Earth Bicycle Service

Another Specialized Crossroads frame turned into the sturdy urban commuter bike that it excells at being. Nice but affordable handbuilt wheels with beefy rims, 40mm touring tires, simple and inexpensive 1x9 drivetrain, crankset and bottom bracket from the beautiful and durable era of Shimano stuff, and of course full fenders. It also has mounting points for a front and rear rack. All the stuff you need to leave your car at home!

I’m notoriously critical of the trajectory of the modern bike industry, but every now and then something comes along to give me a little bit of hope. I’m closely watching this company in Ashland Oregon who are producing some amazing high end derailleurs.
https://www.facebook.com/madronecycles

This is one of the weirdest cheapo bikes I’ve been asked to service this year. Normally I decline work on BSOs (bicycle shaped objects), but the client had a deep personal sentiment toward it, so I replaced a bunch of parts and made it comfortable for an adult to ride. It’s the ‘Art Sensor Twin’. The only suggestion I can find for the brand is a sticker that says ‘TINY GO’. Everything else is in Japanese. It’s a very strange bike, plastic wheels (22” x 1-3/8”, a size which I’ve only ever seen on wheelchairs), rear drum/band brake, and the coolest looking rack I’ve seen in a while. Check out the little curve where the rack stay bends around the dynamo headlight! Slick. I went to some length to find replacement tubes because the originals had Dunlop valves, and nobody knows how to inflate them any more. With a new saddle, seatpost, stem, bars, grips, and front caliper, it’s actually a respectable ride if you don’t mind 155mm crank arms. Worth the effort…

After several years of collaboration, with Earth Bicycle Service, sister mobile service Sprocketfly is winding down it’s operations. I’m helping to sell some of the extra gear. For sale are 2 feedback sports ‘Ultralight’ model work stands, and a super nice Surly ‘Bill’ trailer. Unfortunately marketplace won’t let me create new listings from the web version without downloading another stupid app, so you’ll have to dig the full description on Clist:

https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/bop/d/portland-feedback-sports-ultralight/7824676210.html

https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/bik/d/portland-surly-bill-trailer/7824041937.html

I recently did this slightly anachronistic custom build for a client. It was a bargain frame that happened to fit him perfectly. The only guidance was ‘all weather training bike, maybe kinda 80s TT style’. So, it’s 1x6 with with aero bars …and full mudguards. Do you need just the right bike built for your purpose? Earth Service has a ton of cool vintage frames and parts.