Ride of the Week

Men's Kapok Chinese Made, Single speed, 21" frame 33" stand over, rod brakes, full rear kickstand, very heavy duty bike. This might be one of those bikes you see stacked with banana leaves or wicker baskets headed to a local market.

Kapok is City in China and there was bicycle manufacturing there, we are not sure when this bicycle was built.

Anyone with any information regarding Kapok Bicycles, etc. please let us know!

Stolen Bikes, Locked Bikes

This past Saturday a woman came into the shop looking intently at various bicycles. When I asked if she was looking for anything in particular she told me yes. She needed to replace the bicycle she had purchased from us this summer, because it had been stolen about a month prior. My heart sank. And then I got sad, frustrated, and pissed off...

For many of the people that buy our bicycles it is a major, if not only, source of their transportation. Which, at the very least, it is a partial source of their economic well being. Thus, someone’s economic well being is impacted very time a bicycle is stolen. And a stolen bike just might have a crucial impact on their lives.

We sell used bicycles BUT we do not purchase bicycles at our space in Cambridge. This is for many reasons one being, if a thief has no where to fence to what they steal it becomes worthless. Thieves only steal items that they know where they can sell them for a good price. WE purchase our bicycles from only those people that we know and have legitimate and long term relationships with. To any establishment that might not be so diligent, we urge them to become so!

The following list and links are a a primer for you to whet your (bicycle knowledge) appetite with. A point to note, some locks come with an anti-theft warranty! We all know there are no guarantees in life, but we can increase the odds in our favor.

ALWAYS Lock your Bike.
Brightly lit places are not thief friendly.
An inexpensive locks equals a cheap lock. Locks are not the things to be stingy about. Go as high end as you can.
If you are leaving your bike for a long period of time (like for more than 5 minutes) or over night use at least two locks.
Learn how to lock your bike properly. Thieves want to hit quickly, they look for the easiest targets. The harder you make it for them, the less likely your bike will be stolen.

We all know that thieving has and always will be a part of life, desperate people will do desperate things.

Help defend yourself by learning as much about how bicycles are stolen, knowledge is power!

Help defend others by being vigilant, if you think a bike is being stolen call it in!

Help defend your bicycle with locks and techniques that says...BIKE ME to those that might want to steal it!

2009 - The Year of the Ox

2009 in the Chinse Calander is the Year of th Ox...amoung other things that would make one bright, inspiring, sun and easy going, an exceptional parent. Oh my, what a year this may be! A new president with an agenda that will take super human strength, the Wisdom of Solomon, patience of Mother Theresa. I could go on but I think you get the point.

There are so many issues that face us all, because in the end we are all in this together. What does this have to do with bicycles? Well actually, I’m no more certain than you are. However, I do think this.

IF the area basically inside the Route 495 (Massachusetts) corridor most of the commuters used bicycles, combined with mass transit, many things would happen. First, a huge statement would be made. We are not kidding about a way of life with a little less oil in it. That as a people in this nation, to be political, and of the world, to be sensible; we are willing to start to take care of this blue planet as of right NOW! Couple of major implications there! This is not to even mention what kind of place this would be then, people out ridding bicycles actually talking to each other, health impacts, aw heck even cleaner air.

Now be sure, I’m not advocating, although how cool would that be, that the UPS, Postal, and the FedEx folks convert to Big Dummies and we all hug a tree once a week. But imagine, just for a minute, what a 2, 3 or 10 fold increase in Bicycle commuters would look like. Imagine what the local governments, MBTA and the State would have to do with bicycle issues then. Makes one wonder where the tipping point will be? Makes one wonder that if a family no longer needs two cars because they use two bicycles where THAT savings would be spent. It does make one wonder, doesn’t it now!

Given the above mentioned altered sense of reality, major paradigm shift, the new normal; one sure could say to those that were not sincere to issues that directly and collaterally affected bicycle commuters…BIKE ME!