News

One of my friends once commented that Curt Goodrich is the best frame builder you've never heard of. Be enlightened friends, that is changing. Curt has always built a few bikes on the side, but until recently he's spent most of his time building all the U.S. Rivendell bicycles. But now he's broke away from Riv so he can concentrate on Curt Goodrich Bicycles. Lucky for us, Curt's right here in Minneapolis. In fact, Perennial Cycle has partnered with CG for nearly 10 years now. He does our S & S coupler installations as well as our more involved frame repairs.

Well, this weekend Curt Goodrich Bicycles will be displaying some beautiful work at the North American Handbuilt Bicycle Show (NAHBS). In the past few weeks, Curt's been by the shop several times so we've had a chance to see the progress on his pieces for the NAHBS. Wow! He has some beautiful bikes. His studio is just a couple blocks from our warehouse space in NE Minneapolis, so I stopped by the other day to snap a few pics for you. Here's an All-Rounder frame in the paint booth. Sweet bike. NAHBS is a pretty awesome show. While I've not attended yet, I have seen many awesome and inspiring bikes through various galleries online. The event starts today, so in the next few days we'll see a lot of spectacular stuff in the blogosphere -- and Curt's frames will be among the best.

Peter Eland, bike culture aficionado and editor of VeloVision, has published eight years of top-notch articles. The issue with Dale and Mary has everything from bikes in Phnom Pennhe, to reviews from Cycle 2008 (the major bike show in the UK), some bike reviews, a bike light test, an interesting article on how people pedal their children to school and other eclectic cycle stories.

Velo Vision Issue #32 Article

We're always excited and inspired when the new VeloVision arrives at the shop -- every issue is filled with great pictures and stories that you just don't see anywhere else. In fact, we're so fond of VeloVision that we're the U.S. subscription agent! We also stock back issues. Check out VeloVision on our website here: www.perennialcycle.com/velovision

You can see Velo Vision here: Velo Vision Website

Check out the Gallery of some bike rides Dale and Mary have been out on:

Long time customer Dave Bengston recently wrote an article for Minnesota Cyclist about getting in a few miles while being out on the road. Dave is passionate about riding his bicycles and his enthusiasm shines through in the article. Nice!

Have Folding Bike, Will Travel
By David N. Bengston

Business travel is not very exciting or fun – unless you can get in some bicycling along the way! Then it becomes an adventure. Imagine hitting the bike trails and exploring interesting places after your workday, rather than watching television in your hotel room. Imagine arriving at your business meeting by bike instead of taxi after an exhilarating morning ride. I’ve confused a few receptionists who assumed I was a bike courier who was there to make a delivery!

The Brompton World Championship was 10 days back on the 28th of September. I've had a chance to take a look at some of the pictures and read blogs of the event and it looks like a fun time that I'd love to participate in. While I'm tempted to think that I would one day do an insane event like the Paris-Brest-Paris (1,200 kilometer race...not in stages), I am probably more inclined to jump onboard a fun and wacky event like this.

Not to say that there aren't some people taking this event seriously. A former Tour de France rider and three time winner of the Tour of Spain Robert Herras rode hard and was the winner of his group, but the start wasn't a mass start and it turned out that the next group of riders had a speedy rider in Alastair Kay who is York Cycle Work's Premier Calendar rider. The winners podium was a chaotic place to be when Robert Herras' name was not called as the victor (oops, it seems he forgot to look at the results and walked up to the podium thinking he was the victor).

Tejkan Pettinger has a report and some great pictures on his Cycling Info blog.

Brompton Bikes have evolved into an amazing folding bike with many very practical and functional accessories. We have seen their growth as a very positive sign of things to come. Stop in and give one a ride and have us show you how amazingly small they fold in about a 10 second stretch of time (wow is right!). Learn more about the Brompton Bikes and accessories (Including the B & W hardcase) at our website.