Fat, I hand built the wheels using DT revolution spokes, which being double butted, have a thin section with a lot of flex, that makes them forgiving. My Fat Chance wheels also have nicer hubs, and I always like the velocity rims. The speeddisc wheels on my Soma are just machine built with straight gauge spokes. No comparison on those.

But this is not to complain, the Juice frame fits me better, and I think for overall riding I will enjoy the 29er platform better. I really like

One other thing is that the front end is really high - the combination of 29" tires plus suspension plus head tube adds up to a tall bike. I initially installed the stem with positive rise (6 degrees), but it was too high up, it almost felt like a cruiser bike. Once I turned it upside down to get -6 degrees, it was much better. But, for those who like a tall front end, you wouldn't need a big spacer stack or riser bars on this bike.

Conclusion
I will post more after spending more time on it. But my first impressions are very good. I like the bike a lot already - it both looks and rides really well for a reasonably priced hardtail 29er build. For anyone in the Triangle area who wants a Soma Fabrications bike, just drop us a line, we'd be happy to spec it out for you.

Tags: bikes,mountain,recreation,fun

We just returned from our train trip, and found that Greg had the store in good order. Most of all, we have a lot of new products on the floor. We’ll be expanding the website a bit to go into more detail, but here is a brief rundown:

• Bicycle cargo trailers from Bob and Burley, to carry groceries, camping gear, hardware, whatever... we have both kinds of trailers in stock as of today, and if there is demand, we will be getting more.

• Lots and lots of bicycles from Marin Bikes in california. We are especially focusing on their commuting and city bikes. The Muir Woods is a great, inexpensive steel framed urban assuault vehicle (pictured below, $455 MSRP, with our in store price lower). The Novato is a slightly more expensive aluminum version of the same ($570 MSRP). And the Belvidere and Corte Madera are very nice 700C wheel commuter bikes, purpose built with fenders, racks, and all the fittings, at very affordable prices, $635 MSRP for the Corte Madera, and $530 MSRP for the Belvidere (our in store prices are often a bit lower for items in stock). Last but not least are the more style and comfort oriented bikes, including the Euro-stye step through frames on the San Rafael (pictured below) and the Stintson.

• We have the comfort/semi-recumbent bikes from Day 6 in stock. We carry both the Dream and the Journey models. We’ll post a picture soon!

• We have started carrying frames from Soma Fabrications. We can build a complete bike for you, or just sell you the frame. These are high quality, very nice steel frames using Tange Prestige chromoly, the best in the business. They make a nice 29er (Juice), a hardtail mountain bike, a cyclocross frame, a track bike, and a road bike model. Morgan is building up a Juicy 29er that will be available for demo rides (when she doesn’t have it out on the trail). We are also happy to build a custom electric ride that combines the frame, parts, and electric kit of your choosing.

• We now, finally, have some of the eZee kits in stock again. Hurray for that. Get your order in early, these premium electric bike kits are going fast. The price is still $1250, and you can buy one in the shop, or order online through our web store.

• We have an order of Crystalyte gear and NiCad batteries arriving very soon.

• We have a bunch of accessories in stock, and we are way overstocked on tubes and lights, so that stuff is on sale. Drop by, make us an offer we can’t refuse, and we won’t!

• Sadly, the cargo bikes and accessories are out of stock for now. The Xtracycles are all sold out through at least mid August. We have one Yuba Mundo left in stock, but we have a customer who says he’s going to buy that one. Those won’t be back in stock until August at soonest, either. The Big Dummy is very backordered, and though we’ll do our best, the soonest we can hope for is August.

• In better news, our Cycle 9 Dolores bicycles are on their way, and should be arriving in a few weeks. Hurray for that, it has been a long wait! The waiting list is growing, and there are only a few of these that aren’t already spoken for. So get your order in early.

• The BionX electric wheel kits will start arriving in the second week of July. However, most of those are spoken for, we already have a waiting list. Please drop us a line or give us a call if you want one, we’ll do what we can to get you one as soon as possible.

• Last, but not least, we have some other great things brewing. Keep your eyes open here, and we’ll announce them as soon as we can.

Tags: bikes,retail

We are very low on stock of the electric bike products - apparently there was some pent up demand around this area.

