Product Showcase

Over 20 years ago I got a job at Alternative Bikes in uptown Minneapolis. Jay Erickson was the owner of this upstanding neighborhood bike shop that specializes in selling Bridgestone bikes, skateboards and snowboards (early adopters). Another big specialty was overnight repairs. I worked as an overnight repairman. I learned a lot from Jay. Plenty about repairs and bike shops, and whole lot about myself (working late with the pressure of getting through a massive pile of repairs will do that to you). I worked for the Alt for 2 years and it was the last place that my paycheck was signed by someone other than myself.

Jay's sons were little kids going to elementary school back then, but now one of them (Jesse) has teamed up with a workmate (Ben) to design a nice quality, highly versatile frame that they are marketing as a Handsome Cycle Co. bike.

I spotted this frame at the big industry trade show (Interbike). It was being used to showcase some accessories in the Topeak booth. This model was labelled  as a "Devil". It sure looked like a nice start from which Handsome can grow from. The catalog lying below the bike was nicely styled without being over-designed. Cool.  Good work guys!

Here's a bike that gets in a lot of miles on the paths around the area. Phil rides a lot and has used a variety of bikes over the years. The past few years have been all about the RANS crank forward bikes. He likes to go fast in an ergonomically friendly position.

The handlebars and riser are custom modifications that have helped make the bike very comfy on the wrist, shoulders and hands. Instead of using the stock "straight" riser, this bike is set up with a RANS curved riser which brings the handlebars back about 3-1/2". The handlebars are swept back cruiser style handlebars with Ergon Grips with built in bar-ends for a variety of hand positions.

Forza 145mm Crankset with FSA chainrings

The other major modification this bike has are the 145mm Forza cranks. These are a nice, triple crank option that can work for a variety of bikes. The Forza cranks are available in 145, 155 and 165mm lengths and the bolt hole pattern is 130/74mm.

Phil is out putting real miles on his bike. I see him on the trails regularly and he's always smokin' down the trail at a quick pace. Looking good Phil!

It was early spring that we received our first shipment of 2008 Bromptons and we took them to our warehouse for some photo shooting. Very nice bikes indeed!

The 2008 Brommies are looking fantastic. Very nice paint jobs with sleek, good looking decals and a mix of very special folding features. This is the quickest AND the smallest folding bike on the market. It would be hard to check it out and not be completely wowed.

Our photo shoots are fast and furious, but we do out best to get nice shots of the actual models that we are selling. While there are many, many options from Brompton, we have very carefully selected models to sell. The choices we made are a nice balance of good quality options mixed with an eye towards getting a great value out of your money.

You can check out out Brompton Bikes HERE.

Brompton accessories can be viewed HERE.

I did my first double century at the end of last season. This is the Bacchetta Corsa that I used for the ride. I felt that this was a perfect bike for the ride and the set up I had felt just right.

I used a wide range rear cluster (11-32) mixed with a road crankset. This is a good mix of gears for my style of riding. The wheels are 26" with Schwalbe 26 x 1.35 Kojak tires. These tires are nice and durable with a supple sidewall. This makes for a speedy touring style tire. Perfect!

200 miles is a long day and a true test of mental and physical strength. That said, we had a blast and doing the ride on this Corsa was perfect!

Under the seat is a camera bag that allowed me to pull out and take pictures while riding.