Archive for News
August 8, 2009
· Filed under Cycling, News · Tagged 2008, bike count, Minneapolis Bicycle counts, pedestrain count, public works
The numbers are in and there is no denying that more and more people are turning to bikes as a means of transportation.
The 2008 Minneapolis Bicycle & Pedestrian Count was conducted by the Public Works Department, the purpose of which is fourfold
• To understand the relative importance of various streets and trails for bicyclists
and pedestrians.
• To understand the load that bicyclists and pedestrians carry on various streets, in
comparison to motor vehicle occupants and transit riders.
• To understand the extent to which bicyclists use streets versus sidewalks.
• To measure the effects of improvements made to streets, with particular
emphasis on projects funded through the Non-Motorized Transportation Pilot
Program (NTP).
Improved understanding of the former three purposes can be gained in this report.
Measurements of the latter purpose will come in future years as NTP projects are built
Highlights of the report as it pertains to cyclists are:
• The number of bicyclists counted at 30 locations increased by 15% between
2007 and 2008.
• 15th Avenue SE north of 5th Street is the busiest location for biking among 128
count locations, with an estimated 3,570 bicyclists per day.
• East River Parkway north of Franklin Avenue carries the highest bicyclist mode
share (17%), among 65 count locations.
The full report can be viewed as a PDF HERE
August 5, 2009
· Filed under Cycling, Gear, News, Uncategorized · Tagged 29er, 925, bianchi, bike sale, bikes, Civia, co-op., hyland, marin, muirwoods, redline, san jose, the Hub, the hub bike co-op, workers bike sale
Beginning Aug. 5th, 2009, The Hub Bike Co-Op is having an extraordinary sale. You are able to purchase select, in-store 2009 models of bikes at the same price we, the workers at The Hub, pay.
Bikes from Giant, Bianchi, Marin, Orbea, Civia, Vicious and Redline are all priced from 10%-30% off our normal low prices.
If you’ve been waiting for prices to come down before you bought your new bike, WAIT NO LONGER!
Here are just a few examples of the ridiculously low prices:
Bianchi Pista was $699.99; NOW $489.99
Bianchi San Jose was $799.99; NOW $559.99
Bianchi Parco was $519.99; NOW $363.99
Redline 925 (our best selling bike!) was $579.99; NOW $405.99
Vicious Casual Agent was $2399.99; NOW $1679.99
Civia Hyland Alfine was $2160.99; NOW $1512.69
Marin Muirwoods 29er was $629.99; NOW $440.99
Marin Alpine Trail was $729.99; NOW $510.99
AND MANY MANY MORE.
All New Bikes Receive The Hub Bike Co-Op’s Exclusive CUSTOMER CARE PACKAGE, as well as 10-15% off all accessories for up to a month from the date of purchase!
This sale is going on at both locations of The Hub Bike Co-Op
3020 Minnehaha Ave. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55406
612-729-0437
and
301 Cedar Ave.
Minneapolis, MN 55454
612-238-3593
July 9, 2009
· Filed under News, Real Estate Resources · Tagged downpayment assistance, first time homebuyers, foreclosures, Minneapolis advantage
Another recipient of funds from the Minneapolis Advantage Program.
Sweet house.
Great Rate.
$10,000 toward downpayment and closing costs.
Life Is Good.
July 9, 2009
· Filed under Cycling, Gear, News, Wisdom · Tagged bikes, Civia, deep-v, Dia-Compe MX-806, dp18, fixed gear, orbea, sale, single speed, velocity, vicious cycles
During the Tour de France, The Hub Bike Co-Op is having a sale on some excellent bikes, accessories and key components.
- 10% or more off road bikes (includes special orders and custom builds)
- Civia, Orbea, and Vicious bikes on sale
- 15% off shoe pedal combos
- Tons of apparel discounted
But here’s my favorite part;
Broken?…….FIXED!
For the duration of the sale, all of our track/singlespeed wheelsets are 10-40% off!!!!!
DP18 wheels, in all colors (normally $199-$220) are now $179.99!
All Velocity Deep-V wheels (normally$299-$420) are now $250.00!
To make things even better, The Hub has just acquired every Dia-Compe MX-806 brake that we could get our hands on, I’m willing to bet we’re the only shop in the Midwest that has ‘em!
These are the ONLY long reach, dual-pivot calipers that work on bikes with forks on older 27″ wheeled bikes (these usually cannot accept modern brakes with recessed bolts, unless you drill out the fork, sketchy). Now you can finally convert the old 27″ wheels to those pimp 700c wheels you’ve had your eyes on, save a bunch of $$$, AND be able to actually stop!
We have these brakes in silver and black for $28.99.
Time to take that old road frame and give it a second life as your new fixed gear/commuter/hipster/cool cat about town bike.
I’ll be there all weekend, just ask for Christopher.
Do It! Then go watch the Tour at the Riverview Theater (how cool is that?).
