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.

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. We use heat to unlock the Loc-Tite on the hinge bolts so we did not drill the head(s) off in case they don’t need to be replaced.

The captions explain the work we do:

Links Regarding This Job:
Brompton Instructions (pdf)
Rear Hinge Bushing Kit
Brompton Specific Reamer

Retail space is expensive, so Calhoun 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 friends 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 Calhoun 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 Calhoun Cycle.

It’s no secret around here that Velo Vision Magazine pays attention to what’s happening in the cycling world and to see the latest issue’s (#36) cover is sweet. The Cover picture sells a story by Richard Peace in which he critiques 3 cargo bikes after having tested all three rather extensively.

There’s a whole lot of fun in Velo Vision #36. We’re pretty partial to the Richard’s review of three cargo bikes that he tested. The cargo bikes he rode were the Larry vs. Harry Bullitt, Madsen kg271 and a Yuba Mundo.

Here are a few Headlines of Velo Vision #36

Workbikes special! Richard Peace puts three two-wheel load-carriers through real-world tests. Under the spotlight are the Bullitt Clockwork, the Madsen kg271 and the Yuba Mundo, the last with an Ezee electric assist system.
Dropping in on dealers: another three reports from specialist dealers across the country: London Recumbents, Futurecycles, Bikes and Trailers. What you’ll find if you visit yourself…
Review: Villiers custom frame. It’s here at last – a lovely test bed bike frame built by Paul Villiers to our own Velo Vision design. We look back on the custom ordering process, and the end result.
Review: Catrike Dash. This medium-sized recumbent trike for teens or for the shorter rider is put through its paces by riders who appreciate its proportions…
Review: FreeParable T1 Trailer. An impressive new bike trailer from Taiwan which transforms into a smart, baggage-handler-proof suitcase.
Short reviews: Books, chains, trousers, bells, puncture fluid…
Reader bikes: Streetmachine recumbent, doing up a DIY trike…
Report: London show: A brief reports on new products at Cycle 2009.
Feature: Touring with dogs: How lack of pet-sitters led a couple to tour with two dogs on board – and how they cope.
Regular features: News, Letters, and the best specialist advertising!

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The RANS Stratus XP has been a popular bike in the shop for years. With its’ supple long wheelbase, low pedal height and dual 26″ wheels the XP makes a great every day ride as well as cross country touring bike. As a well designed bike out of the box, it’s definitely a fine candidate for customizing. We’ve done a number of super upgrades over the years, but this recent project was particularly sweet!

Year after year, Steve gets many, many miles on his bikes. He does a lot of both commuting and touring. After a couple of great years on the Stratus XP he realized that this bike fit his needs very well and is worth investing in some sweet upgrades to make it even better.

For starters, he had us add an impressive Rohloff rear hub with it’s 14 internal gears to simplify the drivetrain and eliminate gear overlap. A 48-tooth chainring with a 16-tooth rear cog give it a whopping 21 to 114 gear-inch range. The front chainguard is his original 52-tooth chainring with the teeth machined off. Cool. The chaintubes are made from PTFE tubing. He also upgraded his brakes to Avid BB-7. We were all impressed by the project and took some photos to share with you:

You can also check out a video of the bike here.

‘Bent in the City caught our eye in newest issue of Momentum Magazine. Long time recumbent rider Vincent de Tourdonnet wrote a super article about urban ‘bent riding.  Vincent called the shop and spoke with one of our top notch salesmen,  John McConaghay who is quoted in the article. As an urban shop that also sells a lot of recumbents, we were a likely source for Vincent. If you haven’t seen Momentum yet, I highly recommend it. You can check out the ‘bent article here.

Ahh yes, it’s a wet time of year in Minneapolis. The folks splashing me in their cars may not realize it, but I do. Because regardless of the weather, I’m on my bike. Over the years, I’ve used a variety of fenders on a variety of bicycles. In search for perfection, I’ve even made some of my own. (A set of pretty cool aluminum fenders and even some carbon fiber ones, yessir. I realize I may be more particular about fenders, than most.)

It hasn’t always been easy to keep me covered, but my fender of choice these days, the Planet Bike SpeedEZ, is doing a spectacular job on a couple of my favorite bikes. If you haven’t seen them, I highly recommend them. The SpeedEZ are a full coverage fender set that mount to a wide variety of bikes. I road in today with a set on my  Airnimal Joey. The SpeedEZs on my Joey are actually designed for 700c tires, but they mounted very nicely to cover the 24-inch wheels of my Joey.  I had to play with the radius of the fender to get a perfect match, but it turned out great.

I have several thousand trouble-free miles of the SpeedEZ on my Joey, and have since mounted a set to my Bacchetta Corsa as well. The SpeedEZ also fit nicely on the 26-inch wheels of my Corsa. I’m using the 35mm wide SpeedEZ Road on both the Joey (37mm wide tires) and the Corsa (35mm wide tires). Planet Bike recommends the 35mm wide SpeedEZ Road will take up to a 28mm tire. I think they’re a bit conservative to cover the range of width in some knobby tires. I’m getting fine coverage on my bikes.

Here are some pictures of the SpeedEZ on some different bikes. The first ten pictures show the SpeedEZ Road (35mm) fenders on my Airnimal Joey and my Bacchetta Corsa. The last two pictures show the SpeedEZ Hybrid (45mm) fenders on a different Airnimal Joey with 1.5″ wide tires. Note that the SpeedEZ Road has a little different mount compared to the Hybrid and ATB models.

