Why not enjoy cycling all season? If you're interested in 12-month cycling, on the road or in the woods, we've got a ton of options for you here. There's nothing quite like the Surly Wednesday pictured above to get you out of your routine any time of the year. Spring's right around the corner, but there's no good reason not to enjoy riding a bike today.
Kip's daughter made this awesome board game based on visiting our shops. It's complete with layouts of Cambridge Bicycle and Superb, and even has game pieces in world champion stripes colors!
Still not sure what to get the cyclist in your life? Let them decide! We have gift cards available in any amount that are fully integrated into our shop's system. We're able to take payment by phone with Visa, American Express, or Mastercard. Call and ask for our sales staff for help.
Thanks to all who attended our recent Winter Commuting Clinic! We're chalking it up as a success. At the event Bill, Josh, and Ben reviewed a bunch of useful stuff for wintertime, including what to add to your regular maintenance, how to prevent common problems from winter conditions, and recommendations for setting up a bike to be more reliable and comfortable for winter riding. If you weren't able to attend and have questions about winterizing your bike, feel welcome to stop by anytime with...
We just received this awesome e-mail from an MIT student we supplied parts to: Hi, Thank you so much for giving us the bicycle hub for free! It was a crucial mechanical component in our product prototype. I have attached some pictures in this email for you to look at! Our team is currently working on a motorcycled-powered grain threshing and winnowing device for the developing countries. This device will potentially reduce the work hours of farmers so that they will be able to focus on other...
We've had some big changes recently. The temporary wall that encased our back stairwell for much of the season has come down! We've brought back the benches and have moved around all of our baker's racks and accessories. We just gained back a ton of floor space in our retail area. Thanks for all of our regular customers for your continued patience as our renovation project wraps up this month. We'll be continuing to reorganize our retail space over the next couple weeks. As always, if you...
This is San, the entrepreneur behind Boston's The Coffee Trike. You may have seen him around Boston pedaling his custom fixed-gear cargo trike and coffee shop. He happened to be less than a block away when the bond between his chainring and crank failed. He just barely managed to coast to a stop in front of the shop. We only had tools to remove and replace the crank arm, but not re-attach the chainring. Luckily a former employee and local machinist located near our shop happened to have a few...
Eric, a Ph.D. candidate in Mechanical Engineering at MIT, contacted us recently for a project. We donated a Shimano 3-Speed hub to open up and document for a presentation. He sent us back a few photos to show and tell. If you've always wanted, but never have opened up one of these hubs, behold: Thanks again for sharing the photos with us. Best of luck with the project, Eric.
Efforts on Friday, Monday, and Tuesday created a big change at the shop. We now have a temporary wall in the middle of our sales floor, surrounding where our helmets, accessories, and bags used to be. We've done our best to make new displays for our usual selection of products. Locks, lights, helmets, fenders, pedals saddles, panniers, backpacks; it's all there. If you can't find something please ask our sales staff. The shop is a little more compact than we'd prefer, but again, we appreciate...
Our shop has come a long way since we first tore down the old mechanics' area just a few weeks ago. Here are some photos from earlier this week of the current state of the shop. It's looking great but we're still not quite done. Our mechanics are still settling into our new service area and our new register counter and displays are being installed shortly, and we have some organization left to finish on our sales floor. Even with what's left to be done, the shop is looking great: We have tons...
Just some snapshots taken over the past few weeks... The new shop is really starting to come along. Tons of progress has been made, and everybody has been working hard, and all of our hard work is already showing. More current photos will be posted later this week-stay tuned!
Our remodeling has started to take off. These are few shots of what's been going on the back: ...And a teaser image of what's to come:
Our shop rat is guarding our emergency exit on Mass Ave. We've papered over the doors to give ourselves some privacy. We ARE staying open and maintaining our standard hours during construction even though things are already looking very different. More updates and images are to be posted soon.
We have a customer that's been coming to us for rental bikes for several years now and still has the original business card we gave him. Things have changed a lot since then, and more changes are sure to come. Remember when Superb was Boston Bicycle?
