Perennial Cycle

Inspiring High School kids to do things is a real challenge. Add to that that what you want them to do is create and express. Good luck with that, eh? Well, an art teacher at Southwest High School here in Minneapolis is succeeding. Ms. Leierwood motivates her students to create art in ways that connect with them. Artbikes is one of her units. Drawings with sports related themes are another unit. She even gets the kids out riding the Artbikes in a local favorite parade called The May Day Parade (put on by The Heart of the Beast Theater). I believe that extra credit is awarded for the kids brave enough to ride in the parade.

Tonite at the shop Ms. Leierwood will be showcasing some of her students work in a gallery exhibition from 7:00 - 9:00. There will be a variety of Artbikes available to check out as well as drawings created in class at Southwest High. Word on the street is that Bill Eggert of Evolutionary Transport will be joining in the fun.

Here are some pictures from The May Day Parade as well as a Bike Expo earlier this spring:

Quality Bike Product is one of the largest cycle distributors in the US and each year for one weekend in February they have a big industry show called Frostbike.

This year's shop ride to Frostbike was well above zero the whole way and we suffered no flats. Sweet!

The event was well attended as always and basically is a who's who in the bike components and accessories world. Civia Bikes come from QBP so we got to check out the full 2010 Civia line up which is looking very impressive. Henry is a sales rep for Schwalbe that has visited us in the past. He gave us all a nice run through the Schwalbe products. For products of interest it seemed that lights were a bright spot (ha!). Portland Design Works looks like an up and coming parts and accessories company that will be good to have around.

The lunch was spectacular and the ride both ways was a fun one. Riding with a group of friends is an absolute blast and being 10 of us there were big smiles all around! Here's a video of the ride and event.

We ended with pizza and a Brompton seminar back at the shop. Brompton is looking especially good for 2010!

We just recently saw the first rear hinge wear to the point of needing replacement on a Brompton bicycle. It takes many, many miles for the rear hinge to need replacing, so it's no surprise that it took five years before we saw a single one (and the owner is a daily commuter even in the salty Minnesota winters). If you're riding your Brompton as your main mode of transport, you may need to eventually replace the rear hinge. This is a repair that is best handled by a bike shop with a top notch service department that is familiar with Brompton Bikes. If you don't have anyone near you capable of doing the job (or in ownership of the needed tools), then you're lucky the Brompton is so easy to ship as we'd be happy to do the repair for you professionally. As a part of the process, we'll promptly get your Brompton back on your doorstep.

The Brompton Bushing Kit includes all the parts that need replacing, the necessary allen wrench, instructions and a drill bit. (Used to drill off the head of one or both of the bolts.) For tools, the service department will have a Brompton specific rear hinge reamer and some Loctite. It's not necessary, but it'll make it easier to remove the old bushings using a 13/32-inch tap.

We spent a fair bit of time researching the processes before we actually did it, but once our ducks were in a row the repair went smoothly and fairly quickly. The first step is to inspect the bushings to determine if they need replacing.

The captions explain the work we do:

Links Regarding This Job:
Brompton Instructions (pdf)
Rear Hinge Bushing Kit
Brompton Specific Reamer (Special Order) Contact Us.

Retail space is expensive, so Perennial Cycle has worked super hard from day one to make the most of our space. My Dad would have said that we are capable of squeezing blood out of a turnip (this would have been a compliment ; )

In our original basement rental/retail space we had the rafters stuffed with an elaborate helmet storage system. People walked down into that shop and laughed because they had seen ads in Recumbent Cyclist News where we touted ourselves as a Recumbent Super Store (which we were in great part to stuffing the corners and rafters as well as friend's basements with merchandise). 10-1/2 years ago we moved into a 1000 square feet with a full basement. It felt huge, but midway through the second year we were having to do a lot to maximize our space and eventually got a warehouse space to let some pressure off the retail space.

Yesterday we grew by over double our current space and nabbed a doorway directly into the coffee shop on the corner! 2010 is starting out BIG at Perennial Cycle and this is hugely exciting. We're sad to see the flower shop move out (Luna Vinca had been in that space for 10 years), but it has created a great opportunity for Perennial Cycle.

**Addendum added to this Shopcast Post | 1-13-2017**
April 1, 2016 we ended being Calhoun Cycle (as the images above show us as being). We are now Perennial Cycle. You can read about our name change HERE