bike shop

Thieves Drive Truck Through Front Door of The Peddler Bike Shop in Austin, Texas

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 8 Comments

There’s been a lot of bicycle theft showing up in my Next Door feed over the last year. Global pandemics with their concomitant economic hardships have put all kinds of strain on people. But this brazen act takes the cake. Robbers literally broke through the front door of The Peddler Bike Shop in Hyde Park area of Austin, Texas with a probably stolen truck. I happened to see it on the website for the news station where I get my weather, and I was aghast. It is the closet shop to me, and I’ve been going there longer than any shops here. I also know the owner a bit. (Ironically, my first real bike that I ever bought myself I got from here, was stolen on Xmas Eve maybe 10 years ago.) This was very sad news so on my daily ride I stopped by to pay my condolences.

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Trek Bicycle Austin: An Update

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 1 Comment

The sale, transfer, rebranding and re-opening of Bicycle Sports Shops to Trek Bicycle Austin is complete. (Although as I cycled by the Lamar Main Store yesterday, and Guadalupe the other day, the old signage is still there.) They sent a message saying:

The beginning of a beautiful friendship. Hey, Austin! We’re Trek Bicycle, and we’re so excited to join your community. Your local Bicycle Sport Shops are now Trek Bicycle stores, and we’re dedicated to carrying on their legacy of incredible customer service, community involvement, and—of course—awesome bikes and gear. We welcome you to drop by one of our five locations to see what’s new. We can’t wait to ride with you!

Here are some more details about the cha-cha-changes.

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Austin’s Bicycle Sport Shop Sells to Trek Bikes

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 16 Comments

I read the news today, oh boy. Actually, I learned about Bicycle Sport Shop and its, um, transition, a while ago, but I just hadn’t got around to sharing it here. As it turned out, I stopped by the Lamar flagship store and they were having their going out of business clearance sale. While there, I picked up two items and had a chance to chat with a few mechanics, including one from the Guadalupe service-only location. (It shut down temporarily after my post Which Austin, Texas Bike Shops Are Open During the COVID-19 Shelter in Place?.) Here’s a short post about the news.

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Two More Austin Bike Shops Are Closing

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 7 Comments

It’s no secret that while bicycling is popular, bike shops are suffering. This hit home for A Dude when he was in Bicycle Sport Shop on Guadalupe yesterday and learned that it was going to shut down. Retail will stop on September 28, but repairs may continue for a little while. When word hit two years ago hat the local chain was taking over the site of dearly departed Ozone Bikes (which lasted 23 years!), people were happy and relieved.

BSS will still have four stores in the Austin area.

But the sales of nearby college students and homeowners never materialized. It’s especially sad because this is where Sophie the Fairdale Weekender Archer that I won in a raffle came from here, and I’ve gotten to know the shop folks. The good news is that all the employees they’ll all be able to be absorbed into the remaining BSS shops to keep their jobs.

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27-Mile Brushy Creek Trail Ride + Peddler Bike Shop Stop

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 3 Comments

Sunday Started Without Any Sun

On a balmy, grey, at first foggy, then later somewhat sunny Sunday, A Dude rousted himself from his slumber and busted out a decent distance of a bicycle ride.  It was the first longer ride in a while, and it was done because that’s what he does, for fitness, fun and so on.  But also it was in order to make his 50-mile goal for the week and to have something to blog about.  So in a way, if you’re reading this, you’re partially responsible for making it happen! How is that for participation? And you didn’t even have to get up off your couch and bike 27 miles.  Here’s the quick map / video from Relive. Continue reading →

An Aborted Ride in the Rain Due to a Flat Tire, but Buck’s Bikes Came to the Rescue!

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 5 Comments

Finally I made it out to ride my bike, but then it rained and I got a flat.  I had a jacket and was warm enough, and could have replaced the flat myself, but I had a bike date, if you can believe that, so I couldn’t be late.  Also, since I had just replaced the tube recently, I knew something was going on that required more expertise.  Luckily I was literally stopped right outside a bike shop when I noticed the flat. Before I go any further, please click on this link to see a cool short map video of my ride: Continue reading →

Replacing My Brakes at Austin Yellow Bike Project

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 5 Comments

Tonight I took my old Fuji bicycle to the free community shop, Austin Yellow Bike Project. The brakes were very worn, which I consider a point of pride, because it means I’ve ridden my bike a shit ton of miles.  That’s right, I used a curse word. So sue me! I’m just trying to spice things up a bit. Actually, please don’t sue me. Normally A Dude Abikes is a family friendly blog.  We still have free speech here in ‘Merrikuh, don’t we?  But biking 10,000 miles in two years was so much work, one swear word doesn’t even begin to do that justice.  Anyway, YBP is cool, so let me tell you about it. Continue reading →