Holiday Gift Guide!
Having a hard time coming up with gift ideas for your bicycle enthusiast friend or family member? Check out these parts, accessories and bits n' bobs that the C&L crew have been loving this past year! Spray.bike If you’re unfamiliar with what makes Spray.Bike special, the spray is more like a powder than a liquid. That means that you don’t have to be a professional spay-painter to get a nice drip-less application. And, with the massive amount of colours and finishes to choose from, almost anything is possible! Check out #spraybike for inspiration! Blue Lug knickknacs We’ve been getting a steady supply of Blue Lug goodies all summer. Keeping the walls stocked was a challenge! From the ever popular reflective triangles, to bolt-on lights, cargo bungee nets, t-shirts, hats, etc, Blue Lug just seem to never miss when it comes to fun nic-nacs. Perfect stocking stuffers! Kryptonite locks Ok, maybe not the most exciting gift. But, for your friend that leaves their bike outside at night with a sketchy combination cable lock, nothing says “I care about you… and your bike” like a new Kryptonite lock. Backed with a lifetime warranty. Timemore grinder This grinder caught our eye during one of our #coffeeoutside rides. As soon as we saw it, we knew we had to get some for ourselves! Not only does it look good, its compact size and high-quality grind make it perfect for #coffeeoutside! Gary’s tee Get your loved one to rep youtube’s favourite bike restoreur with one of these sweet T-shirts! Memento rack We love Memento racks! Made in Montreal by our pals, its simple design and impeccable craftspersonship make it a no-brainer for carrying lots of stuff on your bike. These are made by an engineer and a bike messenger, so they know a thing or two about carrying stuff. The original Atlas and the smaller Fourmi are available! Honjo Absolutely beautiful fenders handmade one by one in Tokyo. These come in a variety of shapes, profiles and sizes so reach out if you’re unsure about which ones will fit best! Quad Lock Having your phone on your handlebars is great for navigating and having it within close reach for snapping quick pics. Also great when you need to keep an eye on Facebook Marketplace for that perfect used crankset you’ve been looking for. Buddy Flaps Does your loved one already have fenders on their bike? Then help them keep their feet and whoever they’re riding in front of even cleaner with Gurp’s Buddy Flaps! These are made in Montreal and are available in a variety of colours. Gurp Stitchwork framebag for Bassi Hog's Back THE perfect addition to any tour-curious Hog's Back build! Framebags are an amazing way to carry heavy things (like water bladders, battery packs, etc.) or awkward things that don't maybe fit nicely in regular bike bags (tent poles, your favourite birdwatching field guide, etc.). Our good friend Gurp made these specifically for the Hog's Back, and they fit just right! Dango Bros Made by Magic Components in Japan, these cuties will make even the grumpiest bike grump smile! For cantilever or center-pull brakes only. Darn Tough socks Ever the shop favourite, Darn Tough socks are made in Vermont and come with an unconditional lifetime warranty. Who else does that? Darn Tough stand by their products, and so do we!
Nitto, Honjo and Spray.Bike distribution in Canada
At C&L Cycles, we’ve had a long-standing goal of providing Canadians with the very best parts to make beautiful, classically-styled bicycles, and in 2023 we’ve redoubled our efforts in that direction, since it’s getting harder every year to find solid, elegant components. We’re therefore pleased to announce that C&L are now Canadian distributors of Nitto components, Honjo mudguards, Growtac disc brakes, and Spray.Bike bicycle-specific spray paint. That means your local bike shop can get in touch with us to get wholesale pricing, in addition to everyone being able to get their hands on those high-quality products in-store here in Montréal and throughout the country on our webstore at clcycle.ca. Two of C&L’s partners, Roberto and Julian, visited Japan and Taiwan last Spring in order to form closer ties with our long-time manufacturers and to meet people we’d been wanting to do business with for many years, which led to us finally being able to offer these parts directly in Canada, rather than needing to re-import from the USA. Nitto have been making the very best stems, handlebars, and seatposts in their Tokyo factory for decades, not to mention their inimitable racks and various handy accessories. Our friends at Blue Lug, a collection of bike shops also in Tokyo, filmed their recent factory visit, which is well worth a watch: We’ll be distributing all their products that we possibly can, but Nitto have had a serious production backlog since the pandemic began, due to steady high demand, with some items still at a 2-year delay or more and very little on-hand, so don’t expect miracles - some items will remain extremely rare for a while. Therefore in the immediate future, we’ll be receiving: Rivendell Albatross handlebars Rivendell Bosco handlebars Dirt-drop 31.8mm handlebars, black and silver Lo-Rise 31.8mm MTB handlebars Technomic stems in various flavours Rear cantilever housing stops Stem and seatpost spare parts Coloured stem caps Coloured bar-end plugs Their wonderful factory work hats. We’ve ordered many more handlebars as well as seatposts and small parts (and racks if we’re lucky, those are complicated to make), but they won’t be ready until Spring 2024 at the earliest. Those are the timelines we’re working with, and we’d rather be transparent about it instead of offering you the moon and disappointing you. Honjo make the best all-aluminium fenders in the world today, in gorgeous classic shapes, often with their trademark hammered finish. There are far too many variations for us to stock everything for the moment, but we’ll have a little bit of variety, and will expand our Honjo offering in the future as we’re more confident with what’s in demand. Thanks again to Blue Lug for this album of photos from their visit to Honjo, and to Circles/SimWorks for the video interview and visit: Spray.Bike make bicycle-specific rattlecan paints in great modern and classic colours, which are easy to apply and in steady hands provide high-quality results that are fit for a custom frame or for a restoration. They’ve always been hard to get in Canada because of the different labelling laws here for spray paint. We therefore worked with them to have everything nice and legal, and we’re receiving our first shipment directly from their factory in Europe shortly. We’ll be the official Canadian distributor and will be offering these to all bike shops, frame builders and professional restorers. Wholesale orders will ship Purolator Ground only, and retail orders will ship Canada Post Regular Parcel, due to the labelling and carriage laws for aerosols. We’ll be unable to ship internationally, but you can find this paint in many countries through spray.bike and spraybike.us. Initially we’ll have 35 solid colours, in addition to the all appropriate finishes, primers, putties and metallic coatings, and three Keirin flake finishes. Growtac are a new firm but make a very impressive disc brake, the Equal. This Japanese-designed and manufactured caliper is mighty enough and beautiful enough to convert both hydraulic purists and rim-brake die-hards. They have a manifesto. It’s worth a read! As they develop and perfect their other products, we’ll be getting those, too. Growtac Equal brakes aren’t cheap, but they come as a pair (front and rear) of calipers, and include mounting hardware, all types of cables, both stiff and flexy housing, so basically everything you’ll need to set them up other than levers. Quantities are limited, but we’ll be re-ordering frequently and Growtac’s lead times are very reasonable. All these products will be available directly from C&L for individual buyers, through all current Canadian Bassi dealers, and we’re accepting new wholesale accounts for all these brands in Canada! In the latter case, please get in touch for terms and how to order.