The coverage of the SpeedEZ is very good (no complaints) and they’ve proven to me to be durable. They are incredibly versatile, and relatively easy to fit to a wide variety of bikes. Sure, we spend some time “optimizing” to get things just right. But quite frankly, all fenders a just putzy to install. If they advertise to be ‘easy’ or ‘quick’, it more accurately means that it can be done.  I haven’t used the elastic bands to hold the fenders in place, so I cannot attest to that method. I have used zip ties to secure the fender mount to the frame (or fork) of the bike, which works great.

Here are the direct links to the fenders on our site:
Planet Bike SpeedEZ Road [35mm wide]
Planet Bike SpeedEZ Hybrid [45mm wide]
Planet Bike SpeedEZ ATB [60mm wide]

Yes, that’s right. Sara isn’t darkening the doorway at Calhoun Cycle except for visits to make sure we’re all OK. After several years of ever-faithful service Sara is going to work at Peace Coffee. The smell of roasting coffee calls us all at some point and Sara’s going straight to the source.

It was a bit over a month ago. I meant to write this post a month ago, but I’ve chasing my tail to keep up with her tasks!

We had a fun night eating Thai Curry and telling stories about our day-to-day life at the shop. Smiles all around!

Sara had a special way of relating to customers needs and we’ll miss her dearly. I don’t have the same level of patience and while John is working hard to fill her boots, though we all know that her boots had more cycling miles than any other pair in town.

So, what do we all say (with tears running down our cheeks):

Thank You Sara!

The 12 by 100 has been completed! My friend Derek came up with the challenge to do a century ride every single month for a year… in Minnesota. August was our final month and while we had our challenges fitting it into the schedule, we did in fact pull it off with smiles all around. The post ride celebrating would have been massive if only we’d given friends and family a bit more heads up on when the final ride was going to happen. As it was, Derek had to race home to take care of his kids and I had to work a close at the shop.

We were joined by Calhoun Cycle salesperson extraordinaire John McConaghay. John rode a Surly Pugsley that he had recently built road wheels for. The Pugsley is a bike designed to take over 4″ tires (think snow, ice, sand, mud and other adventuresome conditions). John fell in love with his Pug and thus set it up as a versatile summer ride to complement the hard core winter Pug (with HUGE tires).

Derek rode his not-so trusty Concord and I smoked anyone in my path on the zippy Bacchetta Corsa.

It was a Great Day, though at about 56 miles Derek’s bottom bracket seized and we had to call for mechanical assistance. It was looking a bit touch and go for a bit, but the Hunter showed up with the right tools for the job and a few hours later the 12 x 100 was history.

See John’s Pugsley in winter mode here: Shop Ride to Frostbike

Bacchetta Bella ATT features a fully triangulated frame

The Bella ATT is the new touring bike in the Bacchetta lineup. As an avid cycle tourist, I was excited to test this new ride. The design features a long, low, fully triangulated aluminum “truss” frame that will hold up to a hefty load and still remain stiff. I found the stiffness of the frame made for an efficient and speedy ride. The frame is plenty long to absorb road shock. And when the road gets extra rough, the cushy Recurve seat will take care of that harshness extremely well.

The pedal height is perfect for a touring recumbent. They’re high enough that I can tip the seat to a fairly laid back position, yet low enough to make starts and stops a breeze. Being able to lay back the seat is critical to being able to comfortably pedal the bike all day long. If you can’t lay the seat back, then you end up sitting too upright (on all your weight). This is fine if you’re sitting down for lunch, but a real pain for extended periods. You need to be able to distribute your weight between your bottom and back for maximum comfort. We call this cradling and it’ll make all the difference on longer rides.

Fast and smooth, the Bacchetta Bella ATT

Touring bikes (recumbent and upright) tend to be extremely versatile bikes. They are designed to carry a lot of gear and tend to have smart componentry suited to every day wear and tear (no matter what the weather is). I’d give Bella ATT designer Mark Colliton high marks on his new bike. The spec of the Bella ATT is fantastic and the frame design will allow a large load of up to 300 Lbs. (rider plus gear!). The Bella ATT will handle loaded touring with ease and the comfortable ergonomics will help the rider get in days and days (or weeks and weeks) of great touring. The seat height and pedal height set up the rider for a comfy fit, but it’s really the stem and bars that finish off the fit so well. All Long Wheelbase bikes require large steering adjustments at slow speeds (6 mph or less). Colliton designed an ergonomic stem and handlebar combination that put your wrists in a natural position, allowing some slow speed steering adjustments with slight wrist movement. This makes for a much more stable feel at low speeds.  The B-Pivot riser clamp allows us to easily adjust bar position for a vast range of bodies.

I think the stiff frame, ultra comfortable seat and great ergonomics make the Bella ATT an excellent bike suited for a wide range of use (with touring at the heart of it). It also comes stock with high quality Disc brakes, as well as a good drive train with nice low gearing (real world!). The Bella ATT is available in two frame sizes to fit most everyone. Nice work Bacchetta.
Here’s a video that I made while using the Bacchetta ATT for a shop warehouse run. In the end of the video there is a side view of me riding in front of the shop. Notice the easy, comfortable position my body is in. Pay special attention to my wrist and arm position. The neutral position of my arms will always keep the bike going straight with very little steering energy on the rider’s part.
I cruise through downtown Minneapolis on route to the warehouse in Northeast Minneapolis. The route back I cut through the University of Minnesota, looping around the new outdoor stadium. Then I cross the Mississippi (again) and jump onto the Greenway Bike path. The Greenway Bridge is especially beautiful with views of downtown (while a light rail train runs under).
http://www.calhouncycleshopcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/bella_att/bella_att.flv
You can also check out the video on our youtube page: Bella ATT on youtube