However, we have a number of things on the way within the next few weeks, and most should be arriving by mid to late June, with some stragglers showing up in July. This includes Crystalyte kits, eZee kits, NiCad batteries, more LiFEPO4 batteries, and some custom Cycle 9 kits for electrifying your bike.

Unfortunately, the stock situation isn’t looking so good on the Xtracycle front. In the past week, we’ve sold all the stock we had of Xtracycle kits, including our demo! Not to fear, if you want to try an Xtracycle-equipped bike, we will have one of our personal bikes available in the store for test rides. However, the kits themselves aren’t expected to arrive until August at the earliest. The same is true for the Yuba Mundo (we have only 2 left, and they are sold out from the distributor until August), and the Big Dummy. Longtail bikes must be the rage. We do have waiting lists for all these items (except Yuba, since it is not sold out yet), so just drop us a line if you want to get on the list.

Tags: electric,bikes,xtracycle

Cycle 9 was written up in the Durham/Chapel Hill/Raleigh Herald Sun today. It was a nice article about our reason for being.

We want to thank everyone who read the article and came out to visit us. We apologize for being so low on stock of the electric bicycles. Whenever we get them in, they keep flying out the door. But, we do expect more electric motor kits in the next few weeks, so we can get some people up and running.

Also, there was a recent press release about Cycle 9 on PRLog. We thank them for helping get the word out.

If any reader notices another article about us that we haven't mentioned on this blog, the first person to email us about it will receive a $25 gift certificate.

Tags: publicity,bikes

We love to hear about local folks who promote alternative transportation, particularly if it involves bicycles. We recently had a visitor in our Chapel Hill shop from High Point, NC, who is one of the most enthusiastic bicycle proponents we've met in a while. He has been working to organize a group of riders in High Point who use bikes as every day alternatives to cars. He's started a blog, Revolution Cycling, that is doing a great job of raising awareness of bicycles as alternatives to cars. We hope that he and people like him can really help promote bicycles as one alternative to the US oil addiction.

This same fellow was really enthusiastic about RANS bicycles, which use the "Crank Forward" design. The idea behind crank forward is to have a more relaxed riding position that is closer to the ground, so that when you stop, both feet can be placed firmly on the ground. While bikes like the Electra Townie have advertised this feature heavily, there have been a number of companies who were doing this long before, including RANS, and more recently Day6.

We think this is an interesting concept. While we don't personally own any crankforward bikes ourselves, we certainly see the potential benefits for those riders looking for a more relaxed and comfortable arrangement.

So, we've decided to test the waters by bringing in some of the Day 6 bicycles first, to see how that goes. These are designed for the utmost in comfort at a very reasonable price, and are particularly focused on the female riders and over 50 crowd. If designs like this encourage more people to ride a bike in their daily lives, we're all for it. So, as of next week, we'll have two of the Day 6 bikes in the shop for test rides, the 7 speed internally geared Journey, and the 21 speed Dream. There are also a few different seat options, one with a backrest and one that looks like a normal bicycle seat, but has some very thick padding. If you've been looking for a more comfortable and safe way to ride a bicycle, stop by sometime and check one out.

If this market goes well for us, we may explore additional options like the RANS bikes.

Tags: links,local,blog,bikes

We just wanted to mention another exciting development we've had lately. We had the great fortune of signing on to be a dealership for two great lines of bicycles. Some people don't need an electric assist or cargo bike, they just need a reliable, great ride designed from the ground up for riding every day. Things like integral fenders and racks, integral lighting systems, swept back handlebars for reduced wrist strain, a more upright riding position to see and be seen, wide slick tires that roll fast on the pavement but can handle the gravel or grass too. These are the kind of bikes that we used to morph our old mountain bikes into with a lot of effort and not always satisfactory results. But now, these companies are doing it for us, designing the bikes from the ground up, purpose built as transportation bicycles.

The first line we'll mention (because we signed up with them first) is Breezer. This California-based company was founded by Joe Breeze, who is one of the legends involved in getting the sport of mountain biking off the ground. They now focus exclusively on bicycles as beautiful but practical commuting vehicles. Bikes like the Breezer Uptown pictured here: