02.06.12
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:22 pm by daniel
We recently sold Tim P from Escape From New York Pizza on Haight St. a Soma Tradesman cycletruck cargo bike. He’s a cool guy and really into bikes, and thought that the Soma would be a great alternative to cars for delivering pizzas. 
While I was there taking a few pictures, a nearby customer conveniently placed an order for delivery. Here we go!
Tim is currently using a bungee net to secure the load, but we may work out something else in the future.
Because the rack is integrated into the frame and not the fork, steering isn’t affected by heavy loads. The bike rides great!
Using the bike for deliveries is much faster than driving, because Tim can cut straight through the park and doesn’t have to use the same routes as cars.
Pizza arrives at it’s destination hot and perfectly intact.
Ready for it’s next delivery!
Photos courtesy of pushing the pedals.
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11.26.11
Posted in Uncategorized at 12:39 am by daniel
On 11/18 we hosted a fun party sponsored by Raleigh Bicycles and Chrome Industries to celebrate the SSCXWC 2011. Our very own Tyson Mitchell raced on Sunday, finishing strong and making us proud!
Gary Fisher somehow found the only unicorn and viking at the party!
A crew from the San Francisco Bike Polo League
Thanks to Chrome for the Beer!
Jeremiah and Brooks
Bradley and Mystery Guest
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11.17.11
Posted in New Product at 10:15 pm by daniel
Many people come to American Cyclery looking for a good all around bicycle for touring, commuting or city riding. What makes a good all-around non racing bike? It should have the following:
1. Good Tire Clearance. If the bike won’t fit a tire bigger than 28mm, it’s not going to be versatile enough for rough roads or comfortable enough to ride with extra weight.
2. Wide Range of Gears. This generally means LOWER gears than a typical racing bike. If you will be regularly carrying extra weight on the bike and riding on the hills around here, the lower-than-normal gears will allow you to get up just about anything without walking the bike(not that there’s anything wrong with that!).
3. Comfortable Riding Position. You should be able to ride the bike for long periods of time without significant discomfort. This means being able to get the handlebars high enough that your weight is distributed evenly between your contact points.
In addition, the bike should be able to mount full coverage fenders for year-round riding, and have the ability to mount luggage carrier racks. It’s not fun to always carry things on your back.
There are many good bikes in this style, but one of my favorites is the Surly Troll.
Everybody should own at least one orange bike.
That tire looks small in the fork, but it’s actually 2.3″ wide! This bike has massive clearance for the biggest tires you would possibly need for a touring bike. It’s also suspension corrected, so you can fit your favorite springy fork if you want to use the Troll for mountain biking. 
The Troll comes stock with the fabulous Avid BB7 mechanical disc brakes, easily adjustable and plenty strong. They are mounted on the inside of the rear triangle, so as not to interfere with installation of a standard rear rack or fenders. The dropout opens horizontally, allowing one to run various drivetrain options, from a standard derailleur system to a singlespeed or an internally geared hub system like the Shimano Alfine or Rohloff Speedhub.
The Surly Open Bar is a nice sweptback handlebar that puts the rider in a natural upright riding position. Also, notice the tall stack of spacers on the steer tube of the fork. The stem can be adjusted up or down by re-arranging these spacers and cutting the excess length of tube.
The top tube has a downward slope and a gusset has been welded to the seat cluster, providing generous stand over clearance with large tires. Notice that the frame can also accommodate rim brakes via the removable cantilever studs.
We do sell other great non-racing bikes here at American Cyclery, but this one is especially good. Come by sometime and take it for a spin! If you’d like to read another review from somebody who took his Troll touring in the Himalayas, check here!
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11.14.11
Posted in Blogroll, New Product at 11:25 pm by daniel
American Cyclery has just received a huge shipment of Brooks saddles, bags, bar tape and grips! We now have almost every color and style available. If you’ve never owned or ridden a Brooks saddle, you owe it to yourself to give one a try. Many of the designs are over 100 years old and are made to last for years of comfortable riding.
Wall o’ saddles!
The new Devon panniers are tough, and highly water resistant. We also have the Brick Lane roll up panniers.
Leather bar tape comes in a spectrum of colors to match the saddles.
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11.10.11
Posted in New Product, news at 7:44 pm by daniel
We have just gotten hands on the production Soma Tradesman Cycletruck frameset. This bike is designed around a 2o” front wheel and 26″ rear, with a large integrated front rack built into the frame.
The front rack is integrated into the frame, not the fork, so that the wheel and handlebars do not flop with a heavy front load.
Chainstay mounted disc brake in the back allows for any conventional rear rack to be used without interference from the caliper.
We are excited about this project, stay tuned for more pictures as it comes together!
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06.28.11
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:52 pm by Tyson
AIDS/LifeCycle is a fully supported, 7-day bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. It’s a life-changing ride—not a race—through some of California’s most beautiful countryside. “AIDS/LifeCycle is co-produced by the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and is designed to advance their shared interest to end the pandemic and human suffering caused by AIDS.” http://www.aidslifecycle.org This year was the 10 year anniversary of the ride, with American Cyclery supporting the ride from day 1.
Overnight parking of roughly 2400 bikes
I’ve supported the ride 9 times as a mechanic, only missing ALC 7, plus doing the precursor to the ride before as “Bike Tech,” we perform the full spectrum of repairs, from fixing flats to overhauling anything. The working day starts at around 6 A.M., ending when the last bike is repaired, being anywhere from 9-11 P.M. It is a marathon of repairs, getting “rest” as you are driving from camp to pit stop and back to camp.
Taking a "break"
Every year people always ask me how many bikes I work on? This is mind boggling to even keep tally since you barley raise your head up to greet your next repair. Most riders change flat tires by themselves, but to put it in perspective, I change more this week then I do the rest of the year working full time at the shop. Plus, I always get the question of what is the biggest/toughest repair on the ride? Well…I’ve done everything on the ride that would be performed at a shop including: wheel builds, Campy Ergo re-builds, COMPLETE overhauls, etc… Well this year I had to photo-document an “easy” repair that went wrong, turning into a major repair. If I would of been at the shop, it would of been fixed easy once a small part broke, but we didn’t have any spares…
2 pieces together form 1 piece...
It was just a normal chain installation…until the guide pin partially snapped… This happens to the best of us, with the proper tools, technique and focus, but on the road, it is another story. Normally you just grab another pin, but on the road, you have to make due with what you’ve got. So I carefully remove the pin in the opposite direction to inspect the damage, not being that bad, knowing I have a smaller margin of error on the next attempt. So I go for it with Jedi focus and the pin start to bend even more, realizing that I’m screwed. To paint a picture, it is starting to get dark and my work surface is on wood chips, which is hazardous if I drop it on the ground. Even though we have lighting in the work tents, I see the real opportunity to utilize all of my resources.
The new work station under Stadiums lights
Once I set up the new work station, it was time to track down some Super Glue to make the pin as good as “new” so I could try to insert it again. It takes a bit to get everything aligned, ground down and I go for my 3rd attempt. Well the pin start to bend under high stress, immediately removing it, starting the Super Glue process again. Take 4, same thing, realizing that this minor situation has turned into a “SITUATION.” I consider myself “determined,” while most of my friends think that I might be a little obsessive when I make up my mind, knowing it was time for plan C. It was perfect timing as Pearl Jam started on the speakers, knowing it was sign from one of my co-workers, Scot who passed away 3 years ago. He was one of best mechanics that I’ve ever come across, also working as a race mechanic on the road, enabling me to get to upgrade from semi-pro to pro. What would Scot do in this situation? as I heard his laugh, while shaking his head, telling me to use the proper tools. All the sudden it hit me, the 1st generation Campy 10 chain tool, being a small vise. Well no one is going to have one of these on the ride so I go over to the Cannondale big rig and see if I can borrow one. Good thing that it wasn’t mounted on the work space inside the truck, so I took it to my new work bench.