Bassi Coyote
After years of prototyping, here it is! The Bassi Coyote is an ATB we’ve been working on for the last couple of years and are beyond excited to finally have arrive at our dock! We're calling these colours Stargazing Blue and Sunbathing Yellow. The idea for this frame came from riding the northern section of the Baja Divide in early 2020. The sand pits and washboards had me dreaming of what kind of bike would be perfect for such an adventure. As much as I love my old steel Jamis MTB, its max 2.2” tire clearance and aggressive XC-race geometry weren’t quite well suited for multi-day, all-day, rough terrain riding. The bike’s name is in reference to Rancho Coyote, a stop seemingly in the middle of nowhere on the Baja Divide. The route to get there was the roughest we’d experienced all trip. We were greeted with cold Tecate at our arrival and sent off with a delicious breakfast the following morning. A true oasis! It’s also more obviously a reference to the adaptable canine of the same name that can be found all over North America and whose howling kept us awake many a night on the Divide (in Gaspésie too for that matter - ed.). It’s basically everything I’ve ever wanted in an off-road exploration fun machine: Chromoly steel frame: strong, dependable, repairable and looks gorgeous. Unlike other frame materials, steel can easily last a lifetime! The Coyotes are all E.D. coated to ensure that they do. XC-inspired geometry: the off-road bike world is particularly quick to subscribe to labels and abbreviations. The starting point was the classic XC geo Julian and I are most familiar with and fond of. From there, we tweaked and modified what we thought would make for a more capable yet playful machine! After that, we tested, tested and tested to make sure the numbers were right. The result is a versatile bike that will see you through all sorts of off-road shenanigans! It climbs really, really well, handles the lighter rough stuff comfortably and feels balanced when loaded with touring gear. Tire clearance galore!: Built around max 27.5 x 3” tires. Planning a rugged bikepacking trip over super rough terrain? Go full mini monster truck mode with 27.5 x 3” tires for maximum float and comfort. Want a more nimble feel? The size Medium prototype, the one I rode the most, is outfitted with 27.5 x 2.6” tires and felt like a Goldilocks tire size for off-road control and zippy feel. What about full-on XC-race mode? The Coyote can clear up to 29 x 2.4” for a fast ride! Single-speedable: SO much fun. Not having to think about shifting at all, and simply enjoying a quiet jaunt in the outdoors is something I’ve truly come to appreciate. It's both a rewarding and humbling experience. Worth a try! Rigid or squishy: Riding rigid off-road is a whole lot of fun too, but sometimes you just need some cushion! The Coyote is corrected for 120mm travel forks. The rigid fork steerer is 1-⅛ straight, the headtube is 44mm. Eyelets: This bike is for carrying stuff, though with all the interesting rack-less bags and adaptive rack options out there right now, we didn’t feel like the Coyote needed an absurd amount of eyelets. Standards?: Some standards make sense to us, some don’t. If you know Bassi, you know we want to make bikes that will last forever and, just as importantly, be serviceable forever. QR hubs, threaded bottom brackets and (if we’re lucky) rim brakes will be around for the foreseeable future unlike some standards. All that said, BOOST, as silly as the name is, seems to be very well established and for good reason. It makes sense for this kind of bike and it opens up too many new possibilities to pass up. Dropper post: 30.9mm diameter, 33.1mm clamp. 150mm travel seems to be a good amount of travel for most when on the right size of Coyote! Amazing graphics: I mean, they're so good! Brian Ejar understood the assignment and absolutely nailed it. This bike is a whole lotta fun, and like every Bassi, is the culmination of lots of people’s insights and efforts. The Coyote wouldn’t be what it is without the Bassi family! A big, big thank you to all those involved. Photos by Emiliano
Julian and Roberto go to Asia!
Hi friends from all over the world! Last March, we had the amazing opportunity to travel to Japan and Taiwan to visit dealers, manufacturers, a bike show, make friends, eat incredible food and ride bikes! When we landed back home in Canada, we dove right into the usual busy bike shop season and didn't get a chance to share the full story with you right away, so here we take the time to dive a little more into the details of our trip than those Instagram stories allowed. Bassi and C&L have had a close relationship with Taiwanese manufacturers and distributors since the very beginning. Julian and Roberto, being the youngest and newest partners, went with the objective of nurturing those existing relationships while also meeting new people, seeing what's hot right now in bicycle manufacturing, and figured why not throw a little bike tour in the mix? Enjoy the read! Tokyo Round 1 Right on our first day, after unboxing and rebuilding our bikes one at a time in our AirBnb due to space limitations, we set off to explore Tokyo as thoroughly as we could. And by that, we mean we immediately went to all three Blue Lug locations. Right then we got a glimpse of the kind of sensory overloads we’d be experiencing throughout this trip: at Blue Lug, every inch of usable space is taken up with unique and fancy products and merch, and there came a point where it was too much to take in! Each location, though unified under the Blue Lug name and mission, has its own personality and has carved out slightly different vocations. Despite being a big operation, everyone we met was extremely kind and interested in chatting with us. Naoto immediately helped us set up a distribution account and we’re very stoked to be bringing their amazing products to Canada! We ended the day with a visit to Crumbworks, our Bassi dealer in Tokyo. Crumbworks were one of our first international clients, and certainly among those furthest away from Montréal. Nonetheless, we immediately felt we had so much in common even only through our virtual connections. Keita, the sole individual behind Crumbworks and Magic Components, is one of the most talented and tasteful build curators / business owners / designers in the game right now, and it feels like an honour for him to consider what we make to be worthy of taking up space in his teeny tiny shop! He was also extremely welcoming and was a huge help to us in securing some meetings and factory visits that otherwise might not have been possible. He also planned to host one of his casual Ojisan (“Uncle”) rides on one of the few days we were in town, closing his shop for the day to do so. The ride-to-snack-stop ratio was just how we like it, with a stop seemingly every half hour at certain points. We biked along lovely paths that led us to a couple beautiful parks all the way to Saitama and back to the start at Crumbworks in the Nakano neighbourhood of Tokyo. Keita and his crew, the Crumlins, are a sweet bunch and it was lovely to meet them! Tokyo to Nagoya Being who we are, and having brought our Hog’s Backs allll the way to Japan, there was no way we weren’t going to squeeze in a little bike tour. And what better showcase for our own products than to show up with them a little dusty and dinged up fresh off a bike tour? Julian’s Hog’s Back, long a 2x2 just for fun drop barred setup, needed a bit of a touring-worthy rebuild to handle this trip. He put on a Microshift XCD transmission for those long tunnel-y climbs, a Memento Atlas rack to schlep all the souvenirs, and a Crumbworks KT bar in honour of our hosts