Friday marks the start of the annual North American Hand Built Bicycle Show. It just so happens that our trusty mechanic Ryan has planned a vacation to Sacramento and will be attending. He should be posting a few photos as the show goes along. NAHBS always has some interesting, beautiful, and/or ecelctic builds and Ryan has a pretty honed tasted in bikes. Be sure to keep tuned for what's catching his eye.
Now in stock are Bonk Breaker energy bars. Stephen, our service manager and elite road racer on staff, has sampled, tested, and picked the three flavors we have: almond butter and honey, peanut butter and jelly, and peanut butter chocolate chip. All of them are delicious, wheat/gluten free, and dairy-free. Bonk Breaker also sells directly to shops, bypassing the distributor chain in order to keep their product fresh as possible. Did I mention they're also loaded with calories and protein and...
Our friend Rebekah Fraser (who has written copy for our website) has a kickstarter project running...check it out!
Charlie and Addie in Toronto, July 2011
Last fall we had some MIT students stop by and ask for as many bike boxes as possible. We're used to receiving unusual requests from the MIT community, but usually it's for weird combinations of mechanical parts for engineering projects. Apparently they were working on an event for student orientation: making an embiggened Settlers of Catan board. They did an amazing job crafting it and we're sure it was a blast to play. Just look how impressive and clean their cuts are! A+ for using a stuffed...
a piece of inspiration
According to certain sources, Lady Gaga is making an appearance at the MIT museum of Science this afternoon. If you love photography and celebrity sightings as much as you love bikes, today is your day. If you get her autograph or phone number come across the street to the shop and tell us about it.
We recently assembled a bike for an MIT student, Yang. A couple days later she came back with the above prototype LED signal arrow. It's a removable backpack attachment with LED arrows, each on their own circuit, with activation buttons placed on the backpack's shoulder strap. This solves the problem of bicycle turn signaling: most cyclists either don't know proper signaling, don't use signals, or make up their own hand gestures to signal where they're going. She's got a lot of bright ideas...
Accidents happen and sometimes stuff breaks. When life gives you lemons, though, make the fastest chair of all time. Our manager Bud crafted this amazing chair (perhaps the best non-NJS sanctioned stool made yet) out of an unfortunately-fated Fuji Track Pro. All it needs is a coffee table crafted from bent open pro's and a coffee mug from a Phil Wood hub shell and the collection is complete.
Our owner, Kip, brought in these old clipless pedals made by a small machine company in Colorado. Sadly, the cleats for them are no longer made. If you can identify the brand, we'll sell them to you at a discount.
Always.
Our basement cleaning has bestowed us with another great find. To the unsuspecting eye, these may appear to be normal, cruddy brake levers. Check out the detail shot below: Another Basement Find Yeah, those are plastic Campagnolo mountain levers and they're 11 speed compatible if you want it badly enough.
We found a broken hamburger bell at the shop today. The bells are made out of plastic (which doesn't ring) so naturally, a plastic bell must have a metal ringer component. It looks like these ones have a secret custom paint job: These should be great stocking stuffers for the bicycle/hamburger/anime enthusiast in your life.
Anywhere where bicycles are fixed, whether it's a professional shop or someone's apartment, there's a box of old parts waiting to be used for something. Our general manager, Bud, used a quick release skewer and a stay from an old Blackburn rack and fixed our faulty toilet lever. The best part is that all material used is made out of aluminum and stainless steel and won't ever rust!
Transcription: Hello Boy-At-The-Bike-Store, I have a crush on you. I bring my bike in sometimes and you change the tire for me. Sometimes I come in to try to talk to you but I lose courage and buy something I don't really need instead. My room is filling up with bicycle supplies and I don't even know your name! -Just-Another-Girl-With-A-Crush-On-A-Bicycle-Boy We heard about a craigslist ad first day yesterday morning from a customer and it made our day. We like it when people think we're cute,...
