Looks like sustainability in New York City just got a big boost from our friends at Batavus. 200 bikes — that’s 400 wheels!

Dutch bicycle manufacturer Batavus is giving 200 bright orange bicycles to New York as a birthday present. In 1609, the first trading post was set up by the Dutch East India Company on the island of Manhattan. It was the beginning of 400 years of cultural, political and economic cooperation between the Netherlands and America.

The bikes will be shipped from Rotterdam and will be used during the festivities to mark New York’s 400th anniversary. Between May and November, they will be used for several events, including the opening of a cycle bridge over the Hudson river and a cycle path around the city. It’s hoped dignitaries such as President Barack Obama, Dutch Crown Prince Willem Alexander and Princess Maxima will try a “Dutch ride” on the traditional style bikes. Afterwards they will be passed on to the city’s run-down neighbourhoods to be used in community projects, including cycling proficiency exams for children.

More info at NY400.org.

Kinda makes you wonder when it’s Vancouver’s turn, eh? In the meantime come on down and take a test ride on a Batavus yourself to see what the fuss is all about! I mean, if it’s good enough for Obama and the city of New York, it must be good enough for you, right?

Hey everyone!

With the winter weather becoming a more distant memory we are happy to announce that spring biking season is officially upon us!

Come in and check out the new 2009 Pashley classic line (including the Princess, Guv’nor and Roadster) for some great city cruising.

We also have the 2009 editions of the ever-popular SE Lagers for you singlespeed bike fanatics.

RainCityBikes is also proud to announce that we are introducing a new line of quality bicycles to our shop. Our friends at TRAITOR CYCLES just south of the border have been working on some great ideas!
I’ll let the photos speak for themselves…check out these fantastic bikes!

There also some secret bikes (sorry, can’t tell you yet) in the works that are really mind-blowing.  We’ll be sure to let you all know when I get some “spy Photos” up on the blog…In the meantime visit their site at traitorcycles.com

Rain City Bikes is proud to partner with the Vancouver Playhouse to bring you a great opportunity to see some great local theatre and have a chance at winning a pair of bikes!

Order 2009/2010 Playhouse Theatre Company subscription online or by calling 604 873 3311 before July 14, 2009 and you are automatically entered for a chance to win two (2) Dutch city bikes: ladies ‘BATAVUS’ (below) and men’s ‘WorkCycles Transport GT’ (Value: $2,450).

Azor Workcycles Transport GT

Batavus Old Dutch

More info at vancouverplayhouse.com.

RainCityBikes is having a HUGE SALE that you will LOVE!!! Available right now are savings up to 60% off regular prices on new 2008 model bikes. Some of these bikes are now priced below our cost! Now is the time to get that citybike you were thinking about while the prices are hot.

All our bikes are guaranteed against manufacturer defects and come with your first major tune-up FREE!

Even better, all minor adjustments are free for up to one year. These include necessary things like bolt tightening, seat adjustments, air in your tires, cable adjustments, advice… whatever you need!

Below are some of the great Jamis bikes we have on sale right now!

Now, we also have some great Haro bikes on sale, too!

Come on down and check it out!
We’re open Monday to Saturday from 10:00am to 7:00pm, and Sundays from 11:00am to 5:00pm.

2518 Manitoba Street, Vancouver
(604) 879-5544

Back to Sch**l Sale, End of Summer Sale, It’s-a-Rainy-Day Sale, whatever.

We have some great deals on in the shop while quantities last. Lots of stuff is 10-50% off, and here are some examples:

Brooks leather Barbican Messenger Bags for $420, down from $630. That’s over 33% off, and these are amazing bags.

Jamis Quest complete bikes (51cm, 55cm) for $1400, down from nearly $2000. Reynolds steel, Mavic wheels, full Shimano 105, etc. etc…

Lots more deals on locks, saddles, wheels, etc.; just mention this post when you’re in.

This was the perfect solution for photographing Louise and Dean’s Wedding, who got married at the Stanley Park Chapel and then spent a little over an hour going around Stanley Park in a horse and carriage. The idea was to stop at a few places on the horse and carriage ride and take some photos of the two of them. So while they were in the horse and carriage I pedaled the bike, all our gear, and Steff nearby… (read the rest of the article here)

Justin Eckersall, a Vancouver based wedding photographer just sent through a blog he wrote about shooting a wedding using a Bakfiets. Some of the shots are just great; I really like the one where he’s shooting a photo of the couple, and the Bakfiets is in the background. You can see it with the rest of his article here. We’re really glad he enjoyed using it, and we’d love to see more businesses do this sort of thing to reduce their environmental impact.

We’ve recently received several Biomega shaft-drive bikes, and I thought it would be helpful to talk a bit about shaft-drive specifically.

First of all, shaft drive bikes wouldn’t be possible without internally geared hubs, which use a system of planetary gears within the hub, much like in a car. A Nexus 8 speed hub, like the one that comes on the Biomega Copenhage, has almost the same gear range as a 21spd bike (over 300%), allows you to shift while you’re stopped, and simplifies the whole system by eliminating the derailleurs and cassette. There are many advantages to this system, but it is especially helpful to the shaft-drive system because this simplicity allows a single, stationary shaft to power a wide range of gears.