at Crumb. Sim Works Super Yummy tires and MKS Allways pedals were nods to our other favourite Japanese manufacturers. Roberto kept his 54cm Hog’s Back as it was originally built with the prototype Bobby Bar that he’d been testing the year prior, peppered with some fancy bits in the form of Sim Works seatpost, stem and pedals, XTR M960 derailleurs, Paul Klampers and a White Industries Headset. For this trip, his homemade framebag, an Atwater Grafter XL and a pair of small Ortlieb bags were enough to meet his cargo needs. Day one was a soggy one, through suburbs, rail trails, and some countryside, that ended with our first factory visit of the trip: MKS, located in Saitama. Yuba led the tour of the shop and we marvelled at the precision manufacturing of Mikashima’s operations. They’ve been making pedals for 77 years, and we’ve been selling them for 15 of those years at our shops. Witnessing the cold forging and heat treating processes, the testing that’s ten times more stringent than ISO standards, the time taken to micro-adjust the bearings on their top-tier pedals, and a tour of their historical collection confirmed that these favourite pedals of ours are indeed the best! On day two, we got yet another 7-Eleven breakfast of the highest quality. Konbini meals were the perfect fuel stops for touring. The quality and variety of the food was mind-blowing, and we always found an excuse to stop! Highlights were Onigiri, the freshest triangle sandwiches, butter and syrup sandwiched between Dorayaki (mini pancakes), hot cans of coffee, and mini-cups of Sake. We started to get our first taste of real countryside and mountain views, including some of legendary Mount Fuji, interspersed with a few spooky tunnel sections that we tried to fly through as fast as our legs could take us. Day three had some fantastic climbing. We crossed a mountain pass through the mountains between Hokuto and Ina, where we were on our very own without a single car for hours, and slipped our bikes up snow-covered double-track 4x4 roads over the top. It was special to juxtapose our time in some of the most densely populated urban areas in the world with this serene riding in the middle of nowhere! In Ina we stopped for a highlight meal of the trip, a massive plate of Tonkatsu. One last tunnel got us to Kiso, where we stayed at a magical mountain inn with hot springs attached and an elaborate meal plan. Restful! On our fourth day of touring, we visited the historical villages of Tsumago and Makoto on the old postal road between Tokyo and Kyoto. These have undergone a preservation effort from the local municipalities, and the result is beautiful Edo period architecture. If you can deal with the bumpiness, there are even sections of old stone-cobbled roads through the forest connecting the two that are somewhat ride-able - we managed to stay up, just! On our fifth and last day of riding, we enjoyed trending downhill and had a lovely lunch stop in the city of Seto, known for its traditional ceramic-making and yakisoba noodles. A perfect knick-knacking and lunch spot! Nagoya We started off our first day in Nagoya by going directly to visit our then most recent dealer, Circles. Having the day-ride our new pals organised for us cancelled due to rain, we got to spend more time discovering the Circles ecosystem. We started with breakfast at Early Birds, an american-style breakfast joint inside the bike shop, before touring their shop and their in-house paint studio. We were then taken to visit Sim Works headquarters where all our favourite fancy bits and bobs are from before checking out their affiliated fixie-goon shop Culture Club and the adjacent coffee shop for more delicious drip brew. We ended the day on the newest branch of the Circles tree: dinner at Pasta Cerchi, their Italian restaurant, where we were treated to bottomless house wine and a literal array of japanese-italian fusion dishes. As one can imagine, the Circles team are a busy bunch. It’s truly impressive and inspiring to see everything that goes on under one roof. We were grateful for the time they took to show us around and are excited to be working with them! It’s a beautiful shop and visiting is an absolute must if you’re in the area. We also got to visit a real treasure trove of vintage bicycles at Kato Cycle Plus. The old-school bike shop was so densely packed with the fanciest vintage parts and bikes, it took us all multiple laps to really grasp what was going on. Our stay in Nagoya ended with us discovering the fine art of Rinko. Bicycles are allowed on bullet trains in Japan, but only once partially disassembled and intricately fitted into bags called Rinko. Our first time doing it was on the train platform under the watchful eye of a nonplussed security guard. After some struggling and the bag finally zippered shut, we were ready to hop on the high-speed train back to Tokyo before catching a flight to Taiwan. Multi-modal touring! Travelling with our bikes was not only a must for showing off our products to current and potential dealers, but also an incredible - dare we say the best - way to discover the places we were visiting. The time we would’ve spent deciphering subway systems was spent above ground taking in the sights. Despite the fast-paced living everywhere we went, cycling felt quite safe and drivers were generally courteous. Travelling with a bike isn’t without its logistical challenges. Small apartments with little to no outdoor bike parking, big bike boxes and getting to and from the airport were the main hassles. Every bike trip is different and the non-bike portions were fully part of the adventure. Taipei Cycle and Taiwanese Manufacturing After a few weeks of getting acclimated to tourist life in Japan, a short hop to Taipei landed us in a brand new world of sights, tastes, and smells. We immediately hit the night market nearest our accommodation for scallion and oyster pancakes, tea eggs, and bubble tea. The next morning featured a chaotic but exciting hour-long commute across the city to the convention center where Taipei Cycle, probably the largest exhibition of cycling manufacturing, where factories show off their latest developments, capacities, and hot new products. We were struck by the scope of products on display, but also by the omnipresence of motors and various related contraptions. While we get pretty excited about urban mobility and utility cargo, it’s not part of what we’re currently up to at Bassi, so the dozens of three wheeled mini-cargo-mobiles and sometimes-gimmicky motor technology being shown off in cross-section or functioning underwater felt a bit humorous after a few days immersed in that world. Thankfully, there were several attendees that were very pertinent to meet and interesting to talk to! Our first stop was the Japan pavilion, to say hi to our friends from MKS and to meet with Yoshikawa-san of Nitto fame to plan for opening our Canadian distribution channels for their products, and joint projects coming soon. Stay tuned! A much-anticipated stop was next at the Maxway booth. They have been our one and only frame manufacturers for the last 15 years, are absolute pros at what they do - high end chromoly production framebuilding - and are some of the nicest people we work with. They were showing off what we like most: functional, strong, and beautiful steel frames. We were happy to see relaxed rim-brake offerings still well represented in their display alongside lightweight-tubing performance-oriented modern road bikes. Other exciting highlights from the show included but definitely weren’t limited to: Very cool displays from frame part forges with a plethora of lugs, fixtures, and other framebuilding parts. Tons of minivelos! Small