Thursday, March 01, 2007

First Visit to Harris Cyclery

Stopped by Harris Cyclery yesterday. That's the West Newton shop
where guru Sheldon Brown is based. I went specifically to get a
Rohloff oil change kit, and there was no problem there. I also picked
up a nice Rivendell cycling cap.

The visit was a little anticlimactic, I suppose, kind of like my
visit to St John Street Cycles. But SJS is really not set up for walk-
in business, and Harris is a genuine independent neighborhood bike
shop. The real thrill at Harris was seeing all the Rivendells up
close, all built up and ready to go. There were lots of Atlantis
frames and a few built up, plus a couple Bleriots, a Saluki, and
others. All were built with drop bars, not Rivendell-preferred
uprights, but they were gorgeous and fascinating to see anyway.

I had a bit of Rohloff banter with Harris Junior, who said they sell
lots of the after-market hubs, and that they run around $1400!
Remarkable. There was also one of the first generation Raven frames
there, painted in a god-awful blend of lime greens and yellows, with
lots of Celtic stripes. SJS sold it to Harris probably five years
ago, and it's been on the rack ever since. Harris told me that
they're going to build it up as a Rohloff demo bike, which make sense.

I didn't get a chance to meet Sheldon this time, but I'd like to save
that for another visit when all the girls aren't sitting in the car -
and when I've got one of my bikes with me.

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