Bike Shop Hub

These days there are more and more reasons to commute by bike.  Gas prices are always on the rise.  There are more and more motorist on the roads, clogging streets and increasing commute times.  American cycling cultures are growing, so riding a bike to work might actually become cool one day.

Bike riding is fun. Every adult I know who gets back on the bike says how it reminds them of their younger days, and the smiles on their faces are evidence. But one thing that might be potentially more important than any other reason to commute by bike–and often overlooked–is the inherent health benefit.  Bike Shop Hub is by no means the first to touch on this subject. Increasing health through bike commuting and riding is an ongoing campaign which many of our fellow bike commuting advocates have chosen to promote as well.  BikeCommuters.com as well as CommuteByBike.com have written informative articles discussing the health benefits of daily commuting by bike.

The CDC (Center for Disease Control) recommends that adults in America need 150 minutes of moderate exercise each week or 75 minutes of vigorous activity each week.  That’s more than 20 minutes a day for moderate exercise and about 10 minutes per day if you prefer the vigorous route.  These figures represent the minimum requirements that the CDC has declared for increased heart and health benefits. The American Heart Association has similar requirements for maintaining a healthy lifestyle as well.

American health associations aren’t the only ones to comment on the benefits of cycling.  The British Heart Association states that cycling at least three hours a week cuts your risk of heart disease in half, compared to those who do not cycle or perform regular exercise.

Now for some, commuting by bike may not be an option, whether the distance to work is  to great to reasonably be covered by bicycle, or the logistics of the commute just don’t lend themselves to a safe riding. But for many, especially those in urban areas, a commute by bike is a couple of pedal strokes away.  For many, the perception of bike commuting is one of  significantly greater time commitment than by auto.  Well the numbers don’t lie. The typical bike commute takes about one third longer than the corresponding auto commute. Not really a substantial time increase, especially for a little exercise and a smile.

So if for no other reason other than your health, consider the impact that bicycle commuting can have on your life, not to mention that you will be saving gas money, reducing your carbon footprint, and you’ll fee better about yourself. And you might be just a little bit cooler–in a social sense at least.

Our friend Steve Garro gave us a call last year asking if we would like to sell his T shirts and do a little cross promotion.  The thing was that Steve was always being hassled for T shirts, but rather than dealing with shipping them out, he would rather be focusing on building his incredible bike frames.  So over here at the Bike Shop Hub, we figured we could handle selling and shipping out Garro’s T shirts with ease.  Julia of Lucky Dog printed the T shirts and we were off to the races.  With some nice mentions off Coconino Cycle’s Blog, the T shirts started selling.

For some reason, however, interest in the Coconino Cycles T Shirts died off.  Perhaps we saturated the market.  Or maybe, ordering Coconino Cycles T shirts was just a good excuse to call up Steve and have a good chat, a service we were not able to include in our T shirts sales.  Either way, sales of the T shirts dwindled.  So with that being said, we decided to clear off some shelf space and inventory dollars by offering the T shirts for free with the purchase of Old Man Mountain Racks.

Actually not just Old Man Mountain racks, we’ll toss in a Free Coconino Cycles T shirt into any order over $99 with “Garro sent me” followed by size and color of T shirt in the comments of the order.

Steve Garro of Coconino Cycles and Channing Hammond of Old Man Mountain are both inspired craftsman plying there trade by hand building some of the best quality cycling equipment around.  Both craftsmen pride themselves in simple and durable designs.  And both craftsmen cater to small and loyal sets of clientele.

ALL Burley Cargo, Child & Pet Trailers are 10% off thru August 3rd.

Good times Good times were to be had at the 1st annual Flagstaff Hullabaloo. The event featured 4 great bands, kids events, great food and beer and lots of wacky, crazy people having fun. We decided to use it as an opportunity to let Flagstaff know that we had moved to a location in Downtown Flagstaff. We had some BikeShopHub.com T-Shirts done up along with a new banner for the Extrawheel Advert Trailer.

We set up a bunch of bike child trailers, bike cargo trailers, panniers and a bunch of kids stuff. With all of the kids at the event, the iBert Bike Child Safety Seat and our demo Strider Balance Bike were our biggest hits. We also had alot of interest in the Burley Travoy as well as the made in Flagstaff Wandertec BONGO bike trailer.

We also decided to deck out our Xtracycle Radish with an iBert, the new Xtracycle PeaPod and 6 different bike commuter panniers.

Now thru July 19th the Bike Trailer Shop is offering 5% off the purchase of any Extrawheel bicycle trailer and 10% off related accessories combined with the purchase. This includes the Extrawheel Voyager for $199, quite possibly the best off-road bike cargo trailer available and the Extrawheel Advert for $285, bringing pedal power to advertising.

Inspiring the sale, we have received the long awaited Voyager 29er forks. The best off-road trailer just got better.   Tthe Voyager is a nimble trailer with either a full sized 26″ or 700c wheel.  For the 29er crowd, we recommend the 700c wheel which is the same diameter rim as a 29er but with a smaller tire.  Even for mountain biking, a smaller diameter, smooth tire is ideal.

When it comes to off-road bicycle touring the Voyager can’t be beat. The narrow profile coupled with the weight centered around the hub of the trailer wheel allows the Voyager to maneuver tight single-track like no other bike trailer can. Set up a 700c Voyager with a 29er and you wont even notice the bumps. The Voyager is a perfect set-up for Continental Divide or the Trans-Rocky or just for those looking for a trailer that won’t hold you back.

The Extrawheel Voyager was recently reviewed by Bicycle Times, check out what they had to say. The Extrawheel Expert Panniers make a great waterproof addition to the Voyager or mount some Ortlieb Back Roller Classics to the Voyagers universal mounting design. For all you Surly Pugsley riders don’t fret, the Bike Trailer Shop also carries Voyager and Advert forks to Fit your extra wide needs. All Extrawheel trailers will fit just about any rear hub whether is is a threaded axle or a quick release.