wheels were very much the vibe throughout this trip, we need more of these bikes in North America - they're so handy! Chats with some of our favourite Taiwanese manufacturers. Hanging out with Dia-Compe and talking about rim brakes and friction shifting was lovely. We also took a detour down to Taichung for an all-day visit at Maxway’s facilities. After hundreds of email exchanges throughout the years, it was really special to ride our Maxway-welded bikes up to their front door - a real homecoming. The tour validated and reinforced our esteem for these folks, who are responsible for a huge number of your favourite brands’ chromo frames. The quality control and precision of what they do is unbeatable, from the initial frame tubing prep to the final alignment checks. We also visited the nearby paint and fork factories, and enjoyed a massive Taiwanese lunch - turns out the folks at Maxway are just as passionate about food as we are! Taiwan mini-tour Full of pep and keen on making the most of our time in Asia, we planned a lil’ three-day tour beginning and ending in Taipei. Turns out Taiwan is far wetter and hotter than we thought, but this was a welcome change from cold-weather early March touring in Japan! We started off with a big climb and big descent through Yangmingshan National Park, a lush collection of hills with stunning landscape. Down on the northeastern coast, the village of Jiufen, nestled on steep hillsides with spectacular ocean views, was our tourist-y stop on this loop. Because of how steep the town is, you need to scale staircases to get anywhere, slippery from the lush jungle vibes. While shouldering a loaded bike, this got interesting! Jiufen’s old street is a bustling alley of shops and restaurants. Tokyo Again - JD Cycle Tech, Nitto and Honjo visits, Crumbworks sendoff and Dominos Back to Tokyo! By this point we’d gotten pretty good at taking our bikes apart and putting them back together super fast. Riding across town with a rolled-up cardboard box was also now a breeze, so we landed and immediately got back on the bikes! We had a great visit with James Dion, aka JD Cycle Tech. He’s a framebuilder in Tokyo who works out of the front of his house and does some pretty special stuff. He spends a couple days a week welding for legendary makers Kalavinka, where he learnt to build. Standout products of his include a 27.5/20x2.3” cargo truck with road-y geometry, and a smiley chainring he made for our pal Matsumura-san. His use of workspace is incredible, with a lathe and CNC a few feet away from his living room couch! NITTO Our last full day in Tokyo was one for the books. We linked up with Keita at Crumbworks and a small crew before sunrise to hop into a van to drive out to the Nitto factory, about 3 hours away. We were greeted by Nitto CEO Mr. Yoshikawa himself and immediately posed for some pics. We’d first met him and his son at the Taipei show so it was nice to see them both again. It might be worth pointing out that with their current order backlog and the amount of demand, Nitto haven’t been taking on new clients and haven’t really been taking their limited time to give factory visits to tourists like us. We’re therefore extremely grateful to Keita Matsumoto, Nori Masada and of course the team at Nitto for making this visit possible and we are honoured to be collaborating with them. The tour began with a friendly chat around tea about the history and the evolution of the company. The Nitto “compound” is similar in layout to the MKS one; multiple small buildings within short walking distances. We had started our tour in the office building before heading towards the main manufacturing area. It was still hard to believe we were there, where some of our favourite and most prized bike-related possessions are made. Getting to watch the workers doing their thing firsthand — in their fabulous Nitto workwear obviously — truly cemented our perceptions of the relatively small manufacturer as being one of unparalleled quality and craftsmanship. The common thread among Japanese manufacturers, and an important take-away for us, is their reluctance to grow in an attempt to match market demands. Time has proven them right, again and again. Long-standing companies like MKS and Nitto are among the extremely rare few that survived deep economic dips (not to mention catastrophic weather events) thanks in large part to their commitments to produce goods only of the highest quality, only at the cost of resisting the urge to increase their output. After a delicious lunch, we drove back to Nakano for a final hang with Crumb and friends. After 3 weeks of the tastiest Asian meals, our final dinner in Japan was… Domino’s from across the street from the shop.Japanese Domino’s nonetheless! Honjo visit and flight home Our last appointment was a visit to Honjo’s facilities in Sumida city, Tokyo, the morning of our flight. With our Hog’s Backs fully geared-up, bike boxes and all, we biked over to learn how the dreamiest fenders in the world are made. Honjo are a small family run business with 5-6 employees, and just celebrated their 75th anniversary by finally launching a website! Tomoyuki Shimamura, president of Honjo, gave us an extensive tour of the small building they occupy. It was wonderful to see how a simple roll of sheet material, after some roll forming, cutting, shaping, curling, shaving, engraving and polishing becomes such elegant pieces of bicycle equipment. After a quick lunch and goodbyes we biked off to the airport, but not before stopping for some last-minute gift shopping along the way. We arrived at the airport, packed our bikes one last time and took flight for home. Our boxes were in rough shape - incredibly, they survived the whole trip!
Newsletter for March 2023
*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* Quick, large Spring newsletter Happy March to all who celebrate! We're always quiet on the news during the winter since, frankly, there isn't a whole lot going on and some of us choose to get our vacations in during the slow months. This week though, everything will be happening all at once. For reasons that'll be clear in the first section, this is a very quick newsletter, so I'll get straight to the point, and give you a table of contents to stay organized: Bassi news happening right now! Bassi news coming up Spring plans at C&L in Montréal A nice little site-wide discount code just for newsletter friends Restocks you'll want to know about Coming soon to the store, and big international restocks we can take pre-orders on. Bassi right now! If you've been following our social media updates you'll be aware we've got Bassi frames incoming. Well, now you're the first to know they're showing up Wednesday the 15th, which is tomorrow or right away, depending on when you read this! Meaning we'll unload the big container, take quick pictures of everything, then be able to start shipping. Forgive me if I'm slow to answer emails for a day or two but it's very exciting! We're getting: Hog's Backs in the new Cool-ade and Loch Ness colours The long-requested return of the Piggy Pink Hog's Back! Bloomfield V2, with green paint and lilac lettering, featuring 650B only, canti posts, and the same fun and useful geometry. Bobby Bars for all your wide swoopy needs, Roberto designed it and we've spent, what, two years working on prototypes? New Bassi Classic crank in black: narrow-wide 38-tooth. We're putting these on the Hog's Backs once our stock of Apex cranks is out, it'll be a better climbing gear. We're also restocking our Bassi Classic compact doubles. You might also have seen that our own Julian and Roberto are visiting Japan right now! They're hanging out with our bike buddies