On my vacations I can’t help but visit new bike shops. Addicted to bikes, addicted to work. Here in Berlin, I stopped into Keirin Cycle Culture Cafe. One of the top track boutiques in Berlin. Owner, Gary Graham has been running the shop for over 6 years now and has amassed quite a collection of vintage, unique track frames and components. The bike shop also has a little cafe to the side of it, where you can buy a cold beverage in the summer and a hot one in the winter. I’m sure you’ll want a hot one now that it’s damn cold in Berlin!
It was easy to spot the shop since they have a great mural of Keirin Racers in the front and it was bustlin’ with bikers inside and out. Gary explained the bike scene in Berlin, how now a days track bikes have been in a decline due to the Police. Like in the states, they have been cracking down on riding brake less. Apparently it is a $90 Euro fine for riding without a break and sometimes even with just a single brake. If they catch you more than once, they will even seize your bike! Don’t think that you can do a silent protest too with a break that is not attached to anything, because the cops will squeeze your lever to see if it functions. From what I saw, kids were mostly riding single speeds. But a bike is a bike, ride what you can.
There were so many frames dangling off the ceiling on every wall and a huge collection of Pursuit bikes (which I have an affinity for). The vintage parts were ridiculous, things that I have only seen photos of. There was a gorgeous drilled out FB hub, a predecessor to Campagnolo. Also a crazy Dura Ace crankset with 10mm chain pitch. At first glance it seems like it’s running a 42th chain ring, but since the teeth are so tiny it’s actually a 48th. They knew all about the parts and even the manufacturing dates. If you’re in Berlin looking for a fixed gear fix, stop into the shop.
Here are some shots of the shop and goodies. I wish I had a better camera since the shop was so dark, so these will have to do.
Bryan Hollingsworth of Royal H Cycles stopped into our shop today to get his special Bendix 2 speed kick back coaster hub serviced. The thing is crazy! It not only is a beautiful coaster hub, but has an internal 2 speed hub without cables or shifters. It shifts with the action of the coaster break. I don’t even know exactly how to describe how it works, but it’s like a magical unicorn.
The hub is built up to Bryan’s custom show bike that was just featured last night in the Massachusetts Bicycle Film Festival Handbuilt Bicycle Show. Along with the crazy Bendix hub, there is a 3 arm Campagnolo crankset and vintage Ideal leather saddle. The frame has serious lug details and a beautiful sparkling burgundy paint job. If you are looking for a classic custom frame, especially with lugs, give Bryan a call.
Before I can even introduce Joachim Parbo I have to first talk about the week before his arrival.
One day at the shop, just working, 2 sets of carbon cyclocross Zipp wheels arrived in the mail. Tom and I were flabbergasted. While still getting over the shock, 2 more carbon fiber cyclocross frames arrived, now starting to freaking us out. I was running around calling everyone we worked with to figure out if these were for their own cyclocross order since the season just started. No luck. So I’m wondering if we paid for 10,000 dollars worth of carbon fiber no one ordered… Running around pulling my hair out on the phone with all the dealers making sure we didn’t pay for these components, all that I found out was they were for Joachim… Who the hell is Joachim? And if he doesn’t show up can we keep it?
Finally last Friday morning Joachim arrived to build up his bicycles and we find out he is the 3 time Danish National Champion and 31st in the world. Just arriving in America from Denmark to start the first leg of Elite cyclocross races in the US, he just needed a shop to help him build up his bikes. Here is a shot of Joachim’s Leopard cyclocross builds with a winning smile.
As you may have heard we recently teamed up with Colnago and are now offering their amazing frames. Alex Colnago and Diego Colosio from Colnago stopped by the shop to say hello and check out the place. They were pretty impressed and we got to chat about shops in Italy and even where to grab some authentic Italian food if you find yourself in Taiwan, some useful information Wei Wei plans on utilizing when she travels there this November. I heard some other interesting news I don’t want to mention quite yet, so stay tuned!
from left: Alex Colnago, Wei Wei Lin, Jason Hollingsworth, Diego Colosio
My good friend Andrew is back in town from SF for the week and stopped by the shop with his beautifully repainted Euro Asia Imports Bareknuckle. It was painted a few months ago here in Boston by Tony Bevilacqua. It has a very subtle fade from front to back and really shines in the sun. The Italian made frame is built up with Miche components.
