The Chainlink

Today Grid Chicago talks with David Schmidt from Dutch Bike Co., which abruptly closed its Chicago store shortly after relocating the shop from Lincoln Park to Wicker Park. In happier news, Michael Salvatore is getting ready to open Heritage Bicycles in Lakeview, offering bikes that are hand built in Humboldt Park, as well as an in-house cafe - a first for Chicago:

http://gridchicago.com/2011/a-dutch-bicycle-store-dies-a-bike-shop-...

Keep moving forward,

John Greenfield

 

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That frame has past petite and is more for children with ape like arms... 

 

Check out what the distance from saddle to a raised crank arm is, that bike does not look comfortable for anyone.  They are also calling it a mixtie; which is it is not.  a mixtie is a step-through frame that has an extra set of stays.  That frame not only has no extra stays but has a extra short seat tube which means that it is going to have to have a ton of seat post showing in order to fit anyone properly.  With a super tall seat post and the super low seat stays ans no extra stays that bike is going to be less stable then a regular step-through let alone a mixtie...

 

What Chicago frame builder designed that bike?  Or is it just some metal fab shop who is turning out 'bikes?'  I am going to guess metal fab shop because based on the price that is not a hand built frame and no frame builder I know in Chicago would produce that...

 

Listen, I am all for more bike shops and I am definitely all for stuff being made in Chicago but that said those locally made items have to be as nice, or nicer, then what I can buy built elsewhere.  You can buy a Linus at around the price point of that bike and it is going to be a properly designed bike...

 

 

John Greenfield said:

This is a model for petite women, the only Heritage (Chicago-made) style and size they're producing at the moment. They plan on offering a large size of the Daisy in the near future, and eventually offering Diamond-frame models and cargo bikes. In the mean time, they'll be selling NYC-made Bowery Lane bikes in diamond-frame and step-through styles, in various sizes.

A500 is just a technical descriptor for the steel grade. It's commonly used in construction in its square and rectangular cross section (as opposed to round) variants. It's heavy and strong and easy enough to weld.

 

Look, it's the only way to locally fab a bike at this price point. Buyers will go for these based on any number of factors before frame material: the concept, the coffee in the shop, the aesthetic sensibility, the folks who work there, etc. Nothing wrong with that. 

 


I suspect that this "Hollandia" isn't structurally inferior. It's $249 and comes with all sorts of city bike goodies... and it's sold by Walmart. For that matter, for those shopping strictly on price, $80 department store cruisers (as opposed to cheap geared bikes) aren't significantly differently spec'd.

But these aren't the same target markets. 

 

 

Hey Everyone,

 

Thanks for the support and the feedback.

 

And if you have critiques or questions I would love to hear more...

 

info@heritagebicycles.com

I almost never get anywhere near Lakeview any more (except for occasionally on a Saturday night) but hooray for the concept of a café-slash-bike shop (or a café-slash-anything.)

 

...In happier news, Michael Salvatore is getting ready to open Heritage Bicycles in Lakeview, offering bikes that are hand built in Humboldt Park, as well as an in-house cafe - a first for Chicago:

 

 

I would be more interested in hearing answers to the questions I asked here than e-mailing you for them...

Michael Salvatore said:

Hey Everyone,

 

Thanks for the support and the feedback.

 

And if you have critiques or questions I would love to hear more...

 

info@heritagebicycles.com

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