out there, and visiting our dealers: Circles (of Sim Works fame) in Nagoya and Crumb Works in Tokyo. They'll be off to Taiwan for some more fun riding and serious business soon, the Taipei Cycle Show is coming up.The photos above are from the builds Circles have made, they get the frames quicker than us, which is good for them and also no fair. Check out their very cool and kind frame arrival post here.Julian and Roberto also visited a bunch of Japanese manufacturers, so stay tuned for more news on that ;) Bassi quite soon The next run of Rachel frames (we've been due for a restock) are on a boat and should arrive next month. Colours will be Monet and Fondue. That's pretty vague but we can promise they'll be super cute. No changes to the bike except a slightly longer front end so that very swoopy bars work better. Production is ongoing and the details have been finalized for the upcoming Bassi hardtail MTB, the Coyote! ETA is sometime this summer, hopefully on the early side. It'll be suspension-corrected and provided with a rigid fork, but can run a 130mm travel suspension fork. This is very much a cross-country bikepacking frame, meant to be built any which way and loaded with luggage.The colours are Sunbathing Yellow and Stargazing Blue, and our riding buddy Brian did the design. Speaking of frames, if you're not in Canada and want some Bassi, we've been opening more dealer accounts around the world, find 'em here. I'm updating that page as fast as I can! If you know any shops on the US West Coast that would maybe want some Bassi, let us know. Spring plans for C&L Montreal First off, we're back on Spring and Summer hours starting April 1st. That means both stores will be open seven days a week, with evening hours Thursdays and Fridays. In-store shopping and bike builds and repairs are available on Rachel St. and Villeneuve St. See you soon!We're also starting a programme of official C&L Cycles public group rides, which we've been wanting to do for some time now, but it takes a bit of organizing. We'll be doing fortnightly Coffee Outside super-chill rides on weekend mornings at first, and we'll see what else we wind up wanting to do. Keep an eye on the calendar, and we'll probably have some RideWithGPS thingies set up soon, too. Expect us to talk the rides up here and on social media as the Spring blooms and we're more sure of our schedule.What we want to do with these rides is just to see more of our cycling community outside of "I need to buy something" or "my bike broke", and we also want to see you if you're visiting from out of town and want to hang out on bikes! Coming soon Spring is when we can really go for it when it comes to ordering the cool stuff from abroad, so here's what's on the way. If any of these fine folks make something you'd like to special-order, send us an email! We can add it to our orders for Spring arrival. We're now an official Blue Lug dealer (thanks Julian and Roberto!) and will be getting their Nitto/Fairweather stuff, special grip colours, and all in-house items they make. We're, uh, pretty excited. Our staff are currently bankrupting themselves on special orders. Gilles Berthoud saddles and fenders are gorgeous and long-lasting and made-in-Burgundy. We don't stock every single thing they make but we can special order stuff. We're ordering Carradice straight from England shortly and getting most of their classic saddlebags and support racks, but again: get in touch for the special stuff. They're local so less urgent, but Atwater bags are coming soon. No clear timeline but we're due for more Mission Workshop bags. Spendy but unimpeachably-well-built and warrantied. Same for Swift Industries, we'll be glad to have lots of their variety back in stock. We order regularly but will be placing some larger Velo Orange orders all Spring so shout out if you need some of their weird stuff. At some point fairly soon we'll place a Stridsland order because you people eat their chainrings like flapjacks apparently. We'll put in a small order for Hennessy Hammocks this summer. Sleeping like a joyful little sloth hanging from the trees isn't for everyone but a bunch of us really enjoy it. In-stock now Look, it's Spring. My winter is basically just receiving parts and accessories, we're stocked up to here so just come on down if you need parts or gear! Here are some highlights: Grepp woven bar tape: made-in-Europe from EU materials, machine-washable and reusable!! Darn Tough socks: made-in-Vermont active wool socks. If you know anything about taking good care of your feet while cycling in weird places, you know these socks. Oh, and they have a lifetime warranty. Yes, for wool socks. Yes, it works, I tried it with my worn-out pair from 2014. Julian rode in Colombia this winter and swears by the Element Athletic Lightweight styles. As I was writing this a big box came in from Voilé, I'll have the straps on the website by the time you read this! Thank goodness, we couldn't start spring while missing so many sizes. Bassi caps are restocked in black, C&L tee-shirts are also back in all sizes (printed by our friends here in town as always), and we're flush with water bottles, classic C&L colours only this time. Summer awaits! The shortage of Tubus racks was terrible for the stress levels of touring cyclists everywhere, but it seems they found some steel and got production back on track. Most kinds of Wald baskets are now in stock, though we're still waiting on a few. We recently got Crane's very cute stem-spacer mounted bell. Adorable and beautiful-sounding! Since the year-round opening of the Bromont Velodrome, we've noticed an uptick in track bike requests. You know that's our jam, so we've added a section just for that on the website. I also made a list of basics that most people need if they're doing Spring maintenance on their bikes or if they're setting up to ride regularly for the first time, nothing deluxe in here. It might be useful to you or your friends! Visit the website while four of my dear colleagues and I unload a 40-foot container, why not?
Newsletter May-1 2020
*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* May 2020 at C&L Cycles New bikes and products, plus sale items and a cool build It's been an extraordinarily busy month in cycling, and the whole team is going like a runaway train, but we appreciate the luck we have in getting more people than ever riding bikes. That said, we have some new products you'll love to see if you ride gravel, and we're clearing out a bunch of great handmade wheels. See below! Deep discounts: The last Soma Saga tourer in Disc/Canti, a steal for someone 5ft10 or more building their dream world-tourer. A selection of handmade wheels that really need to go. We laced them for a bunch of projects and now we need the room. Our older frames: Casterino, Montreal and Bassi03. Again, room's needed in the warehouse. Shorter riders especially, check out the 49cm Montreal with 650C wheels! Lightweight, high-quality cranks for fixies and road bikes. We just have too many. New products: Ultradynamico Tires, the hottest gravel tire for all your supple 650B needs. Gravel King tires, limited edition colours in 700C and 26", get them while we have 'em, they won't be back once they're gone. Back in stock now: Terry saddles, the greatest touring saddle for anyone with lady-parts. Guaranteed not to disappoint. Wald 139 baskets, wider and more useful than ever Shimano clippy pedals, old reliable Arriving shortly: All the Opus bikes Arkel pannier bags A few Atwater bags, Narek is sewing as hard as he can! The great custom bikes blog Read about Keith's drop-bar Hog's Back gravel-touring bike. He built it himself and his parts all have a great story to tell.
