A work colleague just emailed me to share a new bike shop and a new brand of bicycles. Has anyone out there already visited Ride.Studio.Cafe ? The concept sounds intriguing - high end bike store, community events, art gallery space, and coffee. I am intrigued, and hope to get out there soon to check it out.
When I go there I also really want to see the new Public bikes. In reading about them I didn't get much further than the mixte. I know there are lots of nice features they list, but look! The stock rims and racks match the frames!!!! These folks sure know their market, I'm tickled and hope to start seeing some of these out on the streets of Boston.
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I do know that it's at least partly owned/run by the folks from Diesel and Bloc 11 in Somerville.
not sure i subscribe to their business model... but it does sound intriguing. the public bikes do appear to be nicely designed for their pricepoint. but man, what's up with that fenderline! not a good initial impression of quality, in my book...
N and I went out to RideStudio early last month. Imagine if the Diesel Cafe in Davis and Superb in Kenmore had a baby that likes to wear Rapha onesies and sleeps in a Campy crib, and that's the cafe.
It's nice, and the pastries and drinks that we had (her tea, my coffee) were good. The bike and gear selection inherits the feeling of an art space, such that everything is priced such that one is more encouraged to browse than buy. It didn't really have the coziness that I've associated with Davis ... no couches, no large tables for gatherings, etc. ... which is, I think, part of the intent. Stop by there in the middle of a rdie to grab a snack, look at bikes and go.
The bikes are also very nice (Seven Cafe Racer!) and they have in store bike parking, which essentially turns your bike into part of an adhoc rotating bike exhibit.
It sounds intriguing and I have been meaning to visit. The mixtes don't look lugged, but I'll just have to get over that!
Those are really sharp looking bikes. That company should do well.
Love that orange mixte! LOVE!
I was just reading about this the other day, too (maybe in the Globe article about 3-speeds last weekend?). I was so excited to hear they're carrying Public bikes!! For new bikes, their mixtes are moving to the top of my covet list! Cannot wait to get myself out there to try one out.
somervillain, you're right of course. Those are the company's photos so we can't even blame a disinterested assembly.
Veloria, lots of new mixtes just means there will be more vintage lugged mixtes available for you! :)
Cris, I always love your metaphors - now you have me thinking of Rapha onesies and Campy cribs. I bet there's a market for that!!!
Well, sounds like a place we're going to have to visit. Hopefully soon.
Hello, I´m Jerónimo from Madrid Cycle Chic (Spain). First, I would like tos ay I love your work about the pictures and you blog. Second, I would like to share this video about cycleing around Madrid. I hope you like it. Enjoy cycleing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRdttqTWtYs
www.madridcyclechic.com
Stopped by yesterday. I love to look at the Sevens, but it's hard to imagine selling them very often. The Public bikes are also nice in person.
What I wish, is that we had something around here a little bit more like CleverCycles in Portland. I have a couple of bikes that qualify as chic (and Public bikes are surely that, and the 7s are chic in their own way), but my daily bike hauls groceries, kids, packs, wood, even decent-sized shrubs for transplanting. It handles our lovely roads, relatively well. It's a great bike, if your goal is to use a bike for transportation as much as possible. And you can even ride in in nice clothes; the pedals now swap between cleat and platform in seconds (MKS EZY, nice trick, my birthday present to myself this year, I really like it). It seems more important that I be chic (to the extent that this is possible at all), than my bike, no?
The bike stores around here have quite a lot of money invested in their stock (a dozen Sevens, we're looking at what, $50k retail of bicycles? never mind what's in the window at WheelWorks) and not one cargo bike. Nothing to get people interested, nothing to get the questions going, nothing to give the idea that an ordinary person could do it (mine is too obviously customized, too bad for cargo bike advocacy). The guys at Harris have the expertise to install an XtraCycle FreeRadical, but there's nothing like it in the window -- not even a Madsen, which seems to me like an easy sell (relatively cheap, obvious place to put your kids, pretty, practical enough).
So grumble. Grumble grumble grumble.
Purely aesthetically speaking the public bikes are beautiful!! I love the pop of color. I would love to visit but Lexington is a bit far for me...
Those fenders also look a bit short, I have an uncomfortable feeling of wet feets! But otherwise pretty good looking.
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