At first glance, the advantages of a shaft-driven bike are apparent: no moving parts exposed to the elements, no greasy pant-legs, virtually no maintenance, no more sharp chainrings to “bite” you, and no chain to fall off or get stuck. The clean look is just a bonus.

picture from modliving

There are two minor drawbacks to the shaft-drive system. One is a small weight penalty, but these bikes were designed for everyday use rather than for Lance Armstrong. The other is the inability to easily change the 1:1 gear ratios; in other words, it would be difficult to make the easiest gear any easier. I am quite happy with the gear ratio they come with, and if you are as well, and don’t mind drinking one less beer over the weekend to compensate for the slight added weight, then a shaft-driven bike might be something to consider. Come down and try one out.

This is just a rumour, but we may also be carrying a shaft-driven folding bike in the near future!

Our latest shipment of Skuuts has arrived!

The Skuut is a wooden bike for children ages 2 - 5. It has no pedals and no training wheels. Children kick off the ground as if running, thus pushing or “skuut-ing” themselves and the bike forward. The Skuut is perfect for learning balance, steering, coordination and independence. Having mastered balance on the Skuut, the transition to a traditional two wheeler bike is easy.

Get them while quantities last!

“It is a very robust bicycle and the front rack can carry a 40 liter canister of flamethrower fuel should you choose to use your flamethrower in urban traffic situations, cycling to work and so on.”

David Cambon put up a great review of the Monark he bought from us. You can check the rest out here.

It’s winter time, you’re riding to work, late as it is, when, while shifting gears, your chain pops of the drive and you’re out another 10 minutes to stop, get the bike off the road and fix it properly. Yes, an all too common problem that can quite easily be solved by one simple step.

Remove all the gears on your bike save one.  Call me crazy, call me stupid, call me a luddite, whatever, I won’t have to deal with losing my chain.  As a cyclist I have always been a big fan of the single speed. Whether it comes from a fixie, road, BMX or mtb background. They are a wonder that only requires a small amount of explaining to have the average person on the kick. Let’s begin, shall we? We’ll start with the benefits.

Riding single speed offers several benefits over a multi-geared bike, one of which we have already addressed, the chain loss that can come from riding heavily. By removing several of the moving parts on a bike, we have made our mode of transportation a lot less clumsy and prone to breakdown. By removing those parts, we’ve saved several pounds in weight on the bike as well, and we all know how a heavy bike feels compared to a lighter one.  Thinking on those same lines, we have made the bike a lot easier for the average person to work on and maintain themselves. No more taking the bike to the shop for a tune up, just line up the the rear wheel and ride! Keep a little oil on there for good measure as well. A bike with a single speed is also a lot more efficient at commuting, due to it’s single geared ratio, our body is inclined to ride at the top level all the time as if you slow down the ride gets a lot harder.  Aesthetically there is the look as well. A much cleaner looking ride over all with less parts, cables and all that in the way. In the end, just less to worry about on your bike.

With all those positive reasons aside, many people will still ask, why do the majority of bikes bought and sold come with gears? Simple economics and consumerism. More is better and if you’re trying to sell a hard product to people who may not use their bike all that often, more gears, more shocks, more brakes has got to be better! Even if none of them work properly in the long run and cost you more in shop fees fixing the bike that you paid to start…. [Ed. Note: Gears are great for people going long distances, and for people who need some help getting up Vancouver’s hills. And come now, more brakes is generally good.]

Being a single speed rider of the bmx origin, a sport that has it’s back ground in racing and holds the record for most single speed gearing sizes and easily the smallest drivetrain of any bicycle sport, you reader, if you are interested in a single speed bike may not be aware of many issues surrounding a single speed.

A single speed bike is something that can easily be tailored to your ride. Depending on if you’re riding the flats in Strathcona or English bay or the hilly sections of Kits and the south side, you’re going to potentially want a different gear ratio for each situation. To begin, most single speed bikes will have a gear ratio of 2.75. You can easily find this number by taking the larger front gear/sprocket on your bike and dividing it by the rear cog or cassette. This is an average ratio across the board from fixie, to bmx to mtb and considered by many to be the perfect ratio. I myself have a 25 tooth sprocket in the front with a 9 tooth driver in the rear. This equals out to being that ratio. Now, for the flat rider coming from English bay, they may find that they can go faster because they don’t have nearly as many hills to deal with so easily moving up to a larger Sprocket or gear in the front will allow for that. Traditionally, single speed road bikes offer a 44 to 16 tooth ratio which is also 2.75. By adding say 2 teeth to the front, we’ve increase the top speed of your bike while reducing the speed of acceleration.

Now, at this point we’re going to get into too many off topics for this entry to be any worthwhile for you, let’s just end at this. Take a look at your bike if it still has gears. Remember where you find your gears most of the time when you ride and then count the teeth on the front and the rear. Chances are, you’re probably using one quick gear to accelerate and then keeping it in one higher gear for speed. If you can find a middle ground between those, you might as well just get rid of the gears altogether and save yourself the continual hassle that is the commuter bike drivetrain.

Even better, would be to come into our shop and try out one of our single speed SE lagers or brews and have us tell you more about why we love single speeds.

Cheers,

Raincity Bikes.