Newsletter May-2 2020
*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* May 2020 at C&L Cycles Restock on All-City and Opus, and really neat accessories from Vermont The C&L staff are suffering from the heat as much as anyone, but at least we get tipped in beer. We've brought in more bikes to satisfy the incredible demand we're seeing this season, read below for details.If you're visiting the shops, bear with us and continue to display the incredible patience you've already show us! We're trying hard to make sure everyone has their bikes in a timely manner and leaves happy about their summer prospects. New products: Incredible stuff from our friends Analog in southern Vermont: Their short and ultra-short extension stems, kinda funky but really comfortable Wool (yes, wool) handlebar tape. You only need one roll, no matter how wide your bars, and you'll have the funkiest drop-bars in town, I guarantee Just for fun, their colourful Creemee water bottles! A super collectors' deal: we got a few Marinoni MTB frames from the 90s. You may have seen us talk them up before, but now we've built one up, and it's kind of a dream... Back in stock now: All-City! We were finally able to get a few sizes of the beloved Space Horse, a fantastic and good-looking touring/gravel workhorse (no pun intended). Only one size, but by the time you read these words the rest may have arrived, keep in touch. Opus! The whole country is low on bikes, but we bought everything we could in affordable city bikes. Hesitate not, these won't stick around long if the last few weeks are anything to go by. Parts, locks, bottle cages, a few helmets, pumps... All the necessities! Arriving shortly: Paul Components brakes King Cage bottle cages Velo Orange re-stock
Newsletter July 2020
*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* July 2020 at C&L Cycles Camping coffee, and big restock of touring gear! I'm sure everybody has heard that it's an unusually busy year for the cycling industry. We're nearly out of bikes now, so I hope everyone is fully set up. If not, we restocked on many, many important accessories (see below!).It sounds like half the people I talk to, including many of my friends, are on their way to Gaspésie right now for great big bike tours. It's a beautiful area and nearly perfect for riding, so enjoy yourselves! New products: Sim Works! A Japanese company, associated to legendary bike shop Blue Lug. They make really cute collaborations: Tires by Panaracer Components by Nitto C&L Gear (20% this month off with code HATSANDBIDONS): We finally have hats! This was in the works for a long time, and we're so glad they're finally in the world. Made by Pace, one size, looks super cute on your super cute head. New colours of bottles! They match the Hog's Back really well, it's great to see them on the bike. You need these for touring, my friends! Coffee gear for camping: match up the new Aeropress Go with a mill and a permanent filter and you're good to tour for months. You know we love our coffee, and it always tastes better when camping. This is, by far, our favourite way to coffee-camp. The best socks I've ever had: Darn Tough wool socks are made in Vermont and have a lifetime warranty. I can personally attest that I've owned some pairs for many years now and they've never worn through. Pretty incredible really. Back in stock now: Many many Brooks saddles Tubus Racks, for all your tough world-touring needs Ortlieb gravel panniers Cargo cages from Salsa and Blackburn and bottle cages from VO and Blackburn Helmets, holy cow so many helmets, it's great Arriving shortly: King Cage bottle cages Origin8 racks Terry saddles, for touring ladies Atwater Atelier restock
Newsletter August 2020
*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* Late summer update Big update, since it's been a while - good reads and rare products restocks It's been too long, friends! We're still working hard on bike repairs and sending people off on their fun adventures. A lot of staff is on holiday, with JD in the woods but back in a week, Julian leaving soon, and some of our beloved mechanics back at school.Our good friend Jo Chhun has been taking lots of bike pictures for us and we've put up some blog posts with bike checks and staff bike details. They're good inspiration if you want funky parts on your bikes!We're taking pre-orders for the next run of frames, which are being welded and painted right now. The Hog's Back will return in pink and two new colours, and we're getting a huge run of the Montréal V3, improved and upgraded with the years' of feedback we've gotten, with a fun colour as an option to the classic black+white.We restocked Sim Works stuff, Velo Orange bars and racks, Salsa cages, and C&L MTL gear (discount code ahoy!). Also new products: wool socks, Bicycle Quarterly and a bunch of bike racks. See below! Bike posts: Jenny's Hog's Back: she bought Julian's prototype and transformed it to her tastes. She knows what she wants from a touring bike and she got it. Don't miss Jo's beautiful photos, it's a good one. Does not include Jenny's pup carrying basket, regrettably. Vince's staff bike: I call it his beater since he got some fancier bikes this year, but it's a beautiful machine. Simon's Wolverine: a really fancy gravel and singletrack machine, in this year's fresh blue colourway Zach's Roma-Tokyo: it's as adorable as Zach is, I promise. New products: Darn Tough socks: I know it's a bit odd but I get excited about really good wool socks. They're the best thing ever on long rides day after day, no matter the weather. These are made in Vermont and have a lifetime warranty (yes, really!). I've had some for years and they're still trucking. Bicycle Quarterly: Probably the only not-run-by-the-marketing-dept 4-times-a-year magazine for all-road riders, packed with adventures, massive knowledge and classic (or modern-retro) randonneur bikes. Worth the price, we got a few subscriptions to resell. Back in stock now: We picked up some VO Crazy Bars in the, like, ten minutes before they sold out. Get 'em! C&L T-shirts, hoodies and crew-necks. Use code MTLGEAR for 50% off if you add some to your next web order! Works for the cute Hog's Back hats, too. Salsa Anything Cages are back in good quantities, for y'all bikepackers out there We have a really good selection of racks in-store right now, especially front ones, which feels good. Make your bike haul your gear, that's what it's made for. Sim Works restock of tires and handlebars, do let us know if there are any of their funky-weird-fun-beautiful things you'd want to try that we don't have yet. That's it for now, thanks for reading. Life is starting up again after the long weird summer, but don't forget to go out with your bike. I find that the fresh early autumn weather is the best time of year for long rides!
Newsletter October 2020
*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* Autumn in bike-world Details on the next Bassi frames, plus winter gear and more I went for a cycling holiday lately and came back to plenty of new products! Check them out below. But first, an update on our next Bassi frames, the Hog's Back and the Montréal.Frames are now welded and are at the paint factory. They're usually fairly slow, which you want for them to do a good, careful job. That means the current best guess on when they arrive is late November. I've added geometry information for the Montréal, so you can now preorder with confidence, and if you want to compare the frame to another you ride, it's on Bike Insights, a really fun comparison tool.Preorders for the Hog's Back are coming in at a good clip, so if you want a specific colour and size it's a good idea to reserve it now. New gear: I installed Velo Orange's new Flat Pack Rack on my Montréal. It's an extra-wide Randonneur-style rack which still fits between drop bars, like a small Porteur rack. The adjustability is out of this world, and it solves all my front-rack needs and wants. We'll be getting more once these sell out. Camping gear! The amazing Optimus multifuel Polaris stove, as well as conventional mini-stoves for camping. We got gas, too, but we can't ship that. Also got water filtration systems from Katadyn, for those weeks cycling in the wilderness. Restocks: Ultradynamico Tires, now also available in 700C! Velo Orange bottle cages, all colours and styles Winter parts: None of us like it, but it's a good idea to start preparing for winter early, while the parts are all available. We've got tons of tires, fenders and cold-weather clothing for you. The great custom bikes blog Read about our latest builds for discerning cyclists like yourself, and check out more staff bikes if you're interested in that kind of thing. I'm there too!