I rolled up 15 minutes before the store opened to find 64 boxes from Diamondback waiting to be unloaded into the store. Anybody want a Kalamar or Vital 1? I mean, besides this guy:
a sparkle to take the breath away...
See the progress at 842 Beacon street...Boston...the same street as the state house,,,,just a bit west.
The riders are all rolling in from around the country....we had a fun group from Atlanta trapped at cambridge due to a downpour...As a major sponsor we welcome all riders as they will dropping by both Cambridge bicycle and Superb because both shops are checkpoints in this year's race.....Ride safe and have an awesome time in B-Town....
my son charlie in orange ma.
Well, not everything interesting that happens here is bicycle related. This afternoon there was a photo shoot in our test ride alley for Popular Science magazine involving a local MIT student's motorized shopping cart mobile. It's electric powered, has disc brakes, and even ground effects(!!!) and was built across the street behind us in an MIT lab.
On a recent trip to L.A. to visit my friend, I stopped to check out the bike culture out there, which is thriving. I checked out Orange 20 Bicycles and The Bicycle Cafe. Orange 20 has great murals for their storefront (one which features a ninja on a bicycle). The guy that runs Trackasaurusrex was at the front counter. He told me that Robin Williams came in and recently bought a Colnago. (Being in L.A., I'm sure this shop must have some famous clientele.) He also broke my heart when they...
The Renovation of Boston Bicycle into Superb is making lots of progress. Getting rid of the old to make way for the new.
An ancient Peruvian master, forty-years-versed in the lethal martial art of extreme bicycle maintenance... A brave young challenger of unknown origin, fresh-faced and knobby-kneed, ready to risk it all for one shot at the impossible dream... Who will be the victor in this, the ultimate Cambridge Bicycle test of endurance, cunning, agility, and brute force? Who will perish and who will survive-- crippled but heroic under the most noble of crowns? Armed with an iron pipe typically reserved for...
One of our employee$, Ben, ha$ hi$ own Zine incorporating $ome amazing drawing$ and in$ight into the underbelly of the Punk and Metal $cene$. Here are $ome $neak peak$ into A$$ to Kick issue #5. Issue #5 will al$o feature a few illu$tration$ for a benefit art $ale in Burlington, VT. Proceed$ are going to the food pantry of the 9th Ward in New Orlean$. $top in and talk to Ben to get your own copy!
Jason scored almost 50 cases of free Gatorade. We either need a hot sweaty party or a plastic bottle disposal company.
This is Charlie a solid if not accidental member of our community. He was in the other day, like many other days and i asked him about the paint job on his bike. He was not entirely pleased with the job and after he showed me images of his furniture/sculpture i could see that his attention to detail was alot keener than mine. He oversees a design workshop behind us on Front street at M.I.T. and i suggested we would be able to work together on yet another project for the shop or at SUPERB. His...
Alyssa, Ashley, and Laura @ Giovanni's Pizza show off the new CB Team cap. Each Wednesday on our way back from racing at the New England Velodrome, we stop into Giovanni's Pizza for our post-race recovery meal. They have a killer roast beef sandwich and stock an amazing all-natural whoopie pie, but we really go there for the friendly (read: super cute) staff. They remembered us from last track season and have come to expect us each week, but I think we are still a bit of a novelty for them....
Tyler Hamilton, Cambridge Bicycle owner Kip Chinian, and Craig Roth. (Photo by Steve Pucci) Our good friend Steve Pucci of Downeast Bicycle Specialists stopped by with old friend of his, current US National Road Race Champion, Tyler Hamilton. The two of them were out for a ride, and Steve wanted to show Tyler our shop. Of course, Kip tried to recruit Tyler to race for our cyclocross team, and as far as I can recall, Tyler didn't say no...
This is what happens to your thumb from doing 100's of flat fixes. Keep it up Tom, they aren't slowing down anytime soon.....