My new chain tool
So Plan C starts by removing the screw on the vise clamps, allowing the guide pin room as the chain pin connects the links together. It’s all about even pressure when pressing a chain pin and I know this is going to work, with failure not being an option. Well it worked getting the guide pin in past the chain pin junction and I finished it off with the chain tool. In the end the bike worked perfectly, taking over an hour, plus the bike was not harmed in an way while shooting this documentation.
Thanks again and see you on ALC 11
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05.23.11
Posted in news at 11:30 pm by admin
We are always building complete bikes from the frame up and finally decided to start photo-documenting all the interesting builds. People are blown away by how many build to suit, semi-custom and custom bikes that we build up in a year, having a gallery can be utilized for reference and inspiration. At any given time we are building up anywhere from 1-6 bikes in a week, averaging over 150 builds per year, over the last 10 years! The primary brands that we deal with are: Soma, Pake, Cinelli, Raleigh, Specialized, Bianchi, Gunnar and Waterford.
Pake French 75 (59cm)
Soma DoubleCross Disc (52cm)
Soma ES (52cm)
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05.18.11
Posted in news at 11:29 pm by admin
Because everybody knows that writing a blog and working in a bike shop are highly desirable careers among the middle school set, I was recently invited to give a talk at a local school for career day. I remember being in 6-8th grade once, and I can tell you that my dreams at the time of becoming a professional fly fisherman didn’t exactly pan out, although traveling around the world and having adventures is a work in progress. 
My bike getting ready to wow the kids.
A pretty typical looking cast of characters, the usual attorneys, firefighters, nurses, businesspersons, but who is that guy in the bottom right?
I officially didn’t have the coolest job at Career Day! This is Ben, and he’s a giant of a man. I couldn’t resist taking this picture, as his wardrobe goes so well with my bike. Ben is from Holland, and works as an entertainer among other things. We had quite the chat, and he told me about his dream to drive his ’55 Chevy pickup down through central and south America to Brazil for the World Cup of soccer. If you see an old Chevy Pickup truck with all sorts of SF Giants paraphenalia attached to it, that’s probably Ben inside.
After going to three different classrooms and talking to kids about bicycles, who knows if any of them will follow my path. The main message I tried to leave them was to pursue something they have a burning passion for and become an expert at it, and opportunities will follow one way or another.
(all photos courtesy of pushing the pedals)
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04.08.11
Posted in news at 11:24 pm by admin
Check out this collaboration between our friends at Macaframa and Raleigh. These framesets are VERY limited and of course we’ve got them hanging, ready to go. They are $800 for the frameset and you can either give us a call or stop by the store.
Check out this link to the Macaframa and Raleigh commercial: raleigh-commericial
Sizes: 50cm (525mm top tube), 53cm (535mm tt), 55cm (550mm tt), 57cm (560mm tt) and 59cm (580mm tt)
Standover Heights: 748mm (50cm), 776mm (53cm), 796mm (55cm), 810mm (57cm) and 830mm (59cm)
Chain Stay Lengths are 400mm Fork Rake is 40mm BB Drop is 45mm
The artwork on the frames were done by Mike Giant, representing SF.
Check out this link to the Macaframa Raleigh hitting the streets of San Francisco: raleigh-commericial
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03.31.11
Posted in news at 11:23 pm by admin
Purchase a 2011 Raleigh Revenio or Capri Road Bike and Raleigh will contribute $50.00 on your behalf to your next fundraising ride!
Revenio and Capri Road Bikes by Raleigh are perfect for century rides and fund raising, multi-day events! Raleigh’s upright frame geometries and wide range gearing provides mile after mile cycling comfort and fun. So select a new Raleigh, pick out an adventure and let Raleigh assist your fund raising goals!
Click Here for Raleigh’s Fundraising Event Registration Form
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