Newsletter November 2020
*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* November at C&L Cycles Bassi frame arrival, restock on cool accessories and a hot deal After an extraordinary season where we sold out of several models of our Bassi frames, in particular our newest touring and gravel Hog's Back, we're soon receiving more! From early December, we'll be able to sell our Hog's Back and Le Montréal bikes again, and you can see how we'll be building them here.New in the lineup will be drop-bar versions of the Hog's Back and a classic-style randonneuring Le Montréal, based on requests from many of you this year!Many of these frames are pre-ordered and our dealers will be getting quite a few, so get in touch if you want to reserve one for yourself now. A special deal just for our newsletter chums: We won't necessarily be getting any more Apidura bikepacking bags next year, so you can use the offer code APIDURA to get a cool 20% off some of the finest and lightest bags there are. Restocked this week: Atwater Atelier: Bags for baskets, for handlebars and for saddles, they're baaaack! The last of our missing All-City cycles have showed up, so we're ready for the touring and gravel bikepacking crowd. Come try 'em! Updated models this year: Space Horse in two variations and colours Gorilla Monsoon, same dealio Back in stock soon: We just got word that King Cage bottle-holding accessories are on the way. They've been working super hard to make these for everyone who wants them, so we've already reordered since we'll sell out of the coming order quickly. Paul Components and White Industries are sending us some of their handsomely machined accessories soon, too!
Newsletter December 2020
*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* Last one of 2020 from C&L Cycles The Montréal V3 and Hog's Back have landed! For starters, for those reading this over the winter break, thanks! We're closed for two weeks from the 23rd to the 4th, but still shipping out orders at a slower rate. We'll be reopening on the 5th of January and abiding by the Québec government's lockdown instructions, open with reduced capacity until the 10th, when the current lockdown order expires.Now, on to news about our bikes! Brand new this week: The all-updated Le Montréal 2021, back in its third iteration with some tasteful updates. Available in classic black as always and a gorgeous top-to-bottom blue-to-white fade. Go read about the changes we made, you'll like them if you like bikes. With the new frames, new builds: A simple city bike, and a fun randonneuse (for chill but fast tours). Hog's Back at last. The Hottest Frame of 2020(TM) came back. Good news: three hot colours. Less good news but still pretty good: we sold about 2/3rds of them before they even showed up, between our dealers and pre-orders. We have all the colours in stock as of writing this, so if you wanted to take a look and make up your mind, that might be a wise idea sooner than later. They'll be back if you missed them, but not 'til summer at the very earliest. We added a road-bar build this year, since so many of you wound up getting one just like it! New products: Our new double compact cranks, with two colour choices and a laid-back 46/34t ratio, it'll work to replace road cranks on basically any bike to slow you down and smell the roses, and let you climb more hills. Gotta love more hills. We got a lot of Dia-Compe parts with our frames, they make clever and classy things for a retro-styled ride. Widefoot are a USA manufacturer making good metal parts, and you know how we love good metal parts: cool big tough bottle-cages, and a handy backwoods trowel, for you-know-what. Back in stock now: Tons of Atwater bags!! Narek really pulled through on getting us these before the end of the year, so there's still time to pick one up. We've got a huge variety right now, in a few colours. Light sets for these dark solstice-adjacent times, colourful grips and bar tape to boost everyone's mood, and just about all you need for riding in the cold months, too. That'll be it for us this year. Send us a note to say "Hi" if we didn't get to ride together in 2020, and we'll see you for more adventures next year.
Newsletter February 2021
*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* Store hours, bike repair, and our 2021 plans for Bassi Getting readyfor the Spring I don't know about you, but I'm just about ready to start riding bikes for more than just my little winter commute. Fortunately, that time is closer than it might seem in the dead of winter.To prepare for the coming busy months, we're now open seven days a week at both stores! We usually start getting busy with repairs around the end of March, so the next month is the best time to get your bike fixed if you want to beat the rush. We also intend to extend our hours to 10AM-9PM on Thursdays and Fridays as soon as we're allowed. Keep an eye here for up-to-date schedules.The workshops are always first come, first served, so we expect roughly a week's wait after you drop off your bike once it gets really busy.If you want a bike built for the spring, that's awesome! Just reply to this email and we'll get it started. Keep in mind all the parts are late everywhere this year, so don't be in too much of a rush. Bassi Plans for 2021 This is the first time we're talking about some of this publicly, you lucky devils, you.This summer, we'll be getting another run of frames and components. Expect them late, that's just how it is this year, which is why I'm not giving you an exact date. More Hog's Back - of course! The 2020s are all sold out, by the way. We're absolutely delighted everyone is so into our newest frame. We're getting enough for our lovely customers, to build in the shop, and for our growing dealer network. Check that page again soon for more Canadian and international dealers! The revised and updated Rachel. V-Brakes, longer chainstays and new smart colours. Basically an even more capable go-everywhere country bike. I'm excited to see this one! The original is still around for a couple of months, we'll be building them all for the store. A new fixie: the Bloomfield. Well, I miss the Roma-Tokyo as much as anyone, but it's not 2010 and there still isn't a track in Montréal, so we're making an actually useful singlespeed bike. It'll have brakes, room for a lot of tire, and a few (not too many) eyelets. Oh, and you'll be able to choose 700C or 650B wheels. Yes, it's rim brake. We worked it out. More components, like a new fixie crank and a touring triple, both modeled after our gorgeous Classic Double from this year. Hplusson rims are here in about a month, I know quite a few people have been waiting for this. Custom wheels ahoy! A whole lot of MKS pedals, enough for the year. Back in stock now or real soon: Pretty much all the Brooks saddles are back. There's a new waterproof handlebar bag, the Scape. That's its photo up there, I haven't tried it yet but it's intriguing, and I think you can put it on a saddle, too. There's also some limited edition Cambium coloured saddles here. They're funky. We got some SimWorks Bubbly pedals. If you're not hip to the cool internet bike parts, these are still worth it. Beautiful style, beautiful materials, and legendary Japansese quality of manufacture. If you've never loved pedals before, get ready for a new and unusual feeling in your stomach when you hold them. René Herse have new tires and we're getting them. Let us know if you want something they make that we don't have, there's a lot of varieties and we can't stock 'em all. Thomson: solid parts, good-looking in that machined-industrial-90s-CNC style. Make it the last seatpost/clamp/stem that you'll ever need to buy. Rivendell frames are coming. We'll send out an email just for them when they show up.