June 25, 2009
· Filed under Cycling, News, Wisdom · Tagged best bike cities, best bike city, bicycle commuter, international, minneapolis, mpr
Minneapolis’ reputation as one of the best cities for cycllists has gone international!
June 24, 2009
St. Paul, Minn. — An international travel magazine has named Minneapolis one of the top biking cities in the world.
The city is one of three in the U.S. that made the list of top biking towns, according to Travel and Leisure’s June 2009 issue. The other two were Portland, Ore. and Seattle, Wash.
“Minneapolis has built an infrastructure that promotes bicycling on many fronts,” according to the Travel and Leisure ranking. “From bike lockers and designated street lanes, to recreational trails and snowplows dedicated to clearing off-street paths, a system exists to make transportation on a bike efficient, safe, and hassle-free.”
We Rock!
June 11, 2009
· Filed under Cycling, News, Wisdom · Tagged bicycle retailer, co-op., the Hub
A group of trade journalists and industry big-wigs made a stop at The Hub Bike Co-Op recently as part of what Bicyling Retailer is calling the BRAIN Tour.
They rode around town (in full lycra) talking to shop owners about local cycling culture and the nature of selling bikes here in the Twin Cities.
You can read the online portion of the article HERE.
A couple other worker/owners and I answered pointed questions about recent trends and the effect of the economic downturn, but what seemed to really take this group of So-Cal cycling folk by surprise was the dramatic success of our Co-Op model, the infrastructure in place to encourage cycling in Minneapolis and the diversity of folks who use it.
My old friend GeneO and I got in the last words about how despite the saturation of retailers in the area, there is little animosity between shops.
We’re far more likely to help one another out in order to please a customer then to bad mouth another shop.
We’ve all be riding, racing and working together for decades, and each shop has it’s strengths and in turn is willing to acknowledge the strenths of our competitors/friends:
Hollywood Cycles and Flanders Bros. keep the roadies happy.
The Alt fills the family owned niche and serves the BMX aficionados, cruiser culture and is one of the oldest skateboard/snowboard shops in the Midwest.
One On One and Cars-R-Coffins have the ‘cult of personality’ and serve up quality vittles and art on top of bikes and service.
While us Hubsters are what we state: A Worker Owned Co-Op selling and servicing “all types of bikes, for all types of people”.
Support your local independent bike shop!
June 9, 2009
· Filed under Cycling, News · Tagged Floyd Landis, handsome cycles, Nature valley grand prix, uptown criterium
After a two year hiatus as a professional pariah, Floyd Landis has returned to competitive cycling with a new team and a new hip.
Read about it HERE.
Get up close at The Uptown Criterium this Friday.
I’ll be with the boys from Handsome Cycles at the start/finish line, showcasing the new whip.
May 27, 2009
· Filed under Cycling, News · Tagged greeway, minneapolis, night patrol, south minneapolis
You’ll have to forgive the obscure fIREHOSE reference. I’m a child of the 80’s.
From The Strib:
Dateline Minneapolis: Night patrol
Volunteers patrol the Midtown Greenway and a connecting bike trail to help discourage further attacks.
Mark Ambroe lives in the Powderhorn Park neighborhood and works at a West Bank bike shop. That means he commutes twice each weekday on the Midtown Greenway. He uses it even more on weekends. ¶ That prompted him to volunteer when the Midtown Greenway Coalition, the advocacy group for the bike-walk paths paralleling Lake Street, put out a call for volunteers for night patrols. He describes his motivation as “a sense of responsibility to protect a very valuable community asset.” ¶ The night patrols, on which Dateline Minneapolis tagged along one night last week, are intended to raise the level of security for bikers using the greenway after dark. They were prompted by a spate of muggings on the greenway, and also on the Hiawatha trail that runs alongside the light-rail line and connects downtown and the greenway. Those attacks occurred late last fall, the time of year when bike traffic drops and night falls earlier.
They were the last such reports until May 14, when a lone biker was knocked down and robbed by three youths, losing $3, according to police. The bike patrol happened by shortly afterward, contacted 911, helped the biker gather his scattered groceries, and waited with him until police arrived.
It’s an incident that gives a renewed sense of purpose to the 45 regular or occasional volunteers signed up for patrol duty.
“It has the same problems every other part of the city has and that’s a shame,” said 73-year-old volunteer Paul Caspersen of the greenway. “Everybody in the city can do something to make it safer. This is the one place I can do something.”
May 13, 2009
· Filed under Cycling, Gear, News · Tagged 400mm steertube, handsome cycles, handsome devil, horizontal dropouts, loaded touring, The devil, uncut steertube
Handsome that is….
4130 Double-Butted CroMo
Longest Uncut Steertube In The Industry
All the braze-ons needed for loaded touring
Horizontal Drops for single speed or multi-speed set-up
Plus, it’s just damn good looking