Final match of the 2009 ESPI in Boston, East Vancouver vs. Milwaukee (Click on the screengrab to go to video.) Music Mix by DJ Mayhem
Some final pics of Portsmouth, such a dream of a town with historic preservation but i was surprised to see such few bikes out there. It was easy to imagine the town without cars but to see what will follow will take a bit more foresight.
We just had our busiest day of the year at Cambridge Bicycle, and at times like these I wish we had the store the size of an aircraft hanger. It gets real tight and hot (soon to be hotter) and it gets a bit stressful. I guess you can see where this post is going, as I met alex last sat. He is the owner of the Juicery in Portsmouth N.H. and he operates his business full-time in a space of less than 400sq ft. We ate there four times in two days as we were so impressed by the quality of his food...
A very tricky course involving long dirt climbs and sketchy descents. This is Matt Spaits, a hard landing but he's o.k. minus a road bike and we're working on that. Thank You Team, Cambridge Bicycle and Embrocation Cycling Journal for representing and riding so well! see more at eurphoria and embrocation
Just saw this over at our pal Stratton's site (the man behind Kazane.) Nice looking collabo with Natas Kaupas (amazing skateboarder who helped invent street skating) Check out Natas in Streets on Fire, the film that changed street skateboarding forever, and watch for his signature Natas Spin at the end!!
Paris-Roubaix: A Journey Through Hell, by Philippe Bouvet, Pierre Callewaert, Jean-Luc Gatellier, and Serge Laget, and published by VeloPress. It occurred to me, while looking at this photo that bicycling racing helped replace military invasions....so that you could tour France without hurting anyone, except yourself. Jacques Cadiou (1967)
I have been doing a lot of spring ordering to get ready for the busy bike season and one thing I have been noticing more of recently is people becoming more interested in doing their own basic repairs. Therefore I decided to grow our consumer tool area and luckily the tool world has been growing too, check out these new options! The Pedros Trixie tool is a new tool designed for single speed and fixed gear riders which is small enough to carry around with you. The tool has all the essentials...
Bavolar a.k.a. Euro Trash. The Kyle a.k.a. White gloves and Sheen. Gustavo giving splits a.k.a. It's all about the Classics. Mark in the Middle a.k.a. That's our Fuji rep, Baby! Mash and Burn a.k.a. Mash and Burn.. Photos ? CrothJackson
Kip bought this bike a few years back on eBay. It is a genuine pro bike, used in the the Tour de France. You know, that race the Texan guy won a whole bunch. This bike is built with Campagnolo Record Titanium 9 Speed, which means that it is only useful as a whole bike, none of the parts are compatible with any other parts made, not even other Campagnolo 9 Speed Groupos. So there is little chance that a part will be poached to keep another bike running. Today I was watching the Tour of Flanders...
I ran into this tough guy on River Street and his modified/dyed CB hat caught my eye. His name is Kit and if you run into him tell him that Kip wants to give him a new CB hat of his choice. We've currently got two different models in the shop, and a new top-secret one is boxed up in some crazy factory in China or somewhere.... See you soon Kit!
We commissioned a talented young woman in Denver, Colorado, to make some handmade CB coffee mugs. Obviously, these will be very limited edition, and employees and team members get first shot at them. You may recognize the work from Christmas time when she made RMM a cockroach bowl. These mugs got lots of attention at the pottery studio; people just can't believe the style and aesthetic! No matter your affiliation with the shop, if you want one of these, I'd make your voice heard ASAP. We...
From bibliodyssey
It's happening in our repair shop. Spring cleaning and superior organization will allow us the clarity we need to keep up with how fast the business is growing, and to help us ensure that we fix your bike right-- and fast! From organization
As many of you know, I am an experienced < href="http://www.usacycling.org/" target="_blank">USAC racer. F vs. J was my first alleycat. I had a great time at this well organized and challenging event. Here are a couple of Cambridge riders' full race reports : RMM's version. Seth's version Natasha took some great photos that I am able to share with you here: Milling around waiting for instructions: In place of a clearly defined start, an address was yelled out unexpectedly, triggering a...
The white halo tire went along for the ride!