Newsletter March 2021
*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* Just a quick one for some important re-stocked things Rims, pedals, great hats, and a note on when to buy bikes & parts We've been using rims from Hplusson for about a decade, now. They're a small manufacturer in China and they make tough, no-nonsense, good-looking rims. We import them direct and we build a lot of wheels with them. A lot of people were asking when they'd be restocked, so here we are!Our big pedals order from Japan also came in. It's no secret that we love MKS's gorgeous all-metal pedals. The Gamma is a really huge flat pedal and a staff favourite, great for riding off-road, or just for the large-feeted among us. We also got all the beloved classics.We got a batch of cycling caps from LGBTQ2S+ european cycling organization Gay's Okay, and every time someone buys one, we'll be donating 15$ to Montreal's Project 10. They're cool hats too.On a less fun note, it's proving really difficult to get even normal parts this year, so if you've been meaning to change parts or get a new handlebar or accessories, don't wait! The widget you had your eye on might be gone sooner than you thought possible.We also expect to be out of sub-1000$ bikes in the next few weeks. We ordered many, many of them but it's just another one of those years! You already obviously have a sweet ride, but I'll bet you've got a friend who's looking. New and back in stock soon: Tanglefoot off-road frames are on their way, and Riv Platypus are slowly clearing customs as I write this. We got lucky, 'cause Rivendell's own lot of those is stuck at the Port of Long Beach for a month and a half, even though it's off the boat. Not a good year to ship things 'round the world, folks. Discord stems are also coming. Comfy and convenient for fitting awkward frames. Pricy but rock-solid and long-lasting. We got Duer jeans and shorts, guys' and ladies'. I'm wearing my pair right now, and they're my comfiest jeans both on and off the bike. Tires of all types keep trickling in. They're not all exciting, but hey, your bike needs tires. Speaking of which, we'll be getting Ultradynamico tires as they're released, they're kind of only making them one model at a time, but I know a few of you are mad for them! Secret P.S. for those that read to the end of the email: we're finalizing colours of the 2021 Hog's Back and we'll be sending another email in the next week or two to announce pre-orders. À bientôt!
Newsletter April 2021
*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* Some springtime news from C&L Our first Rivendell arrival - the Platypus! Anticipation has been building up within our team and friends since the very exciting news that we’ll be Rivendell’s first Canadian dealer. We’ve just received our first batch of frames: the elegant, versatile, comfy, and fun Platypus! Unboxing these beauties was an experience in and of itself. That headbadge! Those colours! That shrimp!The Platypus is the most all-around useful, comfortable and democratic bike that Rivendell Bicycle Works has to offer. Over the next 30 years of your life, it is the bike that is most likely to carry you anywhere, anytime. It's a country bike like the Sam Hillborne. But most people don't know what it is exactly so to kowtow to categorization here we go: Road tourer. All-Road. Gravel Grinder. Everything that makes it a great touring bike also makes it a great commuter, camper, or all-rounder. Read more here.Many of these are already reserved so get in touch if you’d like to get your hands on a frame or discuss a custom build. With the purchase of a Platypus, as will be the case with all upcoming Rivendell frames, you can expect affordable shipping rates within Canada, about $80 for a frameset depending on where you are, and no surprise duty charges. If you opt for a complete build with us, we’ll give you an appealing discount on all your parts.Next up will be the Joe Appaloosa frame in early May. We’ll be receiving one of each size in orange, so do reach out if you want to reserve one! We will also be receiving future models as they are produced, so stay tuned for upcoming availabilities. New, back in stock, and noteworthy products Plenty of camping gear for your upcoming summer of adventure: Opinel knives, candle lanterns, stoves, water purification systems, and more! Discord Stems from our friends at Analog Cycles in Vermont. Handy parts to shorten the reach of your bike, or to install drop bars on a mountain bike. Sim Works x MKS Bubbly pedals. I just installed a pair on my bike and they’re a dreamy ride. Fat platforms, endlessly spinny smooth bearings, and gorgeous design. Gay’s Okay caps. Gay’s Okay is a European organisation that donates to LGBTQ2S+ organizations, we’ll do the same with our share of profit from these! DU/ER jeans, trousers, and shorts. Super comfy on and off the bike. Technical, but don’t look technical. We all wear ‘em. Coming soon! A big Atwater Atelier restock. Solid bags for bikepacking and commuting. More Sim Works. One of our favourite brands, super creative, beautiful and handy products. We have lots in stock, we’re constantly getting more. Tanglefoot Moonshiner rough-stuff-mountain-bike-touring-genre-defying-everything framesets. Ultradynamico tires, at some point this spring. In the meantime we stock their fab caps!
Newsletter May 2021
*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* Local bicycle delivery news, and more Those reading this in Montréal might know Chasseurs Courriers pretty well. They started out delivering burritos in Saint-Henri and are now probably the best way to get your packages moved around town fast, not to mention most of the full-time riders own Hog's Backs, so you know they have great taste.Well, Chasseurs reached out to us about a service they thought would be useful for you. Once a week they'll pick up all our local deliveries and bring them straight to your door for super cheap, and the distribution area covers most of Montréal's population. You're probably in the zone, check it out on the handy map I made. So, we'll be offering flat-rate delivery in the most cool and carbon-neutral way possible, while working with some good friends of ours and maybe yours, too.TL;DR: Orders delivered by bike, six bucks, every Wednesday, most of the city. A really cool new product, and some restocks This is one we've been working on getting for absolute years, and it's finally here: Spray.Bike. It's rattle-can paint made to stick like hell to bikes, with a nozzle good for spraying a bike instead of a body-panel. The colours are super-cool and they make a bunch of weird finishes, as well as matches to classic bike paints. It's pretty easy to prep the frame, too. Most of the time you just need to sand smooth the paint that's already there, not strip the thing to bare metal. We're trying it out on a few of our personal bikes, we'll put up a blog about how it went, but in the mean-time, you can pick up a can or two and try it for yourself.Not related to paint, this is what we're restocking all the time, as fast as possible: Sim Works, we're watching their stock like hawks. Velo Orange, we're keeping everything available we can. Rene Herse, they have a lot of tires but we're doing our darnedest to bring 'em in. Recently back in stock: King Cage steel and titanium bottle cages. Their garage workshop was pretty overwhelmed for a while there Park Tool. Crazy that you couldn't get a cassette tool for months, but they're here now We got most Tubus and the rest is backordered for us. Our intentions for the rest of the year Honestly, we're just trying hard as hell to keep things in stock so we can fix bikes and kit you out for touring. That said, we've got our next run of frames coming this summer (still time to preorder BTW) and we're on track to be able to build bikes as soon as they come in. We'll be getting in touch with you if you preordered to see how you want it built.We'll also be getting more frames of current models over next winter, so we'll be reaching out to a dealer near you to see if they're into building up nice, fun, local steel frames. Write in if you know a shop you think would be a good fit!We're all going to be vaccinated soon, too, so we're hoping we can announce some group rides, but we'll see how things go. We really hope we can see your beautiful, keen and intelligent faces this summer!